“Yin Wuzhi, what are you dawdling for?” The call from his rowdy friends snapped him back to reality. Jiang Wu was still sitting there, mouth open, waiting to be fed. Irritated, Yin Wuzhi shoved the ice cream cup into Jiang Wu’s hands and said sternly, “Eat it yourself.”
He wondered if something was wrong with him.
Why did it feel so natural to feed this lazy little slacker?
And that fleeting, incredibly vivid “memory”—was he losing it? It had to be a hallucination.
Feeling exasperated, Yin Wuzhi slumped face down onto the bench.
Since they had snuck out, time was limited. Before long, Yin Wuzhi bid his friends farewell and ran back to Jiang Wu, panting. He picked up Jiang Wu’s backpack and said, “Let’s go.”
Jiang Wu didn’t move.
Yin Wuzhi narrowed his eyes. “You’re not expecting me to carry you, are you?”
Jiang Wu gave him a look that clearly said: Isn’t that obvious?
After all, it was Yin Wuzhi who dragged him here, used him as a cover. If Yin Wuzhi wasn’t going to carry him, did he really expect Jiang Wu to walk?
Sighing, Yin Wuzhi glanced at his watch. Worried about getting caught by their parents, he crouched in front of Jiang Wu and said, “Get on.”
His brow furrowed, and he silently vowed this would be the last time.
Behind him, Jiang Wu’s voice floated over, slow and deliberate: “Do you expect me to climb on by myself?”
Yin Wuzhi: “?” What else would you do???
Before he could say anything, his body moved instinctively. He took a step back, reached behind to steady Jiang Wu’s waist, and hoisted him onto his back with practiced ease.
The motion felt oddly familiar, as if he’d done it countless times before.
With both their backpacks hanging from his shoulders, Yin Wuzhi carried Jiang Wu, his mind a swirl of confusion.
What was going on? What had just happened? Shouldn’t he have at least lectured this lazy kid about how not just anyone could ride on his back?
To keep up the pretense of walking home, Yin Wuzhi hailed a cab and got off at the entrance of their neighborhood. Once there, he tried to get Jiang Wu off his back. Jiang Wu flopped weakly against him.
Annoyed, Yin Wuzhi gave him a little shove. Jiang Wu lazily leaned to the side, only to land in a pair of familiar arms.
“You’re old enough to stop collapsing to the ground every chance you get,” said the owner of the arms as he scooped Jiang Wu up effortlessly.
Jiang Wu had been lazy since he was a child, and almost every older relative or peer had carried him at some point. Yin Wuzhi’s cousin was no exception.
Though Jiang Wu was now a teenager, his picky eating and poor appetite left him small and thin, making it easy for slightly older peers to pick him up.
Yin Wuzhi instinctively turned to look at his cousin, his expression strange. “Why are you carrying him?”
“I heard from Aunt Wen that you and Ah Wu were walking home, and I figured he’d probably struggle. So, I came to check at the neighborhood gate, and sure enough, here you are,” the cousin said casually, striding off with long legs.
Yin Wuzhi, shorter and still growing, trailed behind with two backpacks slung over his shoulders. He couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Wu, who was cradled in his cousin’s arms.
The cousin looked down at Jiang Wu’s delicate, doll-like face and chuckled. “This kid’s just like when he was little. Rock him a bit, and he’ll fall asleep immediately.”
“…” What kind of nonsense expression is that?
Yin Wuzhi followed behind, his face growing darker as his thoughts spiraled into strange and inexplicable territory.
“We should let him walk.”
“We’re almost there.”
A few steps later, Yin Wuzhi said, “We’re at his house now.”
“He’s already asleep. I’ll take him inside.”
Scowling, Yin Wuzhi followed them in. “He’s not a kid anymore. You can’t keep carrying him like this.”
“So what?”
With Jiang Wu’s parents not home, the cousin carried him upstairs, placed him on the bed, and thoughtfully tucked him in. He even pinched Jiang Wu’s soft cheek with a smile. “What a cutie.”
Jiang Wu, oblivious, slept soundly.
Yin Wuzhi, fuming, threw Jiang Wu’s backpack onto the floor with a loud thud.
That night, in front of a computer, the sound of rapid typing filled a room. On an anonymous forum, the input box displayed a question:
“A male college student princess-carries a fourteen-year-old middle schooler to bed and calls him ‘cute.’ Does this have any deeper meaning?”
The next morning, when Yin Wuzhi went downstairs, his cousin was still there. Father Yin said, “Your brother has something to do near your school today, so he’ll take you and Ah Wu there.”
Yin Wuzhi bristled. “That’s not necessary.”
“It’s no trouble,” the cousin said. “It’s on the way.”
“I don’t want to share a ride with Jiang Wu.”
His cousin looked at him in confusion. Mother Yin asked, “Did you two have a fight?”
Father Yin dismissed the idea. “Impossible. Ah Wu wouldn’t bother.”
“Anyway,” Yin Wuzhi said to his cousin, “just take me. Let the driver take Jiang Wu.”
After breakfast, Yin Wuzhi went upstairs to get his backpack. His mother frowned with concern. “What’s going on between those two?”
His father sighed. “Our families live so close. It wouldn’t do for the kids to cause tension.”
“It doesn’t seem like Ah Zhi will tell us the truth,” his mother said to the cousin. “Why don’t you take Ah Wu alone and ask him what’s wrong? He’s more straightforward than Ah Zhi.”
Because the two families lived nearby, Yin Wuzhi and Jiang Wu often shared a ride to school—though occasionally, Yin Wuzhi would bike there on a whim.
Ten minutes later, Jiang Wu slowly climbed into the back seat of his cousin’s car.
His cousin first asked him what he had eaten, chatting casually about everyday matters, before getting to the point. “Has Ah Zhi been acting strange at school?”
Jiang Wu: “No.”
“Then, how are you and Ah Zhi getting along lately?”
Jiang Wu sensed what was coming. “Why?”
The cousin sighed and cut to the chase. “Ah Zhi said he didn’t want to share a car with you. His parents are worried you two might’ve had a fight.”
Jiang Wu: “.”
His ex-boyfriend was getting more and more unreasonable—how dare he act so annoyed with him?
When they arrived at the school, the cousin parked the car, got out, opened the door for Jiang Wu, and gently patted his head as he walked him to the school gate. “You two grew up together. If there’s an issue, talk it out. If Ah Zhi loses his temper with you, let his parents know. Don’t lower yourself to his level.”
A few minutes later, Yin Wuzhi arrived. The moment he got out of the car, he saw the tall college student leaning down to ruffle the head of the much smaller middle schooler. The cousin said something to Jiang Wu in a doting tone before sending him through the gate.
Yin Wuzhi stormed over and rammed into his cousin’s side.
Caught off guard, the cousin staggered to the side. He then watched as Yin Wuzhi bolted into the school without acknowledging him, muttering, “What a hotheaded brat.”
The hotheaded brat caught up with Jiang Wu and bumped him with his shoulder, grumbling, “Why didn’t you wait for me?”
Jiang Wu stumbled slightly but kept his composure as Yin Wuzhi quickly reached out to steady him. Without a word, Jiang Wu continued walking.
“You’re still ignoring me?” Yin Wuzhi hooked an arm around Jiang Wu’s neck, pulling him into his chest. The fresh scent of body wash wafted into Jiang Wu’s nose as Yin Wuzhi declared, “I’m telling you, at your age, you should stick close to pure and sincere peers like me and steer clear of the complicated, sinister adults out there. Got it?”
Jiang Wu: “You’re crazy.”
“Who are you calling crazy?”
Lowering his head in resignation, Jiang Wu said weakly, “Let go.”
Seeing that Jiang Wu was genuinely uncomfortable, Yin Wuzhi loosened his grip a little. “Anyway, I’d never hurt you. Let’s go. Upstairs.”
Their classroom was on the second floor. Normally, Yin Wuzhi wouldn’t bother with Jiang Wu, who would dawdle his way up on his own. But today, with Yin Wuzhi’s arm around him, Jiang Wu felt even more drained than usual.
Yin Wuzhi shoved his hands into his pockets and walked ahead to the corner of the stairs, turning to look back. “Hurry up.”
Jiang Wu, feeling utterly spent, squatted at the foot of the stairs and slowly fiddled with his smartwatch.
Moments later, another boy their age came sprinting down the stairs, bypassing Yin Wuzhi and heading straight to Jiang Wu. “Are you okay?”
Jiang Wu sighed, “I can’t move.”
Without hesitation, the boy helped him up, placed Jiang Wu’s arm over his shoulder, and bent down to carry him on his back. In just a few strides, he ascended the stairs with Jiang Wu in tow, all under Yin Wuzhi’s stunned gaze.
Yin Wuzhi immediately caught up, blocking their path with a swift turn. His backpack strap hit the wall with a loud thud. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“What does it look like?” the boy replied. “He pays me, so I help him out. What’s wrong with that? Now move; class is about to start.”
The boy carried Jiang Wu to a spot a few meters from the classroom door, then quickly ran off to his own class.
Jiang Wu, perfectly timed, slid into his seat just as the bell rang.
Yin Wuzhi tossed his backpack onto the desk with a loud thump and sat down beside Jiang Wu, his expression blank. “When did this start?”
Jiang Wu didn’t answer. Instead, he flopped onto his backpack and shut his eyes to recharge his energy.
He spent the entire morning sprawled out during the self-study period.
Yin Wuzhi, unable to concentrate on his book, fidgeted the whole time. Despite his attempts to get Jiang Wu to talk, the latter completely ignored him.
When lunchtime finally arrived, the school allowed them to use the dormitory for a midday rest. Yin Wuzhi, usually full of energy, would typically go eat with his friends and then play soccer. His and Jiang Wu’s lives rarely intersected.
But today, he lingered longer than usual.
After the bell rang, most of the students left for lunch, but Jiang Wu continued sleeping.
With his arms crossed, Yin Wuzhi furrowed his brow. Then something unexpected happened.
A boy peeked into the classroom, noticed someone still inside, and quickly disappeared.
After a while, the boy peeked in again.
By this time, only Yin Wuzhi and Jiang Wu were left in the classroom.
Hesitating for a moment, the boy finally couldn’t hold back and called out, “Jiang Wu.”
Jiang Wu groggily lifted his face, and the boy waved at him. “Can I come in?”
Jiang Wu glanced around. Most people had already left, yet his ex-boyfriend—who usually disappeared in a flash—was still sitting nearby.
Although Jiang Wu thought it wasn’t great for such behavior to spread across campus and usually tried to be discreet, his ex-boyfriend didn’t really count as “people,” so he said, “Sure.”
The boy quickly stepped inside and said to Yin Wuzhi, “Excuse me.”
Reluctantly, Yin Wuzhi moved aside.
He watched, speechless, as the boy efficiently tidied up Jiang Wu’s desk, organized his backpack, and then crouched in front of Jiang Wu. “Let’s go.”
Jiang Wu naturally leaned forward and climbed onto the boy’s back.
At that moment, Yin Wuzhi was suddenly reminded of stories he’d often read in the school newsletter—real-life accounts of anonymous kind-hearted students quietly helping classmates with disabilities. They’d carry their books, fetch their meals, even piggyback them upstairs or to their dorms for a nap.
He’d always thought those tales were inspiring examples of touching camaraderie.
But now? Oh.
Disgusting!
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Thank you for your hard work translator!!❤️