When I was a child

On the day of the science and engineering students' dinner party, Ning Zicheng booked the entire hotel restaurant, the one Chu Sinian frequented, the one he had last been with Yu Shi.

Thinking of Yu Shi, Chu Sinian subconsciously looked at Lele in his arms. The little Coca was listless and didn't seem to be feeling well.

He opened the window for the first time ever, and as soon as the wind blew in, Lele raised its head and went over. Chu Sinian was afraid it would crawl around, so he had to hold it with one hand and support it with the other.

"Uncle Huang, how much longer?"

"Sir, it will be soon, just ten minutes."

Lele lay by the window, feeling the breeze, its eyes wide open; its motion sickness seemed to have vanished. Chu Sinian relaxed, stroking its soft fur as they gradually arrived at their destination.

A waiter opened the car door for him, and Chu Sinian, holding Lele, gave a few instructions to the caregiver. The little Coca-Cola, a relative, immediately snuggled up to him and circled around the stranger's feet.

Chu Sinian smiled and handed the rope to the other party.

Uncle Huang walked over at this moment, "Sir, please drink less alcohol."

Chu Sinian replied, "I'm not drinking today, I'm just joining in the fun." He walked into the restaurant as he spoke.

The restaurant was already packed with people; the space, which usually only had a few tables open, was now overflowing with people, and the luxurious chandeliers overhead seemed to tremble in fear.

Chu Sinian searched around and quickly found Ning Zicheng.

He was talking to people in the crowd, helping them get to know each other. When Ning Zicheng noticed Chu Sinian had arrived, she steered the conversation to the thriving scene and then went to find Chu Sinian herself.

"Come sit with me."

"Why all this trouble today?"

Ning Zicheng pushed Chu Sinian's shoulder and moved him to the center of the restaurant. "You sit at this table and don't move. I'll go and call someone over."

"There's a main character?"

Ning Zicheng turned back as she walked and replied, "Guess who it is."

Chu Sinian raised his eyes and followed Ning Zicheng's gaze. Within minutes, three people appeared in his line of sight, two of whom were familiar faces.

These two were the ones who pulled Zhao Jiechao away when he caused trouble that day.

They seem to be named Li Liao and Zhang Xiu.

Chu Sinian remembered Ning Zicheng mentioning the group, and his gaze tightened, as if confirming his guess. As the four of them exchanged pleasantries, the host of the gathering arrived at the door.

The man's steps were steady and quick, and he exuded an aura that kept strangers at bay.

It was Chen Chi.

Chu Sinian suppressed his smile and turned to talk to the person next to him.

A few people gathered at the entrance. They all went up to greet Chen Chi, but after seeing that Chen Chi looked just as formidable as rumored, they gave up and turned to talk to Yi Fan and the others.

Standing in the center but far away and isolated, Chen Chi looked at the throng of people and felt a little impatient.

Seeing that he looked unwell, Ning Zicheng immediately led them to their seats.

The lively noise surrounded Chen Chi, but he seemed like a hard and sharp piece of iron that had been moved there. He slightly lowered his brow, and his cold and dignified demeanor was deeply suppressed.

His gaze swept over the crowd, but paused slightly when it passed over the central area.

The hall was brightly lit, like daytime. As far as the eye could see, there were straight, slender shoulders, and above them, a section of satin-white neck. The delicate and smooth skin looked as if it would slip off at the slightest touch.

Chen Chi withdrew his gaze.

Yi Fan, who was behind him, noticed this and followed suit, taking his seat with the crowd.

Before I could even sit down, my gaze suddenly stopped when it swept across the other side.

An extremely beautiful and handsome face appeared before my eyes.

The lights were too dim that night for him to see clearly, but now they are displayed like a painting.

Beneath his sharp bone structure were slightly upturned lips, a straight and prominent nose, and a pair of eyes that held the allure of late spring, with long, drooping eyelashes and a few strands of hair falling across his forehead. For a moment, he couldn't find any words to describe him.

It seems like everything is just a little bit lacking.

People around him started talking to him, but Yi Fan absentmindedly gave them a few perfunctory replies, his mind filled with the image of Chen Chi's pause and glance.

It doesn't feel like looking at a stranger at all; it's as if there's a thin, mysterious veil between us, and if you poke it with your finger, you'll find that it's actually bottomless.

The dishes were served quickly, and Zhang Xiu, Li Liao, and Ning Zicheng had already gotten to know each other well.

Li Liao didn't forget Ning Zicheng's request. He turned to Chen Chi and said, "Ning Zicheng isn't stupid. She can lighten the mood in the team and can also invest in projects. What do you think, bro?"

Chen Chi glanced at Li Liao to the side, then naturally turned his gaze to Ning Zicheng and Chu Sinian whispering intimately.

Chen Chi said, "It's so-so."

Li Liao's heart skipped a beat, thinking that there was probably no chance, so he chatted with Ning Zicheng even more enthusiastically.

Yi Fan ate in silence, occasionally bringing up topics to keep the atmosphere lively.

At the dinner table, Chen Chi was the only one who remained silent, a silence that sent chills down one's spine. He ate very little before going to the restroom, escaping the space filled with conversation.

Chen Chi was washing his hands in front of the mirror when he looked up.

The face in the mirror was cold, hard, and indifferent, with thin, long eyes, a straight nose, and pointed lips—it didn't look like a good face at all. He wiped his hands, turned, and walked out the door. Just as he stepped into the corridor, someone quietly appeared.

He heard the steady footsteps, slow and rhythmic, just like he knew them. Soon, a pair of black sneakers came into view.

Chen Chi looked up and saw the neatly tailored trousers, the blue shirt tucked into the waist, the upright shoulders, and then he saw a pair of smiling eyes.

The corridor was too long, and the dim light cast a halo of shadows, revealing Chu Sinian's slender and well-built body.

He held the puppy with a smile, his demeanor arrogant, and the ignorance in his eyes was exactly the same as when he was young.

Chen Chi was almost instantly pulled back to his childhood.

—

In spring, Dong'an is a riot of flowers and lush foliage; viewed in a straight line, it resembles a long, drawn-out wedding. But Dong'an's winter is so cold and desolate.

The snow was falling heavily in front of the manor. Eight-year-old Chu Sinian was bundled up tightly, a stark contrast to the adults guarding behind him.

The woman was wearing only two thin layers; her camel-colored coat reached her knees, and below that, she wore a pair of seven-centimeter red-soled high heels.

The woman was puffing on a cigarette, not bothering to hide it because of the child in front of her. She was chatting with a young girl beside her, her beauty undeniable.

She didn't notice at all that her child had run out of the manor.

It was snowing outside. Chu Sinian hadn't brought an umbrella, and he was covered in snowflakes. Even his long eyelashes seemed to bear a weight that didn't belong to them.

The little dog in his arms, also bundled up in thick clothes, was licking Chu Sinian's chubby cheeks with its tongue lolling out. He wanted to throw it away in disgust, but couldn't bear to, so he could only warn, "You're not allowed to lick me anymore! I don't like it!"

But the puppy wouldn't listen to him at all.

Chu Sinian was in a hurry to buy things, and he had been running ever since he left the manor. He was now panting on the spot, exhausted, with his cheeks flushed and the frost on his face being licked away by the puppy.

"Didn't I tell you what to call her when you see her? You should call her Mom! You disrespectful beast, do you even know she's your mother!" The loud reprimand, accompanied by the sound of something being smashed, attracted Chu Sinian's attention.

He even temporarily put aside his desire to buy roasted sweet potatoes, his round eyes fixed on the manor across a long road from his home.

Chu Sinian walked into the fence, gently pried open a bit of the wood, and covered the puppy's mouth at the same time.

It was a burly man holding a whip, lashing a teenage boy.

The little boy was wearing only a sweater in the dead of winter, and the sweater was torn to shreds, with cold wind blowing into his body from all directions.

The little boy had his back to him, and no matter how hard he was whipped, he neither bent over nor lowered his head, remaining silent throughout.

The puppy seemed to want to stand up for the injustice and was about to bark, but Chu Sinian held its mouth tightly and threatened it with his eyes.

However, his eyes seemed far too non-threatening to the dog.

The man whipped him a few times, then, as if he had strained his back, flung the whip to the butler beside him. "Keep hitting him. Today you've got to beat him into submission, kneeling down and calling him 'Mom'!"

Chu Sinian wasn't interested in what happened next. He glanced at the little boy's back and went to buy roasted sweet potatoes.

After buying the roasted sweet potatoes, he leisurely returned to his original spot, only to find that the butler and the man were gone.

In the courtyard, where snow had fallen all over the ground, only the little boy's kneeling figure and his tattered sweater remained.

Chu Sinian's eyes darted around, and he carefully climbed over the wall. The puppy broke free of his restraints and ran towards the boy.

Chu Sinian almost fell while chasing it, and after finally catching it, he found himself already in front of the boy.

He picked up the puppy and met a pair of gloomy eyes.

Chu Sinian didn't understand this emotion. He tilted his head, hugged the puppy, and pointed at his back with a smile, "Your back looks like it's covered in caterpillars, so ugly."

Chen Chi grabbed a handful of snow and flung it at him.

The icy snow immediately entered Chu Sinian's eyes. He felt the piercing cold and pain, cried out, rubbed his eyes, and kicked Chen Chi as he did so, easily knocking him to the ground.

Chu Sinian opened his left eye and saw that the other person looked weak. He pouted and tried to help him up.

Just as he reached out his hand, a kitten suddenly appeared out of nowhere, baring its teeth and charging at him.

The puppy in his arms suddenly burst out of its young master's embrace, precisely grabbed the cat's neck, and bit it off in one gulp.

Red liquid was spilling out.

Chu Sinian took two steps back in fear, his eyes filled with terror as he watched the blood splatter at his feet.

He subconsciously looked towards the little boy and saw him rushing towards him with unstoppable force, tearing everything apart, and slamming Chu Sinian to the ground.

Cold, red-tinged snowflakes embedded themselves into his body, his most vulnerable and sensitive neck was being gripped and squeezed with absolute force.

Chen Chi gritted his teeth, staring at the face that had caused the only thing his mother had left him before her death to die. Hatred and resentment almost overwhelmed all his moral conscience.

He increased his strength, leaving five obvious marks on the neck, showing no mercy as he looked at the face that was on the verge of suffocation.

He realized something was collapsing and breaking within him, yet he remained oblivious, watching in despair as the resistance of his men dwindled.

At that critical moment, he suddenly felt a tiny throbbing in his palm—

It's a pulse.

Chen Chi's hand trembled, and the lost senses crawled up his skin like thousands of ants. He slowly realized that the touch under his palm was so familiar.

The kitten, when he stroked it, felt the soft flesh in his palm and its rising and falling breaths, just like him.

Chen Chi suddenly collapsed onto Chu Sinian, trembling violently as if he were having an epileptic seizure, unable to take care of himself.

A huge breath filled his mouth, and Chu Sinian's eyes widened as he coughed as if he were about to choke out his lungs.

His throat ached as if being gnawed by a wild beast; five horrifying finger marks marred his pale, greasy skin. He looked up at the sky, struggling to breathe.

All he could see was a whip raised high in the blue sky and white clouds, and a bitter, desperate tear that landed on the corner of his lips.