Shi Yi's mood was far from calm.

How could he possibly remain composed after seeing such a note?

After all, the other party had given him a choice, and he hadn't chosen.

And as far as the other party was concerned, not choosing was a choice in itself.

Of course, that was all a long time ago.

After that, they had actually seen each other many times, being neighbors after all.

Until junior high school, they would play together every summer vacation.

But after starting junior high, the other party seemed to have gone abroad to study.

But they would still come back for a few days every Lunar New Year.

He had also seen the other party at village feasts for weddings and funerals.

But because they hadn't seen each other for two years, and it was the awkward age of junior high, their relationship had become strained.

Neither of them had taken the initiative to say hello.

The last time they met should have been a year ago...

Also in the countryside.

But it was just a brief exchange of glances.

Forget it, forget it.

Don't take things that happened in third grade of elementary school too seriously.

With that, Shi Yi returned to his dorm room.

At this time, those guys in the "Three Musketeers" group chat had started up again.

Chen Yuan @ Shi Yi: If it's not convenient to go home, you can have your mom open it and take a look.

Shen Yating @ Shi Yi: Yeah, tell her not to rummage through it, and wait for you to come back and look at it yourself.

These two, what were they so anxious about?

But it was indeed because of them that he had thought about digging out the note from the photo frame.

"Hiss..."

Shi Yi rubbed his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

If only this thing were as simple as a math competition.

Helpless, he had to reseal the photo frame and then start recording a video with his phone.

Open it, take out the photo, and then shake it, but unfortunately, it was empty inside.

With that, he sent the video out.

Then,

Chen Yuan @ Shi Yi: Stop pretending, take out the note quickly.

Shen Yating @ Shi Yi: Who doesn't understand your little tricks? Hurry, hurry!

"..." Shi Yi was dumbfounded.

Why were these people so terrible at studying, but so powerful in this area, like Sherlock Holmes?

What should he do now...

Liu Chengxi: Is there a possibility that there really isn't a note?

Well done.

Shi Yi had finally found someone who wasn't good at studying and whose emotional intelligence was about the same as his.

This Liu Chengxi was a loyal guy after all.

Shen Yating @ Liu Chengxi: Dummy, dummy, big dummy!

Chen Yuan @ Liu Chengxi: Dummy, dummy, big dummy!

The only big dummy was being attacked like this by the two of them!

Then...

Was he really going to send it to them to see?

He glanced at the group chat, then at the note.

Shi Yi felt, no way.

So,

Shi Yi: Not chatting anymore, lights out, talk to you later.

This was his secret skill—lights-out escape.

With that, he went to bed and hid his phone under his pillow.

As for that note, after thinking about it for a long time, he put it under his pillow as well...

...

"You?"

Wu Wenxin slowly lowered the hand covering her face, looking at the boy in front of her with confusion.

"Measles is a disease that you won't get again once you've had it."

Shi Yi also put down the pen in his hand, using his knowledge reserves to comfort her.

"Mm..." Wu Wenxin lowered her head and replied softly.

At the same time, that extreme sense of inferiority disappeared.

This boy really didn't mind.

From his tone, she could tell that he regarded measles only as a disease, without any other views.

"Then your face," Wu Wenxin raised her head, pointed at his face, and said with some concern, "What should you do?"

"It'll be washed off at night, but before night..."

Shi Yi thought for a while and said, "I made plans with everyone to go to the temple fair tonight, would you like to come with us?"

"But..."

"I'm the same as you, aren't I?"

While Wu Wenxin was hesitating, Shi Yi pointed to himself and said.

Indeed, he was the same as her now.

Moreover, he had to go to the temple fair with her with this face...

Finally, she mustered all her courage and decided: "Okay, but you should still wash your face."

If he's not afraid of me.

Doesn't think I'm ugly.

Then it's okay.

Actually, I wanted to play with them a long time ago...

Feeling alone is really lonely.

"What's your name?" Shi Yi asked.

"Wu Wenxin, what about you?"

"I'm Shi Yi, Shi as in stone, Yi as in one, two, three, four."

"What a cool name."

"Why do you think it's cool?"

"It sounds strong, and it's number one."

"..." Shi Yi didn't know how to respond to that, and after thinking for a while, he directly changed the subject and said, "I'll wait for you at your doorstep tonight to go to the temple fair."

"Okay."

Wu Wenxin nodded with a smile, and on her face full of rashes, a bright smile appeared for the first time this summer.

"Then now, can I play your Sudoku?" Shi Yi asked.

"Sure," Wu Wenxin readily agreed, and handed him the Sudoku book directly.

Then, he saw Shi Yi quickly filling in the numbers in the book, and very accurately, without a single mistake.

"Why don't we have a competition to see who can write Sudoku faster?"

At this time, Wu Wenxin said with a smile, "If I lose to you, I'll treat you to candy. If you lose to me, you'll treat me to... roast duck, roast chicken, roast goose..."

Shi Yi looked at this girl who recited the tongue-twister so smoothly, obviously having some comedic talent, and didn't understand why measles could make her so withdrawn...

"Okay, let's compete."

Although he wasn't very confident that he could win, Shi Yi still accepted the challenge.

After all, he really wanted to play Sudoku.

…………

After Wu Wenxin finished dinner, she put on beautiful clothes early, let her hair down, also put down the bangs she didn't usually have, put on a mask, and hung a small digital camera on her chest. She crouched by the window on the second floor, waiting for Shi Yi to pass by the door.

Then, she saw Shi Yi and his friends.

Everyone stopped below her building.

Wu Wenxin couldn't help but start to feel nervous.

Her heart was pounding.

If I go down later, will everyone run away if they see me like this...?

Just as she was thinking this, Shi Yi downstairs started to speak.

"I have something to tell everyone." Shi Yi stood in front of everyone, thought for a while, and said, "Wu Wenxin, the kid from this family, wasn't willing to come out before because she has measles."

Hearing this word, everyone was surprised.

"Measles, then doesn't that mean she has a lot of red spots on her face..."

"And, is that an infectious disease?"

"Although I've been vaccinated, I'm still a little scared."

Faced with the doubts, Shi Yi said, "But she'll wear a mask when she goes out, and as long as you've been vaccinated, you don't have to worry. Moreover, keeping a distance won't spread it."

After his advance statement, everyone hesitated.

Wu Wenxin just watched, as if waiting for a verdict.

Finally,

Everyone chose to refuse.

"Let's forget it, let's go by ourselves."

"Yeah, if we get infected, we'll get red spots."

"Let's go, let's go, we're not very familiar anyway."

Slowly, Wu Wenxin turned around, then squatted down, hugging her knees.

At this time, voices were still coming from outside.

"Shi Yi, let's go too, don't bother with her."

It looked like she still couldn't fit in.

And Shi Yi would make the most correct choice.

On one side were many friends, and on the other was this newly acquainted friend.

Moreover, boys at this age like to play with boys.

He just felt sorry for her, so he wanted to bring her to play.

Forget it, she wouldn't go.

Wu Wenxin stood up and prepared to lie back on the bed.

But at this moment, driven by something, she turned her head back.

Then, she saw Shi Yi, 'all alone,' standing downstairs in her house, waiting quietly.

"Let's go play!"

Wu Wenxin opened the privacy glass, cupped her hands in front of her mouth like a microphone, and shouted loudly at Shi Yi, without any concern.

This was the moment they became friends.

Later then...

Shi Yi continued to recall.

That photo in the frame seemed to have been taken that day.

He and Wu Wenxin, who had measles, took a group photo at the temple fair.

And at that time, something else seemed to have happened...

There were many, many people at the temple fair.

When they went, it was the busiest time.

But it was also because of the large number of people that it seemed particularly lively and fun.

There was also a dog market (flea market) in the temple fair, and Shi Yi and Wu Wenxin had a great time, which was a joy that could not be obtained while studying in the city of Xia Hai.

"Which school do you go to?" Wu Wenxin asked.

"Chongming Primary School," Shi Yi said.

"Chongming Primary School? Isn't that the best primary school in Xia Hai? How did you get in?"

"... Got in through the school district," Shi Yi replied.

"Oh... I see."

"What about you?" Shi Yi asked.

"I go to Seventh Primary School... It's a little too far from Chongming Primary School..."

"The distance that a bus can't reach directly is a bit far. No, it's very, very far, one in the south of the city and one in the north of the city."

"Do you come back to the countryside to play every summer vacation?"

"Yeah."

"I see, that's good."

After the two of them chatted like this for a while, Wu Wenxin suddenly saw a grandfather carrying something like a grass broom, selling candied haws, so she quickly said, "I lost Sudoku to you, wait for me!"

After saying that, she followed him over.

"Mm." Shi Yi just stood there, waiting.

There were many, many people at the market.

It was as if all the people from the nearby towns had been pulled over.

Wu Wenxin just followed the big wave of people, hiding in it, getting farther and farther away.

Shi Yi was a little worried.

Because he had been waiting for a bit too long.

So, he followed the direction she had gone in and looked for her.

But in the vast sea of people, the other party was like a drop in the ocean, which was really difficult.

Just then, he heard a sharp burst of sound—

Wu Wenxin was crying.

She couldn't find the candied haws grandfather, and she also got lost.

In an unfamiliar environment, she didn't know anyone.

Nor could she find Shi Yi's figure.

No matter how much she searched.

So, a wave of fear came over her.

Making her unable to hold back and burst into tears.

The people around her were also walking quickly, no one paying attention to her.

She was like she had been abandoned in another world she didn't know at all.

Her sobs couldn't stop at all.

Until a fair little hand stretched out from the crowd...

Then, Shi Yi squeezed out of the crowd with difficulty, smiled at her and said, "That was close, thankfully you cried."

"..." Looking at Shi Yi, a light flashed in Wu Wenxin's eyes, turning sorrow into joy, it only took a moment. Then, with a red face, she asked weakly, "You mean, as long as I cry, you'll come and find me?"

"..."

Shi Yi was thinking.

The other party's cry was too distinctive, it was impossible not to hear that burst of sound.

He heard it, so naturally he had to go find her.

So, he nodded: "Yeah."

Wu Wenxin's cheeks flushed again, she turned her face to the side, smiled and changed the subject and said, "Then, then let's go buy candy, I haven't given you the candy I promised yet."

However, just as she was about to leave, a hand suddenly grabbed her hand.

Wu Wenxin turned her head back, looking at Shi Yi holding her hand.

"It's easy to get lost with too many people," Shi Yi explained.

"... Mm." Wu Wenxin nodded lightly, and said in a low voice.

The voice was so soft that it seemed to melt into the moonlight and disappear.

"Then let's go," Shi Yi said.

"Wait, wait a minute."

At this time, Wu Wenxin took out the digital camera hanging around her neck and pointed the camera at herself.

Seeing this, Shi Yi moved closer.

The two of them were close together like this, holding hands, and with a 'click', they took this photo.

………

In the morning, after brushing his teeth, before going to the cafeteria, Shi Yi picked up the photo frame again.

In the photo, was a little girl wearing a mask, with big eyes, and some red spots on her face.

The current her...

No, it should be her a year ago, she had already grown taller.

About 164, with long hair.

But a little thin, like when she was a child.

As for her appearance...

Shi Yi didn't really care about those things, he had already forgotten what the girl from Class Two of Fourth Middle School who had confessed to him looked like.

But the current Wu Wenxin was better looking than when she was a child, that he could tell.

At this time, he looked at the Three Musketeers group.

Sure enough, those two were about to die of anxiety, insisting on seeing the note.

The note or anything, didn't exist.

Shi Yi chose to play dead.

Then, he put the note back into the photo frame.

So, he lifted the pillow to get it.

And with a gust of air, the card stock floated to the ground—

Shi Yi, be my boyfriend.

But children can't have boyfriends, they'll be laughed at by adults.

So the matter of you being my boyfriend,

Only you and I know.

When we grow up,

Everyone will know.

(End of chapter)