Chapter 715: Let’s Be Friends for a Day

My words plunged the two of them into complete silence.

“Yes…” Sister Siwei said, “Even if we could build something similar, Hero Brother’s daily workload would still be just as heavy.”

“I don’t mind,” I told them. “Brother, Sister, I really don’t care.”

“But your body…” Sister Siwei looked at me and suddenly froze. “Ah, Hero Brother!”

I was startled and reached up to touch my nose—it was bleeding again.

Ever since more and more “Fragrant Ones” appeared in the family, the smells I detected grew stronger, and my nose bled constantly.

Sister Siwei quickly stepped forward and gently touched my nose. “Hero Brother… it’s okay, it doesn’t hurt, it’ll stop soon.”

She always said that, carrying the soothing scent of “healing” with her.

If only my mother could be half as kind as Sister Siwei… How wonderful would that be?

I remember in first grade, I saw another child’s parent pick them up after school. That child fell, and his mother comforted him for a long time.

So when I got home, I imitated him—I “accidentally” fell in the living room. But my mother didn’t come to help me up. She just laughed at me for being silly.

I lay on the floor, giggling foolishly along with her, then got up and fell again, over and over.

I wanted to make her laugh.

I really, really wished she would come over and say, *It doesn’t hurt, it’ll stop soon.*

But even when my knees and palms were aching from the falls, she just kept laughing at me for being an idiot.

This time, Brother Gu Yu and Sister Siwei’s discussion ended in another disagreement. I knew they desperately wanted to make things easier for me, but neither was willing to admit it was impossible.

They wanted to help me, but I wanted to help them. We were caught in a whirlpool of mutual struggle.

That day, after returning to the real world, Xu Jiahua, who had been standing in punishment all day, picked up his bag and left the classroom. Instead of going home, I followed him.

My parents never spoke to me, but I had so many questions I wanted to ask someone.

“Zheng Yingxiong, what are you doing?” Xu Jiahua slung his uniform over his shoulder and turned to look at me. “School’s over—shouldn’t you be going home?”

“Xu Jiahua, I want to ask you some questions.”

“Ask me questions?” He stopped and turned around. “Me?”

“Yeah.”

He scratched his head, his scent laced with confusion, then held out his hand. “One question, ten cents.”

Without hesitation, I pulled out the cold one-yuan coin from my pocket and handed it to him.

I hadn’t eaten lunch today—I was used to going hungry. If I didn’t use the money I saved, I might never get another chance.

“Huh? This much?!” He stared at the coin in shock. “Dang it… what are you doing?”

“You can have it all. I have a lot of questions.”

Not only did I have many questions, but I also wanted to apologize to Xu Jiahua.

“Then—then wait a second…” He examined the coin in his palm before grabbing my wrist. “Zheng Yingxiong! Come with me!”

We ran through two streets until we reached a small convenience store.

“Granny!” Xu Jiahua called out cheerfully.

Seconds later, an elderly woman peeked out from inside. The wrinkles on her face softened slightly when she saw him. “Ah-Hua, here for your two veggie buns for fifty cents? They’ve been kept warm for you—just like always…”

“No! Not today!” Xu Jiahua waved his hands frantically. “Granny, don’t say that! When have I ever bought two veggie buns for fifty cents…?”

“Eh…?” The old woman blinked in confusion. “What’s wrong with you…?”

“Ahem! I—” Xu Jiahua cleared his throat loudly. “Granny! I brought a friend today! I’m treating him to a drink!”

“A drink…?” The woman squinted skeptically. “Ah-Hua, since when do you have money?”

“Ugh!” Xu Jiahua lowered his voice. “Granny, just give me the drinks, okay?”

“Well… how about sugar water?” She pointed at a crumpled plastic bottle. “Ten cents a bottle.”

“Su-sugar water? That won’t do!” Xu Jiahua clenched the coin in his hand, hesitating for a few seconds before glancing at the small, elegant glass bottles nearby. “Granny! I want that! I want cola!”

“Cola…?” The old woman gasped. “Ah-Hua! That’s fifty cents a bottle! You usually only spend—”

“Just give it to me!”

Xu Jiahua quickly handed over the coin, snatched two glass bottles of Coca-Cola from her, and dragged me away.

From a distance, I could still hear the old woman shouting, “Ah-Hua! Remember to return the bottles!”

“I know, Granny!”

We sat on the bridge pier, clutching the dark liquid in our hands, neither daring to take a sip.

The black drink fizzed in my grip, and my heart fizzed along with it. I felt no different from the liquid inside—once freed from its bottle, it would simply vanish into someone else’s stomach.

“Rot in Hell… Coca-Cola…” Xu Jiahua held the glass bottle up to his face, examining it closely. “So weird… and it’s bubbling…”

I barely heard him. My mind was too busy figuring out how to say what I needed to say.

Even though I had countless questions, there was one thing I had to say first…

“I…”

“I’m sorry, Zheng Yingxiong,” Xu Jiahua muttered, still staring at the bottle.

“Huh…?”

“I mean about asking you for money all the time. You saw it just now…” He scratched his head sheepishly, then flashed a bright smile. “There’s no one at home, and at night, my stomach growls so loud. If it weren’t for your fifty cents every day, I wouldn’t even have those veggie buns. Thank you… for feeding me these past two weeks.”

Hearing those words, his scent suddenly became even more pleasant to me.

Though my life had stopped at eight years old, I had spent five years inside the “prison.”

I wasn’t a child anymore.

These years had taught me that before talking to someone, I had to pay attention to their scent.

Everyone’s scent in this world was complex, but only two kinds scared me—one was the revolting stench of someone like Uncle Wan, and the other was the near-nonexistent scent of my other family members.

But Xu Jiahua’s scent had always been nice.

Now, I had learned how to understand a person—not by whether they’d done bad things or how dirty their clothes were, but by closing my eyes and truly sensing their scent.

“Xu Jiahua, you could’ve just told me the truth.” I tilted my head. “Why did you have to say it was ‘protection money’?”

“Ah… it made me feel like a boss.” He chuckled awkwardly. “But I’ve seen what kind of person you are now. I won’t treat you like a lackey anymore!”

We sat by the riverbank in the sweltering summer evening, watching adults speed by on bicycles, listening to the cicadas sing.

“Xu Jiahua, I don’t want to be a lackey. Can we be friends for a day?” I asked.

“Friends for *a day*?” He blinked. “What kind of question is that? We can be friends forever!”