Jiang Du was completely stunned. She knew nothing, only that Wei Qingyue had just put his arm around her shoulder, and his tone was familiar, as if she were his girlfriend.

The kind of high school couple who date in secret, but are always discovered.

Jiang Du looked at him stiffly, at a complete loss.

The man was clearly unhappy about Wei Qingyue interrupting his "fun" and glared viciously at the boy. From the stairs, a creaking sound was heard again; the owner was coming down.

Seeing this, the man hurried away. Wei Qingyue immediately turned to say something to the owner, leaving Jiang Du standing there dumbly, as if in a daze. Her ears were burning uncomfortably.

When Wei Qingyue's gaze fell on her again, Jiang Du quickly looked away and reached out a hand, pretending to look for a book.

The owner gave her the book she wanted.

Wei Qingyue was there to buy cutout CDs. He paid, then turned to look at Jiang Du, who was queuing behind him. "Going back to school? There's something I want to talk to you about."

The boy was very frank, but the owner's gaze swept over Jiang Du with great meaning. Worried that he would misunderstand and think she was in a puppy love relationship, Jiang Du was embarrassed. A beat too late, she didn't speak, only nodding her head.

The two of them walked out, one after the other. A cold wind and rain instantly hit their faces. The sky was darkening towards evening; the distant skyline seemed to be layered with dark moss, and the streetlights were already on.

"That pervert was already doing that, why were you still staring at him?" Wei Qingyue turned his umbrella handle slightly, a look of confusion on his face. He really couldn't understand how a girl's mind worked.

Jiang Du still hadn't processed it. She innocently pressed her lips together and shook her head. "I don't know what was happening."

Wei Qingyue told her concisely, "It's called exhibitionism. Stay far away from sleazy perverts like that in the future. If you notice something's off, don't confront him, just run."

Jiang Du had no idea what those three characters meant. Seeing her expression, Wei Qingyue said slowly, character by character: "The one for 'exposure,' the one for 'insidious,' the one for 'habit.' Your Chinese grades are good, right? It's not that hard to understand."

In an instant, realization, embarrassment, lingering fear, a sickening chill... many emotions bloomed in her chest at once. Jiang Du involuntarily tightened her grip on the umbrella handle, her other hand holding the book firmly against her chest as she looked at Wei Qingyue in disbelief.

"But, I didn't see it very clearly." Her brain short-circuited, and for some reason, she said this.

Wei Qingyue first raised an eyebrow in surprise, then suddenly gave a rather unkind laugh. "You wanted to see it clearly? What are you thinking?"

The air was freshly cool. The girl's face, which had been pale and icy, turned shrimp-pink the moment she realized her slip of the tongue, burning like a city aflame.

She pressed her lips together tightly, not knowing how to explain herself.

"This bookstore gets a lot of adults. It's a mixed bag of people. When you come in the future, it's best to come with a classmate," Wei Qingyue reminded her. He glanced at the sky. "Let's go back. It's almost time for evening self-study."

"Thank you." Jiang Du finally remembered she should thank him. Wei Qingyue turned back, raindrops dripping from the edge of his umbrella, obscuring his face. She could only hear his clear voice, "You're welcome. Weren't you a heroine yourself during summer break?"

His voice held a hint of teasing laughter, which sounded like a smile to her ears. She suddenly noticed that Wei Qingyue's hair seemed to have grown a lot. He had no intention of cutting it, making him look like a wildly unrestrained sketch of messy grass.

There were small puddles on the ground reflecting the dim lights. Jiang Du stepped into one, splashing water onto Wei Qingyue's trouser leg, but neither of them noticed.

The snack stalls on the long street at the school gate were still there, steamy and shrouded in mist. Wei Qingyue turned and said to Jiang Du, who had been trailing behind him, stepping on his shadow:

"Let me buy you a cup of porridge? You look like you're shivering."

Jiang Du was immediately embarrassed again. 'Where was I shivering?'

A cup of hot porridge was quickly handed to her. It was warm, the heat spreading from her palm to her heart. The weather had turned suddenly cold, but Wei Qingyue was only wearing a thin long-sleeved shirt, as if he wasn't afraid of the cold.

"During summer break, that group of people..." Jiang Du's tongue felt stiff as she tried to find something to say to fill the silence.

Hearing this, Wei Qingyue looked over and said nonchalantly, "That incident? Didn't you also give a statement? Some bastards from the vocational high school were trying to get money from me. You think my money is that easy to take?"

When he said this, his tone was heavy with hostility.

His tone made Jiang Du's heart jump fiercely. She remained silent, but the image of the man kicking him and making him stumble flashed in her mind.

"Why did that man hit you?" she finally couldn't help but ask softly.

Wei Qingyue instantly became as thin as a razor blade, his gaze cold. "You mean Wei Zhendong?" They had a tacit understanding; he knew who she was asking about.

Huh? It sounded like they were family, yet he used his full name. Jiang Du glanced at him.

"Since you saw it, there's no harm in telling you. That's my dad. As for why he still hit me when I was being extorted, to be honest, I don't know. He doesn't need a reason to hit me," Wei Qingyue said, a mocking expression on his face—directed at Wei Zhendong, and even more so at himself. "Can you believe it? Someone who consistently gets first place still gets beaten by his parent."

Jiang Du fell completely silent. She watched him quietly.

The rain pattered crisply against the umbrella. The whole world seemed to float and drift in the curtain of water, giving a feeling of being carried along by the waves.

"I won't tell anyone." Jiang Du felt that any words of comfort would be pale and empty, so she could only make this promise.

Wei Qingyue smiled noncommittally and said instead, "Prying into other people's private affairs is actually very rude."

As expected, Jiang Du wore an awkward expression.

"You just happened to see it, and you asked, so I told you. But I don't like talking about my business with others. It's pointless."

Jiang Du felt something catch in her throat. She inexplicably wanted to cry and said softly, "I'm sorry."

She suddenly realized that she had inadvertently offended Wei Qingyue.

The wind was not light, blowing the girl's bangs. She looked completely at a loss.

Wei Qingyue still smiled faintly. "You go on ahead. I'll go in a bit later." Jiang Du looked at him hesitantly. Not far away was a row of neon signs from storefronts—red, green, purple. The lights flickered on and off, making the boy's solitary figure seem starkly isolated.

"Are you... very angry with me?" Jiang Du asked weakly. "I'm really sorry, I just wasn't thinking when I asked."

"Hm?" Wei Qingyue raised his eyebrows as if he found it amusing. "No. We've known each other for a while now. Did I say I was angry with you?"

Jiang Du lowered her gaze, staring at the scattered light on the ground, and also hummed, "Hm."

"Don't worry, I'm not that petty," Wei Qingyue's voice held a smile again. His temper was unpredictable—terrible when it was bad, but also very good when it was good. At this moment, he teased Jiang Du, a deep, shimmering light beneath his smiling eyes. "Don't look like a punching bag. My nicotine craving is just kicking in, I need to find a spot. See, now you know this secret of mine too, don't you?"

The boy raised his hand and swept his hair back from his forehead. In that instant, he had an indescribable air of youthful vitality.

Jiang Du's heart thumped. It felt like she had eaten a passion fruit, both fragrant and sweet.

She tried her best to suppress the corners of her mouth from curling up. She nodded, wanting to say "I'll be going then," but in the end, she said nothing and left with her umbrella open.

Back in the classroom, her heart was still beating in a chaotic mess. It took a long while for it to calm down. Wang Jingjing was sneaking snacks again, even sharing them with the boys behind her. She asked Jiang Du if she wanted some, but Jiang Du looked at her several times as if she wanted to say something but held back.

"What's wrong?" Wang Jingjing tossed a potato chip into her mouth.

"Are you still going to write letters to... you know who?" Jiang Du felt ashamed of her own little scheme, but she pretended to be calm.

Wang Jingjing immediately understood. As if remembering something, she rummaged through her desk drawer for a long time. Then, as if seized by a fit, her energy suddenly returned. "I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it. Write! Let's finish this whole stack of letter paper. You told me last time, what was it... 'Everyone begins well, but few can see things through to the end'? Right, that's it! Just for the money spent on this letter paper, I can't let it go to waste!"

"It's so thick!" Jiang Du blushed and pretended to complain. "Fine, I'll treat it as writing practice."

The sound of rain continued. The school was shrouded in a sense of autumn, and the wind rustled drearily.

She knew that some things would be better once they were written down. Once she wrote it out, she could continue her studies without distractions, as if it didn't matter whether Wei Qingyue saw it or not.

"Greetings,

I saw your name on the notice board. First place, congratulations. Perhaps such an honor is commonplace for you, but for us, it's an object of heartfelt admiration. I believe you definitely have a brilliant future ahead of you, the brightest of futures.

What I just wrote sounds very official. My apologies.

It's raining today, and it's a bit chilly. I think we should wear more clothes so we don't get sick. I don't usually like this dreary season of autumn rain, but today I'm inexplicably happy and find the rain quite lovely. I wonder if you've noticed that the sound of rain falling on the school's bike shed is louder—I mean, compared to it falling on the ground (I suddenly realized this on the way back to the classroom when I passed the bike shed).

I don't know if you saw the last letter. It doesn't matter if you didn't. The most important thing is that I recorded everything I wanted to say to you. Although it's not the work of a famous author, the moment something is written down, it becomes eternal for the person involved.

I'm feeling a bit emotional today and wanted to share it with you.

It seems like nothing truly important happens in high school besides studying. In the eyes of teachers or parents, our emotions are like groaning for no reason, the woes of youth. I don't think that's true. Everyone has their own hardships, unknown to outsiders. Just as I've never believed that someone who commits suicide because of immense pain does so merely out of cowardice. Sometimes, adults, and even our peers, underestimate the complexity of a person's emotions, which makes one feel incredibly lonely. My writing this doesn't mean I'm a pessimistic person. Actually, what I want to say is, no matter what a person is currently enduring, as long as they still have a healthy body and a sharp mind, they should take stock of what they currently possess. That way, they won't feel so sad, and they can build confidence in life.

Sorry, I feel like I'm sounding like a teacher again. I hope you don't think I'm some old pedant.

Let me talk about something else. Every word I'm writing to you now is very important to me, second in importance only to studying. As long as I can write it down, I'm very, very happy. My wish for today is that everything goes well for you. This sentence won't expire. It's not like medicine or food that has a use-by date; it's infinite.

The rain hasn't stopped. Although I don't like autumn rain, I love falling asleep to its sound. It would be nice if this rain lasted all night. By the way, can you see the tree near the library from your window? I can see it from my window, just a shadowy figure. Every time I pass by there after evening self-study, even though I know it's a tree, I always mistake it for a person and get startled. I'm so silly.

Speaking of which, I remember a time at home when I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night. There was a family member's coat hanging in the living room, and in my daze, I thought someone was standing there. It scared me to death. Thinking back on it now, it's still pretty funny.

Unconsciously, I've written a lot of nonsense again. I always have this problem when I pick up a pen; my writing flows like a flooding river.

This is the second letter I've written to you. All the best."