That was over three months of revolutionary friendship; the bond was exceptionally strong.
Shen Zhizhao couldn't help but let out a laugh, "So we really are very good friends, right?"
"Yes, back then we were the best of friends in the world." Shen Yi nodded, with a hint of regret. "We agreed to grow up together, but you've already become a proper adult now."
Shen Zhizhao was in a daze for a moment.
He remembered that he seemed to have said before that he wanted to take her home and grow up with her.
The corners of his lips twitched, and he vaguely understood why she had avoided talking about his words back then.
It turned out she had known all along that some promises couldn't be kept even if they were made.
He stood up, walked over to Shen Yi, half-squatted down, raised his hand, and gently touched the graze on her face that had not yet fully healed.
His fingertips were very light, like a feather landing on the skin.
"Xiao Yi," Shen Zhizhao recalled the photos from when he was nine and asked her, "Will I be able to meet you again when I'm nine?"
Shen Yi blinked.
She had also thought about this question many times in private.
"I'm not too sure." She shook her head honestly, then added, "But if I can see you again, I'll find a way to take you out to play."
"Shen Zhizhao, the outside world is a lot of fun. I'll make you a bit happier."
"When you were little, you weren't happy at all, just like a bitter gourd."
Shen Yi suddenly thought of a line from a poem.
She couldn't quite remember the content of the entire poem, but one line was very classic.
—You have come to this world, you must look at the sun.
Shen Yi felt that this line suited Shen Zhizhao perfectly.
Hearing her words, Shen Zhizhao lowered his eyes, his voice dropping, "Xiao Yi, if it were the nine-year-old me..."
He spoke slowly, "Your appearing twice in a row like this would make me feel..."
Shen Zhizhao paused and didn't continue, making Shen Yi a bit curious: "Feel what?"
"I won't tell you for now," Shen Zhizhao fastened the clasp of the medical kit with unhurried movements and smiled. "When the time comes, you can let the nine-year-old me tell you."
He set the medical kit aside and straightened up.
The things he couldn't say now and didn't know how to express, his nine-year-old self could probably say without any scruples.
Every stage has a different story.
The beginning of their story was their meeting in childhood.
And now, the one who truly got to know her would be his grown-up self.
Shen Zhizhao liked this kind of ending to the story.
Shen Yi hated the kind of riddler who only spoke half a sentence the most.
She jumped down from the stool, stretched her ankles a bit, "Big brother."
She looked up at him, "Did you go practice shooting earlier?"
Her sense of smell had always been very sharp.
In the moment Shen Zhizhao hugged her just now, compared to the faint smell of disinfectant that had long lingered on his body, a more intense scent of gunpowder smoke was present.
Shen Zhizhao was slightly surprised by her keen sense of smell. He kept a straight face and spouted nonsense, "I had a brief argument with a relative at home. I didn't practice shooting."
"Really?"
Shen Yi didn't believe him.
He definitely fired a gun.
"Alright," Shen Zhizhao saw no need to be stubborn.
The young man's lips curled into a faint smile, light and slow: "I did fire a shot, but he might not die. Don't be afraid."
Might not die...
In other words, is there a risk of him dying?
Shen Yi immediately shut her mouth and didn't press further.
Shen Zhizhao had someone send over some food to fill their stomachs.
After sleeping and regaining their strength, they were dragged off to do a full-body checkup after getting off the plane.
The two of them were barely injured. Aside from some minor bumps and scrapes, once the medicine was applied and they slept, there was basically no pain left.
The doctor said their physical fitness was good and their recovery ability was strong; after a while, they wouldn't even have scars.
At noon, the sky was hazy, with no sunlight to be seen. White snow piled up on the bare branches, resembling a faded ink painting.
Wen Ya hurriedly ushered the three children into the house.
Then she crouched down and carefully examined Shen Yi and Shen Xun.
"Arms are still there, legs aren't broken."
Wen Ya had them walk back and forth a few steps. After confirming there were no issues, her anxious heart finally settled down.
The woman curled her lips and looked up: "Hubby, see, I told you the siblings get along very well."
"The two of them were protected very well by Little Zhizhao on the island."
Her tone carried a smugness of "I told you so."
"Mhm," Shen Sixing leaned against the doorframe. After confirming the two really didn't have any major issues, he dragged out his words in an extremely perfunctory manner: "You are simply a genius, wifey~"
The tilde could practically fly out of his tone.
Wen Ya glared at him.
Shen Zhizhao was a bit tired by now, but Shen Yi was a genuinely high-energy child.
For a normal person returning home from that kind of survival game environment, the first thing they'd do would probably be to collapse on the sofa and play on their phone.
But not Shen Yi.
Especially after sleeping for a whole day and being fully recharged, she completely ignored the dull ache from her minor bumps and bruises. The first thing she did upon getting home was to rummage through the boxes and cabinets looking for a shovel.
"What are you looking for?" Shen Xun squatted down at the doorway of the room.
"A shovel." Shen Yi had turned the contents of the cabinet upside down. "The shovel for building a snowman. I remember putting it here last year."
"It's snowing outside."
"I know." Shen Yi pulled out the small pink shovel from the depths of the cabinet, held it up and looked at it. "That's why we have to build a snowman."
"You promised me that once we both came back from the training grounds, we would build a snowman together."
Shen Xun tilted his head, looked at the vast white world outside the window, and thought for a moment, "Alright, then I'll go find some things to decorate the snowman with."
The seasons here didn't bring snow every year.
In recent years, there had been heavy snow around the New Year.
Last year, the two of them stood in the yard and clumsily built a crooked snowman. They used a carrot for the nose and two red dates for the eyes; it was so ugly that Shen Sixing couldn't stop laughing.
In the end, it was Wen Ya who impatiently kicked him away before he finally stopped laughing.
When Shen Yi rushed into the yard carrying the shovel, Wen Ya was brewing ginger tea, preparing to let the children drink some to warm up.
Seeing her daughter bounding about in the snow through the window, she raised her hand and pushed the window open, letting the cold wind howl in.
"Baby, aren't you guys planning to rest a bit?"
She chided playfully, puzzled: "You just got back. Aren't you tired?"
"But Mom," Shen Yi raised the shovel in her hand and waved it: "I already slept for a whole day on the plane. My body doesn't hurt at all anymore. Right now, I want to build a snowman and take pictures."
The continuous snowfall over two days had covered the bare branches of the tree in the yard with snow, leaving a vast expanse of white in sight.
Wen Ya frowned. Her daughter had always been very resilient.
Over the past two years, the number of times she had gotten sick could be counted on one hand; she was a very worry-free child.
But she still worried the child would catch a cold, and even if she bundled Shen Yi up into a ball, she would still feel uneasy.
"Let Shen Sixing help you build it. The snow melting in your hands will be very cold, and you won't be able to finish building it alone," Wen Ya said with unquestionable authority.
Shen Sixing's voice drifted over from the living room: "I don't want to."
He sounded listless, "It's so cold."
Shen Sixing felt that he and his daughter were complete polar opposites.
One was a vibrant child, the other a lifeless old man.
Wen Ya walked up to him, reached out from above, and pressed down on the back of his neck.
A two-word command.
Simple and calm:
"Go on."
Shen Sixing lowered his head and walked out, resigning himself to his fate.
He was not particularly afraid of the cold.
But not being afraid of the cold and actually wanting to build a snowman in the freezing weather were two completely different things.
By the time Shen Sixing walked into the courtyard, Shen Yi had already rolled a small snowball on the ground.
He stood at the door with his hands stuffed in his pockets, looking utterly exasperated. "Xiao Yi, you and your brother just made it out of a life-and-death situation. Kids your age should be getting a good rest right now."
"Can't you just sit still for a while?"
Shen Yi did not even bother to look up. "No."
"Hurry up and help me, Dad. Help me."
She was determined to finish building it before the sun went down.
Shen Sixing let out a sigh, bent down, and grabbed a handful of snow.
And then—
Smack.
A snowball landed squarely on Shen Yi's forehead.
Shen Yi jerked her head up. Snowflakes tumbled from her hair, and a few stray pieces slipped right down her collar and into her neck.
The girl shivered from the sudden cold and turned to glare at Shen Sixing. "Why did you throw that at me?"
"What is so fun about building a snowman? Xiao Yi, you can throw snow at me too. You can practice your aim while you are at it," Shen Sixing said as he brushed the snow off his hands, looking quite proud of himself. "Your dad never misses when playing this kind of game."
Shen Yi squeezed the snowball in her hand, getting ready to launch her counterattack, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of a figure out of the corner of her eye.
Wen Ya had stepped outside at some point. She was standing right behind Shen Sixing, her expression as icy as the snow filling the sky.
Shen Sixing did not even have time to react.
Arriving even faster than her familiar scent was a fierce, vicious roundhouse kick from his wife.
"Why did you hit her!!! Do you have any idea how easily children catch colds playing in the snow during winter!"
