I was born and listened to my neighbor's older sister talk about her family of origin.

The first day of martial arts class has ended.

Chen Mei didn't come; Ji Yue was responsible for picking her up and dropping her off.

He first took Jiang Ye home.

At the Jiang family home, Hao Mei was preparing dinner.

The doorbell rang, and she called out, "Honey, go open the door, it must be our son coming home."

Jiang Cheng, who was wearing shorts and a vest and chopping vegetables, wiped his hands and went to open the door.

She immediately noticed her son being supported by Ji Xiaoxiao and was slightly startled.

"Son, are you...going to practice martial arts or begging for food?"

"Ouch! What happened? Did you fall on the road?"

Upon hearing this, Hao Mei, who was in the kitchen, immediately turned off the stove and ran out. Seeing this scene, she quickly stepped forward to support Jiang Ye, her eyes filled with heartache.

Jiang Ye waved his hand.

"Mom, I'm fine... it's just a bit exhausting."

Ji Yue was a little embarrassed.

"Haha, it's my fault. I thought this kid had good talent for martial arts, and I accidentally let him practice too much."

"His arms and legs will probably be sore for the next couple of days, so let him rest for a couple of days before coming back."

Jiang Cheng couldn't help but laugh, and said with great tolerance and magnanimity:

"Oh, it's alright. Boys need to endure hardship! The more you practice, the better you'll be able to protect your wife in the future. Let's go again tomorrow!"

Hao Mei glared at him, then smiled at Ji Yue and Ji Xiaoxiao, "Brother Ji, Xiaoxiao, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Would you like to eat with us?"

Chen Mei is still at the mahjong parlor, and Ji Yue will cook for her when she gets home today.

Ji Xiaoxiao never liked the dishes he cooked.

Now that Hao Mei had invited him, he naturally accepted.

"Then Xiaoxiao and I will take our leave."

Ji Xiaoxiao immediately greeted obediently, "Thank you, Aunt Hao!"

Hao Mei immediately beamed: "Oh, Xiao Xiao is still so well-behaved. Go sit on the sofa. Auntie has one more dish, it'll be ready soon."

"Uh-huh."

Jiang Ye, standing to the side, silently gritted his teeth as he watched her.

That brat, she's got a knack for currying favor with his mother!

Hao Mei looked at Jiang Ye: "You're covered in sweat, and dinner won't be ready for a while. Go take a shower first, and then go back to your room and lie down after you finish eating!"

Jiang Ye dragged his leaden legs into the bathroom.

The warm water rinse provided some relief from the fatigue, but it was followed by a deeper soreness.

It felt amazing, but the pain afterwards was real...

After washing up, eating two bowls of rice, and seeing off the Ji family father and daughter, Jiang Ye went straight into the bedroom.

He glanced at the time, then opened his old-fashioned flip phone and tapped on QQ.

I started counting down the seconds in my head.

Five, four, three, two...

beep beep.

People you're paying special attention to are online.

Xu Zhiyu's profile picture, a small red koi fish, lit up.

Jiang Ye smiled and sent her the photo he had taken with Ji Xiaoxiao that day.

"I went to martial arts practice today and got pinned to the ground and beaten by a gorilla. I almost didn't see the sun rise tomorrow."

On the other side, in Haicheng.

Xu Zhiyu had just finished showering, and her body still carried the sweet scent of shower gel.

She was wearing a pink cotton nightgown, sinking into the incredibly soft bed. She turned over and lightly swiped her fingertips across the screen of an old-fashioned cell phone.

The photo stood out prominently on the screen.

The two people in the photo are standing very close together. Ji Xiaoxiao has an undisguised smug look on her face, while Jiang Ye looks utterly miserable and hopeless.

Despite the stark contrast, there's an indescribable sense of intimacy between them.

Xu Zhiyu blinked.

The excitement I felt just moments before because I was waiting for news from Jiang Ye dissipated as if gently squeezed by an invisible hand.

She pursed her lips and typed a line of text on the screen with her fingertips.

Little Fish: "You went with Xiaoxiao? You look so tired."

JY: "Yeah, I'm exhausted, but it's been pretty fulfilling."

The two chatted casually, just like always.

Even though we hadn't seen each other for more than half a month, we kept talking, from trivial things at school to the newly opened milk tea shop on the street.

As they were chatting, Xu Zhiyu suddenly stopped talking, deleting and retyping words in the input box.

Little Fish: "Ah Ye, next week... I probably won't be able to make it either, there's a dance competition I need to prepare for."

J.Eno paused for a moment.

JY: "It's okay."

It was followed by a head-patting emoji.

Jiang Ye looked at the line of text, and although his little expectation was dashed, he wasn't too disappointed.

We agreed to meet once every two weeks.

But ideals are lofty, while reality is harsh.

After marrying into a wealthy family, Xu Zhiyu's life became even busier.

Dance practice, social etiquette, and various extracurricular classes took up almost all of her time except for sleeping.

Even the time he spent using his computer and mobile phone was strictly regulated, leaving him no free time to visit Jiangcheng.

Listening to her complain about not having any rest time on QQ every day became Jiang Ye's only way of participating in her life.

He was powerless to do anything about it.

Both of them knew perfectly well that their original agreement meant it wouldn't be easy to meet.

They couldn't even sneak out, because they were all under fourteen and couldn't buy tickets individually.

Jiang Ye could only spend a few words with her during her limited free time.

Jiang Ye was thinking about how they should meet in the future, but his eyelids were getting heavier and heavier.

Not long after, his phone tilted and hit him in the face.

He hissed, tossed his phone aside, and fell silent as his head hit the pillow.

Today's ordeal has truly pushed me to my limit.

On the other end of the phone, Xu Zhiyu sent several messages, but they all went unanswered.

She waited a while and guessed that he was probably asleep.

"Looks like today was really tiring..."

Xu Zhiyu muttered something under her breath, then opened the photo again, closed it, and opened it again.

Her fingertips gently and slowly traced Jiang Ye's face in the photo.

Then, he silently typed a line of text.

Goodnight, Aye.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

For the next month, Jiang Ye practically lived at the martial arts gym.

Every day, I smelled a mixture of sweat and medicinal wine, and when I got home, my bones felt sore and sore.

After a month, he got a tan and became more muscular. His shoulders, which were originally a bit thin, now showed some definition.

On the last day, the impromptu martial arts class ended.

The wooden floorboards inside the building creaked underfoot, and the air was filled with restless dust.

Ji Xiaoxiao delivered a swift side kick, which Jiang Ye gritted his teeth to block, his entire arm going numb from the impact.

"Is that all the progress you've made?"

Ji Xiaoxiao beckoned with her finger in a provocative gesture.

"They still won't be able to beat me in two years."

Jiang Ye remained silent, his head bowed, like an enraged wolf cub, charging forward again and again.

He didn't have many techniques, and the moves he knew couldn't possibly be a match for Ji Xiaoxiao. He could only rely on the reflexes he had developed over the past month and his sheer brute force.

Sweat dripped from his chin onto the floor, leaving a small, dark watermark.

Just as Ji Xiaoxiao was about to knock him down again, Jiang Ye suddenly ducked down and delivered a sweeping leg kick that she had never seen before, at a tricky angle.

Ji Xiaoxiao's heart skipped a beat, and she knew something was wrong.

She reacted extremely quickly, touching the ground with her toes and forcefully shifting her center of gravity, narrowly avoiding the attack, but her body still swayed slightly.

That one move is enough.

Jiang Ye's fist was already in front of her face. Ji Xiaoxiao's pupils shrank, she tilted her head, and quickly pressed her body down, using her own weight to forcefully pull Jiang Ye back. Then she flipped over and pinned him down.

Jiang Ye was completely unable to move.

For a moment, the only sound in the entire martial arts hall was the heavy breathing of the two men.

After a while, Ji Xiaoxiao got up and plopped down on the ground, too tired to even move a finger.

He raised his hand to wipe the fine beads of cold sweat from his forehead; his heart was still beating a little fast.

call……

Jiang Ye almost turned the tables on us.

She almost lost her title as the number one fighter in the Jizhen Martial Arts School!

Ji Xiaoxiao felt that Jiang Ye couldn't continue training like this.

Otherwise, she would lose her only advantage over him.

She started to have a plan in mind, figuring out how to persuade Aunt Hao to let Jiang Ye study more and exercise less.

Jiang Ye was disappointed.

As the game drew to a close, he still couldn't defeat Ji Xiaoxiao.

Ugh.