Xing Wu took several steps toward Qing Ye, his face covered in rainwater as he stared at her: “It’s okay now, give me the stool.”

Qing Ye stared blankly at the man lying in the rain, her voice trembling: “Did… did you kill him?”

Just then, the commotion in the courtyard finally caused several neighboring households to open their doors. Auntie Zhao took one look and was startled, calling out to Xing Wu who stood at the bathroom door: “Wu Zi, what happened?”

Xing Wu slowly turned his head, not answering Auntie Zhao, but instead fixed his gaze on Wu Baoping who was peering out, his tone ice-cold: “Uncle Wu, drag your second son back inside.”

Old Wu, hearing that it was his son lying on the ground, rushed out without even bothering to grab an umbrella. Seeing it was indeed his second son, he immediately called for his wife, cursing while they carried Wu Er back inside.

Xing Wu snatched the chair from Qing Ye’s hands, tossed it inside, and then turned and walked back into the heavy rain toward the Wu residence. Qing Ye felt her entire body turn cold – earlier she had feared the man outside breaking in, but now she feared Xing Wu might have killed him.

She watched Xing Wu walk straight into the Wu household, and after gritting her teeth, she too ran through the downpour. Reaching Wu’s doorway, she didn’t dare enter but peered inside. She saw that Xing Wu hadn’t gone to check on Wu Er, but instead went directly to the Wu family’s wardrobe, pulling out all the clothes.

Qing Ye stared at Xing Wu in shock, while neighbors from around the courtyard gathered at Wu’s doorway with umbrellas, unsure of what was happening.

It was then that Qing Ye saw Wu Er lying nearby and wasn’t dead. Though he looked miserable, he was conscious and sitting up.

Wu Er’s elderly mother grabbed Xing Wu, crying and shouting: “Wu Zi, what are you doing? If something’s wrong with my son, just tell us properly. Why are you going through our things?”

Xing Wu completely ignored her, crouching down to pull open the bottom drawer and pushing aside the clothes. Instantly, everyone was dumbfounded – beneath the men’s clothing were fresh-colored women’s undergarments, and they were young women’s styles.

Qing Ye recognized them immediately as her own – the ones that had been stolen recently. Her blood ran cold, and she was so shocked her mind almost stopped working.

They watched as Xing Wu grabbed a plastic bag from nearby and packed all the women’s undergarments into it. Standing up, he looked at Wu Er’s parents: “It’s bad enough that your son stole my cousin’s underwear, but then he tried to break into the bathroom during a thunderstorm. As for what he planned to do once inside, you can figure that out yourselves.”

The Wu family turned pale, and even Uncle Wu, who had been ready to fight, suddenly deflated, glaring at his second son and cursing: “Er, are you trying to get yourself killed?”

Xing Wu let out a cold snort, glaring fiercely at the crowd around him as he delivered his warning: “You all know he was asking for death. Let me warn everyone in this courtyard – if anyone else dares to set their sights on Qing Ye, there won’t be a next time. I’ll send you straight to meet the King of Hell. I’ve never been afraid of doing jail time in my life.”

Qing Ye stood at the Wu’s doorway, staring blankly at Xing Wu, unsure what she was feeling at this moment. Fear, panic, shock, or this sudden sense of security – it was all too complex, so complex that her emotions overwhelmed her, leaving her whole body trembling.

As Xing Wu turned to leave after delivering his warning, he saw Qing Ye standing by the door, hugging herself. Her white dress was completely soaked through, and she was shivering as she stared at him.

His brows furrowed as he barked at her: “Why did you run out here?”

Qing Ye didn’t speak, just stared at him with wet eyes. Xing Wu felt uncomfortable under her gaze and grabbed her wrist, pulling her through the rain back to the bathroom: “Take your shower in peace.”

“What about you?” Qing Ye asked in a small voice.

Seeing how frightened she was, Xing Wu clenched his jaw and softened his tone: “I’ll be right here.”

Xing Wu went upstairs to get her dry clothes, and while Qing Ye was showering, she heard more commotion in the courtyard – it seemed people had arrived. She quickly finished her shower and opened the door to find an umbrella Xing Wu had left for her. The back door of the barbershop was open, with Xing Wu specifically leaving it lit for her.

Qing Ye ran inside under the umbrella, and sure enough, after an hour the police had finally arrived. Two officers stood in the shop, seemingly quite familiar with Xing Wu.

They patted Xing Wu’s shoulder and said: “Next time, go easier. Don’t cause any real trouble. If you end up in jail, what about your mother and grandmother?”

Xing Wu handed two cigarettes to the officers and replied calmly: “I understand.”

After learning the situation, the police probably felt Wu Er had gotten what he deserved. Seeing there was no serious injury and the Wu family was too ashamed to press charges, they chatted briefly with Xing Wu before leaving.

After the police left, Xing Wu locked the rolling door and turned around to see Qing Ye standing at the stairs, watching him. He sighed, walked over to take her wet dirty clothes, and said: “Go upstairs and get some sleep.”

Qing Ye silently turned and went upstairs. Xing Wu watched her until her figure disappeared at the top before turning toward the courtyard.

His mood was terrible, absolutely terrible. It felt like a cloud of toxic air had gathered in his chest that he couldn’t dispel. As the shower sprayed over his lean body, he was so tense he punched the wall violently.

But that punch didn’t seem to dispel his current mood. He didn’t dare imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t received Qing Ye’s call if Wu Er had managed to pick the lock earlier – just how horrific things could have become.

He was actually extremely grateful now that when buying the lock that day, he had chosen the most expensive double-security model. He couldn’t even bear to think what might have happened today if he had chosen the cheaper option that day.

In all his life, this was the first time Xing Wu had experienced such retrospective fear. He thought life was already what it was, that nothing would frighten him anymore, but because of this girl’s arrival, because of tonight’s events, he started to feel afraid.

Afraid that a good girl would be ruined in his home, ruined right under his nose. Though he didn’t consider himself a good person, he couldn’t stand to see something like this happen.

After his shower, Xing Wu hand-washed both his wet clothes and Qing Ye’s together. After finishing, he didn’t go upstairs immediately, thinking he shouldn’t disturb her. Xing Wu specifically stayed downstairs scrolling through his phone and smoking a cigarette before carrying the basin upstairs.

Unexpectedly, Qing Ye hadn’t slept at all – she just sat on the edge of the bed staring at the floor, not even looking at her phone. Her hair was still dripping water, and she looked like someone suddenly thrown into the water, desperate to the point of suffocation, cruelly pitiful.

Xing Wu set down the basin and said: “Still not asleep?”

After speaking, he walked to the window to hang the clothes. The girl behind him was unusually quiet, not making a sound, making Xing Wu very uncomfortable.

He finished hanging the clothes and turned to look at her, then took a hair dryer from the drawer and offered it to her. Qing Ye didn’t take it, still not moving.

Xing Wu helplessly plugged in the dryer and moved in front of her to help dry her hair. Qing Ye kept her head down, neither refusing nor cooperating much. Xing Wu knew she had been badly frightened today – any girl would probably be terrified, let alone someone like Qing Ye who came from a big city, had always been well-protected and lived a peaceful life. How could she have ever seen such dark aspects of life?

He wanted to comfort her with a few words and tell her to sleep well, but several times when he opened his mouth, Xing Wu didn’t know what to say.

He had never comforted anyone before, and Chinese had been his worst subject in school. He was better at cursing people out, but asking him to organize words to comfort someone was truly difficult for him.

However, at this moment, Qing Ye, who had been keeping her head down, suddenly said very faintly: “I want to go home…”

The hair dryer was too loud, and Xing Wu didn’t hear clearly. He turned off the dryer and asked uncertainly: “What did you say?”

Qing Ye’s hair had stopped dripping and was now half-dry, sticking to her cheeks. Her small, delicate face was hidden behind her hair as she repeated: “I want to go home.”

Xing Wu heard this time. He put down the hair dryer and sat across from Qing Ye on his bed, leaning forward with his hands on his knees as he looked at her: “Do you still have family at home?”

Qing Ye was silent for a long while before shaking her head. No, she had no one at home anymore. She used to have a grandfather, but he passed away in recent years. After her grandfather’s death, her uncle had a falling out with her father over matters from when her grandfather was alive. After her uncle went abroad, her father refused to acknowledge his brother and her uncle cut off all contact with her father. She had no family left.

Xing Wu pinched the bridge of his nose and patiently said to her: “If there’s no one at your home, where would you go? Where would you live? How would you survive?”

Qing Ye buried her face between her knees, hugging herself tightly as she said somewhat hysterically: “I don’t know, I don’t know where I can go, anywhere but here would be fine.”

If Qing Ye had said these words to Xing Wu during her first few days here, he would have told her to get lost without hesitation, and might even have helped carry her luggage out and personally sent her packing.

But on this rainy night, after she had just experienced such a terrifying shock when Xing Wu heard these words from her, he only felt his jaw tighten, his entire being shrouded in an invisible, intangible gloom.

He didn’t say anything. They remained quiet for a long while until Xing Wu saw a water droplet fall to the floor. He lifted his gaze slightly and discovered that behind her hair, Qing Ye was silently crying.

At that moment, his heart twisted. When Li Lanfang told him that a cousin would be coming to stay at his house, he had always considered this unknown cousin an unwelcome guest. From the first moment he saw her, she had that look of disdain in her eyes, as if she looked down on everything and everyone here.

Though Xing Wu was unwilling to admit it, the dazzling thorns in Qing Ye’s nature had indeed pricked his pride repeatedly, and the surrounding people and environment that had seemed unremarkable in his eyes before only intensified this feeling.

From Qing Ye’s first day, he knew very clearly that she was different. She was different from everyone in Zhazha Pavilion, she didn’t belong here, and she really shouldn’t have been thrown here. But he couldn’t change other people, couldn’t change the environment here, and now he also couldn’t drive this girl in front of him away.

Xing Wu’s furrowed brows gradually relaxed. He lowered his gaze and called out to Qing Ye: “Hey.”

Qing Ye didn’t respond, so he simply brushed aside the hair covering her forehead, instantly revealing her tear-streaked face, pitiful enough to make one’s heart ache.

Qing Ye turned her head away and wiped her tears with her hand, unwilling to meet his gaze. Xing Wu deliberately moved to her right side: “I figure you have nowhere else to go. If you did, your family wouldn’t have sent you to us. School starts in about ten days, and it’s not realistic for you to transfer somewhere else now.”

Qing Ye knew it wasn’t realistic, but she just didn’t want to stay here. It was a kind of disgust and rejection rising from the bottom of her heart. Originally, she thought she could overcome it – it was just one year, no big deal. But before school had even started, this rejection in her heart had become increasingly uncontrollable.

Then she heard Xing Wu sigh and suddenly say: “What happened today, I promise it won’t happen again.”

Qing Ye looked at him through her tears: “How can you promise that?”

Xing Wu twisted his lips, leaning back on his hands on the bed, casual and unrestrained.

Qing Ye looked at him skeptically, and Xing Wu helplessly explained to her: “The Wu family has two sons. The older one drives a taxi in the county town. After getting married, he had a bad relationship with his mother-in-law, so he rarely comes back. The younger son, Wu Er, is thirty years old and lives off his parents, unable to find a wife. That’s also why Wu’s daughter-in-law is so resentful.”

“Wu Er may be a scoundrel, but he’s a coward who only does sneaky things. I might have been heavy-handed earlier, but being too gentle wouldn’t have had any effect. He’ll be bedridden for at least ten to fifteen days this time, and in the future, even with ten times the courage, he absolutely won’t dare to have any foolish thoughts about you again.”

“Besides, I won’t give him that chance again. When I say I can promise, I have my ways.”

This seemed to be the first time in Qing Ye’s memory that Xing Wu had spoken to her seriously, and she couldn’t help but look at him a few more times.

Whether it was Xing Wu’s words that had an effect or not, Qing Ye’s tears had stopped, and she didn’t continue the previous topic of leaving. She just sat there.

Xing Wu said: “My mom should be back soon. If she sees you crying in front of me, she’ll probably scold me again.”

Qing Ye’s mood was terrible now, and she didn’t want to face Li Lanfang’s dramatic reactions and vulgar language, so she turned and got into bed, pulling the blanket over herself.

Just as she lay down, she heard Xing Wu’s footsteps heading out, and she immediately sat up again to ask: “Where are you going?”

Xing Wu turned back to look at her nervous expression, those beautiful eyes red, like… someone afraid of being abandoned.

The fierceness finally eased from Xing Wu’s brow as he said calmly to her: “Can’t sleep, going to watch some basketball. I’m not leaving tonight.”

Qing Ye seemed to calm down only after hearing those words “not leaving tonight,” and lay back down.

Although Xing Wu had closed the door for her, she could still hear the intermittent sound of the TV from outside. For the first time, this sleep-disturbing noise made her feel so secure, and as she listened, she drifted off to sleep.