Chapter 2

Duan Chen was the kid next door, the quintessential “boy next door” in the traditional sense.

When I was busy teasing cats and dogs as a child, Duan Chen would be lying obediently at the desk inside his house, diligently doing his homework.

I held a tree branch as tall as myself and poked at the cactus he had placed by the window. “Duan Chen, come down and play!”

Duan Chen refused; he had homework to finish.

So I kept poking.

Every few days, the cactus at his house would be poked into a mess by me, until eventually, they stopped keeping any green plants.

From shooting slingshots to break other people’s windows to skipping class and sneaking into shady internet cafes, Duan Chen was always the one cleaning up after me.

I was the wild child no one bothered to discipline, and over time, Duan Chen’s mom became half a mom to me.

She would scold and punish me when necessary, but when I came home bloodied from fighting with others, she would secretly shed tears.

I practically lived at Duan Chen’s house, inseparable from him.

I don’t know if it was because he spent too much time with me, but Duan Chen eventually learned how to skip class, smoke, fight, and even how to fall in love.

The loose school uniform hung casually over his shoulders, one arm wrapped around a gentle and sweet girl. He shot me a smug grin and said, “Li Yucheng, this is my girlfriend. Pretty, huh?”

The tender stirrings of youth were extinguished by the drizzle of the plum rain season. For the first time in my life, I regretted teaching Duan Chen to go astray.