"He ran off?" Chen Guangda looked at Chen Chao. "Was he looking for you? You've got a little girlfriend here?"

Chen Guangda himself was frivolous, so Grandma guessed right away he had gotten the wrong idea. With a "Hmph," she said, "Your Auntie Miao's grandson from next door."

"Auntie Miao's little grandson? He's gotten that big?" Chen Guangda subconsciously glanced back at the already closed courtyard gate, asking in surprise, "Why does he keep his hair so long?"

Grandma said, "He's been dressed like that since he was little. He's got delicate features too, so at first glance, he looks like a little girl."

"What were his parents thinking," Chen Guangda said with a laugh. "I really thought he was a girl just now."

"They raised him like a little girl when he was young, and now it's too late to change him back," Grandma said. "He's a very good kid."

"His dad doesn't do anything about it?" Chen Guangda thought of Miao Jian and found it incredible. "With his dad's stinking temper, he can stand it?"

"Of course he can't stand it, but he can't control him either." Grandma recalled the time Miao Jiayan's father had forcibly dragged him to get a haircut, and he had struggled so much that a pair of scissors had cut his neck. She said with a pained heart, "Because it's always like this, his parents don't like him either. The kid is usually just dumped at your Auntie Miao's place, with no one to look after him."

Chen Guangda wasn't much older than Miao Jian; they had also grown up playing together. Since he was a child, Chen Guangda had been good-tempered and always smiling, while Miao Jian often wore a long face and would get into fights at the drop of a hat.

"He's so grown up now, he must be hard to manage," Chen Guangda said casually.

"What's there to manage." Chen Chao, who had been silent until now, spoke up from the side. "They have too much time on their hands, meddling with the length of his hair."

When Miao Jiayan ran back into his own courtyard, the pop-its his two younger brothers were throwing happened to land right at his feet. The exploding firecracker hit Miao Jiayan's calf.

The younger brother felt he had caused trouble, a hint of guilt in his eyes, but they usually didn't talk to Miao Jiayan. Now, trying to maintain his childish pride, he kept his mouth shut and didn't apologize. Miao Jiayan moved aside, didn't look at them, and went straight inside.

"You're back?" his Youngest Aunt asked when she saw him.

Miao Jiayan replied with an "en" and walked past the roomful of people, heading straight upstairs to his own room.

The walls couldn't block out the sound, and the voices from the small living room downstairs traveled up through the gaps around the heating pipes.

"He's already in high school, and he's still like this?" the Youngest Aunt asked.

"Isn't he done for?" the Eldest Aunt said while picking over vegetable leaves. "How will he find a job in the future? How will he start a family? Who would marry their daughter off to someone like that..."

"Start a family..." The Youngest Aunt said something else, but her voice was too low to be heard clearly.

"When Miao Jian comes in later, don't talk about this. It's the New Year, don't let him lose his temper and punish the kid again," the Eldest Aunt instructed.

"Who would dare? I don't even dare to bring it up," the Youngest Aunt, being the youngest, was also a bit afraid of Miao Jian. "Last night during dinner, my heart was in my throat, just terrified he would bring this up at the table again..."

The two aunts chatted for a bit before moving on to other topics. Miao Jiayan hadn't meant to listen to them; those few sentences had simply bored their way into his ears through the wall.

He sat down in front of the small table, squatting on the chair. He still hadn't taken off the thick clothes he'd worn outside, making him look bulky as he sat there.

The table was right under the window. Miao Jiayan rested his arms on his knees, looking out the window.

The view from the second-floor window was excellent. He could see the second-floor terraces of other houses, as well as the roofs of the first floors. Some houses had lots of dried vegetables on their roofs, covered with cloth, arranged in neat, round bundles. Miao Jiayan usually liked to sit here. In the summer, when the trees turned green, many families would grow flowers on their second-floor terraces. When it rained lightly, it was truly beautiful.

The Chen Family and the Miao Family lived next door to each other and had been old neighbors for many years.

Directly opposite Miao Jiayan's window was the small window of the Chen Family's second floor—Chen Chao's room. Chen Chao never drew his curtains, so his room was clearly visible. Miao Jiayan was different; his curtains were occasionally drawn.

Miao Jiayan rested his cheek on his arms and sat like that for a while.

Miao Jiayan only got up when someone downstairs called out that it was time to eat. Before leaving, he hesitated for a moment, then opened the window and placed a small, empty flowerpot from the windowsill outside.

"Brother Chao, you're finally back! Oh man, I missed you to death!" Ding Wentao threw himself onto Chen Chao's bed, saying excitedly to Chen Chao.

On the third day after Chen Chao's return, Ding Wentao came over first thing in the morning, pounding on the door. Grandma opened it, and he rushed upstairs like a gust of wind to find Chen Chao.

It wasn't even eight o'clock, and Chen Chao was still asleep, but he was jolted awake by the impact. Ding Wentao weighed over one hundred and sixty jin, landing heavily on Chen Chao. Chen Chao opened his eyes and pushed him, but Ding Wentao was as excited as a fish out of water, flopping around on Chen Chao's bed.

"Get up..." Chen Chao frowned. "You scared me."

"I won't! I missed you to death!" Ding Wentao burrowed his head into Chen Chao's quilt. "You were gone for over a year and didn't even come back!"

Chen Chao couldn't push him off, so he could only roll over, otherwise the pressure on his chest would have left him breathless.

"You're rubbing all your cold air on me," Chen Chao said with disgust. "Get off."

Ding Wentao didn't listen, just giggling "hehe."

Chen Chao went to wash up, and Ding Wentao sat on his bed waiting. When Chen Chao came back with a towel draped over his shoulder, Ding Wentao mysteriously pulled a phone out of his pocket and said to Chen Chao, "Brother Chao, I have a phone now too! Quick, tell me your number!"

"Where'd you get it?" Chen Chao asked casually while drying his hair.

"My youngest uncle bought it for me, my dad doesn't know!" Ding Wentao grinned until his eyes narrowed into slits. "Hurry up, add me on Q, then I can find you every day."

Chen Chao said, "Then you'll just annoy me to death."

"I won't bother you!" Ding Wentao grabbed Chen Chao's phone from the table. "I'll just dial it myself, okay?"

Chen Chao grunted an "en". His phone didn't have a password. Ding Wentao dialed the number and also saved his own number on Chen Chao's phone, adding the contact name "Tao Tao."

When Chen Chao was here, Ding Wentao would often run over. He was as familiar with Chen Chao's house as his own, and sometimes when he didn't feel like going home at night, he would just make a bed on the floor in Chen Chao's room and sleep there.

Now, sitting in Chen Chao's chair and looking around the room, he sighed, "I haven't been here in over a year."

After drying his hair, Chen Chao found some clothes to change into. Ding Wentao tilted his head to watch him change and said, "You've grown taller again! I think you're taller than me now."

Chen Chao draped his changed pajamas over the back of the chair and asked, "Do you still get into fights at school?"

"Not so much anymore, nobody messes with me." Ding Wentao swung his legs. "I've become the Top Dog."

The phrase "become the Top Dog" made Chen Chao laugh. Ding Wentao had always been like this, unabashedly uncool.

"Get up, Top Dog." Chen Chao kicked his calf. "Let's go downstairs to eat."

"You go eat, I already ate before I came." Ding Wentao stood up, and his eyes swept over to the small window opposite them. The pale yellow curtain had just been pulled open.

Miao Jiayan's slightly surprised expression was caught by Ding Wentao.

Ding Wentao glared fiercely at the window opposite.

Although "Top Dog" acted like a simpleton in front of Chen Chao, he still possessed the dignity of a "Top Dog". When he raised his eyebrows and glared, his expression was quite intimidating; the timid, well-behaved students usually avoided him.

Miao Jiayan just stood there and didn't close the curtain again. His reactions were always a beat slow, which sometimes made him seem a little dazed.

"What are you doing?" Chen Chao asked, seeing Ding Wentao glaring.

Ding Wentao pointed opposite and said, "That guy's heartless. After you left, he never spoke to me again. He doesn't even say hi when we see each other, acting like he doesn't know me."

Chen Chao said to him, "Hurry up and go downstairs. You have too much time on your hands."

"All those fights I helped him with were a waste," Ding Wentao said contemptuously. "Little si..."

Chen Chao made a sound and glanced back at him, and Ding Wentao swallowed the rest of his words.

Miao Jiayan watched as Ding Wentao glared at him from the opposite window, pointing at him while talking to someone beside him. He didn't move until there was no one left at the window.

Miao Jiayan couldn't read their lips, so he didn't know what they had said. But he knew it wasn't anything good.

Every New Year, when the whole family came back, there would be more than a dozen people at home. During meals, they would crowd around a large round table, sitting shoulder to shoulder. When no one was paying attention to him, Miao Jiayan wouldn't join them at the table. He would wait until everyone had finished eating and then go to the kitchen to eat whatever was left.

This was the most comfortable way, but it also had its risks. If someone at the dinner table happened to notice his absence and he was specifically called over, he would attract even more attention and get a scolding.

There were two rows of side rooms in the courtyard. One side housed the kitchen and a large bathroom, while the other side was a storeroom for piling things up. At this time, his two younger brothers hadn't come out yet, and his Eldest and Youngest Aunts were in their respective rooms, dressing and washing their children's faces. In the courtyard, only his father was brushing his teeth.

Miao Jiayan walked past him from behind and called out "Dad" very softly.

His dad heard him and glanced at him.

Miao Jiayan entered the kitchen right under his father's nose. Grandma was just lifting the lid of a steamer basket, hot steam billowing upwards. When she saw him come in, she beckoned to him, "Xiao Yan, come here."

"Coming." Miao Jiayan walked over, picked up a strip of pickled vegetable from a plate by the stove, and put it in his mouth.

"Don't eat that, look what Grandma steamed for you." Grandma Miao leaned in close to Miao Jiayan, as if afraid of being overheard, her expression both mysterious and proud.

As Grandma spoke, she lifted the second layer of the steamer. While moving the top layer away, she blew on the white steam to clear it a little. Miao Jiayan immediately saw, in the very middle of a pile of steamed buns, a large, pinkish-purple heart.

Miao Jiayan burst out laughing, "Grandma, what is this..."

"Quiet down!" Grandma slapped his arm lightly. "If your two aunts hear, they'll start finding fault with me. I only steamed one, I didn't make any for your two brothers."

Miao Jiayan cooperated by lowering his voice to a whisper, "Then just cut it in half and give it to them, so they don't cry when they see it."

Grandma acted as if she hadn't heard him and continued, "I juiced the dragon fruit your Youngest Aunt brought back. There's only one left, you eat it in secret."

"It's fine if I don't eat it," Miao Jiayan said, still smiling. "You can steam one for me after they've all left. There are so many people at home, I can't possibly eat it in secret."

"No, you're the one who gets to eat it. I even put custard filling inside, don't you love it?" Grandma picked the big heart out of the steamer basket, put it on a plate, and placed it in the cupboard. "Later, when no one's looking, I'll put it in your room."

Miao Jiayan quickly stopped her, laughing uncontrollably. "Don't, don't, what would my Eldest and Youngest Aunts think if they saw? Don't do that."

"What if they see? It's not the first time I've shown favoritism." Grandma said it with righteous confidence. "Their kids are always asking for this and that, they're not endearing at all."

"Shh, shh," Miao Jiayan quickly gestured for his Grandma to stop talking. "They're all your grandchildren. Just be nice."

Miao Jiayan had grown up by his grandma's side, and she doted on him the most. Every time his father hit him, his grandpa and grandma would intervene. In truth, his parents also held some resentment, feeling that Miao Jiayan had turned out this way because his grandparents had spoiled him.

"It'll be better when they're all gone," Grandma continued speaking to Miao Jiayan. "It's so noisy and annoying when they're all home."

Miao Jiayan said, "It's a rare chance for them all to come back and spend time with you, you should be happy."

"What do I need them for," Grandma said, displeased. "Every single one of them just picks on you."

"It's fine." Miao Jiayan smiled.

"When they talk, just pretend you don't hear them. Don't pay them any mind," Grandma said disdainfully.

Grandma held his hand, and the two of them whispered in the kitchen for a long time. Later, Grandpa also came in and asked, "What are you two talking about?"

Miao Jiayan lowered his voice and said, "Getting special treatment."

Grandpa then glanced back into the courtyard and urged in a low voice, "They're all coming down, hide it first."

Miao Jiayan was so amused by the two of them that his pointed chin actually revealed a small double chin from laughing. Grandma Miao loved to see him laugh.

She would say that he was beautiful when he laughed, that his eyes could speak.