Later, Miao Jiayan went inside and changed into a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, looking much more capable and tidy.

After changing, he probably thought about it and felt a little embarrassed, because he said out of the blue, "That was my older sister's dress. She didn't want it anymore."

Chen Chao wasn't the kind of kid who could chat with a little girl about this sort of thing. It was too strange, so he didn't make a sound or respond.

Miao Jiayan didn't say anything more either, and the atmosphere became a bit awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, it wasn't awkward for long. Miao Jiayan got a small metal basin and went to the backyard to pick over a dozen small persimmons, each about the size of an egg.

"Do you want some?" Miao Jiayan asked Chen Chao.

Chen Chao shook his head. "No."

Miao Jiayan washed all the persimmons, kept one for himself to eat, and put the rest in a plastic bag.

Chen Chao watched him go over to the water well, hoist up the bucket from within, put the persimmons into the bucket, and lower it back down.

"What are you doing?" Chen Chao asked.

"This way, they can get a little chilled," Miao Jiayan said, turning back with a smile. "My grandma can't eat things that are too cold, so I can't put them in the fridge. Chilling them in the well water is just right."

Chen Chao asked, "Does that work?"

"Of course it works." As Miao Jiayan spoke, she cranked the bucket back up, poured a little water into the small basin, and brought it over with a cheerful smile on her face. "Touch it."

Chen Chao reached in and touched it. The water was ice-cold, even a bit biting.

This surprised the city kid. Miao Jiayan explained, "Well water is always very cold."

Grandma Chen's house didn't have a well, and he had never seen one. The ice-cold feeling was truly pleasant in the scorching summer heat. Chen Chao reached out and touched it again. Miao Jiayan smiled beside him and said, "Tomorrow, I'll chill a watermelon and bring it over for you."

Chen Chao quickly said, "No need."

"If you don't eat it, Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen will. They can't eat things that are too cold either. In the summer, I always chill things in the well before cutting them for them."

Chen Chao, sitting there, looked up at Miao Jiayan and said, "Thanks."

Miao Jiayan shook his head vigorously a couple of times, his hair swinging along with the movement. He gave a very genuine laugh. "No need. Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen are very good to me."

Actually, Miao Jiayan wasn't considered pretty. In Chen Chao's eyes, his features were even a bit "thin," a very plain appearance—the type that wouldn't attract much attention from the boys at school. He was very thin and small, with no fat on his face, and his eyelids were thin.

Just now, when he had genuinely smiled and shaken his head, Chen Chao suddenly realized that Miao Jiayan looked a bit like a boy.

Saying this would be too hurtful to a little girl's pride, so Chen Chao, being considerate, didn't mention it.

He had helped someone wash vegetables, and they had chatted on and off. The distant air about Chen Chao naturally dissipated a little.

His usual aloofness wasn't intentional; in this, he was like his mom. Back then, Chen Guangda had been captivated by that same aloofness in Jiang Li. He pursued her for two years before finally winning her over. Jiang Li said she got it from her dad. For all these years, Chen Guangda had disliked going to Chen Chao's maternal grandparents' home. Chen Chao's maternal grandparents were both cultured people. The Jiang Family had been a prominent family in the city, and the whole family had a certain air of self-importance. Chen Guangda seemed extremely out of place there.

Since childhood, Chen Chao had never run wild outside like other kids. He didn't like playing with others. Chen Guangda said that other than inheriting a bit of his handsome looks, Chen Chao was nothing like him in any other way.

The next day, when Miao Jiayan arrived at the Chen Family's house carrying half a watermelon, Chen Chao was on the verge of a breakdown, tormented by mosquito bites all over his body.

As soon as Miao Jiayan stepped into the courtyard and saw his frowning, extremely irritable face, he stopped in his tracks, stunned.

Chen Chao was too annoyed to speak; a single glance in his direction served as a greeting.

"You..." Miao Jiayan asked timidly, holding the watermelon, "What's wrong?"

Chen Chao stood there, pinching a large bite on his elbow, and said, "It's nothing."

Grandma Chen came out with a soap dish, saw Miao Jiayan was there, and greeted him, "Miao'er, you're here?"

"Yeah, for watermelon, Grandma Chen." Miao Jiayan walked over, put down the watermelon, and then looked back at Chen Chao.

"Chilling watermelon for Grandma again?" Grandma Chen said to him with a smile. "We'll cut it open and eat together later."

"I've already eaten. You guys go ahead," Miao Jiayan said in a low voice.

Miao Jiayan was still a little afraid of Chen Chao. Seeing him like that, he didn't dare to speak.

Grandma Chen waved Chen Chao over, wanting to rub soap on him.

Miao Jiayan asked Grandma Chen in an even quieter voice, "What's wrong with him?"

"Last night, he thought it was too hot and didn't use the mosquito net, so he got bitten by mosquitoes." Grandma Chen always had a smiling face when she spoke. She was good-tempered and easygoing.

Chen Chao walked over with a sour look on his face, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts. There were at least a dozen visible bites on his exposed arms and calves. Looking closer, there were many more on his chin and neck.

Even Miao Jiayan, a country kid, was shocked by the sight. He couldn't help but gasp, "Good heavens!"

"So many..." Miao Jiayan's eyes widened.

"He slept with the window open. He doesn't know how vicious the mosquitoes are here at night." Grandma Chen naturally felt bad for her grandson, but as she applied soapy water to his skin, she also felt a little like laughing. "How can you attract mosquitoes so much? When your dad was little, the mosquitoes didn't even like to bite him."

The soapy water wasn't working at all. After it was applied, the bites were still itchy, and it actually made it harder to scratch. Just after she had finished one arm, Chen Chao was so irritated he kept sucking in his breath.

Miao Jiayan said, "Grandma Chen, don't apply any more. I'll go back and get that..."

No one knew what he was going to get, but he ran off.

"Miao'er is a good kid. You should play together more often. Don't always be cooped up by yourself," Grandma said to Chen Chao.

Chen Chao was about to go crazy from the mosquitoes. He just wanted to get out of there quickly. It was unclear if he had even heard what his grandma was saying.

"Tomorrow, I'll have Grandpa install a fan for you. You absolutely can't open the window at night anymore." Grandma blew on the bites on the back of Chen Chao's neck and said, her heart aching, "You've been bitten all raw."

When Miao Jiayan ran back, he was holding a small jar. He said as he ran, "When I get bitten, my grandma puts this on for me. It makes it feel cool."

He was holding a small jar of cooling balm. Unscrewing the lid revealed a green paste inside.

Chen Chao glanced at it. The thought of having that green glob smeared on him was a bit unacceptable.

"It works really well. Once it feels cool, it won't be so itchy," Miao Jiayan said, dipping her finger in. She stood behind Chen Chao and dabbed a bit on his neck with her finger.

Chen Chao felt his neck being touched. He turned to see it was Miao Jiayan and abruptly dodged to the side.

Seeing that he wouldn't let him touch him, Miao Jiayan reached out to hand him the whole jar.

Chen Chao thought he was going to try again, let out a cry of "Hey," and dodged several steps away.

Seeing how disgusted he was, Miao Jiayan could only ask, a little confused, "It's better than soapy water. Doesn't it feel cool?"

It wasn't a matter of whether it felt cool or not. How could he let a little girl rub his neck? For the umpteenth time, Chen Chao was shocked by how unconcerned the kids here were.

The irritable expression on Chen Chao's face receded a bit with embarrassment. He looked at Miao Jiayan and only said, "...It's pretty cool, thanks."

"Then let Grandma Chen help you apply it. I'm going home now." Miao Jiayan gave the cooling balm to Grandma Chen, said goodbye to her, and prepared to leave.

Halfway out, he turned back and said, "You can keep this and use it... You really are a mosquito magnet."

Chen Chao couldn't stand the smell of mosquito coils. He usually slept with a mosquito net. Last night, the weather was unbearably stuffy. Even with the window open, no breeze came in, so he had no choice but to open the mosquito net as well. That night was like a disaster for Chen Chao. Covering himself with a thin blanket was too hot to sleep, but uncovering himself felt like being buried by mosquitoes.

Chen Guangda's business failed. The family lost their house and car. Chen Chao had never cared about these things; kids don't care about that stuff. Jiang Li couldn't take it anymore and divorced Chen Guangda. His parents sat him down seriously, told him they were divorcing, and asked him to choose who to live with. Chen Chao looked from one to the other and said, "With my dad."

Chen Chao had grown up riding on Chen Guangda's neck. If he asked for the stars, Chen Guangda wouldn't give him the moon. So even though the unreliable Chen Guangda had lost their home and everything, Chen Chao still chose to stay with him.

But on this night when he was about to be eaten alive by mosquitoes, at two in the morning, Chen Chao pulled his phone, which hadn't been turned on for days, out of his schoolbag and sent his dad a text message.

—You two should get divorced again. I want to choose again.

Chen Guangda replied at 5:30 in the morning: What's wrong, son?

Chen Chao was later driven crazy by the bites. He stopped caring; let them bite. He had just fallen asleep when his dad texted back. When he woke up later and saw it, he didn't reply.

Miao Jiayan's jar of cooling balm greatly eased Chen Chao's irritation, making him much more comfortable. Whenever he felt an itch, he would apply a little. The small jar was soon more than half used up.

Their rooms' windows faced each other. Chen Chao only found this out several days later.

One evening, it rained a little. A rare cool breeze filled the air. There were no mosquitoes on rainy days. Chen Chao opened his window and stood by it, enjoying the breeze.

A moment later, the curtains of the opposite window were also drawn open. A hand inside removed the window screen and pushed the window open.

The two of them made eye contact. Chen Chao hadn't expected it was him living in that room. He was a bit surprised. Miao Jiayan greeted him first. He called out, "Not asleep yet?"

Chen Chao said, "Not yet."

"It's cool today, but you should still use your mosquito net," Miao Jiayan said with a smile.

That went without saying. Ever since that night, Chen Chao's mosquito net stayed up even during the day.

Although they were a bit more familiar with each other now, Chen Chao still had nothing to say. After exchanging just a few sentences, they both went to bed.

Chen Chao was like a little guest, behaving properly. In contrast, Miao Jiayan, much of the time, was like a little hostess, awkwardly helping the adults entertain the guest.

There was a lot of work in the fields during the summer, so the grandparents were often not at home. Whenever there was no one home, Miao Jiayan would proactively go over to look after Chen Chao, and occasionally Chen Chao would go over to help him pick some vegetables.

Of course, Miao Jiayan was just a child himself, a year younger than Chen Chao. No matter how sensible or considerate he was, he was, after all, still just a kid. There would be times when he didn't look after him so well.

Miao Jiayan went to the backyard to pick vegetables and got his hands covered in mud. It just so happened that the water was out today, so Chen Chao had to draw water from the well to help him wash his hands.

There were two steps by the well. Chen Chao had drawn water a few times before, so he knew what to do. It took a long time to crank up a full bucket of water. Chen Chao poured out half a basin of water, leaving more than half a bucket. He put the bucket back in the well, closed the well cover, and went to pick up the basin.

Miao Jiayan was standing at the washing sink, waiting to wash his hands. When he looked up, he was so startled that he quickly yelled, "Hey!"

But it was obviously too late. The crank handle on the windlass spun backward and struck Chen Chao, who was just standing up, right in the face. The impact made Chen Chao's head snap back violently. He almost dropped the basin.

"Heavens!" Miao Jiayan quickly ran over. Chen Chao was dazed from the blow, and his vision was going black.

"Let me see, let me see," Miao Jiayan took the basin from Chen Chao's hands and put it on the ground. He grabbed Chen Chao's wrist and pulled away the hand he was using to cover his eye. "Where did it hit you?"

The area around Chen Chao's brow bone and eye socket had already turned red quickly, and you could see it was slightly swollen. It would probably swell up even more later.

Chen Chao couldn't speak. He was bent over slightly, pressing the back of his hand to the spot, only able to suck in sharp breaths from the pain.

"When there's water in the bucket, you have to let it down a bit, or stand further away, otherwise it has a lot of force." It was the first time Miao Jiayan had ever spoken so quickly. Anxiously, he also bent over to look at Chen Chao's face. "Does it hurt a lot?"

Miao Jiayan didn't care about his muddy hands anymore. He supported Chen Chao's elbow and had him sit on the steps by the well. "Don't cover it, let me see..."

The initial sharp pain had subsided a little. Chen Chao said, "I'm fine."

Miao Jiayan was terrified. He leaned over to look at his eye. He wanted to touch him but his hands were dirty, so he didn't care if they were clean or not anymore. He wiped his hands on his clothes, pointed at Chen Chao's right eye, and asked, "Did it hit your eye just now? This eye is really red now."

He was too close. A few strands of his hair hung down and brushed against Chen Chao's face. Chen Chao leaned back a little and said, "It's fine, it's better now."

This proximity was really uncomfortable. Even though Chen Chao was in so much pain, he couldn't stop thinking: What is with these country kids? Can't she stand a little farther away from me?