Airi noticed that Chang Yuan was staring at someone.
She immediately followed his gaze.
"Hm? Brother Chang Yuan, why are you staring at that girl? Don't tell me you like her? Love at first sight?"
Seeing this, Airi elbowed Chang Yuan in the waist and teased him.
After being teased like that, Chang Yuan withdrew his gaze.
"No. I just saw that she was reading books beyond her age level, so I guessed she might be a genius."
What a joke. He was a champion of pure love—how could he possibly be fickle? They could be friends, but he absolutely could not cross that line.
Before being transported here, he had been a loyal Airi-only fan. No one could make him change his heart.
"Oh, I thought you'd fallen in love with another girl at first sight. Though I guess that wouldn't be impossible—after all, Brother Chang Yuan, you are pretty good-looking."
"Shoo, shoo. What does a little girl like you know about love? Go read your book."
Chang Yuan waved his hand, telling Airi to go read somewhere else.
"Fine, then. Bleh~."
Sticking out her tongue, Airi hugged the books she had found, picked a spot, and sat down to read them slowly.
Chang Yuan also found a quiet place to sit and waited for Airi to finish reading.
After reading for a long while, Airi began to feel thirsty.
Just as she was about to get some water, a hand offered her a bottle.
When she looked up, she saw Chang Yuan.
"Here. You've been reading for so long without taking a sip of water. You must be thirsty."
"Hehe, Brother Chang Yuan, you really are such a thoughtful person. Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Taking the bottle, Airi unscrewed the cap and gulped it down, completely lacking any ladylike manners.
It was only because he had no identity documents right now, so he could not buy a phone or register a phone number. Otherwise, Chang Yuan definitely would have recorded that scene and kept it as future blackmail material against Airi.
In the future, she would constantly talk about being a lady. It would definitely be fun if he could turn this into embarrassing history.
"That's about enough. We should leave."
After closing her book, Airi said with some reluctance.
"True. If we don't get moving soon, we might not find a place to stay tonight."
After all, neither of them had ID, so the only places they could stay were shady inns, and they had to stay vigilant at all times.
If they did not find somewhere in advance, they might have to sleep under a bridge again or head out into the wilderness like before.
After returning the books to their places, Airi left together with Chang Yuan.
One year later...
"Phew~, it's so cold."
In the snowy plains, Airi rubbed her little face with her gloved hands, then breathed warm air into her palms.
"It's already not too bad. At least there isn't a blizzard right now, or the temperature would drop even further. And..."
Glancing at Airi, Chang Yuan continued, "And I really can't understand why you actually dared to come here. If I weren't with you, I feel like you might have frozen to death here."
Of course, Chang Yuan was only saying that.
He clearly remembered that in the original story, Airi had crossed the entire world by herself.
She had also come to these snowy plains, where she would meet a certain cheerful, sunny young man.
"Hehehe, but aren't you here, Brother Chang Yuan? You know so much, so you must have a way."
Even though she was being lectured, Airi merely grinned foolishly without feeling the slightest embarrassment.
"You, honestly. We were supposed to travel together, but why do I feel more like a parent looking after a child now?"
"Hehe~? Being able to travel with a beautiful young girl, wouldn't that make you happy?"
"Yes, yes, I'm happy. Happy from the bottom of my heart."
Of course, he would be even happier if their relationship could go a step further.
He felt that his relationship with Airi was getting further and further away from being a couple.
Now, he felt as though he was about to become an old dad. He did not want this kind of relationship, damn it!
"Hmph~, I feel like you don't mean what you say. Eat this snowball!"
In an instant, Airi grabbed two handfuls of snow from the ground, packed them into snowballs, and hurled them at Chang Yuan.
Before Chang Yuan could react, the snowballs smacked him right in the face.
"...Fine, fine. So that's how you want to play? Then, Airi, don't blame me."
Chang Yuan instantly dropped to the ground and formed a half-meter-wide circle with his hands.
Then he frantically piled up snow. No matter how Airi pelted him with snowballs during that time, he ignored her.
Until he finally packed a snowball twenty centimeters in diameter.
"Hey, hey, hey! Foul! Foul! I didn't use one that big!"
Airi stopped throwing snowballs and immediately began to run away.
Seeing that, Chang Yuan picked up the snowball and chased after her.
"Don't run. You hit me so many times—now it's my turn to hit you back."
"No, no! Yours is so big. It'll definitely hurt if it hits me. I don't want that."
Even while running, Airi still had the spare energy to turn around and stick out her tongue at him.
The two of them ran until they reached a small village.
Gradually, they slowed down, because both of them sensed that something seemed wrong with the village.
Eventually, they reached what appeared to be the center of the village. There was a wooden frame there, and someone was tied to it.
That person wore a mask, making his face impossible to see. Quite a few wooden stakes had been driven into his body, his blood staining them, while bowls for collecting blood sat at the other ends of the stakes.
"Th-That, Brother Chang Yuan... doesn't he feel pain?"
Upon seeing that scene, Airi's first reaction was not fear, but concern over whether that person was in pain.
"...He probably does."
"Who are you people? Stop! Don't move!"
Just as Airi and Chang Yuan were talking, a harsh shout rang out.
The two hurriedly turned their heads and saw more than a dozen burly men surrounding them, each holding weapons such as hoes and sickles.
"Who are you, and why have you come to our village?"
"W-We're just passing through. We'll leave right away."
Sensing that the situation was bad, Airi planned to get herself and Chang Yuan out first.
Afterward, they could figure out a way to call the police. After all, this was not something two children could handle.
However, those people clearly had no intention of letting them leave.
"You discovered our secret after coming here, and you still want to leave? Dream on."
As he spoke, one man who looked like the village chief directly swung a sickle at Airi.
Chang Yuan was startled. Without even thinking, he stepped forward and tried to grab the sickle with both hands.
As expected, he caught the sickle. But at the same time, bright red blood slowly dripped from where he gripped the blade onto the snow, staining it red.
Before you continue