“J-Just now, a really big gust of wind blew by... sand got into my eyes... I’m not crying. I’m a strong boy. Dad said I’m just as brave as a girl.”

After Xu Yuting’s gentle soothing, Zhao Anqing finally lifted his little face from his knees.

The boy’s delicate face was a little damp. His bright, sparkling eyes were red, making him look like a timid little animal that stirred people’s pity.

“Mhm, mhm. Anqing is very strong, even stronger than me. It’s just sand in your eyes, so don’t cry anymore, okay?”

A soft expression rested on Xu Yuting’s pretty little face. She dug through her pocket and pulled out a crumpled tissue.

She wanted to wipe the tear tracks off the boy’s face, but the tissue had already been used, so she couldn’t do that.

Seeing Zhao Anqing like this made her heart ache. It was like her own precious treasure had been chipped just a little by accident.

“No crying, no crying. The sand already came out with the tears. My eyes don’t hurt anymore, and I won’t cry anymore.”

The comfort from his new friend eased the lonely, helpless boy quite a bit. At least he didn’t feel as awful as before.

“Do you want to come play at my house? My house is super fun. I have princess dolls, and lots and lots of tasty things too.”

Xu Yuting could vaguely hear a man and a woman arguing inside the boy’s house. Clever as she was, she understood right away that his parents were fighting.

“C-Can I? I can really go play at your house?”

A trace of longing appeared on the boy’s face. No friend had ever invited him over before. This was the first time.

“Mm. Come with me. I’ll take you to my house right now.”

Xu Yuting took the initiative to reach out. With her soft little hand, she held the boy’s hand and led him toward her home.

The girl really pitied this boy, and she truly wanted him to visit her house.

“B-But... won’t your mom mind?”

Zhao Anqing felt a little uneasy, but he still let the girl pull him along.

“She won’t. She’s not back yet!”

As the girl spoke, she led the boy to her front door.

She used the key hanging around her neck to open it.

Unlike the boy’s house, which hit you with a nasty moldy smell the moment you stepped in, Xu Yuting’s home was clean and tidy, with all the furniture and appliances one could need.

“I... I’d better not go in... M-My shoes are dirty... I’ll dirty your floor...”

The boy stood there blankly at the doorway, not daring to take a step for a long while.

Her floor was covered in snow-white tiles, so clean that it felt almost wrong to stain them.

The boy didn’t dare move. He was afraid of ruining that cleanliness.

“Ah, Anqing, why are you being so distant? It’s okay. Just come in. It doesn’t matter if the floor gets dirty. Mom can mop it anyway.”

Xu Yuting had been looking forward to what fun games they could play together, but seeing that he didn’t dare come in, she hurriedly spoke up.

“I’d better not... If Dad and Mom can’t find me later, they’ll get worried. I should go home.”

The boy turned back and glanced at the dim house across from them, then looked at the girl’s brightly lit home.

He started to feel a little inferior... like maybe he wasn’t worthy of being her friend.

“We’re neighbors. If your mom calls for you, you’ll definitely hear it from my house too. Come in. We can play games together and eat fruit together.”

Seeing that the boy seemed about to leave, Xu Yuting got a little anxious. She grabbed his hand and tugged him into her house.

“It’s dirty. I’ll make it dirty.”

The boy was at a complete loss. He didn’t dare lift his feet, afraid his grimy shoes would leave ugly marks on the clean white tiles.

“I already said it’s fine. Don’t you think of me as your friend? Teacher said friends aren’t supposed to be this polite with each other.”

The girl was a little troubled by how overly polite and restrained he was, but she wasn’t angry.

“I do think of Yuting as a good friend...”

The boy hurried to explain. He treasured this hard-won friendship more than anything.

“If you really think of me as a friend... then don’t be scared of dirtying my floor. Isn’t a floor meant to be stepped on? It’s fine if it gets dirty. It’s not as important as my friend.”

“Look, didn’t I leave dark footprints myself?”

Xu Yuting deliberately started hopping around. She had just come back from the children’s park after playing wildly for a while, and her little shoes were already dirty. Clear marks appeared on the white floor beneath her feet.

“Mm... okay...”

After her little lecture, the boy relaxed a bit.

“Come on, let’s go upstairs. There’s candy in the living room, and cookies too...”

Seeing the time was right, the girl happily pulled Zhao Anqing toward the second floor.

The snow-white floor was left with the marks of these two children.

Compared to the boy’s house, with its pitch-dark stairs and no railing, Xu Yuting’s staircase was not only spacious, but also had sturdy railings. The difference was obvious at a glance.

The boy saw it all.

He wasn’t jealous. He just felt that maybe he and Yuting weren’t all that suited to being... friends.

His mother had said before that rich people always looked down on poor people like them.

There was no doubt that Xu Yuting’s family had already left poverty behind.

Even though the girl was warm and kind to him now.

He was still afraid she’d find out how poor his family was. Their stairs didn’t even have railings... the floor was rough cement, and the walls weren’t even painted...

Even at such a young age, because of his family, he had already developed a sense of inferiority. He felt he was no good, and not worthy of being the girl’s friend.

The two children weren’t slow. They quickly reached the second floor and arrived at the living room.

There were several luxurious long sofas, a huge LCD TV, a fan hanging from the ceiling, and on a square table sat all kinds of fruit and a whole spread of snacks.

For a moment, the boy didn’t even know where to look. To him, these things were so unfamiliar, so far away. They were things that would never appear in his own home.

“Come on, let’s eat some fruit first.”

Xu Yuting’s thoughts were very simple right now.

She just wanted to warmly treat her new friend.

She brought the boy into the living room and plopped down onto the sofa. It was so soft and springy that the light little girl even bounced a bit.

The boy didn’t dare do the same. He only clenched his little hands and stood stiffly to the side.

If he sat down, he’d definitely dirty it, right?

His father had said that when you were out at someone else’s place, you had to be careful not to dirty or break their things, because you’d have to pay for them.

“Hmm? Sit.”

Xu Yuting rolled around freely on the sofa a few times. When she sat up, she saw the boy still standing there, not daring to move recklessly.

“I... I like standing.”

Looking at the floor, the boy spoke in a small voice.

“You’re lying. Standing makes your legs tired. Sit too.”

Xu Yuting pulled him down to sit again.

She hoped Anqing wouldn’t be so distant, and would just treat this place like his own home.

“So soft...”

Pressed close beside the girl, the boy finally sat on the soft sofa too, and couldn’t help letting out a quiet sigh of amazement.

“Of course a sofa is soft. Eat something. Just take whatever you like, don’t be shy. We’re friends. Sharing good things with friends is only natural.”

Xu Yuting stretched out her pale little fingers and pointed at the dazzling spread of snacks and fruit on the table.

“I’m not hungry. You eat... I already had dinner at home just now...”

The fruit and candy looked expensive at a glance. There were many things the boy had never even seen before. He wanted to eat them, but didn’t dare. He only glanced once, then pretended nothing had happened and looked away.

He had already eaten her chocolate candy before, and he’d never given her anything in return.

Even though he was still little, he didn’t want to keep taking advantage of his friend.

“It’s fine even if you’re full. Have some fruit after your meal. Mom always tells me to.”

Xu Yuting raised a hand, picked up a green apple, and held it out to him.

She didn’t know whether the boy was really full or just pretending. She simply really wanted to share good things with him.

“No, thanks. I really can’t eat anymore.”

He could already smell the faint fragrance of the green apple at the tip of his nose. His mouth started producing saliva on its own, and he quickly shook his head and turned down her kindness.

“I see. Then do you want a drink? There’s apple vinegar, Coke, and Sprite in the fridge. Which one do you want?”

The girl looked disappointed. After taking back the green apple, she enthusiastically started introducing drinks to him instead.

“Um... do you have plain boiled water?”

Out of everything Xu Yuting listed, the boy only recognized Sprite. But he didn’t want to drink that either... He only wanted something he could afford to repay.

“Of course we do. But plain water has no taste at all. It’s not good. It’s hot out, so drinking something cold feels way better.”

The girl ran over to the fridge, tugged the door open with effort, stood on tiptoe to take out two bottles of apple vinegar, kicked the fridge door shut with her leg, then ran back.

“Drink this. It’s really good.”

Very kindly, the girl opened one bottle first and handed over the cold apple vinegar.

“I... I still want plain water...”

The boy didn’t know whether he should take it, and spoke weakly.

“We’d have to boil water again. That takes forever, and once it’s boiled it’ll be too hot for your mouth. Drink this. This one tastes good.”

The girl warmly recommended her favorite drink.

She wanted the boy to like this drink too. That way, the two of them would have one more thing in common.

“Then... forget it. I’m not really that thirsty. You can drink it.”

Looking at the drink so close to him, the boy gritted his teeth and refused.

He was very curious what apple vinegar tasted like. But if he drank something that belonged to her, how was he supposed to repay it? He knew very clearly that he could never get a bottle like this himself.

The boy wanted to go home.

Even if this place was a thousand times, ten thousand times better than his own home, it still wasn’t his home. If he stayed any longer, he’d only grow more restless, afraid he might accidentally dirty something or break something...

“Just try it. Just one little sip. If it tastes bad, we’ll throw it away. Try it.”

The girl practically brought the drink right up to the boy’s lips, staring at him eagerly, hoping he’d take even one small sip.

“No, really no...”

The boy leaned his head back, refusing no matter what.

“Drink it...”

Xu Yuting was getting a little anxious. She didn’t understand why the boy kept rejecting her kindness like this. She only wanted to share something with him, to make him happy too.

“Ah—”

Maybe she moved too much. By accident, she spilled nearly half the bottle onto the boy.

“Hiss...”

The drink had just come out of the fridge. Being suddenly drenched with it made Zhao Anqing suck in a sharp breath.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to...”

The girl panicked and blurted out apology after apology. She quickly grabbed tissues from the nearby table, wanting to wipe him clean.

“It’s okay. I haven’t bathed yet anyway. I can just wash up when I go back.”

The boy didn’t lose his temper over it. He could tell Xu Yuting hadn’t done it on purpose.

“I’m sorry, Anqing. You won’t stop being my friend because of this, right?”

Xu Yuting treasured her friendship with the boy just as much. She was afraid this would ruin the bond they had only just built.

“I won’t. I know Yuting didn’t mean it. I already forgive you.”

The boy hurried to say it.

“...You’re so nice!”

If it were her getting drenched in a drink, Xu Yuting felt sure she'd have blown up on the spot. But now that she was the one who messed up, she felt really embarrassed. When she heard the boy forgive her, she brightened up again.

“Mm, it’s nothing...”

The boy quietly tugged at his clothes. They were sticky and cold, clinging to his skin. It made him really uncomfortable.

“Yuting, can I use the bathroom?”

He wanted to wash himself off a little, and use the toilet while he was at it. There was no water at home, and bathing was out of the question. What he said just now was only to keep the girl from blaming herself too much.

“Yes! I’ll take you there.”

The girl was still worried that what happened just now might affect their friendship. Right away, she brought out two hundred percent enthusiasm, wanting to make up for her mistake.

“There, the bathroom’s inside. I’ll turn on the light for you first.”

The girl was like a little grown-up, thoughtful in every way. She even turned on the light for him.

“Mhm, I’ll be out in a bit.”

The boy peeked inside the bathroom. Everything in there was equipment he didn’t recognize, and it was even bigger than his own room.

He hurried in and shut the door.

When a boy used the bathroom, a girl wasn’t supposed to see. That was what Dad had taught him.

“Anqing... he’s not going to hate me, is he? It’s all my fault for being so clumsy.”

Xu Yuting waited outside the bathroom. Her mind was completely on the boy she had only just met. She was afraid he would dislike her, and wanted to cheer him up.

Inside the bathroom.

Gurgle, gurgle.

The boy relieved himself. When he was done, he wanted to flush.

But he realized there wasn’t a bucket of water anywhere nearby.

What was he supposed to do now?

Using someone else’s bathroom and not flushing was very rude.

“How do Yuting and the others flush it... I’m so dumb. I don’t know...”

In fact, there was a flush button right beside the urinal. But the boy had never used one before, so he didn’t understand. He was still looking around for something that could hold water.

Back home, the faucet used to leak, so Dad always kept a red bucket there to catch the water. After using the toilet, they would use that water to flush.

He looked around again and again, but still couldn’t find anything to hold water.

Then the boy came up with the dumbest solution possible.

He used his own hands as a container, scooping up water to flush the urinal.

He ran back and forth more than a dozen times like a fool, working up a hot sweat. Only then did he finally get the urinal clean.

“Phew... that was hard...”

The boy wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was completely exhausted.

“Anqing... are you okay?”

When the girl outside saw that Zhao Anqing still hadn’t come out, she couldn’t help getting worried, so she called out to him.

“I’m done. Coming out now.”

The boy quickly used his still-wet hands to rub at the spot where the drink had spilled earlier, that sticky patch, then swiftly opened the bathroom door.

Outside the door stood the little girl, her face full of worry, standing there stiffly.