She slept for a long time before waking up, as if an entire day had passed, and no one had called her. Xu You half-propped herself up, groggily reaching for her phone beside her to check the time.

It was already close to noon.

After getting dressed and slipping on her slippers, she went out to find Chen Xiuyun had already set the meal on the table.

The dining table was very quiet. Xu’s father had gone out to oversee a construction project, leaving only mother and daughter at home. Xu You had no appetite, keeping her head down as she slowly pushed small mouthfuls of rice into her mouth. Chen Xiuyun picked up a piece of meat and dropped it into her bowl. “Eat more vegetables.”

Her mother’s face was full of exhaustion and haggardness, which made Xu You’s heart ache, though she didn’t know how to begin speaking. She ate a few bites, then put down her chopsticks, organizing her words. Just as she was about to speak, she was stopped.

“You don’t need to say anything. From now on, don’t mention it to me either. Resolve things with that boy as soon as possible. I won’t agree to it.”

Chen Xiuyun’s voice was soft, yet it pressed down on her heart with the weight of a thousand pounds. After speaking, she stood up and took the dishes to the kitchen.

Xu You sat in the chair, staring blankly at the food on the table.

Seeing her daughter’s silent, almost wooden expression, Chen Xiuyun suppressed the fire in her heart. “Xu You, do you know why I fought with your father last night?”

“I can take care of myself,” Xu You said, gently clenching her fists.

Knowing her daughter’s stubborn nature, Chen Xiuyun angrily threw her apron at her. What followed was all the anger and petty grievances buried in daily life, words that came crashing down on Xu You’s ears:

“Why do you think I’m still with your father? Isn’t it all for you! And you? What are you doing now? You’re dating someone! And you’re still being stubborn with me! Don’t put on this half-dead look for me—nobody owes you anything!”

“You’re dating him at such a critical time—do you still want a future or not?! What will you do later? What am I supposed to do?! I’ve endured for so many years—are you trying to drive your mother to death!”

“How can you be so selfish?”

Xu You’s body stiffened, unconsciously tightening her palms.

She habitually lowered her head and said nothing more. Suddenly she felt somewhat wronged, but what she couldn’t bear most was seeing her mother cry, so she habitually didn’t argue back at all, just quietly listening.

However, she planned to save many things to tell her mother after some time.

Because she had decided last night that although the timing wasn’t right, she had confidence in herself. As long as she could control it well, her grades definitely wouldn’t decline.

She never casually made promises to people, but once she agreed to something or made up her mind about it, she wouldn’t give up until the very end.

It was the same with Xie Ci.

—

When the phone call came, it was already close to three or four in the afternoon. Xu You picked up her phone, put it on speaker and tossed it aside, continuing to work on her problems with her head down.

Song Yifan’s anxious voice came from the other end, urgently asking: “Xu You, have you seen Xie Ci? Did he call you? Is he next to you?”

Xu You’s pen stopped. She got up and sat on the edge of the bed, asking quietly: “What happened?”

“……”

As soon as he finished explaining, she immediately closed her book, found her keys, threw on a jacket, and went out.

In the taxi, Xu You repeatedly dialed Xie Ci’s phone, but it kept showing as unreachable.

As if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over her head, her heart grew colder and colder.

The closer they got to West Street North Road, the worse the traffic became. The driver glanced at the rearview mirror, pulled the car over to the side of the road, and turned back to say, “Young lady, you’d better get out here. There seems to be an incident at the intersection ahead—there’s a traffic jam.”

Xu You’s heart tightened. She had an ominous premonition and, without caring about anything else, immediately pushed open the car door.

Song Yifan’s words flashed through her mind:

“—Xie Ci’s cousin got into a conflict with people from Second High. Xu Xiaocheng just called me saying it was near West Street. I don’t know if Xie Ci took people there. I called him but he’s not answering, so I wanted to ask if he was with you. If he’s with you, tell him not to go. Something bad might happen—Second High called some guys with knives…”

As she walked, Xu You’s face paled and her heart began to panic frantically. She gripped her keys tighter, her thoughts pulled back by the conversation of two people passing by.

“—Oh my, high school students having street brawls with bloodshed nowadays—it’s really terrifying.”

“Did you see just now? Someone was lying on the ground, probably not going to make it…”

One person said with lingering fear, “Good thing we didn’t get too close. Scared me to death.”

At the street corner ahead, there was chaos, with crowds of people surrounding the scene in layers. People kept asking if someone had called 120.

Xu You started by walking, then broke into a run. The crowd was too dense—she was held back by two or three men, unable to advance or retreat.

Then from inside came an angry roar: “Get away! Don’t touch me! Ah—”

It was a cry of pain.

This voice made Xu You’s heart tighten. Her head buzzed with a ringing sound, and she pushed aside the people around her and rushed inside.

—Xie Ci!

Roars mixed with curses and hysterical screaming assaulted her eardrums. When Xu You finally pushed through, the first thing she saw was Zeng Qilin kneeling on the ground, eyes red with madness.

Red—overwhelming red everywhere, covering the ground. Xu You instantly felt all her breath sucked away, her legs going weak.

Someone pulled her backward, saying urgently: “Hey, hey, move back a bit. Why are you running inside? Be careful or you’ll get hurt.”

As soon as the words fell, the crowd let out more screams. Zeng Qilin picked up an iron rod beside him expressionlessly and, before anyone could react, mercilessly swung it at Fu Yishun nearby. “If something happens to Xie Ci today, you won’t escape either.”

Before Fu Yishun could see what the incoming black shadow was, he was knocked to the ground, half his head ringing. A few seconds later, blood poured from his nose.

The onlookers jumped back in fright, pushing and shoving each other. Xu You paid no attention to that side at all, caring about nothing, thinking of nothing—she walked straight toward Xie Ci.

He lay on the ground, his pale face and neck completely splattered with spots of blood, his lips drained of color.

Almost all color had faded away, leaving only red.

“Xie Ci…?” She trembled as she spoke, her voice not daring to be too loud, afraid of disturbing him.

She really couldn’t bear this—her voice was nearly breaking, her legs going soft.

Xie Ci’s breathing was weak, his body covered in wounds. His pupils dilated slightly, reflecting Xu You’s figure.

His gaze slowly moved upward—slender, straight legs, a clean simple white t-shirt, her delicate face lowered just like that, crashing into his exhausted vision with complete clarity.

“Damn… why did you come?” Xie Ci looked away, still having the strength to curse. But as his consciousness slowly faded, everything before his eyes kept turning white. As if looking at her for a few more seconds would make him completely unable to hold on. He spoke word by word: “Xu You… don’t look.”

Don’t look at me.

And don’t cry either.

“Okay, I won’t look. Don’t talk.” Xu You immediately agreed, her voice trembling, but tears still fell drop by drop to the ground, then spread.

She crouched down, her hands shaking, wanting to touch him but not daring to.

He wanted to say:

I’m not in pain. Why are you crying?

But Xie Ci couldn’t say anything. He just lay there, watching her cry, but hurt too much to move. His hands hurt, his heart hurt. He wanted to comfort her with a word, but his throat was as dry as a dried-up spring.

Every second passed like torture.

A sharp siren sounded, and the long-delayed ambulance finally arrived at the scene. The back door opened and a team of doctors and nurses came out with a stretcher. Hurried footsteps rushed over, and the surrounding crowd was yelled at by several security guards. Only then did Xu You snap awake.

“Tsk tsk, what kind of sin is this?” A female doctor wearing a blue mask crouched down to examine Xie Ci’s injuries. Probably used to seeing such things, she didn’t even furrow her brow upon seeing a knife lodged in his palm.

The mobile bed was pulled down from the vehicle and stopped by the roadside.

Two young nurses also followed, unloading the first aid kit and taking out disinfectant, gauze, and cotton swabs. Several people began to do simple disinfection and bandaging of Xie Ci’s wounds on the spot.

“Hiss, don’t touch me—” Xie Ci’s consciousness had been hazy, but now he experienced heart-piercing pain again. The kind of pain he couldn’t endure. Forcing himself to focus, he looked down at his hand and began struggling uncontrollably.

“Pain is normal.” Ignoring Xie Ci’s struggles, the female doctor treating the wound didn’t even look up, continuing her work methodically and ordering: “His ribs might be broken. Don’t move if there’s a fracture. Find a few people to hold him down.”

He said something Xu You didn’t hear clearly.

“Does it hurt?” she asked softly.

Xie Ci pressed his lips together and shook his head, trying hard to make sounds other than breathing.

“If it hurts, bite me. Your lips are bleeding.”

Xu You looked at his reddened eyes and gently embraced him. Xie Ci’s head was held in her arms. A slender white arm covered his thin eyelids as she whispered in his ear: “Don’t look. It’ll be over soon.”

Regarding the memories of that afternoon, many years later, Xie Ci really couldn’t remember much.

The only thing he remembered was the temperature of Xu You’s hand. Gently covering his eyes, with tears falling down, dropping on places that burned hot, so hot that his heart ached along with them.

—

When she went to school on Monday, Xu You had heavy shadows under her eyes.

After morning self-study ended, Yu Yi asked Xu You what was wrong—she didn’t look too well.

Xu You forced herself to perk up and shook her head. “I’m fine.”

The monthly exam results came out, and Xu Xingchun was still the year’s top student that everyone looked up to. Many in the class were thoroughly impressed while also resigned—some people were just naturally smart with talent, barely studying yet still achieving good rankings.

After Yu Yi pulled her to sigh about it for a while, Xu You gathered her things and left the classroom to go to Class 7.

She had been going to Class 7 frequently lately, which made Yu Yi ask several times.

Xu You waited outside the classroom. The girl sitting by the window had gotten used to it and directly stuck her head out to say: “Xie Ci didn’t come to school.”

“I know,” Xu You thought for a moment, then asked, “Did Song Yifan come?”

The girl looked back again, scanning the room. “No.”

“Okay, thank you.”

She dragged her feet back to her own classroom.

The second day, the third day, the fourth day…

Since the day of Xie Ci’s incident, he hadn’t come to school. Song Yifan was also nowhere to be seen.

Days glided smoothly by, and in a blink it was the sports meet. Xu You would occasionally space out during class. She heard that Xie Ci’s family had transferred him to another hospital.

She didn’t know how his body was now.

On the day of the sports meet, after each class walked in formation and held the opening ceremony, various competitions quickly began at the sports venue.

Xu You leaned on the railing in a daze, a slightly cool breeze sliding across her cheeks, lifting the strands of hair hanging by her ears.

With a gunshot, the young men’s bodies shot forward like unsheathed swords. Girls from each class gathered on one side of the track, shouting and cheering for their classmates.

As Xu You watched, she couldn’t help but think that if Xie Ci were here, he could probably make many girls let out earth-shattering cheers of support.

In a moment, she dismissed her own thought.

—He loved to play around so much, how could he obediently come participate in sports?

Living so carefree, always lazy, never willing to participate in this kind of group activity.

In the afternoon, Xu You went to Class 7 again and ran into Xu Xiaocheng. He had just changed into his sports uniform and was leaving the classroom when he turned around and saw Xu You standing in the hallway. He froze for a moment.

He was still standing in place, holding a sports drink in his hand, watching as Xu You walked over.

She hadn’t spoken many words with Xu Xiaocheng, but she knew he was always with Xie Ci. “Classmate, do you know where Xie Ci has been these past few days?”

“Huh?” Xu Xiaocheng laughed, his tone relaxed: “Ah Ci? He’s been obsessed with a game recently and skipped class to go to an internet cafe. A dog really can’t stop eating shit. Sister-in-law, don’t be angry—we’ll help you scold him later.”

“No need. His phone won’t go through. Can you contact him?”

Xu You looked into his eyes, her expression unchanged.

Xu Xiaocheng gradually stopped smiling. Slowly, he shook his head.

“Give me your phone. I’ll just say a few words to him,” she said calmly.

“It’s not… it’s just…” He didn’t dare meet Xu You’s eyes, making him increasingly guilty.

“—I know he’s in the hospital. You don’t need to lie to me anymore.”

This sentence successfully killed Xu Xiaocheng’s words. He didn’t speak for a long time. After a while, Xu Xiaocheng sighed and handed over his phone.

Xu You held the phone in both hands and dialed several times, but still no one answered, just a busy signal. She didn’t believe it and kept pressing redial over and over.

“Xu You, stop calling.” Xu Xiaocheng spoke up, weakly trying to stop her.

She acted as if she hadn’t heard, mechanically repeating the motion.

“Xie Ci won’t answer.”

Xu You still didn’t listen, maintaining the same posture, motionless.

“Really, stop calling. It’s no use…”

“Fine.” After a standoff, Xu Xiaocheng gave up first and said slowly: “I’ll take you there.”

They left school, got in a taxi, and went to the hospital.

She didn’t say a word the whole way, her hands clasped together. Outside, it started raining again, darkly covering the entire city’s sky, countless water droplets pouring down and colliding.

Getting out of the car, neither of them had umbrellas and were soaked through.

The road to the hospital was wet and soggy.

Xie Ci remained semi-conscious, wearing an oxygen tube with a needle in the back of his hand, surrounded by beeping machines with tangled wires.

Most of the time he was in a deep sleep.

She slowly walked over and approached him.

But Xie Ci showed no movement at all, no longer showing the happy expression when seeing her. A fragile, thin, pale complexion. He closed his eyes, shadows under his lashes, as if already asleep.

Xu You said nothing more, quietly pulling over a chair beside him to sit down, just watching him.

Not knowing how much time had passed, someone seemed to walk in from behind and handed her a cup of water.

“He’s out of danger now.”

Zeng Qilin stood behind her, bending down to say softly: “You can’t stay here long. Let’s go out first.”

On the bench in the hospital corridor, Xu You sat with Zeng Qilin all afternoon.

The haggard-looking young man sat with his legs apart, hands propping up his head, telling her in fits and starts what had happened that day.

“Our school had a conflict with Second High before… Last weekend there was a dispute that got pretty big. Later, one of their people called someone from society, and that person happened to have a previous grudge with Xie Ci…”

“It was chaotic at the time. That blonde guy, taking advantage of everyone’s lack of reaction, had a knife in his hand and stabbed Xie Ci directly.”

Speaking to this point, Zeng Qilin closed his eyes, as if unwilling to recall that day’s scene. He grabbed his own hair with both hands.

The crowd’s screams and the red blood, and the final image of Xie Ci falling to the ground.

“I’m sorry to him. I shouldn’t have called him there, knowing that before…” Zeng Qilin murmured, lighting a cigarette.

Xu You said nothing, placing her hands on her knees. After the person beside her finished speaking, she suddenly turned to ask: “That person—did he go to the police station?”

“……” Zeng Qilin paused. “What?”

“The person with the knife.”

Xu You was very calm, focusing intently on the floor as she repeated the words: “Did he go to the police station?”

The hospital light was divided into strips by the latticed window, falling on the ground in alternating light and dark.

She was soaked through, her hair also stuck to both sides of her cheeks, cold rising from the soles of her feet.

“He did,” he answered.

After a long pause, she nodded. “Good.”

Then the two of them spoke no more.

It was the sports meet, so she wasn’t in a hurry to return to school. She just sat in the hospital keeping Xie Ci company.

The light outside the window gradually darkened, the overhead fluorescent lights came on, harsh and white. Different people came and went, passing by.

Xu You didn’t know how she finally left. She just remembered the rain falling on her body—so cold.

Her spirit and body were exhausted, yet her heart was surprisingly calm.

Like the silence after heavy snow.

—

Not long after, everyone in school was spreading rumors about this incident. Many versions circulated. As long as it was gossip, everyone was too lazy to scrutinize whether the story was true or false.

After that day at the hospital, Xu You never went to Class 7 again. After class, she just sat at her desk, going nowhere. After school, she went straight home. When classmates around her discussed the matter, she would quietly leave, listening to nothing, saying nothing.

Sometimes when walking on the road, she received various probing looks.

Actually, Xu You discovered she was quite strong. At least in front of her classmates, teachers, and parents, she could maintain her original appearance—she just talked a little less.

For her, she could basically remain unmoved by such gossip and rumors.

She was naturally indifferent, not curious or gossipy, and didn’t care about other people’s scandals.

If she could not care about her own, why would she care about others’?

After a few days like this, during class break, Xu Xiaocheng came to find her, saying that Xie Ci’s consciousness had pretty much recovered.

Meaning she could go see him.

When she went to the hospital again, Xie Ci had already been transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward.

He wore blue and white striped hospital clothes, one hand wrapped in white gauze, half-leaning against the bed watching the news broadcast. His leg was still in a cast.

Hearing the door open, Xie Ci looked up and saw Xu You entering the hospital room. The moment their eyes met, both were stunned for a few seconds. She walked forward a few steps. “Xie Ci, are you feeling better?”

He seemed startled and didn’t dare look at her, his gaze falling elsewhere as he said: “Xu You, why did you come?”

From a few steps away, Xie Ci’s voice sounded as if it had been sanded. “You should go.”

She froze, her steps halting as she gripped her backpack strap tightly.

Behind her, Xu Xiaocheng’s eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing again.

God… what was this guy going crazy about now?

“Xie Ci?”

After a while, she frowned, finally finding her voice.

Xie Ci’s eyes looked out the window, his complexion pale but still showing no emotion.

“You should go.” He repeated again, his voice thin but clear, each word reaching her ears.

“—I’m not going back to school.”

For a moment, no one reacted. The hospital room was deathly quiet.

Xu You looked at him in disbelief.

The others also heard this. Xu Xiaocheng couldn’t help but speak up, stepping forward: “Xie Ci, have you gone crazy?!!”

Xie Ci’s eyelids were half-closed, but if you looked carefully, you could see the lines of his profile were clearly tense.

Xu You’s body froze in place, not knowing what to say. After a long time, she finally found her voice: “No matter what happened to you, before saying these things, you should think it over carefully. I’ll leave first.”

After she finished speaking, she turned to leave.

“—Xu You.”

Xie Ci’s lips pressed tighter, calling her name from behind, holding back for half a second before asking: “You’re really disappointed in me, aren’t you?”

He was actually very weak, even his voice showed it—feeble and powerless.

For an instant, watching Xu You’s retreating back, Xie Ci felt really, really sad. His heart seemed to plummet straight down, so he still called out to stop her.

“I’m not disappointed, Xie Ci.”

Xu You knew she hadn’t shed tears yet, so she turned around and looked into his eyes. “Except for yourself, no one has the right to be disappointed in you.”

After speaking, she paused for a moment, then lowered her head and removed the backpack from her shoulder.

Xu You held a math test paper filled with work processes and gently placed it on the table beside his bed. “Things you left behind.”

“Xie Ci, don’t make decisions about many things lightly. When you’ve really thought it through, send me a text to tell me.”

The door closed.

He lay back on the bed. His gaze stared blankly ahead, and the wound began to throb with piercing pain again.

Wind came in through the window, and the math paper held down rustled loudly.

Xie Ci remained motionless, staring intently at what Xu You had left behind.

Someone seemed to be standing behind him.

Not knowing what else he was expecting, Xie Ci’s heart suddenly tightened. After holding out for a long time, he still couldn’t help but turn his head.

Xu You just stood there quietly watching him.

Xu Xiaocheng had actually gone out. The two were too close—Xu You could even clearly see the joy that flashed through Xie Ci’s eyes, though he couldn’t suppress it.

Like light suddenly bursting forth, but quickly dimming again.

Seeing she made no sound, Xie Ci changed position and said stubbornly: “Why did you come back?”

Xu You watched, sighing in her heart, and spoke up to ask: “Why are you crying?”

The hospital bed was narrow and small. Xie Ci curled up, turned away, put down his phone, and vigorously wiped the tears from his eyes with his palm.

For a long time there was no movement. Xu You walked over and closed the window.

Leaning on the windowsill, she let out a soft sigh.

“Didn’t you promise me? Why did you still go fight?” Her tone was calm, without accusation, as if merely stating a fact.

“You really don’t need to care about me.” After hearing her words, Xie Ci lowered his lashes, the light in his eyes sparse and dim, seemingly unmoved.

“Why shouldn’t I care about you?” Xu You asked.

“You didn’t like me before anyway, and now my hand is ruined—”

A pair of clean white sneakers entered his field of vision, and only then did he look up blankly.

Immediately after, a slap came whistling across, the crisp sound of it hitting his face echoing loudly in the quiet hospital room.

The rerun of the news broadcast on the TV had ended.

Xie Ci was struck sideways, but what he thought in his heart was:

Why do women all like to slap people?

His mother did it, and so did Xu You.

The difference was that being hit by her left no anger in his heart at all.

Actually, it was still a bit awkward.

Xie Ci wished he could turn into a tornado and whoosh right out, taking Xu You with him in the whirlwind.

Rather than now—lying on the bed unable to move, being stared at by her like this. His face burning painfully.

“Who said your hand is ruined? Don’t you have any common sense? Xie Ci, are you illiterate?!!”

Just now, hearing him talk more and more absurdly, she couldn’t control the anger suddenly rising within her.

That crisp slap, and such a rare display of temper. It stunned Xie Ci completely.

His mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t say anything.

After a while, Xu You took several deep breaths to stabilize her emotions before continuing: “Even if the hand tendon is severed, it doesn’t mean anything. As long as you actively cooperate with the doctor’s treatment and persist with rehabilitation yourself, it can slowly get better.”

“If you keep this attitude, you don’t deserve to have anyone like you, including me.”

—

The nurse who had been changing Xie Ci’s bandages recently noticed something was clearly off about him.

Like right now—that handsome young man in room 201 who had always been silently immersed in his own world suddenly asked the little nurse: “Can I ask you a question?”

Xie Ci was good-looking. Even while ill, he couldn’t hide his naturally refined features. Especially those eyes—when he stared at you seriously, there was always an unconscious feeling of shyness.

The little nurse kept her head lowered, her face red. “What question?”

“Look at me—am I handsome right now?” Xie Ci used the hand that could still move to touch his own face.

His manner was so earnest, as if he were truly troubled.

The little nurse: “……”

When Zeng Qilin came to see Xie Ci, he found him actually holding a pen, staring distractedly at a test paper on the table.

Beside it was an open math book—Xie Ci was actually studying math formulas!

Had red rain fallen from the sky?

Zeng Qilin’s expression was shocked as he reached over to pat his shoulder. “Ah Ci, what are you…”

Xie Ci didn’t even look up, his brow slightly raised. “Move your hand. Don’t disturb my studying.”

You call this studying?!!

“…..” Being such a smart person, Zeng Qilin instantly grasped the key point. “Xu You came to see you?”

Xie Ci immediately replied: “None of your business.”

Obviously yes.

After being choked a few times, Zeng Qilin didn’t get angry. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief, the guilt that had been weighing on his heart for days easing slightly.

Xie Ci finally had some vitality, unlike before when he wouldn’t answer any questions.

He didn’t know what Xu You had said to Xie Ci to make him change so much in just one short afternoon. Zeng Qilin was a bit puzzled, but it didn’t matter anymore. “It’s best if you can think things through. Nothing is more important than your own happiness.”

Xie Ci hummed and said slowly: “Don’t be like Xu You.”

At 7:00 PM, the TV in front of him began broadcasting the news program on time. Xie Ci pressed his lips tightly together, quietly watching the TV screen, but his mind echoed with what Xu You had said to him that afternoon.

Normally she hardly spoke, and her Mandarin wasn’t very standard either. This time was unprecedented—angry and anxious as she scolded him.

Yet there was no mockery or contempt whatsoever.

Thinking about it, he couldn’t help but laugh out loud.