Ever since Miao Jiayan started elementary school, he had never received a new dress of his own.

His dad wouldn't let him be bought dresses anymore, thinking that he had some sort of psychological problem. No matter how much his grandparents doted on and spoiled him, they could only indulge him secretly and could no longer openly buy him dresses to wear. Besides, his previous clothes were all bought by his mother from the city. The ones sold in the town were just floral dresses made of thin gauze, which weren't pretty.

The only white dress was his eldest aunt's daughter's. She had come to stay one summer vacation and left it behind, not wanting it anymore.

This was the only dress belonging to him that Miao Jiayan had received in many years.

Miao Jiayan really wanted to see it, but it was too dark at the time to see clearly.

Besides, Chen Chao wouldn't let him take it out. He pressed his hand on the carrier bag, stopping Miao Jiayan from moving it, and said, "Don't you dare say you want to try it on. There's no way I'm letting you."

Was he kidding? Black hair and a white dress—it would be the death of him.

Miao Jiayan said, "I won't try it on."

"Good boy." Only then did Chen Chao remove his hand.

Thunder had been rumbling for the first half of the night. Chen Chao hadn't remembered much from the horror movies he had watched, but that night, it all came flooding back. Various clips squeezed into his mind one after another. Chen Chao had to glance over at Miao Jiayan from time to time. Seeing Miao Jiayan sleeping peacefully made him feel much more at ease.

The next morning, as soon as Chen Chao opened his eyes, he saw that Miao Jiayan was already neat and tidy, sitting by his bed and staring blankly while hugging the bag.

Chen Chao nudged him with his knee.

"Brother Chao, you're awake?" Miao Jiayan turned to look at him.

"No." Chen Chao closed his eyes again.

Miao Jiayan reached out and gently shook his leg, asking tentatively, "Can I look at it now?"

Chen Chao was still sleepy. "Go ahead."

Chen Chao had barely slept during the first half of the night. He was only half-done with his sleep; he'd need at least another three hours to wake up naturally.

He had just managed to fall back asleep when he felt a cool hand shaking him again.

Chen Chao frowned and grunted impatiently.

"Brother Chao..." Miao Jiayan loosely gripped Chen Chao's arm, not daring to shake it too hard.

Chen Chao opened his eyes to see Miao Jiayan crouching by the head of the bed, leaning on the edge and looking at him eagerly.

"What is it?" When Chen Chao wasn't fully awake, he always looked fierce.

Miao Jiayan wasn't afraid of him anymore. With a hint of shyness, he asked, "Do I look good?"

Chen Chao was too sleepy to open his eyes, but he tried his best to. "Let me see."

Miao Jiayan stood up and stepped back a little to let Chen Chao see him.

This was the style Chen Chao had expected, the kind Jiang Li would buy.

It seemed Chen Chao had rarely seen Jiang Li wear brightly colored clothes; she just didn't like those especially vivid colors.

The dress Miao Jiayan was wearing looked a bit like the previous one at first glance. It was a white slip dress that went down to his calves. Two narrow straps at the shoulders were tied into two knots, and the hem was simply adorned with extremely fine green lines.

Miao Jiayan's hair was neatly draped over his back, a small hair tie on his wrist like a little bracelet. He was standing barefoot on the ground. His ankles were so thin that the bones were prominent, and they hadn't had a chance to tan yet for the summer.

"Beautiful." Although Chen Chao was sleepy, his praise was sincere.

Miao Jiayan hadn't worn a dress in a long time, and you could tell he was a little self-conscious.

Chen Chao really couldn't stay awake. He squinted and repeated, "Beautiful."

Chen Chao didn't go to the cotton fields this year. Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen wouldn't let him go, afraid he'd get heatstroke.

Miao Jiayan didn't let him go either, siding with Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen. When June arrived, they hardly let Chen Chao leave the house. In any case, Chen Chao didn't want to go out anyway; he didn't like to move around in the summer.

Miao Jiayan never took that dress out to wear. He kept it hidden in his closet and rarely took it out himself.

Chen Chao asked him why he didn't wear it.

Leaning on his arms, Miao Jiayan said, "I can't bear to."

"What's there to not bear?" Chen Chao said. "You won't wear it out."

"I'm afraid of getting it dirty," Miao Jiayan said with a light smile. "It's so white."

"Wash it if it gets dirty."

"Washing it often will make it turn yellow," Miao Jiayan said.

Jiang Li took a week off before the high school entrance exam and came over early.

When Miao Jiayan saw Jiang Li, he greeted her, saying, "Hello, Auntie."

Jiang Li had met him before and returned his greeting.

"Thank you, Auntie, for buying me the... clothes," Miao Jiayan paused in the middle, still not saying the word "dress." "They're very beautiful."

Hearing him say this, Chen Chao raised an eyebrow in surprise. Miao Jiayan wasn't the type to initiate conversations, especially not about this.

"I think they're beautiful too, so clean and neat," Jiang Li said with a smile.

Jiang Li spoke about it very normally, as if she had bought Miao Jiayan a shirt. She didn't bring up the word "dress" either, and there was no avoidance in her gaze as she spoke. She didn't seem overly enthusiastic, but rather projected a familiar, unforced naturalness, much like Chen Chao.

Chen Guangda still hadn't shown up, and Jiang Li called him unreliable every day. When Chen Guangda called Chen Chao, Jiang Li took the phone and asked him, "You have the nerve to ask?"

Chen Guangda got an earful from Jiang Li over the phone. Chen Chao listened from the side, wanting to laugh.

Jiang Li was fierce when she scolded people, and Chen Guangda used to get scolded often. Sometimes, when the father and son got into some trouble together, they would get told off together at home. Jiang Li would be scolding, and the two of them would just listen, not daring to make eye contact. As soon as their eyes met, they would always feel like laughing.

"Chen Guangda, you've never been reliable in your life, do you even realize that? Your son is about to take his high school entrance exam." Jiang Li couldn't understand it as she spoke, unable to fathom how a father could be like this.

"Well, you're right. Your son is indeed outstanding. If your son were just a little less outstanding, he would have been abandoned here." Jiang Li looked at Chen Chao. "Your son is nothing like you, except for this one-track mind, which he got entirely from you."

"And you think it's a good thing," Jiang Li dissed him. "I think you don't even know what's good for you anymore."

Jiang Li didn't let people off easy when she spoke; she had to say her piece until she was satisfied. Chen Chao wasn't studying much now and didn't stay up too late at night. When Grandma Chen came up to deliver fruit, Jiang Li swallowed the words she was about to say. No matter what, she couldn't scold someone's son in front of an elder.

"Alright, I'm hanging up," Jiang Li said.

The town's school couldn't host the exam; it didn't have the proper proctoring environment. All candidates had to go to the city for the test.

Two days before the exam, Chen Chao had to go back to the city with Jiang Li. Chen Chao asked Ding Wentao to stay with him, but Ding Wentao's parents didn't allow it, saying they would take him themselves when the time came.

The night before he returned to the city, Miao Jiayan came over.

He came to give Chen Chao some cooling oil.

"Don't forget to bring this. Do you still have any?" Miao Jiayan handed him a new tin. "Remember to apply it. Are you allowed to bring it into the exam hall?"

"Probably not," Chen Chao said, tucking it into the side pocket of his backpack. "I don't know if the hotel will have mosquitoes. I'll take it with me."

Chen Chao wasn't studying. Instead, he was sitting in his chair, idly twirling a pen. Jiang Li was downstairs, not in Chen Chao's room.

Miao Jiayan didn't leave right away but sat on the edge of Chen Chao's bed. He had come over after showering, his hair not yet dry.

"Is everything packed?" Miao Jiayan asked.

"Yeah, there isn't much to pack," Chen Chao said. He didn't have much to bring, just a change of clothes. He didn't plan on bringing any books either.

Miao Jiayan nodded and sat quietly beside him, watching him.

Chen Chao smiled, turning his head to ask, "Why are you looking at me?"

Miao Jiayan smiled back and asked, "You are coming back, right? Brother Chao."

"Of course. All my stuff is here," Chen Chao said, resting a hand on his head. "I'll be back after the exam."

Miao Jiayan lowered his head under the pressure of his hand and said, "Mm, okay."

Chen Chao knew Miao Jiayan was very dejected. After Jiang Li arrived, Miao Jiayan hadn't come over much. They hadn't seen each other much these past few days, but whenever they did meet, Miao Jiayan was always smiling cheerfully. Today was the first time he had subtly revealed this dejection.

Chen Chao said, "There's still the vacation, isn't there?"

"Mhm," Miao Jiayan nodded again. "Yes."

Chen Chao said, "I'll be back right after the exam."

However, Chen Chao didn't manage to come back right after the exam.

Ever since he went to his paternal grandma's house, he had barely visited his maternal grandma's house. Now that he was back in the city, it would be unreasonable not to stay for a couple of days.

Although Chen Chao was never a particularly fair-skinned child to begin with, he was definitely not this dark before. After spending three years in the countryside, he now looked just like a tan country boy.

His maternal grandma and grandpa laughed while teasing him, saying he was too dark.

They had a very poor opinion of Chen Guangda, and their words were always tinged with an obvious dislike. His maternal grandma and grandpa had always felt that Jiang Li and Chen Guangda were not a good match in terms of social standing. Now that they were divorced, they saw it as an inevitable outcome.

Although Chen Chao didn't go so far as to pull a long face and show his displeasure, he didn't really want to listen.

In these three years of living with his paternal grandpa and grandma every day, Chen Chao had never heard them say a single bad word about Jiang Li.

Miao Jiayan came over to give Grandma Chen some steamed buns and asked, "Grandma Chen, is Brother Chao coming back today?"

"He hasn't called," Grandma Chen said, wiping her hands on her apron as she took the small basin. "His maternal grandma and grandpa won't let him leave. He might have to stay with them for a few more days."

Miao Jiayan nodded and helped Grandma Chen peel the potatoes before heading back.

A week passed and Chen Chao still hadn't returned. Every morning when Miao Jiayan woke up, he would stand at his window and look at the room across from his.

If Chen Chao was back, he would be able to see him moving around in the room.

These days, Miao Jiayan took the school bus home from school. He no longer cared what people on the bus said. The bus windows were all open, and when it moved, the wind would rush in, blowing Miao Jiayan's hair around. Someone behind him would deliberately make retching sounds, exaggerated and comical, but Miao Jiayan acted as if he couldn't hear a thing.

Compared to before, his current indifference wasn't a protective layer he deliberately put up in front of others, but a genuine carelessness he had learned from Chen Chao.

The school bus always stopped at the village entrance, so Miao Jiayan didn't have to walk far to get home.

Grandma Miao had already made dinner. Miao Jiayan put down his schoolbag, went to wash his hands, and ate.

"Is it almost vacation time?" Grandpa Miao asked.

"One more week." The thought of the vacation made Miao Jiayan a little happy.

"Vacation is good," Grandma Miao was also happy. The elderly always felt that it was very hard for children to go to school, leaving early and returning late. "During the vacation, you can sleep in a little more in the morning."

After dinner, he helped his grandma wash the dishes before going upstairs.

The room across was still dark. Miao Jiayan put his schoolbag aside and sat for a while.

It wasn't until the crisp "clack" of something hitting the window came from outside that Miao Jiayan sharply looked up.

Chen Chao was standing across from him, throwing pebbles at his window.

Miao Jiayan shot to his feet.

Chen Chao looked at him with a smile. "Still not coming over?"

"Coming!" Miao Jiayan turned to leave, but after a few steps, he came back, grabbed his schoolbag, and took it with him.

Grandma Miao was outside brushing shoes. Miao Jiayan ran out with his schoolbag, and Grandma Miao asked, "Where are you going?"

As he closed the door, Miao Jiayan said, "To Grandma Chen's house! I won't be back tonight!"