At this moment, two students were standing at the entrance of a small shop near the school.
As summer arrived, the sun set later and later each day.
Even at five o’clock, the sunlight was still blazing fiercely.
Today’s temperature was close to thirty degrees.
Yun Shifei stood in front of the freezer, picking out ice creams.
Ice creams these days were very cheap—the cheapest ones were unwrapped popsicles sold in bulk, just one cent a stick. They had no packaging, no added ingredients, only sweetness. Yet, because they were inexpensive, they became many people’s go-to summer treat to beat the heat.
The fanciest ice creams were priced between five to ten cents, with elaborate packaging that was quite tempting.
Yun Shifei glanced at Cheng Lie beside her. "What flavor do you want?"
Cheng Lie stayed quiet and didn’t respond.
Yun Shifei sighed and casually picked out a three-colored ice cream for Cheng Lie that she thought tasted the best.
Cheng Lie silently watched as Yun Shifei paid, then watched her tear open the ice cream wrapper and hand the ice cream to him.
"It’s really tasty, you should try it." She smiled brightly, her face full of anticipation that he would accept it.
Cheng Lie didn’t particularly like sweet things, but seeing Yun Shifei’s hopeful expression, he couldn’t bring himself to let her down, so he took it.
After taking it, Cheng Lie felt a bit regretful. Why did he accept her kindness?
Meanwhile, Yun Shifei breathed a sigh of relief. She had been worried that Cheng Lie wouldn’t eat it. She could eat two ice creams herself, but then she might not be able to eat dinner later.
Originally, she was planning to head straight home after school.
Who would’ve guessed that at the school gate, she’d be stopped by the Cheng Family’s driver, Uncle Liu, who insisted that she go home with Cheng Lie.
Yun Shifei knew it must be Cheng Guomin’s idea—hoping she and Cheng Lie could become friends.
But shortly after the vehicle left the school gate, it broke down. Uncle Liu had to call a repair shop to get someone to come over.
She thought they might have to wait for a while and suggested to Cheng Lie that they walk home first.
Anyway, the school wasn’t far from where they lived.
For some reason, she suddenly wanted to eat ice cream and dragged Cheng Lie to buy some.
She guessed that Cheng Lie probably rarely ate such things—he wouldn’t even eat the candy she gave him last time.
But at this age, certain things should be experienced.
When she grew up, she didn’t really like snacks anymore, but somehow returning to this age made her love them inexplicably.
She thought Cheng Lie should experience it too.
Right now, he wasn’t the person he would become in the future.
She would do her best to give him a little warmth.
The two walked slowly toward home, the air around them was incredibly quiet.
Feeling a bit uneasy, Yun Shifei asked Cheng Lie as they walked, "What time does your family have dinner?"
Her question was met with silence.
She took a bite of her ice cream and added, "You should know that tomorrow I’m going to your house to study and take lessons with you, right? From now on, we’ll probably spend more time together, so I hope you won’t dislike me."
She knew that even though Cheng Lie didn’t say anything, he could still hear what she said.
This time he didn’t reject her words as he had before, likely meaning he was okay with it.
Thinking back to the last time when he told her not to meddle, Yun Shifei now wondered if she had imagined it.
Because from that day until now, Cheng Lie had been silent the entire time.
But she was certain it was Cheng Lie who had said it.
His illness wasn’t too severe; he would get better in the future.
Yun Shifei remembered that Cheng Lie later accomplished remarkable things, establishing his own business empire and becoming one of the most influential figures in the domestic business world.
Soon, they arrived back at the neighborhood.
At this time, they encountered students gradually returning home.
This area was mostly a villa community, with few residents who all knew each other.
Yun Shifei was somewhat of a local celebrity, often mocked for being associated with Cheng Lie.
Now seeing the two of them actually walking together, the teenagers instantly got excited, with someone even whistling.
"The ugly freak is really hanging out with the idiot. This is hilarious!"
"Haha, it must be the ugly freak who initiated it. What would the idiot know? But honestly, they do look quite compatible together."
Yun Shifei glanced at them, then looked at Cheng Lie. The boy silently dug into his ice cream.
His eyelids were slightly lowered, his thick lashes casting shadows under them.
He looked serene and obedient.
What gave those kids the right to mock him like that? Did they even deserve to?
"Don’t talk nonsense!" Yun Shifei couldn’t hold back and shouted at them.
"Look, the ugly freak is getting mad! What was that thing we learned in class before—covering your ears while stealing a bell. Yes! That’s exactly like her."
Another round of jeering followed.
But they didn’t want to make a big scene, so after ridiculing Yun Shifei and Cheng Lie, they quickly ran off.
Leaving Yun Shifei and Cheng Lie standing there.
Yun Shifei glanced at Cheng Lie. He must have heard them, right? Would he feel upset?
It seemed like she shouldn’t walk with Cheng Lie anymore; otherwise, he’d be dragged into rumors because of her.
"Cheng Lie, don’t take it to heart—they’re just talking nonsense. I’m sorry, it’s my fault for dragging you into this." The girl sighed, deeply remorseful.
In her past life, she had been proud and arrogant, thinking that no matter what, she was someone with a normal IQ and couldn’t possibly be grouped with someone like Cheng Lie, who had autism.
After facing the blows of her previous life, Yun Shifei thought, grouping her with Cheng Lie for ridicule? What a joke!
Did she even deserve it? She wasn’t even worthy of being Cheng Lie’s helper.
Hearing Yun Shifei’s sincere apology, Cheng Lie’s usually vacant eyes showed a rare glimmer as he glanced at Yun Shifei.
He was a bit surprised.
Why would Yun Shifei apologize to him?
Shouldn’t she resent him, blame him for dragging her down?
Just like everyone else who couldn’t wait to distance themselves from him once they were associated with him.
As if he were some sort of plague or disease.
But she felt it was her fault for dragging him down—what kind of thinking was this?
In all his years, Cheng Lie found himself, for the first time, unable to comprehend.
He scooped a bit of the ice cream and placed it in his mouth. The sweet taste spread across his tongue.
For some reason, this sweetness didn’t seem so unpleasant to him anymore.
Yun Shifei escorted Cheng Lie to his door, rang the bell, and waited for someone to open it before bidding him goodbye.
"See you tomorrow!" She flashed him a smile.
Though her face wasn’t particularly pretty, under the sunlight, her expression seemed kind of dazzling.
It seemed like girls forgot their troubles quickly—just a moment ago she had been melancholy, and now she was carefree.
"Xiao Lie, you’re back." A woman in luxurious attire opened the door, smiling warmly at Cheng Lie.
Her gaze landed on the ice cream in Cheng Lie’s hand and showed a hint of surprise. "I thought you didn’t like eating this kind of thing?"
Cheng Lie’s expression instantly returned to the calm indifference, as though he cared about nothing in the world.
He casually tossed the ice cream into a nearby trash bin.
He had only eaten two bites. The remaining portion, now half-melted, turned into a sticky liquid that seeped into the trash bin.
He remembered—he didn’t like sweet things at all.
Yun Shifei finished her ice cream down to the very last bite. Before entering the house, she quickly threw the wrapper into the outside trash bin, afraid that Xu Ya might notice.
Xu Ya didn’t like them eating snacks, thinking it was unhealthy.