The school gymnasium was abuzz with voices.

Yue Zhishi was lying on his side on the ground, his symptoms growing more intense. He desperately wanted to take a deep breath, but the airflow entering his body grew weaker and weaker. It felt like there was a hole in his chest, hissing as it leaked air. Before he could even draw a single full breath, he began to cough violently.

Sensing that the student was in a very bad state, Wang Qian also grew anxious. "Yue Zhishi, what's wrong? Are you okay? Can you speak?" He helped Yue Zhishi up and patted him on the back. "Try to take a deep breath, slowly."

Just when everyone was at a loss for what to do, a white figure broke into the sea of light blue, parting the crowded throng.

"Spread out, don't crowd him."

The surrounding classmates were all startled. No one had expected that Song Yu, who had just been giving a speech on stage, would suddenly appear here.

Class teacher Wang Qian was also a bit surprised to see Song Yu. This was a student he had taught before. Back then, he had felt this kid was quite cold, not even having many friends; he didn't seem like the type to act heroically for a just cause at all.

Song Yu half-knelt, pulling the now-speechless Yue Zhishi into a half-embrace, adjusting his posture, then took out medicine from his pocket.

Seeing the medicine he carried with him, Wang Qian was a little puzzled and asked carefully, "Song Yu, can he use this medicine? I've already called the paramedics from the school clinic, they'll be here soon."

"There's no time. This is his medicine." Song Yu was so calm he didn't seem like a student, more like a professional paramedic. He looked up and instructed the people around him, "Everyone, spread out a little more."

He loosened Yue Zhishi's school uniform tie, unbuttoned the top two buttons of his shirt to expose his neck, wrapped an arm around his shoulders to steady his head, and with the other hand, swiftly and fluidly aimed the aerosol inhaler at Yue Zhishi's mouth. "Yue Zhishi, breathe in the medicine."

At this moment, Yue Zhishi was covered in a cold sweat, his lips slightly purple. He instinctively clutched Song Yu's arm, using all his strength to inhale the aerosol into his lungs.

It had been a long time since he'd had an asthma attack. The feeling of his tears and breath being out of control crashed over him like a wave. Everything was a blank, but he could hear Song Yu's voice, which gave him an intangible sense of comfort.

"Again."

Having been classmates for two years, this was the first time the surrounding students had witnessed such an emergency. They stood there, stunned. Those who knew him were somewhat aware of his allergies, but it had only ever been rashes, never this severe.

The cool medicinal mist rushed into his windpipe. A few minutes later, Yue Zhishi's constantly heaving chest gradually calmed down, and his breathing was finally no longer so rapid and weak.

"Feeling better?" Wang Qian was still worried. "We should still send him to the infirmary to rest."

"He needs a follow-up." Song Yu put away the medicine bottle, his gaze shifting from Yue Zhishi's pale face. He inadvertently glanced at a wrapper left on the ground, with the word "bread" printed on it.

He placed his palm on Yue Zhishi's chest, feeling his current heart rate, then grabbed his arm and turned it over, checking his neck for any rashes.

Although his symptoms had been relieved, Yue Zhishi's consciousness was still lagging. Every time he had an asthma attack, he would develop a strong sense of dependency, like a baby bird saved from the brink of death.

During the emergency, he couldn't think about anything. He only knew that it must be Song Yu saving him. The first thing Yue Zhishi wanted to do after recovering was to confirm it. He weakly raised his eyes, and only felt at ease when he saw Song Yu's face.

"Ge..." His voice was faint, his fingers feebly clinging to Song Yu's arm. The illness had swept through like a hurricane, and his remaining willpower made him completely forget their agreement and his pretense.

The sharp-eared Jiang Yufan blurted out without thinking, "Ge... Ge?!"

That single word, passed through a human megaphone, spread out in ripples.

Song Yu was Yue Zhishi's "gege".

On the day of the opening ceremony, this secret that Yue Zhishi had kept for two years became known to the entire school.

·

There are always a few outstanding people in a school, either being talked about or being flocked to.

Yue Zhishi and Song Yu were typical examples, but no one had ever imagined that these two, who usually had no connection, would have a relationship, and such a close one at that.

News travels fastest in a dense crowd. Before long, the accident at the opening ceremony became the topic of everyone's discussion.

Yue Zhishi's childhood had never been very peaceful.

When he first arrived at the Song Family's home, he was enrolled mid-term in kindergarten. He had no familiar friends, couldn't speak the language, and most importantly, he looked different from everyone else. He was often stared at like an animal in a circus troupe, and was even bullied by some of the older kids, who gave him nicknames like "Blondie" and "Little Half-breed."

He hated kindergarten and was unwilling to go to school every day, preferring to stay at home and draw. The moment he reached the kindergarten gate, he would start crying, and being carried out of the car was like the end of the world for him.

Although he was still stared at a lot when he started elementary school, at least Song Yu was there. Whenever he was unhappy, he would go find Song Yu. Sometimes, as soon as class ended, Song Yu would turn around to see a pitiful-looking Yue Zhishi clinging to the frame of the back classroom door, like a puppy that hadn't been weaned.

As his peers gradually matured, fewer people excluded him, and everyone slowly got used to it. Later, as the children grew up, their aesthetic tastes changed. More and more people began to think that Yue Zhishi was handsome, so handsome that he was in a league of his own among boys his age. He had a good personality, too. The bullied Yue Zhishi inexplicably became an object of admiration. In short, things were never quiet for him.

He didn't like being the center of attention, and he didn't want to be publicly shamed at the opening ceremony. But in the end, Yue Zhishi still became the focus of the entire school's attention in an even more dramatic fashion.

Lying on the bed in the infirmary, he stared blankly at the ceiling. The doctor on duty examined him, and he cooperated obediently, like a soulless toy. After the examination, he lay down again and continued to rest.

His steady breathing put him at ease.

Ever since he was a child, Yue Zhishi had a rich imagination. He could see a small stain on the ceiling and imagine a hermit crab on a white sand beach, and from its tiny shell, he could imagine a limestone cave, or even a black hole.

Just as he was exploring the universe on the ceiling, the door suddenly opened. Yue Zhishi turned over, pulled the bed curtain open a tiny crack, and peeked out, but the face he saw was Jiang Yufan's. Disappointed, he fell back onto the bed.

"Lele?" Jiang Yufan's voice was very low, as if he was afraid of waking him.

"I'm not asleep." Yue Zhishi sat up in bed and opened the curtain. "Is it over? That was fast."

"Yeah." Jiang Yufan brought him his school bag and handed him a carton of pure milk. "You're not allergic to this, right? I've seen you drink it." Seeing him shake his head, Jiang Yufan was relieved. "The teacher said you don't have to go back to report. You can go straight home after you've rested."

Yue Zhishi took a sip of milk. "Teacher Wang didn't call my parents, did he?"

This was an accident, his own carelessness. He didn't want Auntie Rong to worry about him.

"I don't know. Anyway, he called Song Yu over and talked to him for a while, probably to understand the situation." At this, Jiang Yufan's confidence grew. "I knew it couldn't be such a coincidence. Just so happened to pick up your name tag, just so happened to recognize you, ran down from the podium in the middle of his speech to give you first aid, and just so happened to have your medicine on him. If you hadn't called him 'ge' at the end, I would've suspected you two had some kind of secret relationship."

Hearing the last sentence, Yue Zhishi shuddered. "No, no, no, how is that possible." Then, as an afterthought, he explained, "We're not biological brothers."

In fact, he regretted it deeply. As he regained his strength and his head cleared, he recalled the scene of calling Song Yu 'gege' in front of everyone. Yue Zhishi could have beaten his chest and stomped his feet in regret.

"Not biological? Cousins?" Jiang Yufan had a sudden realization. "No wonder you two don't look alike at all, and you don't even have the same surname."

"That's not it either. Let me explain." Yue Zhishi re-zipped his school bag and briefly explained his foster situation to him.

Although he said it lightly, Jiang Yufan, no matter how dense, was still somewhat surprised. "So that's how it is..."

A word like 'foster care' was too heavy for teenagers like them. It seemed to be synonymous with misfortune, tragedy, and living under someone else's roof.

Jiang Yufan thought, 'No wonder Yue Zhishi pretends not to know Song Yu at school.' He scratched his head. "Then... then... are they good to you?"

Yue Zhishi smiled. "Yes, they are. They treat me no differently than their own."

"That's good, that's good. But," Jiang Yufan asked again, "then why not just, I mean, adoption..." He said the word in a very small voice.

Yue Zhishi, however, didn't seem to mind. "Oh, I've asked about that before. Uncle Song said that my parents were wonderful people, and they are my only parents. No one in the world can replace them, and he hopes I can remember that. And they said that even without that procedure, they would still take good care of me." He added, "Uncle Song was my dad's best, best friend. They grew up together like real brothers."

"I see..." Jiang Yufan's expression seemed much more relieved. He patted his shoulder and said seriously, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. My lips are sealed."

"It's fine." Yue Zhishi looked down and suddenly noticed that his buttons were undone and his tie had been pulled loose. He couldn't remember anything from when he was semi-conscious and muttered, "What happened..." while buttoning up.

"Your ge... no, Song Yu undid them during the emergency." Jiang Yufan added, "You definitely didn't see it, but the way he rushed down from the stage was so cool."

Yue Zhishi indeed hadn't seen it, which was a pity, but he could imagine the scene. Looking down, Yue Zhishi saw the dark spot spreading on the tip of his shoe and thought of the gloom he had imagined before the attack. He had been wrapped up and trapped by those dark, oppressive clouds.

The way Song Yu rushed down was probably like a sharp beam of light, piercing through that gloom and finding him.

This image materialized in Yue Zhishi's mind, and a sense of joy rose in his heart, making even the milk taste sweeter. When he picked up his school bag, he found it was bulging. He unzipped it and saw the gift box he had received this morning. "You even packed this?"

"I was thinking you said you were going to Class 11 after this was over."

"Yeah." He squeezed the gurgling milk carton flat, threw it into the trash can, and after tying his tie, he tapped Jiang Yufan's leg with his swinging leg. "Let's go, let's go home and eat."

In early September in Jiangcheng, the summer heat still lingered. The unpruned goldenrain trees almost stretched their dense branches into the third-floor windows. These enthusiastic green leaves were blocked by the tightly closed glass windows, looking rather pitiful.

Just like the young Yue Zhishi, pressing himself against the glass door of the study to look at Song Yu inside, his chubby face squeezed out of shape.

Having been classmates with Yue Zhishi since the first year of junior high, Jiang Yufan knew about his allergies, but he never expected it could be this serious. He asked curiously, "How did you find out you were allergic? If it's this serious, it must have been very dangerous the first time you found out."

The first time...

He actually had some impression of it, but it wasn't particularly deep. Besides, he had been to the hospital so many times as a child that the memory of when he first discovered his symptoms had faded.

"I don't remember. I was only three at the time. I think I was hospitalized."

"Three years old!" Jiang Yufan couldn't imagine it. "What happened today was scary enough. It's a good thing your ge was here. I just Baidu'd it and got scared to death. Turns out asthma can be fatal if you don't have medicine with you."

Yue Zhishi comforted him, "What happened today was an extremely rare event, the unluckiest of the unlucky."

But then he remembered that Song Yu seemed to have been there during his first attack as well.

After bidding farewell to the doctor on duty, the two were about to go downstairs and leave when they ran into a short-haired girl with delicate features, wearing the same junior high uniform as them. She was blushing, and her voice was very soft. "Yue Zhishi..."

Yue Zhishi didn't recognize her very well and looked at Jiang Yufan for help.

Jiang Yufan remembered something and reminded his best friend in a low whisper, "This is the girl who gave you the gift, from Class 11."

Yue Zhishi let out a low "ah."

"Are... are you okay now?"

"I'm fine, all better now," Yue Zhishi said with a thank you.

The girl seemed relieved and tucked a strand of loose hair behind her ear. "I went to your classroom this morning to find you, but you hadn't arrived at school yet, so I put the thing in your desk..."

Yue Zhishi saw her ears, which were turning red.

"I hope you like it."

The sun was so bright, the girl's voice was drowned out by the chirping of cicadas.

He clutched the strap of his bag, silent for two seconds, and finally unzipped it, took out the gift box inside, and handed it back to her with both hands.

Jiang Yufan couldn't bear to watch; the scene was too suffocating. He turned his head away and looked down from the third floor, where he unexpectedly saw a familiar figure, tall and wearing a white shirt.

Isn't that Song Yu? Jiang Yufan squinted to get a better look.

It really was him!

Song Yu was pushing his bike, walking in this direction. He stopped under a camphor tree, looked down at his watch, then looked up, just in time to meet Jiang Yufan's gaze.

His aura was too strong. Even from several meters away, Jiang Yufan was stunned by that cold glance. He immediately whipped his head back, pretending nothing had happened.