A long time ago, Zoe Young already knew that the power of hatred far exceeded the power of love. Love makes us warm, lazy, happy, and content, but only hatred can keep us going in adversity.

It is a kind of gritted-teeth refusal to give up.

Zoe Young knew that this kind of hatred was far from what the bullying by Ethan Xavier and others could cause. Michelle Cindy's upbringing was a mystery; everything hidden beneath her silent exterior was a mystery.

Was she especially unfortunate, or was she just especially sensitive to hurt, unable to let go of it?

Zoe Young wondered about this as she enthusiastically reached out to help. Michelle Cindy could share all her study methods and techniques, those little tricks Zoe Young selfishly kept from others, and even the reference workbooks with concise content and a variety of question types—she offered them all.

Michelle Cindy was like a black hole; she never thanked anyone, never stood on ceremony. When Zoe Young patiently explained how to organize and summarize a certain knowledge system, she just stayed silent, never nodding along to show she was listening. But in fact, she was desperately trying to catch up. Her daily routine had become quite extreme—

Every day after school, she would go straight to sleep, seemingly to avoid being disturbed by her parents and the noisy grocery store; after six hours of sleep, she would get up around eleven at night and spend the entire second half of the night studying. At dawn, she would brave the cold wind to go running and lose weight, then arrive at school early for morning self-study.

Michelle Cindy's determination earned Zoe Young's deep respect.

Whenever Zoe Young explained problems to Michelle Cindy, Mia Waters would always rest his chin in his hands and watch them from behind, from start to finish.

"You're really nice to her." Mia Waters's tone revealed no emotion.

When Zoe Young had nothing to do, she would also tell Mia Waters some things about Michelle Cindy—of course, leaving out the parts about the dark little shop and the crazy mother. She told Mia Waters that this girl actually loved to read, had a rich inner world, had stood up for her when she was bullied by Ethan Xavier, and had a heart as pure as crystal—even if she wasn't pretty, she could still sing the song "Crystal" so beautifully.

Mia Waters always listened in silence, occasionally nodding, never expressing an opinion.

Zoe Young always thought Mia Waters was dissatisfied with Michelle Cindy's attitude, thinking she was ungrateful.

"She called my house during the New Year to wish me a happy new year. She's just introverted, and it's not a bad thing to be less sweet-talking. I want to help her, I really don't care if she..."

Mia Waters shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"...Are you afraid her grades will surpass mine?" Zoe Young asked tentatively.

Mia Waters couldn't help laughing. "What are you thinking? If you're worried about her, you might as well worry about me first."

Zoe Young snorted. "Yeah, right, you?"

Mia Waters put his hands behind his head and just smiled.

"Zoe, when you let down your guard and truly want to be good to someone, you become blind."

Another new semester began.

Zoe Young started inviting Michelle Cindy every Saturday and Sunday to study together at the Beijiang District library near the school. In the shabby reading room, besides an old man with reading glasses reading the newspaper, there were only the two of them. Michelle Cindy's silence made Zoe Young a bit bored, so she dragged Mia Waters in as well.

She had thought Mia Waters would refuse, not wanting to give up his Sunday fun, but to her surprise, he agreed readily.

"Call my mom for me. I'm stuck at home and bored out of my mind. My mom is the kind of ignorant housewife who worships studious girls like you, wishing she could put you on an altar and have me burn incense to you every day.

Just do me a favor and let me join your study group. That way, I have no excuse to escape..."

Zoe Young rolled her eyes and had no choice but to call Mia Waters's mom.

The next morning during self-study, she turned around and tapped Mia Waters's desk with her pen. "Now I finally know how you turned out like this."

Mia Waters's mom had a simple and warm voice, almost the epitome of the traditional mother in Zoe Young's mind. She had also met Mia Waters's dad before at parent meetings—a gentle and straightforward man, extremely tolerant and indulgent toward Mia Waters.

With a family like this, it's no wonder someone like Mia Waters would turn out!

"I think your easygoing, carefree attitude isn't a bad thing," she said deliberately in an old-fashioned tone. "You're just too happy."

Mia Waters didn't deny it, but asked, "Aren't you happy?"

Zoe Young paused, thought about her recent life—plain and uneventful, with only a lack of worries.

It seemed that the unease and fear that used to trouble her had already been washed away by the flow of time.

"Pretty happy," she mused, but quickly added, "But in some ways, I'm a bit like Michelle Cindy..."

"You're not alike," Mia Waters suddenly interrupted, "not even a little bit."

But even though he seemed to dislike Michelle Cindy, Mia Waters still joined the weekend library study group, and the number of members suddenly increased to four—if you counted the old man.

"How time flies!" Mia Waters exaggeratedly read aloud from the English textbook, the letter Jim wrote to Ryan Lewis.

"Shh!" Zoe Young glared at him. "No loud talking in the library!"

Mia Waters glanced sideways at the old man reading the newspaper and smiled.

"There are only four of us in the whole reading room—one is seriously hard of hearing, one is basically deaf and mute, and the only one who minds is you, but I never care about your opinion," so he picked up the textbook again and drawled loudly, "How time flies!"

The old wooden table in the reading room was very narrow. Zoe Young stretched out her leg and gave him a hard kick.

Mia Waters acted as if he didn't feel a thing and continued, "Hey, Zoe, do you think Hannah May likes Ryan Lewis?"

Zoe Young almost bit her tongue, glanced at Michelle Cindy out of the corner of her eye, but she was still battling with specific heat, crystals, and melting points, oblivious to their conversation.

So she leaned over to Mia Waters and whispered, "But I think Ryan Lewis likes the twins Lily and Ly..."

"No, I think maybe Jim likes Hannah May. Do you remember the lesson about picking apples from the tree? Jim kept telling Hannah May to be careful, but Hannah May ignored him and just kept saying hello to Ryan Lewis. It's obvious... a love triangle!"

Zoe Young slammed her face down on the table.

"A doomed romance," Mia Waters shook his head in mock anguish, "From the very first lesson, when Ryan Lewis stood in the middle and said, 'Jim, this is Hannah May. Hannah May, this is Jim.' From that moment, the entanglement of the three was already destined..."

Zoe Young kept her head down and ignored him. After a while, she noticed Mia Waters had gone quiet. She looked up and saw he was busy doodling all over his English book with a mechanical pencil.

The pictures of Ryan Lewis and Hannah May, which originally only had heads, now had bodies drawn by Mia Waters—and they were holding hands.

Zoe Young blushed, suddenly remembering something, and leaned over to ask, "Mia Waters, are you going through puberty?"

Mia Waters threw a notebook at her and shouted, "Zoe Young! Is 'puberty' a word you can just throw around?"

None of them noticed that Michelle Cindy's face had long since turned red, her pen frozen at question 17 for a long time.

The old man's newspaper rustled as he turned a page, and in the quiet reading room, the only sound was the fluttering of paper.

Spring was in the air, and outside, new green buds had sprouted on the willow branches overnight.

Many, many years later, Zoe Young and the others no longer remembered what Jim wrote in his letter to Ryan Lewis, except for that first sentence, "How time flies," which everyone remembered by heart.

Time flies. Only Ryan Lewis and Hannah May still greet each other with bright smiles year after year: "How are you?"

Only their youth is immortal.

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11. Mayday: The World Is Restless

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