In January 2005, as winter's chill first began to bite, the teacher at the podium adjusted his glasses and said sternly, "Class, this is your final year of junior high. When you return next semester, you'll already be in the last term of ninth grade. I hope to see a brand-new attitude from all of you. Review diligently during the break at home. Our Class 7 has always been a model for all classes, and this year, I hope to hear that every one of you has been admitted to No. 1, No. 3, or No. 6 High School."
The ninth graders felt inspired and responded in unison, "Yes!"
"Alright, winter break starts now. Everyone, stay safe—don't play in rivers or ponds. Wishing you all a happy New Year!"
"Happy New Year, Mr. Zeng!" Cheers gradually rose, and Mr. Zeng smiled and shook his head, thinking they were still just a bunch of fourteen- or fifteen-year-olds.
Hua Ting, carrying her backpack, walked happily alongside Bei Yao. "Yao Yao, you're amazing—you ranked third in our class!"
Bei Yao smiled. Pei Chuan was the truly impressive one. If she hadn't been in the same class as him, she would never have known that he was consistently the top student in their grade.
The two young girls parted ways at the intersection. Hua Ting waved vigorously, cupping her hands around her mouth like a megaphone. "See you next year!"
"See you next year!"
As Bei Yao headed home, snow began to fall again from the sky.
"Yao Yao, come in quickly! What are you looking at?"
"Mom." Bei Yao turned and saw Zhao Zhilan holding a child at the doorway of their rented home.
Little Bei Jun was only ten months old, his round eyes curiously taking in everything around him. When he saw his sister, his little hands waved excitedly.
Zhao Zhilan, struck by his tiny hand on her cheek, bundled him up and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "Do you only like your sister? You don't even get this excited when you see your own dad."
The infant Bei Jun caught the word "sister" in his mother's speech and babbled in repetition, "Je... jie jie."
Bei Yao rubbed her nose against his warm cheek, smiling as she corrected him. "It's 'sister.'"
"Jie jie."
Little Bei Jun's first word wasn't "mom" or "dad"—it was "sister."
Zhao Zhilan said, "Pack the things you need to bring tonight. This year, we're spending New Year's at your grandma's." After all, with this "unofficial" second child, going to her mother's place for the holidays meant Bei Yao's grandmother could lend a hand with the baby. It seemed like the best option all around.
As a minor, Bei Yao had no say in the matter. She nodded and went back with Bei Licai in the evening to pack her things.
"Dad, I'm going downstairs for a bit."
"Alright, come back soon."
"Okay."
Bei Yao stepped across the damp pavement. In C City this January, the snow hadn't accumulated yet, with only flakes the size of half a fingernail drifting down from the sky.
As Bei Yao went downstairs, she happened to run into Pei Chuan, who was heading out.
The boy wore a dark blue down jacket, the zipper pulled up to his Adam's apple, his face expressionless.
The moment they saw each other, both paused. Snowflakes settled on her eyelashes, and Bei Yao's almond-shaped eyes sparkled with a hint of a smile. "Pei Chuan, what are you doing out?"
"Getting the mail for my dad."
The letter had been misdelivered to the mailbox of the family across the street. The postman had just called to apologize.
Bei Yao followed behind him, watching as he retrieved the thick envelope from the opposite side.
When Pei Chuan turned around, he met her moist, gleaming eyes. He hesitated mid-step. "Why are you following me?"
"I have to go to my grandma's for New Year's. We won't see each other again until next spring. Pei Chuan, Happy New Year!""Mhm." He said softly, "Happy New Year."
"This is the first time I've been away from home for so long." She nervously kicked the edge of the flower bed with her toes. "And I won't be able to see you for a long time either, Pei Chuan. You have to remember to drink more water, and don't stay cooped up at home during the New Year. You can set off firecrackers with Chen Hu and the others."
Pei Chuan glanced at her but didn't argue: "Mhm."
She smiled and stood on tiptoe, her almond-shaped eyes like a pure, bright crescent moon against the vast night and snowy landscape. "Pei Chuan, you'll have grown taller again by the time I come back. I'm so much shorter than you now."
She gestured with her hand. The young girl had finally grown over the past few years, now standing at 163 cm. Bei Yao remembered she would eventually reach 165 cm, while Pei Chuan, wearing his prosthetic leg, appeared to be about 175 cm tall now—the prosthetic was adjusted according to the boy's height and development. Pei Chuan would shoot up in height during high school; in Bei Yao's memory, he would be around 186 cm with his prosthetic leg in high school.
He was supposed to grow very tall.
Pei Chuan watched as snowflakes settled on Bei Yao's soft hair and asked her quietly, "When will you be back?"
"My mom said February, probably before school starts. When I come back, I'll bring you local specialties!" Her tone was gentle and clear. At some point, Bei Yao had shed her childish voice, and it had become what it was now—carrying the sweet clarity of a young girl, yet soft like a March breeze.
Meanwhile, Pei Chuan was still in the midst of his voice change, his adolescent voice rough and unpleasant. He responded with a low grunt, and Bei Yao walked away, turning back to look at him every few steps.
As she climbed the stairs, she called out to him with a smile, "Wait for me to come back—"
Unaware that when they met again, both of them would be in completely different circumstances.
~
Bei Yao, wrapped in a red scarf, sat by the wooden door with a little lamb sniffing and exploring around her.
She held little Bei Jun in her arms; the child stared intently at the lamb, and Bei Yao couldn't help but smile. Bei Jun had been easy to care for when he was young but had grown more mischievous as he got older. Often, if he saw something interesting, he would babble and watch it noisily for a long time.
The warm noon sun hung high in the sky, yet the snow on the mountaintop had not melted.
A few hens strutted proudly around the yard.
Bei Yao's grandmother lived in the countryside, in a single-story house. The yard was home to chicks and lambs; in earlier years, her grandmother had also raised pigs, though she had stopped in the last couple of years. Zhao Village was the hometown of both Zhao Zhilan and Zhao Xiu. With the lingering atmosphere of the New Year, children played with firecrackers by the mud pond.
They would light the firecrackers and toss them in, and within seconds, a "bang" would sound, sending mud and water from the pond flying high—a scene full of New Year spirit.
In the morning, Zhao Zhilan and Bei Yao's grandmother had gone to the market. Soon, they returned with a group of village women.
From afar, seeing Bei Yao holding her younger brother, Zhao Zhilan's expression softened.
Auntie Zhang said, "Is that your Yao Yao? I only saw her a couple of times when she was little, and now she's so grown up. Oh, she's become so pretty, I hardly recognize her."
Zhao Zhilan smiled and replied, "Children do grow up fast."
Among the group was a young newlywed woman named Chen Lanlan. Chen Lanlan had initially thought this was the usual polite praise, as the aunties here often said things like, "Your child has gotten handsomer," or "Your daughter has become so pretty." So, while Chen Lanlan smiled on the surface, she paid it little mind.When Chen Lanlan looked up and saw the little girl standing by the Zhao family's doorway, she froze for nearly a full minute. She had never seen such an exquisitely beautiful young girl!
Mid-February had long passed the Lantern Festival. The girl wore a pink-and-white padded jacket with a red scarf wrapped around her neck. Her long hair cascaded softly down, with slight curls at the ends. Her skin was fair, her eyebrows delicate like willow leaves, her almond-shaped eyes sparkling, and her cherry lips finely shaped with a charmingly rounded cupid's bow. The young girl's flawless face featured pupils like glistening black grapes, shimmering with a dewy radiance that made her appear especially endearing due to her youth.
Not only were the group of women astonished, but even Bei Yao's own mother, Zhao Zhilan, momentarily lost her composure upon seeing her daughter after her growth spurt.
It was only after coming to her grandmother's house that Bei Yao had suddenly begun to shoot up.
Nature had favored this young girl—her cheeks gradually shed their childish roundness, replaced by a maiden's innocence. Her slender waist seemed barely a handful, while her chest had developed curves. After a heavy snowfall this winter, she had transformed into an exquisitely picturesque young maiden, pure and moving.
Her Bei Yao had grown up.
Seeing Bei Yao like this one day, Zhao Zhilan was speechless for a long moment. Choking up slightly, she gazed at her daughter's extraordinary beauty at such a young age. How had she never noticed before that Bei Yao would become so stunning? The awkwardness of childhood had vanished after her growth spurt, leaving behind an almost unreal loveliness. She hardly looked like a daughter Zhao Zhilan could have given birth to.
Zhao Zhlan suddenly felt it ridiculous how Bei Yao had constantly been compared to Fang Minjun by Zhao Xiu during childhood. If Zhao Xiu saw Bei Yao now, she probably wouldn't even dare make comparisons. While Fang Minjun stood out due to her resemblance to Chang Xue's eyes and brows, Bei Yao possessed a natural, painting-worthy beauty.
Bei Yao's grandmother, carrying a basket on her back, took the grandson from Bei Yao's arms and said to her: "Go rest, your mother and I will handle things here. We bought rice cakes for today."
Bei Yao nodded with a smile.
Grandmother turned to Zhao Zhilan and said: "Do you think the food here isn't good? After this winter, Yao Yao has become so thin all of a sudden."
Zhao Zhilan wiped her hands and, leaving her young son to be held by his grandmother, began distributing dishes: "No, it's just girls shooting up during growth spurts. Didn't I experience the same when I was young? Suddenly becoming thin."
Grandmother said: "When you grew thin, it didn't change your appearance this dramatically."
"..."
Grandmother chuckled: "Yao Yao is truly beautiful. I think she's even prettier than those celebrities on television."
"Mom!" Zhao Zhilan quickly interjected, "Don't draw too much attention. Haven't we learned enough from what happened with Zhao Xiu's Minmin? Don't compare children to celebrities. Whether they're good-looking or not, having them safe and healthy is our real blessing."
Thinking of Fang Minjun, Grandmother privately agreed. Though she found this granddaughter exceptionally beautiful, she wouldn't voice such comments openly again.
With little Bei Jun turning one next month, Zhao Zhilan said: "Licai says everything's settled over there. I'll take both children back tomorrow."
Grandmother felt reluctant but knew Bei Yao needed to return for school. The girl would be taking her high school entrance exams this year, and the family was quite concerned about it. To their pride, however, Bei Yao had always excelled academically.
"Take more local specialties back—roasted peanuts, dried tea snacks..." The elderly woman chattered on while Bei Yao helped pack, remembering her promise to bring local treats for the neighborhood children and her close friends at school.On the train ride home, people kept glancing at Bei Yao.
The girl of about fourteen or fifteen looked fresh and beautiful, standing out the most in the crowd. At Zhao Zhilan's urging, she had changed her hairstyle. With her keen fashion sense ahead of the times, Zhao Zhilan had the hairdresser give Bei Yao bangs similar to air bangs, making her instantly appear even more innocent.
Bei Yao's long, upturned eyelashes were as light as butterfly wings. When she blinked, her clear, bright eyes made her utterly endearing.
Still unaccustomed to such attention, Bei Yao nervously touched her hair. "Have I really changed that much? Does it look strange?"
Zhao Zhilan looked at her daughter, who was as lovely as a little fairy yet doubted herself, and laughed heartily. "You've grown up, but you're still just as silly."
"Mom, do you think Pei Chuan and Hua Ting will still recognize me?"
"Do you really believe your grandmother's nonsense about you becoming a different person? At most, you've changed a bit—they'll recognize you."
Bei Yao couldn't help feeling nervous and uneasy.
She still remembered asking Pei Chuan in seventh grade if their English teacher was pretty. Back then, Pei Chuan had coldly said no. In Bei Yao's eyes, she now belonged to the innocent and charming type—did Pei Chuan dislike that kind of appearance?
His temper had always been odd—could his taste in looks be just as strange?
The train sped along and arrived in City C that afternoon.
As soon as they reached the entrance of their neighborhood, a chubby boy came rushing out, laughing and running forward while toy firecrackers crackled loudly behind him.
The plump boy was about to crash into them when Zhao Zhilan realized it was Chen Hu from across the way.
She was shielding little Bei Jun and couldn't dodge in time, but Bei Yao reacted quickly, grabbing the hood of Chen Hu's jacket.
Chen Hu was about the same height as Bei Yao. When he looked up, he saw the beautiful girl.
Chen Hu stared blankly for a long moment, completely failing to recognize who this little fairy was. It wasn't until the little fairy smiled, pulled a large bag of tea-flavored dried tofu from her bag, and greeted them cheerfully, "Chen Hu, Li Da, Rongrong, I brought this tea-flavored dried tofu for you from my hometown—it's really delicious," that the stunned expression spread from Chen Hu to everyone else.
It was Li Da who spoke up in disbelief, "B-Bei Yao?"
Bei Yao said sheepishly, "It's me. Have I really changed that much?"
Chen Hu: "..." Holy crap! This... this...
It was like a plot twist. In their neighborhood, there used to be two little girls—one as pretty as a star, the other just ordinarily cute. As they grew up, the once-pretty girl became average-looking, while the ordinarily cute one suddenly transformed into a little fairy one year, leaving all the boys staring in disbelief.
Chen Hu's ears turned red. He stammered, too embarrassed to look at Bei Yao, and instead apologized to Zhao Zhilan, "Sorry, Auntie Zhao, I didn't see you when I ran out. I hope I didn't bump into you."
Zhao Zhilan wouldn't fuss over such things with the boys and smiled, saying it was fine.
"Yao Yao, let's put the things away first, then you can play with your friends."
"Okay."
After Bei Yao left with Zhao Zhilan, the group of young boys looked at each other in surprise.
Li Da coughed. "Chen Hu, your face is red."
Chen Hu exploded, "Dammit, how dare you say that? Your face is red too!"
A short while later, Bei Yao came downstairs carrying a bag. She was surprised to find the boys still playing in the same spot.
They all turned to look at her in unison, making Bei Yao feel a bit self-conscious. Her voice was clear and gentle as she asked, "Do any of you know where Pei Chuan is?"As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions on the boys' faces turned peculiar.
A sinking feeling settled in Bei Yao's heart, accompanied by an ominous premonition.
Though spring had already arrived, the lingering snow carried a wintry chill.
Chen Hu furrowed his thick brows: "His parents got divorced. Everyone in the neighborhood knows about it."
Li Da lowered his voice and added, "Uncle Pei was injured while on duty during the New Year. Pei Chuan has been taking care of him in the hospital. He... he'll be living with Uncle Pei from now on."
In the early spring of 2005, Pei Chuan's parents ultimately divorced.
With Pei Haobin's life hanging by a thread, while everyone else was celebrating the New Year with joy, this young boy first experienced his parents' divorce and having to live with his father, then received the news that his father might never wake up.
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