But later, seeing that the owner showed no signs of coming back, the two gradually relaxed. They no longer kept watch at night but instead slept on the big bed in the master bedroom.

Lin Xingshi often held Little Nian Beast while sleeping, saying he was soft like a pillow.

She felt that holding him made her sleep much better.

One day after waking up from the big bed, Lin Xingshi hazily said she dreamed of holding a purple-red little lion while sleeping, whose head was burning with fire, setting the entire bed and apartment building aflame!

Little Nian Beast was startled upon hearing this.

Since that day, he no longer dared to be held by her to sleep. He was afraid that he might accidentally transform into a Nian Beast in his dreams and accidentally let the eternal flame on his head burn Lin Xingshi into a charred figure.

Later, Lin Xingshi also taught Little Nian Beast how to write.

In her eyes, Little Nian Beast seemed to be a genuine genius. He only needed to look at the dictionary once to memorize the structure and strokes of the characters perfectly, truly befitting the phrase "eidetic memory." Lin Xingshi always gazed at him with eyes filled with wonder, as if she had found a rare treasure.

However, Little Nian Beast was not yet proficient with using a pen. Sometimes he would hold a pencil in his mouth, drooping his head to write each stroke, saying it was more convenient that way.

Whenever this happened, Lin Xingshi would be amused to the point of giggling and rolling on the floor. Even later, when Little Nian Beast broke several pencils with his mouth, Lin Xingshi, both angry and amused, would point at his nose and say, "Are your teeth made of iron, you dummy!"

Every time she scolded him, Little Nian Beast would pout and take the pencil out of his mouth.

Gradually, he kicked the habit of holding pencils in his mouth and started using his right hand to hold the pen. It was awkward at first, but he slowly got used to it.

And since learning to write, Little Nian Beast would pick up a pencil every morning to write on the calendar in the apartment building.

The text he wrote each time was, "This is the XX day of Little Nian Beast and Lin Xingshi in Li Jing."

Every time a page was torn off the calendar, he would write a new line, never missing a day. Little Nian Beast was always the first to wake up, so every morning, Lin Xingshi would see a line of text hanging on the calendar.

The cicadas of summer, the barking dogs in deep alleys, and the steadily rotating electric fan. In the daily routine, the numbers on the calendar quietly changed. They spent more and more time together and became increasingly familiar with each other, like family.

Like two young beasts in the crevices of the world, licking each other's wounds and keeping warm together.

Lin Xingshi and Little Nian Beast sleep together daily, bathe together, "stock up" at the supermarket together, and practice writing, using school textbooks taken from the bookstore.

Sometimes they would sneak into the nearby elementary school, climb over the school wall, and hide outside the classroom window to eavesdrop on classes.

In the classroom, students occasionally rested their chins on their hands and stared out the window in a daze.

At such times, Lin Xingshi and Little Nian Beast would suddenly poke their heads out and make faces to scare the student, causing them to be punished by the homeroom teacher before running away hand in hand, laughing.

And so their days went by, and unbeknownst to them, four months had quietly passed, and summer was nearing its end.

At this moment, on the couch, Little Nian Beast was eating some snacks while watching the cartoon "Black Jack." After stuffing everything from the shopping bags into the fridge, Lin Xingshi sat down on the couch, hugging her knees and barefoot.

Little Nian Beast was wearing a jumpsuit that Lin Xingshi wore when she first ran away from home, but now it fit Little Nian Beast.

Lin Xingshi herself wore a loose T-shirt and shorts, showing her fair little legs. She hadn't cut her hair in a while and it now reached past her shoulders. This was the longest her hair had ever been in her life.

Every morning after waking up, she would admire herself in the mirror for quite a while, then absentmindedly curl her lips. Over time, her mood became increasingly good.

But that day, Lin Xingshi unexpectedly felt dejected, sitting there hugging her knees with her head down.

Outside the window, rain was drizzling down, and the gloomy rain clouds covered the whole sky, reminiscent of when they first came to Li Jing. The living room was quiet, with only the sounds of the TV and the rain.

After a while, Little Nian Beast suddenly turned his head to look at Lin Xingshi, seeing the girl burying her head in her knees, having not spoken for a long time.

"Lin Xingshi," he said. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Lin Xingshi remained silent for a while, turned her face away, and ignored him.

"Lin Xingshi, what's wrong?"

Little Nian Beast stared at her without moving, speaking the name once more.

Because Lin Xingshi didn't like her original name, saying it was too boyish, sounding wild and rugged, they privately chose a homophonic name, "Lin Xingshi." This name was known only to them, and only he could call her that.

Initially, Little Nian Beast didn't understand the difference between "Lin Xingshi" and "Lin Xingshi." He always thought the pronunciation was pretty much the same. However, as he learned more about Chinese characters, he slowly realized the difference and started using this name every day.