Saturday.

A university rest day that shouldn’t have many students, yet because of spreading gossip, the phenomenon of students lingering on campus occurred.

There was light rain.

The balcony door was open. A few sparse threads of fine rain drifted into the dorm. A thin layer of moisture on the floor, even the drawing paper became somewhat soft.

The pencil lead slid across the paper, no crisp feeling, no sound. The lines somewhat blurred. Pinching an eraser the size of a fingertip to wipe, it didn’t work very well.

Dong Xi’s hand rested on the drawing paper.

Until the dorm door behind her opened, only then did her mind return. Her wrist also trembled slightly. She didn’t turn her head. Roommate Luo Xin and a girl from the adjacent dorm came in chatting. The girl happened to ask Luo Xin: “You didn’t go back either?”

“I played pretty late yesterday, so I just decided not to go home this week. Plus, a bunch of reporters suddenly flooded into the school. They’ll randomly grab you and ask questions. Now I don’t even want to leave the dorm building.”

“I spent all morning discussing yesterday’s events with my dorm. It’s about to explode like fireworks! So what’s really going on between Jin Yiken from the Physics Department and Long Qi…”

The words stopped unfinished, silenced by a light shoving sound between arms. Behind her, human voices suddenly disappeared, only that bit of awkward footsteps remained. Dong Xi stood up. The chair legs scraped against the floor, creaking. She put away the pen, paper, and drawing board, placed the books she was preparing to return to the library into her bag, put on her scarf, pulled on her coat.

As she passed the two people, Luo Xin and that girl stood silently against the desk edge, not saying a word. Only after Dong Xi left the dorm door did that girl’s voice transmit from inside again: “Did she really get a room with Zhang Muyi yesterday…”

Then it was suppressed by Luo Xin’s heavy “Shh.”

The temperature had dropped.

Just as she exited the dorm building, a gust of cold wind rushing toward her lifted her scarf. At the steps, several strangers with a strong social air surrounded girls coming in and out asking questions. Dong Xi wordlessly bypassed them. The wind was getting colder wave by wave, mixed with a bit of rain, hitting the scarf, damp and cold.

There were as many people on campus as on a regular class day.

The library was the only quiet place.

In the elevator rising from the first floor to the fifth floor, red numbers jumped layer by layer. Five or six people’s breathing mixed with the sound of a girl behind rapidly typing on her phone keyboard. WeChat notification sounds rang over and over. When the elevator rose to the fourth floor, the girl turned down the notification volume.

Fifth floor, a “ding” sounded.

But Dong Xi didn’t move.

Even the people behind her didn’t pass her to exit the elevator, because just now, the instant the elevator door opened, Jin Yiken’s profile happened to pass right in front of her. Dong Xi stood silently in place, while Jin Yiken’s phone was at his ear. His voice came out slowly through a thick mask: “At the campus library, you enter from the east gate…”

The nasal tone was obvious. His whole person was also shrouded in a layer of faint dejection. The word “enter” hadn’t finished falling when, because of the elevator’s movement, he cast a glance this way.

Then he met her gaze.

Behind her, the girl’s thumb pressing keys was twice as fast as before, as if catching some huge gossip, tapping away in the silent elevator. Dong Xi’s fingers pressed against the cold book cover. Her breathing was steady, looking at Jin Yiken across from her whose breathing was equally steady.

Deep affection, intense jealousy.

Yet it didn’t ferment, also showed no signs of appearing on their faces. Under the watching eyes of surrounding people, it transformed into a moment’s indifference. Jin Yiken’s gaze didn’t linger long, as if looking at a passerby, lazily sweeping over, indifferently withdrawing. Only then did Dong Xi’s breathing quicken slightly. Jin Yiken continued walking his path, saying the second half of the sentence: “…Call me when you arrive.”

This was the handling method he chose.

The people behind were like they’d just experienced a breath-holding competition, now letting out rough breaths in succession, leaving the elevator door one after another, shoulders brushing, elbows bumping. But Dong Xi remained unmoving. The elevator slowly closed before her.

One second before it was about to close completely, she finally raised her hand, “slapping” it against the door. The students ahead all turned back, watching the elevator door reopen, watching her inside who hadn’t shown any expression change throughout.

She walked out of the elevator.

The library had many people but was quiet. Daylight wasn’t strong, only thinly climbing a layer on the tabletops by the windows. Dong Xi sat at that long table edge. The glass panel blocked the rain but couldn’t block the wind sounds, whistling by her ears, covering the sounds of surrounding students rapidly pressing keyboards. She bent over drawing sketches.

Jin Yiken sat in an empty seat five rows diagonally in front of her, alone.

She had seen his state. No books on the desk, mask not removed, silently sitting in that place. His whole person was pressed down by a layer of heavy emotion. The movement when Dong Xi walked past didn’t stir up the slightest attention from him.

In the long passage of time, he only coughed a few times.

Later, with a “slap” sound in front of her, book rubbing against tabletop, she looked up and saw Lin Hui pulling out the chair across and sitting down.

She continued looking down to draw the sketch in her sketchbook.

But the sketchbook under her pen was suddenly pulled away. The pen tip drew a long line on the paper. Her hand rested 5cm in front of the tabletop. Immediately after, Lin Hui slid a folded paper slip in front of her: “Just now a guy asked me to pass this to you.”

Lin Hui’s expression wasn’t pleasant, staring at her intently, angry, resentful, but deliberately not expressing it verbally, only making the atmosphere heavy. Dong Xi took the paper slip and unfolded it.

On the thin paper slip was written a line of flamboyant characters. She quietly finished reading and folded it up. But Lin Hui had no intention of respecting her privacy, immediately snatching the paper slip back from her hand: “You’re really something, at this critical moment you can still be ambiguous with both sexes…”

—Next time you want to prove your sexual orientation, welcome to get a room with me, satisfaction guaranteed…136XXXXXXXX.

…

This line of words and a string of phone numbers was written on the paper slip.

After two or three seconds of silence, the paper slip was crumpled into a ball in Lin Hui’s palm. Dong Xi moved the sketchbook in front of her and continued drawing.

“You really just don’t know how to get angry, do you?”

No answer.

Silence, wind sounds and rain sounds finally drove Lin Hui to urgency. She reached out to grab the drawing pen in Dong Xi’s hand, but Dong Xi moved her hand away. Lin Hui grabbed empty air.

“Getting angry is wanting the other party to notice your emotional reaction to the situation, thereby realizing their own mistake. But in this kind of situation, the other party’s purpose is to see my reaction, so getting angry is useless to me.”

Then, glancing at Lin Hui: “Useless to you too.”

Lin Hui stared at her sudden attitude change, somewhat dazed, but quickly reacted. Unable to grab the pen, she pushed the sketchbook on the table aside. The book slid to the floor with a thud. Students in the two rows around looked over at the sound. Lin Hui leaned back against the chair, with a broken-jar attitude: “It’s useful. I feel great inside.”

Dong Xi’s chest rose and fell slightly.

Then she pulled out the chair, bent down to pick up the sketchbook. Lin Hui said: “Despicable.”

She didn’t respond, stuffing some drawing papers that had scattered from the sketchbook back in place.

“Taking advantage of Zhang Muyi’s feelings for you to do this kind of thing, then with an innocent victim’s attitude going to find Long Qi, making it seem like you’re sacrificing yourself for her. Moral blackmail.”

Perhaps because she got no response, Lin Hui’s anger was far from vented. The chair legs scraped harshly against the floor. She crouched down and scattered the book Dong Xi had just organized again: “Now it’s good. Getting together with you based on this kind of guilt is just a matter of time. Happy? Smile!”

“You look so pitiful when you’re anxious.”

Dong Xi replied.

Looking at Lin Hui, she forcibly pried the sketchbook back from Lin Hui’s hands: “Long Qi doesn’t need to take any responsibility, won’t give me any response either. Up until now, you’re clearly not too late to do anything, but you don’t do it. So don’t take your anger out on me because you can’t control her choice. Wait until you’ve been in her life for three years before talking.”

Lin Hui was speechless on the spot. Dong Xi folded the scattered papers one by one, packing them into her bag. Under the burning gazes of students in the two surrounding rows, she stood up. Only when she was leaving did Lin Hui recover, laughing coldly and saying in a low voice: “So being a third party is something to be proud of?”

This sentence made Dong Xi’s scalp tingle.

Her gaze uncontrollably looked toward the direction five rows ahead. Jin Yiken still sat there, alone, defeated and desolate. He didn’t spare a single second of attention because of the commotion here. After pausing for three or four seconds, she continued walking.

Walking.

Ignoring Lin Hui’s jealousy and resentment burning behind her, bypassing four rows of tables, turning into the aisle between the fifth row of tables, her heartbeat gradually covering the wind sounds, rain sounds, surrounding discussion sounds. She got closer and closer to Jin Yiken. Jin Yiken’s mask covered most of his face. His eyes were closed. His whole person was lazily sprawled. The restless miscellaneous sounds around gradually lowered when Dong Xi stopped beside him. Pairs of eyes stared hotly at the two of them.

“Do you have time? I’d like to talk with you.”

She said.

Jin Yiken didn’t respond.

Didn’t even open his eyes, showed no signs of giving her any reaction. Dong Xi patiently waited for him for five seconds, reminding: “Jin Yiken.”

Still didn’t acknowledge her.

Then, sensing some not-quite-right state, her voice slowed, calling again: “Jin Yiken?”

Her hand unconsciously lifted, slowly covering his forehead. The icy palm touched burning skin. Lin Hui stared at her from afar. Students all stared at her. Her brow furrowed lightly.

And Jin Yiken’s center of gravity tilted to another side due to this slight pressure.

Giving Dong Xi no reaction time, the sketchbook in her hand fell all over the floor. She quickly supported Jin Yiken’s shoulder, one hand propping against the tabletop, one hand circling his neck, pulling him back to center. Immediately after, she raised her head toward the surroundings: “Help call the medical teacher!”

All around immediately became restless. She freed another hand to take her phone, searching through her contacts for Long Qi’s number. But as her finger was about to press the “dial” button, it suddenly paused. She breathed.

Lin Hui’s words were vivid in her mind. Jin Yiken’s whole body was burning hot. And her finger trembled slightly because of a certain predictable turn of events.

The phone Jin Yiken had placed on the table rang.

The caller ID showed “Uncle Gu.” Dong Xi ultimately held back that breath. The phone page switched from contacts back to the home screen. Instead, she answered Jin Yiken’s phone: “Hello?”

“Where’s the car parked?”

Almost simultaneously, the other party asked. The two voices overlapped. The other party immediately followed up asking: “Who are you?”

The voice was very young, even somewhat familiar. Dong Xi paused, but the other party recognized the voice before she did: “Dong Xi?”

The one who came was Gu Mingdong.

Of all people, Gu Mingdong.

Someone she hadn’t seen since after the college entrance exam. According to Yan Yan, he hadn’t gotten into any good school, was arranged by his family to work at some private enterprise, became a working person earlier than his peers. Still had a buzz cut, was slightly taller and sturdier than before, also darker. Wearing a jacket coat, the leather covered with rainwater, both hands in his pants pockets. The first sentence was: “Your school doesn’t have a place to park?”

Then looking toward Jin Yiken: “Fuck, I came through wind and rain to pick him up, and he’s sleeping here?”

“I said he has a fever. Don’t be selectively deaf. The nearest hospital is two streets away. Hurry and take him, don’t waste time.”

“Haven’t seen you for half a year and your character has changed quite a bit,” Gu Mingdong still had that unhurried appearance, “willing to speak long sentences with commas now.”

“Gu Mingdong.” She called.

He finally started to help. Dong Xi asked one more question: “Who is Uncle Gu?”

“He gave my dad the contact name ‘Uncle Gu’?” Gu Mingdong answered a question with a question. “How rare.”

All around was a commotion. Dong Xi looked at Gu Mingdong. When he had walked three steps away, she asked again: “Uncle Gu was supposed to come originally, wasn’t he?”

“My dad just finished surgery and is recuperating at home. I’m replacing my dad to work.” Probably sensing the wariness in her tone, Gu Mingdong was impatient. “Want to come along or not?”

Hearing that “Uncle Gu” was the Jin family’s driver, Dong Xi didn’t inquire further, only asking: “…How long to the hospital?”

“What hospital,” he replied, “waiting for reporters to photograph?”

Later, Gu Mingdong drove carrying the unconscious Jin Yiken and Dong Xi to a residential complex not far away. On the road, he contacted the Jin family’s family doctor. By the time they reached the complex’s underground parking garage, the doctor’s group had already been waiting at the elevator entrance with medical equipment. Jin Yiken was immediately taken care of properly.

The elevator went directly to the twenty-sixth floor, his current apartment.

A very large apartment.

The doctor was busy helping him with IV drip in the master bedroom. Dong Xi sat on the living room sofa. Her phone screen was lit. She looked at Long Qi’s phone number for a long time, her fingertips rubbing along the phone body’s edge.

While Gu Mingdong wandered around the living room.

He tried lighting the lighter scattered on the kitchen counter for a while, then picked at fruit in the fruit bowl. He also rummaged out several pieces of imported chocolate from the fridge and unwrapped and ate them. Then from who knows which room he found a bottle of red wine. The uncorking sound went “pop.” Dong Xi looked over. He tilted his head back, gulping it down. After drinking, he saw something in the table drawer by the entrance. Squinting, he put the wine bottle aside, took out a whole carton of foreign cigarettes from the drawer, nimbly tore open the packaging, took out two packs and stuffed them in his pocket.

The second carton of cigarettes he took from the drawer was women’s cigarettes produced in Germany. He specifically looked her way. Dong Xi looked away.

Next to the TV wall directly opposite the coffee table was a decorative panel almost as tall and wider than the wall, wrapped in paper, occupying half the hallway, waiting to be installed for decoration. Gu Mingdong’s attention indeed went to this decorative panel afterward. He held a cigarette in his mouth, tearing open the wrapping paper with a “rip.” Long Qi’s large photograph appeared before his eyes. He let out a loud whistle, turning back to glance at Dong Xi.

“Should we burn it?”

The cigarette butt was really about to press on the photo paper. Dong Xi stood up. Gu Mingdong immediately flicked the cigarette. Cigarette ash fell to the floor. The photo paper was unharmed. His face was full of malice.

“Are you done rummaging?”

“It’s so rare to enter Jin Yiken’s golden house where he hides his dragon. I treasure this opportunity.” While speaking, he crouched by the coffee table. Under the coffee table was a drawer. Opening it, it was full of casually placed various famous watches. Gu Mingdong smiled at Dong Xi, grabbed a watch and put it on his wrist. “Tsk.”

Dong Xi frowned and bypassed the coffee table, walking toward the master bedroom.

Jin Yiken was asleep.

The IV drip was almost finished. The nurse was doing finishing work by his arm. Dong Xi supported her arm waiting. Her gaze gradually moved to the bedside table. On the cabinet surface were several black hair ties for women and a lipstick.

And one wall beside the bed had traces of being cleaned. A hole remained in the center, which by layout should originally be where a wall lamp hung. Now, it might be to make room for that giant portrait in the living room.

Everywhere were her traces.

—So being a third party is something to be proud of?

…

Lost in thought, the doctor called out a greeting. Dong Xi returned to her senses, listening to medical advice. Outside the master bedroom, game sounds began to interfere with conversation. Gu Mingdong had already familiarly turned on the TV to game mode. He was lying on the sofa, gripping the game controller playing a zombie game. The volume was huge. Headshot sounds, blood-splattering sounds, zombie roar sounds filled the entire living room, accompanied by several of his loud curses. When leaving, the doctor glanced that way, giving Dong Xi one more instruction: “He needs quiet rest inside.”

She nodded.

Seeing off the medical team, returning to the living room, Gu Mingdong was still tirelessly exploding zombie heads.

“Time to go.”

Accompanying this sentence, the TV screen went dark with a “tsch” sound. Dong Xi put the remote back in its place. Gu Mingdong was playing at a high point, half a curse contained in his mouth. The game controller was thrown onto the carpet. He flashed up like lightning, glaring at her.

Dong Xi’s expression didn’t change. Gu Mingdong’s quick temper in her view was like a child’s outdated move. She closed the open drawer under the coffee table, cleaned up some fruit peels into the trash can. Her eyes had no ripples whatsoever.

“Fine,” Gu Mingdong said, “originally I just wanted to come see how the man who dumped Long Qi is doing. Now it’s buy one get one free. I also got to see the prowess of the woman who stole Jin Yiken away.”

Dong Xi looked at him.

He spat into the trash can: “I’m leaving.”

Walking to the entrance, Gu Mingdong suddenly turned back: “Yo, what about you? Planning to stay alone together, a man and woman in one room?”

“I’ll leave after you leave.”

“Your circle is really interesting. Anyone can pair up with anyone,” he continued sarcastically, “when will you have Qi’er and Bai Aiting get together? They say the deeper the hate, the deeper the love. These two getting together might compose a millennium romance.”

“You quite love Jin Yiken too.”

Gu Mingdong laughed coldly.

Then he turned around, putting on shoes. Dong Xi watched him from behind the entrance. But his shoe was half on when he suddenly pulled his foot out.

The door that had already been opened was also closed by his raised hand, shaking the shoe cabinet. Gu Mingdong had his back to her, stroking his neck.

“I changed my mind. I don’t want to leave.”

Dong Xi was slightly stunned.

“Tell me… if in Jin Yiken’s house, in front of him, I slept with you, after Long Qi knows about this, what reaction will she have?”

This sentence was spoken in a bland tone from Gu Mingdong’s mouth, as if discussing “what to eat tonight.” But the more understated, the more frighteningly realistic. A warning drum struck in the air. Dong Xi’s neck stiffened somewhat, staring at him.

“What do you mean…”

“What other meaning could there be?”

Outside the apartment building, rain poured torrentially. Inside the living room, you could hear a pin drop.

Gu Mingdong turned around.

At the same time, Dong Xi also turned, but his movement was too swift, in one motion hugging her waist and pressing her to the floor. Her knee knocked heavily on the ground. She let out a muffled groan. In that instant, realizing Gu Mingdong was serious, she was about to shout. The back of her neck was firmly gripped by his palm, heavily knocked to the floor! Her forehead dizzy, immediately after, she was hoisted up, abdomen pressed against his shoulder. She gasped in a muffled breath.

Gu Mingdong carried her through the living room.

The field of vision before her eyes was a blur. She murmured out a sound “Jin…” But the scene of the master bedroom quickly passed before her eyes. Gu Mingdong carried her into the guest bedroom, she was thrown onto the bed. Hearing the sound of the door closing and locking, she struggled toward the headboard, but her waist felt Gu Mingdong’s pulling and groping. She was immediately dragged back to the foot of the bed, pressed down by his knee. She shouted: “Let go!”

A sound of clothes tearing, her back went cold. She closed her eyes tightly. Her hands were tightly restrained. In pain, she cried out: “You’ll get your retribution!”

“My retribution alone offsets the pain of you three people!”

“I’ll call the police!”

“You should think about how to make yourself feel good instead!”

“Jin Yiken!!”

Dong Xi screamed. Gu Mingdong said: “He can barely protect himself now!”

Her hand frantically fumbled in her clothing pocket for her phone. Just as she pressed the home button, Gu Mingdong snatched her phone away, flinging it to the headboard. At that moment, she truly felt despair. Gu Mingdong’s hands and feet nimbly pulled at her shirt tucked into her skirt. She was pressed down unable to move. Her voice was muffled in the bedding, mixed with crying.

Ding—!

When Gu Mingdong’s phone rang, like a thunderclap shattering Dong Xi’s crying. He changed to using his arm to press her, the other hand taking his phone from his pants pocket, glancing at it.

Then, he laughed maliciously.

Dong Xi was flipped over. Her eyes were red, staring hard at Gu Mingdong. Gu Mingdong also stared at her. The phone was still ringing. He turned the phone screen toward her.

Caller: Jin Yiken.

The instant Dong Xi saw it, tears slid from the corners of her eyes all the way to the sheets. She wanted to get up, but was heavily pressed back down by Gu Mingdong. He gasped and said: “This time, we’re really in front of him.”

“Shameless…”

Gu Mingdong pressed speakerphone to answer the call. The urgent ringtone stopped, followed by a room full of tense breathing.

“Going to open the door or not?”

Jin Yiken’s voice carried some exhaustion and hoarseness, heavily transmitting from the other end of the transmission.

At this moment, six o’clock in the evening, rain still falling, the room was dark. Dong Xi was trembling. His voice was like a pillar of light, completely dispersing the fear in the entire space. But it was also like fire, igniting the rebellious heart of Gu Mingdong, this dry kindling.

“You can get up already? What, waiting to beat me up?”

“In your endless list of enemies, only Dong Xi’s name isn’t there,” he replied slowly, “why mess with her?”

“No reason, just want to feel good.” Gu Mingdong held the phone in one hand, the other hand pulling at Dong Xi’s collar. When Dong Xi tried to move, he pressed her shoulder. “Thinking of you desperately explaining this matter to Long Qi in the future, that funny scene makes me feel good.”

She coughed.

And he bent down close to her ear, hot breath sliding into her neck: “Thinking of a woman who usually lives like an orchid in an empty valley being pressed under me to do as I please, I feel good.”

As the words fell, Dong Xi gave him a hard slap. Gu Mingdong grabbed her hand. Dong Xi groaned in pain from the force. Gu Mingdong shouted into the phone: “Aren’t you clever! I’m live-streaming helping you eliminate your rival. Not excited?”

“Then you’re not planning to open this door.”

“Now who’s threatening who!” As if to make sure those outside the door could hear, Gu Mingdong deliberately roughly tore open her outer clothes. Buttons on the garment bounced to the door panel. Dong Xi groaned in a muffled voice. Her neck was gripped by Gu Mingdong. “Jin Yiken, three million!”

“One million to buy Dong Xi, one million to buy Long Qi, another million to buy the apology you owe me. How about it? This money means nothing to you, right? Now it can buy two lives and one debt. Just depends on whether you’re willing!”

“What apology,” Jin Yiken asked, more like stating, “oh, you mean in freshman year when you were expelled for extortion and wanted my family to smooth it over, and I didn’t pay attention to you, that matter?”

“Gu Mingdong you…”

Dong Xi’s mouth was covered by his hand again. Her voice couldn’t come out. Tears kept falling. And he began pulling at her skirt. Dong Xi’s screams were muffled in his palm. Hair stuck to her neck. Veins bulged in her neck.

“You’re so arrogant, does Uncle Gu who just had surgery know?”

At this time, Jin Yiken, in his exhaustion, unhurriedly brought in this sentence.

“What’s my dad got to do with this!”

Gu Mingdong retaliated without hesitation. But immediately after, a third voice suddenly appeared on the phone, as if crouching and listening for a long time, until this moment when it could make a sound, trembling with anger, old and rough, accompanied by the sound of table-slapping on that end, cursing loudly: “Beast!”

Gu Mingdong’s body stiffened.

The entire guest bedroom also fell into a kind of shocked silence. Dong Xi felt his palm tremble. She gripped the sheets, silent as a winter cicada.

“Besides recording videos to threaten people, phones have another function called conference call. Do you know that?” Accompanied by an unrecovered cough, Jin Yiken said.

“Old Gu, give me the phone, I’ll talk to my son,” a female voice with a slight dialect inserted on the phone’s end. After a round of phone handoff sounds, a panicked female voice cut in, “Mingdong, Mingdong, listen to Mom, quickly open the door, let this young lady go… you absolutely cannot touch this young lady, do you hear! You absolutely cannot do foolish things!”

“Beast…” The forceful male voice suppressed the female voice. “How can you face Yiken’s father who provided you work? You ungrateful wretch, get back here right now!”

“Old Gu! Old Gu, don’t get agitated! Old Gu… Mingdong, come back quickly! Your father’s surgical incision hasn’t healed yet, can’t handle stimulation!”

That side was in chaos like a messy pot. This side was at daggers drawn. Gu Mingdong gripped Dong Xi’s hand increasingly hard, hard to the point of trembling. Jin Yiken’s voice cut in again: “Gu Mingdong.”

…

“Originally something that could be solved one-on-one, you want to involve outsiders, then I can only involve your parents. I’m also saying this for Uncle Gu to hear. If you touch Dong Xi today,” he said, “I’ll have you die in this house.”

In front of Mother Gu and Uncle Gu, spoken slowly. The tone light as a feather, the meaning harsh and deadly. Dong Xi was panting on the bed, looking at Gu Mingdong’s reddened eyes.

At this time, Mother Gu’s loud shout came through the phone: “Mingdong! Your father is bleeding! Come back quickly! Quick!”

Gu Mingdong was stunned for a moment. Dong Xi took advantage of this gap to push him. He propped himself to the side, leaving a gap. She quickly got to the door, unlocked and opened it. As soon as the door opened, Jin Yiken’s figure was right before her eyes, phone at his ear, lifting his eyes to look at her.

Unlike the determined and calm voice on the phone, Jin Yiken’s state was far worse than what was heard. Sweat on his forehead, body still burning hot, not much better from the IV. His gaze lingered on her for a few seconds, moved to behind. Gu Mingdong’s hand slapped onto the doorframe: “Jin Yiken!”

“Mingdong! Hurry! Your father needs to go to the hospital!” Mother Gu urgently shouted through the phone again.

“You’ll always protect these two! Otherwise, Dong Xi and Long Qi, I’ll ruin one of them sooner or later for you to see. You want one-on-one, I want both of them!”

“You beast!” Uncle Gu roared.

At this time, Jin Yiken didn’t say any more provocative words. Even though Gu Mingdong’s words were poisonous, at this moment, out of consideration for Uncle Gu, he only replied to the phone: “He’ll be back right away.”

This sentence was so much more mature than anything Gu Mingdong said.

Gu Mingdong left with a wave of his hand. When he reached the entrance, Jin Yiken hung up the phone and said again: “Leave the watch.”

Gu Mingdong’s steps paused. Jin Yiken put his hand in his pants pocket: “The watch on your hand has a market price of 150,000. As long as I report to the police, it’s enough for you to squat in jail for fourteen years. Do you want to take revenge on me, or do you want to drink tea in the station for fourteen years first?”

Gu Mingdong’s hand clenched into a fist. Not long after, he lifted his hand to remove the watch. Metal sounds at the wrist. The watch was placed on the entrance cabinet. He left the apartment. The door slammed with a “bang”! The entire floor shook.

Only when the living room was left with only the sound of heavy rain striking the windows did Dong Xi’s taut nerves truly relax. Her steps were a bit soft. She supported herself against the wall. The collar of her outer clothes had been torn open by Gu Mingdong into a sizable gap. She raised her hand to cover it.

“There are her clothes in the bedroom closet. Take them when you leave.”

She looked toward him.

Jin Yiken’s gaze didn’t move toward her. The person who had said harsh words a moment ago had now exhausted all his energy. As he spoke, his steps slowly paced toward the living room. Rain light cast into the living room, cast on his shoulders.

He was coughing.

Passing the coffee table, his steps paused. He stopped before that giant portrait whose wrapping paper Gu Mingdong had torn open. Gazing. Dong Xi turned and entered the guest bedroom.

Melancholy.

She stayed in the guest bedroom for a full quarter hour. Straightened her clothes, steadied her emotions, took her phone. When she came out, Jin Yiken was already sitting on the living room sofa. The scene at seven in the evening, lights just coming on in the rain outside the building. Inside the room, no lights, a patch of darkness. His whole person bathed in blackness. Hair hanging over his forehead. A cigarette in his hand. The cigarette end a cluster of sparks, burning the moist water vapor in the air.

His phone was lit on the coffee table. On the screen was Long Qi’s contact page, in a dialing state.

Scanning this detail, her heart sank without warning. The call wasn’t on speaker, but the living room was too quiet. The “beep” sound transmitting from the phone body was so clear. Dong Xi’s ears grew slightly hot. She listened carefully.

After the fifth beep, the system prompt “line busy” clearly transmitted out. Jin Yiken’s face had no expression. Letting the dialing end, he took a drag on his cigarette.

This silent appearance also maintained for a long time. Dong Xi stopped by the sofa, gently placing two boxes of medicine on the coffee table: “The anti-inflammatory pills and fever-reducing medicine the doctor instructed you to take. Take them according to the instructions. Don’t forget.”

…

“About Gu Mingdong’s matter…”

“He’s garbage. Whether to speak about it publicly, who to tell, how to handle it, it’s all up to you.” Jin Yiken slowly continued.

Flicking the cigarette with his finger. Cigarette ash fell.

Dong Xi paused for a few seconds, saying: “Then I’ll go… rest well.”

“You said you wanted to talk with me.”

Dong Xi stopped, turned her head to look at him. He remained the same gloomy and reticent as the previous moment. So he had heard that sentence. So he knew about the things she had done. She stood in place. After a long time: “Let’s talk next time. Now isn’t suitable.”

“Don’t start caring about my situation just because I saved you once. This kind of self-righteous understanding of the other party that actually wastes people’s time—you and she both operate this pretty badly.”

Words clearly spoken word by word nailed into her ears. Dong Xi’s hand gripped the phone in her clothing pocket: “During senior year when you spent time with me, it wasn’t genuine, was it?”

“Right.” He answered without hesitation.

“You were already together with her before that, right?”

“Right.”

“Then… you pursued me because Long Qi already liked me at that time, right?”

Jin Yiken’s cigarette burned.

Smoke drifted.

Dong Xi asked: “Right?”

…

…

“Did she tell you this the night she stayed at your place?” He raised his eyes.

Neither answer nor answer, yet seemingly an answer. Dong Xi in that instant lowered her head. The sweat in her palm wet the phone screen. She raised her head again: “Then the relationship between us three, what we gained and lost, has always been fair.”

…

“But I’m late now,” she continued, tone stable, “because I didn’t understand her before, so I also have no right to temporarily hope for her. She refused to come with me yesterday.”

Jin Yiken looked toward her.

“That drawing was just recording what I saw, without any meaning. That night Ban Wei made her drink. I took her home without permission, helped her undress and change into pajamas. She was drunk the entire time saying nonsense. Twice she mentioned me, things from our high school days she had wanted to say to me. But another ten-plus times, she mentioned you. What the content was, I won’t tell you.”

Everything said to the point, like a riddle, also like a showdown. She took the coat and bag from the sofa: “I’m leaving.”

…

“Dong Xi.”

Jin Yiken called to her.

“Give me your phone.”

…

Thirty seconds later, her phone sat on the coffee table. Jin Yiken found Long Qi’s number in her contacts, pressed the dial button, then pressed “speaker.”

“What are you doing?”

Jin Yiken didn’t answer her.

As if completely setting aside her existence, only doing what he wanted to do now. Even after hearing her “defense” she’d just made for Long Qi, he still had to prove something. Concentrating entirely on waiting for the calling sound, a clear “beep—” transmitted out, vibrating this space. The second “beep” followed…

Then.

A “click.”

Call connected. The other party answered.

Dong Xi’s knuckles stiffened. Jin Yiken probably hadn’t expected her to answer so quickly either, raising his eyes to stare at the phone screen. That side hadn’t spoken yet. The living room had already fallen into a deathly silence. Two seconds later, Long Qi’s voice, amid a whistling wind, steadily transmitted over: “Hello?”

Jin Yiken smiled silently.

Then he pressed the disconnect button. Dong Xi’s body was still frozen. Frowning as she looked at him. Long Qi’s response brought him such a strong impact. Without a word, he took his own phone, powered it off and removed the SIM card. The card snapped crisply in two with a “crack,” tossed toward the balcony! Directly thrown toward the rain curtain outside the window. In the air was a huge sense of tragedy, gripping at people’s chests uncomfortably. Dong Xi wanted to speak. Jin Yiken said: “I’ve had enough.”

“Long Qi, this person, I will never see again in the future. None of her affairs have anything to do with me. I won’t interfere one bit in your relationship either. Whether she’s dead or alive, good or bad, from now on has fuck-all to do with me. You two do whatever you want!”

“Jin Yi…”

“Did you understand?” He emphasized, looking at her, his finger pressed hard against the tabletop, eyes reddening.