But later, the always inconspicuous Zachary Lewis suddenly became a hot topic. Zoe Young didn’t know how the name Snow White ended up in the gossipers’ discussions. Zachary Lewis suddenly became very popular among the boys, and every move he made attracted a lot of attention. In those old rowdy games, there was now a new option.

This option was called Snow White. “Hey, Zoe, do you know who Snow White is?” Claire Daniels asked on the way home from school. “I’ve heard of her.”

“Who is she?” “I don’t know.”

“Really? Don’t pretend, tell me!” “I really don’t know.” “Aren’t you going to ask? You two are desk mates—”

Zoe Young felt that Zachary Lewis was acting a bit strange. He was evasive around her, and the sudden attention from everyone seemed to leave him at a loss, but he also seemed to enjoy it. He became much more outgoing, got closer with the other boys, and when everyone discussed Sailor Moon or Slam Dunk or Captain Tsubasa, they included him too.

When he mentioned that he liked Ami Mizuno, someone would shriek, “Between Snow White and her, who’s prettier?” “Zachary Lewis” “Snow White” “Zachary Lewis” “Snow White”...

Finally, one time, he was surrounded by everyone. Of course, there were also those who couldn’t stand it and would make a sour comment from the side—Nice name, but she probably doesn’t look that great. Zoe Young never expected that the blushing Zachary Lewis would actually hit the person who spoke rudely—they tumbled together amid everyone’s screams, grabbing each other’s collars and hair, like two young beasts. They were quickly pulled apart, called to the teacher’s office for a scolding, and regarded as a heroic example by the girls. Men who fight for women are always attractive to women, no matter their age. Even if no one knows who Snow White is. Whenever someone asked, he would always answer, “Maybe Snow White will come to our school tonight, we’ll go home together.” “Which one is she?”

“She’s carrying a black bag, a rice-colored black bag.” When Claire Daniels asked Zoe Young again who Snow White was, Zoe Young would always answer, “A girl from another school carrying a black bag—uh, a rice-colored black bag.” “Zoe, there’s never been any Snow White.”

The system for moving from elementary to middle school suddenly changed. They had to draw lots, and only half the students could get into the affiliated middle school, the best in the city. The rest had to go to another, less prestigious, school.

The so-called lottery was actually a signal for the parents. They started working their connections, giving gifts, trying to secure a spot in that half. Zachary Lewis went to the less prestigious school. He wasn’t disappointed, and said with a big smile, “Maybe Snow White will end up at that school too.” Zoe Young tilted her head and smiled, Really? That’s great.

In ninth grade, Zoe Young passed by a magazine stand and bought a copy of Anime Times. Just as she was about to pay, a group of students rushing to catch the bus bumped into her, pushing her aside and stepping on someone’s foot.

As she apologized and looked up, the boy looked a bit familiar. “Zoe?” He smiled. It was Zachary Lewis, but somehow not quite. Zachary Lewis had never smiled like that. They chatted about recent events and their rankings in the citywide mock exams, but after a few exchanges, they ran out of things to say. They had never had much to talk about anyway.

Zoe Young looked up at the swirling willow catkins in the sky and suddenly, absentmindedly, asked, “Is Snow White... doing well?” Zachary Lewis was confused, “Who?” She snapped back to herself, but felt a bit embarrassed, so she forced herself to say, “...Snow White.” Zachary Lewis had grown up a bit; though not exactly handsome, his features were open and pleasant. He stared at Zoe Young for a long time, then suddenly burst out laughing. Zachary Lewis’s laughter was nothing like Zachary Lewis’s. Zoe Young couldn’t help but smile too; everyone had grown up. “You still remember.” He scratched his head.

“What is it?” The boy’s gaze was fixed on something far away, with a hint of self-mockery, a bit of relief, and a trace of indescribable regret in his eyes.

That was the only time he stepped out of his shy, rule-abiding world. Snow White, this girl, with fair skin, long hair, gentle and kind, with a faint smile. She accompanied him through the restless yet lonely beginning of adolescence, and when he, unable to bear the loneliness, deliberately let slip a bit of his “fox tail,” he gained unprecedented attention.

When Snow White was in his heart, he was no longer lonely on the way home from school. Because in his mind, there was a gentle girl carrying a black bag, listening to his secrets, hearing about school trivialities and his own thoughts, and smiling knowingly at the right moments.

When Snow White was the subject of everyone’s teasing, he was no longer lonely in class either. Zoe Young would never know how the attention in sixth grade changed the silent, shy, and indistinct trajectory of Zachary Lewis’s life. She would also never know how jealous she once was of her, of them. Luckily, Snow White appeared.

Even though she had left many years ago. Snow White walked out of his heart and never returned. But he remembered her.

How is Snow White doing? Zoe Young actually still remembered. Zachary Lewis looked at her and smiled radiantly. Sunlight filtered through the elm leaves, leaving dappled spots of light on his face, dazzlingly bright.

“Snow White is doing very well.” he said.

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7. First Snow

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Zoe Young really didn’t like November. Because there were basically no holidays in November, no days off.

The semester was at its most boring midpoint, and the weather was turning cold, making people want to do nothing but eat. The sky was always leaden gray, as if brewing a first snow, but hesitating and awkward, refusing to fall. So it just pressed down overhead. Grandma noticed that the three girls at home had all been especially quiet these days.

Lily Young, a second-year high schooler, wore her headphones every day, supposedly listening to English audio while endlessly doing homework, but a few days later it turned out she wasn’t listening to English at all, but to rock music—a man singing “My love! Naked...” in a half-dead voice against a noisy background. And she wasn’t doing homework either—under her workbook was a pocket romance novel.

When Lily Young got into a cold war with the parents because her novel was torn up and her tape confiscated, the two fifth-grade girls, Zoe Young and Tina Young, were especially quiet too.

Of course, Zoe Young had always been quiet, and would always stay that way—unless Joel Young came to Grandma’s for dinner.

The laid-back Joel Young had taken the college entrance exam in the fall of 1998 and gotten into a second-tier local university, which shocked everyone. In the days before the national college expansion, Joel Young had basically become one of the chosen few.

Even the always-stern eldest uncle couldn’t stop grinning. Joel Young had never worked hard, always loved playing games and skipping school, but the last three months of senior year’s sprint somehow made him a college freshman.

Zoe Young was very happy, but still imitated Joel Young’s old ways, pointing at him in mock despair, “Brother Qiao, look at what you’ve become...”

Joel Young grinned, tugged on Zoe Young’s ponytail, and said in a mocking tone, “This is called infiltrating the enemy ranks. If you don’t enter the tiger’s den, how can you get the tiger cub? Your vision is too short-sighted, you’ll never understand my patience and endurance.”

Zoe Young was stunned, “What kind of tiger cub do you want?” Joel Young’s expression could almost be called smug.

“To get a tiger cub, you have to find a tigress first. Just wait, Brother Qiao will go into enemy territory and bring you back a sister-in-law!”

He said this quite loudly, but this time, eldest uncle didn’t smack Joel Young on the back of the head. It was as if everyone agreed that the college entrance exam was a dividing line: before the exam, love was still shameful puppy love, a sign of laziness and lack of ambition, shamelessness—but after passing those few boring exams that had nothing to do with love, they were grown up, allowed to hold hands, to hug, to openly celebrate love.

Zoe Young had vaguely felt since she was little that the admission letter was an all-purpose permit. The half-grown kids locked in cages were set free, cheering and leaping—but they might not end up where they’d dreamed of going when the cage opened.

Obsessed with computer games and tigress-hunting, Joel Young lived in the dorm and rarely came to Grandma’s for dinner anymore, so Zoe Young fell completely silent.

Grandma was long used to Zoe Young’s quietness, so she patiently asked Tina Young over and over if anything was wrong at school—Tina Young just shook her head and said nothing.

Zoe Young also kept her head down, eating, pretending to know and care nothing about what was going on. She just didn’t say anything. Sometimes the cruelest thing in the world is to tell someone: Hey, I know everything.

When Zoe Young understood this, she remembered that she had used this method to scare Lily Young when she was very young.

But she still knew what was on Tina Young’s mind. Tina Young had fallen for someone.