Shu Nian hadn’t bathed last night, she had only changed her clothes.

Although winter meant she barely sweated and didn’t smell, she had been touched by a stranger last night, making Shu Nian feel uncomfortable all over. She hesitantly asked Xie Ruhe if she could take a bath.

Xie Ruhe gave her a clean hoodie, instructing her not to let water touch her wounds.

Shu Nian agreed with a soft “okay,” and took the clothes into the master bathroom. The space inside was very spacious, and compared to regular bathrooms, it had additional supportive facilities.

Seeing those facilities, she appeared momentarily dazed.

She quickly came back to her senses, lowered her head, and slowly took off her clothes.

Shu Nian’s movements were cautious, afraid of disturbing the wound on her neck. Without a change of underwear, she could only continue wearing the same set, planning to go home later to get clean ones.

She turned on the shower, and warm water sprayed over her body.

The bathroom was brightly lit, the white light giving Shu Nian an additional sense of security. The surrounding air carried the scent of shower gel, familiar and pleasant. It was Xie Ruhe’s scent.

Thinking about what she had just said to him, and his calm reply of “no need to hint.”

Shu Nian’s face grew warm.

She didn’t want to be alone, so she just quickly rinsed her body before turning off the water and then applied shampoo to her hair. The next second, Shu Nian suddenly heard the faint sound of dripping water.

Plop.

Plop.

Shu Nian froze, looked up, and saw tiny droplets of water gathering at the showerhead, falling to the ground. She stared into the air, inexplicably beginning to feel anxious, with a sense of fear rising in her heart.

As if at the next moment, the door beside her would be opened from the outside, and someone would enter.

Shu Nian held her breath and turned on the shower.

The slow, clear dripping sound turned into the rushing sound of water.

Shu Nian quickly rinsed the shampoo off her body, put on her clothes without even applying shower gel, and left the bathroom. Her hair was still dripping water, soaking her clothes, and making the floor wet.

She didn’t see Xie Ruhe in the room.

Out in the living room, Shu Nian still didn’t see him.

But she could hear small sounds coming from the kitchen.

Shu Nian walked over barefoot, quiet and still.

Xie Ruhe was standing in front of the induction cooker, eyes lowered, looking focused and serious, with a spoon in his hand, stirring. As if noticing her with his peripheral vision, he looked over.

Noticing she was soaking wet, Xie Ruhe walked toward her and asked, “Why didn’t you dry yourself with a towel before coming out?”

Shu Nian’s lips were pressed tight, and she remained silent.

“Wait a moment.” Xie Ruhe led her to the sofa, then went back to the room to get a towel. Soon, he returned to Shu Nian’s side, raising his hand to help dry her hair, and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

She clutched the hem of her clothes, tightening her grip.

Seeing that she didn’t make a sound, Xie Ruhe didn’t ask again, patiently drying the water from her hair.

At that moment, Shu Nian’s phone rang.

It was on the coffee table. Xie Ruhe picked it up for her and handed it to her.

Shu Nian took it with a numb expression.

She lowered her eyes, staring at the caller ID, hesitating to answer.

Xie Ruhe glanced at it: “Why aren’t you answering?”

“It’s the director.” Shu Nian put the phone aside, her voice particularly dejected. “Probably calling me for an audition.”

Xie Ruhe asked in a gentle tone: “Then why aren’t you happy?”

Shu Nian said stiffly: “I don’t want to go.”

Xie Ruhe stroked her head: “Then don’t go.”

There was silence for quite a while.

All that could be heard were their breaths and the sound of the towel rubbing against her hair.

After a long time.

“I used to have auditory hallucinations, always hearing dripping water.” Shu Nian sniffled, explaining gloomily, “Then my head would also hurt, and I’d need medication to relieve it. I heard it just now while taking a bath.”

Xie Ruhe brought over the medical kit: “Can you hear it now?”

Shu Nian closed her mouth, as if seriously listening to the sounds in her head, then said: “I don’t think so.”

Xie Ruhe asked again: “Does your head hurt?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“That’s good.”

Shu Nian’s voice was thin as she added: “My neck hurts.”

“It got wet.” Xie Ruhe picked up a medical cotton swab, and dipped it in iodophor, “I’ll change your dressing.”

Remembering what he had told her before she entered the bathroom, Shu Nian hung her head, defending herself in a small voice: “I didn’t get it wet on purpose, I remembered what you said…”

Xie Ruhe lifted her chin, lowering his head to look at the wound on her neck. They were very close, and Shu Nian could feel his breath as he gently applied the medicine.

He seemed to smile a little, then said: “I know.”

“…”

After treating the wound on her neck, Xie Ruhe looked up at the injury on her face.

Being stared at like this made Shu Nian uncomfortable, and she instinctively turned away.

She was immediately pulled back.

Xie Ruhe said softly: “Don’t move.”

Shu Nian immediately sat up straight, not daring to move at all.

Like a tense little hamster.

His fingertips were very cool, and when they touched her face, it was like pressing against a piece of ice. Xie Ruhe’s gaze was bright, not meeting her eyes, but carefully observing the injuries on the left side of her face.

Shu Nian swallowed, finding the closeness a bit unbearable.

After a night, Shu Nian’s face had mostly recovered from the swelling, looking only slightly red.

Xie Ruhe touched her face and said: “We don’t need to apply anything to your face.”

Shu Nian obediently responded with an “Oh.”

“These clothes are wet.” Xie Ruhe pulled her up, smoothing her hair. “Go to the room and change into something else, you can take anything from the wardrobe.”

Shu Nian nodded.

Xie Ruhe added: “Come out after you change, I’ve prepared breakfast for you.”

Shu Nian nodded again, went back to the room, took a random piece of clothing from the closet to change into, and quickly returned to the living room. She walked to the dining table and sat down.

Xie Ruhe was pouring milk and placed a glass in front of her.

On the table were several unopened sandwiches.

Xie Ruhe unwrapped one and put it in Shu Nian’s hand.

Shu Nian took it, said thank you, and lowered her head to take a bite.

The two ate breakfast in silence.

After a while, Shu Nian suddenly asked: “That thief from yesterday, don’t I need to go make a statement?”

Xie Ruhe said: “It’s fine if you don’t go.”

Shu Nian thought for a moment and said gloomily: “I should go anyway.”

Xie Ruhe looked at her and complied with an “Mm.”

“I need to go back home too.” Shu Nian rubbed her eyes. “Need to get some things.”

“What things?”

“Just clothes and such.”

“Mm.”

Shu Nian took small bites of her sandwich and said indistinctly: “Xie Ruhe, I’m a bit scared.”

Xie Ruhe stopped what he was doing and looked up: “What’s wrong?”

“I’m afraid I’ll have an episode. I don’t want to be sick.” Shu Nian’s eyelashes trembled as she said softly, “I was almost better, I don’t want this to affect my life again.”

Because anything related to trauma could make her relive the traumatic process, bringing her extreme suffering and physiological reactions.

She would often experience intense fear, accompanied by palpitations, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. She would feel like she was suffocating to death, wanting to call for help, and would scream continuously, as if she had gone mad.

Even when asleep, she was afraid of dreaming about the source of her greatest fear.

Afraid to go out, afraid to go to work, afraid of having an episode in front of others. Afraid that she would become numb from the torment of this illness, unable to escape, and ultimately head toward a dead end.

She said she would get better.

But actually, she wasn’t confident she could endure a second time.

Xie Ruhe instinctively clenched his fist, his voice softening, his tone like coaxing a child: “Then would you like to see a doctor?”

Shu Nian looked up at him, then quickly lowered her gaze: “Okay.”

“…”

She picked up her cup and took a tepid sip of milk, saying as if casually: “Am I going alone?”

Hearing this, Xie Ruhe asked: “Do you want to go alone?”

Shu Nian didn’t speak, tightening her grip on the cup.

Xie Ruhe tilted his head, thinking for a moment: “You want to leave me alone at home?”

Shu Nian was a bit unhappy, not understanding what he meant: “Hm?”

He stared at Shu Nian’s face, expressionless, and said seriously: “I’m scared to be alone at home.”

“…”

Xie Ruhe then asked Fang Wencheng about the general situation and afterward accompanied Shu Nian to the police station to make a statement, which didn’t take long. The two left the police station and went to Shu Nian’s home to gather her things.

The thief had probably started rummaging from her room and hadn’t reached the living room when Shu Nian returned.

So the living room wasn’t too messy.

Shu Nian’s room was in complete disarray.

She didn’t mind much, pulled out her suitcase, and quickly packed her things. Most of what she needed were changes of clothes, skincare products, and such.

Many were quite private items.

Afraid that Shu Nian would feel uncomfortable, Xie Ruhe didn’t stay in the room for long, quickly going out to the living room to check the broken lock on the balcony.

Shu Nian tidied up the room while packing the necessary things into her suitcase, which took a considerable amount of time. She pulled open the first drawer of her bedside table and took out the MP3 player Xie Ruhe had given her.

She continued pulling open drawers.

In the second drawer, apart from some small miscellaneous items, most were medications.

Shu Nian’s gaze halted, as if remembering something, and she immediately closed the drawer. She spaced out for a moment, then quickly, Shu Nian made up her mind and reopened the drawer, taking out several bottles of medicine.

When Shu Nian came out of the room, Xie Ruhe had already tidied up the living room. He walked over and took the suitcase from her hand, asking: “All done?”

Shu Nian nodded: “All done.”

“Then shall we go?” Xie Ruhe said, “If you’ve forgotten anything, it’s okay, we can come back for it.”

“Okay.”

The two went out the door.

Shu Nian suddenly spoke up: “Let’s go to the hospital another day.”

Xie Ruhe was surprised: “What’s wrong?”

Shu Nian lowered her head and said very softly: “I just don’t want to run around anymore today.”

“…” Xie Ruhe looked at her thoughtfully, could tell she was lying, but didn’t force her. “Okay, we’ll go another day.”

Just then, there was movement from upstairs.

He Zhu opened the door and walked out of his apartment. Seeing Shu Nian, his gaze stopped, and he asked with concern: “Shu Nian, I heard from a colleague that your place was broken into, are you okay?”

Shu Nian looked up and said calmly: “I’m fine, thank you for your concern.”

Xie Ruhe also looked over.

He didn’t interrupt their conversation, turning his head, and using the key to lock the door.

Noticing the suitcase beside her, He Zhu asked: “Are you moving out?”

Shu Nian admitted in a small voice: “Yes.”

“That’s good.” He Zhu said, “The security in this run-down community isn’t suitable for a girl like you to live here.”

When Xie Ruhe finished locking the door and looked back, he found that He Zhu had already come down and was casually chatting with Shu Nian. He instinctively pressed his lips together and took Shu Nian’s hand.

The three of them left the building together.

They all needed to exit through the main gate of the community, so they walked the same path.

He Zhu seemed quite apologetic, feeling that it was because he had caught a thief in front of Shu Nian that time, which had lowered her vigilance, so yesterday’s incident occurred.

He talked more than usual today.

Shu Nian didn’t know how to respond, so she just followed along with a few casual remarks.

As they approached the community gate, all that could be heard along the way was the conversation between Shu Nian and He Zhu.

Xie Ruhe hadn’t spoken at all.

He seemed more like an outsider.

Shu Nian found it strange and was about to turn around.

Suddenly, Xie Ruhe blurted out: “Shu Nian, I don’t feel well.”

Hearing this, Shu Nian’s expression froze, and she immediately looked at him: “What’s wrong?”

He Zhu also looked over.

As if trying to attract her attention, Xie Ruhe, expressionless, raised his hand in front of her eyes.

“I got bitten.”

Shu Nian examined his hand, unable to find any wound for quite some time, and stammered: “Bitten by what?”

Probably noticing the concern in Shu Nian’s eyes, Xie Ruhe’s tone paused. After a moment, he pointed to a small red spot on his hand and said impassively:

“A mosquito.”