Kai Xin fiddled with her paintbrush, unwilling to give up.

"Do we really have to keep painting flowers? Can't we paint something else? I'm seriously about to throw up from painting flowers."

Although she was an art teacher, throughout the entire semester Jiayan had done nothing but ask her students to paint flowers. Kai Xin had never met such a willful teacher.

"A lazy little thing who has painted for so long without making the slightest improvement has no right to make demands."

Jiayan drew back the curtains and looked down at the vibrant flower fields below. An idea suddenly occurred to her.

"The weather is pretty nice today. We could change the scenery. Let's go downstairs and paint from life."

Their protests were useless.

They moved from the art studio to the garden.

The moment Kai Xin spotted a certain figure, she perked up and eagerly began painting.

In the flower fields, where different varieties of flowers were cultivated, the gardeners worked in clearly assigned roles, going about their tasks in an orderly fashion.

Kai Xin was painting a sunflower.

Her wild, uninhibited style caught Jiayan's attention. Jiayan bit her lip and studied it for a while before finally finding something to say.

"Little Kai Xin, I think you have a real talent for creepy art. I feel like there are a bunch of eyes on that sunflower's face, all staring at me."

Kai Xin replied with a perfectly serious expression,

"Teacher, I think you have a real talent for telling jokes too."

"So, what are you going to name this painting?"

That required almost no thought.

Kai Xin had decided on the name before she had even started painting.

"This painting is called My Sunflower Dad."

Jiayan gave an impartial assessment.

"I think your dad is going to be very touched."

Kai Xin carefully added the final stroke, then picked up her painting and headed toward the flower field.

"I'm going to show it to him now."

As she walked, she continued complaining,

"He's a grown man already. He'd better not cry and embarrass me."

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

Ci'an was painting a flower.

A red background covered the entire sheet of paper, while black lines sprang vividly to life across it.

Jiayan stood behind the child, studying the gloomy, oppressive painting thoughtfully.

"Is the red background supposed to be the sky? Why are the flowers growing downward? The perspective in this painting is very unusual. It's almost as though they're rooted in the soil and looking upward..."

"Miss, can you tell me what you've drawn?"

Ci'an didn't look away from her painting.

"Earthworms."

"The black are the earthworms. What does the red represent?"

"Hell."

"The earthworms are in hell. Will they escape from hell someday?"

"Eat."

Jiayan fell silent for a moment.

Then she smiled and praised her.

"Miss, your painting certainly has a very unique meaning. It seems the decision to have me teach you was absolutely correct."

"Oh, right."

She bent down and looked at the girl's quiet, harmless face from the side.

Then she whispered into her ear,

"On behalf of the Old Madam, I send you her regards, Miss Ci'an."

Ci'an stopped moving.

The paintbrush fell from her hand.

She lowered her head and stared at the paintbrush lying on the ground, her eyes slowly widening.

A hand picked up the brush and held it out to her.

Ci'an slapped it away violently, as though she had seen the physical manifestation of something terrifying.

Even though the slap had hurt the back of Kai Xin's hand, she wasn't angry.

She stepped in front of her friend and confronted the other woman.

"You were bullying Ci'an again, weren't you? You evil, black-hearted woman! People who bully children never have a good ending. Don't think you can hurt her just because she looks easy to bully!"

Jiayan straightened up, wearing an expression of complete innocence.

"Little Kai Xin, I wasn't bullying Miss Ci'an. I was merely passing along a greeting on someone's behalf. Don't accuse me unfairly."

"If it wasn't you, then who was it? You're the only one here! I saw everything!"

"Sometimes, what you see isn't necessarily the truth."

Jiayan looked past her and tilted her head with a smile.

"Don't you agree, Miss Ci'an?"

Ci'an looked at the palm of the hand she had slapped red.

Her expression was blank, but she still remembered that when you did something wrong, you had to apologize.

"I'm sorry."

Kai Xin put both hands on her hips, her expression suddenly taking on a boastful pride.

"What's the big deal? It doesn't hurt at all! Ci'an, I told you ages ago that I'm made of iron. Now you finally believe me, right?"

Pfft.

Kai Xin immediately turned around.

Teacher Jiayan was standing there with a straight face, as though she hadn't been the one who had just laughed.

Adults are so annoying.

Of course, Dad was excluded.

And so was Madam.

Kai Xin secretly added that last part in her mind.

The art lesson ended without going anywhere.

Kai Xin somehow produced two little shovels and took Ci'an to dig in the soil.

"Dad gave me two sunflower seedlings. Ci'an, let's plant them together."

She handed one seedling to her best friend, then made a grand gesture.

"Look. One for each of us. One is you, and one is me. Best friends, shoulder to shoulder. Even when we grow up, we won't be separated."

Ci'an held the little seedling in both hands.

Her eyes were focused and serious as she stared at it for a long time.

The tiny seedling faced the light of day, casting a long black shadow across the ground.

Inside the hole where the seedling would soon be buried, an earthworm was sliced in half by the iron shovel.

Its two severed halves writhed and jumped.

In the blink of an eye, the upper half wriggled skillfully into the depths of the soil.

Ci'an and Kai Xin finished burying their little flowers and returned to their paintings.

The sun climbed higher.

The temperature grew hotter and more oppressive.

Auntie Yu prepared fruit and drinks and personally brought the two little mud-covered children inside, washing the dirt from them.

A maid carried the paintings and art supplies back to the room.

When she saw one of the paintings, she let out a terrified scream and stumbled backward, falling to the floor.

Another maid was equally horrified.

"Th-that... is that a... bug?"

"A monster!"

"That child is a complete monster!"

"Stop! They'll hear you..."

"What normal child would pin half the corpse of an earthworm onto a painting?! That child definitely isn't normal... Even those missing gold—"

"What happened?"

Jiayan helped the maid to her feet, her face displaying just the right amount of concern.

"You both look rather pale. If you're feeling unwell, you should probably rest."

"Miss Ji-Jiayan! Miss Ci'an's..."

Jiayan's gaze moved to the painting.

She covered her mouth in surprise.

"Ah. She got something dirty on it. What should we do... You found it."

Her expression looked troubled, as though she were struggling with what to do.

But the smile hidden beneath her fingers was impossible to conceal.

The pupils of the two maids contracted.

Their faces instantly drained of color.

Inside the villa, separated from the outside world by thick walls, Ci'an seemed to sense something.

She suddenly turned her head and looked behind her.

There was nothing there.

"What's wrong, Ci'an?"

Kai Xin stopped and asked.

Ci'an withdrew her gaze.

For no apparent reason, she called out,

"Mom."

Kai Xin took Ci'an's cold little hand and comforted her.

"Good girl, Ci'an. Madam went out to work early this morning. She won't be back until tonight. Until then, Kai Xin will stay with you."

She was only a child.

Naturally, she blamed herself for frightening her best friend because of her own carelessness.

All she could do was imitate the adults and try to give Ci'an strength, so she wouldn't be afraid.

Sometimes, she really wished she could grow up overnight.

Then she would have the strength to protect other people instead of standing helplessly while her best friend was bullied.

She slowly tightened her grip.

Her expression was no longer as brash and domineering as usual.

Instead, it became gentle.

"Don't be afraid, Ci'an. Kai Xin's here."

She spoke softly.

Thinking of the person she admired most, a smile unconsciously appeared on her face.

─── ⋆⋅ ♰ ⋅⋆ ───

There was nothing to do that afternoon.

The two girls went looking for Teacher Jiayan to play a game of tag, but Auntie Yu told them that the teacher had already left.

Kai Xin folded her arms, frustrated that her plan had fallen through.

"How sneaky! Now I can't jump out from a corner and scare her half to death. Just wait and see! I'll get her next time!"

Her revenge plan had died before it even began.

Yet unexpectedly, it found a little admirer among the guests who came to visit that afternoon.

The adults sat in the living room chatting, while the children naturally gathered in the courtyard.

Under the leadership of their self-appointed little boss, Kai Xin, they scattered in all directions, searching for secluded hiding places.

Ci'an was assigned to the hiding team.

The person hiding with her inside an enclosed, box-shaped space was a little boy.

The boy lowered his voice and asked her,

"If I pinch you, will it hurt?"

"Will you cry?"