This adolescent’s name was Pan Gu. He was a freshman studying at the A City School of Economics and Management.

　　The residence rented by Pan Gu’s parents is located in the southwest corner of a middle-class neighborhood. A fence runs along the side of the building with a small iron gate that is guarded by a security team. Although the gate is modest in size, the presence of security personnel ensures safety. Pan Gu frequently uses this gate to enter and exit the premise when commuting to and from school. His school is just a short 15-minute walk away.

　　In fact, withdrawing from the residence and renting a house was not Pan Gu’s original intention. The decision was ultimately based on two basic motives.

　　Firstly, there was someone who encouraged him. That person was Yan Yu, also known as “Yan.” She was two years older than Pan Gu and had been admitted two years earlier into the neighboring School of Foreign Languages.

　　When Yan Yu was six years old, her family underwent a sudden change and she had to live with her grandmother. Pan Gu, the boy next door, became the only hopeful in her gloomy childhood. They spent time together and despite being two years his senior and more mature, Yan Yu had little trouble having Pan Gu obey her every command. This sense of responsibility persisted, accompanying him to university.

　　One day, in his third year of studies at the School of Foreign Languages, Yan Yu visited Pan Gu. With dark circles under her eyes and a sunken spirit, she said, “Pan, I just can’t take it anymore. I’ve been putting up with them for two years…”

　　She told Pan Gu about the exclusion and mutual suspicion among female students in her dormitory, which kept her awake all night.

　　“Are you considering dropping out?” Pan Gu was quite shocked. He understood very well how Yan Yu usually behaved and reached the worst possible conclusion.

　　“ Why would you say that? Of course not. Pan, could you try to ask your parents to rent a two-bedroom apartment? And could I live in the smaller one?”

　　“You mean, I have to come out and live with you too? My parents won’t agree to that,” Pan Gu shook his head firmly.

　　“Do you have the heart to watch me suffer like this? I won’t even consider it unless there are no other options. Pan, please save me!” Yan Yu spoke while twirling her bangs absentmindedly. This seemingly casual gesture carried more weight than any plead. Pan Gu understood: he had no choice but to help.

　　“Okay, I’ll figure something out.”

　　“Good! You absolutely cannot tell your mother the true reason behind renting a two-bedroom apartment. Your mum has never liked me; you feel that too, right?”

　　“Um, but I don't know the reason!” Pan Gu replied.

　　“Maybe, just maybe, it’s because of the bad first impression your family has of me. That’s why there’s prejudice against me. Pan, could you think of something, please?” She pleaded while feigning helplessness.

　　“Don’t worry !”

　　Meanwhile, Pan Gu’s increasingly affluent family financial situation provided strong material support. Pan Gu’s mother had unknowingly hit a financial jackpot, winning big prizes twice in the lottery. With happiness came tolerance and understanding. Therefore, when she heard that her son was considering moving out of the dormitory to rent a place, she did not object. Without hesitation, she contacted a real estate agent.

　　A few days later, Yan Yu moved all her belongings from the dormitory to the Green Garden Community. She decorated the spacious room that Pan Gu had given her with a cozy and elegant touch, incorporating feminine elements with curtains, bed sheets, and decorations all highlighting her style.

　　That was the forbidden territory in Pan Gu’s mind. Unless Yan Yu was present and invited him in, he would never set foot inside.

　　But today was an exception.

　　The act of “rescuing” Hanlu Ling during the day had given him a sense of tranquility as he snuck into Yan Yu’s bedroom alone. He hadn’t laughed heartily since someday in early March. But at this moment, standing in Yan Yan’s personal space, a smile resurfaced on Pan Gu’s lips.

　　The cross-stitch frame featured a pattern of Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. The sexy and stubborn blonde woman was revered by Yan Yu, much like Second Lord Guan in the Police Station and the God of Wealth in the world of business cases.

　　The white base with a light grey pattern curtains remained as they were before Yan Yu’s most recent departure from the bedroom. The gap was just right, large enough to see outside, yet small enough to prevent people from the opposite building from peeking in.

　　“Yan, do you really lack a sense of security like this?” Pan Gu’s fingertips brushed over the curtain and landed on the makeshift bookshelf. The three-shelf bookcase was filled with mostly English novels, more than half of which were covered in dust. Some of them were hardcover editions with thick bindings, which Yan Yu had bought almost as a joke, saying, “I don’t think I’ll ever finish reading these in my lifetime. I’ll just let them sit here, and if I need a weapon, I can throw them at someone or kill myself !”

　　At the time, Pan Gu merely responded with a smile, not really taking Yan Yu’s joke seriously. Her humor was always sharp and dark, darker than the storage room where they used to hide together during their childhood.

　　"That happened in B County, Pan Gu’s hometown.

　　Yan Yu’s grandmother had personally built a small house and used it to store miscellaneous items. It was considered a violation of building regulations, but fortunately, the neighborhood was secluded, and the community management was loose, so the matter was left unresolved.

　　One day, when Yan Yu was ten and Pan Gu was eight, they entered the shed unnoticed and even took the door with them. Yan Yu told Pan Gu that this was their secret safe house and must not be revealed to anyone else."

　　She taught him to look outside through the gaps in the blackout curtains, saying that the world seen in this way has a unique beauty. Pan Gu tried it but shook his head. Yan Yu laughed and said, “You’re still young.”

　　One day, Yan Yu sneaked into the storage room alone. This time, she didn’t admire the beauty outside through the gaps. Instead, she curled up in a corner, covering her mouth as she cried. When he found her, her tear-stained face resembled the face of a calico cat. Her pants were loosely wrapped around her legs, and two buttons of her shirt were ripped off.

　　“The day before yesterday, I went to my uncle’s to get his signature and saw your mom in his room. When she saw me, she quickly left. Today, my uncle called me over and punished me, saying that I shouldn’t be there so late.”

　　Pan Gu shook his head, indicating that he didn’t understand.

　　“He pulled down my pants and took off his own.”

　　“Did he spank you?” he asked.

　　“No.”

　　“Are you sure? There’s blood on your pants. Look, see?” He pointed to the bloodstain on her pants.

　　“I’m only telling you, Please don’t tell anyone, okay?” She begged.

　　“Can’t even tell my mom? She’s good friends with your uncle. Let her talk to him so he won’t hit you again. Can’t that work?”

　　“No! Please！ Just do what I say !” Her tone carries a plea and fear.

　　“If you don’t listen to me, I’ll really regret rescuing you that day!!” She continued to say.

　　Yan Yu looked into Pan Gu’s innocent eyes. The clear scar on her forehead made the eight-year-old boy recall the incident that occurred by the river a month ago, causing a chill to run down his spine. If it weren’t for Yan Yu’s bravery in saving him, he might have become a floating corpse, drifting off in an unknown direction.

　　Pan Gu lightly touched the scar on Yan Yu’s forehead. He would never forget that it was caused by her falling onto a large rock while trying to rescue him. He pouted and blew towards the brown indentation, left from the impact, on her skin.

　　“Pan, it’s okay now! But promise me, from now on, you must listen to me, okay?”

　　“I will listen to you!”

　　Pan Gu kept his word. He carried the promise into the two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment near the University of Economics and Management.

　　Pan Gu returned to his own room. Today, it’s time to open the soft-cover notebook in the drawer!

　　The notebook, with a blue softcover, is printed with the headshot of a popular star who caught fire 10 years ago. It is no longer available on the market.

　　Inside, more than half of the pages were already written with ink. The first few pages had neat and childish handwriting. As he flipped through the pages, the writing became more skilled and lively. However, the emotions of the writer were vividly expressed within the words and lines, despite being forcefully suppressed.

　　Pan Gu opened the cover and quickly located the desired page by skillfully flipping through the pages. By his side was a box of 12 colored pens, from which he picked one and started drawing.

　　Lying on his back or his side, unable to sleep, Pan Gu and started browsing on his phone.

　　It had been a while since Yan Yu had updated her WeChat moments. She enjoyed taking photos, but not the kind that relied on beauty filters. She had told Pan Gu that relying on superficial and illusory beauty to flirt with the world was shallow. She never expected to get something because of her beauty.

　　On March 9th, at the sculpture group inside the Foreign Language College, along Wutong Avenue, next to the library building.

　　On March 8th, at the steakhouse with a red roof, next to a nail salon. Apart from photos, there were several document screenshots totaling about four thousand words, which were Yan Yu’s latest original novel serial content.

　　In fact, Her Weichat Moments she had very few visitors. It was not even enough to form a decent circle. Therefore, she could write her novels without worrying about structure and enjoy the process.

　　Glancing over the content, Pan Gu noticed that all the names of people were written in capital letters using English alphabets, such as Mr. A, Ms. B, and so on. The style roughly resembled a conversation, but many parts of it were vague and unclear. It wasn’t the kind that Pan Gu could persist in reading.

　　On March 7th, in the ground floor hall of the shopping center, next to a bakery and a clothing store changing room, a screenshot of a two-thousand-word novel was updated.

　　On March 5th, in the open space in front of the community center building, a screenshot of a three-thousand-word novel was updated.

　　On February 28th, the early blooming cherry blossoms in the neighborhood, a slightly faded red lantern hanging on a tree branch, and a child riding a bicycle by the fountain. The first chapter of the novel was released.

　　On February 14th, raindrops on the window glass, takeout boxes from the cake shop, a wine bottle on a round coffee table, and a hand-drawn portrait with a vague and dim background color.

　　As Pan Gu read to this point, he remembered that Yu Yan had not returned to her grandmother’s home for the first time this year. She stayed alone in City A for the Lunar New Year. On the early morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, he received a WeChat red envelope from Yan, with a message attached: “For Pan, my forever good boy!”

　　The girl he had known since he was four years old had given him countless cute and adorable nicknames over the past ten years. However, the one he saw when he first met her with bleary eyes felt different from those she had given him before. Nonetheless, he thought that stepping out of the ordinary was Yan Yu’s style, so he didn’t pay much attention to it.

　　Pan Gu had been scrolling through her Moments feed, and before he knew it, it was already late at night. He felt the drowsiness coming on, and his eyelids gradually began to feel heavy. Just as his phone was about to fall from his hand, his fingertip landed on a full-screen image.

　　The picture was taken on a certain day in January. At the center of the picture hung a small rectangular bronze plaque on a white wall, on which was written in green Chinese characters the words, “Mind Oxygen Bar.”