Lin Tao had already walked all the way to the bus stop.

Then her mother suddenly called, saying a problem had come up at the company in the south. She and Lin Tao’s father were going to handle it and would be back in a week, so she told Lin Tao to make sure all the doors and windows were locked before going to sleep at night.

It also happened that Meng Xin’s parents were away on business this month too. Meng Xin was planning to stay at Lin Tao’s place for a few days.

As it turned out, neither of their parents was home — which felt like a gift from heaven.

Meng Xin had heard from some boys in their class that there was an internet café in the alleyway outside school called “Cultivate the Mind and Character,” with a nice environment, open to minors, and — most importantly — no risk of school teachers coming to do checks.

The two made up their minds on the spot. Instead of taking the bus home, they ran to the convenience store across the street, bought two bottles of water, and came straight over.

Who would have thought.

Who could have possibly thought…!!

In such an out-of-the-way corner of the world, they would still run into someone they knew.

On one side of the counter sat a jade cabbage ornament and an electronic lucky cat.

The counter itself was already quite tall, and with an object several dozen centimeters high placed on top, Lin Tao hadn’t even been able to see that someone was sitting behind it.

Now that person stood up. Lin Tao looked up — “…”

Meng Xin, standing behind Lin Tao, was equally stunned. “…”

The three of them stood there, staring at one another.

The silence was awkward.

Lin Tao swallowed soundlessly. She was inexplicably flustered, her voice very low and a little unsteady. “…What a coincidence.”

What a coincidence, my foot.

Jiang Yan frowned slightly. He tossed the key card back onto the desk. Guan Che, sitting nearby, looked between them and asked, “You know them?”

“My deskmate.” Jiang Yan said.

“That’s great then — regulars get a twenty-percent discount. I’ll give you two a fifty-percent one!” Guan Che reached over and picked the key card up from the desk. “Come on, I’ll take you upstairs to a private room.”

Jiang Yan kicked him in the leg. “What’s so great about it? Two minors — going online? Getting an overnight room? Go home and sleep.”

This was a rare chance, and Meng Xin was the first one to object. “What does being a minor have to do with anything?! You’re a minor too! And you’re out here doing child labor!”

Jiang Yan: “…”

Oh, for the love of—

“Holy—!” Guan Che hadn’t expected this girl to have the nerve to fire back. He burst out laughing beside them.

Lin Tao leaned against the counter, head lowered, wanting to laugh but not quite daring to let it out.

Meng Xin, having fired her shot, immediately lost her nerve. She ducked behind Lin Tao. “I mean — we’re just going to play some games. It’s not like we’re going to do anything minors aren’t supposed to do.”

Jiang Yan looked at Lin Tao, his eyes light and unreadable. “You don’t want to go home?”

Lin Tao made a sound of acknowledgment. Meng Xin behind her was tugging at her sleeve with frantic signals. She nodded. “Just… not really in the mood to go back.”

“Fine.” He turned to Guan Che and held out his hand, giving in. “Card.”

Guan Che presented it with both hands, eyeing him with unabashed curiosity.

Jiang Yan took the card and knocked it against Guan Che’s head. “What are you staring at?”

“…”

The private rooms were on the second floor — a row of closed doors stretching down the corridor. Unlike most internet cafés that kept the lighting dim for atmosphere, the corridor here was brightly lit.

At the far end of the hallway was an open window. Through it, the glittering lights of tall buildings shimmered and sparkled beyond.

Lin Tao glanced at the figure walking ahead.

The young man’s silhouette was upright and lean, his steps steady and unhurried. He wore a simple, plain white T-shirt; the lines of his shoulders and arms were clean and graceful. The key card he held in his hand caught the light, condensing into a single bright point.

Lin Tao kept her eyes fixed on that point.

Until it stopped. She looked up. Jiang Yan was standing in front of a door. He raised his hand and swiped the key card at the reader by the entrance. There was a soft ding, and the door opened.

Jiang Yan reached out, found the light switch on the wall, and turned on the lights. Then he stepped aside to let the two of them in.

Meng Xin went first.

Lin Tao followed behind her. She took in the room’s furnishings — it was a small space with a long sofa, two computers, and a few succulents tucked in the corner.

Along one wall was a window overlooking the busy street below.

Jiang Yan turned on the computers for both of them, then looked back at Lin Tao. “If you need anything, just call me.”

He really did look the part of an internet café attendant.

“Oh — okay.” Lin Tao watched him. As he moved to turn away, she caught sight of a faint smudge of gray on his shoulder.

“You’ve got something here—” The words died in her throat. She suddenly remembered where that gray smudge had come from — she had stepped on him while climbing over the wall at noon.

With that realization, she let the sentence go unfinished, and didn’t ask him why he hadn’t gone home after school but was instead here working a café shift.

Just before stepping out the door, Jiang Yan added a reminder. “Don’t stay up too late.”

He stood in the doorway. The hallway light fell on him, making his skin look almost luminously pale. His amber eyes were like glass, and when they looked at her, his expression was, for once, genuinely earnest.

Lin Tao’s fingertips curled instinctively. She nodded. “Got it.”

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Jiang Yan showed her the first smile she’d seen from him all evening — bright and blinding. “Have fun then.”

He turned and went downstairs.

Lin Tao sat down on the long sofa. Meng Xin propped her chin in her hand and stared at her, her tone teasing. “There’s something going on between you and your deskmate.”

Lin Tao moved the mouse to her left hand, not looking at her, and played along jokingly. “Yep. Something very serious going on.”

Meng Xin clicked her tongue lightly, shaking her head and sighing. “Ah — even a beauty can undo a hero, and even a school tyrant can’t get past Tao Tao.”

Lin Tao: “…”

Jiang Yan came downstairs. A few boys had just walked in — regulars — and they greeted him. “Evening, Yan-ge.”

He looked up at the boy with the purple-dyed hair and smiled slightly. “That color — how does your mom not knock your head off?”

“My mom’s been away a few days.” The purple-haired boy said it like a point of pride, blowing his bangs out of his face.

“…”

Once the computers were booted up, the group exchanged a few words with him and headed off.

Jiang Yan returned to his seat behind the counter. Guan Che leaned over with barely concealed curiosity. “What’s the deal between you and your deskmate?”

“What deal?” Jiang Yan picked up his headphones but didn’t put them on, letting them rest around his neck. He tapped at the keyboard. “There’s no deal.”

“You think I believe that?”

Jiang Yan glanced sideways at him. “Whether you believe it or not is none of my business.”

“…” Fair enough.

Guan Che couldn’t be bothered to ask further. Years of being friends — he knew Jiang Yan’s character better than anyone.

If he didn’t want to talk about something, you couldn’t pry it out of him even if you held a knife to his throat. And if he did want to talk about it, you’d need the survival skills to stick around and listen.

He valued his life. He didn’t want to know.

…

Upstairs, Meng Xin and her party opened a new dungeon, defeated a boss, and got a pile of rare equipment. She was ecstatic, hammering the keyboard.

Lin Tao had poor game mechanics, and had no interest in anything that required skilled button-pressing. She curled up on the sofa and watched a movie.

The time in the corner of the screen ticked on, second by second.

Before long, it had flipped to midnight.

Lin Tao hadn’t eaten much for dinner, and now she was a little hungry. She took off her headphones and asked Meng Xin, “I’m going out to get something to eat — do you want anything?”

“Spicy hot pot!” The moment Meng Xin had walked into the alley, she’d caught the aroma drifting from a spicy hot pot stall by the road. Mentioning it now only made her want it more.

“Alright, I’ll go get it.”

“Ah, I’ll come too — it’s this late.” Meng Xin removed her headphones and stood.

The two headed downstairs together.

It was livelier downstairs than up. Every computer in the main hall had someone in front of it. Lin Tao glanced around idly and had her attention caught by a boy with a full head of purple hair.

Momentarily distracted, she missed the last step of the staircase and pitched forward — but Meng Xin grabbed her in time.

The small commotion made the two people sitting behind the counter look up.

Guan Che took off his headphones first. He rested his chin in his hand, looking at them with a cheerful grin. “Heading out, ladies?”

Lin Tao steadied herself and shook her head. “No — we’re just going out to get something to eat.”

“Oh, hungry? The café has food too — instant noodles, fried rice, stir-fried noodles, simple hot meals — what are you in the mood for?”

Lin Tao looked at him and named something he definitely didn’t have. “Spicy hot pot.”

“… Out the door, turn right. There’s one open at the end of the alley.”

Lin Tao smiled. “Got it, thanks.”

She took hold of Meng Xin — who was looking down at her phone responding to messages — and was about to head out when the other person behind the counter stood up with a casual, “I’ll come along.”

“If you want something, I can get it for you,” Lin Tao said, one hand resting on the door.

“I’m picky.”

“…”

Meng Xin heard that Jiang Yan was coming along and let go of Lin Tao’s hand. “Oh — then Tao Tao, I won’t come. My master just messaged me — it’s raid time!”

“…Oh.”

Autumn had long since arrived in Xi City, though the lingering late heat wave had kept temperatures stubbornly high. Even past midnight, the air wasn’t particularly cool — just heavier with moisture than the daytime.

Lin Tao and Jiang Yan walked side by side down a long, dimly lit alley. Their two shadows fell onto the damp ground, stretched long.

There weren’t many shops along the alley — only one 24-hour convenience store with its lights on — but the alley was not quiet. Right beside it was a KTV, and the deafening music drifted over at an indeterminate distance, close but not too close.

From time to time, a few stumbling, half-drunk men would pass by. Every time this happened, Jiang Yan would reach up and drape his arm around her shoulders, pulling her toward him.

Lin Tao suddenly understood why he had come along.

If it had just been her and Meng Xin, two girls walking through a dark and restless alley like this, there was no telling what sort of unpleasant encounters they might have had.

“Do you come here every night?” As they passed one of the small side-alley openings, Lin Tao suddenly asked.

“Not every night.” Jiang Yan looked down at a small puddle on the ground. “I live here — with Guan Che.”

Mentioning Guan Che, Jiang Yan remembered he hadn’t introduced him, so he added briefly, “The one from tonight — he goes to the neighboring Ninth High School.”

“So… you don’t go home?”

“I go back occasionally now.” Jiang Yan looked at her sidelong, the emotion in his eyes unreadable. “Once I have the chance, I’ll stop going back altogether.”

Lin Tao froze.

This deskmate of hers was carrying too many secrets.

She didn’t know what had happened to him — but behind those secrets, there must be a great many wounds layered upon wounds.

Lin Tao didn’t press any further. The look she turned on Jiang Yan carried a faint trace of guilt.

She shouldn’t have asked. She’d been stepping on landmines all day.

She was terrible.

By the time they reached the spicy hot pot shop, Lin Tao realized why it was still open at this hour — because business was so good. At this time of night, when everyone should have been asleep — the place was packed. Not a single empty seat.

The owner was run off his feet. His wife smiled radiantly as she collected payments.

Lin Tao picked up two baskets, handing one to Jiang Yan. The two of them moved through the shop, picking out what they wanted. Once they’d finished for themselves, they each picked out a portion for Guan Che and Meng Xin as well.

Perhaps because business was so good, the shop charged the same price for everything — meat and vegetables alike.

The owner stacked all four baskets and weighed them together. His wife stood beside him, scanned the weight, and quickly punched numbers into a calculator.

“Total comes to eighty-three yuan and twenty cents — let’s round it down to eighty.” She set down the calculator and looked at both of them with a bright smile.

Jiang Yan took out his phone to scan the payment code. Lin Tao suddenly reached out and scanned it before he could.

Ding! The owner’s phone chimed: “Alipay received: eighty yuan!”

Jiang Yan: “…”

Lin Tao put her phone away and looked at him, touching her ear with a slightly self-conscious gesture. “I was going to come out and eat anyway. I’ll pay for my own food.”

Jiang Yan frowned, clearly not pleased. “I don’t make a habit of letting girls pay. Give me your Alipay — I’ll transfer the money.”

Lin Tao looked at his thoroughly serious expression — he wasn’t joking — and couldn’t help letting out a small sigh. “Jiang classmate, can’t you see what’s happening?”

“What?” Jiang Yan asked.

“I’m trying to make you feel better.” Lin Tao said, smiling.

Author’s note: — Tao Tao: I’m looking out for you.

Tao Tao is an angel, a fairy, my precious girl.