8. Passers-by of Childhood

The arrival of the girl with white hair instantly attracted the attention of everyone and became the center of attention in the class.

That head of white hair was simply too eye-catching.

"Xiao Chen, her hair is so pretty, just like the snowflakes in winter," Shen Qinghan said, whispering into Lin Zichen's ear.

Lin Zichen had no time to care whether the white-haired girl's hair looked good or not.

At that moment, his thoughts were entirely focused on the faint non-human aura emanating from her.

Why would there be an aura that did not belong to humans?

Could she be a Genetic Integrator?

Or... is she the descendant of a Genetic Integrator?

Lin Zichen's mind was filled with a thousand thoughts.

Over the following days, he kept an eye on the white-haired girl.

The white-haired girl was named Bai Xue.

The name was quite common, but it matched her white hair well.

Several days had passed since she transferred to the school, and she had never taken the initiative to interact with anyone.

As soon as class was over, she would lay her head on the desk and not move an inch.

She rarely even went to the restroom.

At first, everyone was curious about her.

But as time passed, their interest in her gradually waned.

The classroom returned to its usual tranquility.

Except for one corner where there was an apparently autistic white-haired girl, everything else was the same as before.

Until after more than a month.

The calm in the classroom was finally broken.

The white-haired girl in the corner often emitted an unpleasant smell.

It wasn't pungent, but it was uncomfortable to smell up close.

Lin Zichen made a point to observe her and found that the smell came from a white substance secreted by her skin.

It wasn't clear exactly what the substance was. Although it looked clean in color, it smelled bad.

Because of the odor, the white-haired girl became unwelcome.

She started to be excluded and ridiculed by her classmates.

In the face of this exclusion and ridicule, the white-haired girl remained indifferent from beginning to end, as usual, laying her head on the desk to sleep once class was over.

Lin Zichen saw all this and was surprised at how much the white-haired girl could endure. He considered her to be a dangerous person and was full of caution.

Until one day.

A mischievous boy deliberately spilled water on the white-haired girl's desk to prevent her from laying her head down to sleep after class.

The girl who had always been expressionless suddenly couldn't hold back her tears.

They streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She cried until her eyes were swollen.

Lin Zichen was stunned. The dangerous person he had always considered her to be actually cried?

Shen Qinghan couldn't stand watching any longer, remembering how she had been excluded by her classmates when she first started kindergarten. She immediately turned to Lin Zichen and said,

"Xiao Chen, I feel sorry for Bai Xue, shall we go and help her?"

"Okay,"

Lin Zichen responded without any hesitation.

He did not know the details about the white-haired girl and did not understand what was going on with her.

He only knew that she was not the dangerous person he had imagined, but more of a self-reclusive little girl who had been bullied into tears by her classmates.

"Guan Chun, wipe the water off Bai Xue's desk."

Lin Zichen walked up to the mischievous boy and stopped in front of him, speaking to him in a calm tone.

Utterly calm.

So calm that there was no ripple at all.

However, the mischievous boy was so frightened that he hurriedly grabbed one of his own books and used it like a tissue, quickly drying the water on the white-haired girl's desk.

He was too afraid of Lin Zichen and feared upsetting this prominent figure known for both his intellectual and physical prowess.

Not just the students in the class, but even the sixth graders were afraid of Lin Zichen.

Every student in Sunshine Primary School had witnessed Lin Zichen's feats at the sports meet and knew how strong he was physically, not daring to offend him.

"Those who have bullied Bai Xue before, come and apologize to her now,"

Lin Zichen looked around the class and said to everyone his gaze landed on.

As soon as the words were spoken, the students who had once bullied the girl with white hair gradually and conscientiously came forward to apologize to her.

Some simply said they were sorry.

Others brought out their snacks as a token of apology.

Whether sincere or not, everyone was apologizing to the girl with white hair.

Facing so many apologies, the girl with white hair felt a bit overwhelmed and, for a moment, even forgot to cry.

After everyone had finished apologizing,

Shen Qinghan walked up to the girl with white hair, stopped by her side, turned to the class, and said, "From now on, no one is allowed to bully Bai Xue. She is our classmate, and we should all be her friends."

With Lin Zichen around, no one dared to ignore Shen Qinghan's words.

From that moment on, no one in the class dared to bully the girl with white hair again.

"Thank you, thank you all..."

The girl with white hair, while quietly sobbing, whispered her gratitude to Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan, barely audible.

Shen Qinghan smiled and said, "No need to thank us, we're classmates and we should help each other."

Lin Zichen didn't say anything, but he took out a tissue and handed it to the girl with white hair.

The girl with white hair reached out for the tissue, timidly looked up at Lin Zichen for a moment, and etched his features deeply into her heart.

...

After that day,

Shen Qinghan began to approach the girl with white hair actively, wanting to befriend her.

She shared anything tasty or fun with her right away.

She even introduced her to Lin Zichen.

Saying that from now on, the three of us will play together and become the best trio of friends in the class.

The reason Shen Qinghan went to such lengths was because she too had experienced exclusion, and she felt compassion for the girl with white hair who had suffered the same.

The girl with white hair was quite taken aback by this and said in a feeble voice, "I... I smell so bad, aren't you disgusted by me?"

Ever since she could remember, she had always been ostracized and disliked by her peers.

Now, having met Shen Qinghan and Lin Zichen, who were willing to be friends with her, it all felt very unreal, as if she were dreaming.

Shen Qinghan held the girl with white hair's hand with a serious face and said, "We won't dislike you. We will always be good friends."

After getting Shen Qinghan's response, the girl with white hair timidly looked towards Lin Zichen, standing aside, wanting to hear his reply, caring greatly about what he thought.

"I feel the same way,"

Lin Zichen said nonchalantly.

The girl with white hair was touched by his words. She took off the pair of Beast Fangs she wore around her neck and placed them in the hands of both, saying with little confidence:

"Han Han, Xiao Chen, you always give me tasty and fun things, and I want to give you something too."

"These Beast Fangs were a birthday present from my mom last year, and now I'm giving them to you, hoping you won't disdain them."

"And, I hope... I hope we will always be good friends forever and ever."

"Yeah, we'll always be good friends," Shen Qinghan accepted the Beast Fangs, her face beaming with smiles.

Afterward, she looked at them both and suggested, "Let's make a pinky promise, the kind where we can't change for a hundred years."

Soon, on the playground of Sunshine Primary School, the slightly childish voices of the three could be heard lingering in the air.

"Pinky promise..."

"A hundred years..."

"No changing allowed!"

...

The next day, the girl with white hair withdrew from school.

Upon hearing this news, Shen Qinghan was completely dumbfounded and couldn't understand what had happened.

The day the girl with white hair withdrew from school, Lin Zichen had seen a tall man accompanying her into the administrative office.

He had a deep impression of the man.

Because the man's arms, half of his chest, and his neck were all made of alloy.

He appeared to be a Mechanically Modified Human.

In light of this, Lin Zichen realized that the girl with white hair might not have a simple identity.

But he didn't dwell on it too much.

After all, the girl with white hair had already transferred schools, and they might never see each other again in this lifetime.

She would just become a passing figure from his childhood.

...

PS: Begging bowl out, seeking Monthly Pass and recommendation tickets!