Li Jiuzheng felt like he had fallen into a long, beautiful dream. In the dream, he spent every day with his younger brother. They played in the sea and went hiking; on sunny days, they built castles on the beach, and when the weather was bad, they spent time indoors, listening to rain patter on the windows and watching movies. Occasionally, he would help his brother with homework. What his eyes saw was bright sunlight and clear blue water, what his ears heard was laughter and birdsong. Every day, he was so happy that even if the world were to end in the next second, he would die with a smile.

It was a winter so warm he wanted to sink into the pleasant sunshine and never wake up.

“What are you blanking out for, Fifth Brother? The fruits on this tree taste good. Can you hold my phone? I’ll climb up and pick a few.”

One afternoon, Shi Jin took Li Jiuzheng to pick wild fruits in the forest on the south side of the island. He was holding a phone gimbal and adjusted the camera position from time to time, skillfully enough that he looked like a professional live streamer.

After he spoke to Li Jiuzheng, he waved at the camera. “Don’t worry, I’m very good at climbing trees. I guarantee to get down safely.”

Immediately, a small line of words appeared in the chat box of the live broadcast channel, where the number of viewers was always ‘1’: [Be careful.]

Shi Jin grinned and shoved the gimbal into Li Jiuzheng’s hand. After rubbing his hands, he grabbed the lowest branch and quickly climbed up in two or three moves, heading towards the hanging fruits.

Li Jiuzheng, nervously holding his mobile phone, waited below, following Shi Jin around the trunk as if ready to catch him at any moment.

“Okay, here’s fine. I’m going to pick the fruits.” Once he climbed to a suitable branch, Shi Jin waved at Li Jiuzheng and the phone camera.

Abruptly, Li Jiuzheng’s face turned white. He dropped the phone, picked up a stone from the ground, and hurled it toward Shi Jin.

Xiao Si screamed, < JinJin, watch out! >

Shi Jin’s expression changed. He hurriedly twisted sideways, pulling back his outstretched hand.

Thud!

The stone hit the place right next to where Shi Jin had been a second ago—and smacked the small green snake that suddenly poked out of the leaves.

“Hiss—”

The snake hissed loudly in pain and fell to the ground.

Li Jiuzheng was frightened. The snake was already dying, but he was not reassured. He picked up a rock and, face stretched taut, started smashing its head until it was nothing but a bloody mess. His eyes were hard and cold, filled with murderous intent.

“Don’t hurt Xiao Jin, don’t try to take Xiao Jin away…”

He finally, finally managed to hold onto something. No one and nothing was allowed to destroy it! Absolutely not!

The snake was long dead but Li Jiuzheng didn’t stop. The stone and his hands were covered in blood, and it also splattered on his clothes and face. It looked somewhat terrifying.

Shi Jin was stunned by Li Jiuzheng’s sudden outburst of violence. After coming back to himself, he frowned deeply and scrambled down the tree, then rushed over to Li Jiuzheng. He grabbed his brother’s shoulders and swung him around to make him face him.

Their eyes met before Li Jiuzheng managed to get his expression under control. Faced with the icy killing intent in his gaze, Shi Jin froze. Some memories and emotions abruptly surged up inside him, making him release his grip and take a step back.

Seeing this, Li Jiuzheng snapped back to his senses. He glanced at his hands, at his blood-stained clothes, and finally at the mangled corpse of the snake behind him. His heart shook, and the stone in his hand fell to the ground. He wanted to touch Shi Jin but was afraid of getting the blood on him. In a panic, he tried to wipe the blood off his hands, saying anxiously, “No… Xiao Jin, don’t be afraid, it can’t hurt you anymore and I won’t either. Don’t…”

Shi Jin took a deep breath and suppressed the overflowing emotions. He stepped forward and pulled his brother up from the ground, then wiped the blood on his hands with the front of his t-shirt. “Fifth Brother, thank you for protecting me.”

Protecting?

Taken aback, Li Jiuzheng stared at him blankly.

“You reacted so quickly and decisively and hit that snake so accurately with the stone. You were so cool! Tonight, we’re going to eat snake meat.” Shi Jin smiled at him and smacked him affectionately on the shoulder, then picked up his phone from the ground.

He switched to the front-facing camera to show that he was not hurt and explained the situation just now. After that, he went over to the dead snake. “Look, it’s this one that wanted to attack me. Fifth Brother killed it and saved me. By the way, Lian Jun, do you like snake meat? The head was smashed but the body is intact. It should be enough for a stir-fry or something.”

In the study, Lian Jun, who was anxious due to not knowing what had happened and was about to rush out and find Shi Jin, paused. Listening to Shi Jin’s chatter and seeing him safe and sound, he slowly sat down, trying to suppress the lingering fear. [Stop fooling around!] he typed with a scowl.

At this rare for Lian Jun exclamation mark, Shi Jin touched his nose, his conscience pricking a little. “Don’t be angry, I didn’t expect there would be a snake on the tree… Besides, isn’t Fifth Brother a doctor? I was never in any danger, you don’t need to worry.”

Hearing this, Lian Jun became even angrier and called him directly. Shi Jin hurriedly answered the phone and began appeasing his irate lover, murmuring apologies and assurances.

Li Jiuzheng stood some distance behind Shi Jin, his tense body relaxing as he listened to the youth’s slightly coy muttering on the phone. He glanced at his hands with most of the blood wiped off, and sat down on the ground as if his legs suddenly lost strength.

Did he protect Shi Jin?

It was good… It was good he didn’t scare him.

In the end, Shi Jin really took the dead snake back and boasted about Li Jiuzheng’s glorious achievement to anyone he saw. As it turned out, Lian Jun couldn’t eat snake meat, so Shi Jin gathered some firewood and made a small fire in an open space between two of the villas. He skinned and dressed the carcass, seasoned the meat, put it on skewers, and roasted it over the fire.

“It smells really good.” The aroma of roast meat was so enticing that Shi Jin’s mouth watered. “It will definitely be delicious. Thanks to Fifth Brother, we have such delicious fresh meat to eat today.”

Nothing showed on Li Jiuzheng’s face, but he felt embarrassed being praised so much. “If you like it, you can eat as much as you want, Xiao Jin.”

“No, let’s share it half and half. You’ve never eaten snake meat, right? You should have enough to decide if you like it… Oh, why don’t we try catching some hares tomorrow? Hare meat is also delicious,” Shi Jin suggested eagerly, throwing his arm around Li Jiuzheng’s shoulders. He wanted to make his brother used to physical contact with people.

Li Jiuzheng looked at his face that was close to his own and nodded, the corners of his mouth tugging up a little.

Seeing him smile, Shi Jin smiled too. This was how life went on—after there was enough happiness in your world, the pain slowly faded away, and time was the best medicine.