When Xia Jun was pulled up for the second time, his cheeks were trembling.

Xie Huai sat before him with perfect composure and asked again: “Are you clear-headed now?”

Xia Xia stood to the side, her gaze fixed on Xie Huai.

Xie Huai was silent and still, his white T-shirt making his frame appear slender, particularly cold and distant in the bright moonlight.

After being hung upside down twice, Xia Jun’s previous arrogance had completely vanished.

This time he nodded frantically without thinking: “Yes, I’m clear-headed.”

Xie Huai asked: “Who were you calling a little slut?”

Xia Jun glanced at Xia Xia, his lips trembling, too afraid to speak.

Xie Huai: “I’ll ask you one last time, who were you insulting?”

His words were ice-cold, and Xia Jun instinctively looked at Xia Xia.

Xia Xia met his gaze and saw that the former ferocity and rage in his eyes had been replaced by timidity and fear.

Evil people were dealt with by other evil people. Back in that isolated village, no one could control him, but after living half his life, meeting Xie Huai seemed like a predestined catastrophe.

Xie Huai smiled and kicked him down for the third time.

…

When Xia Jun was pulled up again, he was stammering: “I… I said it.”

Xie Huai calmly replied: “You did speak, but I’m not satisfied with what you said.”

The handsome youth’s face wore a gentle smile, but to Xia Jun, he might as well have been the devil incarnate.

By now his mind was completely scrambled, convinced that Xie Huai would kill him.

Those who haven’t experienced the terror of falling from a great height could never understand it.

No one had told Xia Jun that the rope binding him was a professional climbing rope with a weight limit of five hundred kilograms.

When he was hung upside down, blood rushed to his head, and opening his eyes revealed dozens of meters of space below. The rope made scraping sounds against the concrete edge of the top floor, seeming like it could break at any moment. To him, each second of his life hung by a thread, uncertain if the next moment would bring a fatal fall.

If Xie Huai pushed him a few more times, that rope would surely break.

Earlier he had mocked Xie Huai for not daring to kill him, but after being hung upside down three times, that inexplicable confidence had completely vanished.

Xia Jun crawled to Xia Xia’s side, brushing against her leg: “Xia Xia, I’m your uncle. He’s going to kill me, you can’t just ignore this.”

His face reddened: “I’m your blood uncle!”

Xia Xia’s expression remained blank.

She said nothing as if the man begging pathetically on the ground had no connection to her whatsoever.

Xie Huai wrapped an arm around Xia Xia’s waist, pulled her behind him, and curved his lips: “You still dare to get close to her?”

Liang Yuantai dragged up a thoroughly bound man from downstairs: “Brother Huai, we caught Zhao Yilei.”

Xia Xia: “?”

Xie Huai crouched in front of Xia Jun, grabbing his dust and dandruff-covered hair: “Now you’ll have company.”

“This guy dared to compete with me for a woman.” He sneered, “Truly doesn’t know his place.”

Xie Huai pulled out a folding knife from his pocket, waving the cold blade in front of Xia Jun.

Sweat rolled down Xia Jun’s forehead as he spoke incoherently: “I’ve never wronged you, I’ve never tried to steal anyone from you, I…”

Xie Huai dragged him in front of Zhao Yilei: “Watch carefully, you’re next.”

With a flick of his wrist, he suddenly plunged the knife into Zhao Yilei’s groin.

The knife tip pierced the blood bag hidden in his pants, splattering blood all over Xie Huai’s hands.

Zhao Yilei rolled on the ground, howling like a madman.

Xie Huai wiped the sweat from his face with his hand, smearing blood across his eyes as well.

Xia Jun was frozen in shock.

That man had merely competed with Xie Huai for a woman and received such brutal treatment. Given what he had done to Xia Xia, he had no doubt Xie Huai would kill him outright.

A man who dared to push him off a building three times and attack someone with a knife could easily kill him in this remote location where no one would know.

Xie Huai’s face was smeared with bright red blood as he walked toward him step by step.

Xia Jun was gripped by extreme terror.

He struggled to move backward, begging Xia Xia: “Xia Xia, please plead for me!”

His face twisted with excessive fear: “I never touched you, I never touched you. I was wrong to hit you before, I was a bastard, you can beat me however you want—Xia Xia, Xia Xia—”

When Xia Xia remained silent, he turned to beg Xie Huai:

“I swear to heaven, I never touched her! Though I was once tempted, I never succeeded.”

“If you don’t believe me, ask her—Xia Xia, say something—”

Xie Huai crouched in front of him, patting between his legs: “Did you see just now?”

He rolled up the edge of his clean T-shirt to wipe the blood from the blade: “But even if you saw clearly, it won’t help. I won’t let you off as easily as him.”

“Ever heard of lingchi?” he said flatly. “In ancient times, people subjected to lingchi endured over a thousand cuts. I’m not that skilled.”

He smiled self-deprecatingly: “With your measly flesh, ten cuts would be the most.”

The tip of Xie Huai’s knife brushed against his inner thigh: “Though I’m considering whether to cut horizontally or vertically.”

“Horizontally, one cut at a time, slicing off round pieces, clean and neat. Vertically…” he paused, making a cutting motion in the air with the knife, “make ten strips, still connected at the bottom, then scald them with boiling water. The shape would look like squid flowers in a hotpot, beautiful and artistic.”

“Don’t give me that look, as if I’m going to kill you.” Xie Huai suddenly smiled, “You’re right, how dare I kill someone? I’ll call an ambulance for you. You won’t die, just spend the rest of your life in misery.”

As his words fell, he lightly scraped the back of the knife across Xia Jun’s groin.

Xia Jun clenched his legs together, his pants grew warm, and he lost control of his bladder.

A puddle formed beneath him instantly, urine dripping from his pants.

Jiang Jingzhou spoke up timely: “Young Master, let’s end it for today. He’s already wet himself, don’t dirty your hands.”

Xie Huai remained expressionless, his dark eyes fixed on Xia Jun.

The air grew silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Xie Huai handed the knife to Jiang Jingzhou.

Xia Jun thought his life had been spared, but then he heard the youth speak in a frigid voice:

“Cut the rope from his feet.”

Jiang Jingzhou froze: “Xie Huai?”

Everything tonight had gone smoothly; according to the original plan, this lesson should have ended here.

Xia Jun had been frightened to the point of losing control of his bodily functions and would never dare trouble Xia Xia again. Without any external injuries, even if he went to the police, they couldn’t be implicated.

But Xie Huai wasn’t planning to end it there.

Xie Huai repeated: “Cut the rope.”

Jiang Jingzhou hesitated but followed his order.

Xie Huai dragged Xia Jun to the edge again, but this time without rope binding his feet. If he fell, death would be certain.

Xia Jun’s body had no strength left. Half his body hung over the edge; if Xie Huai let go, he would surely fall.

Xia Jun couldn’t even cry for help anymore, just stared straight ahead at the blood-stained face of the youth.

Xia Xia, who had been silent all night, spoke with an unexpectedly hoarse voice: “Xie Huai, that’s enough.”

“For Xia Xia’s sake, I’ll spare your life.” Xie Huai’s voice was low and hoarse. “But if I ever see you near her again—”

He released his grip, and Xia Jun’s body tilted straight back.

Xia Jun let out a piercing scream.

Xie Huai pulled him back in a split second before his body would have fallen off the building.

His eyes were ice-cold: “—I really will kill you.”

Xie Huai threw him back onto the ground.

Xia Jun lay there motionless, like a dead man.

Xie Huai turned and walked toward the stairs, pulling Xia Xia along without looking back.

Jiang Jingzhou and Liang Yuantai worked together to drag away Zhao Yilei’s “corpse.”

“Wait.” Just past the stairwell corner, Xia Xia pulled Xie Huai to a stop.

She took out a tissue from her pocket and wiped the blood from Xie Huai’s face in the bright moonlight.

The terrifying cruelty that had been on Xie Huai’s face when dealing with Xia Jun disappeared, and he suddenly grinned shamelessly: “So I won, right?”

He casually wiped his face a couple of times with the tissue and glanced at Xia Jun lying in the distance: “If you have anything to say to him, say it here. I’ll wait downstairs, and Yuantai will stay with you.”

Xie Huai added mischievously: “You’re an adult now, you’d be legally responsible for assault. If you want to teach him a lesson, don’t do it yourself—let Liang Yuantai do it.”

“That kid’s like a get-out-of-jail-free card. For minor scuffles, no police would dare trouble him.”

Xie Huai smiled and ruffled Xia Xia’s hair: “Men only fight with men. Only cowards hit women.”

“Don’t be afraid. He’ll never dare touch you again.”

He turned and went downstairs, leaving Xia Xia on the roof.

After a moment of silence, Xia Xia said softly: “Yuantai, you go down too.”

Zhao Yilei, covered in fake blood, was downstairs bragging with Jiang Jingzhou.

Xie Huai walked over and put an arm around his shoulders: “Nice acting. Those screams earlier were so convincing, I thought I’d cut you.”

Zhao Yilei gritted his teeth: “Acting? Those were real screams!”

“Xie Huai, you unreliable bastard! You stuffed blood straight from the freezer down my pants – it was freezing!” Zhao Yilei shrugged off his hand. “Are you jealous that mine’s bigger than yours and trying to make me impotent?”

Xie Huai replied flatly: “Who’s bigger than who is debatable.”

Zhao Yilei pulled out a pair of pants from the car: “No way, I need to change. If someone sees me like this, they’ll call the police.”

He took the pants upstairs and ran into Liang Yuantai coming down.

Zhao Yilei: “Why aren’t you up there protecting Xia Xia?”

Liang Yuantai said dejectedly: “Xia Xia told me to come down.”

“That’s reckless.” Zhao Yilei said, “She’s a delicate young girl. What if that idiot hurts her?”

Not even bothering to change his pants, he ran straight up to the seventh floor.

Xia Xia was standing while Xia Jun was lying down. Seeing her unharmed, Zhao Yilei was relieved. Looking at his blood-stained clothes, he decided to change into clean pants before going back to support Xia Xia.

The girl in the distance stood motionless like a statue.

Her gaze swept over Xia Jun’s wet pants, his bloodless face, and his vacant stare.

The once tall, fierce man who she couldn’t budge an inch now lay pathetically before her. All those things that had terrified her shattered like bubbles. When she opened her eyes again, those painful memories and unbearable past seemed like nothing more than a nightmare.

The dream was over, dawn had broken.

She got up and opened the window to a world brilliant with light.

“You know what?” Xia Xia said, “I don’t hate you at all anymore.”

She smiled: “I even pity you.”

“You’re past fifty, with no family, no house, no money, and no one who loves you.”

“I’m eighteen, attending a good school, with prospects, a future, and friends willing to stand up for me.”

“When you’re halfway in the grave, I’ll be in my prime. When you die alone, I might have a large family of my own.”

Her eyes were mocking: “What’s there about you worth hating?”

“But I still despise you.” Xia Xia crouched in front of him. “When I was little, my mom always told me to stay away from you.”

“I heard you molested other girls besides me?”

Xia Jun’s pants were stained with brownish-yellow urine, giving off a rank smell.

Xia Xia took off her jacket and wrapped it around her hand: “When I stopped Xie Huai earlier, it wasn’t because I didn’t want you dead, but because I didn’t want him getting into trouble.”

She looked down at Xia Jun: “You can’t fix your sickness even in old age, so I’ll help you.”

Zhao Yilei had just changed his pants and was about to go protect Xia Xia when he suddenly saw the girl crouch in front of Xia Jun.

Her jacket-wrapped hand reached between Xia Jun’s legs and squeezed hard, immediately followed by his piercing screams.

The night breeze made Zhao Yilei’s newly changed pants feel cool again.

Before Xia Xia could notice him, he slipped back down the stairs.

Hearing the sound from downstairs, Xie Huai saw Zhao Yilei come down with an odd expression and asked: “What happened up there?”

Zhao Yilei’s expression was slightly unnatural as he shook his head: “Nothing.”

When Xia Xia came down, only Xie Huai remained.

She asked: “Where are the others?”

Xie Huai opened the car door for her: “They took Zhao Yilei’s car back. Yuantai lent me his car so I could take you to get something to eat.”

Xia Xia said regretfully: “I didn’t get to thank them in person.”

Hearing this, Xie Huai suddenly blocked the car door with his arm: “Never mind them. The person you should thank is me, right?”

His brilliant eyes followed her intently: “Think carefully about how you should thank me.”

Xia Xia scratched her head: “I’ll treat you to a meal.”

At the convenience store.

Xie Huai sat on a high stool at the long table by the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring at the cup of instant noodles in front of him.

Xia Xia had just poured hot water in, the fork clipped to the lid, with steam escaping from the edges.

After staring at the cup noodles for a long time, Xie Huai couldn’t help saying: “Last time you saved me, you bought me two tea eggs, and I let it go. This time you’re buying me instant noodles, and I won’t say anything…”

“…but couldn’t you at least buy a big bowl?” Xie Huai pointed at the small cup. “Do you think I’ll be full from this?”

Xia Xia said: “Eating too much late at night makes you fat. I’m thinking of your health.”

Xie Huai: “Don’t make excuses. Are you out of money again?”

Xia Xia’s noodles were ready, and she opened the fork to stir them: “Earlier, Xia Jun took two hundred yuan from me, then I spent over a hundred on the voice recorder, and with hospital stays and takeout these days… my part-time work money is almost gone.”

Xie Huai asked: “What about your family?”

Xia Xia bit the plastic fork: “My father won’t let me go to college. Step-father.”

“I lied to him saying I went south to work. Even my mom doesn’t know I’m in school.” She stirred the noodles in the cup. “I earned the tuition working during summer break. The paperwork for poor student subsidies and student loans is complicated. I can’t apply by myself, and even if I could, if the school visited my home, they’d find out.”

“I don’t want my father to know.”

Xie Huai: “You’ve already run away, why are you still afraid of him finding out?”

“I’m not afraid of him.” Xia Xia said, “But I’m afraid of making him unhappy. He’ll take it out on my mom. She suffered enough with Xia Jun before, I want her to have a better life.”

“At least I won’t starve. I’m used to being poor.” Her expression was calm as she felt her pocket and found five yuan more. “This is all I have left. Let me buy you a cola.”

Xie Huai took the money from her fingers and stuffed it back in her pocket.

He got up and went to get a bag of sausages and some braised eggs from the shelf, paid at the counter, and came back with a bottle of soy milk.

He pushed the soy milk toward Xia Xia and squeezed the sausages and braised eggs into her cup noodles.

Xia Xia put her palm on the glass bottle.

The soy milk was warm; Xie Huai had heated it at the counter.

Xia Xia: “I was supposed to treat you, but you ended up paying.”

Xie Huai said lazily: “You’re treating me to a meal, I’m treating you to snacks.”

When the noodles were ready, he picked up the cup and ate a few bites. Halfway through, he wiped his mouth and looked at Xia Xia: “Hey, now that everything’s settled, shouldn’t we fulfill our bet?”

His finger traced from his forehead to his nose to his cheek: “Where do you want to kiss? Here, here, or here? If you don’t like any of those…”

“…Brother Huai’s first kiss could be yours.” He pointed to his lips, deliberately making his voice ambiguous.

Xia Xia: “I didn’t lose. Xia Jun’s mouth was bleeding from the thumbtacks.”

“Oh?” Xie Huai said flatly, “So you’re saying I should kiss you instead?”

Xia Xia: “…”

Without warning, Xie Huai cupped her face with both hands.

His palms were warm, smelling of instant noodles, his thumb and index finger pinching her cheeks.

“Where should I kiss?” he muttered.

He was so close that his warm breath fell on Xia Xia’s face. Her almond eyes were wide open, not daring to blink.

“Want me to kiss you?” Xie Huai’s voice was low as he showed his characteristic boyish smile.

Xia Xia’s lips moved, about to speak, when Xie Huai said: “Keep dreaming.”

Xie Huai released her: “You’re too pale and skinny, I can’t bring myself to do it.”

Xia Xia: “……”

She turned around to look at the mirror on the convenience store wall.

The girl in the mirror had a fair, round oval face and bright, lively eyes, nothing like the pale and skinny appearance Xie Huai described.

Xie Huai lowered his head to continue eating his noodles, speaking unclearly: “The group is getting bigger, fifty orders isn’t enough anymore. Starting tomorrow, I’m planning to add fifty more orders per meal.”

“You’ll deliver the girls’ dormitory orders for me from now on. Fifty yuan per day.”

He frowned: “I never want to go into the girls’ dorm again. Every time I go to your room, Zhao Shanqi won’t let me leave. Last time, that girl called Cai Yun accused me of peeking at her bra hanging by her bed.”

“Me, peek at her bra?” Xie Huai said venomously, “With that flat chest of hers, I thought it was just a string hanging there.”

Xia Xia: “Brother Huai, I don’t…”

Xie Huai: “I’m not discussing this with you, I’m ordering you.”

Xia Xia said: “I don’t need that much, twenty is enough.”

Xie Huai raised an eyebrow: “Twenty?”

He childishly poked Xia Xia’s forehead: “Now everyone in the college knows you’re my little brother. If Brother Huai eats meat while his little brother can’t even drink soup, wouldn’t that make me look bad? With you so pale and skinny, seeing stars from hunger, where would I put my face?”

“I said fifty means fifty. You’ll take it whether you want to or not, or I’ll beat you until you take it.”

Xia Xia thought you were too overbearing.

She thought for a moment and asked: “Can your electric bike carry a hundred orders per meal?”

Xie Huai made an affirmative sound: “From now on, Yuantai will drive the takeout to the school gate. I’ll pick up the orders there to save time, and he can earn some pocket money too.”

He paused: “Yuantai has been unable to find work. This is the least I can do, it’s mutually beneficial.”

Xia Xia gave him mild flattery: “Brother Huai is amazing, benefiting others while helping yourself and boosting South City’s GDP at the same time.”

Xie Huai drank every drop of the soup, looking childishly satisfied.

He fell silent, leaning back against the chair to digest, his gaze passing through the clean glass to the brilliant stars in the distant sky.

Xia Xia bent her head to eat her noodles.

The sausage Xie Huai bought was corn-flavored, and sweet in her mouth. As she ate, suddenly something dripped from her eyes into the soup with a splash.

She belatedly realized she was crying.

She blinked, trying to hold back the tears but failed. In a matter of seconds, her tear ducts seemed to open like floodgates, tears falling in rapid succession.

The convenience store was quiet late at night. Though she tried to suppress the sound of her sniffling, Xie Huai still heard it.

He turned his head and smiled at her: “Why are you crying?”

“You’re quite pretty when you’re not crying.” He pulled two tissues from the box on the table and pressed them to Xia Xia’s face. “But you’re ugly when you cry.”

Xia Xia took the tissue to wipe her tears.

She couldn’t explain why she was crying. It seemed like a stone that had been sitting in her heart for a long time had finally shattered, releasing long-suppressed emotions.

And she was so slow to realize it that only now when everything had settled, did it hit her.

The noodle soup was warm, the corn flavor sweet, and beside her sat a youth as steady as a rock.

Xia Xia lifted her head to look at the star-filled night sky, the starlight as cold and bright as it had been for billions of years.

Xie Huai’s blurry reflection showed in the glass before her.

With the convenience store’s bright fluorescent lights behind him, his gaze met hers in the glass reflection.

Looking at him, he shone brighter than the stars.