I am human.

Mu Qingxi walked ahead, pondering how best to say what needed to be said next. As the two appeared behind her, she heard their voices.

Bai Fanhao gestured animatedly, saying, “Xi Haifei, why do you always have to meddle?”

Xi Haifei, expressionless as ever, replied, “Fanhao, this time you’re the one interfering.”

Bai Fanhao stared at him intently, “Xi Haifei, can you just not compete with me this time?”

But Xi Haifei ignored him, “Fanhao, I’ve honestly never competed with you. Never, not once.”

Listening to their conversation, Mu Qingxi felt a surge of frustration. The two brothers—even when chasing after a girl, they had to discuss it together. She had no choice but to turn around and interrupt, “Stop arguing, both of you. Come sit down. I’d like to have a proper talk.”

They exchanged a glance but offered no objection, and sat down.

Mu Qingxi asked quietly, “Xi Haifei, Bai Fanhao, do you really like me?”

“Mumu, I truly like you. You’re the first girl I’ve ever liked,” Xi Haifei responded earnestly.

“And you, Bai Fanhao?” She looked at him.

Bai Fanhao thought for a moment before answering, “I’m not sure. I just want to be close to you, but I don’t know how. Honestly, hearing about your past heroic deeds made me doubt it, so I’m curious what kind of person you really are.”

Mu Qingxi listened silently as they each took turns speaking, saying so much that it surprised her. In such a brief time, they had so many opinions about her.

They weren’t wrong: she was both a good girl and not a good girl. She didn’t smoke or fight, but everything else—skipping class, sneaking out of school, climbing over the school wall, arguing with teachers—she’d done it all. She was, in truth, a problem student.

After a long pause, Bai Fanhao said, “Mu Qingxi, I can’t pinpoint what’s good about you, but I just think you’re good. Who says you can’t like someone who isn’t perfect?”

Xi Haifei added, “There’s no need for so many reasons. Like means like, don’t like means don’t like.”

Their words etched themselves into Mu Qingxi’s mind, leaving a mark deep in her heart. Lost in thought, she barely heard them anymore, drifting into her own reflections.

Suddenly, Bai Fanhao stood up, jolting her back to reality. She heard him say to Xi Haifei, “Xi Haifei, let’s rely on our own abilities. Whoever wins Mu Qingxi, she’ll be his girlfriend.”

“Alright,” Xi Haifei agreed immediately.

Hearing this, Mu Qingxi was instantly furious. “Gentlemen, I am a person, not a prize. Stop your contest—I don’t like either of you, truly. I see you as friends, and if you see me as a friend, then let’s do just that. Girls like me aren’t worth fighting over.”

“Mumu, I really like you,” Xi Haifei said, his voice full of feeling.

“So do I,” Bai Fanhao admitted, refusing to be left behind.

She looked at them and said, “You’ve already ended up like this over Wang Feiyan. Now you’re stuck in between, neither fully friends nor fully rivals—is this what you wanted? Don’t drag me into it. Besides, I already have someone I like.”

Mu Qingxi didn’t know how to talk to them. They were friends, brothers even—was it really worth it to fight over a girl? Especially one who was nothing special: Wang Feiyan, vain and fickle, was she worth it? As for herself, cold and unfeeling, heart hard as iron—was she worth it?

She thought not.

Mu Qingxi gazed at the plane trees, now almost stripped of their leaves, feeling a desolation she could not name. She looked up at the branches, hoping a leaf would fall just in time for her to catch it, so she might understand the sadness of the plane tree.

Perhaps they weren’t sad at all—it was only her imagination.

Just like the chill of the wind, her sorrow—did he know? Did he still remember someone like her?