Don't ask me from whence I came, My home is in a distant nd. Why do I roam and stray? To wander far away, To wander...

  A dessert shop oreet ying the old song "Olive Tree," released over forty years ago. The lyrics resonated with Zhuang Zi'ang, who felt like a homeless wanderer himself. her his father's nor his mother's pce could be called home; they were merely pces to stay.

  He didn't want to go back to his mother's two-bedroom apartment and face the lonely night alone. Fortunately, he still had a friend he could rely on.

  "Son, I've run away from home. you take me in for the night?" Zhuang Zi'ang called Li Huangxuan.

  "Of course, I'll e down a you," Li Huangxuan readily agreed.

  Zhuang Zi'ang smiled. This "son" was not raised in vain. If he were no longer in this world, Li Huangxuan would probably be very sad.

  "What happeo you?"

  Downstairs in the apartment plex, Li Huangxuan saw Zhuang Zi'ang's face covered in blood and was filled with .

  "It's nothing, just a bit of heatstroke," Zhuang Zi'ang replied lightly.

  "You o take care of yourself. I'm still ting on you to take care of me in my old age," Li Huangxuan joked. True friends won't feel right if they don't get a verbal jab in. In more modern terms, they were each other's "adopted father".

  Zhuang Zi'ang was in a somber mood and didn't respond to his joke.

  Li Huangxuan's home ce Zhuang Zi'ang had visited many times before, each time enviously. His friend's parents were affeate, and the home was filled with warmth and ughter. It was a world away from his own home, where he could only retreat to his room and face four cold walls.

  "Mom, Zhuang Zi'ang is sleeping over tonight. He hasn't had dinner yet," Li Huangxuan called out to his mother, Fan Ling, as soon as he ehe apartment.

  "He hasen this te? I'll make him some noodles," Fan Ling replied from the kit.

  "Thank you, Auntie," Zhuang Zi'ang said, his nose welling up at the sound of her tender voice. If only he had such a tender mother! Xu Hui was always so busy making a living that she had little energy left to cultivate their mother-soionship.

  Li Huangxuan's father, Li Tianyun, came out and saw the blood around Zhuang Zi'ang's nose and mouth. He looked armed and asked with what had happened. He sent his son to fete id called Zhuang Zi'ang over. "e here, let me put some i it to prevent further bleeding."

  "Thank you, Uncle," Zhuang Zi'ang bowed.

  Li Tianyun applied ice to Zhuang Zi'ang's forehead and the back of his neck, then patiently ed the blood with a wet towel, sighing with . "You kids o take care of yourselves at school. If you're not feeling well, tell your teachers and parents. Don't try to tough it out on your own."

  This sentence caused Zhuang Zi'ang to break down pletely. He had such a huge problem, and he could only bear it alone, with no oo rely on. Just now, fag his indifferent father, Zhuang Zi'ang had mao hold back his tears. But now, seeing Li Huangxuan's kind parents, he could no longer hold back. Tears streamed down his face, and his body shook with sobs.

  Li Tianyun embraced him tightly. "There, there, don't cry."

  Leaning on his uncle's warm embrace, Zhuang Zi'ang tried to trol his emotions. He repeated to himself over and over, Real men don't cry easily. I 't cry, I 't cry...

  "Xiao Zhuang, e a your noodles!" Fan Ling called out softly.

  Two fried eggs were pced on top of the steaming noodles. Li Huangxuan's family knew about Zhuang Zi'ang's family situation. To avoid making him feel sad, they were very careful not to ask any probing questions. Instead, they chatted with him about muhings at school.

  "Our Huangxuan is so lucky to have you as a friend."

  "Yeah, how are you so amazing? How do you always get first pce?"

  "If you were our son, we would be so happy."

  ...

  Zhuang Zi'ang looked up. "Auntie, are you serious? Do you really wish you had a son like me?"

  "Of course! Parents would be proud to have a son like you," Fan Ling replied uatingly.

  "Ahem..." Li Tianyun coughed twice, giving his wife a look.

  Fan Ling realized she had spoken out of turn and touched a sore spot for Zhuang Zi'ang. Su outstanding soreated like a shuttlecock, batted bad forth between his parents.

  After finishing the noodles, Li Huangxuan took Zhuang Zi'ang to his bedroom. He had been eyeing the delicate strawberry cake from the moment he saw it.

  "Dude, yht a gift! I won't be polite then." Li Huangxuaedly cut the small cake in half and handed a piece to Zhuang Zi'ang.

  Zhuang Zi'a a stab of guilt. He wao say that the cake wasn't inally for him, but the words caught in his throat.

  Suddenly, he felt something cold on his cheek. Li Huangxuan had smeared a dollop of cream on him, cag. "What are you daydreaming about?"

  "You dare to ambush me!" Zhuang Zi'aaliated, grabbing his piece of cake and smashing it onto Li Huangxuan's face.

  Li Huangxuan ducked and weaved, ughiily. The two chased each other around the room like two mischievous kids.

  Zhuang Zi'ang's iress was momentarily released. Only with Li Huangxuan could he fet that he was supposed to be a grown-up, that he was supposed to be mature.

  After they tired themselves out, they y sprawled on the bed.

  Panting, Li Huangxuan asked, "Dude, where did you run off to this afternoon?"

  "I didn't want to go to css, so I went fishing by the river," Zhuang Zi'ang answered truthfully.

  "What? The goody-two-shoes Zhuang Zi'ang skipped css?" Li Huangxuan found it hard to believe.

  "Yeah, I've been a good kid for over a decade. I'm a little tired of it," Zhuang Zi'ang said meaningfully. Then he added, "I met a girl uhe ginkgo trees on the sports field. She's eveier than Lin Mushi. We hung out all day."

  "You're dreaming. There's no girl in our school prettier than Lin Mushi," Li Huangxuan said skeptically.

  Hearing Li Huangxuan's doubt, Zhuang Zi'ang was stunned. It was as if a bucket of cold water had been thrown over him, jolting him awake. If Lin Mushi was the belle of the school, and there was a girl named Su Yudiel who was eveier, how could he have never heard of her?

  Was her name even real? Or maybe she wasn't even a student at their school?

  Seeing that Zhuang Zi'ang was silent, Li Huangxuan asked again, "Which css is that girl in?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang stammered, "She said she's in Css 23."

  "What a load of bull," Li Huangxuan shook his head, vihat Zhuang Zi'ang was delusional. He took out his phone and waved it. "It's still early. Want to py a round?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang frowned. "Aren't you afraid I'll drag you down?"

  "Just py support. Watch me carry you," Li Huangxuan said fidently.

  "My only support hero is a fish."

  As a model student, Zhuang Zi'ang rarely pyed games, so he retty bad. But he had already skipped css today, so pying a game wasn't a big deal.

  "TiMi!"

  They both opened up Honor of Kings.

  Li Huangxuan was Diamond III, and Zhuang Zi'ang tinum IV, so they could barely queue together.

  "Fish" is another name for the support hero Zhuang Zhou. As one of the heroes known for being easy to "carry" with (meaning to win even with less skilled pyers), it was a good choice finners.

  "A bunch of people fighting in someone's dream. Is that fun?"

  Li Huangxuan and Zhuang Zi'ang began their joyful duo queue journey.

  "Hey, why is your Zhuang Zhou using Purify?"

  "To remove debuffs. 't I?"

  "Ult, use your ult! Why aren't you using your ult when Lu Bu jumps in?"

  "Sorry, I have Purify for myself. I fot about you guys."

  First game, a narrow defeat.

  Sed game, a close loss.

  Third game, carried to defeat.

  ...

  They pyed until Li Huangxuao Diamond IV and Zhuang Zi'ao Gold I, and they could no longer queue together.

  "Your Zhuang Zhou is really good. Don't py it ime," Li Huangxuan tossed his phone aside.

  "Oh!" Zhuang Zi'ang replied, mistaking the ent for a pliment.

  It was gettiime for bed!

  The real world is too harsh. It's better to dream. Everything is possible in dreams.

  The beautiful long sleep deserves a song. La ...