Shi Niannian’s head was still covered by Jiang Wang’s school uniform.

The uniform still carried his body warmth, with a faint tobacco scent lingering around her nose.

She didn’t pull the uniform down, but lowered her gaze to fold the crumpled paper twice and stuff it into her pocket.

It was only about five minutes before a pair of shoes appeared in her line of sight—Jiang Wang’s.

She raised her head while still in uniform.

“Like a bride,” he teased with a smile.

Shi Niannian’s mouth opened slightly as she hesitantly raised her hand to lift the clothing.

Before her eyes was a scene of aftermath, as if a violent storm had just swept through. Those few boys were all lying on the ground, Cheng Qi’s clothes had a dirty spot, and the other girls were huddled in the corner.

She looked at Jiang Wang’s face: “Your spot here…”

She pointed to the position near her eye corner.

“It’s nothing,” Jiang Wang said dismissively.

Shi Niannian folded the uniform twice and extended her hand to return it: “Thank you…”

“You keep it.”

Shi Niannian withdrew her hand, holding the uniform against her chest with both hands crossed.

Jiang Wang walked forward. Shi Niannian glanced at the group of people on the ground, quickly averted her eyes, and jogged to catch up with him.

Jiang Wang walked to the parking lot, pulled out car keys from his pocket, and sat in the driver’s seat. Shi Niannian stood beside the car without moving.

She hadn’t expected him to drive here, but then she realized that he was the same age as Xu Ningqing. When Xu Ningqing graduated from high school, his uncle bought him a car, so it wasn’t that surprising to see Jiang Wang driving.

“Come over,” Jiang Wang called to her after rolling down the window.

She stepped closer and said softly, “I need to go, go home.”

The wind blew, sending the girl’s ponytail back, revealing her slender, fair neck.

Jiang Wang rested his elbow on the car window and looked her up and down: “You want to go home looking like this?”

She was dirty all over, with muddy spots on her clothes.

She didn’t move, and Jiang Wang just waited. Finally, she stepped forward, opened the back door, and got in.

By the time they drove to a shopping mall, it was already dark. The evening breeze wasn’t as hot as during the day, carrying the coolness of early autumn.

As soon as Shi Niannian got out of the car, Jiang Wang grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. His fingers hooked onto her school uniform jacket. Before she could dodge, Jiang Wang had already pulled down her zipper.

Then he bent down to retrieve his jacket from the car and tossed it to her: “Wear mine.”

“No need… You wear it.”

“I’m not cold,” Jiang Wang looked at her with drooping eyelids. “Yours is too dirty.”

Her jacket was indeed very dirty, covered in mud spots. With people coming and going around them, it wouldn’t be good to bump into others. Besides, looking so disheveled beside him, maybe Jiang Wang would find it embarrassing.

Shi Niannian hesitated for two seconds, then took off her dirty jacket. Instead of leaving it in the car, she folded it twice and stuffed it into her backpack.

“Thank you.”

The tobacco scent from his jacket once again enveloped her senses. His clothing was much larger than hers, the sleeves completely covering her hands and hiding half her thighs.

She gently sniffed and pulled the zipper up to her chest.

The vague outline of her chest made the zipper rest on a slightly raised curve.

Jiang Wang tilted his head, coughed unnaturally, and turned to walk toward the mall.

Shi Niannian calmly lowered her eyes and followed him, quietly walking alongside him into the mall. Only after entering the brightly lit shopping center did she ask: “Why did… you bring me here?”

“Do you want to buy a clean set of clothes before going home?”

She gently shook her head, declining.

She wanted to get home early now.

“Then how about watching a movie?”

“I want to… go back.”

“I saved you, shouldn’t you thank me somehow?” Jiang Wang turned his head, looking down at the top of the girl’s head as he asked with a light laugh, “Watching a movie isn’t too much to ask, is it?”

She didn’t respond, neither agreeing nor refusing, but continued following him.

Jiang Wang took it as consent and pulled out his phone to buy tickets.

With the National Day holiday approaching, all the blockbusters were waiting for the holiday period. Currently, the only options are some films they’d never heard of.

He handed his phone to her: “See which one you want to watch?”

She scrolled through the page, looked for a while, and chose an art film with a rating of only 5.8.

Jiang Wang studied it for a moment, then laughed: “Did you pick the one with the shortest run time?”

She quietly said, “I want to get back… early.”

Jiang Wang felt his patience being worn down by her.

At this hour, there weren’t many high school students watching movies.

Shi Niannian stood out in her school uniform, with a tall, handsome young man standing beside her. There was a very faint blood mark at the corner of his eye, and she wore his oversized uniform, which was his.

This attracted occasional glances from people around them.

Shi Niannian tilted her head slightly to avoid those gazes.

Fortunately, they soon had their tickets checked and entered.

Surprisingly, the theater was quite full, with about two-thirds of the seats occupied. Jiang Wang had bought seats in the last row.

Shi Niannian went in and found her seat.

Jiang Wang handed her the popcorn he’d bought outside.

She said thanks and placed the popcorn bucket between their seats.

The film started, and the lights in the hall suddenly all went out. Shi Niannian instinctively clutched her sleeve.

She had night blindness, and completely dark environments made her feel insecure, but fortunately, the screen lit up shortly after.

The air conditioning in the theater was set very low. Shi Niannian was fine wearing the jacket. She glanced at Jiang Wang from the corner of her eye; he didn’t seem cold at all.

He sat casually, lazily leaning back into his seat, chin slightly raised, his gaze falling indifferently on the screen, looking uninterested.

The boring opening and bland plot filled the theater with whispered conversations and the crunching sound of popcorn.

Shi Niannian ate popcorn very quietly. From the sound alone, Jiang Wang could imagine how carefully she ate, afraid of disturbing others watching the movie, her teeth slowly biting down.

After eating a few kernels, she turned her head and offered the popcorn to him.

“Hmm?”

She supported her hand on the armrest, leaning slightly in his direction.

Her ponytail brushed against his arm.

Lowering her voice, she whispered, “You eat too.”

Jiang Wang: “I don’t like sweet things.”

She made an “oh” sound and withdrew.

The film hadn’t ended yet, but more than half the audience had already left in succession.

Shi Niannian also found it boring. She was getting a bit sleepy and covered her mouth to yawn.

Jiang Wang shifted slightly: “Shall we leave?”

She naturally had no objection. As they walked out, Shi Niannian bent slightly, apologizing softly to the few people they disturbed on their way out.

It was almost eight o’clock.

The path around the corner was darker. Shi Niannian couldn’t see anything at all.

She tried to reach for her phone but accidentally missed a step and fell forward, steadying herself only after her arm hit the wall.

Jiang Wang didn’t manage to catch her in time.

Looking up, he saw her feeling her way along the wall, completely unable to see clearly.

He walked forward, wanting to help her, but his gaze first fell on her lips.

He stared for a long time, with a dim light in his eyes.

Then he licked his lips. Taking advantage of her inability to see clearly, he stood in front of her, extremely close.

He was about to bend down when he heard her voice: “Jiang Wang…”

His movement paused.

Shi Niannian stood sideways, reaching out her hand: “Where are you, I… can’t see clearly.”

He cursed softly, “Fuck,” straightened up, and snapped his fingers near her ear: “Here.”

Back at the car, Jiang Wang walked toward the driver’s seat, looked back, and saw Shi Niannian stopped at a small vendor’s stand.

She took out her coin purse and handed over a few coins, receiving a bag from the vendor.

Only when she walked over did Jiang Wang notice she was carrying a steaming hot egg.

“Hungry?” Jiang Wang asked.

Her slender hand reached out, her wrist glowing delicately in the moonlight: “For you.”

Jiang Wang raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

Shi Niannian looked up, her clear eyes meeting his, and pointed her index finger at her eye corner: “Otherwise… it will swell.”

He didn’t reach out to take it, his voice carrying a hint of teasing, not entirely serious: “Then you do it for me.”

He was injured because of her, so Shi Niannian withdrew her hand, took out the egg, rolled it in her palm, peeled the shell, and offered it to him again.

Her fair fingertips gently pinched the egg.

Jiang Wang smiled.

His face was arrogant and wild. This was the first time Shi Niannian directly faced his smile. His Adam’s apple moved smoothly up and down, the corner of his mouth slightly raised, with his usual languid casualness.

To match Shi Niannian’s height, he stepped forward with his long legs and bent down, bringing his face close to hers.

A square pendant dangled from his collar, hanging on a black cord around his neck.

“You do it for me.”

The distance was too close.

His warmth radiated.

Shi Niannian was stunned.

This person… was deliberately teasing again.

She placed the peeled egg in his hand: “Do it… yourself.”