Sent to Talent-Nurturing Reform Academy

Morning light slipped through a gap in the curtains, casting a long, narrow streak of brightness across the floor. Liu Xu sat on the edge of the bed, his back rigidly straight. The sweatshirt that had been tugged into a mass of wrinkles was still stained with last night's tears.

He stared at his hands, curled in his lap. Traces of white stuffing remained beneath his fingernails, picked up when he had fought with all his strength to snatch the little green bird from beneath his father's foot the night before.

The bedroom door creaked open. Liu Xu's father stood in the doorway, his eyes bloodshot; clearly, he had not slept all night.

He clutched a crumpled printout in his hand: an admissions brochure for the "correction school" at Talent-Nurturing Correction Academy. Its title was printed in bold black type: "Reshaping correct cognition."

"I found you a new school." His voice was hoarse, but carried an unyielding firmness. "Once you go there, your illness can be cured, and you won't keep thinking about that boy anymore."

"I'm not sick!" Liu Xu jerked his head up, his eyes instantly reddening. His voice trembled with everything he had held in all night. "You're the one who's sick! You made me keep my hair long, you raised me like a monster, and now you want to force me to leave here!"

He thought of the promise he and Wen Shiming had made by the lake yesterday, and of the boy who had said he would protect him. It was as if a hand had closed tightly around his heart, the pain leaving him unable to breathe.

His father's face abruptly turned ashen. "Not sick?" He stepped forward, seized Liu Xu by his long hair, and yanked him hard back onto the bed. Liu Xu grunted in pain. A tearing agony shot through his scalp, and tears welled up uncontrollably.

"If you weren't sick, would you be hugging and cuddling with a boy? Would you write those shameful diaries?" His father's voice was full of disgust. "I'm telling you, there's no room for discussion. Pack your things today. I'll take you to school tomorrow."

Liu Xu struggled to get up. He wanted to run out, find Wen Shiming, and escape this suffocating home. But his father was too strong; the hand gripping his hair held him like an iron clamp, leaving him unable to move.

"Let me go! I want to see Wen Shiming! I don't want to go to a place like that!" he roared, his voice cracking with agitation. "You've never cared about me. All you care about is my hair and that ridiculous obsession of yours!"

"Shut up!" His father raised a hand to slap Liu Xu again. Liu Xu closed his eyes, waiting for the familiar pain to land, but the expected blow never came.

He opened his eyes and saw his father's hand suspended in midair, his gaze complicated as he looked at him. There was anger and obsession in it, as well as a trace of barely perceptible panic.

"In any case, you have to go." His father finally lowered his hand, but kept his eyes fixed on Liu Xu.

"Dad, I'm begging you, please let me go." His voice was as light as a feather, trembling with despair. "I just want to go to school with Shiming. I just want to live like a normal person... What on earth did I do wrong?"

His father did not answer. He turned and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. The sound of a lock clicking followed.

Deathly silence settled over the room once more. Liu Xu slumped on the bed, his long hair falling messily over his shoulders, hiding his tear-streaked face.

He reached under his pillow and felt the half of the little bird bracelet he had risked his life to snatch back yesterday. Now the bracelet Wen Shiming had given him was the only thing he had left to hold on to. The cold touch of metal against his skin was his only comfort at that moment.

"Shiming..." he murmured Wen Shiming's name, his voice as light as a feather. "You said we'd always be together, but now... what am I supposed to do?"

The sunlight outside grew brighter and brighter, but it could not reach the gloom in Liu Xu's heart. He curled up and buried his face in his knees, and despair swallowed him like a rising tide.

Meanwhile, school was already over, and Wen Shiming sat in the car, his fingertips rubbing the screen of his phone over and over. The screen displayed his chat with Liu Xu. The last message was still the one he had sent last night; there had been no reply since.

He stared at his phone for a long time, not even accepting the snacks Xingxing offered when he came over. "Third brother, what's wrong?" Xingxing shook his arm. "You haven't said a word since school ended. Did you have a fight with Brother Liu Xu?"

Wen Shiming did not answer. He waved a hand at Xingxing and turned his face toward the window. Streetlights came on one after another along the road, their warm yellow glow sweeping across his cheeks without dispelling the disappointment in his eyes.

He remembered how Liu Xu had smiled when they parted yesterday and said he was looking forward to seeing him today. He remembered Liu Xu's reddened ears when he received the bracelet, and the words at the center of the lake: "You warm me like a little sun." But now, he could not get so much as a single message.

When they got home, Fu Yanzhi had already set the food on the table, and its fragrance filled the house. Xingxing and Huanhuan hopped off to wash their hands.

Bo Qing patted Wen Shiming on the back. "Stop spacing out. Come eat."

But Wen Shiming shook his head, his voice subdued. "I'm not hungry." With that, he turned and went upstairs, leaving everyone at the table looking at one another.

Fu Yanzhi frowned as he watched him go. He asked Bo Qing to start eating with the children, then carried a bowl of hot soup upstairs and knocked gently on Wen Shiming's door. "Come in," came a quiet reply from inside.

Fu Yanzhi pushed the door open and saw Wen Shiwu slumped over his desk, holding the photo they had taken together in historical costume. In the picture, Liu Xu wore a moon-white robe and smiled with his eyes curved as he leaned beside him.

"Thinking about Liu Xu?" Fu Yanzhi set the soup on the desk and sat down beside him.

Wen Shiming lifted his head, his eyes a little red. "Big brother, Liu Xu didn't come to school today. I asked the teacher, and he told me Liu Xu's dad had arranged for him to take a leave of absence. Does that mean we'll never see each other again?"

Fu Yanzhi picked up a tissue and gently wiped the tears from his face, his voice very soft. "No."

He paused and looked at the boy's reddened eyes. "Taking a leave of absence doesn't mean you'll never see each other again. Maybe you'll meet somewhere else. Besides, Liu Xu cares about you so much. If he knew you were this upset, he'd be unhappy too."

Wen Shiming sniffled, his fingertips still clutching the tablecloth. "But... all banquets under heaven must come to an end. You said that before."

"Yes, but after some banquets end, the guests can still gather again somewhere else," Fu Yanzhi said with a smile.

Then he pointed to the strawberry charm on Wen Shiming's schoolbag. "Just like the little green bird plushie you caught together, the jade pendant he gave you, and the bracelet you secretly bought him—as long as those things are still here, your promise is still here too."

As Wen Shiming listened, his tears gradually stopped. Clutching the tissue, he asked quietly, "Really?"

"Of course." Fu Yanzhi stood and took him by the hand, leading him toward the kitchen. "Let's eat first. The pork rib soup will get cold if you wait any longer. Once you've had your fill, big brother will help you think of something."

Wen Shiming nodded and followed Chuan Yanzhi downstairs and into the kitchen. But as he looked at the steaming dishes on the table, he still felt hollow inside. Where was Liu Xu now—the Liu Xu who would smile as he accepted his tiramisu and help him organize his English materials?

The moon rose outside the window, shining through a gap in the curtains onto the floor like a little silver path. Wen Shiming returned to his room and placed the jade pendant beside his pillow.

Then he picked up the photo they had taken together in historical costume from his desk. In it, Liu Xu wore a moon-white robe, his smiling eyes curved into crescent moons. Wen Shiming stood beside him, holding a paper fan.

He tucked the photo into his Chinese textbook, between the pages bearing the words, "With a true friend within the four seas, even the ends of the earth are as close as next door." Then he leaned over his desk and sent Liu Xu a message: "I'll wait for you to come back."

The moment he pressed send, the phone screen went dark, reflecting his reddened eyes.

Late that night, Fu Yanzhi sat in his study, looking at a document on his computer screen, but he could not take in a single word. He thought of Wen Shiming's reddened eyes, and then of the little secret thought in his own heart.

Liu Xu was the "protagonist" of the novel, while Wen Shiming was the "villain." According to the plot, Wen Shiming should have hated Liu Xu and targeted him, but now he regarded Liu Xu as his most important friend.

By all rights, I should be happy that Liu Xu is changing schools and third brother will be farther away from the "protagonist."

Fu Yanzhi rubbed the space between his brows and muttered, "But how can I be happy when I see him like this?"

He remembered how Wen Shiming had fought with others for Liu Xu before, and how he had helped Liu Xu stand up to a teacher who was making things difficult for him—those vivid moments.

He got up and walked to Wen Shiming's door, where he heard muffled sobbing from inside. He did not knock. He simply stood there for a while, then sighed softly and returned to his own room.

Fu Yanzhi lay down on his bed. Just then, the system's voice sounded again.

[Little Zhizhi, did you miss me? What are you so worried about? Is it because you missed me?]

Fu Yanzhi snapped back irritably, "Miss you? What I'm worried about has nothing to do with you. Things between Wen Shiming and Liu Xu have gone off plot, and I'm worried third brother will be affected."

[Little Zhizhi, the plot is fixed, but people are alive. Besides, with you here, changes to the plot are inevitable, aren't they?]

Fu Yanzhi frowned. "That may be true, but I'm afraid third brother will get hurt in the end. He's only been around the protagonist for a few days, and look how much trouble he's gotten into."

[It'll be fine, Little Zhizhi. When soldiers come, send a general to block them; when water comes, pile up earth to dam it. You're so worried—what, have third brother and Liu Xu already done something indescribable?]

Fu Yanzhi cursed, "Get lost, get lost, get lost. My third brother is an upright gentleman. Don't judge him by your filthy thoughts."

[Hehe, if nothing happened, then what's going on? Is there anything more worrying than the villain and the protagonist doing something indescribable?]

Fu Yanzhi glanced at 127 and said, "Third brother told me tonight that Liu Xu transferred schools and hasn't replied to his messages. So he's hiding in his room crying."

[Oh, so that's it. It's fine. Kids are forgetful. Third brother will be all right in a few days. Besides, doesn't he still have you by his side? What are you afraid of?]

Fu Yanzhi listened and thought that made sense. Maybe third brother would be all right in a few days. He closed his eyes and decided not to think about it for now. He would see how Wen Shiming was doing tomorrow.

The next morning, sunlight slipped through a gap in the curtains, casting a long, narrow band of light across the floor of Liu Xu's room.

When the bedroom door creaked open, he was curled up in the corner of the bed, still holding the bracelet, which had broken into two halves.

Liu Xu looked up and saw three unfamiliar men following his father. They wore black short-sleeved shirts, the muscles in their arms taut, their gazes cold as ice.

His heart sank. He instinctively shrank back toward the inside of the bed, but one of the men reached out and grabbed his arm. "What are you going to do?" Liu Xu's voice trembled, his nails digging deep into his palms.

No one answered him. Two men seized him by the arms and dragged him toward the door as if he were a heavy object.

Liu Xu's feet scraped piercingly against the floor. He struggled desperately, his hair falling across his face and covering his tear-filled eyes. "Dad! I'm not going! I'm not sick! Let me go!"

His father stood in the doorway, his back to the morning light. His face was expressionless, except for his lips, which were pressed into a thin, mean line. "When you've been corrected, I'll come and take you home."

He paused, his gaze falling on Liu Xu's hair, then added, "Make sure you take care of your hair. Don't let it get messy."

Those final words pierced Liu Xu's heart like a needle. He suddenly stopped struggling and let the men carry him out of the house. So, in his father's eyes, his feelings and his wishes mattered less than the hair on which his father had pinned his obsession.

A black van was parked downstairs. Its door slid open, and a damp, musty smell rushed out. As Liu Xu was pushed inside, he suddenly turned to look toward the entrance of the residential compound. How he wished he could see Wen Shiming, even if only for a distant glimpse.

But the entrance was empty; there was only the rustle of wind through the leaves. Liu Xu was shoved into the back seat of a black van, with two men wedging him between them, one on either side. The door slammed shut, cutting off every sound outside.

There were no lights on in the van, only scattered rays of morning light coming through the windows. A pungent smell of disinfectant filled the air, mixed with a faint scent of smoke that made Liu Xu cough.

He tried to break free, but the men had loosely bound his wrists with rope—not tightly, but enough to keep him from moving. He turned his head and watched the streets race backward outside the window, the panic in his heart growing stronger and stronger.

He did not know where the "correction school" his father had mentioned was, or what he would encounter when he got there. All he knew was that the farther they drove, the farther away from Wen Shiming he would be.

"Wen Shiming..." he whispered the name, unable to stop his tears from falling again. He remembered the photo he and Wen Shiming had taken in historical costume yesterday, the bracelet Wen Shiming had given him, and Wen Shiming saying, "I'll protect you from now on."

Those warm memories now stabbed at his heart like knives. He wanted to take out the bracelet hidden in his pocket—it was the last warmth he had left.

The van sped along, and after several jolts, Liu Xu felt dizzier and dizzier. The smell of disinfectant grew stronger, and with no fresh air circulating in the van, his vision began to blur. The men's breathing and the rumble of the wheels gradually grew distant.

He took one last look out the window, with only one thought in his mind: I still haven't said goodbye to Wen Shiming... Then everything went black, and he lost consciousness completely.