Yellow Hair was immersed in the excitement of potentially falling in love, feeling almost light-headed as he tugged at Xing Wu and asked, “Brother Wu, if things work out between your cousin and me, we’ll be family!”

Xing Wu wiped Grandmother’s mouth with a tissue, responding disinterestedly, “Who the fuck wants to be family with you?”

Yellow Hair just giggled.

When Xing Wu stood up to take the bowls to the kitchen, Qing Ye was sitting on a small wooden stool, taking small bites of her food. Recently, she felt the food had improved somewhat, no longer having that strange taste. Though it still wasn’t particularly delicious, at least it was edible. She was amazed at her adaptability, while also being quite astonished at this place’s ability to assimilate people. She was afraid that she might get used to this slum life and just muddle along, quickly shaking her head to dispel this terrifying thought.

Seeing Xing Wu come in to put down the bowls, she quickly looked up and asked, “I didn’t say anything else to you last night, did I?”

Xing Wu put down the bowls, turned around to lean against the stove, and pulled out his lighter. The way he lowered his head to light up was incredibly cool.

His voice, having completed its transition, was deep and magnetic as he said casually, “You don’t remember?”

The midday sun slanted across his body, giving him a roguish air. His meaningful gaze made Qing Ye even more uneasy. She opened her dark eyes wide, her voice rising several notches: “What did I say?”

Xing Wu took a drag on his cigarette, deliberately walking to her side and bending down to say lightly, “You complimented my butt. Too kind of you.”

After saying this, Xing Wu went out, leaving Qing Ye sitting petrified on the small stool. Within seconds, a devastating cry erupted from the kitchen.

Yellow Hair was startled and quickly stood up to check: “What’s wrong with cousin?”

Xing Wu’s lips curved slightly as he grabbed Yellow Hair and said, “Come on, accompany me to the lumber yard.”

“What for?” Before Yellow Hair could get an answer, Xing Wu had already dragged him away, with Fat Hu following behind.

…

Regarding the evaluation of male buttocks, in her eighteen years of life, Qing Ye had never done such a thing, not even thought about it. She normally wouldn’t pay attention to any guy’s backside, but she had actually stared at Xing Wu’s, not only stared but commented, not only commented but given it five stars, and he even said “too kind”???

This incident was mind-shattering for Qing Ye, which directly resulted in her not daring to go downstairs even in the afternoon, afraid of running into Xing Wu if he suddenly returned.

Xing Wu did indeed return in the evening, and Qing Ye heard Little Angel’s sound from upstairs. She specifically peeked out the window to look down, and somehow Xing Wu, as if his eyes were on top of his head, actually looked up after locking his bike, frightening Qing Ye into quickly ducking down.

However, after returning, Xing Wu stayed downstairs and didn’t come up, even until dinner time. Li Lanfang came up to call Qing Ye for dinner, asking if she wasn’t feeling well.

She went along with it, saying she was feeling a bit unwell, asking Li Lanfang to put some food in a bowl for her, and saying she’d come down to eat later.

As soon as Li Lanfang went downstairs, she started scolding Xing Wu: “I told you to let Qing Ye drink less last night. Look how listless she’s been all day. Don’t let her drink any more next time. She’s a precious young lady, how can she joke around drinking with roughnecks like you?”

Xing Wu amusedly teased, “Wow, you even know the phrase ‘precious young lady’, impressive.”

Li Lanfang said confidently, “Well, I’ve watched ‘Empresses in the Palace’.”

“…” Xing Wu thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out what connection the “precious young lady” had with “Empresses in the Palace.” Besides, was his mom watching palace dramas to prepare for some court intrigue among her mahjong friends? In their Zhazha pavilion, where they didn’t even have a decent building, forget about palaces – they could barely manage street fights.

After eating, Li Lanfang had Xing Wu wash the dishes and help her with her phone – recently she couldn’t even take photos, always getting “insufficient memory” warnings, and she didn’t know how to fix it.

After giving the phone to Xing Wu, Li Lanfang went next door to play mahjong, reminding him that if he went out at night, to check on Qing Ye first, in case she was sick or something.

Xing Wu finished washing the dishes and cleared the cache from various apps on Li Lanfang’s phone before leaving, without going upstairs at all. He knew very well that if he went up to check on her, she’d probably develop symptoms even if she wasn’t sick.

Sure enough, as soon as Xing Wu left, Qing Ye came down to find food in the kitchen, discovering they had left quite a lot of dishes for her, even including beef – truly rare.

After eating, Qing Ye had planned to do some practice papers on the computer, thinking she’d digest her food before going down to shower, but it started raining outside. This was the first heavy rain since her first day in Anzi County. Outside, the thunder and lightning were terrifying, the downpour coming suddenly. Even the windows in Xing Wu’s room rattled continuously, their poor sealing letting wind slip through with a thin whistling sound like ghost cries. Qing Ye looked at the pitch-black stairway outside, curled up with her computer, completely unable to focus on her work anymore.

Fortunately, this downpour came quickly and left quickly, though it hadn’t completely stopped, coming in waves. Qing Ye took advantage of a lighter spell, grabbing her clothes and hurrying downstairs to shower, worried the rain might get heavy again.

She rushed into the bathroom, turned on the dim light, first laid down tissue paper then put down her clothes, then locked the door and started undressing.

Since Xing Wu installed the door lock, Qing Ye had felt much more at ease showering, but tonight she was somewhat flustered. Outside, the wind was still strong, with occasional bright flashes of lightning. Although the door was locked, it kept making “thump-thump-thump” sounds from the wind, as if someone was knocking, keeping Qing Ye on edge.

She had just rinsed the shampoo from her hair when suddenly the door sounds seemed to get louder. Qing Ye froze for a moment, then quickly turned off the water, all her nerves tensing as she listened to the movements outside.

At first, she thought she was scaring herself, that maybe the wind had gotten stronger and was making the door louder. She kept reassuring herself that the door was locked, and nothing would happen, but the door’s movements grew increasingly violent, as if someone was trying to break it open from outside.

Qing Ye’s heart suddenly started racing frantically. She moved step by step toward the door, and when she saw the trembling doorknob, she broke out in a cold sweat – this was someone trying to manipulate the lock from outside.

Almost simultaneously, Qing Ye realized someone outside was trying to break in. She instantly became terrified, her limbs shaking, as she quickly ran to the wooden stool to grab her phone and call Li Lanfang, thinking Li Lanfang was playing cards next door and could come quickly. However, the phone rang for ages with no answer – when Xing Wu had fixed Li Lanfang’s phone in the evening, he had casually put it in the cash register drawer, where it remained locked away, with no one able to hear it.

The door started making thunderous sounds, the not-very-sturdy door panel giving the impression it could be pried open at any moment.

Qing Ye’s palms were sweating as she frantically made a voice call to Xing Wu.

…

That evening, Big Black and the others were already settled in at Shunyi waiting for Xing Wu to play cards. The group of guys couldn’t sleep well on the summer nights anyway, and they liked to hang out at Shunyi after dinner, whether they had anything to do or not.

Xing Wu was sitting with his legs crossed, eyes half-closed looking at his hand full of “bombs,” leisurely leaning back in his chair with a relaxed expression when his phone suddenly rang.

When it first rang, he didn’t even look at it, until Dog Tooth glanced at him, and then Xing Wu unhurriedly took out his phone, seeing it was a WeChat voice call from Qing Ye.

He slightly furrowed his brows as he answered and put it to his ear, only to hear Qing Ye’s trembling voice with a crying tone: “Xing Wu, someone’s trying to break down the bathroom door, I’m inside, what should I do?”

“What?”

Everyone only saw Xing Wu suddenly throw down his cards and stand up, the room instantly falling silent as all the men stared at him. Xing Wu took his phone and strode toward the door: “Are you dressed?”

“Not yet…”

“Don’t open the door. Get dressed and wait for me to come back.”

With that, he locked his phone and pulled up the rolling door, rushing out. Dog Tooth rarely saw Xing Wu in such a hurry – even last year when he was surrounded by so many people from Anzi Vocational School, he hadn’t panicked. So he quickly chased after him, shouting: “What happened?”

Xing Wu had no time to answer him, rushing into the heavy rain and jumping on Little Angel to race back home. Dog Tooth was about to remind him it was raining, but Little Angel’s wheels had already splashed through the water and disappeared into the distance. Dog Tooth stood shocked, watching his figure racing through the rain.

…

After hanging up the phone, Qing Ye was already sweating with anxiety, fumbling to grab her clothes, her body shaking so badly that she put them on wrong several times.

Soon the person outside was banging even harder, making Qing Ye’s head explode. During this time, she also called 110 (police), which took forever to connect, and when the operator asked for her address, Qing Ye was so panicked she couldn’t say it properly, only managing to report “Xuandao Barbershop.”

After hanging up, she picked up the wooden stool used for clothes, her eyes fixed intently on the door, deciding that if someone broke in before Xing Wu returned, she’d fight them with the stool.

Those few short minutes felt like hell for Qing Ye. She screamed hysterically in fear, hoping someone would hear, but another downpour had started, thunder and lightning drowning out her voice. In this old, dilapidated place, no one would brave the rain to mind others’ business, no one would come out to care whether she lived or died.

She no longer knew if the drops falling from her face were sweat or tears. Just as her nerves were about to snap, suddenly there was a scream from outside, followed by the door lock stopping its movement, but the commotion outside grew louder.

Qing Ye quickly carried the wooden stool to the door to listen to the sounds outside. After several more male screams, she heard Xing Wu’s voice: “You fucking ate a leopard’s gall? Do you dare touch my woman? I’ll make sure you can’t get up today.”

Qing Ye’s heart eased, and she quickly unlocked the door. The moment the bathroom door opened, Qing Ye saw Xing Wu standing astride a man in the pouring rain, one hand gripping the man’s collar, lifting the man he had knocked down halfway up, punching his head again and again. The rain poured down, soaking him completely, yet his arm muscles were visible through his fierce strength. Veins bulged on his forehead, his eyes bloodthirsty, his whole being emanating a terrifying aura.

This was the first time Qing Ye had seen Xing Wu fight. His fists were fast and brutal, violent and savage, cold as if his entire being was devoid of warmth.

The man on the ground initially made muffled groans of pain, but soon blood splattered out, mixing with the rainwater in an unbearable sight.

Qing Ye cried out in horror: “Xing Wu!”

That call finally pulled the irrational Xing Wu back to his senses. He threw the man down, gave his head one more vicious kick, then turned around.

Qing Ye stood at the door in her white nightgown, her slender arms still holding the wooden stool, her clear eyes filled with fearful tears, staring at Xing Wu in terror and helplessness.

In that instant, Xing Wu felt something invisible violently strike his heart, like thunder, like drums.