Summer was approaching, and the faint sound of cicadas could already be heard.
Lin Yu was a high school senior, nearly 18 years old.
He lived alone in a small, rented house near his school, a local private high school.
In less than one month, he would be taking the Gaokao.
Today’s interview had been arranged by his parents for a foreign school he had never heard of — Thanatos University.
Lin Yu had not seen his parents in over eight years, roughly since the third grade.
The good news was that they were still alive and sent him a monthly allowance; the bad news was that they had given him no way to contact them.
They rarely reached out to their son at all, except for this interview with a foreign university, for which they had sent a rare letter.
His parents were so-called scientists, supposedly busy with a major project abroad.
They claimed that once the results were announced, it would change the world’s landscape, much like when Oppenheimer developed the atomic bomb.
Perhaps they were simply busy people intent on changing the world and had no time for him, so they had left him with his grandfather.
He had always told himself that.
However, in their second year abroad, they had another daughter.
It was only when Lin Yu graduated from middle school that he learned from his grandfather that he had a sister who was several years old whom he had never met.
Since middle school, he had moved to Changsha to attend school alone.
When he was younger, he had been very proud of his parents, thinking they were incredible people who might even appear on television someday.
But as he grew up, he realized that such parents were essentially non-existent.
Since childhood, his classmates had been very envious of him.
They envied that he could live on his own, that he wasn’t controlled by anyone, and that he had an allowance far exceeding his peers.
He was generous with his money, and they envied his collection of manga, figurines, clothes, and shoes that others couldn’t afford.
“Little Lin’s life is the best,” everyone would say.
Everyone envied him, but he was not happy.
The early summer breeze carried a hint of restless heat through the half-open window, bringing with it the intermittent chirping of cicadas.
Lin Yu pushed open the door to his rental.
In the space of less than 30 square meters, figurines, manga, game consoles, snacks, and various other items were scattered across the room.
Lin Yu collapsed onto the bed like a sack of sand that had lost its support.
‘As expected… it didn’t work, did it?’ he murmured to himself, his voice quickly dissipating in the empty room.
He had to adjust his mindset as quickly as possible and shift his focus back to the Gaokao, which was less than one month away.
His grades weren’t top-tier; there was a gap between him and elite institutions like Tsinghua University or Peking University.
But if he worked hard, there was still hope of getting into a good key undergraduate program.
Originally, his life path should have been clear and methodical like that.
That was until a month ago, when a letter from his parents with a strange postmark broke the routine.
The letter contained only a few words, mentioning a foreign school called “Thanatos” and telling him to give it a try.
As if possessed, he had put in a great deal of effort to pass the written exam and meticulously prepared for the interview.
Deep in his heart, a humble hope was hidden: if he could go abroad, would he… be able to see them?
Even if just to ask “why”?
Now, that hope had shattered along with that bizarre interview.
He took a deep breath, attempting to banish the interlude known as “Thanatos” from his mind.
He reached for the thick stack of *Five Years of Gaokao Three Years of Simulation* on the corner of his desk.
Just then—
*Buzz— buzz—*
His phone vibrated abruptly in the quiet room.
The screen lit up with a completely unfamiliar number.
Lin Yu frowned.
After a moment of hesitation, he pressed the answer button.
“Hello, Lin Yu.”
A familiar, soft female voice came from the other end of the line, though it felt incredibly surreal at this moment—it was the blonde interviewer, Christina.
“Following the interview, we believe you have met the admission standards for Thanatos University. I am officially extending an invitation to you.”
…
Lin Yu held the phone, completely stunned.
The sound of his own erratic heartbeat echoed in his ears.
He met the standards?
He thought back to his answers during the interview.
Any place with normal evaluation criteria would never have passed him.
It was too ridiculous, but the interview questions themselves had been ridiculous…
Could it be that the interview had been a mere formality from start to finish?
Was everyone who passed the written exam admitted?
“Lin Yu, are you listening?”
Christina’s voice pulled him back from his chaotic thoughts.
“…Yes, I’m listening,” he replied, struggling to keep his voice steady.
“If it’s convenient, we would like to discuss the specific details tomorrow morning at the original location. We will notify you of the exact time later. Does that work for you?”
“Okay.”
The call ended.
Lin Yu remained in the position of holding the phone, not moving for a long time.
Immense confusion and a faint sense of unease replaced his previous disappointment.
From start to finish, this matter exuded an unspeakable eeriness.
But if… if he really was going abroad…
His gaze fell on the desk, where a hand-drawn birthday card with slightly clumsy lines lay.
His expression softened for a moment, as if he had made a certain decision.
Today was Saturday, but for a high school senior, there was no such thing as a weekend.
He had specifically asked the school for leave to attend the interview, but neither his homeroom teacher nor he had been confident about it.
Aside from his teacher, he hadn’t told anyone else.
He picked up his phone, unlocked it, and clicked on the contact labeled “Little Li,” whose profile picture was Chiikawa from the anime *chiikawa*.
He typed a line:
“Are you free tonight?”
Almost the exact second the message was sent, the chat interface displayed “Typing…”, and then a Chiikawa sticker popped up.
“What’s this? Are you treating me to dinner?”
Lin Yu looked at the screen, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
“I can.”
“Boss is so generous! Wait for me to get off work!”
He smiled faintly and turned off the phone screen.
Little Li, whose real name was Li Meng, was 17 years old.
Her grades were extremely poor, and she had never returned to high school after the academic proficiency exams.
She was currently learning to bake at a cake shop.
Her hobbies were simple—eating and *chiikawa*.
Lin Yu’s acquaintance with her was as ordinary as a small splash in the flow of life.
During the first semester of his senior year, two people in Lin Yu’s class shared a birthday, so the whole class decided to order two large cakes together.
As a day student, Lin Yu was naturally the best candidate to pick them up.
At 7:00 AM on a winter morning, before the sky had fully brightened, he pushed open the door to that cake shop.
The wind chimes tinkled.
The girl who greeted him was wearing an extremely eye-catching anime shirt.
It was the first time he had seen someone in real life so brazenly displaying their hobbies, and she was an employee at a cake shop to boot.
The girl efficiently checked the order and handed him the two stacked, massive cake boxes.
Seeing the school uniform he wore—the same one she used to wear—her eyes crinkled into crescents.
“Oh! An alumnus! Two cakes this big? Your birthday celebration is way too luxurious!”
Lin Yu took the heavy boxes and shook his head.
“It’s not my birthday.”
“Eh? Then when is your birthday?”
The girl grew interested, leaning over the counter with sparkling eyes.
“Make sure to give me some business when the time comes! I’ll give you the alumni discount. I guarantee it’ll be a good deal!”
“I don’t celebrate my birthday,” Lin Yu replied habitually, his tone flat.
To him, this was a fact.
A birthday was nothing more than a symbol forgotten in the corner of a calendar.
If even the people who brought him into the world didn’t care, what was the point of remembering the date himself?
Hearing this, the girl was clearly stunned, and her lively smile instantly vanished.
But in the next second, she actually showed an expression bordering on righteous indignation, her hands on her hips.
“You don’t celebrate your birthday? How can you do that!”
Her reaction was so intense that Lin Yu, who had intended to leave as soon as he got the cakes, was caught off guard.
Following that, the girl in the anime shirt showed incredible persistence.
Through soft and hard tactics, she “pried” his birthday and contact information out of him.
She patted her chest and vowed, “Just wait! When the time comes, I’ll definitely make you a one-of-a-kind, exclusive cake myself!”
Although the girl was younger than him, she claimed she was already working and part of society.
Since Lin Yu was still a student, she considered herself older in terms of social age, so she always called him “Little Lin.”
Consequently, Lin Yu simply called her “Little Li.”
The two of them didn’t have much contact—or rather, Lin Yu’s relationships with everyone were like that.
When he was a child, he had a group of friends he got along with, but as he moved from his hometown to middle school, their relationships gradually faded without any contact.
After moving to Changsha for middle school alone, he slowly grew accustomed to being solitary.
His relationships with those around him were maintained in a state that was neither good nor bad.
He and Li Meng should have been the same.
But early last winter, on Lin Yu’s birthday—a day he hadn’t even realized was his birthday—Li Meng actually made a cake with her own hands and delivered it to the door of his small house.
It came with a birthday card that said “Happy Birthday.”
The cake didn’t taste particularly good, and the handwriting on the card was messy, but at one point while eating the cake, he almost couldn’t hold back his tears.
Even he didn’t know why; a sudden, inexplicable wave of emotion had just surged in his heart.
***
In a noisy malatang shop on the street, steam rose and the sound of voices filled the air.
Li Meng skillfully picked up a chopstick-full of spinach coated in red oil and slurped it into her mouth.
She let out a satisfied sigh and looked up at Lin Yu, who had barely touched his food.
“It’s rare! The busy Little Lin actually invited me out and is even paying for dinner. Hmm…”
She suddenly paused, put down her chopsticks, and leaned in closer.
She narrowed her eyes like Sherlock Holmes scrutinizing a suspect and asked, “Speak up. Are you asking me for a favor?”
Lin Yu looked up and saw her face, which looked flushed behind the steam.
“I actually have something to tell you,” he said calmly.
“What is it that’s so mysterious you couldn’t say it over the phone?”
The look of suspicion on the girl’s face grew heavier as she tilted her head to study him.
“Some things… I felt it would be better to say in person.”
As Lin Yu spoke, he reached into the side pocket of his backpack, pulled out a carefully wrapped box, and gently placed it on the table in front of Li Meng.
He pushed it toward her.
“Um… this is for you.”
Li Meng unwrapped the package with confusion.
When she saw the incredibly exquisite Chiikawa figurine inside, her non-stop chatter instantly stopped.
She carefully picked up the figurine and examined it closely.
Her eyes were filled with surprise and a hint of overwhelmed gratitude.
She lowered her head slightly, her bangs obscuring part of her expression.
Her voice was much softer than before.
“Wow… thank you… How… how did you know I liked this?”
Lin Yu looked at her lowered head and remained silent for two seconds.
The only sound in the air was the gurgling of the malatang broth.
The question was actually quite silly.
From the clothes she wore the first time they met to the various profile pictures and IDs on her social media platforms, her preference was obvious.
But Lin Yu just took a deep breath and spoke in as steady a tone as possible.
“I might be going abroad…”
The moment the words fell, Li Meng’s fingers holding the figurine instinctively tightened.