In short, after this match that made Mr. Bennett laugh nonstop, our Sarah MM began learning kung fu at the The Bennett Family martial arts school and started seeing James Parker as her enemy. Whenever James Parker was around, she always made him her target. This area was the territory of the Shazhu Gang, and the The Lane Family wasn’t far from the Bennett Martial Arts School, so after Sarah and Lily became close friends, the morning exercise group became three people. When they reached the grassy slope on the outskirts of town, Sarah and Lily would practice together, while James Parker would, as usual, space out or nap on the side. However, whenever they ran into the steamed bun vendor in the morning, it was James Parker who had to pay.

After school started, Sarah Lane naturally continued practicing at the Bennett Martial Arts School, while James Parker was quick to drop the daily set of forms. He wasn’t interested, and the The Bennett Couple didn’t want to force him. Still, every evening when the The Lane Family MM was there, he couldn’t escape being called up for a good beating. According to Lane MM, this was pre-dinner exercise to work up an appetite.

Outside the Bennett Martial Arts School, Lane MM was still the poster child for bad students, her reputation notorious, while Lily continued to excel, occasionally entering various competitions and easily winning prizes. James Parker’s grades hovered steadily in the sixties and seventies; when he had nothing to do, he liked to daydream or read all sorts of random books, making him a barely noticeable presence at school. His relationships with classmates weren’t distant, but not close either. Other than spending every day with Lily, if anyone remembered him, it was probably because of the girl who always stood in front of him in everything.

At the end of the third lunar month, James Parker celebrated his eleventh birthday. He didn’t really feel anything about it, but when Lily used her saved-up money to buy him a radio, he finally realized it. The always-bullying Lane MM gave him a baseball bat—expensive, but perfectly showing off her fierce personality. Neither of the girls actually played baseball; in Lane MM’s mind, the bat was probably just for fighting.

And so the days passed by in a leisurely way. Lily seemed carefree, but was actually very clingy, used to taking care of James Parker as an “older sister” both at home and at school. But to others, it just looked like James Parker was Lily’s little tagalong. Of course, sometimes they’d have a cold war over small things. For example, once Lily got into an argument at school and was called a “tomboy who’ll never get married.” Just then, Lane MM happened to pass by and gave that person a good beating. If she hadn’t, it might have been better; after the fight, little Lily actually felt worse, and spent a long time sulking on the grassy slope outside town that evening. James Parker stayed by her side, watching the sunset.

“So what if I’m a tomboy? So what if I like to fight? They don’t even turn in their homework and still talk about others. Tomorrow I’m definitely telling the teacher…”

She muttered for a long time, eyes red. James Parker just listened quietly, occasionally chiming in, “How about I help you beat him up tomorrow?”

Lily burst out laughing through her tears: “James Parker, you don’t even know how to fight. If anyone’s going to do it, Sha Sha already did it for me.”

“Yeah, someone like Sha Sha is a real tomboy. Scary.”

“Sha Sha is, and so am I,” Lily said dejectedly. “When I was little in the countryside, people always said I was like a boy and that no one would want me when I grew up… Hmph, I hate it when people say that about me.”

James Parker thought to himself, so it’s a childhood shadow. But even though gentle, delicate girls were still popular in this era, with Lily’s looks, there’s no way she deserved the label “tomboy.” Most likely, those guys’ next line would be: “…so just marry her off to my family’s XXX.” Thinking of this, he smiled to himself and casually comforted her, “Actually, Lily, you’re great. If no one wants you, I’ll marry you.”

That was an adult’s joke. Lily blushed and lowered her head. James Parker thought she’d be touched and would give him her first kiss, but instead, she turned and gave him a not-too-hard, not-too-soft slap. It didn’t hurt, but it was loud and embarrassing.

“I’m your sister! How can you say that! I’m not talking to you anymore!”

She shouted this out in a clear voice, then turned and ran off, leaving James Parker standing there with a wry smile.

For the next two days, Lily really didn’t talk to him.

Training started at three in the morning every day. When Lily didn’t come to wake him up, he was happy to have some peace and sleep a bit longer. He didn’t know that the little girl was waiting for him on the grassy slope every morning, hoping to give him a chance to apologize, but he was just being lazy at home. In class that day, Lily sat upright and ignored James Parker, who just stared out the window in a daze. In the evening, the two of them went back to the martial arts school one after the other. Lily went in first and slammed the door, refusing to let James Parker in out of spite. James Parker knocked twice, and Lily stood by the door thinking, “If you say sorry, I’ll open the door.” But after waiting a while, there was no more knocking. When she opened the door to look, the little boy had already disappeared into the dusk with his backpack.