Chapter 01
San Ye is a year younger than me. Calling him “San Ye” (Third Master) doesn’t make him sound mature—it’s just my shorthand for “Third Young Master.”
1
On a winter day with howling north winds, San Ye and I were crossing a pedestrian bridge when we saw a stall selling sugar-roasted chestnuts. I hadn’t brought any money that day, so I decided to act a little weak to him.
I said, “Buy me some chestnuts, and I won’t scold you for the whole month for no reason.”
San Ye thought for a moment and asked seriously, “If Li Yifeng and I were both standing in front of you right now, who would you choose?”
I looked at him with determination: “You!”
Then in my mind, I muttered, Is San Ye stupid? How could I possibly get to choose Li Yifeng?!
But San Ye strode off without another word, leaving me with: “A lying woman doesn’t deserve chestnuts!”
In the end, I gave up on acting cute and, through sheer force, snatched the wallet to buy a bag of steaming hot sweet chestnuts myself.
2
Every year for San Ye’s birthday, his mother would send him a “huge sum” as a gift. One year, right before his birthday, the bank sent him a transfer notification—it was from his mother: a whopping ten yuan. (Later I found out it was just a transaction to activate some service.)
San Ye’s reaction was priceless. He ran up, hugged me tightly, and with a pitiful look like an abandoned child, said, “It seems my mom doesn’t want me anymore. Can you take me in?”
Although I was annoyed at him for acting like a little kid while being 1.82 meters tall, I still generously said, “Next time you have no money in your account, tell me—I’ll send you some.”
San Ye, still reeling from the blow of ten yuan, said softly, “But you’re not my mom.”
I patted my chest: “It’s fine. Just consider me your evil stepmother!”
San Ye: “Evil stepmother? How could an evil stepmother send me money? An evil stepmother should be holding a candle in one hand and a little whip in the other…”
I had no words. San Ye, are you sure you’re following the right script?
3
San Ye likes to play a game called League of Legends (LOL). Considering we were long-distance most of the time, I let him have this hobby—at least with this “little lover,” he would go out less.
One day he went to watch a live LOL match, but the equipment malfunctioned and the match was delayed five hours—from the original 1 PM start to 6 PM. By the time it ended, it was already past 1 AM. San Ye took a bus home and didn’t sleep until 3 AM. Yet, at 9 AM the next day, he was already on the bus heading to another match…
On non-working days, he usually sleeps in late. I had never seen him so proactive.
I said to him, “You’ve never been this dedicated to anything for me, never spent this much time on anything.”
He was watching the match amid a noisy crowd, shouting over the commotion: “Nonsense! Don’t I always spend an entire night playing games to vent after arguing with you?”
Touched by his words, I uninstalled his game a few days later. As a former science student, I would never just delete the shortcut—I erased all his game data too. 🙂
4
Once, I took San Ye to my sister’s house for a vacation. My two-and-a-half-year-old nephew adored San Ye, and they played together effortlessly. When bedtime came, my nephew hadn’t had enough. He clung to San Ye’s neck like a deeply in-love couple unwilling to part for even a second…
My sister tried to put him to bed inside, but a minute later he ran back to the living room, screaming as he clung to San Ye’s leg: “I want to sleep with Uncle!”—again like a deeply in-love couple unwilling to part for even a second…
San Ye and I usually sleep on the living room floor when we visit. To calm my nephew, my sister reluctantly laid out another floor mat and turned off all the lights, planning to carry him to bed once he fell asleep. San Ye and I had to pretend to sleep, putting phones and tablets aside.
The little guy was restless and wouldn’t sleep. In the pitch-black living room, I grew sleepy before him, even though I had downloaded a variety show episode to watch with San Ye before bed. My eyelids began to fight to stay open…
Just as I was about to fall asleep, I suddenly felt a pinch on my waist. Startled, I opened my eyes and met San Ye’s bright gaze in the dark. For the next several minutes, every time I nodded off, he pinched my hand or poked my face—his goal was to keep me awake.
I whispered, “What’s going on?”
San Ye mischievously replied, “Something good!”
Embarrassingly, I was actually shy. I thought he might want to kiss me while no one was around—the forbidden, mysterious feeling kept me awake until my nephew finally fell asleep and was carried to bed by my sister.
Once the living room was empty, I tried to act calm: “So, what is it?”
San Ye suddenly jumped up, ran to the kitchen, grabbed something from the fridge, and came back. He proudly said, “I secretly hid this while the little one wasn’t paying attention—here’s a bottle for you!”
Looking at the two bottles of Coke in front of me, my heart nearly exploded.
