From this day onward, Lin Yiran kept receiving calls from unfamiliar numbers.

Lin Yiran didn’t dare answer any of them, yet she also didn’t dare turn off her phone. She was afraid of missing messages, which, although terrifying, at least let her know that someone was watching her.

If she turned off her phone, Lin Yiran would only feel more afraid.

The next day, she bought a train ticket to the neighboring city and took the train there.

There, she used her ID card to book a cheap hotel room for three days, but that same day, she hired an unlicensed taxi at the station and returned to Lincheng.

She went back to her original guesthouse, where the landlady asked if she had eaten. Lin Yiran was startled when she heard someone speaking to her, then replied, “I’ve eaten, Auntie.”

“You don’t look well,” the landlady said with concern. “Be careful not to get heatstroke during the day.”

Lin Yiran forced a smile and said, “Thank you, Auntie.”

She returned to her room and sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought for a long time.

All day she had been extremely nervous, carefully watching everyone around her, afraid to get too close to anyone.

That night she received another message: [Went to Linyang? It’s useless, little girl. Hiding isn’t the solution. Let’s have a good talk. We only want to find your father, we won’t force you.]

Before opening the text, Lin Yiran took a couple of deep breaths. After reading it, she closed her eyes and hugged her knees.

Fear wrapped around her like a giant net, binding Lin Yiran until she had no strength left, and even her breathing trembled.

She was inexperienced and too young.

Everything she had experienced this year was too difficult, too hard to endure.

Lin Yiran locked herself in her room, no longer daring to go out.

She was like something that couldn’t bear the light, afraid to be seen by anyone. Everything outside was unknown, full of danger.

She didn’t know whose eyes were watching her. She feared that if she went out, someone would discover she wasn’t really in Linyang.

Each time her phone rang, it terrified her, so she switched it to vibrate.

The vibrating sound came periodically, but Lin Yiran no longer held it in her hand, instead setting it aside. The unknown numbers changed several times, interspersed with text messages.

The messages contained no vulgar language or direct threats. They were quite polite, only saying they wanted to talk with her. Lin Yiran had considered calling the police, but she couldn’t live at the police station forever.

After dark, she didn’t dare turn on the lights, just sat on the edge of the bed clutching her backpack.

Qiu Xing had told her to hide, but Lin Yiran felt she had nowhere to escape to.

In this dark little room, Lin Yiran thought about those days when she was trapped at home, with debt collectors outside. They would occasionally come in to frighten her, then leave again.

She also remembered that morning when Qiu Xing took her away—the middle-aged man in her house wearing only underwear. Lin Yiran remembered his gaze, naked and lecherous, scanning over her entire body.

Lin Yiran felt as though she had already been caught, surrounded by men, feeling so terrified she wanted to vomit.

She rarely thought about her father; most of the time, she only missed her mother.

But now Lin Yiran suddenly became curious—did her father know what she was facing now? What was he thinking when he left her alone at home?

Whatever his reasons might have been, at this moment Lin Yiran hated him like never before.

A new text message arrived—

[Little girl, you’re not in Linyang. You’re still in Lincheng, right? Answer the phone.]

Lin Yiran instantly threw the phone away, buried her face against her chest, her forehead pressing tightly against her knees.

She truly had nowhere to escape.

*

The footsteps approaching outside the door made Lin Yiran raise her head. She stared fixedly at the door, her nerves stretched to the breaking point.

When the footsteps stopped at the door and a knock sounded, Lin Yiran grabbed her backpack and jumped up, pulled the curtain aside, and pushed open the window.

“Who is it?”

Lin Yiran’s voice sounded steady, but if one listened carefully, the trembling in her breath was audible.

She had already shouldered her bag, her hand on the windowsill, ready to jump out at any moment.

The person outside spoke in a calm, indifferent voice that contrasted sharply with the tense atmosphere in the room: “Open the door.”

Lin Yiran’s eyelashes trembled slightly as she heard the person outside say, “It’s me, Qiu Xing.”

For an instant, Lin Yiran’s eyes widened in shock, then she immediately ran over and opened the door.

Qiu Xing stood in the doorway, looking at her with the same flat gaze as always.

This was the third time that Qiu Xing had appeared before her eyes in a moment of extreme panic and despair, just calmly looking at her with an uninvolved expression. Then, with that same expressionless face, he casually rescued her from the desperate situation. He was Lin Yiran’s savior, no matter how cold he appeared.

Lin Yiran’s chest heaved violently, her nose stung, and tears suddenly fell.

She stepped forward and helplessly clutched Qiu Xing’s arm with her ice-cold hands, looking up at him and saying, “Qiu Xing, please take me away.”

Qiu Xing didn’t shake her off, just nodded toward the room and said, “Pack your things.”

Lin Yiran said, “I’ve already packed. Everything’s in my backpack.”

In the light from the hallway, Qiu Xing glanced around the room and asked, “You don’t want your clothes?”

Lin Yiran looked back at a piece of clothing she had washed that was hanging on the back of a chair. Her hand still clutched Qiu Xing’s arm without letting go. She turned back and anxiously shook her head.

Qiu Xing used his other hand to turn on the light switch on the wall beside the door, and the room suddenly brightened.

“Take anything you need. I’ll wait for you here,” Qiu Xing said.

Lin Yiran followed Qiu Xing downstairs. The landlady saw that she looked like she had been crying and asked with a smile, “Tears of joy at seeing your boyfriend?”

Lin Yiran’s lips curved slightly, forcing a smile, not saying much.

“He just asked which room you were in, said you weren’t answering his calls. I guessed you’d fought,” the landlady continued with a smile. “Your boyfriend is quite handsome.”

Lin Yiran didn’t respond, then went over to apologetically tell her that she wouldn’t be staying any longer.

She had paid for half a month’s rent but hadn’t stayed the full time. Though the price had initially been calculated for a full month, Lin Yiran offered to forfeit the remaining rent, and the landlady didn’t say much about it, nor did she charge extra for utilities.

After returning the keys and saying goodbye to the landlady, Lin Yiran followed Qiu Xing out of the guesthouse.

She walked one step behind him. Although they were now on a busy street, she no longer felt so afraid, nor was she afraid of being seen by others.

She carried her backpack and held a bag containing her newly purchased items, including the folded bed sheets, pillowcase, and duvet cover that she was taking with her.

Qiu Xing walked ahead without looking back, his hands empty. Elderly people sitting by the roadside chatting followed them with their gaze as they passed, making the scene somewhat comical.

To passersby, they indeed looked like a couple who had quarreled—a tall boy carrying nothing, while the girl followed behind with all the bags.

Her phone continued to vibrate in her pocket, but for Lin Yiran, it no longer struck fear like a demonic bell.

The kind and warm-hearted landlord couple couldn’t make her feel safe, and the bustling crowds on the street made her feel even more in danger.

Yet Qiu Xing could.

Although he was just one person, living a life as rough as a vagrant’s, when he was in her sight, Lin Yiran felt safe.