In the height of summer, two days without bathing—who wouldn’t feel uncomfortable?

Shen Mo also felt uncomfortable.

But the problem was, at this critical moment, how could they bathe?

Shen Mo stared at Bai Youwei, slowly exhaling through his nose, his back teeth clenched.

Bai Youwei lowered her head nibbling crackers, not looking at Shen Mo, muttering to herself: “I want to take a bath.”

Shen Mo: “…”

A moment later, he stood up and walked out of the dormitory door.

…

At ten o’clock at night, Shen Mo heated bathwater for Bai Youwei.

He found two large stainless steel basins in the cafeteria, rinsed them clean, filled them with water and set them over the fire to heat. When heated to lukewarm, he carried them to the dormitory room—

A bath or shower was impossible. She could only wipe herself down with the hot water.

Shen Mo closed the door and went out, standing guard at the door.

Recalling the experiences of these two days, he found it amusing in his heart. Things he’d never done in the first half of his life, he’d done them all this time.

Who told her to be a patient? In the face of caring for a patient, the separation between men and women should be set aside. What’s more, nominally she was still his sister—indulging her a bit wasn’t shameful.

Intermittent sounds of water came from the room. Shen Mo didn’t have a single lustful thought, only thinking about these trivial matters, his state of mind gradually calming.

Those earlier feelings of rage and irritation also seemed unnecessary.

…

After Bai Youwei finished washing, she used her crutches to come open the door with a creak.

Shen Mo turned around.

She had changed into a white dress, her long hair braided and draped over her shoulder in front, the ends wet and gleaming black. Her face was clean and white, luminous as jade in the night, beautiful and fine, without a trace of the sharpness from inside the game.

His gaze shifted slightly downward—he saw a dark red mark on her neck, very conspicuous.

That was from when he’d choked her in the game.

He’d promised to deliver her safely to Yangzhou, yet the first injury on her body was inflicted by his own hand.

Shen Mo didn’t know what he was feeling.

“There’s another basin of water—do you want to wash too?” Bai Youwei looked at him, frowning slightly. “What’s wrong with you?”

There was no mirror in the room. She didn’t know she had marks left on her neck.

“It’s nothing.” Shen Mo withdrew his gaze and entered the room to carry the water.

As he prepared to leave, he said: “If you need the toilet at night, call me. I’m next door.”

Bai Youwei pressed her lips together at these words.

After a moment, she made an “mm” sound, saying softly: “…I know.”

Both of them understood clearly—this was an opportunity to shake hands and make peace.

The journey wasn’t over yet. Continuing to clash would benefit neither of them. Especially for Bai Youwei.

So when he showed goodwill, she accepted it.

Before going to sleep, Bai Youwei went to the toilet once more.

The entire process was very calm and very smooth. Shen Mo discovered that as long as she didn’t lose her temper, she was actually quite easy to care for.

Pushing the wheelchair back, they encountered Houzi.

Houzi was waiting outside. Seeing them return, his face showed a somewhat awkward and ingratiating smile.

“We’ll be parting ways tomorrow, so keeping this isn’t appropriate. You two can decide what to do with it.” He took out a phone and handed it to Shen Mo, smiling again. “Don’t worry, the phone has no signal. I didn’t transmit it anywhere. There’s just this one copy.”

Shen Mo frowned, turning to hand it to Bai Youwei.

It was the video they’d filmed when bullying Bai Youwei. He wasn’t in a position to watch this thing.

After handing over the phone, Houzi turned and left.

He used to be a small-time follower beside Hui Ge, without much presence. But now he’d shown goodwill and tried to curry favor several times, seeming different from before.

Shen Mo stared at his retreating back for a while, then stepped forward to push Bai Youwei back to the room, saying: “Delete it. If you’re worried, pull out the memory card.”