Zhuang Zi'ang tore off a piece of tissue, stuffed it up his nostrils, and then went to Zhang Zhiyuan to finagle a leave slip. Zhang Zhiyuan approved it without a second thought.

  "Mr. Zhang, how about you sign a few more for me? That way, I won't have to keep bothering you in the future," Zhuang Zi'ang said, pushing his luck.

  "Sure, that's actually a good idea. Who came up with it?" Zhang Zhiyuan quickly signed three more slips. His handwriting was much neater than Li Junnan's. Since Little Butterfly could forge handwriting, he figured he should avoid troubling his dear teacher unnecessarily.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, I want to eat all the delicious food, from one end of the street to the other." Standing at the entrance of the snack street, Su Yudiel decred boldly.

  Zhuang Zi'ang smiled and nodded. Let alone eating together, he would even brave a mountain of swords or a sea of fire for her.

  For their first stop, Zhuang Zi'ang bought a rge handful of mb skewers and asked the vendor to generously sprinkle them with chili powder and cumin. Little Butterfly asked her cssic line: "Coke or Pepsi?"

  This time, Zhuang Zi'ang chose Pepsi. He had been through a bitter week and wanted something sweet.

  The two sat on the marble steps, unrestrainedly tearing into the mb skewers, not caring about their table manners. Spicy food often had a characteristic: you couldn't stop eating it. Once you stopped, the spiciness would quickly surge.

  Little Butterfly was so hot that her cheeks were flushed, her forehead was sweating, and she was hissing and blowing air from her mouth. She gulped down half a can of iced co and burped before feeling some relief.

  Zhuang Zi'ang watched her with a smile on his face. A beautiful girl who was also down-to-earth was an irresistible combination for boys.

  Su Yudiel looked up at the azure sky and suddenly raised her arms, shouting, "Wow, the world is so beautiful!"

  In the past, Zhuang Zi'ang would have ughed along with her. But now, his heart felt like it was weighed down by a thousand pounds. It was hard to imagine that this was a girl who had lost her parents at a young age, was raised by her grandmother, and was also ill.

  She was always so positive and optimistic, bringing happiness to those around her.

  "Little Butterfly, where did you go this past week?" Zhuang Zi'ang's question was a bit disingenuous. After his conversation with Teacher Li Junnan on the rooftop, he could easily guess that Little Butterfly needed to undergo treatment. This past week, she was probably accompanied by a hospital bed and IV drips.

  "I went to py!" Su Yudiel said with great enthusiasm.

  "Pyed what?" Zhuang Zi'ang didn't expose her. He also didn't pn to tell Little Butterfly that he had met her homeroom teacher and knew about her situation. It was better to keep the sad things buried in his heart and be happy every day.

  "I went to a really fun pce and made a lot of new friends."

  "Every day I could lie down and look at the sky, do nothing at all, and sleep soundly at night."

  "I almost didn't want to come back because I was having so much fun."

  ...

  Little Butterfly chattered on, letting out clear, bell-like ughter. Hearing her vivid description, Zhuang Zi'ang almost believed her.

  His eyes reddened, and he followed along with her story, asking, "Then why did you come back?"

  "Because I missed you!" Su Yudiel said, poking him in the head.

  "Did that pce you went to have a garden? Did it have butterflies?"

  "Of course! The butterflies there were so beautiful, with all sorts of patterns on their wings."

  "Did you lose the peach blossom from your hair?"

  "Peach blossoms wither, silly."

  ...

  The two chatted idly. Little Butterfly's eyes were as bright as stars in the night sky. Zhuang Zi'ang tried to forget his sadness and joined her in her carefree pursuit of happiness.

  After resting for a bit, they began to sweep through the food stalls again. Fried potatoes, stinky tofu, egg pancakes, candied hawthorns, iced milk tea, watermelon juice... They were like two hungry ghosts reincarnated.

  With their bellies full, they finally went to the riverside to bask in the sun. Zhuang Zi'ang y on the grass, and Little Butterfly rested her head on his stomach, listening to the gurgling sounds inside.

  Her braid was dark and smooth, smelling of shampoo. Zhuang Zi'ang couldn't resist grabbing it and pying with it.

  The sun shone warmly on the earth, and a gentle breeze rustled the willows on the bank. The air was filled with the fragrance of grass and soil.

  This moment felt like a scene from a dream.

  Zhuang Zi'ang took out his phone and showed Little Butterfly the video he had taken at the park while feeding the cats.

  "Tiger is still so bossy. He's really good at stealing food. Cheese and Pudding are no match for him," Little Butterfly said, watching with great interest.

  "I heard from the sanitation worker that you've been feeding them for three months," Zhuang Zi'ang said.

  "Yeah, three months, it's quite short," Little Butterfly said casually.

  "Yeah, three months, it's quite short," Zhuang Zi'ang repeated, his voice filled with uncontrolble sadness. Little Butterfly's week-long absence made Zhuang Zi'ang deeply understand a truth.

  If two people who loved each other, and one had to face death, the one left behind was actually the one who suffered the most. The one who died was released from all earthly concerns. The one left behind, however, had to endure endless sorrow and longing for a long time.

  Although he had learned from Teacher Li Junnan that Little Butterfly also had some kind of illness, it probably wasn't as serious as his. His remaining days had to be counted on his fingers.

  "By the way, do you remember our agreement?" Zhuang Zi'ang took out the folded monthly exam paper from his pocket.

  "Did you really get first pce?" Su Yudiel asked in surprise.

  "No, I got st pce," Zhuang Zi'ang said with a smile. He swiped his phone screen and showed her the score sheets for Css 9 and Css 15.

  Deng Haijun was ranked first in the grade, and he was ranked one thousand and seventy-fifth.

  "How did you get all zeros?" Su Yudiel was astonished. She gnced at the unfolded exam paper, where the scores were clearly very high.

  Zhuang Zi'ang pointed to the name inside the sealed section. "Because of you."

  Su Yudiel's eyes widened. So, this was how her name looked when written beautifully.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, why did you write my name?"

  "I missed you so much that my hand just wrote it without thinking," Zhuang Zi'ang said, his eyes filled with affection.

  "Then you didn't get first pce, so our agreement doesn't count," Su Yudiel said, pouting her lips.

  "How does it not count? Add up my total score. It's two points higher than Deng Haijun's," Zhuang Zi'ang argued.

  "I don't care. You got all zeros, so it doesn't count."

  "If you're going to be unreasonable, I'll have to use force."

  Zhuang Zi'ang flipped over and reached under Su Yudiel's arms, tickling her armpits. Su Yudiel was very ticklish and immediately curled up, struggling and ughing uncontrolbly.

  The two pyfully wrestled on the grass, as happy as three-year-old children.

  "It counts, it counts, Big Dummy, let me go." Little Butterfly ughed until tears came out, begging for mercy.

  Zhuang Zi'ang finally stopped and let her lean against him, helping her remove the grass clippings from her hair and clothes.

  When Little Butterfly caught her breath, she looked up and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang affectionately ruffled her hair. "I want to take you to a pce called Nanhua Vilge."