Traces of the past

Three bowls of noodles, three people.

The scene at the dining table remained the same, yet the mindsets of the three individuals were like those three bowls—none were quite identical.

Xu Feng looked at her sister, Xiaoyu, and leaned her head against her hand, feeling a profound sense of distress.

Xu Xiaoyu pressed her hands against her skirt, rubbing her palms back and forth over her thighs, her gaze darting away, not daring to look at her brother.

Weijiu sat sandwiched between them, playing the role of a silent witness to it all.

“Sigh… Xiaoyu, what exactly are you thinking?” As the elder, Xu Feng finally took the initiative to speak. She believed that if her sister’s outlook had become like this, there had to be some underlying trouble bothering her.

“Bro… I just said that by accident. There’s no need to take it so seriously,” Xiaoyu equivocated, her voice so devoid of confidence it barely had any strength.

“By accident? Then what about the explanation in that video you were watching?”

“What video… I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Xiaoyu’s face was beet red, her eyes wide as she tried to brush Xu Feng off.

“Do you really think you can lie your way out of this?” Xu Feng shook her head, clearly disapproving of Xiaoyu’s excuse.

“Fine! I said it! I said it, alright! What do you want from me?!” Xiaoyu slammed her hand on the table in a fit of pique, glaring at Xu Feng with a face that was practically exploding with crimson heat.

Xu Feng knew the meaning of the phrase “shame turning into anger” all too well and didn’t intend to dwell on the matter further. At the very least, only the three of them present knew—well, plus the elf, Mang Qiu.

“Is there a boy you like at school?” Xu Feng shifted the topic.

“How could there be! All the boys in our class are huge idiots! Every day it’s either discussing games or shouting at the top of their lungs! None of them are quiet.”

As Xiaoyu said this, she realized something. Since they were little, her brother had always been refined and somewhat frail; he didn’t talk much and liked to stay in quiet places by himself—unless his only best friend, Jiang Yun, came to find him. Moreover, her brother’s looks weren’t bad at all; he fell into the category of “elegant and frail handsome guy,” a trait even more pronounced now with his white hair.

Doesn’t this just prove that Bro hits every single one of my personal preferences (XP)?!

Xiaoyu decided it was best to remain silent.

“I won’t tell anyone else about this. You can speak your mind freely,” Xu Feng promised her sister first.

“What about Brother Yun?” Xiaoyu was still a bit skeptical.

“He won’t know either. This will be a secret between you and me, solved privately. How about it?”

“I want a promise.”

Xiaoyu held out her right hand in a fist, her slender pinky finger hooked outward.

Seeing this, Xu Feng couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Are you really this childish?”

“Stop talking and hook it!” Xiaoyu puffed out her cheeks, her face practically screaming that if she didn’t hook fingers, it wasn’t a real commitment.

“Alright, have it your way.” Xu Feng reached out her right hand.

Two fingers of roughly the same size intertwined; the degree of softness felt by both parties was identical.

“Bro, your hand is so soft.”

After the pinky swear, Xiaoyu squeezed the air with her fingers in confusion, feeling that the texture was different from how it used to be.

“Uh, lack of exercise. Just a lack of exercise, haha.” Xu Feng looked away, quickly withdrawing her hand.

“So, let’s get this straight: once I finish talking, you’re never allowed to bring this up again.” Xiaoyu rested her chin on her folded hands, staring intently at Xu Feng’s face.

“I know, I know. It is your business, after all.” Xu Feng nodded in affirmation.

“Actually, it’s been a long time since I saw you, Bro. I was a little worried. You usually don’t even call home, and you didn’t talk to us about how you were feeling when the college entrance exams were coming up. You were like a stranger living far away. Mom and Dad nag me about you at the table all the time—especially Dad. Whenever he gets drunk, he starts talking about when you were little.”

“When I was little… there’s nothing much to say about that. It’s in the past.” As Xu Feng said this, a distinct trace of bitterness flickered in her eyes.

Xiaoyu saw it all but continued.

“Dad often says that as soon as you grew up, you wanted to escape this house, and your coldness is the best proof of that. He knows he owes you in terms of affection. Even though the doctor said the white hair is just a genetic condition, he couldn’t help but fall under the judgmental gaze of the villagers. He felt he had no choice but to be cold to you.”

Xiaoyu seemed to be conveying an apology to Xu Feng on her father’s behalf, but Xu Feng simply listened without a change in expression.

“Even though Mom doesn’t mention you, whenever she has a spare moment, she takes out your photos to look at them. And she looks at them for a very long time.”

“I’ll take care of them in their old age. So, after all that beating around the bush, what exactly are you trying to say, Xiaoyu?” Xu Feng said softly. Putting everything else aside, that was the only point that mattered.

“I know the relationship between you and our parents isn’t great, but I’d like to think my relationship with you is a bit better.”

“Oh… that’s true.” Xu Feng didn’t deny it.

“So, I want to fill the void in your heart. Isn’t there a saying? ‘Unfortunate people spend their whole lives healing their childhood.’ Well, I want to be the one to make up for the love our parents didn’t give you.”

Xiaoyu looked at Xu Feng with eyes full of hope, but Xu Feng’s face remained as calm as still water, as if she hadn’t taken a word of it to heart.

“Thanks, Xiaoyu. I appreciate it. Don’t worry, I’m strong enough; I won’t waste time trying to ‘heal my childhood.’ At the very least, I don’t have any scars on me, and I have friends to keep me company.”

“Is that enough?”

“It’s enough.” Behind her back, Xu Feng’s hand quietly curled into a fist.

“That’s good then…”

Was Xu Xiaoyu really thinking what she claimed?

The answer, of course, was no!

Xiaoyu and her parents all had the same hair color, but Xu Feng was the only one who was different! That talk from the doctor about “genetic probability”? That was pure nonsense! She had never seen a single paternity test from her parents!

In Xiaoyu’s eyes, the image of Xu Feng as a “brother” was completely different from a normal sibling relationship!

Her brother had white hair! A magical, transcendent color that looked like something out of a legend!

He always had a mysterious way of catching her eye; no matter what he did, he drew her in like a magnet. That indescribable urge to be close to him was rooted deep in her soul.

As Xiaoyu looked at Xu Feng’s pensive face, a gray memory became as vivid as fresh paint.

At an ordinary concrete intersection in the countryside, a pack of stray, crazed dogs had cornered a young girl. The girl was shivering against a wall, abandoned by the playmates who had been with her just moments ago. They had only been playing a game, but it had gone too far, and a pack of dogs had been unleashed.

The girl’s terror only emboldened the beasts. Just as a thick-necked gray dog lunged to bite her, a white figure came charging from a distance. With a flying kick, he struck the dog square in the jaw, knocking it away!

“I’m here! No one is going to hurt my sister!”

Such a resolute declaration came from the white-haired boy who stood with his arm outstretched in front of the girl.

The dogs swarmed him, sinking their teeth into the boy’s legs and arms. The boy felt no pain; he bared his teeth and fought back against them. With his fledgling limbs, he fought like a great hero standing against a horde.

It was a summer day. The commotion brought the adults, who beat several of the dogs to death, and the owner was forced to pay the medical bills. The boy’s arms were bare, and blood soaked the ground. He had to undergo a series of rabies shots and was hospitalized for a month. The bite marks left indelible scars on the boy’s pale, thin arms—marks that would stay with him for a lifetime.

Yet, the boy said he had no regrets.

That boy’s name was Xu Feng, and the girl he protected was Xu Xiaoyu.

From that day on, Xu Xiaoyu never played with the village children who had abandoned her. Instead, she followed Xu Feng constantly. Even if she was just watching him in silence, she was far more satisfied than she had ever been before.