Childhood is like a paper airplane in a child’s hand. Tossed into the air with a whoosh, it carries the innocent laughter of youth and swiftly flies away.
Feng Yuan, who used to cry loudly every time he went to school, was now slumped over his desk in a high school classroom. Though his face showed a hint of worry, at least—
He was strong enough not to cry.
Even though his physics exam paper, marked with a failing grade, was lying right there on his desk.
“Hey, Yuan Yuan, how did you do? Mr. Yan said we have to bring this exam home for a signature.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Feng Yuan slapped a textbook over the exam paper.
Xu Jiale, his deskmate, understood everything from that single action.
“Sigh. Yuan Yuan, it’s okay. Failing this exam doesn’t mean anything. You can always do better next time.”
Xu Jiale’s words of comfort did nothing to lift Feng Yuan’s spirits.
With a crestfallen expression, Feng Yuan seemed even more dejected.
“Just thinking about having to take another exam makes me not want to live.”
Xu Jiale: “Well, there’s no way around it. We’re already in our second year of high school.”
“Next year, we’ll be taking the college entrance exams.”
Mentioning the college entrance exams, Xu Jiale nudged Feng Yuan’s arm and offered a suggestion: “Yuan Yuan, have you considered studying abroad?”
“My grandparents said if I don’t want to study domestically, they’ll send me abroad.”
“The exams are easier overseas.”
Feng Yuan shook his head at Xu Jiale’s suggestion. He wasn’t interested.
“My foreign language skills are poor. I don’t want to study abroad.”
He went abroad every year for vacations, traveling with his grandfather Robert and the others.
But after all these years, even Grandpa Robert had become fluent in Chinese, while Feng Yuan’s foreign language skills remained abysmal.
He also couldn’t get used to the food in foreign school cafeterias.
So, he had long given up on the idea of studying abroad.
Seeing Feng Yuan so downcast, Xu Jiale slumped over the desk alongside him.
The two of them faced each other.
Xu Jiale tried to cheer him up with some good news: “National Day is coming up soon. Qin Xun should be coming back, right? You can ask him to tutor you.”
Feng Yuan: “…”
Feng Yuan’s face twisted in even greater agony: “Don’t even mention it. He’s already tutoring me every single day.”
“We video call all the time.”
Feng Yuan genuinely disliked studying. He could never focus on his schoolwork.
From elementary school all the way to high school, the only reason he managed to get into each school was thanks to Qin Xun’s tutoring.
If it weren’t for Qin Xun dragging him through his studies, his family would probably have had to donate a building just to get him into school.
“Hmm, so you two are still talking every day?”
Xu Jiale keenly picked up on a key point: “Isn’t Qin Xun busy with university?”
Qin Xun was two grades ahead of Feng Yuan and was already in college.
Moreover, he was attending one of the top universities in the country.
He was majoring in business.
The best business programs were originally overseas. But Qin Xun didn’t want to study abroad either, so he chose a domestic one.
Still, the top business professors from abroad regularly taught him as well.
Thanks to his family’s financial power, that was possible.
“It’s fine. We only video call at night. He should be free then, right?”
Xu Jiale hummed in response, thinking Qin Xun probably wasn’t as free as Feng Yuan assumed.
He had heard about Qin Xun’s legendary academic achievements. This guy, who was only slightly older than him and Feng Yuan, was practically a legend in their circle.
Even his grandparents knew of Qin Xun.
They had praised Qin Xun in front of him more than once.
Qin Xun’s current identity wasn’t just that of a university student.
He had also taken over part of his family’s business.
“I feel like he’s really busy,” Xu Jiale remarked before asking, “By the way, does Qin Xun have a girlfriend? My cousin started dating as soon as she entered university.”
“My cousin says university romance is super sweet. I want that, too.”
Xu Jiale had a crush on their class’s math representative, but the representative had made it clear:
No early dating. They were waiting until university to start a relationship.
So Xu Jiale’s desire for a university romance wasn’t really about his cousin. It was about that pretty class representative.
Feng Yuan knew all about this open crush.
“Le Le, if you want a university romance, you’ll have to work hard to get into the same university as Xiao Hu.”
Xiao Hu was the math representative.
Xiao Hu’s grades were exceptionally good. Her dream university was one of the top three in the country.
“I’m studying hard already!”
The moment Xu Jiale mentioned studying, he immediately sat up straight, grabbed his textbooks, and started working diligently.
Watching him study, Feng Yuan continued lying face down without moving.
He shifted his head to face the window this time.
Gazing at the sky outside, he thought about what Xu Jiale had just said.
Would Qin Xun really not date anyone in university?
If he wasn’t dating now, would he never date later?
Qin Xun was already an adult. It wouldn’t count as early dating anymore.
If he started dating, would he still chat with Feng Yuan as often?
These questions swirled in Feng Yuan’s mind, making him even more melancholy.
Just as Feng Yuan was lost in thought, a large face suddenly appeared outside the window, startling him so much his eyes went wide.
It was their homeroom teacher. The one who loved peeking through windows, staring sharply right at him.
Feng Yuan: “!”
Feng Yuan jolted upright and immediately sat at attention.
“Feng Yuan! I’ve been watching you from the back door for a while now.”
“The class bell rang ages ago. Everyone else is studying properly during self-study, and you’re here napping!”
Their homeroom teacher had a fiery temper. He strode in through the front door with a dark expression and immediately began scolding Feng Yuan.
Feng Yuan was used to being lectured.
He sat there looking ashamed as the teacher berated him. Once the scolding ended, he obediently picked up his textbook and started reading.
This was a self-study period where everyone could review freely.
Feng Yuan read his book quietly while the teacher, having finished reprimanding him, scanned the classroom before leaving with his hands clasped behind his back.
That night at 9 p.m., after evening self-study, Feng Yuan returned home, closed his door, and video-called Qin Xun.
“Qin Xun.”
“I’m here.”
Qin Xun lived in a four-person dorm but also had an off-campus apartment. He occasionally stayed in the dorm. Tonight was one of those nights.
Feng Yuan propped his phone on a stand, his increasingly handsome face scrunched up as he complained to Qin Xun about his day at school.
He could talk nonstop.
He would share every little detail of what happened at school with Qin Xun.
Just as he was getting into his storytelling, one of Qin Xun’s roommates suddenly spoke up loudly.
“Qin Xun, you’re video-calling your little brother again? He’s so attached to you.”
“Hey, are you really not considering Meng Xiaoya’s confession? She’s so pretty. Lots of guys at our school like her.”
“Yeah, Qin Xun. You and Meng Xiaoya would make a great match. You should give it a try.”
The chatter of his roommates reached Feng Yuan’s ears. His little face froze in a daze.
While he was still stunned, Qin Xun had already stood up.
He wasn’t sitting at the desk anymore but had climbed onto the bed.
Before getting into bed, Feng Yuan heard Qin Xun respond to his roommates’ gossipy questions.
“Not considering it. I have no plans to date.”
“Why not? With your great qualities, it’s such a waste not to date.”
The roommates wanted to ask more, but Qin Xun pointed to his phone, making it clear.
He was going to continue the call.
Seeing that Qin Xun didn’t want to chat further, the roommates went back to their own business.
It was still early for them, so they resumed their gaming.
“Yuan Yuan.”
Qin Xun sat on the bed, looking at the dazed boy on the screen, and called softly, “What are you thinking about?”
“Huh? N-nothing.”
Feng Yuan shook his head randomly. He had originally had a whole basketful of things to say to Qin Xun, but now he suddenly couldn’t remember any of them.
He randomly brought up a topic: “Have you booked your ticket home yet? Send me the ticket info. I’ll pick you up when the time comes.”
“No need. Just wait for me at home.”
Qin Xun said, “I’ll come straight home when I get back.”
When Qin Xun returned to the Li family, he also called it going home.
Feng Yuan hesitated for a moment and asked, “Are you going back to your own home first?”
“No. My parents are going on a trip during the National Day holiday.”
Qin Xun explained.
Hearing this, Feng Yuan’s little face lit up with joy again.
If Uncle and Aunt Qin weren’t home, then Qin Xun would be coming to his place.
“Where are Uncle and Aunt going? I want to go on a trip, too.”
Feng Yuan also had time off during the National Day holiday.
Qin Xun had already made plans: “I’ll drive us on a road trip then. We can go camping in the mountains and watch the sunrise the next day.”
“Okay!”
Feng Yuan agreed, his eyes sparkling.
He had wanted to go camping in the mountains for a long time, but never had the chance or time.
He had mentioned it to Qin Xun once. He hadn’t expected Qin Xun to remember.
“Qin Xun, come back quickly then.”
“I kind of miss you.”
Feng Yuan had always been clingy since he was little. His mouth was sweet even as a child.
Now that he was older, he was still sweet-talking with his dad and family, but with Qin Xun…
For some reason, every time he said these clingy things, he felt a little off inside.
When he said them to his dad, it felt perfectly natural.
But with Qin Xun, after saying them, he felt inexplicably strange.
“Yeah, I miss you, too.”
Qin Xun always responded to Feng Yuan’s clinginess without fail.
The two of them kept the video call going. Feng Yuan leaned over the desk, studying the signature on his chemistry test.
He wanted to forge a signature.
Bringing this failing test to his dad felt a bit embarrassing.
He had argued a lot with his dad.
After their argument, Feng Yuan had even made a bold declaration—
He said he would become an emotionless learning machine from now on.
He would bring home a stack of high-scoring tests to show his dad just how terrifying he could be when he got serious!
Now, after making such a bold statement, he ended up bringing home a failing test…
“Qin Xun, what should I do? My dad’s signature is so hard to copy.”
Feng Yuan had tried to imitate the signature several times but felt it never looked right.
He wore a pitiful expression, utterly distressed.
Qin Xun, seeing this, coaxed him gently, “Yuan Yuan, the teacher said a parent needs to sign it, but didn’t specify which one.”
“You can ask your uncle and see if he’ll sign it for you.”
Feng Yuan: “!”
Feng Yuan perked up instantly: “Yay! I’ll go find him tomorrow morning and have him take me to school.”
With the signature issue settled, Feng Yuan worked on his homework for a while longer.
Finally, after washing up and changing into his pajamas, he climbed into bed.
His black-and-white pajamas were the same style as Qin Xun’s.
But while the same outfit looked inexplicably restrained and alluring on Qin Xun, on Feng Yuan, it simply appeared warm and adorable.
“Qin Xun, I’m going to sleep now.”
“Alright, sleep well. I’ll go get the book.”
The book Qin Xun was going to fetch was an English storybook. Every night, he would read English stories to Feng Yuan.
Listening to Qin Xun read in English, Feng Yuan would drift off to sleep peacefully in no time.
Even when sleeping, the two never hung up the call.
Soon, the sound of Feng Yuan’s steady breathing, fast asleep, traveled through the headset and reached Qin Xun’s ears.
Qin Xun stopped reading the story.
He set the book aside and picked up his tablet to continue working.
As he removed his headset, he overheard his roommate whispering about him again.
“Qin Xun’s way of coaxing his little brother, if you didn’t know better, you’d think he was pampering his girlfriend.”
The roommate’s comment wasn’t meant maliciously, just a lighthearted tease.
Qin Xun’s hand, holding the computer, paused briefly. But he didn’t say anything more.
A few days later, National Day arrived.
Although Qin Xun had told Feng Yuan not to come pick him up before he left, as soon as he stepped off the plane, he spotted Feng Yuan anyway.
The once chubby little kid had now grown into a slender, well-proportioned teenager.
Amid the bustling crowd at the airport, Qin Xun’s eyes immediately locked onto the young man.
Carrying his luggage, Qin Xun unconsciously quickened his pace.
“Qin Xun!”
Seeing him, Feng Yuan rushed over excitedly, burying his head in Qin Xun’s chest: “You’re finally back!”
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152