Yan Zizheng said it was not nearby at all, at least Lin Jinglei thought so. He looked at the figure in front of him, leisurely riding a bike and occasionally waiting for him, walking reluctantly.

The streetlights were on as they quickly made their way towards the city center along the non-motorized lane, finally reaching their destination.

Lin Jinglei's requirements were not high. He just wanted to find a random booth that could fix cell phones and replace the screen. Unexpectedly, Yan Zizheng brought him to a brand-exclusive repair shop. Here, even just replacing the screen would use original parts, and it was ridiculously expensive. Thinking that this phone was originally Yan Zizheng's, he suddenly felt a bit guilty. He stopped in his tracks, his face still tilted upwards as he looked at the sign: "I mean, there's no need to come here."

Yan Zizheng, who had already climbed up the stairs, turned around and said, "If you're going to change, then change for something better. Otherwise, it's better not to change at all."

Lin Jinglei didn't quite understand Yan Zizheng's logic. He shrugged and followed along. After all, it wasn't his money being spent, so why bother with so many details.

The clean and bright glass counter extended from the entrance into the room. Various types of mobile phones were neatly displayed inside, each one labeled with its specifications and price. Lin Jinglei had a natural interest in electronic devices, and as he walked, his eyes couldn't help but be fixed on them. He was so engrossed that he didn't even notice when the person in front of him stopped walking.

Yan Zizheng, who had stopped at the repair station, was bumped into by Lin Jinglei. His body leaned forward, but he quickly steadied himself by bracing his hand against the counter. He then extended his hand backward and said, "Pass me my phone."

Lin Jinglei took out his mobile phone and handed it over. The master took a look and clicked his tongue, saying, "How did it end up so damaged?"

Yan Zizheng asked, "Is the screen broken?"

Seeing the other person nod after checking, he continued, "So, do you have this model in stock from the original manufacturer?"

"Need to take a look."

Afterwards, Yan Zizheng said something to the repairman that Lin Jinglei couldn't hear. He leaned on the glass counter and looked at the phones inside. The salespersons behind the counter were all chatting, probably realizing that he wouldn't make a purchase, so they didn't bother to introduce anything, which made him feel relaxed and at ease.

In the shop, soft music was playing, which Lin Jinglei was familiar with. He hummed along softly and sighed when he saw that the price of his phone had dropped significantly. The phone he was currently using was still the graduation gift his aunt and uncle gave him in junior high. At that time, it was considered the latest model. Now, it had been less than half a year since it was beaten by the waves on the beach. The speed at which electronic products are updated is truly difficult to keep up with.

When Yan Zizheng was waiting for the maintenance technician to return from the storage room for inspection, he appeared to be looking down and playing with his phone. However, his peripheral vision continuously followed the movement of a person not far away. Even when that person's clothes nearly caused them to stumble on the corner of the counter, Yan Zizheng instinctively took a step forward.

In the brightly lit cellphone store, everything was absorbing the light, including his elusive thoughts about Lin Jinglei that he had never quite understood.

"There is no stock available, we need to source the goods from another store."

The words of the maintenance technician brought Yan Zizheng, who was lost in thought, back. After inquiring about the estimated time and process in detail, he took out his wallet, paid the money, and collected the receipt. As he turned around to call Lin Jinglei to leave, he noticed that person was chatting with a young female salesperson with a flirtatious smile on his face, completely captivated and not hearing his call.

Yan Zizheng initially considered raising his voice and calling out again, but he changed his mind and walked over directly, grabbing the person and pulling them along.

"How did you finish so quickly?" Lin Jinglei asked while looking at Yan Zizheng's hands, "Where's the cell phone?"

Yan Zizheng let go of his grip and took two quick steps back, pushing open the glass door. "The screen is out of stock, come back in a couple of days to pick it up," he said.

Lin Jinglei frowned: "Then what should I use? Might as well just change to another one randomly."

Yan Zizheng stopped in his tracks and said, "I see that you are very casual in how you treat everything."

What's the connection? How can the situation change so quickly? Lin Jinglei didn't say a word as he watched Yan Zizheng walk down the steps, push his bike, and ride away. It left him with an indescribable feeling, but it definitely made him feel annoyed by Yan Zizheng's departing figure.

On the way back home, Yan Zizheng rode his bike extremely fast, as if the evening breeze blowing against his face could keep him awake.

He wanted to confirm the kind of anticipation that was clear-headed yet anxious, sour yet sweet.

Tired from pedaling, he stopped and let the bike roll forward slowly. Closing his eyes, all he could see was Lin Jing Lei's face with various expressions - sometimes joyful, sometimes angry, sometimes anxious, sometimes indifferent...

Unbeknownst to him, he had subconsciously engraved the man's emotions deeply in his memory. He couldn't figure out what went wrong or why he had such a peculiar feeling towards another guy.

Restless, resistant, tangled, at a loss, he felt like he didn't know himself anymore.

More than ten minutes later, he arrived home on his bike. As he entered the compound, he heard the sound of things being thrown and broken coming from the Ma family's house. He hastily abandoned his bike and ran over to knock on the door.

Ma Li, who was still crying, saw that it was Yan Zizheng who had returned. She grabbed his arm and cried even louder.

Oh no, my mom has fallen ill again.

There are a total of three buildings in this courtyard, but only two families live here. Every time Ma Liangli's mother falls ill, her father is not at home. The Yan family, consisting of an elderly member and a child, cannot be relied upon. Yan Zizheng is her only source of hope.

They entered the room and, using their usual method, one of them carried and the other used a rope to temporarily bind Lu Yao by the bed's foot.

The woman's hoarse and desperate screams were piercing to the ears. Yan Zizheng loudly asked Ma Liangli, "Where is the medicine? Did she take it?"

Ma Liangli wiped away her tears and said, "She doesn't eat. No matter what I say, she just spills it all."

"She is currently delirious and can only be force-fed."

Maliang quickly rushed back with half a bowl of medicine, her hands trembling as she handed it to Yan Zizheng and helped hold her mother's head steady.

Yan Zizheng called Aunt Lu twice, but seeing that it was really not effective, he forcefully held the woman's chin and forced open her mouth. Most of the brown medicinal liquid spilled out, but he didn't let go. He hoped that the calming ingredients in the medicine would make Lu Yao quiet down.

Malang Li sat on the ground with her mother, crying and asking, "Yan Zizheng, what should I do? How should I handle this? I can't let my dad know that my mom's illness has relapsed. He will make me drop out of school to take care of her or send her to a mental hospital, and I don't want either of those options."

Yan Zizheng still held an empty bowl in his hands, unsure of what to do. He half-knelt there with a vacant expression, saying, "Everything will get better eventually."

After eating a bowl of noodles outside, Lin Jinglei took the bus back home. It was pitch black inside the house and his uncle hadn't returned.

The house suddenly became like this, or did he never notice? After changing his shoes, he turned on the light. First, he poured some cat food into the wheat's food bowl, then he went to Lin Tai's room to feed the fish in the tank. His movements were numb and mechanical, coupled with the excessively quiet atmosphere in the house, his world seemed as if the sound had been silenced.

At the age of two, he still had no recollection. It was his first time coming to this home, on the first anniversary of his uncle and aunt's marriage. They wrote his name in the household registration book and filled in the relationship column with two words: eldest son.

Two years later, when he was four years old, Lin Tai was born and he got a younger brother.

Many outsiders are unaware of these things and think that he is Principal Lin's biological son.

Lin Jinglei has always resented being burdensome to the unmarried woman who became pregnant before marriage. In order to remarry without any worries, he was handed over to his biological brother to be raised by his mother. He has also always been grateful that fate has compensated him with another warm family.

But now, this family is falling apart.

Lin Tai has decided who he wants to go with.

Who can he get along with? What qualifications does he have to choose? He is nothing more than a burden to anyone. He has never truly understood what it means to possess something and yet constantly loses it. Perhaps it's just his unfortunate fate.

Lin Jinglei turned his head to look at the reflection of himself in the glass window, feeling silently sad. He realized that the only one who would always accompany him was himself.

On Monday morning, Zhou Jing stood by the classroom door and was surprised to see Yu Zhaoyu walking up the stairs with You Gang following closely behind.

Zhaoyu made a last-ditch effort to avoid becoming an athlete. During breakfast, he irresponsibly mentioned to his father that the school's plastic track was of poor quality and not suitable for running. Without second thought, his father immediately decided to donate a sports field to No.1 High School.

His dad followed Zou Jing back to the office, while he dragged his feet into the classroom. This time, he was determined to be a member of the sports team. His dad was determined to listen to Zou Jing's advice, despite all difficulties.

Yan Zizheng looked up and asked the person who walked in, "Why is your father here?"

Yao Zhaoyu walked past Yan Zizheng's seat as if he hadn't heard, and the unfamiliarity between them seemed as though they didn't know each other.

Yan Zizheng turned his head to look at the person who threw his backpack on the table. Then he got up and walked over, saying, "I was just talking to you, what's wrong? Why the long face?"

Yu Zhaoyu didn't even lift his head. He played with the metal ruler on the table with both hands and said disdainfully, "Do you really care about my feelings?"

Yan Zizheng frowned and asked, "What?"

Yu Zhaoyu reached out and pushed the person leaning on his desk, saying, "Move away, I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Damn it," Yan Zizheng muttered under his breath, feeling unjustifiably treated. He turned around and returned to his seat, feeling even more annoyed. "I don't even want to hear it, goddamn it."

The surrounding students saw these well-known good buddies fall out publicly and looked at each other with curiosity. After several attempts by the class representatives, the discipline for morning study finally became regular.

After listening to Gang's expression of wanting to donate a plastic track along with sports equipment, Zou Jing smiled and said, "Parents like you are truly great, being able to put in so much effort for your children."

"Zou teacher, you don't seem to have started a family yet, but once you have children, you'll understand. As long as it's for their well-being, a father is willing to do anything."

"This matter, you will have to discuss with our principal. I do not have the authority to make decisions on this."

Upon standing up, You Gang said, "Alright then, lead me to the principal's office. I'll talk to your principal."

The two of them then left the office and went upstairs. During that time, Zou Jing stopped and waited a few times. The man with a beer belly, who was often immersed in various business banquets, lacked the same level of energy as his rebellious son.

With great difficulty, they finally reached the upper floor, but the door to the principal's office was locked. Zou Jing thought that Principal Lin hadn't arrived yet, so he decided to wait with Du Gang for a while. Just then, the deputy principal, Ma Yihua, walked out from across the hall.

Zou Jing greeted, "Principal Ma."

"Hey, Xiao Zou, looking for Principal Lin?"

Zou nodded and said, "Hmm, I need to find him for something."

The woman stopped and said, "Don't wait foolishly anymore. Principal Lin won't come today because he has something to attend to at home."

Zou Jing turned back apologetically and looked at You Gang. Upon hearing the conversation from this side, You Gang understood what was going on and said, "It's okay, I'll come back when I have time."

"Sorry for the inconvenience, you've come all this way while being so busy."

Yu Gang shook his head and said, "My apologies. I was too eager and didn't contact in advance. If I am busy in the next few days, I will have someone come over. At that time, it will be troublesome for Teacher Zou to come along."

Zou Jing readily agreed: "Alright, no problem."

At eight forty, all four people sitting in the living room stood up.

Lin Jinglei felt extremely uncomfortable watching his uncle and aunt leaving, carrying their belongings.

This weekend, he had an extremely unpleasant experience as he witnessed his uncle and aunt going through the process of getting a divorce.

Both of them were very calm, without any arguments, and simply signed the divorce agreement in such a peaceful manner.

The biggest two assets, children and a house, Tong Yuying chose without hesitation. She decided to leave her life with Lin Guodong and take her son with her.

Lin Jinglei couldn't understand why his aunt was so foolish. As a housewife for many years, she didn't know how to do anything other than laundry and cooking. Now she had to take care of a child who was just starting junior high school. How would they be able to make a living?

He wanted to follow his aunt, but he couldn't. He couldn't add trouble, for he had already enjoyed too much of the love from this woman who had no blood relation to him for many years, without waiting for any return. Fate cruelly took back this gift before he could repay it.

Linta cried as he walked to the door with his rolling suitcase. When he turned back, tears immediately streamed down his face. He looked at his father, trembling, and asked with a quivering voice, "Dad, can we not separate?"

Tong Yuying didn't look back and tugged her son downstairs, her voice stern: "Let's go, hurry!"

Lin Jinglei was also waiting for his uncle to change his mind, but he never did. The door had been closed for a while, and that man still stood in the same spot, expressionless.

He walked towards the door and shouted, "Both of you are selfish, only thinking about yourselves, heartless and cold-blooded!"

With a loud slam, Lin Guodong's shoulders shrank. He covered his face with both hands, not uttering a word, but tears streamed down his chin.

Lin Jinglei ran downstairs and saw that the two women had already flagged down a taxi at the entrance of the community. He was afraid, afraid that it would be difficult for him to ever see these two important people in his life again.

He started running, even though the taxi had already driven away, he relentlessly chased after it.

"Aunt!" he called out, even though he didn't know what he could do, he just wanted to apologize properly.

Tong Yuying sat in the front passenger seat, watching the teenager running in the rearview mirror. Tears, accumulated over the past few days, began to well up, and she said to the driver, "Drive faster."

Lin Jinglei saw the car not stopping but instead speeding up, and with all his strength, he shouted out, "Mom!"

Tong Yuying burst into tears, and the figure in her line of sight was gradually becoming blurry. In the back seat, Lin Tai choked up and said, "Why can't we bring my brother along as well?"

Tong Yuying sniffled and said, "He will be better off following your dad."

Lin Jinglei stood in the middle of the road, cars speeding past on either side. He wiped his reddened eyes and changed his original direction, continuing to run.

During the second break, it was time for the flag-raising ceremony again. However, Lin Jinglei, who was responsible for flag-raising this week, didn't show up. The flag bearers inside the room were at a loss, not knowing what to do with the shortage of personnel.

After changing into his clothes, Yan Zizheng decided that this time he would take over as the flag bearer.

As for why Lin Jinglei didn't come, he believed that there were only two possibilities: either he skipped class or he played truant.

When all the teachers and students of the school gathered in the playground to participate in the flag-raising ceremony, there was suddenly a commotion behind the teacher formation.

Yan Zizheng stood on the tall flag-raising platform, able to clearly see the figure of the person who was arguing with a teacher amidst the national anthem.

Lin Jinglei, who had been running all the way without catching his breath, rushed towards the group of teachers and grabbed Ming Miao's arm, trying to pull him to the front. No matter how the few male teachers around tried to stop him, it was all in vain.

"Do you have the guts to admit it or not?" Lin Jinglei yelled at the frantic Ming Miao, "The entire school, teachers and students alike, are here. Believe it or not, I'll make sure they know what kind of person you are!"

The boy's momentum was quite intimidating, causing the female teachers to instinctively step back.

Liu Zhi came over and grabbed Lin Jinglei's collar, saying, "Let go of me!"

Yan Zizheng's gaze never left the flag, to the extent that he forgot to pull up the flag rope. By the time the national anthem had finished, the floating red color was still halfway up the flagpole. He quickly caught up with it with a few swift movements.

Lin Jinglei was taken away by two physical education teachers. The chaos was temporarily brought under control, and the announcement was made over the intercom that everyone should disperse.

Yan Zizheng jumped off the stage and ran quickly to catch up with the two physical education teachers who were holding Lin Jinglei down. He forcefully shoved one of them aside and then pushed away the other, grabbing Lin Jinglei and running away.

Lin JingLei was full of anger, pulling the person who was still wearing the flag-raising uniform and asking, "What are you doing?"

Yan Zizheng's footsteps never stopped as he muttered, "Skipping school."