"careful!"

The boy rolled over nimbly; the carpet was thick, so he didn't get hurt.

Mu Yiran: "Are you alright? What's wrong? Are you afraid I'll infect you?"

Shi Youxi felt as if she had really caught the infection from her, otherwise why would her face be so hot?

Mu Yiran saw the boy sitting on the ground in a dazed state, as if possessed, before scrambling to his feet and saying, "I, I'm leaving, sister, you go to sleep."

"Hey, remember to wear an extra jacket!"

Before Mu Yiran could finish speaking, Shi Youxi ran out, never giving her a proper look.

This kid's acting weird...

Today, Shi Youxi is going to Chinatown in the capital with Shi Yan to pray for Bai Shengsheng, whose birthday is coming up.

I've gone every year, and I'll do the same this year.

On the hillside behind Chinatown, there is a small temple, built with investment from Chinese people in the capital. Shi Youxi followed Shi Yan up the long steps.

The two followed the ritual, worshipping their way from the entrance to the back gate of the temple, which leads to the back mountain, where countless stone steps wind their way up.

There were already monks waiting there.

"Mr. Shi, everything is ready."

Shi Yan: "Hmm."

Shi Yan turned his head, pointed to the futon on the ground, and said to Shi Youxi, "You kneel here and wait for me to come down."

Shi Youxi nodded and knelt on the prayer mat beside him as requested.

Then, he watched as Shi Yan bowed and kowtowed, climbing up layer by layer.

Shi Yan's prostrations were very sincere; with each bow, his forehead lightly touched the stone steps. He stood up straight and then knelt down.

Continue kowtowing, then stand up straight, then kneel down again.

Even when Shi Yan's silhouette was reduced to a mere moving black dot, they still didn't stop.

Over the years, every time Shi Youxi saw her father like this, she still didn't know why he did it.

It was for my mother.

But why?

The mother loved Cheng Mo, and the father should know that best.

Ultimately, the father came to pray for the mother's safety for the rest of her life.

He still begged his mother not to leave him.

He still wanted his mother's love...

The father loved the mother so much that he locked her up, locked himself up, and even locked up his own children, creating a dream for the mother where there were only the three of them.

But the father was too foolish, thinking that this would keep the mother.

"How silly..."

"stupid?!"

A rough, gruff voice came from the side. Shi Youxi turned his head and saw an old man in a green jacket sitting under a tree opposite him.

There was a table in front of him with a sign that read—

Fortune telling based on birth charts, guessing personality from facial features, communicating with heaven and earth, and frightening ghosts and gods.

We operate with integrity; no refunds will be given once US dollars are received.

Shi Youxi: "....."

Shi Youxi glanced at him and then turned back indifferently, not knowing when he had been squatting there.

But the old man was intrigued by his aloof and arrogant attitude, and came over with a thermos cup in his hand. "Young sir, who were you talking to just now?"

Shi Youxi ignored him, and the old man didn't mind either. He squatted down next to the boy and they both looked at the small dot that kept moving on the stone steps in front of them.

"Hehe, if you ask me, you're talking about the gentleman who came with you, right?"

The old man glanced at Shi Youxi, who remained silent, and asked, "Young master, do you... feel sorry for your father?"

Is it pitiful?

Shi Youxi glanced at the black dot that had stopped moving and then started moving again.

What is his mother doing now? he wondered.

Her son and husband were praying for her, but what was she doing alone at home? Was she simply resting peacefully in her new situation?

She will still worry, just like her sister, whether her son is dressed warmly enough and whether he is sick.

She was still secretly thinking about someone else while her husband was away.

Shi Youxi: "...Poor thing."

"So stupid, so pathetic."

The old man raised an eyebrow upon hearing this and nodded meaningfully, "Young man, you have a high level of awareness."

Shi Youxi's legs ached from kneeling, so he rubbed his thighs and felt a bulging pocket. He rummaged through it.

She pulled out a rough paper bag and something wrapped in plastic film; it was a simple version of a hand warmer that Mu Yiran had made.

Since falling ill, Mu Yiran has been kept under surveillance by Shi Youxi and not allowed to go out. Because she was so bored, she found some things to do.

The principle behind the heat generated by the hand warmer is very simple; Mu Yiran only asked Shi Youxi to find minerals such as iron powder and activated carbon.

Several of these hand warmers were made and placed in Shi Youxi's schoolbag and school uniform coat.

The two things in my pocket must have been put there by my older sister before I left.

Shi Youxi tore open the plastic film and shook it as Mu Yiran had instructed. The minerals inside came into full contact with the air, heated up, and expanded.

Shi Youxi clenched her hands tightly, the heat seeping into her body little by little from her palms.

It's so warm...

Since leaving home, Shi Youxi had no idea whether her sister had taken her medicine properly or had a fever again. For the first time, she felt disrespectful towards Shi Yan.

He felt that Shi Yan was old, otherwise why would he be moving so slowly and hadn't even finished kneeling down yet?

He misses his sister and wants to go back now.