Lin Leyou's childhood was so dull that even her memories seemed not worth preserving. Her parents worked on the railways and were away from home for months at a time due to the nature of their work. Lin Leyou took care of herself, and she did it rather well. Later, the Yuan family moved in next door. The two girls met a week after they moved in, but it wasn't a very pleasant meeting. Yuan Xiaohui borrowed Lin's family pickling jar to pickle turnips and snow cabbage. The original pickles in the jar -- carrots -- had already been mostly used up by Lin's mother. These pickles were made months ago by Lin's grandmother because Lin's mother didn't have the time. Grandma would visit every now and then to make these pickles as Lin Leyou loved stir-fried minced meat with pickled carrots. Lin's mother was generous and straightforward. Seeing Yuan Xiaohui busy moving in alone, she felt sorry for her. Yuan Xiaohui was slim, with pale face, lips, and fingers. Sunlight streamed in, shining on her forehead, dazzling people's eyes. Lin's mother struck up a conversation, asking where they moved from, how old Yuan Xiaohui was, whether she had boys or girls, and many other questions. Yuan Xiaohui answered honestly, without any pretense. Lin's mother liked this honest and somewhat naive woman, even started to like her. On the second day after moving in, Yuan Xiaohui somehow produced a pile of snow cabbage and turnips, giving half of them to Lin's mother. Lin's mother didn't hesitate to accept them. She said it was just helping lift the cabinet, no big deal. If you insist on calculating, why don't you use our jar all the time? Lin and I are rarely home anyway. When we're off, we'll come to your place for some snow cabbage, saving us the trouble! Yuan Xiaohui smiled and said it was good, suggesting that when Lin Leyou is on holiday, she doesn't need her grandma to pick her up anymore. She could spend weekends at their house since there's always someone at home. Lin Leyou was a child who was completely taken care of. Back then, double-weekends weren't popular yet. In better places, school let out from Saturday afternoon. Lin Leyou was usually picked up by her grandma at noon on Saturdays. However, Lin Leyou wasn't in a rush. She often came out last -- she didn't want to go to her grandma's place much. There were only old people around, no one to play with. Grandma wouldn't let her climb high places, eat popsicles, walk barefoot on the ground, and more prohibitions annoyed Lin Leyou. Now, she could directly go back to her own home. Their kindergarten was close to home. For the first time, Lin Leyou didn't see her grandma waiting at the gate, which excited her a bit but also made her a little scared. Children and women have the most unpredictable thoughts, especially Lin Leyou, a girl. Walking home alone was about fifteen minutes, but for her, it was a perilous journey. The apartment buildings looked alike, and if she went to the wrong door again, what would she do? She clenched her fists, deciding to walk all the way. But when she stepped out of the kindergarten gate, a soft but cold hand gently pinched her small hand. It was Yuan Xiaohui. Yuan Xiaohui wore a semi-new light-blue flowered short-sleeve shirt, making her look even thinner, frail, and pitiable. Lin Leyou instantly liked Yuan Xiaohui, not the kind of liking for her mom or friends, a feeling she couldn't describe even now as an adult. Yuan Xiaohui said, "Leyou, I'm Yuan Xiaohui." This sentence made Lin Leyou extremely happy. She liked the sound of this woman's voice, and her previous ambition was already gone. She said, "I've talked with your mom. You can come to our place during holidays." Lin's mom had mentioned this before, but Lin Leyou didn't expect Yuan Xiaohui to come pick her up so punctually. They didn't ask her to call them aunt or anything else at their first meeting, which Lin Leyou liked more. She was rebellious from birth, through and through, not increasing during adolescence nor decreasing because of it. She didn't like calling people things, disliking seeing adults laugh foolishly. Perhaps she was a bit wild. She was like grass in the field; today her mom might beat her half to death, and tomorrow she'd put large green bugs and grasshoppers on the stove, roasting them until they changed color and eating them without hesitation. For many years, Lin's mother would look at her wild-horse-like daughter and sigh, "Leyou, when will you be like Jingmo?" Yuan Xiaohui was different from Lin's mother; she didn't force her to call anyone. She lightly held Lin Leyou's hand and walked home. Lin Leyou followed dreamily, entering Yuan's house. It was Yuan's house, Lin Leyou barely remembered Yuan Jingmo's father, not knowing his name, just remembering that he was hardly ever home. Occasionally, when they met, the medium-height man would glance coldly at Lin Leyou and then ignore her. Although Lin Leyou was young, children are sensitive. She clearly understood that Yuan's mother and daughter were very afraid of this man, such that when he coughed, Yuan Jingmo would drop her chopsticks. Fortunately, he was rarely home, and Lin Leyou disliked meals with him present, which were always solemn without laughter or freedom. When Lin Leyou entered Yuan's house, Yuan Jingmo was already drawing her third pencil sketch on the small table. Yuan Xiaohui called her over, introducing her formally, which pleased Lin Leyou, making her feel valued. However, that girl was so thin with such high eyes that she didn't even give her a proper look. As mentioned earlier, children are sensitive, and Lin Leyou was very sensitive. She knew that girl looked down on her. She was always dirty, almost disheveled. Lin's mother didn't have time to take care of her, letting her grow up somewhat neglected. But she also disliked Yuan Jingmo -- that girl was so clean and delicate, with faint features. If placed in modern times, Lin Leyou would describe her as having "two slightly furrowed smoke eyebrows, a pair of seemingly joyful but affectionate eyes," although it might be somewhat exaggerated. She didn't like Yuan Jingmo's appearance, humph, what arrogance! Actually, Lin Leyou's evaluation wasn't objective. Although Yuan Jingmo was clean, she wasn't a natural beauty, even having somewhat boyish features. But her pride was undeniable, just like Lin Leyou's rebellion, running throughout her growth. They certainly weren't at ease with each other upon first meeting. Lin Leyou admitted that when she found their pickling jar under Yuan's window and saw it filled with her detested snow cabbage and turnips, she became even angrier. But Lin Leyou wasn't stupid enough to show it openly, knowing she had to endure. Her first weekend at Yuan's passed peacefully but with underlying tension. Yuan Jingmo joined Lin Leyou's class in the second week after moving in. The teacher deliberately seated them together. Lin Leyou didn't pay much attention to her, neither did Yuan Jingmo. They were both the youngest in the class. Lin Leyou was young, while Yuan Jingmo was new and thus excluded, further influenced by the adults' gossip about her family. So, the toughest girl in the class would occasionally scratch Yuan Jingmo's face and arms with her newly cut sharp nails, leaving red bloody marks, the initial reasons forgotten, later becoming a habit and amusement. Yuan Xiaohui never complained to the teacher, finding it useless with over 40 kids in the class, impossible to monitor one all the time. Complaining to parents was even more ridiculous, inviting unnecessary trouble. Yuan Xiaohui took no action, only asking Lin Leyou to take care of Yuan Jingmo more. Lin Leyou readily agreed, though more out of politeness. Sometimes she was relatively nice to Yuan Jingmo, but seeing her cold and distant demeanor made Lin Leyou hesitant, thinking, "She's older than me, why should I take care of her?" Lin Leyou probably didn't know who Kong Rong was, and even if she did, she would sniff, "What's it got to do with me?" Thus, Yuan Jingmo remained scarred but still enjoyed telling stories. Some stories were told by her mother, some heard from others, and some were likely concocted by herself. Therefore, Yuan Jingmo became a favored child by the teacher. After the midday nap, there was some free time, and the teacher would let Yuan Jingmo tell a story. The children loved listening, her stories varied widely, including mole stories, Babar, mermaid princesses, Cinderella, Bao Gong cases, ancient legends, ghost tales, etc., anything she had read, she could express in words, astonishing Lin Leyou. But these moments were fleeting for Yuan Jingmo. Normally, without stories, all the kids kept their distance from her. Only Lin Leyou silently followed her behind. Lin Leyou did this because she promised Yuan Xiaohui, unclear about the concept of keeping one's word but always feeling watched, wondering if she was following Yuan Jingmo. Whose eyes were those? Not Yuan Xiaohui's, not Yuan Jingmo's either. Regardless, as long as she followed Yuan Jingmo, the discomfort disappeared. Much later, she learned about spirits, and Yuan Jingmo and Yuan Xiaohui were spirits, good ones like Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, Xiaoxian and Parrot Fairy. To Lin Leyou, spirits were always positive terms; she didn't understand why the aunts called younger, prettier women "fox spirits." Later, Yuan Jingmo grew up to be graceful like her mother, attracting "heroes bending the waist," but that's another story. Now, Lin Leyou and Yuan Jingmo still didn't get along. They went to primary school together, Yuan Jingmo became the class monitor, and their roles seemed to switch. Yuan Jingmo began to take care of Lin Leyou intentionally or unintentionally, but their relationship remained lukewarm. They had their own circles, intersecting only at them, like positively charged ions moving towards each other, bouncing off lightly when they touched. One day in the second semester of third grade, Yuan Jingmo fought with two boys from the higher grade. These two were notorious troublemakers, but they had never bothered Yuan Jingmo, nor had she bothered them. They were from different worlds. Such people shouldn't have any connection. Yuan Jingmo was also puzzled, fighting aimlessly. That noon after school, Yuan Jingmo went home as usual. At the entrance of the market, the two boys blocked her way. Yuan Jingmo tried to detour, wanting to take a small road, but the two quickly blocked her front and back. The taller one grabbed her backpack strap and pulled, but failed to take it off, becoming irritated. Then he twisted Yuan Jingmo's arm with his other hand, while his partner rushed over to hold her other arm. Yuan Jingmo couldn't move, her arms hurting badly. In desperation, she kicked the tall guy, not very hard, but right in his groin. He immediately covered his stomach and squatted down, moaning continuously. His partner, seeing his buddy hurt, hugged Yuan Jingmo and threw her to the ground. Yuan Jingmo managed to free her hands, turning around and wrestling with him. The boy probably didn't expect the frail Yuan Jingmo to have considerable strength, pushing her nearly ten meters straight to the market entrance. They were deadlocked, and the tall boy seemed to regain his strength, pushing Yuan Jingmo. The balance was broken. Unable to withstand the force, Yuan Jingmo stumbled nearly falling. At this moment, Lin Leyou happened to pass by with her playmates. Seeing the situation, she hesitated for a moment but soon joined the fight. Lin Leyou had more experience in fighting. Claws, teeth, backpacks, even shoes could be used as weapons. She didn't care about appearances once involved in a fight. Thus, four people tangled together, fighting fiercely until Yuan Xiaohui appeared, ending the melee. Yuan Xiaohui was off work buying vegetables, coincidentally hoping to meet Yuan Jingmo and go home together. She had just put a bunch of spinach in the basket, turned around, and saw the four of them. She almost shouted as she rushed over, startling all four. They stopped fighting, letting Yuan Xiaohui handle it. But Yuan Xiaohui said nothing, just pulling Yuan Jingmo and Lin Leyou, placing one on the bike seat and the other on the crossbar, ignoring the two boys completely and left. Yuan Jingmo and Lin Leyou cried. Yuan Xiaohui asked if they were in pain, they didn't answer, just crying. Lin Leyou felt embarrassed but still couldn't help herself. She gritted her teeth and told Yuan Xiaohui that Ling Fang was the culprit, linking the recent book loss incident, implying it was all her doing! Ling Fang was the oldest in their class and also transferred in. According to logic, she and Yuan Jingmo should be "sympathetic" and "mutually appreciative", but perhaps it didn't apply to these two girls. Ling Fang normally had a decent relationship with Yuan Jingmo, even eating at their house sometimes. However, Lin Leyou personally witnessed her sneaking to the homeroom teacher, saying Yuan Jingmo as a class monitor always led classmates to run around dangerously, violating discipline. Although the teacher didn't act, Lin Leyou was still angry. She disliked Yuan Jingmo, true, but she wouldn't stab someone in the back. If she disliked her, she'd just ignore her, why say one thing and do another? At that time, none of them would use terms like honeyed words and dagger heart, double-dealing. They hadn't realized that this was the beginning of insidiousness and deceit they would encounter for quite a long time in the future. Love is something you choose together, he didn't force you to be together. If you think being together initially was a mistake, if you've decided to cut ties, then don't mock someone's scars. Your sarcasm will only provoke his anger. Maybe you don't care because you'll have no more connections in the future, but who can guarantee you won't bump into each other somewhere?