When the second roll of thunder sounded at the horizon, a beam of light swept through the car cabin.

Coming from the rear window glass, like headlights. Then a huge crash! The car was struck by a powerful impact. Long Qi and Gu Mingdong rolled off the seats together. She propped up her body with her elbow. Her lower abdomen ached. And Gu Mingdong’s head hit the front seatback. For a moment, he couldn’t recover. The car window glass cracked.

The sound of a car door closing came from outside.

Mixed with the rain sound, someone circled from the car tail to the back seat window. One elbow! The window shattered with a “bang”! Shards mixed with heavy rain splashed into the back seat. That person’s hand reached into the car cabin, unlocking and opening the door.

As soon as the door opened, Gu Mingdong was yanked out!

Pressed to the ground by someone, punched in the face. Hit so hard, so cleanly. It felt like his nose bridge was broken. When Long Qi looked over, what she saw was Si Bolin giving Gu Mingdong a second punch without pause. The rain was fierce. Half of Si Bolin’s shoulders were wet. After three satisfying punches, he grabbed Gu Mingdong’s arm to lift him up, slamming him against the car door with a bang: “Jin Yiken can spare you again and again for your father’s sake and not touch you. I don’t have to. Your entire family of three’s work units, household registrations, even ancestral homes—I have complete copies on file. If you dare any more crooked thoughts, I’ll beat you and your parents every time I see you!”

Voice low and harsh. An openly stated dirty trick.

Gu Mingdong gasped with bloody rough breaths, unable to speak.

Releasing his grip, he collapsed sitting down, coughing violently. Si Bolin immediately opened the car door. When looking toward Long Qi, Long Qi also looked at him. Her hands were still bound by the belt, pressed against her lower abdomen. Cold sweat on her forehead. And blood from her abdomen had long since soaked through the sweater, leaking out between her fingers. Gu Mingdong’s blade as thin as a cicada’s wing was covered in blood, fallen at the bottom of the car seat, next to the phone with its screen lit.

“…” Si Bolin paused, asking, “Did he stab you or did I hit you?”

“You.”

Windshield wipers operated left and right. Rainwater flowed across the front windshield in streams. The field of vision was a blur. Si Bolin turned the steering wheel with one hand, pressing Long Qi’s shoulder with the other. The car front made a turn onto the road, but happened to go head-to-head with a commercial vehicle that was about to turn in. The headlights illuminated the other party’s driver’s seat. The paparazzi in the passenger seat froze for a moment. The next second, he immediately raised his camera aimed this way. Si Bolin directly stepped on the gas pedal fiercely. The commercial vehicle immediately backed down. Long Qi pressed her stinging abdomen. Cold sweat on her forehead dampened her hair. In pain, she kicked the platform in front of his car: “Drive faster!!”

“I’m driving, Old Qi.”

“What nonsense, just ram them!”

“I’m ramming.”

“Fuck!”

The last word that popped from her mouth was this curse. Then seeing the blood all over her hands, a wave of dizziness surged from her chest to her forehead. She didn’t even have the strength to give Si Bolin an instruction. She passed out.

…

When she woke up again, she was already in a hospital room.

Rain was still falling. Around nine at night. Lying in a single-patient room, hooked up to an anti-inflammatory IV, wearing an ill-fitting hospital gown. Dizzy and disoriented, she glanced to the side. Si Bolin, this perpetrator, at least had a conscience. He was still there on the side sofa, nestled in an extremely lazy-unto-death posture. Long Qi propped up her body, making some noise. He happened to yawn, slowly glancing this way. The phone in his hand turned a circle.

The back of his hand still bore the injury from breaking Gu Mingdong’s nose bridge.

And across from the hospital bed stood two men.

At first glance, she thought they were nursing staff. On second glance, she recognized them as two paparazzi who’d been following her. Cameras hung around their necks. With a dispirited appearance, they stood against the wall. Long Qi looked at Si Bolin again. He didn’t lift his eyelids even once: “Punishment standing.”

Truly the exact same young master appearance as Jin Yiken.

Later, according to Si Bolin’s account, these two had already followed to Yiming Bay when she got out of the taxi. They watched with their own eyes as she was abducted into the car by that piece of trash Gu Mingdong. Thinking they could stake out some scandalous big news, they filmed the entire thing. This touched the bottom line of him, this “intelligence world Tyrannosaurus Rex.” So after getting Long Qi into the hospital, he went to their news agency and gave these two guys who were working overtime on layouts a thorough “humanitarian education” from inside out. Also because he hadn’t eaten a late-night snack, he dragged them out to treat Young Master him to a good meal. Finally squatting here contemplating life, incidentally apologizing to her who was about to wake up at the right time.

In the time it took to sleep, he’d done quite a lot. Taught people a lesson and solved his dinner problem. At this moment, on the coffee table in front of him was also placed a thermos. Inside the bottle was warmly steaming nutritious soup, spoonful by spoonful, currently entering his mouth.

“What about mine?” she asked.

“You’re speaking with such vigor, what soup do you need? You just scared half my little soul away.”

“Who suddenly drove and rammed into us? Wouldn’t it have been fine to knock on the window nicely?”

“Who knew what step you two had reached?”

“Si Bo…” Grabbing the paper cup on the bedside table, about to throw it at him, but her abdomen stung sharply, pulling at her movement. She sucked in a breath, feeling a layer of gauze.

“Make them go stand outside!”

The curse transformed into this sentence. Si Bolin drank his soup, raising his eyes toward the opposite wall. The two paparazzi took their cue, obediently walking outside, even closing the door behind them.

“So what step had you reached?”

“Annoy me more and I’ll burn down your house.” After a pause, she added, “Are you afraid I’d cuckold him?”

“One more green hat on him is not much, one less is not little either.”

This sentence truly had multiple layers of meaning inside and out. The lethality was also full to the brim. Long Qi looked at him without a word. His eyelids still drooped lazily. The phone screen on the tabletop was lit. While slowly drinking soup, he was dialing a certain number, saying: “Discussing something with you.”

“I’ll handle Gu Mingdong. I guarantee you’ll never hear his news again. But I won’t mention today’s matter to Jin Yiken. You also shouldn’t let him know.”

…

“When I said I’d kill Gu Mingdong, it was harsh talk. But if Jin Yiken finds out, killing Gu Mingdong won’t just be harsh talk anymore. He doesn’t need to waste his life on this guy,” saying this, Si Bolin glanced at her, “you understand?”

“You’re afraid he’ll know you injured me.”

“Believe it or not, I’ll go outside right now and leak the story about you fooling around with him in high school.” He replied instantly.

“Help me contact him and I’ll promise you secrecy.” She also replied instantly.

“Oh?” Si Bolin’s brain turned especially fast. “From this situation, you two are done? Then forget it. You can tell him, it’s fine.”

At this sentence, Long Qi didn’t immediately respond. Her gaze caught sight of the phone he was dialing: “Who are you calling? Him?”

“Otherwise, you?”

This time Long Qi really threw the paper cup. Si Bolin tilted his head aside. The paper cup landed on the sofa cushion with a “puff.” And she took advantage of this moment to get out of bed, dragging the IV stand in two steps to his front, grabbed the phone on the table and rushed toward the bathroom. Si Bolin immediately stood up: “Long Qi!”

She ignored him.

Closed the door and held it shut, back against the door panel listening to the phone. But the phone’s response was exactly the same as two hours ago. Continuously repeating voicemail. Her abdomen hurt a little from the intense movement. She covered it, hung up the call. With nimble hand speed, she opened Si Bolin’s WeChat to find Jin Yiken’s account. Si Bolin was already knocking on the door at this moment. She pressed the screen and spoke rapidly: “Jin Yiken, don’t refuse communication. Remove me from the blacklist!”

“He disconnected two hours ago.” Si Bolin said from outside.

“You can contact him!”

“I can’t.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Even if I could, I wouldn’t help you.”

Less than three seconds after this sentence fell, she turned and opened the door.

The door panel crashed with a huge sound. With a burst of anger, she faced Si Bolin eye to eye. Si Bolin didn’t retreat or speak. But the meaning in his eyes was straightforward. Just wouldn’t help. A principled refusal to help. Outside the window, the rain was torrential. Inside the room, the chill was oppressive. She glared at him, then raised the phone to her mouth: “Jin Yiken, this is the last message from me you might receive.”

“I don’t know if you’ll receive it or not. Anyway, people on your side won’t help me. I really can’t find any other way to contact you. I just want to lay out all the matters and feelings clearly to talk it through. This is the first time I especially seriously want to take responsibility for a relationship. When your mood gets better someday, give me a call back. I’ll wait for you one week. During this week, I won’t turn off my phone. As long as you call, I’ll come find you. If after a week you still haven’t contacted me, I’ll take it as completely understanding your intention. I’m also sensible. In the future, I’ll never again…”

“Beep.”

Voicemail time reached the limit. Automatically sent.

Long Qi didn’t send anything more. Didn’t continue the sentence she’d just been saying. She locked the phone screen, stared at Si Bolin, gave it to him.

“I know how terrible I am. But at least give me a chance to make amends. If he has a response,” she paused, saying, “I beg you to tell me.”

…

…

…

Si Bolin left.

Half an hour later, Lao Ping’s call came urgently. She was in a daze on the hospital bed. Only after a long time did she answer. Lao Ping opened with an exhausted: “Ancestor…”

“I know.” She replied blandly.

“There’s one more week until filming starts. So what are you going to do? Can you still film or not?”

“Can.” Then, asking, “How did you know? Did new news come out?”

“No news. A friend of yours called me and had someone pick you up from the hospital.”

Si Bolin.

She replied: “The wound isn’t deep. Don’t worry about filming. No need to come pick me up. I can handle it myself.”

“Good!” Lao Ping was obviously busy to death. Or perhaps was put off by Si Bolin with some excuse. He didn’t ask in detail about the cause of injury. Among the clamor, he squeezed in a closing sentence. “If you can join the crew, I’m relieved. The past few times’ event fees, endorsement fees, and this film’s deposit, I’ve already settled for you. Check it when you’re free. Time to settle down, ancestor. Come out of it early.”

Hung up the phone.

Spaced out for a few more minutes. Also didn’t know what she was thinking about. Then her mind recalled the matter Lao Ping had mentioned. Mechanically looking at the phone, after logging into the account with the banking app, a string of numbers jumped before her eyes.

…

After looking for a few seconds, closed the app.

Then made a call to Ban Wei. Ban Wei was hitting on girls. A bunch of chirping female voices around him. His voice mixed in the electronic music, loudly replying: “Yo, Qiqi!”

“I remember you have a friend who especially loves playing with cars. Are you still in contact with him?”

“In contact. He especially likes you. But didn’t you not care? What’s up?”

“If I want a big bull right now, delivery within a week, does he have the ability to help me get it done?”

“You should ask Kenken. Doesn’t he also play with cars? My friend may not be as sharp as him. Hey, do you have a driver’s license? A small bull suits you. A big bull you probably can’t handle.”

Probably after the gala performance ended, he’d been partying at the bar all night, completely not receiving news about her and Jin Yiken’s breakup. She only said: “I’m giving it to Jin Yiken.”

“Damn, that’s quite a gesture. Didn’t Lao Ping say you were buying a house?”

“This matter is more urgent than buying a house now.”

“…” It was noisy on Ban Wei’s end for a while. The voice squeezed back in. “Are you sure your budget is enough? Is Jin Yiken having a birthday? Hey I’m saying, this expenditure, this thoughtfulness, not many men can withstand it.”

“Right?” she replied. “However angry he is, he can calm down a bit, right?”

“But delivering a car within a week is quite difficult unless there’s existing stock. Hey,” Ban Wei suddenly thought of something, excited, “isn’t your recent drama cooperating with Wu Jiakui?”

Vaguely knowing what kind of trouble Ban Wei was about to cause, she didn’t respond. Ban Wei continued: “This girl is especially hard to pursue. If you can get her private cell phone number for me within a week, I’ll guarantee to help you get the car matter done. How about it?”