That time, a month before our college entrance exam, Old Zhang invited us to dinner. At the table, everyone drank quite a bit of wine, thinking that our happy high school life was about to end, and it was inevitable that we all had some feelings. In the end, including Old Zhang and Old Jia, all thirteen of us got drunk, saying silly things after drinking, Old Jia grabbed Yang Xu's hand and said he wanted to recognize her as his goddaughter, Yang Xu stuttered and scolded: "I'm a pure boy!" We all laughed loudly without restraint. At the end of the night when we were leaving, Du Feiyu had drunk too much and refused to take a car, fortunately, her home was not far away, so I accompanied her walking back home.

  It's summer, even at night, it feels humid and sultry. Under the dim streetlights, I'm supporting her as we walk step by step. There are few pedestrians on the road now. That's what small towns are like. At night, there's no nightlife to speak of. After dark, most people return home, and temples close up too.

  What was supposed to be a romantic scene was ruined by those damned mosquitoes. I have to say, I hate these disgusting blood-sucking creatures the most. In the sweltering summer, they fly around you from front and back, taking advantage of your carelessness to suck your bodily fluids. And that's not all - they even spit poison into your body. Typical of being full and scolding the cook, finishing the scripture and hitting the monk.

  I waved my hand non-stop to shoo away these damned little beasts, and said to Du Feiyu: "Dear, why don't we just take a taxi?" Du Feiyu's face was flushed red, obviously due to the effects of alcohol, but to be honest, this looked much better than her usual pale small face. She shook her head at me and said: "No need, if you don't want to accompany me then go home first."

  Luckily, these mosquitoes won't bite you anymore. Alas, it's really strange to say, I'm a natural mosquito magnet, and this was verified countless times in my university dormitory. In a four-person dorm room, on a hot summer night with the windows open for sleep, the next morning when I woke up, I found that I had been bitten eighteen times, while the other three were fine. From then on, every summer, brothers from other dorms would enthusiastically invite me to sleep in their rooms, superficially to deepen our friendship as classmates, but I knew it was actually just to get me to attract mosquitoes.

  Alas, since she said so, I couldn't say anything else. Let's just go, consider it a blood donation. You know, she's like the emperor now, how dare I not listen to her? I could only keep quiet and continue walking with her. After a while, she suddenly pushed me away and ran under the streetlight, vomiting.

  I thought to myself, this poor kid can't even drink and yet she's had so much. So I quickly went up to her and gently patted her back until she was done throwing up. Then I took out the half bottle of mineral water that I had leftover from lunch and gave it to her to rinse her mouth. By the way, where we're from, we just call this "pure water". There's also a funny story about this. In high school, when we went on a field trip to write some compositions, we bought a bottle of Kangshifu mineral water at the train station. After we got on the train, Yang Xu was thirsty, so I handed him the bottle. He took a sip and suddenly his face changed. But since there were people all around us, he couldn't spit it out, so he swallowed it and then told me that this water tasted like bleach! I took the bottle from him and looked at it carefully - damn! It said "Kangshuai mineral water"! This was totally fake! The packaging was exactly the same as Kangshifu's, just with a different name. Who came up with this stupid idea? I smelled it with my nose, and indeed it had a strong smell of bleach. There were even impurities in the water. I thought to myself, this "Kangshuai" is really just "pure scam".

  The book returned to its rightful owner, and I handed her the water, reminding her to drink slowly so as not to choke. After rinsing her mouth, she stood up, swaying unsteadily, and I quickly supported her to a long bench by the roadside where pedestrians could rest. She sat down on the bench, leaning her head against my shoulder, and calmed down, while I was drenched in sweat and panting heavily. You see, she wasn't light at all, probably over 90 kilograms! My small frame of 1.7 meters was exhausted from carrying her. But when my breathing had somewhat subsided, I realized something was off - the atmosphere was off! That's when I felt that her head was resting on my shoulder, and one hand was gently stroking my thigh!

  Hey, usually even thinking about holding her hand would get me a cold shoulder from her. What's going on today? The distance between us right now is so close, to describe it, if I wanted to force a kiss on her, from the moment I make my move to the moment I pull back, I can guarantee that this whole series of actions wouldn't take more than two seconds. Smelling the mix of alcohol and perfume coming from her body, I swallowed hard, thinking to myself: Could this be the legendary "drunken **" that's been circulating in rumors?

  Maybe tonight I can bid farewell to this shameful virginity and take a step into the wonderful world of adulthood! En, let's see her reaction first. Just as I was about to make my move and touch her hand, I felt her breathing change. Then I felt like my shoulder got wet.

  Wow! Is she seducing me? Is she seducing me? Is she seducing me? Is she... crying?!

  I looked down at her, and she was indeed crying, and it was such a heartbreaking cry. Although she didn't make a sound, she bit her right hand tightly. At this scene, I couldn't help but feel inexplicably sad in my heart. She seemed to notice that I was looking at her, so she said to me in an extremely calm tone: "Don't look."

  Because of her usual strong and cold personality, this was the first time I saw her cry. I didn't know what to do, so I just went "oh" and lifted my head again, letting her wipe away her tears and snot on my T-shirt. The streetlights were still shining, and the atmosphere became quiet once more, with only her faint sobbing sound audible, as if there was no one else in the world but us two.

  After a long time, she spoke up and said calmly: "You are a good person."

  Am I a good person? I said to her in a half-joking tone, "Of course I know I'm a good person, because only good people get bullied." But at that time, I really didn't understand what she meant by saying this.

  She moved her head away from my shoulder, looked up at the night sky, and in my hometown, you can see many stars on a clear night. It's beautiful, really beautiful. I didn't say anything, just kept looking at her like that, and for some reason, this scene seemed to have a sacred and inviolable meaning in my young heart at that time.

  She continued: "You know? When I was a kid, I was raped."

  What? I stared at her, wondering if she was talking nonsense because of intoxication. She saw that I didn't respond and continued to speak in a low, husky voice, which sounded so hoarse due to crying just now.

  "He was my boyfriend in junior high school. I was so scared, I ran home and cried all the time. My dad asked me what happened, but I didn't dare to say anything. After seeing that my clothes were disheveled, my dad understood what had happened. He went to his house, beat him up, and sent him to the police station. Then I transferred here. You know? I hate men, I hate all men."

  My mind went blank, I didn't know what to say, and could only continue staring at her. I don't know how most guys would react in this situation, but all I wanted to do was comfort her, yet I had no idea where to start.

  She gazed at me for a long time, and I felt somewhat afraid to meet her gaze, as if her eyes could see through my innermost thoughts. She continued to stare at me, murmuring: "Do you know? Since coming here, I haven't communicated with anyone else either, but these three years have been the happiest days of my life. Because of all of you, because of you. Every day, watching you all be so happy, my heart gradually became more cheerful too. Because of your appearance, do you know?"

  I don't know what to say, I'm so nervous when she asks me. She continues without waiting for my response: "You're a good person, Cui Zuofei. At first, I only asked you to be my boyfriend because I was really struggling being alone. But I was actually playing with your foolishness. I thought it wouldn't take long for you to get tired of my temper and leave me, but you didn't. You're still... still..." She starts crying again before she can finish speaking. At this moment, I somehow find the courage to hug her tightly in my arms. Holding her close, she doesn't struggle, just cries and says: "It's been over a year, and you're still treating me with the same kindness as when we first started dating. You fool. Are you worth it?"

  Whether it's worth it or not, I'm not sure either. This is true, I might just be the kind of fool who only learns to cherish things after experiencing life and death. Or maybe I just don't want to have any more regrets. After hearing her words, I suddenly felt another possibility - that I really fell in love with her. I don't know why. Seeing her cry makes me feel like crying too. That's all.

  I let her go, looked into her eyes and said: "Don't think about the past, as long as we're still alive, everything will pass, trust me."

  She was taken aback for a moment, then looked at me, unsure if it was because what I said was too profound or if the words coming from someone like me who's usually out of tune made her feel off. She smiled, with tears in her eyes, and said: "You silly fool."

  What happened next was beyond my imagination. I felt a blackout in front of me, and it seemed like she covered my eyes. Immediately after that, my lips transmitted a cool and soft sensation. My god! What kind of feeling is this? It's too breathtaking. Before I could even think about savoring the moment a bit longer, the light came back in front of me again. I opened my eyes to find her standing up, smiling at me.

  It started to get windy, making this sultry night a bit cooler. The gentle breeze blew her bangs, ponytail, and the white T-shirt that was slightly loose on her. Under the streetlight, she looked so slender. She smiled at me and said, "The wind has picked up, take me home."

  I licked my lips, a burst of wine flavor, and at the same time, my heart began to thump wildly.