Song Yu's words seemed to hit Wang Jie's sore spot even more, and he turned to glare angrily at Yue Zhishi.

'What are you staring at? I want to punch you back.' Yue Zhishi glared back impolitely.

Song Yu walked over to Yue Zhishi, took the watch, and lowered his head to put it on carefully. "If they try to bully you, you can hit back. Let them know you're not someone they can push around. But one punch from you, one kick from me, the emotions won't just cancel each other out. The rules aren't that simple."

After speaking, he looked into Yue Zhishi's eyes. "You have to learn to handle and solve problems yourself."

Jiang Yufan had been standing aside, quietly holding Yue Zhishi's schoolbag and watching, not daring to make a sound. Seeing Song Yu approach, he immediately and respectfully called out, "Senior Song Yu." Song Yu gave a slight nod and took Yue Zhishi's bag from his hands.

Of course, Yue Zhishi understood what Song Yu was saying. This couldn't go on forever; it was like what they said in TV dramas, when would the cycle of revenge ever end? Although Wang Jie bullied classmates, extorted protection money, and cursed at people, the remark he had made that day wasn't specifically targeted.

Yue Zhishi rubbed the tip of his nose, glanced at Song Yu, and mustered the courage to walk toward Wang Jie. Wang Jie thought he was about to make a move and had already assumed a hostile stance. "Don't think I'll be scared of you just because you brought your brother! I..."

"Do you remember the last thing you cursed at me in the washroom?" Yue Zhishi asked, looking into Wang Jie's eyes.

A very subtle emotion flickered in his large eyes, but Wang Jie noticed it and found it extremely awkward. "If you're going to fight, then just fight. What's with all the nonse..." Halfway through his curse, he suddenly stopped. He remembered the scene from that day.

Yue Zhishi continued, "You were right, that's why I was angry."

"I..." Wang Jie's words got stuck in his throat. He fought, caused trouble, skipped class, climbed over walls, and bullied classmates, doing everything the teachers told him not to. But he had long since become numb to it. What were these trivial matters? They were nothing. He was just an uneducated little delinquent, his future visible at a glance—he'd grow up to be an idle, good-for-nothing big delinquent.

But he never expected to feel a sense of guilt over a curse word.

"But it was wrong of me to hit you." Yue Zhishi lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry."

Things were not going at all as he had imagined. Wang Jie was a little flustered. He had only wanted to get back at the meddlesome Yue Zhishi, so he punctured his tire, had people block his way, and taught him a little lesson so he wouldn't dare to act like a hero in the future. But now, hearing Yue Zhishi's words and seeing the not-yet-faded bruise on his face, Wang Jie started to panic. In the end, he was the only one bluffing.

"You... don't you give me that pitiful look." Wang Jie said in a disgusted tone, but his fingers were clutching the fabric of his school uniform pants. "Look at your panda eye. I hit you too, so we're even."

After saying that, his tone softened. "That thing... what I said to you, I didn't mean it. I'm not that disgusting."

Jiang Yufan chimed in quietly from the side, "But you still bully classmates..."

"That's because he was bad-mouthing me behind my back first, he said my dad..." Wang Jie stopped abruptly, his expression a mix of anger and embarrassment. "...He spread my family's business around and called me a thief, telling the teacher to search my desk and bag. I don't have money, but I never stole his money!" He seemed a little agitated, his eyes turning red as he spoke of the matter, but he quickly realized the people in front of him still had a score to settle with him, and his tone changed. "...If he's going to spread rumors, then I'll just rob him in broad daylight, so what? Cheng Mingming deserves it!"

He seemed to know his justification was weak, which made his face flush even redder.

Yue Zhishi listened silently until he finished, watching his face, and suddenly realized the world was indeed more complex than he had imagined. Even he himself was no hero acting out of a sense of pure justice, but had only stepped forward and broken his low-profile way of life because a single phrase, "no parents to discipline you," had struck a nerve.

The person rescued, the rescuer, and the abuser—none of them were the black-and-white characters from a hot-blooded manga. At this moment, he couldn't even tell whether Cheng Mingming or Wang Jie was the victim of school bullying, and who was the perpetrator. Perhaps they were both, a symbiosis of conflict, which was why the cycle of humiliation and violence between them was endless.

Perhaps this was what Song Yu meant by things not canceling each other out.

"But you still can't bully classmates, that's wrong." Although his immature self couldn't offer a strategy to break the cycle, Yue Zhishi had learned his lesson. He looked into Wang Jie's eyes and said in a very serious tone, "Just like how I shouldn't have hit someone."

Wang Jie was silent for a few seconds. Yue Zhishi just stared at him, straight-on, as if eagerly awaiting a response. Wang Jie had never met such a strange person. He averted his face awkwardly. "I can't be bothered with you. You're a good boy, a good student. I'm not."

After speaking, he glanced at Song Yu, who was not far away. The other boy was also looking at him with a cold gaze. He felt a little intimidated, but a subtle, indescribable emotion, like envy, also rose in his heart.

It reminded him of his constantly embarrassing childhood memories, and he felt a little uncomfortable.

Wang Jie cleared his throat. "I'm leaving. I'm sorry about what happened today, too." He then pulled a crumpled twenty-yuan bill from his pocket, took Yue Zhishi's hand, and slapped it onto his palm. "Money to fix your tire. Here. I told them this was a stupid idea, but they had to egg me on, and now I even have to pay out of my own pocket. I'm telling you, we're really even this time. At school, let's just pretend we don't know each other. We'll stay out of each other's way."

After that, he picked up his school jacket from the ground, shook off the dust, and turned to walk toward the other end of the alley. His steps paused before the corner, and then he turned right, his figure disappearing.

Yue Zhishi looked down at the banknote in his hand, his feelings complicated, though he didn't know how to describe them. He had thought a dramatic scene like those in TV shows and manga would unfold, where he, as the protagonist, would defeat the bad guy and emerge victorious.

Now he realized that life rarely had invincible protagonists, nor did it have irredeemable villains. They were all just awkward kids who would do things they didn't mean out of impulse. Some could be laughed off, while others might sink deeper and deeper, eventually being swept away by various emotions and deviating from their original path.

If he had ignored Wang Jie's words back then, what happened later probably wouldn't have occurred.

However, if given another chance, Yue Zhishi would still have been angered by that sentence. Only, that time, he would have explained the situation to Wang Jie and demanded that Wang Jie apologize to his mother.

The other end of the alley was empty, and every car on the street seemed to be in a hurry. He didn't keep watching and turned around.

He believed Wang Jie would have apologized too.

With this feeling in his heart, Yue Zhishi returned to Song Yu's side. Song Yu handed him his schoolbag. "Let's go back and eat."

"Are you coming too?" Yue Zhishi looked up.

Song Yu nodded slightly, his face showing no sign of blaming him, which made Yue Zhishi feel much more relieved. Jiang Yufan sidled up to him. "This didn't unfold the way I thought it would. I thought you guys were going to have a big fight."

"We can't fight. Fighting is bad," Yue Zhishi stressed to him, and also to himself.

Jiang Yufan patted his shoulder with the gratification of an old man. "Not bad, you've grown up."

The three of them rode their bikes to the restaurant. Jiang Yufan and he rode side-by-side in the back at a leisurely pace. Yue Zhishi thought it was especially cool that Song Yu could control the handlebars with just one hand. Plus, with Jiang Yufan constantly praising how amazing Song Yu was and asking where he learned it, saying he wanted to sign up for classes too, Yue Zhishi found Song Yu even cooler.

Yue Zhishi didn't often bring friends to the restaurant. This was the first time, so Lin Rong was very happy. She prepared a large table of hearty dishes: steamed pork ribs with rice flour over a bed of pumpkin, steamed Wuchang Fish, stir-fried chicken gizzards with pickled peppers... a sight that left Jiang Yufan stunned.

"There's more coming," Yue Zhishi said, trying to stop Lin Rong. "This should be enough..."

"I've been waiting for you all for a long time. Try this braised beef brisket with water caltrops and vermicelli noodles. It's the last batch of water caltrops of the autumn. After this, you'll have to wait another year." Lin Rong lifted the lid of the clay pot, and a rich aroma wafted out. She scooped a spoonful onto Jiang Yufan's rice. "Eat up. It's been stewing for three hours. It'll melt in your mouth."

"Thank you, Auntie!" Jiang Yufan was pleasantly surprised and whispered to Yue Zhishi, "Your aunt is so nice and so warm. She's nothing like Senior at all." The last sentence was exceptionally quiet.

"He's not like Uncle Song either," Yue Zhishi whispered back. "My brother's traits skipped a generation; he takes after our maternal grandfather."

"Oh~ That makes sense."

Seeing Lin Rong's attention completely focused on the new little classmate, Yue Zhishi glanced at Song Yu, afraid he might get jealous of his mom. He wanted to get him some food. He raised his chopsticks and deliberated for a while, his eyes set on the piece of steamed pork rib on the very top—it was thick and juicy, looking delicious. Just as he was about to pick it up, Song Yu had already placed a serving of stir-fried three shredded vegetables into his bowl.

"Eat more vegetables," Song Yu said faintly.

Yue Zhishi was very happy. He still picked up the piece of rib he had chosen and placed it in Song Yu's bowl, giving the piece next to it to Jiang Yufan. Then, he ate a strand of shredded wild rice stem with some smugness, believing himself to be the most considerate person in the world.

After she was done, Lin Rong also sat down. The meal consisted almost entirely of her and Jiang Yufan chatting, talking about Yue Zhishi's life at school and also about his childhood. Yue Zhishi would occasionally chime in, but most of the time he was just eating. To him, eating was a very important matter; one had to focus on savoring the delicious food.

"Auntie, I heard from Lele that he learned Taekwondo when he was a kid."

Hearing this, Yue Zhishi's head shot up.

Lin Rong nodded. "Yes, he did for a while. His older brother learned for much longer."

Jiang Yufan said, "That's so cool. Why didn't I sign up for a class when I was a kid? My mom really let me down."

"Pfft." Lin Rong was amused by him. "I also thought it'd be cool for boys to practice that, and it's good for their health, so I sent them both. Especially our Lele, he was weak and sickly since he was little, with a very poor constitution. I even have videos of it, videos of Lele as a kid kicking a wooden board with his little short legs. It's super cute."

Yue Zhishi emphasized seriously, "My legs were the longest among the boys in my class."

"Yes, yes, who doesn't grow up from having little short legs?" Lin Rong continued, "Learning that was pretty tough. For the basic training and stuff, they had to run ten laps around the training ground."

Song Yu suddenly remembered something. Having been silent all this time, he suddenly let out a laugh. It wasn't loud, but it was particularly attention-grabbing. All three of them looked at him. Only then did Song Yu clear his throat. "It's nothing. Just thought of someone who couldn't keep up running and was punished by the coach."

Jiang Yufan knew at once he was talking about Yue Zhishi. "What was your punishment?"

Yue Zhishi frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered. He was the youngest in the class at the time, only six years old, and couldn't keep up at all. Forget ten laps, he'd plop down on the ground after just one. The coach couldn't persuade him no matter what he said. Finally, he came up with an idea—he tied a tether around his waist, with the other end fixed to Song Yu's waist, and had Song Yu lead him while running.

Song Yu had grumbled about it and worn a dark face, but he still did as the coach said and dragged the little burden along. The two little guys in their white Taekwondo uniforms, one in front of the other, huffed and puffed until the sun set, and they actually finished the entire run.

When the coach untied the tether, he had even said with a smile, "Looks like having an older brother is a good thing. With an older brother, you can persevere."

Thinking back on it, Yue Zhishi felt extremely embarrassed, so he used all sorts of diversionary tactics to steer the conversation away from the punishment. Jiang Yufan was also easy-going, and he forgot all about it once there was something else to talk about.

"His brother practiced until his first year of senior high before stopping. Lele's health is a bit weaker, so he only learned until he graduated from elementary school. He's more suited for art class."

"Right, Lele's manga drawings are really good. Our class bulletin board is always drawn by him."

Seeing the topic finally change, Yue Zhishi breathed a sigh of relief and pouted at Song Yu. Song Yu pretended not to see, calmly serving himself a bowl of soup. He didn't eat much, sipping a bowl of fish soup for a long time. Only when everyone was almost finished did he ask if there was any dessert, which reminded Lin Rong.

"Right, I made a chestnut and taro paste box cake today." After saying that, Lin Rong got up to get it, then brought out the cut cake. "One piece for each of you."

"I'm not having any." Song Yu refused the cake.

"Then why did you ask me if there was dessert?" Lin Rong chided, pushing his portion over to Yue Zhishi. "Lele, you eat it."

Yue Zhishi was more than happy to. This was one of his favorite cakes. The cakes from regular dessert shops were made with wheat flour, so he could only look but not eat, and he had been craving it for a long time. Lin Rong had been very busy recently, so it had been a long while since he had a delicious cake.

Something came up at the restaurant, and the manager called Lin Rong away. Only the few of them were left at the small round table. Song Yu's fingers tapped against his red teacup. After a moment of silence, he spoke, "Why was your phone off?"

"Huh?" Yue Zhishi's mouth was stuffed full. He blinked in confusion, then looked at Jiang Yufan. Only then did Jiang Yufan remember. "Oh, right, I have your phone." He fished Yue Zhishi's phone out of his pocket. It was indeed off.

He scratched his hair. "Sorry, I used up the battery. I was on the phone for too long. My mom is super long-winded."

Song Yu understood. He glanced at Yue Zhishi. "It's fine. Eat your cake."

Before Jiang Yufan left, Lin Rong packed him some small cakes of other flavors and saw him out. Yue Zhishi wanted to see him off too, but he was too full to move. Seeing Jiang Yufan repeatedly wave for him to go back, Yue Zhishi simply sat down on the marble steps at the entrance and gave him a proper send-off.

A moment later, Song Yu also walked out and sat down beside him, about half an arm's length away.

The scene was very familiar, making Yue Zhishi involuntarily think of his last experience as a mascot, and he almost burst out laughing.

It seemed they had taken a picture that day too. Because it was so ugly, his younger self had forbidden Lin Rong from putting it in the photo album, even threatening to burn it.

Back then, Song Yu had also very reluctantly promised that he wouldn't get into fights in the future. But today, he had broken that promise.

Yue Zhishi pursed his lips and turned his head to look at him. "Brother Song Yu, why did you come today?"

Song Yu had expected Yue Zhishi to ask this. He was the most direct and straightforward kid in the world, one who never hid anything. So he had long thought of a way to divert the topic.

He held out his right wrist for Yue Zhishi to see.

Song Yu's wrist was extremely red, as if it had been sprained, and there was even a faint hint of a bruise. Yue Zhishi instantly forgot about his interrogation. He gently cupped the red area with both hands, as if afraid to look at it, and then asked in a slightly pitiful voice, "Does it hurt a lot?"

As if he were the one in pain.

Song Yu didn't speak, only observed him, like observing some kind of small animal.

"If you don't say anything, it means it hurts."

Song Yu then denied it flatly, "It doesn't hurt."

"Saying it doesn't hurt means it hurts." After saying that, Yue Zhishi got up. "I'll go get you some ice to put on it!" But he was pulled back down by Song Yu.

"Calm down a bit."

Yue Zhishi had no choice but to sit obediently beside him. Suddenly, he thought of something else, took Song Yu's left hand, and looked at the watch. "You're going to be late."

"Not going."

Yue Zhishi couldn't believe it. "Not going? You're going to skip a whole afternoon of class?"

Song Yu propped his elbow on his bent leg, supporting his chin, and stretched out his other leg. His tone was uncharacteristically lazy. "I've already gotten into a fight. What's skipping class?"

"You can't." Yue Zhishi grabbed his arm. "Didn't you just tell me that fighting is bad and doesn't solve problems? Now you're fighting and skipping class..."

Song Yu cut him off. "Having one good kid in our family is enough."

The late autumn wind blew Yue Zhishi's bangs up, revealing his smooth forehead and those clear, translucent pupils.

"But a bad kid will corrupt a good kid."

Song Yu rarely felt the urge to scrutinize anyone, but sometimes he was truly curious where Yue Zhishi got so many "whys" and "buts," curious what supported his straightforward desire for expression. Was it an overprotected innocence, or that earnest kind of foolishness he carried in his bones?

There was always a sincere fire burning in his eyes, as if he was afraid Song Yu wouldn't see it, so it would never go out.

Simple things often induce two extreme emotions.

The desire to protect, and the desire to destroy.

"Then are you afraid of being corrupted by me?" Song Yu looked at him.