“I just don’t want you to be my sister-in-law!”
After that, I ran home and pestered Grandma, grabbing her hand and asking her questions. However, Grandma only thought that I had a deep relationship with Dongyu as his sister, and treated it as child’s talk. She smiled and said, “Alright, if Xiachun wants to be with Dongyu, then go ahead! In the future, our Xiachun will marry Dongyu and become his wife! Grandma will keep my word and help you guys!”
I was relieved to hear that.

  From then on, because of Dongyu, my relationship with Menglan fell into a rut and I completely cut off all contact with the other children.

  Wherever Dongyu went, I followed him like I was his little tail. At that time, there seemed to be a wall between us and the rest of the world.

  However, every time I woke up in the middle of the night, I would recall Menglan’s words that were like an oath, but I’d feel indignant. My arms around Dongyu’s neck tightened till the force I exerted woke him from his dream.

  In his daze, he caressed my cheek.

  “What’s wrong?”
“Brother, will you be with other girls in the future?”
“.……Mmm?”
“Menglan said that she wants to marry you in the future. She wants to be your wife and my sister-in-law.”
Under the moonlight, I vaguely saw him frown. In my youth, I became uneasy. I choked and begged, “Brother, I don’t want you to get married. I don’t want you to be with another girl. Can you be with me? For a hundred years, for a lifetime!”
Dongyu didn’t reply. After a long silence, he drew me in closer and whispered in my ear.

  “What if I can’t live for a hundred years?”
“No matter how many years, we have to be together,” I said with a pout.

  I couldn’t read his expression in the dark. I only heard him smile and say, “Okay. We’ll be together forever.”
I was overjoyed. I couldn’t help but hold his face and kiss his soft lips. Dongyu grabbed my hand and responded to the kiss.

  The tender kiss was merely lips pressing against each other. There was no technique involved, but it was enough to stir my heart.

  At that time, we were young and had no concept of the relationship between a man and a woman, nor did we understand the significance of such an intimate kiss.

  However, even after a long time had passed, I still didn’t understand why I wanted to possess him so much. I asked myself this more than once, but in the end, I didn’t have an answer.

  Eventually, I thought, it was because he doted on me so much, to the extent that the love of others could not even compare.”
Ultimately, I was just a child who was thoroughly spoiled by him.

  *****

  As I grew older, my personality grew along with Dongyu’s and I gradually became cold and unfriendly towards others as well. I didn’t even like to get close to others. It seemed like only Dongyu could affect my emotions. Whether I was happy or sad, it only seemed to be related to him.

  Soon, I reached the age to go to school, and went to the same school as Dongyu.

  I was in my first year, and he was in his fourth. When I first picked up my textbooks and smelled the fragrance of ink and paper, I felt as though I had been locked in a huge cage. The world around me darkened.

  I was surrounded by an unfamiliar environment, unfamiliar people, unfamiliar faces, unfamiliar voices. Without Dongyu, I became sullen. I became depressed. I even ignored my classmates’ friendliness. I didn’t even want to talk to them.

  I would hide in a corner and sniffle over any small matter that made me unhappy.

  #