He said, "There is still glory on the other side."

—Little Monster's Diary

Ding Xian hadn't celebrated her birthday since she was eight years old.

That year, her younger brother was born, and the whole family was busy with Ding Juncong's affairs, no one noticed her.

Ye Wanxian had a difficult labor when she gave birth to Ding Juncong, staying in the delivery room for a full fourteen hours. When she was finally pushed out, she was barely clinging to life. Even her usually quiet father couldn't help but get red-eyed outside the delivery room.

Ding Xian, however, stood at the operating room door like an outsider.

Her grandmother said she had been cruel since childhood and wouldn't love her younger brother in the future, so she was particularly wary of her, specifically taking Ding Juncong back to their old home to raise him for a while.

From a young age, her grandmother didn't like her and insisted that Ye Wanxian give birth to a son, saying it was to carry on the family line. Relatives and sisters-in-law nearby also loved to joke with Ding Xian: "If your mom has a younger brother, she won't want you anymore."

The first time she heard this, she was three or four, and she cried on the spot, clinging to Ye Wanxian's leg and whimpering.

But these elders loved to scare her with such words, "Once you have a younger brother, no one will dote on you anymore."

Once, twice, three times, four times.

Ding Xian took these words to heart, until one time, her grandmother, in front of everyone, urged Ye Wanxian to have a son, and Ding Xian burst into tears: "I don't want a younger brother, if you have one, I'll throw him away!"

From then on, her grandmother became wary of her, often getting up in the middle of the night to check if she had really thrown Ding Juncong out.

And Ye Wanxian put all her energy into her son, often forgetting her daughter's birthday.

Ding Xian herself rarely mentioned it, except for a few years when her father occasionally remembered and would take her out to eat.

Now, she herself had almost completely forgotten.

Just after dinner, as Ding Xian sat in front of the crooked-necked tree doing her homework, she remembered that tomorrow was her birthday.

Tomorrow...

Watch a movie...

And then she had no mind to do her homework.

The young girl rested her chin on her hand, her eyes blinking.

It was decided, tomorrow everything would end.

So she didn't sleep a wink all night.

She looked at the alarm clock by her bed five hundred times, but the clock still moved slowly like an old lady. Ding Xian tossed and turned, unable to sleep, until finally, just as the sky began to turn a fish-belly white, she fell asleep.

The movie was scheduled for the afternoon.

Ding Xian woke up at eight.

Sure enough, in the bathroom mirror, she saw a pair of deep-set panda eyes. When she finished washing her face and came out, Ye Wanxian had already finished making breakfast and brought it out, glancing at her: "Come eat."

Ding Xian followed, and just as she picked up a steamed bun and put it in her mouth, she heard Ye Wanxian clang the bowls and chopsticks, saying to her: "Help Congcong with his math this afternoon."

Ding Xian took the bun out of her mouth, just about to speak, when she heard Ding Juncong, who had just woken up, shout from behind: "I made plans with Xiao Yu this afternoon!"

Ye Wanxian: "When did you make plans with Xiao Yu?"

"We agreed yesterday to go rollerblading!" Ding Juncong declared righteously.

Ye Wanxian, used to indulging him, said softly: "All right, all right, then do it tomorrow, eat first."

Ding Xian let out a long breath, then put the steamed bun back into her mouth. Ye Wanxian suddenly looked up and swept her a glance, "Do you have something to do this afternoon?"

Ding Xian nodded, fluently reciting her pre-prepared answer: "I'm going back to school this afternoon to do the blackboard newspaper; the school has an inspection next week."

Ye Wanxian put down her chopsticks: "Are you a class committee member again?"

Ding Xian quickly said: "No, I'm just helping out."

Ye Wanxian nodded: "Do less of that kind of work, it's thankless and wastes study time."

Ding Xian nodded perfunctorily, deciding not to argue for now.

After breakfast, she quickly slipped away, returning to her room to do two sets of papers. When she looked up again, the clock already pointed to 12 o'clock.

Time still passed quickly when doing homework.

After lunch, Ding Xian returned to her room to change clothes.

The closer it got to the time of the date, the more her heart felt like it was going to fly out. On one hand, she told herself that after today, everything would end, and on the other, she wished time could stop forever in this afternoon.

The little girl stood in front of the wardrobe, pondering.

In the open drawer lay a pile of bras, or perhaps not quite bras, but similar to the chest wraps young girls wear during early development. Ever since she entered high school, Ye Wanxian had bought her two bras to wear interchangeably.

Ye Wanxian was actually quite particular about maintenance, especially when it came to underwear and panties, preferring to buy fewer but better quality ones.

Ding Xian had worn an adult bra once when it was first bought, but she always felt uncomfortable everywhere, it was tight and restrictive, and hot. After wearing it twice, she tossed it aside, though her bust did look better than usual.

She hesitated for a long time.

She thought indignantly: 'Why should I wear a bra for him?'

The next second, she obediently put on the bra.

As she put it on, she thought: 'Anyway, it's the last time.'

The two agreed to meet at the Hutong's entrance. When Ding Xian arrived, Zhou Siyue was already leaning against the old stone city wall at the Hutong's entrance, chatting casually with an old man sitting by the roadside playing an erhu.

He really could talk to anyone.

The old man held an erhu throughout, but didn't play it, letting out a sigh: "The weather seems like it's going to change again."

Zhou Siyue leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, and looked up at the grey sky, smiling: "Aren't you going back yet?"

He rarely spoke with a Beijing accent at school, only occasionally being forced to utter a Beijing expletive when playing around with Song Ziqi and a few other buddies. It was rare to hear him speak in Beijing dialect.

When he spoke in a Beijing accent, his clean voice would carry a hint of casual nonchalance.

The old man shook his head: "Having lived all these years, I haven't realized much else, but I've figured out the heavens' intentions completely. Today, this rain won't fall."

Zhou Siyue chuckled softly: "Don't let the treasure in your hands get wet."

The old man looked over in surprise, his eyes gleaming: "Not bad, kid, you recognize good stuff?"

Zhou Siyue lowered his eyes and looked, nodding: "It must be quite old."

The old man lowered his head and hugged the erhu tighter, as if it were a treasure, his eyes unexpectedly glistening with tears: "Yes, it's something from my ancestors. Look at the python skin pattern, it hasn't faded at all."

Zhou Siyue bent over and confirmed: "It truly is a fine piece."

The old man, as if he had met a kindred spirit, talked endlessly about the history of the erhu. He found that Zhou Siyue understood everything, even recognizing the material of the erhu, small-leaf sandalwood. He scrutinized the young man in front of him with a profound gaze: "You know quite a lot, kid."

The young man smiled modestly: "I only know a little bit."

"So young, yet so remarkable."

Ding Xian suddenly felt a little regretful.

'Perhaps I shouldn't have come today. The more you interact with him, the more you'll like him.'

The old man asked him loudly: "You've been standing here for a long time, what are you doing? Waiting for someone?"

Zhou Siyue put his hands back into his pockets, leaned his back against the wall again, his head resting against it, and sighed helplessly, looking up,

"Waiting for a snail."

'Who are you scolding?'

Hearing this, Ding Xian unconsciously walked in that direction, taking what she believed to be elegant steps.

"I'm here."

She came before the young man like a light butterfly.

The young man pressed a hand on her head and scolded: "You really are a snail!"

'Don't you know you talk more gently to that old man than you do to me?!'

Zhou Siyue: "What's with that expression?"

'Hurt.'

'Jealous.'

'Sad.'

'Anyway, it's an expression you wouldn't understand.'

The old man watched gleefully from the side, not interrupting, until Zhou Siyue took Ding Xian and bid him farewell: "We're leaving."

Only then did he smile and nod at them both, "Go on, go on. While you're young, don't waste your precious time."

'You old pervert!'

Yansan High School had a dilapidated cinema that few people frequented, but for a country bumpkin like Ding Xian, who had never been inside a cinema before, it was already magnificent.

Ding Xian cautiously followed behind Zhou Siyue.

The two stood side by side in front of the billboard. Zhou Siyue turned his head to glance at her, then subtly lifted his chin: "What do you want to watch?"

Four banner advertisements.

That September, four movies were showing. If she remembered correctly, they should be Thirty-Eight Degrees, Chinese Kung Fu Girls Group, Warriors of Heaven and Earth, and Infernal Affairs.