“Sister Liang! Wait for me! You run… huff… you’re running too fast!”
“Seriously… why did you chase after me? Didn’t Sister tell you I’d come visit the orphanage often? Hehe… don’t worry. Next time, Sister will definitely bring you some osmanthus cake. Are you okay? Look at you, all worn out.”
“Huff… I’m fine. Haah… I haven’t… haven’t thanked you yet. Every time you come, you bring so many snacks. I wanted to share these potato chips with you. But… huff… the moment I turned back, you were already running away. What’s wrong, Sister Liang? Did your new parents come to pick you up? Or did they… say I was holding you back again? Sister Liang, I’m sorry…”
“Don’t say that! They can say whatever they want, but you can’t think like that about yourself, got it?”
“Yeah… I’ll listen to what Sister Liang says! But they haven’t come yet, so why did you run? I waited three whole weeks just to see you once! You’ve been coming less and less lately. I don’t want the snacks anymore—just stay here with me for half a day, okay? Just half a day!”
“…”
Those pure, innocent pleas and pleas to stay echoed in Chi Yuliang’s dreams even to this day.
She had long forgotten how she had answered back then.
Or perhaps… she hadn’t answered at all. Maybe she had just run away crying, heartlessly.
She couldn’t stay. She had to flee.
Because if she lingered by your side even half an hour longer, every extra minute…
—Would only fuel that extravagant hope of staying forever, never leaving.
But Chi Yuliang knew the orphanage didn’t belong to her anymore. And it certainly shouldn’t belong to Little Bai.
That day, she heard the sound of the potato chip bag hitting the ground and spilling everywhere—Little Bai’s favorite snack.
Yet Chi Yuliang couldn’t respond to her plea. She couldn’t sit with Little Bai on the orphanage wall like they always did, counting the clouds drifting across the brilliant blue sky.
Because that visit was her last to the orphanage.
She had promised her adoptive parents she would say goodbye to her little friends one final time before heading to the city for middle school.
But in the end, she hadn’t mustered the courage to say those words: goodbye.
Instead, she made a promise warmed by the fresh-baked heat of osmanthus cake.
Ye Zhibai could hardly remember what she had felt that day as she watched Sister Liang’s fleeing figure.
After all… the most searing pains often faded first—a form of self-protection.
But she did remember one thing clearly: when she returned to the orphanage alone, staring up at the lonely sky for the first time, she realized just how “pathetic” she truly was.
Eating potato chips all by herself… they didn’t even taste good anymore. How much more pathetic could she get?
It was from that moment she realized how much she truly “liked” Sister Liang.
Not the romantic kind of like between men and women.
But something deeper—a familial like, a dependence.
The mere thought of her vanishing from Ye Zhibai’s life sent chills down her spine.
It’s fine… Sister Liang said she’d come back after a while anyway.
At most, it would just be three weeks!
The Ye Zhibai of back then had no idea.
That osmanthus cake promise…
Would go unfulfilled for a full decade.
And her own stubborn resilience—from the day she left the orphanage to live alone in an apartment—also lasted a decade.
Haah… what did Sister Liang just say?
The person she likes is far away in the heavens, close at hand?
Perfect! I’ve been super annoyed since she said that! Let me find this little rascal!!
Fuming with righteous indignation, Ye Zhibai whipped her gaze around the milk-scented room.
“…”
Of course, she found nothing of value.
Because human eyes can behold the myriad wonders of the world, yet they cannot see one’s own face.
They can perceive the vast tapestry of existence, yet remain blind to one’s own heart.
That’s weird…
Sister Liang said it’s right in front of her, but besides you and me, there’s no one else in the room? (Guang Yu doesn’t count as per usual; she’s no ordinary person.)
She looked left, then right. Nothing.
In the end, Ye Zhibai could only turn her little head back to the front.
Sister Liang’s smile remained indulgent.
Though utterly baffled, Ye Zhibai slowly raised her hand and pointed a finger at her own forehead.
“…Me?”
“Mhm. Who else? In front of me, besides Little Bai, is there anyone?”
“?”
Guang Yu’s giggly humming came to an abrupt halt.
Having just finished a tune, she perked up both her fox ears and the two human ones hidden under her hair—four ears in total—straining to eavesdrop on this side.
Oh ho! Ye Zhibai’s delivering her usual stable performance—sticking close to the little lady?!
Oh wait, not a little lady this time—a grown one!
Seeing Little Bai show no reaction to her “confession,” Chi Yuliang gave a wry smile and straightened up.
With a subtle motion, she parted her black-stocking-clad thighs just a bit, creating a gap in the middle, and patted the bedsheet above it lightly twice.
“Little Bai, sit here.”
“Uh… I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Eh! Don’t say that. In Sister’s eyes, you’ll always be a child. It’s fine—besides Guang Yu, there’s no one else here. Come on, just think of it as Sister wanting to act spoiled with you, okay?”
“…”
Well… if Sister Liang puts it that way, refusing would be a bit heartless of me.
Ahem, it’s not like Little Zhibai actually wanted to sit there herself, okay? Really not!
Of course, before scooting over, Ye Zhibai shot a fierce glare at the melon-munching, drama-watching Guang Yu.
Guang Yu got the hint and dramatically covered her eyes with exaggerated flair.
But the gesture was all show—no substance. The gaps between her fingers were a veritable universe.
She said “sit over,” but really, it was just a slight shift sideways.
Ye Zhibai had plenty of considerations, after all.
For instance, perching only her butt on the very edge of the bedsheet, then inching inward. That way, she could avoid touching Sister Liang’s thighs or leaning into the cotton candy behind her. Very gentlemanly.
As Ye Zhibai herself had said, they weren’t kids anymore. Some things needed minding.
However, all those efforts…
Went to waste the moment Chi Yuliang lunged forward from behind in a tight embrace!
A flood of soft, ample sensations pressed in. Purple locks brushed lightly across Ye Zhibai’s cheek, making her delicate frame quiver.
“Hiss…! Sister Liang?”
“Shh… it’s fine. More importantly, I’m worried right now.”
“Worried about what?”
“I already said I like Little Bai~ But you’re not answering, not even saying a word. Does that mean… Little Bai hates Sister now?”
“No.”
Ye Zhibai tried to squirm, only to be held even tighter.
She gave up wriggling, but that didn’t stop her from muttering complaints under her breath.
An icy expression had one advantage: even if her heart was dying of shyness inside, her words came out calm and unruffled, like she had nerves of steel.
Chi Yuliang watched the silver hair on the back of the girl’s head tremble in her arms.
Soon, Ye Zhibai spoke up.
“It’s because Sister Liang… always makes these kinds of jokes. We were talking about romantic likes earlier—how can you mix that up with familial love? You scared me there, you know… huff.”
“Hm? How do you know the ‘like’ I meant wasn’t the romantic kind? My feelings for Little Bai go beyond romance, beyond mere like. It’s a love that won’t allow you any dissatisfaction, okay?”
See? She’s totally teasing me.
After all, besides familial love, there’s no way Sister Liang and I could have anything impure like that!
Ye Zhibai had never even considered it back when she was a boy. Now as a girl? Even more laughable.
Convinced she had grasped the situation, Ye Zhibai gradually relaxed.
She completely failed to notice… the unwavering seriousness in Chi Yuliang’s eyes as she rested her chin on the back of Ye Zhibai’s head.
Though that expression lasted only a few seconds before a wry smile hid it away again.
“Haha… speaking of which, Little Bai, if Sister didn’t see wrong, were you panicking earlier?”
“Panicking…? What do you mean?”
“Like when we got to the ‘I have someone I like’ part—were you super scared that Sister might get snatched away by someone else and not be there for you anymore?”
“!”
Ha?!
Me, panicking? No way, absolutely not!
Stubbornly proud, Ye Zhibai shook her head furiously like a rattle drum!
Sometimes, the more frantically you shake your head, the more it looks like nodding.
But she forgot: the “drum skin” behind her was a pair of cotton candies!
The faster she bobbed, the more those cotton candies jiggled against her.
“Ya…! Little Bai… stop shaking! It’s… it’s a bit ticklish.”
“…Sorry.”
Ye Zhibai halted her head smack in the middle of those cotton candies, coming to a dead stop.
Really sorry… I got carried away.
The two fell silent for a brief moment.
Nestled against Chi Yuliang like this, Ye Zhibai felt just like they were back beside the orphanage woodpile—a nostalgic way of being together.
Perhaps this silence was nothing but a shared reluctance to shatter the reminiscence.
It didn’t last long, though.
Out of worry, Ye Zhibai broke first. In a tiny, reluctant voice, she asked one more question to confirm.
So… Sister Liang really doesn’t have anyone she likes right now, and what was said earlier was just to placate Auntie Fang, right…?
“Hmm…” Chi Yuliang slowly unfolded her arms, wrapping them around Ye Zhibai’s chest, closed her eyes, and pulled her into an embrace, “That’s right… Sister will continue to stay by your side. Didn’t I say it before? The person I like is Little Bai. If it weren’t Little Bai, I wouldn’t want anyone else. Sister truly believes that in this whole world, there is simply no one more outstanding than Little Bai.”
You’re doing it again…
Hmm, let’s just say that’s the case~ Oh, and Little Bai…
Hm?
Ye Zhibai sat very obediently in the gap, her expression also very cold.
But in fact, her two little feet swinging back and forth nonstop had already betrayed just how exhilarated she was feeling at that moment.
The sudden pause after Sister Liang finished saying that left Ye Zhibai puzzled, half-turning her head.
Then… Chi Yuliang slowly caressed Ye Zhibai’s left cheek with her left hand.
Uttering this sentence, words that seem to transcend time and space.
“Little Bai, you’ve worked hard all these years, sister is really proud of you, okay? And… also… you don’t have to hold back, you can act spoiled however you want now. Because… sister won’t run away anymore, I’m right here, even if you chase me away or scold me, I will never, ever run away again.”
…
Run away…?
Don’t chase after me! The chips fell, so pick them up yourself! Hurry back!
Ah… I remember now.
That day… I did go after her, you know.
I ran very far, very far, but I’m hopeless—my motor skills have been poor since childhood, and I catch colds easily too. That day, Sister Liang’s silhouette faded farther and farther into the distance until I lost her. I stood alone in the dimming sunset, then walked back to the orphanage entrance.
Picked up that bag of potato chips, but didn’t eat.
I buried it under the big tree where I once quarreled with Sister Liang.
That quarrel happened because my candy was snatched away by bad kids, but I only knew how to cry.
Sister Liang beat those kids up hard, took my candy back, and even gave me a good scolding.
——Be strong-willed, be self-reliant, and don’t let others bully you.
I learned to be strong, but that day… I couldn’t catch up to your receding figure.
Regrettably, that day I stopped in my tracks and no longer pursued.
Fortunately, every day of the ten years following that day, I have been chasing.
From daytime to night, never stopping our steps.
The great tree that buried the potato chips no longer knows how many cycles of withering and flourishing it has endured.
I wonder if it has witnessed my faltering, wretched, and arrogantly ignorant steps?
But fortunately… at this moment, you didn’t leave me with just your back again.
What I’m leaning against is precisely your chest.
So, does this mean I’ve finally caught up to you…?
While realizing this.
Ye Zhibai only then realized that, without knowing when, she had already completely turned around and buried her face deeply between those **.
Soft sobs, without a sound.
Because every cry resounded in the depths of Chi Yuliang’s heart.
April’s rain, July’s wind.
From warm to hot, the wind rustles the distant branches and leaves.
Another round, the trees bloom just right.
Beneath the green onions, flowers have already filled the garden.
