Do you really think you can get me with just a banana?

When he fell, Xu Jianqing didn't know if he hit something, but he only felt a pain in the palm of his hand, and then his vision was obscured by muddy mud.

The passing adult rang his car bell several times and shouted at the group of boys, "Hey! Stop bullying your classmates here!"

The boys quickly defended themselves: "No, no, uncle, we were careless. We will go and help him now."

After hearing this, the passerby didn't say much, but just reminded: "It's getting late, go home quickly and don't hang around here." After that, he rang the bell and rode away.

After the nosy passerby walked away, the boys ran to the side of the road and saw Xu Jianqing struggling to get up from the field. One of the boys pretended to be sad, holding his chest and said, "He's so pitiful, should we go help him?"

"Of course, we are not the kind of people who would bully our classmates," another boy said.

So a few boys jumped onto the ridge of the field, laughing and pretending to lend a hand to Xu Jianqing. Xu Jianqing picked up his schoolbag, but instead of offering his hand, he wiped the mud off his face and walked in the other direction.

Seeing this, the boy who extended his hand became unhappy and pushed Xu Jianqing, cursing: "You are so shameless! Why are you pretending to be so noble?"

With this push, Xu Jianqing lost his balance in the mud and fell backward again, falling into the muddy water. Seeing this, the boys said in disgust: "Hey, how disgusting! Doesn't he look like a slug?"

"Likely." Another boy echoed, then picked up a piece of mud from the ground and threw it casually at Xu Jianqing. "He must have been scared silly, not saying a word."

Hearing this, the other boys followed suit, picking up mud and throwing it at him. After Xu Jianqing fell into the mud, he didn't get up again. He lowered his head, said nothing, his face covered in mud, and his expression was difficult to discern.

So the boys cursed a few more times, laughed a few more times, then felt it was boring and turned away.

At this moment, the setting sun had quietly disappeared behind the mountains, leaving only a sliver of purple and blue on the horizon. The sky was somewhere between light and dark, a bit hazy. Occasionally, pedestrians strolling after dinner passed by hurriedly, but none of them noticed Xu Jianqing sitting in the mud in the field.

He sat in the mud like this until night fell. His legs became slightly stiff from being soaked for a long time. He slowly stood up by supporting himself on the edge of the field, silently climbed onto the road, and slowly walked towards home along the dim street lights.

Guan Shanyu followed him quietly, stepping on the white road, leaving behind the muddy footprints of varying depths left by Xu Jianqing.

Lights had gradually been turned on in the houses on one side of the road. Children's laughter could be heard from the small courtyards from time to time, mingling with the aroma of dinner, filling the middle of the road. Xu Jianqing walked slowly, occasionally encountering a few passing elders. Seeing him covered in mud, they thought the child had been out playing again and was late coming home. They whispered a few words behind him, but ignored him and dispersed.

After turning several corners, Xu Jianqing arrived in front of a house. He stood there for a moment before slowly pulling out a key from the pocket of his schoolbag. After wiping off the mud stains, he inserted it into the keyhole and gently turned it. When the door opened, the bright light from the house shone on him, illuminating his muddy body.

He looked at everyone in the room and timidly called out, "Uncle, I'm back."

Four people were sitting inside the room, eating dinner, filling up the square table. Uncle and aunt were discussing which elementary school to send Xu Jianqing's cousin to for first grade later this year. Grandma coaxed her cousin into eating, but she refused to eat, clutching her Barbie doll tightly in her hand and coquettishly saying, "I'll eat only if she eats!"

This made her grandmother feel distressed, and she quickly said, "My dear, you can't go hungry."

Perhaps because Xu Jianqing's voice was too quiet, the people inside the house didn't notice. After he stood at the door for a while, the aunt reluctantly rolled her eyes and glanced in his direction. Seeing Xu Jianqing covered in mud, with his hair sticking out in wisps, like a broken doll just dug out of the garbage dump, she made an impatient "tsk" sound.

Seeing this, the uncle turned around to look at him. Seeing his appearance, he leaned back in his chair impatiently, crossed his arms and asked, "Did you have a fight?"

Xu Jianqing shook his head gently, his voice as thin as a mosquito: "No, I accidentally fell down."

The uncle sneered: "You are not short-sighted yet, how could you fall like this on such a spacious road? You must have gone out to play. You should wash your clothes yourself. No one will wash them for you if you fall like this."

Xu Jianqing nodded silently, while his aunt rolled her eyes and knocked on the wooden table with her chopsticks, making a "dong dong" sound. She said to her cousin, "Hurry up and eat. If you don't eat, it will be taken away. Don't cry when the time comes."

The cousin burst into tears when she heard it. Xu Jianqing walked by them with his head down and secretly glanced at the dining table, but was caught by his aunt. She slammed the table hard, and scared Xu Jianqing so much that he quickly looked away. She said angrily: "I can't even support one, and you want to support two. They both need to go to school and need people to take care of them. I'm really too busy! Either you send one away quickly, or I take Diandian back to my parents' home! As a brother, you don't even know how to set a good example for your sister. You are dirty all day after school. And you, are you going to eat or not? If not, throw it to the dog!"

In early spring, there is still a hint of chill in the air.

Next to the well, Xu Jianqing laboriously used a wooden bucket to draw water from the well, poured it into a small wooden basin, and soaked his clothes in it. He picked up the laundry detergent and was about to start, but turned back to see the quarrel coming from inside the house. After thinking for a moment, he put the detergent in and slowly began to rub his clothes with the cold water.

Perhaps because the well water was too cold, Xu Jianqing felt a dull pain in his palm after rubbing the clothes for a few times. He raised his hand to check and found that a small but deep wound had appeared on his palm.

The wound was mixed with unwashed dirt and had formed a dirty blood scab. The rubbing just now caused it to crack again. The blood mixed with the well water and slowly dripped into the wooden basin. Later, it seemed to be mixed with some salty and fishy liquid, falling drop by drop.

In the cool wind, a young man ran out desperately, ignoring the scolding from his uncles and others behind him, and just ran desperately towards the village entrance.

He ran so fast that he didn't even notice one of his slippers had fallen off. He stepped on gravel, scratching the sole of his foot. Along the way, he bumped into a few passers-by taking a walk after dinner. He ignored their angry shouts and gritted his teeth, running all the way to the telephone booth at the village entrance. He fished the coin, which had been warmed countless times, from his pocket and carefully put it into the phone.

"Mom, when will you take me home?"

The phone booth had been in disrepair for a long time, and a crackling noise came from the phone. After a long time, a woman's voice came out: "Your uncle treats you well. What are you doing all day? I'm still on a business trip and don't have time to take care of you. Why don't you go to your father? He always says that the new aunt he found for you is so virtuous. Go ask him to take care of you. You're already so old, can't you be more sensible? Don't blame your parents when you encounter difficulties. Look for the reasons within yourself and see if it's your fault..."

With a "click", the phone slipped from Xu Jianqing's hand before the person on the other end of the line finished speaking, and fell heavily on the pillar below the phone.

Guan Shanyu stared at the scene in a daze. In the blink of an eye, Xu Jianqing in front of him disappeared without a trace, and the person standing under the phone booth turned into himself.

The moth was still swaying around under the streetlight, occasionally bumping into him, as if trying to drive away this uninvited guest. Guan Shanyu looked around and saw no one else. After a moment, he lowered his head and raised his hand.

Her fingertips trembled slightly under the dim light. A tiny scar loomed on the palm of her hand, and at that moment, a drop of inexplicable liquid slid down from the tip of her nose, landing right on this long-healed scar.

The wound no longer hurts.

There was no sign of his uncle, no noise from passers-by, and no bullying from classmates. There was only him.

The little moth had vanished without a trace, and the streetlights, far and near, went out one by one. Guan Shanyu stared blankly into the distance, watching the mountains melt into a pool of liquid, pouring down towards him like a flood. In the cramped phone booth, he had nowhere to escape, so he could only stand there, waiting to be submerged and swallowed by the torrent.

He'd felt the sensation of drowning twice before. The icy water poured into his lungs, corroding every organ, blocking his mouth and nose, strangling his throat, dragging his body down. In that moment of plunging into darkness, it was as if Death had opened its arms to him and whispered, "Child, accept me, and the suffering will end."

However, when his body twitched involuntarily, Guan Shanyu suddenly opened his eyes.

"Yamayu! What's wrong with you?!"

The view before him wasn't that small village, the telephone booth, or his uncle's house. Instead, he was Yan Ruchen.

The candlelight flickered all around and there was dead silence outside the door, making it difficult to tell what time it was.

Guan Shanyu looked up at the familiar roof and the familiar face in front of him, and hesitated for a moment. Yan Ruchen saw that his eyes were still out of focus, as if he had just woken up from a dream and had not yet come to his senses. His forehead was covered with sweat, and his breathing was irregular. It was unclear whether he was dreaming or thinking about something, and he looked frightened.

Yan Ruchen held his hand tightly and asked, "Did you have a nightmare?"

Guan Shanyu felt a rough touch on the palm of his hand. He looked down in confusion, then seemed to wake up and suddenly pulled his hand back.

Yan Ruchen was caught off guard and was slightly thrown back by the sudden force. He quickly got off the bed and steadied himself. He stared at Guan Shanyu's still panicked face, stunned for a moment, somewhat at a loss. After hesitating for a while, he asked again, "Were you frightened by Si Hongyin during the day?"

Guan Shanyu was now fully awake. Although his breathing was still a little rapid and he hadn't completely recovered from the dream, his consciousness had returned to normal. He quickly adjusted his expression, tilted his head to the side, took a few deep breaths, and then replied, "No, I had a nightmare."

Yan Ruchen sat back down on the bed, staring at Guan Shanyu's still flustered face, and sighed silently. He wanted to hold his hand again, but didn't dare to reach out rashly. He just stared at him quietly for a long time before asking softly, "What did you dream about? Can you tell me?"

Guan Shanyu still turned his head away from him and replied softly, "Nothing, I just dreamed about...my parents."

Yan Ruchen was stunned. He looked into Guan Shanyu's eyes and was speechless for a moment, not knowing how to continue comforting him. After a moment of silence, he asked softly, "Would you like some water?"

Guan Shanyu looked up at him, hesitated for a moment, then looked away and lay down again. He pulled the quilt over his face, covering half of it, and said in a hoarse voice, "I want to sleep for a while longer. You should rest too."

Yan Ruchen saw that he had huddled back into the quilt with his eyes tightly closed. Although his eyelashes were still trembling slightly, it was obvious that he was awake. But since he said so, it would be better to let him rest for a while.

So, Yan Ruchen didn't ask any more questions, but just tucked the quilt in for him, then sat down aside and continued to watch over him.

By this time, the eastern sky was gradually turning pale, like a piece of white paper slowly unfolding, and the darkness quietly retreated. Soon, the territory gradually woke up and resumed its former bustle.

But in the next few days, Guan Shanyu did not go out again.

He would either be asleep in the house or in a daze when awake. Yan Ruchen sometimes had to go out on business during the day, so he would ask the disciples in the territory to take care of him, but no matter how late it was, he would always return the same day.

But every time he came back to listen to the disciples' reports, they just said that Guan Shanyu hardly ate anything all day, and he just slept and was in a daze.

Yan Ruchen looked at Guan Shanyu's back as he huddled in the quilt and wanted to say a few words to him, but no matter how he asked, Guan Shanyu just kept repeating the same thing:

"I'm so sleepy, I'll take a nap."

Yan Ruchen had never seen anyone who slept all day and still felt sleepy, but perhaps Si Hongyin's kick had caused Guan Shanyu a hidden injury, and even his own spiritual energy to repair it was useless. So Yan Ruchen went down the mountain again to find a group of immortal doctors to take Guan Shanyu's pulse and give Si Hongyin another lecture.

However, the doctors' conclusions were surprisingly consistent, judging that Guan Shanyu was not seriously ill. It was just that he was easily sleepy during the winter, and Guan Shanyu had not been able to get enough rest, which was why he was so sleepy now.

Yan Ruchen looked at Guan Shanyu's back, but in the end, he didn't say anything.

Several more snowfalls followed, and the weather grew increasingly cold. The disciples, who had previously gathered enthusiastically to build snowmen and play snowballs, now dared not venture out. Covered in heavy snow, the entire world became a bleak expanse. From inside the house, there was little color other than white.

Guan Shanyu lay in bed for another day, his eyes half-closed, his face expressionless as he stared at the heavy snow outside. Next to him was the hot water bottle Yan Ruchen had left for him this morning before he left. It had been frozen for who knew how long.

Sighing, Guan Shanyu slowly got up from the bed and walked to the table. He planned to write a letter.