"W- whhuh? How...?"

This? This unkempt beggar in front of him... was Jiang Zi Yun, the school belle? His former best friend? What happened to her...?

An immense feeling rose inside Zhou Lei, but he himself didn't know for sure what it was. Whether it be pity or obligation, he affirmed himself that he should offer his a.s.sistance to the fallen angel.

Looking at the bewildered expression on the handsome youth's face, Jiang Zi Yun stopped eating the sandwich for a second. Only then did she realize that... her ident.i.ty was revealed!

Suddenly, her eyes turned cold, hiding the sandwich behind her back.

Zhou Lei glanced towards the beggar in front of him, and a cold aura seemingly exuded from her. 'Yup, it's her alright.'

"How... do you know who I am?" The cautious Jiang Zi Yun took a single step back.

"Zi Yun... We were friends when we were first-years in District 5 Middle School. Don't you recognize me?"

Zhou Lei felt a little hurt. After all, before this girl suddenly disappeared, he considered Jiang Zi Yun to be his best friend. After she left, he had no friends to speak of until Lin Hanying.

'Zi Yun... Only one person called me that in middle school...' Jiang Zi Yun scanned the handsome boy's face once more. 'But the face and voice are too different!'

"Don't tell me... you're Leilei?" Even though she was of utmost certainty that the person in front of her wasn't her friend from middle school, she still asked. After all, he managed to recognize her when no other could.

"Leilei..." Zhou Lei felt nostalgic hearing that nickname from the familiar voice. Before he knew it, a tear flowed down the corner of his eye.

Despite this, he supressed his expression. While discreetly wiping off the inconspicuous tear on his cheek, he replied, "Yes, I am Leilei."

After hearing the answer of the boy in front of her, Jiang Zi Yun didn't get shocked. Instead, she decided to believe him halfway. "Okay, then. If you really are Leilei, then you should know these--"

Before she could continue, Zhou Lei interrupted her. "Stop first. I'm gonna say a single sentence that will confirm your suspicions."

With that said, Zhou Lei inched closer to Jiang Zi Yun's ears, who still had reservations about letting people close to her. She retreated backwards unconsciously, but Zhou Lei had already reached the side of her face.

He opened his mouth, a few words coming out of it and entering the ear right in front. After a while, he finished whispering a couple of sentences.

Satisfied, Zhou Lei smiled smugly, crossing his arms in triumph. On the other hand, Jiang Zi Yun wasn't doing so well.

Her face started blus.h.i.+ng wildly, and even through the thick cloak of the dirt and dust on her whole body, Zhou Lei felt the urge... to pinch her cheek.

"L- Leilei... I believe you now."

A myriad of emotions overcame the girl. Embarra.s.sment and shame over the fact that her friend still remembered that... event, confusion over what her next course of action should be now that she found someone she knew, and finally, happiness and relief that the one she found was Zhou Lei.

"How about you come inside?" Zhou Lei realized that the two of them stood in front of the doorway, enabling others to watch the situation unfold.

"Ah, okay..." Jiang Zi Yun accepted the offer, of course. She had a lot to catch up on with the guy in front of her. Besides, she had nowhere else to be anyway.

Inside the home, Jiang Zi Yun felt a sense of comfort wash over her completely, and her tense heart softened.

She looked around his home. 'He didn't live here before...'

The design of the interior pleased her aesthetic, which she thought had died long ago. The corners of her lips curled up.

"Are you feeling cold? How about you take a warm shower first?" Zhou Lei felt very curious about Jiang Zi Yun's current circ.u.mstances and was eager to ask, but seeing her disheveled appearance, he decided to suppress this curiosity first. After all, her wellbeing came first.

"No, I'm good." Jiang Zi Yun promptly refused the offer. She was still a little uncomfortable in the new environment around her.

"...Then you should at least change clothes." Her denial made Zhou Lei bewildered. When one was this dirty, was it not their first desire to take a shower and wash off all the gunk that acc.u.mulated on their skin?

Although he had these thoughts, he didn't dare say it out loud. He had no idea of her situation, and saying that would likely open up a barely closed wound in her heart.

This time, Jiang Zi Yun didn't refuse his offer. Minutes later, Zhou Lei handed her a couple of clothes from his closet. His clothes were wide and fit his previous obese self, so he decided to give those to her.

He led her towards the bathroom and waited idly outside the door.

Checking the time, he just realized something crucial – he forgot that he was about to head to school!

"Ugh..."

He wrestled with himself in his mind on whether to head to school or not. If he went right now, he could still make it!

However, there was the matter of Jiang Zi Yun. After inviting her in his home, he couldn't just up and leave her!

"...I guess I'm gonna be late today."

His train of thought was disrupted by the sound of water running from inside the bathroom. 'Hmm? I thought she decided not to shower?'

Right after that, a shrill scream followed. "Ahhh!"

'Huh? What happened in there?' The scream alarmed Zhou Lei. He started to frantically knock on the door. "Zi Yun, what happened?"

However, the voice he heard next was not Jiang Zi Yun's, but rather of another familiar voice. "Ah, bro!"

'Z- Zhenya?' Hearing the second voice coming from the bathroom, he figured out what happened inside.

It turned out that his little sister was inside, using the bathroom. 'Zi Yun and Zhenya ended up encountering each other...'

While he was thinking how bizarre the situation was, the door opened, and out came a small girl with a towel around her wet body.

"Zhenya... I thought you went back to sleep!" Seeing his little sister walk out hurriedly, Zhou Lei didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Zhou Zhenya glared angrily in response. "Never mind that, who just entered the bathroom?"

In her mind, she thought, 'That girl earlier, she's so dirty! I think she's a beggar!'

"That's, uh... how do I explain this to you?" Zhou Lei scratched his cheek awkwardly. 'These two, they knew each other in the past...'

When Zhou Zhenya was a small toddler whose age was only 5, Zhou Lei invited Jiang Zi Yun to his home. There, the latter played with Zhou Zhenya happily, while he got jealous as he watched by the side.

Now, Zhou Lei looked at his little sister as though she viewed the very same person with disdain. He felt fl.u.s.tered about the situation.

Before he could start to explain to his sister, another person came out of the bathroom. Her clothes dripped with water dyed black, her steps muddying the floor.

"Zi Yun..." At this moment, Zhou Lei felt really shameful of himself. Even if he had the thickest skin in the whole world, he still wouldn't be able to overcome the embarra.s.sment that he was feeling right now.

Zhou Zhenya, who stared at the floor getting dirty, got angrier by the second. "You! I don't care who you are, but why are you dirtying the floor!"

'My hard work! Being undone by a filthy beggar!'

Jiang Zi Yun felt the scornful gaze coming from the little girl. With her petty personality, no matter who it was, if one picked a fight with her, she wouldn't back down at all!

In response to the contempt that the little girl exuded, she sent back a cold stare.

Suddenly, Zhou Zhenya felt a chill travel through her spine. Her whole body shuddered as she hid behind the back of her brother.

"B- bro! She's picking a fight with me! You tell her off!" The little girl was really scared of the beggar after that brief exchange of gazes. She felt as if her soul was being peered into... It was really scary, okay?!

'Bro?' Jiang Zi Yun saw the little girl hiding behind Zhou Lei and she began to a.n.a.lyze the situation. 'She's calling him bro... so that must mean... that girl is Little Ya!'

Meanwhile, Zhou Lei held back his desire to shout at his little sister. 'How childish can you be?!'

"Ah, um... First of all, Zi Yun, I'm sorry." No matter what, Zhou Lei needed to apologize to his friend first.

Hearing her brother apologizing to the beggar, Zhou Zhenya was incredulous. 'Why did bro side with a random beggar?'

"And second, you two already know each other..." Just as he was about to introduce the two to each other, Jiang Zi Yun waved her hand, signalling him to stop.

"No need. I've already recalled who this bratty kid is." Jiang Zi Yun's words pierced Zhou Zhenya's soft skin. "It's Little Ya."

"L- Little Ya?" Zhou Zhenya was even more incredulous. "Bro, did you tell this beggar who I am?"

Zhou Lei shook his head and continued to speak from before. "Zhenya, 'this beggar' is Jiang Zi Yun..."