"Hehehe, come catch me."

In the garden came the laughter and cheers of children, these young beings chasing and playing among the waist-high weeds, carrying sunlight and laughter, adding vitality to this gray world.

"Sister Xiaotang, help block him for me!"

The girl with a flower hairpin ran behind Tang Xin, making faces at the boy chasing her.

"Alice, you do this every time, it's not fun at all. You just use Sister Xiaotang as a shield."

The boy's innocent face flushed red, too shy to approach the calm and serene young lady, forced to stand there staring blankly from a distance, occasionally sneaking a peek at her face.

"Nya-nya-nya, you can't catch me."

Tang Xin looked somewhat helplessly at the little girl behind her.

"Alright, Little Alice, stop playing."

"No, no, I love Sister Xiaotang the most."

Alice hugged Tang Xin's waist tightly, burying her small face in the white dress, refusing to let go no matter what.

"Okay, now, it's my turn to catch you!"

The sound of children playing gradually faded away, Tang Xin watched all of this, standing still, her gaze becoming tranquil.

At this moment, a slight tickling sensation came to her ear; someone was blowing gently near her ear. Tang Xin looked somewhat flustered at the suddenly appearing blonde girl beside her, the latter smiling warmly, as if the previous act was just a little joke.

"Miss Themia..."

"These kids really like you," Xu Xiaoyou said.

"Hmm..."

That familiar feeling appeared again, when alone with the blonde girl, her heart would unconsciously start to beat faster, her thoughts slightly unsettled. Was it because the other was similar to someone she knew well?

This feeling, Tang Xin felt some repulsion from the heart.

"Please don't joke like that anymore, Miss Themia." After considering, Tang Xin seriously said to Xu Xiaoyou.

Xu Xiaoyou didn't expect the girl to react this way; it's been a long time since she'd seen her. She just wanted to tease her.

Only now could she observe Tang Xin's changes closely; her hair was now longer, her eye color seemed deeper, even with sleeved gloves on, the severely burned and damaged skin on her forearm was faintly visible.

"Sorry," Xu Xiaoyou said.

Tang Xin shook her head, not saying anything more.

The two quietly spent time alone together, as if they had agreed not to break the silence. Until a distant argument caught their attention.

Going together, they saw under the half-human tall weeds, several small figures were surrounded by a little girl discussing something.

The girl wore an ill-fitting white dress; if she had color, her hair would surely be sky blue, the supposed beautiful iris purple pupils were dim and lustreless, she held an ochre, carefully rubbing and smearing it on the sketchpad on her knee.

"No, no, this flower should be pink."

A small girl in the audience spoke up.

"It's not pink, it's definitely purple. Look closely, it's different from pink, the purple in the book is a bit darker!"

Another little girl retorted.

"I think it's a blue flower, blue irises are the prettiest!"

The boy said, holding up a finger.

"Let me tell you, blue irises are so beautiful, just like Sister Xiaotang!"

"You say it like you've really seen them in blue, Jike just likes to boast!"

The boy was immediately rendered speechless, stammering and unable to respond.

In front of them, an iris grew among the lush wild grass, its delicate petals gently swaying in the breeze, evoking sympathy.

Sitting on the grass, the girl ignored the discussion around her, focusing intently on holding the irregular stone in her hand, meticulously outlining the shape of the petals, using this simplest of tools to create a vibrant drawing.

"I've told you, Savina, you've painted the wrong color, irises aren't red!"

A small girl couldn't stand it anymore, snatched the painting from her hand, took away the ochre from the small figure's hand.

"That's... mine."

Called Savina, her strength was no match for the older children, she fell forward onto the grass, murmuring lightly, watching the children who took her creation tools run away.

She made no attempt to argue or cry, the girl just quietly stood up, looked at her small hand cut by the serrated edge of the grass, dazedly standing in place.

"Savina." Tang Xin walked up to the girl, softly calling her name.

Savina lifted her head, upon seeing the familiar figure, she said nothing and moved forward to hug Tang Xin's waist, burying her whole face in Tang Xin's dress, saying nothing.

"Are they still bullying you?" Tang Xin asked.

Savina didn't reply, just kept a stern face, tightly gripping Tang Xin's dress, small yet stubborn.

"Sevia Sister." Savina's voice was very light.

"What is it, Little Savina?"

Savina opened her mouth then chose to close it, through the gap in the white dress, she quietly observed Xu Xiaoyou standing next to Tang Xin.

"Who's she?"

"Ah, don't you know her?"

Savina shook her head sternly, looking at Xu Xiaoyou with increased vigilance.

Tang Xin thought, perhaps it was because she was ostracized by those kids, she hadn't gone to class these days, shrinking into a little world of her own.

Tang Xin squatted down, looking seriously at Savina in front of her, gently parting her bangs, saying, "Have you not been going to class these days?"

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