Planning

"57 Black Shell Road!"

During summer vacation, Wu Ming followed the information he'd gathered and found where Navi's family lived.

It was a shantytown. The little river running nearby was full of black, foul-smelling water, with heaps of garbage floating on the surface. Shacks were crammed together in a disorderly jumble, along with a few crumbling concrete buildings.

At first, Wu Ming had thought the neighborhood where he lived was the worst in the city. Now he saw that, sure enough, everything was relative.

When he knocked on the rickety door, he wasn't surprised to find a group of filthy brats inside, along with rags, torn clothes, old furniture, and all sorts of other junk strewn everywhere.

"Excuse me, is Navi here? I'm his classmate."

Wu Ming tried to make his voice sound as kind and friendly as possible.

"Big brother, someone's looking for you!"

A girl with pigtails and two missing front teeth immediately called toward a corner of the room.

"Hm?"

The corner held a heap of trash made up of rags and old newspapers. The pile stirred, and Navi wriggled out from the middle.

His hair was a mess, and his eyes were bloodshot. He clearly hadn't slept well.

"Oh, it's Steven!"

At the sight of Wu Ming, the lingering drowsiness on Navi's face vanished. "You came to see me?"

He looked puzzled.

They were both from families without much money, but Steven at least lived in an apartment building, where conditions were much better than at Navi's home. And on top of that, he was a better student. He'd even come first in their grade this time, while Navi was nothing but a failure!

Every time he saw Steven, it only reminded him of how useless he was.

"Did you need something?"

Navi usually got along