Andrew Lane swallowed his rice and blinked, looking a little disappointed. But he quickly shook off his annoyance. “It’s fine, there will be plenty of chances, we can take more photos next time.” Mr. Lane smiled, patted his son’s hair with his left hand, and then looked up to find his wife still ladling soup with her head down, saying nothing. When Andrew Lane ran into the living room to watch “Three-Eyed Boy,” Mr. Lane finally walked into the kitchen with a cup of jasmine tea in his hands, watching his wife wash dishes as he asked, “Irene, what’s wrong?” Mrs. Lane put down the sponge with a complicated expression, slid the last plate into the cupboard, and sighed. “I was planning to talk to you about it after Andrew Lane went to bed.” “Did he get into trouble at school?”

Mrs. Lane shook her head and got straight to the point. “Guess who that Zoe Young is?” “Who? Did you go to the school and ask the teachers? The teachers might even think our son is already in puppy love.” Mr. Lane chuckled. “It would be better if you’d heard it from Mr. Zack. Guess who came to our office today?” “Why do you women always say things halfway?” “I’m just afraid if I say it all at once, you won’t be able to handle it!” Mrs. Lane finally had a hint of a smile on her gloomy face. She rolled her eyes at her husband and sighed, “Today, Weekly Journal’s daughter-in-law came by. She was at the provincial committee for business, and for some reason, she wandered over to my office.”

Mr. Lane patted his wife’s shoulder reassuringly, trying not to laugh. “That must have been tough for you. What did she say this time?” “Her son is starting school next year, right? She was probably bored, and after hearing that Andrew Lane, Charles Johnson, and Cece all go to University Elementary School, she came to ask about the school. There wasn’t much to say, but she just wouldn’t leave.” “She must have an ulterior motive?” “Exactly! As she talked, I figured out what she was after. Guess what she asked me? She wanted to know if there was a kid named Zoe Young in our son’s class.” Mrs. Lane was pleased to see her husband finally interested and curious. “Why did she ask that?”

“Did you forget about Director Johnson’s scandal before he got married? That girl had the baby. I heard all sorts of wild stories, like the child was born on the very day Director Johnson had his wedding banquet, but that’s probably nonsense. Later, when Weekly Journal got promoted, all those rumors were suppressed.”

Mr. Lane was silent for a long time, frowning at the dishwasher before finally speaking, a hint of anger in his voice. “If it was all covered up back then, why is she bringing it up to you now? Is she trying to stir up trouble? Is she out of her mind?”

“Who knows, Young Madam Johnson has never been quite right in the head.” Mrs. Lane took off her apron. “I even suspect that the reason Zoe Young got into University Elementary School might be because Director Johnson pulled some strings. Once his wife found out, they had a big fight, and then she came to me for information. Anyway, I pretended I didn’t know anything.” Mrs. Lane glanced toward the living room and lowered her voice. “Anyway, tell Andrew Lane to keep his distance from Zoe Young from now on—I don’t really care if she’s from a single-parent family... I just don’t want to get involved with those two families. If that Young Madam finds out, who knows what she’ll think. She might even think we’re trying to get on her nerves on purpose.”

Mr. Lane raised his eyebrows, as if he wanted to say something, but after a pause, he only said, “Your son definitely won’t listen.”

“If he doesn’t listen, we’ll make him. We can’t just let him do whatever he wants. We don’t have to tell him, anyway, he shouldn’t know about all this mess. Starting tomorrow, we’ll pick him up from school, and remind Mr. Zack to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t run around after class. He’s not even in the same class as that girl, so it shouldn’t be hard to keep them apart.”

His wife sounded so confident, so he could only give a wry smile and say, “Let’s do that then.” Mrs. Lane finally softened her tone. “Honestly, she’s such a good kid, how could she have such a background?

I actually really like that little girl, but now, look at this, I don’t even dare to feel sorry for her.” Mr. Lane lowered his head and smiled silently. Compassion is something you can only afford when you’re sure you’re safe.

It’s just a pity, such good kids. He swallowed his feelings along with his tea. “They’re still so young. Losing a playmate is like catching a cold—without medicine or shots, they’ll be fine in a week.” He tried to comfort his slightly guilty wife. “It’s really not a big deal.” Laughter from the living room erupted again—it was Andrew Lane, probably because in Three-Eyed Kid, Little Leo was teasing his big sister again.

Zoe Young got home, put down her bag, and went to greet her grandma, but ran right into Tina Young in the living room. Instinctively, she turned her body so that the left arm with the two stripes was facing away from Tina Young—she didn’t know why she was worried about upsetting her cousin, even though Tina Young often used her own little red flowers and stripes to show off. Grandma’s room was closed. She knocked, pushed the door open, and found that her mom was already home, talking to grandma.

“Zoe, you’re back?” Grandma shifted her gaze from her mom to the doorway, smiling. “Yeah.”

“We’ll eat after grandma finishes her IV. I have something to discuss with her, so Zoe, go do your homework first.” Mom stood up to check the saline bottle on the metal stand. Grandma’s health had been poor lately, and her IV treatments had just started up again.

“Okay,” Zoe Young had just turned to leave, but suddenly turned back, pointing to the brand new two stripes on her left arm. “Mom, thank you.”

Both her mom and grandma looked complicated—surprised by her sudden thanks, but also happy to see Zoe’s two stripes. Mom finally blinked. “You know? Did your teacher tell you something?”

Zoe Young shook her head. “No, nothing. Thank you, Mom.” Mom smiled gently. “A mother should do anything for her child, there’s no need to thank me, you’re like a little grown-up.” But she shook her head again. “I have to thank you, Mom,” she emphasized, “but you don’t have to do this anymore.” Mom’s smile froze for a moment, then she understood.

“Zoe, you don’t understand.” You don’t understand—love and attention that you have to beg for are never a one-time thing. They’re like a monster with a gaping mouth, never satisfied, always hungry. Zoe Young’s mom didn’t plan to teach her these messy theories. She just resolved that next time she brought imported cosmetics to that Mr. Hughes, she’d make sure the teacher didn’t let the child know. The best happiness is knowing nothing. She hadn’t been able to give her daughter that simple, happy life before, but now, she would never give up trying. Zoe Young stubbornly looked at her, so she could only nod. “Okay, Mom won’t do that anymore. Zoe can do great things on her own now, right?” The little girl finally grinned, winked at her mom, closed the door, and ran off. Zoe Young’s mom put away her smile and turned to her own mother. Grandma sighed. “Have you really decided? At least let me meet him first.” Clearly she wanted to, but pretended it was no big deal...

At dinner that night, Zoe Young managed to snatch a stack of Nintendo red-and-white game cartridges from Joel Young, sixty-four in one, most of which she’d never played before.

Last time, Andrew Lane had said he only had two cartridges at home, and it was boring to play the same games over and over. She’d lend them to him, Zoe Young thought, hugging the cartridges tightly. “You can’t just take them for free! How about you trade me that trophy?” Zoe Young paused, then pulled out a battered copy of Grimm’s Fairy Tales from the shelf. “How about this instead?”

“Are you kidding me? You degenerate!” Joel Young jumped up, pretending to be angry, and pointed at Zoe Young with a trembling finger. “So degenerate, so degenerate! You even got two stripes and won an award—fine, I’ll pretend I’m blind and raised the wrong successor, but now you’re even bossing me around! Zoe Young, I have to clean house today!”

Before he could finish, Uncle Jack gave him a hard knock on the back of the head. “Zoe, you play with the cartridges for now. Your Joel Young brother never studies, even if you give them back, I’ll have to confiscate them.”

Zoe Young grinned wickedly. “So Brother Joe, you should thank me, I’m keeping them safe for you.” Fourteen-year-old Joel Young learned the true meaning of “ungrateful wolf” on an autumn night like this.

On Tuesday after school, Zoe Young stood at the school gate with her lunch bag in her left hand and the cartridge in her right, waiting for Andrew Lane. But the one who showed up was the short boy who always played with Andrew Lane—she remembered his name was Charles Johnson.

Charles Johnson was a boy who always seemed to have a runny nose he couldn’t wipe clean, and every few sentences, he’d sniffle. “What happened to Andrew Lane? Didn’t he come to school today?”