As soon as Li Jinyu got in the car, he tossed the SD cards to Qiao Maimei in the back seat. Qiao Maimei, still shaken, kept her head down without saying a word. Li Jinyu sat in the passenger seat, looking at her calmly through the rearview mirror, and confirmed: “Is there anything else?”

Qiao Maimei didn’t dare look at him. Sitting in the back seat like a withered rose with nowhere to hide, she hung her head, nervously fidgeting with the two SD cards in her palm, and mumbled: “No, nothing else.”

Li Jinyu stopped talking and turned to look out the window. The atmosphere in the car was eerily silent. Ye Meng looked at the two siblings locked in this standoff and secretly sighed in her heart. “Seatbelt.”

Li Jinyu didn’t even need to look back. He casually pulled it and buckled himself in without saying a word to her.

Hey! Ye Meng could only turn around to ask Qiao Maimei: “Where do you live?”

Qiao Maimei’s parents were doing business in Guangdong. She and Yang Tianwei were both essentially left to raise themselves. Now Yang Tianwei had gone to Beijing to participate in some youth training selection, leaving only Qiao Maimei at home.

“She can stay at my place for now,” Li Jinyu said.

“Oh, just the two of you living together?” Ye Meng was somewhat surprised.

Li Jinyu propped his elbow on the car window edge, both amused and exasperated by her wandering imagination. He turned to glance at her, curling his lips in cold mockery: “What, if you’re worried, you can move in too, you know?”

“…”

You probably don’t know how popular German orthopedics is these days.

Ye Meng stepped on the gas and drove them to the community gate. As soon as Qiao Maimei got out of the car, she rushed out and vomited violently, shaking as she held onto the rusty iron railings of the old community gate, retching so hard she could barely stand.

The two sat in the car with perfect tacit understanding, quietly watching her vomit. Their postures were almost identical—one propping their left hand on the window edge, the other their right hand, both with their heads jutting out, looking at Qiao Maimei outside the window.

“Is your sister okay?”

Li Jinyu: “She’ll be fine. She’ll get used to it over time.”

“…I should still go check on her.”

Ye Meng made to get out of the car, but Li Jinyu stopped her with a sigh. “Go park the car. I’ll take her inside first.”

Ye Meng hadn’t expected to return here tonight, but given Qiao Maimei’s condition, although Li Jinyu was her brother, he was still a man and might find it awkward to ask certain questions. Ye Meng had to temporarily act as a caring sister-in-law.

But she wasn’t particularly patient either. As they talked, she felt this young girl was too reckless. Once Qiao Maimei had finished trembling, Ye Meng’s tone grew impatient: “All for twenty thousand yuan?”

Qiao Maimei looked at Ye Meng. She was beautiful, with exceptional temperament, gentle yet full of confidence. But for some reason, a sense of fear welled up in her heart. This woman was even more terrifying than her brother. Her voice became increasingly faint, her throat feeling knotted as she stammered: “I… I… just wanted to buy… a better guitar.”

Ye Meng was not understanding big sister. Right now, she just wanted to grab this girl and give her a good beating. All for twenty thousand yuan, they now had to go to such lengths to resolve this troublesome matter.

Li Jinyu didn’t have any dark web information. The so-called dark web page was just a fake webpage he had quickly programmed into the car. Thankfully, those two weren’t very educated. If either had known anything about computers, they would have immediately spotted the deception. Of course, Li Jinyu had a backup plan—even if they had noticed something suspicious, he had an excuse to get away.

As for why they went to such elaborate lengths to put on that show, it was simply to reinforce the impression of Li Jinyu as a “scumbag” in their minds. What scumbags fear most is negotiating with other scumbags. This kind of contest is essentially about who has fewer boundaries. Once they couldn’t gauge Li Jinyu’s bottom line, they easily yielded to immediate benefit.

Li Jinyu had said that while this negotiation technique didn’t apply to everyone, it was perfectly suited for those two men.

The two women were close in Li Jinyu’s room. Ye Meng looked at the two bookshelves packed full of books and suddenly became curious about what Li Jinyu usually read. Her gaze wandered back and forth along the shelves, finally settling on “Memory Palace,” beneath which was pressed another book titled “Confessions of a Depression Patient: The World Means Me Harm.”

Her heart felt as if it had been stabbed with a knife.

She looked at Qiao Maimei and said, “He just returned from Beijing today. Do you know what he went there for? To be a blood bag for someone. I don’t even know if his body can handle it anymore. He’s already very tired, and he still has to take care of your grandmother. If you don’t care about him, I do. So I don’t want him to be involved in this matter anymore—”

“Let’s call the police, sister.” Qiao Maimei stared at the floor with empty eyes, like a bloodless marionette, suddenly speaking up.

“Leave this matter to me, okay?” Ye Meng said.

Qiao Maimei looked up at her, still insisting: “Let’s just call the police. I know where they rent their house. There are many such videos inside. The police can find them easily with one search.”

Ye Meng no longer insisted, compromising as she looked at her, “Alright.”

However, no one expected that the case would be quickly resolved two days later. Before Ye Meng could take Qiao Maimei to report to the police, the two men had already been arrested. Local police found a large number of pornographic videos in their rental house, in various formats, even preserving the earliest videotapes.

It was said that the case was transferred from Beijing police to local public security before the arrests were made.

Beijing police had received numerous reports about pornographic videos, immediately traced the IP address used to upload them, and quickly issued arrest warrants.

After Qiao Maimei finished giving her statement at the public security bureau, she told Ye Meng: “It was my brother who reported them.”

Ye Meng had guessed as much. Li Jinyu wasn’t present, as he was at the hospital accompanying his grandmother. Leaning against the car door, she asked: “How did it get reported to Beijing?”

Qiao Maimei said: “It was my brother in Beijing, Yang Tianwei, who reported it.”

Li Jinyu did indeed have a real dark web address, but he had encrypted it. When he gave it to them, he lied, saying that dark web channels were very cautious now and could only be accessed using this Morse code encryption method. The decoded password would be the address. They would need to find someone who understood this code and computers.

So naturally, they needed to search for similar information online, and the system would recommend related information to them. Li Jinyu simply had Yang Tianwei find a hacker to break into their computer and push a piece of information related to hackers to them.

Thus, they naturally approached Yang Tianwei, the fake hacker. After finding Yang Tianwei, during the decryption process, Yang Tianwei had the hacker plant a Trojan program on their computer. Subsequently, those hundreds of pornographic videos were actually uploaded using their IP address by Yang Tianwei.

“They probably don’t even know who reported them,” Qiao Maimei sent Li Jinyu a message and then got into Ye Meng’s car with a sense of relief.

At that moment, Li Jinyu was in the hospital. His phone dinged twice, and he simultaneously received a message from the hacker’s wife: “Innocent sweetie, when are you coming back to Beijing?”

Li Jinyu: Not coming back. Thank your husband for me.

Xiang Yuan: No need. Remember to keep it confidential. He’s at the research institute now and fears being scolded by his professor.

Li Jinyu: .

Li Jinyu: Got it.

Xiang Yuan: If you’re not coming back, in a few days it’s your brother’s death anniversary. I’ll send a bouquet of baby daisies on your behalf. Don’t be sad, innocent sweetie. No matter how others change, Jia Mian and I still love you.

Li Jinyu wanted to reply, “I already have someone who loves me.” But he felt these words were too presumptuous—Ye Meng hadn’t said she loved him. He shook his head and deleted the message.

Li Jinyu: Mm, my grandma’s awake. Gotta go.

Qiao Maimei had been emotionally unstable lately, often having nightmares at night.

Ye Meng and Li Jinyu could barely have a conversation before she would wake up screaming. They had to take turns going in to check on her, then come back out to talk. This time, Ye Meng closed the door behind her as she came out. “Should we take her to see a psychologist tomorrow?”

The two chatted casually.

“Mm, I’ll ask her later.”

“Are you and Maimei close?”

Li Jinyu thought for a moment and said: “I was in Beijing before, and she never left this place. We haven’t seen much of each other. She came a few years ago. Our relationship is just average, but she’s among the people who have stayed around me these past few years.”

Ye Meng showed understanding, “I originally didn’t want you to get involved in this matter again. She had already decided to go to the police.”

Li Jinyu sat sprawled on the sofa with his legs open, one elbow lazily resting on the back of the sofa, just encircling where she sat. He turned his head to look at the person vaguely nestled in his arms. “Why didn’t you want me to get involved?”

From a secluded corner of the living room came the soft, intimate sound of their conversation.

“I was afraid that if they caught on, you might be entangled with these two pieces of trash. The aftermath would be troublesome. It would be better to hand it over to the police directly.”

“Worried about me?”

“You’re my boyfriend. If I don’t worry about you, who would I worry about?” Ye Meng split an orange in half and put the other half in his hand. “Even without calling the police, I had a way.”

“What way?” Li Jinyu didn’t move.

“Black eating black.”

“What black eating black?” Li Jinyu said as he picked up the much-favored basket of oranges from the coffee table and moved it away.

Ye Meng saw him take away the basket of oranges, but because it was too dark, she really couldn’t see where he put it. She had to give up. “Eating a few of your oranges—do you have to be so stingy?”

Li Jinyu smirked: “Were you going to find Cheng Kairan?”

“Yes,” Ye Meng teased him. “It seems like he’s the only one in this town who can protect me now.”

Li Jinyu didn’t take the bait. He turned off the TV with an expression that said, “Fine, I can’t protect you, so why are you still sitting here?” and began to drive her away.

The living room didn’t have the lights on, and the curtains were drawn. When the TV screen went dark, the entire living room plunged into darkness. Two vague silhouettes could be seen, half-leaning, half-sitting on the sofa.

Li Jinyu’s posture was too relaxed. He had taken off his jacket and was lazily sprawled on the sofa. His young body and ardent soul were like spring sunshine suddenly illuminated. An enchanting, ambiguous atmosphere flowed silently in the air.

Neither took the initiative to speak.

Ye Meng wasn’t afraid of the dark, but she had mild night blindness, especially in unfamiliar environments, which made her feel very insecure. If she were in a closed elevator, she might have already broken down.

Her entire heart felt as if it were being pulled up and down, and she didn’t like this feeling of being controlled. She could only slowly lean back, and as expected, she touched a warm, hard chest.

Li Jinyu lowered his head, his voice revealing no emotion, his chest slightly heaving: “Why are you leaning over?”

“Turn on the lights, Li Jinyu.” Ye Meng’s voice trembled slightly.

“No.”

“Are you doing this on purpose?” Ye Meng finally realized. “Did you know I have night blindness?”

The man’s voice was lazy, “Mm.”

Ye Meng understood: “Because of the orange just now?”

He finally said: “I suspected it before and just confirmed it now. Haven’t you noticed that you always prefer to walk under streetlights? You always turn on your phone flashlight everywhere, like a firefly.”

Ye Meng was once again impressed by his powers of observation. “Okay, sister give in. Can you turn on the lights? Do you want to see me cry?”

“Let me see you cry then.” Li Jinyu felt like a king on his mountain, unable to resist teasing her.

“Are you jealous? Because I said I would go find Cheng Kairan? I was joking with you. You probably don’t know what your sister Yaen used to do, right?”

“I’m not. I never get jealous,” he coughed once.

“Then turn on the lights.”

Li Jinyu’s elbow rested comfortably on the back of the sofa. He casually grabbed an orange from nearby, peeled it for her, and spoke nonchalantly: “Let me ask you a question then.”

Ye Meng, stiff with nervousness, her entire back tense, simply nestled in his open arms, finding a comfortable position to curl up in. “Go ahead.”

There was a strange, forbidden feeling. Though slender, he was still a man—broad and firm, a vibrant shell full of masculinity. As Ye Meng leaned against him, she realized he was quite substantial.

Her heart beat like crazy drums, pounding loudly. She reflected inwardly that, almost thirty years old, her heart could still race like this. Otherwise, she would have felt like stagnant water.

Li Jinyu reclined, his two arms encircling her. After peeling the orange, he tossed the peel into the small box on the coffee table, then lowered his head to feed her a segment. “You mentioned a crush you had for over a decade. Who was it? Do you like my face because I resemble him?”

“If I say yes, will you break up with me?”

“Mm, but you can’t lie to me,” Li Jinyu fed her while tucking her hair behind her ear and said, “If you lie to me and I find out…” He thought for a moment. “You’ll bear the consequences.”

It was at this moment that Ye Meng realized Li Jinyu was not easy to deal with.

But since she had already provoked him, she nestled in his arms and firmly shook her head: “No, no, really no. The last time was a joke. If you don’t believe me, ask Method Yan. She knows how many boyfriends I’ve had all these years.”

“Fine, if your stories don’t match, you’re in trouble,” Li Jinyu said half-jokingly, bending down to get her another orange. “Want more?”

Ye Meng turned over to lie on him, and in the warm breath, she cupped his face with both hands and asked softly: “Can I have you instead?”

The living room was quiet. Outside the yard’s fence, rain pattered on the banana leaves. Fish in the pond were eagerly and excitedly jumping out of the water. Under the dim yellow streetlights, the small town’s empty roads were shrouded in a desolate layer of rainwater.

Li Jinyu saw her like a fish, slippery in his arms. He pulled her up slightly, lazily lifting his foot—anyway, there was no escape today. “Here? What if Qiao Maimei comes out?”

Ye Meng had already eagerly wrapped her arms around his neck, took a bite, then lowered her head to bite the scar on his Adam’s apple, gently sucking, holding it in her mouth, mumbling: “Just kissing…”

Li Jinyu swallowed, his hand reaching for her waist and giving it a squeeze. His voice changed too, saying quietly, “Mm.”

Outside the fence, straw was piled haphazardly. Pedestrians walking by made it creak loudly, mixing with the old woman’s low, rambling chanting from upstairs, occasionally interspersed with a few lonely dog barks. The seemingly quiet alleyways of the small town were filled with fragments of sound.

Inside on the sofa, in this small corner, dark and secluded, a lone man and woman, young bodies pressed together—even if they caught fire, no one would notice.

Ye Meng lay on top of him, kissing her way up from his neck, finally stopping at his lips. She looked at him deeply, as if wanting to engrave him firmly in her mind—the calm and serious Li Jinyu, the insightful Li Jinyu, the clever and intelligent Li Jinyu, the lazy and annoying Li Jinyu, and now, the Li Jinyu who deeply moved and touched her heart.

He gazed at her deeply, his eyes full of tenderness, depth, and restraint.

All around was silence. Any unusual sound could move both their hearts and the sound of pecking kisses seemed exceptionally passionate. The chanting from upstairs grew increasingly clear, seeping densely into their ears. She was trying to heal him.

No prayer wheel, no Buddha light, no so-called deity.

Amid dense, low, and repetitive scriptures, she devoutly kissed the man’s brow and eyes, and in a dizzying moment, softly said into his ear: “Li Jinyu, believe me, the world means you no harm.”