It was really Tan Jiao, her face flushed red, leaning on my chest, with a pair of shining eyes. Wu Miao sat not far from me, made a funny face at us, and laughed as she ran away.

  Tan Jiao immediately sat up from me, moved to one side and said: "Wu Miao pushed me." At that moment I really didn't want to let go, but in the end I endured it.

  She is mischievous.

  It was probably when I fell asleep that the two girls made a fuss on the side, and finally they got Tan Jiao into my arms. We both quieted down for a while, and Tan Jiao said: "Don't worry, I just told Wu Miao to call Shen Shiyan after getting off the boat and tell her I'm a friend of hers. Shen Shiyan is very reliable, once she has doubts about something, she will definitely investigate thoroughly. Having one more person protect Wu Miao means an extra layer of safety."

  I didn't expect her to suddenly say this: "Thank you."

  Tan Jiao smiled and said, "What are you thanking me for?"

  My heart skipped a beat. I vaguely felt that her attitude towards me at this moment was different from the previous few days. No longer cold as ice, it seemed like she had let go of her resentment and returned to her usual carefree self. I didn't know what caused the change in her, but it did seem to slowly dissipate the pent-up frustration in my heart.

  "Wu Miao found out I was smoking and wants to go tell on me to mom." I also said a casual sentence.

  Tan Jiaowei smiled slightly: "You deserved it!"

  The sunshine shines on us, and the gentle breeze carries the scent of lake water and green grass, lightly brushing over. We all didn't say a word.

  "We're boarding!" the tour guide yelled from a distance. We looked up to see that many people had already returned to the ship. And somehow, Wu Miao was also standing on the deck, waving frantically at us. But there were still some people lingering on the shore.

  I stood up: "Let's go."

  "Hmm." Tan Jiao also stood up, but made a "tsk" sound with her mouth, and lowered her head. I looked over as well, and saw that her ankle had a small cut with a bit of blood oozing out, and was slightly bruised.

  Tan Jiao said: "It's possible that just now when Wu Miao pushed me... I bumped into a rock."

  I immediately said, "Let me take a look, sit down." She went "oh" and sat down as told. I squatted in front of her, suddenly stunned, thinking of the past, no, it was the future. A year later when we met again, she was sitting like this by the small playground, letting me see the wound on her foot.

  It hasn't been long since then, but thinking about it now feels like a lifetime ago. She might have remembered too, lowering her head, looking somewhat melancholic.

  I picked up her foot, took a look, and it seemed to be fine. The woman's toes, however, lightly curled up in my palm. So I couldn't help but notice the shape in my hand. Her foot was slender and white, even the sole was very white, with a hint of red, exuding a unique luster that belonged to women. The small toes were plump and tender.

  I held on, unmoving. There was nothing around us, just a gentle breeze passing by.

  "Does it hurt?" I asked.

  I don't know if she was nervous or evasive, but those five toes suddenly curled up lightly at the same time. I subconsciously grasped them and lifted my head to see her slightly red face and slightly red eyes.

  "It hurts," she said softly.

  My heart skipped a beat and my throat felt a bit dry. Without looking into her eyes, I let go of her hand and stood up, saying: "Bear with it for a moment, we'll be on the boat soon. It should be fine."

  She stood up and didn't say anything.

  We walked together in the direction of the boat. After a while, she said slowly and leisurely, "Don't worry, I won't make you carry me. After all, men and women... shouldn't be too intimate."

  I: “……”