At six in the morning.

Xie Huai stood stretching on the steps outside the police station.

The breakfast stall next door had just opened, and he ordered a cup of soy milk and two youtiao.

Xia Xia insisted on paying as thanks for last night, adding a bowl of tofu pudding and two tea eggs to his order.

She only got herself a bowl of plain porridge and a dish of pickled vegetables.

Xie Huai pushed the tea eggs toward her: “You earned so much from handing out flyers, yet you can’t even afford a tea egg?”

Xia Xia hesitated: “I don’t want any.”

“Not for you to eat – I want you to peel them,” Xie Huai said matter-of-factly.

Xia Xia obediently peeled the eggs and handed them to him. Xie Huai stirred the chili sauce into his tofu pudding and quickly finished it in a few gulps.

Xia Xia ate quietly.

She hadn’t rested well last night, with faint dark circles under her eyes. The slight shadows only made her skin look whiter, and her eyelashes trembled as she swallowed.

After finishing her porridge, she took out a hundred yuan from her bag and placed it in front of Xie Huai: “Here’s this month’s payment.”

Xie Huai didn’t take it, wiping sauce from the corner of his mouth with a napkin: “If you’re short on cash, you don’t need to rush to pay me.”

“I can manage,” Xia Xia said. “Two days of part-time work per week is enough.”

Xie Huai took the money, and Xia Xia suddenly asked: “Xie Huai, can I ask you something?”

“Does your family have connections?”

Xie Huai paused, then curved his lips: “Why do you ask?”

Xia Xia voiced a long-held curiosity: “That day at the police station when you smashed the cabinet, the police even apologized to you afterward. How did you manage that?”

Xie Huai fell silent after hearing her question.

After last night, Xia Xia felt closer to Xie Huai and spoke without hesitation, but seeing his expression, she wondered if her question had been offensive.

Just as she was about to say he didn’t have to answer, Xie Huai spoke.

His voice was deliberately lowered and hoarse: “I’ve worked so hard to hide my identity, but you’ve discovered it anyway, so I might as well come clean.”

“Within dozens of miles around my home, who doesn’t know Xie Huai? All the underworld bosses call me brother, and every month they send their men to pay respects at my house. They won’t leave until they see me, and after seeing me, they have to kneel and kowtow, calling me Father Huai.”

“I told the police, if you don’t apologize, want to bet I can make one call and bring hundreds of brothers here? We’ll bring bulldozers and level your station.”

Xia Xia exclaimed: “That’s incredible!”

She looked at him with admiration, stars in her eyes.

Xie Huai: “…You believe that?”

Xia Xia: “…”

Xie Huai sighed: “His office wall had the mid-year evaluation posted…”

He spoke tiredly: “Brother Huai is a law-abiding citizen. I just told him that if he didn’t apologize, I’d sit in the police station lobby and cry, ruining his mid-year evaluation. If crying at the station didn’t work, I’d call the mayor’s hotline to complain, and if that still didn’t work, I’d cry outside the city government office.”

“He said he could detain me for obstructing official duties.” Xie Huai smiled mockingly. “I told him to go ahead – until he apologized, this wouldn’t end. I’d continue making trouble after being released. Let’s see if his reputation would be ruined first, or if I’d die first.”

“What did he say to you?” Xia Xia was confused now.

If Xie Huai had such a temper, he had only verbally threatened her when she caused him so much trouble. Even when Cai Yun insulted him behind his back, he didn’t get angry enough to throw chairs and break things. She couldn’t imagine what the police had said to make him so furious.

“What he said about me doesn’t matter,” Xie Huai said flatly. “But he shouldn’t have brought up my father.”

Xia Xia froze, understanding.

People in Old Chang City spoke crudely – it was a local custom to joke about parents. Those who grew up there didn’t think anything of it, but newcomers found it deeply offensive.

The police officer must have casually sworn, and the curse involved Xie Huai’s father.

Xia Xia asked disappointedly: “So what you said about the underworld followers was all fake?”

“What are you doubting?” Xie Huai looked at her. “Do I look like someone who runs with gangsters?”

“Not really,” Xia Xia glanced at his shoes – he was wearing the 28,000-yuan pair again.

If Xie Huai had so many underworld followers, wearing such expensive shoes would make sense. How else could she explain it? Someone wearing 28,000-yuan shoes needing to constantly find ways to make money, selling bedding and delivering food – anyone would think Xie Huai was as poor as her.

“Oh, these?” Xie Huai lifted his foot casually. “19.90 yuan from Taobao. Is there a problem?”

“Don’t lie to me,” Xia Xia said. “19.90-yuan shoes don’t look like that.”

When it came to 19.90-yuan Taobao shoes, Xia Xia was an expert.

Whether in quality or appearance, Xie Huai’s shoes couldn’t possibly cost 19.90 yuan or even 199 yuan. She hadn’t seen enough expensive shoes to make a definitive judgment.

“These replicas…” Xia Xia thought for a moment, “Must cost at least 300 yuan, right?”

Xie Huai laughed.

Xia Xia asked puzzled: “Did I guess too high?”

“Ridiculously high,” Xie Huai stood up, putting the motorcycle helmet on Xia Xia’s head. “Let’s go, Brother Huai will take you back to school.”

The sun rose in the eastern sky, casting brilliant morning light everywhere.

The streets grew busier, and workers began arriving at the construction site across the street.

Xie Huai got on the motorcycle: “Hold on tight.”

Xia Xia climbed onto the back seat.

She sat steadily, but for a moment felt the air around her ears turn cold and damp, raising goosebumps on her arms.

She looked back – construction workers were coming in pairs and groups to eat breakfast across the street, all wearing knee-length shorts and white undershirts.

A group of construction workers now sat where she had been sitting. The man facing her wore a wide-brimmed straw hat, revealing a square face under the slightly upturned brim. His skin was dark yellow from years of working under the sun, with a hooked nose, dark brown lips, and a small goatee on his chin.

The morning sun wasn’t hot, but Xia Xia found the glinting golden sign of the breakfast stall painfully bright in the sunlight.

She instinctively wrapped her arms around Xie Huai’s waist.

Xie Huai looked down at the girl’s thin wrist around his waist and curved his lips: “Did I say you could hold me?”

The man in the distance lowered his head to eat, and that skin-crawling sensation of being watched vanished.

Xia Xia rubbed her eyes, thinking she must have been seeing things.

She slightly loosened her grip around Xie Huai’s waist, but he suddenly swerved the motorcycle toward a nearby flower bed.

Xia Xia was startled and quickly held him tight: “Xie Huai, are you crazy?!”

Xie Huai straightened the motorcycle just before hitting the flower bed.

He smiled like a child who had succeeded in a prank: “You can’t just hold on and let go as you please. If you’re brave enough, keep holding on.”

When Xie Huai and Xia Xia returned to the dormitory after staying out all night, they met Jiang Jing Zhou on the way.

Jiang Jing Zhou: “I messaged you both last night, why didn’t either of you reply?”

Xie Huai’s phone had died at the police station. He asked: “Was there a room check?”

Jiang Jing Zhou: “No, Teacher Yi wants you both to come to her office this morning for a make-up exam. I wanted to tell you last night so you could review the handbook. She takes this exam seriously – if you fail the make-up exam three times, it will affect the counselor’s evaluation.”

Xie Huai didn’t understand: “Why do I need a make-up exam?”

Jiang Jing Zhou looked at him: “Xie Huai, are you stupid? You got 36 points on the second rules exam, don’t you realize how bad that is?”

Xie Huai: “……”

He turned to stare at Xia Xia, but Jiang Jing Zhou said: “No use looking at her, she didn’t pass either.”

Xia Xia muttered: “I told you I didn’t know the answers. You insisted on copying from me even when I said not to.”

Xie Huai’s lips moved, but after glaring at her for a long while, he couldn’t get a word out.

Xia Xia: “But Brother Huai, I can make it up to you.”

Knowing she would fail the make-up exam, she borrowed Zhao Shan Qi’s handbook and studied for two days, fully confident she would pass next time.

Xie Huai showed no joy or relief. He turned and walked toward the counselor’s office. Xia Xia followed, trying to make amends – after all, Xie Huai wasn’t just her creditor and boss now, but also the person who had raced his motorcycle through Changping District’s streets to save her life last night.

“Brother Huai, wait for me, please give me one more chance.”

…

In all her years as a counselor, Yi Mei Xian had never encountered students who needed three make-up exams for school rules. Beneath her cold exterior, she felt some sympathy for their intelligence levels. She handed out the test papers and left without supervision, letting them work freely in her office.

Xia Xia finished the test in twenty minutes and eagerly pushed it toward Xie Huai: “Brother Huai, trust me. If I fail again, I’ll do a handstand while having diarrhea, I’ll livestream eating sh-“

Despite the girl’s sincerity, Xie Huai pushed her test paperback without hesitation.

His trust in her had completely vanished: “Like hell, I’ll trust you.”

He couldn’t help but criticize: “How did you even get into Nan University with your intelligence? Did you cheat on the college entrance exam? Thirty-six points? I could score higher thinking with my butt and answering with my toes.”

“And livestream eating sh-?” Xie Huai said coldly. “Don’t try to scam food from me.”

Xia Xia: “……”

It was a week later when Xia Xia heard about Xie Huai’s conflict with Yi Mei Xian.

It started because Xie Huai failed the rules exam again.

The school rules exam affected the counselor’s performance evaluation. Xie Huai scored 48 on his first try, 36 on his second, and 29 on his third, severely impacting Yi Mei Xian’s evaluation scores – unforgivable for a perfectionist like her.

Yi Mei Xian was notorious for her bad temper among counselors, and no one in the college dared provoke her.

That morning, they say she flew into a rage in her office, berating Xie Huai so loudly it could be heard several classrooms away.

After tiring herself out, Yi Mei Xian sat down for tea, her voice hoarse: “If you couldn’t do it yourself, couldn’t you at least copy from Xia Xia? I even left the room and you still couldn’t copy? You pig-headed fool, in all my years of teaching, I’ve never met a student as stupid as you. Idiots giving birth to idiots, you’re hopeless.”

Xie Huai could tolerate being scolded once or twice, even eight or ten times.

But after being yelled at for an hour, he grew annoyed.

When angry, Xie Huai’s expression barely changed from normal.

He looked at Yi Mei Xian, smirking: “Teacher, I promise, I’m not only the first student this stupid you’ve met, but I’ll also be the last.”

Those present thought he was trying to appease Yi Mei Xian, until a week later when they understood the meaning behind his words.

—Within a week, Xie Huai took five more make-up exams, each time writing neatly and completely, but never scoring above twenty points.

When Yi Mei Xian realized what was happening, she laughed in anger.

Too tired to scold him anymore, she printed a hundred test papers and threw them at Xie Huai: “You like taking tests? Fine, come take one every day until you pass.”

Xie Huai didn’t talk back at all, just smiled rebelliously and flippantly.

From then on, he visited Yi Mei Xian’s office every morning, making up random answers to complete a test before going to class.

It seemed simple, but maintaining this required considerable willpower.

At first, Yi Mei Xian was enthusiastic. She usually started work at nine, but to match Xie Huai’s determination, she forced herself to come an hour earlier just to supervise his tests.

After two weeks of early rising, with dark circles under her eyes and severe sleep deprivation, she finally couldn’t take it anymore and gave her office key to Jiang Jing Zhou to supervise instead.

Jiang Jing Zhou had classes during the day and student council matters at night. After a week of early rising, he also got tired and simply gave the key to Xie Huai to open the office himself.

Xie Huai would wake up at seven, methodically pack his school materials, arrive at Yi Mei Xian’s office at seven-thirty to take the test, and finish by eight-thirty to attend morning classes.

Like a precise alarm clock, he appeared punctually every day, rain or shine.

Yi Mei Xian would arrive at work in a good mood, but her face would always darken for a few seconds upon seeing Xie Huai’s test paper on her desk.

Sometimes when Xie Huai woke up late and couldn’t eat at the cafeteria, he’d bring breakfast to eat while taking the test – sometimes buns, sometimes meat pies, sometimes youtiao. After throwing the plastic bags in the trash, her office would smell of oil when she opened it in the morning.

Yi Mei Xian was nearly driven mad by him.

This morning when Yi Mei Xian opened her office door, the room was fresh with no smell, and Xie Huai’s test paper was placed prominently on the desk as usual.

Next to the test paper sat a warm cup of red date soy milk.

In all her years as a counselor, Yi Mei Xian had received many gifts from students, both openly and discreetly. She instinctively thought this was Xie Huai’s peace offering, but she’d never seen such a shabby gift.

—A cup of red date soy milk, three yuan, and fifty cents.

While internally disdainful, she felt somewhat smug.

Even a problematic student like this, rare to encounter in several years, wasn’t as difficult to handle as he seemed.

Student council members often liked hanging out in her office, gathering in small groups to chat after morning classes.

Yi Mei Xian sat among the students like a star surrounded by satellites, chatting casually. Her eyes caught the red date soy milk, and her mouth felt dry.

She inserted the straw and had just taken a couple of sips when Xie Huai appeared in the doorway like a ghost.

He leaned lazily against the doorframe, his eyes dark, a smile on his lips: “Teacher Yi, I forgot my soy milk.”

All the students in the room looked at the soy milk cup in Yi Mei Xian’s hand.

Yi Mei Xian: “……”

Xie Huai stared at her hand: “Ah, you’ve already drunk it? Never mind then.”

He seemed quite regretful.

With so many students watching, Yi Mei Xian couldn’t save face and said shrilly: “…Don’t mind, here, let me pay you for it.”

At this point, anyone sensible would say: “No, no, how could I take money from a teacher?”

Xie Huai had no such sensibility, as he sauntered into the office.

“It’s just three yuan, normally I shouldn’t let a teacher pay,” he smiled. “But you’re such an upright, honest teacher, I’m afraid you’d feel guilty taking a student’s things.”

Yi Mei Xian took out her wallet, which only had a hundred yuan notes, her face darkening.

Xie Huai rummaged through his bag and laid out a handful of loose change from his business dealings on the desk.

He reassured Yi Mei Xian: “Don’t worry, teacher, I can make a change.”

At six in the evening, the twilight cast a yellow glow, leaving the girls’ dormitory in half-light.

Zhao Shan Qi was cooking porridge in an electric pot, layers of white steam dispersing in the air.

Zhu Zi Yu laughed, leaning back in her chair: “I have to hand it to Xie Huai. Others might just complain about Yi Mei Xian behind her back, but how did he manage to do something like this? I heard after Xie Huai left, Yi Mei Xian’s face turned green with anger in her office.”

Hearing Xie Huai’s name, Zhao Shan Qi turned around: “Xie Huai is being so childish.”

She asked Xia Xia, who hadn’t joined the conversation: “Xia Xia, you’re close to Xie Huai, do you know what he’s thinking?”

Xia Xia was doing English homework at her desk and paused her writing: “Xie Huai probably wasn’t thinking anything.”

She felt Zhao Shan Qi was right – Xie Huai was just being childish, nothing more. This wasn’t the first time he’d been scolded by Yi Mei Xian, but it was the first time he’d fought back.

Xia Xia thought Yi Mei Xian had hit Xie Huai’s sore spot, just like that police officer in Chang City.

Yi Mei Xian hadn’t scolded him for failing the test, but for being stupid, for not even knowing how to copy answers. If the situation were reversed, if Xie Huai had been caught copying and scolded, he probably wouldn’t have made a sound. But in this scenario, anyone would be irritated.

—Not scolding the one who copied, but scolding the one who did their work.

Xie Huai was like a child.

With his youthful edges, some things didn’t bother him at all, while others he took very seriously.

Cai Yun returned from outside, and the three, knowing her close relationship with Yi Mei Xian, simultaneously stopped their previous conversation.

Cai Yun placed several forms in front of Xia Xia and said coldly: “Financial aid application for poor students. Fill it out and give it to me.”

Xia Xia picked up the papers and looked at them. The process for applying for poverty assistance was complicated, requiring first a personal poverty statement, stamps from government departments in one’s hometown, and finally, the counselor would contact parents and sometimes even visit homes to verify the situation.

Xia Xia returned the forms to Cai Yun: “I never said I wanted to apply for assistance, give it to someone else.”

Cai Yun’s expression was mocking: “What are you pretending for, Xia Xia? You can barely afford to eat, yet here you are putting on airs?”

Xia Xia’s expression remained calm: “Mm, everything you say is right. But even if I can’t afford to eat, I won’t steal rice from your house, so stop worrying about me.”

Cai Yun: “Suit yourself.”

She sneered: “Oh, I forgot to tell you, I just met your migrant worker relative downstairs. He has something to discuss with you, and wants you to go down.”

Xia Xia was confused: “What migrant worker relative?”

Seeing them about to argue, Zhao Shan Qi quickly intervened: “Last night when Cai Yun and I went out to eat, we met a man dressed like a migrant worker at the school gate. He kept asking people if they knew Xia Xia and said he was your relative, so I gave him your phone number. Hasn’t he contacted you?”

Xia Xia’s brow furrowed in confusion: “I don’t have any family in Nan City.”

Just as she finished speaking, her phone rang with an unknown number from Chang City.

She answered casually.

On the other end was a man with a hoarse voice, as if thick phlegm was stuck in his throat that he couldn’t cough out:

“I knew I wasn’t seeing things that day. Xia Xia, you’ve made me search for so long.”

As soon as that voice entered her ears, Xia Xia’s mind exploded, her hand frozen holding the phone.

In the distance, the setting sun disappeared behind layered mountain shadows.

Only clouds and crimson twilight remained in the sky, mixing hazily in the gap between heaven and mountain.

Xia Xia’s hand trembled, and her phone dropped to the floor.