The late autumn night was heavy with dew. Lu Xixiao took off his hoodie, leaving only a t-shirt underneath, and moved to make Zhou Wan put it on.
Zhou Wan glanced at his thin clothing, shook her head, and stepped back in silent refusal.
Lu Xixiao ignored her resistance, grabbed her arm to pull her close, and directly pulled the hoodie over her head. His movements were so rough that they left Zhou Wan’s hair in disarray.
He simply removed her hair tie and used his fingers as a comb to smooth her hair back into place.
“Hands,” Lu Xixiao said softly.
Zhou Wan extended her hands through the sleeves.
The hoodie was too big on her, long enough to be a dress, and her hands barely reached the ends of the sleeves.
She looked like a child trying on adult clothes.
Lu Xixiao’s lips quirked up silently as he turned to continue walking.
Zhou Wan followed him through several traffic lights. Her tears had long since dried on her face. When the green light had three seconds left, she ran a few steps to catch up to Lu Xixiao’s side.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Lu Xixiao turned his head to look at her: “Only now you think to ask?”
“…”
He smiled: “Going to sell you off.”
“…”
The last bus of the night drove past, honking its horn.
Lu Xixiao gripped Zhou Wan’s wrist through the hoodie’s fabric.
Zhou Wan froze for a moment, lowering her eyes to look at his hand – long-fingered and bony, pale-skinned with visible veins underneath.
He made this gesture naturally, not even looking at her, continuing forward with no change in expression.
Sensing Zhou Wan’s gaze, Lu Xixiao turned to look, following her line of sight to her arm. He raised an eyebrow and said carelessly: “Too late to run now anyway.”
“…”
Going to sell you off.
Too late to run now anyway.
Zhou Wan said softly: “I wasn’t planning to run.”
Lu Xixiao laughed and praised her: “Then you’re quite brave.”
“Selling me wouldn’t be worth much anyway,” Zhou Wan said.
Lu Xixiao looked her up and down, nodding in agreement: “True, flat as a board, wouldn’t fetch much.”
“…”
He was too direct, his gaze even more blatant. Zhou Wan lowered her head in embarrassment.
Lu Xixiao squeezed her overly thin wrist: “We’ll fatten you up before selling.”
*
Zhou Wan followed Lu Xixiao through countless turns and traffic lights. Eventually, there were fewer and fewer cars and even the intersections no longer had traffic signals.
Walking further, Zhou Wan heard the roar of motorcycle engines.
The sound was somewhat familiar.
After thinking for several minutes, Zhou Wan remembered where she’d heard it before – it was in the background when Lu Xixiao had called her yesterday.
He must come here often.
Finally, they arrived at a run-down residential area with a small convenience store of about twenty square meters at the corner.
Lu Xixiao released her hand, lifted the door curtain, and walked in.
Zhou Wan hesitated for two seconds before following him inside.
The fluorescent lights inside were harsh, shining down without any filtering, and Zhou Wan saw several rough-looking young men sitting inside.
Their gazes all turned toward Zhou Wan at once.
Zhou Wan uncomfortably moved closer behind Lu Xixiao.
Lu Xixiao casually stepped to the side, completely exposing Zhou Wan behind him: “What are you looking at?”
“What, we can’t look now?” One of the young men teased, “Who’s this, your girlfriend? The first time we’ve seen you bring someone here.”
Lu Xixiao smiled slightly, not bothering to explain: “Where’s the bike?”
“In the back, you riding today?”
“Yeah.”
Lu Xixiao took Zhou Wan’s hand again, this time holding her hand rather than her wrist, and led her to the back.
Lifting the rolling door revealed a vast, dimly lit space that opened up unexpectedly.
On one side were several gleaming, impressive motorcycles, on the other was a race track.
He grabbed a smaller helmet from the side and was about to put it on Zhou Wan when he noticed the dried tears on her face. He jerked his chin: “Go wash your face.”
Zhou Wan went into the bathroom.
There was only cold water. She washed her face with it and came back out.
She allowed Lu Xixiao to put the helmet on her.
He looked into her eyes and asked: “You brave enough?”
Zhou Wan blinked: “Am I riding by myself?”
“You know how to ride?”
“…”
She shook her head.
Lu Xixiao laughed: “Sit behind me.”
Zhou Wan nodded.
Lu Xixiao pulled down her visor with a “click.”
It wasn’t until the motorcycle started that Zhou Wan understood why Lu Xixiao had asked if she was afraid.
In the past, Zhou Jun also rode a motorcycle, and Zhou Wan often rode with him. She would always urge him to go faster and faster, wanting to overtake the cars beside them.
But racing track bikes were nothing like street bikes.
The moment the bike shot forward, Zhou Wan reflexively wrapped her arms around Lu Xixiao’s waist, letting out a shriek. Her whole body tensed up as she pressed her forehead against his back and squeezed her eyes shut.
The track had many obstacles and sharp turns, and several times they leaned so far that they nearly touched the ground.
“Zhou Wan,” Lu Xixiao suddenly called her name.
She barely managed to respond through the rushing wind.
“Open your eyes.”
She didn’t dare, holding him even tighter, keeping her eyes firmly shut.
“I said open your eyes,” he said.
Zhou Wan’s voice trembled: “I’m scared.”
Of course, Lu Xixiao knew how to handle her, it was simple enough.
He pushed the throttle to its limit, the engine roaring, the wind hitting them even more fiercely.
Zhou Wan rarely raised her voice to him: “Lu Xixiao!”
He smiled mischievously, having achieved his goal: “Open your eyes, and I’ll slow down.”
Zhou Wan’s eyelashes fluttered rapidly before she slowly opened her eyes.
She saw Lu Xixiao’s smooth neck and prominent Adam’s apple, and the scenery rushing past around them.
Her head was tightly enclosed in the helmet, unable to feel the fierce wind, giving her a strange sense of security.
In all her years, she had always followed rules and routines, never experiencing anything out of the ordinary.
But now―
For some reason, Zhou Wan suddenly remembered what Dr. Chen had said to her today:
He wanted Wan Wan to become a free and carefree child, who would always have the courage to stride forward, and the confidence to start over.
She thought that Lu Xixiao might be exactly that kind of person.
Feeling her relaxed grip, Lu Xixiao knew she had opened her eyes, and deliberately teased her: “Holding so tight, you’re going to break my waist.”
Zhou Wan blushed, trying to let go.
But he suddenly accelerated again, causing Zhou Wan to fall back against him.
“Let go if you want to fall off,” he said.
Zhou Wan had no choice but to wrap her arms around his waist again, consciously using less force to avoid hurting him.
Lu Xixiao took her around the track once, then returned to the starting point and got off.
Zhou Wan tried to remove her helmet but couldn’t figure it out after fiddling with it for a while. Lu Xixiao looked down, raised his hand, pressed his fingers against her chin, undid the buckle, and removed the helmet for her.
Zhou Wan said softly: “Thank you.”
“Braver than I thought,” Lu Xixiao said.
Zhou Wan took off her gloves, and Lu Xixiao noticed her hands were red, with faint red spots visible on the back.
“What happened to your hands?”
“Oh, this.” Zhou Wan looked down at them, “My hands get like this easily when they touch cold water. I just washed my face with cold water, it’ll be fine in a while, nothing serious.”
Lu Xixiao’s brow furrowed imperceptibly: “Oh.”
Zhou Wan asked: “Are we leaving?”
“Mm.”
He walked out, and Zhou Wan quickly followed.
Lu Xixiao returned to the convenience store but didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he circled and took a pair of gloves from a shelf.
The small store had limited merchandise, with gloves in only one style and two colors. Lu Xixiao took the topmost pair, black with red patterns knitted into them.
He tossed the gloves onto the counter: “How much?”
By now only one young man remained in the store, with long, yellowed hair pulled back with a thin black headband. He raised an eyebrow: “Since when do you use stuff like this?”
Lu Xixiao clicked his tongue.
The Headband guy smiled: “Just take them, they’re not worth much.”
Lu Xixiao didn’t stand on ceremony, efficiently tore open the packaging, and tossed them to Zhou Wan.
Zhou Wan hadn’t expected them to be for her and fumbled to catch them.
She froze: “What’s wrong?”
“Your hands are about to freeze off,” Lu Xixiao glanced at her, his voice flat.
As if annoyed by her hesitation, Lu Xixiao took the gloves back, grabbed her hands, and put the gloves on her with decidedly ungentle movements.
Zhou Wan pressed her lips together lightly: “Thank you.”
“Ah Xiao,” the Headband guy smiled, “You’ve grown up, knowing how to care for girls now.”
Lu Xixiao gave him a sideways glance.
Zhou Wan thought for a moment, then went over to ask: “Hello, how much are these gloves?”
He gave them to Lu Xixiao because of their friendship, but there was no reason to give them to her.
“Sister, I said don’t worry about it, why so formal?” The Headband guy leaned forward, resting his elbow on the glass counter, and said to Zhou Wan, “It’s fine, just keep your boyfriend in check for me in the future, make sure he causes less trouble, and that’ll be helping me out.”
He said, your boyfriend.
Zhou Wan froze for a moment.
She tried to catch Lu Xixiao’s expression out of the corner of her eye but couldn’t see it.
But she could guess that being a man of few words who didn’t care about others’ opinions, he would probably look indifferent and not bother to correct the assumption.
Zhou Wan didn’t say anything either.
Lu Xixiao had already walked to the door and looked back: “Aren’t you coming?”
“Coming,” Zhou Wan hurried to say.
Yellow Hair called out: “Leaving already? Only rode once?”
Lu Xixiao raised his hand in a wave without turning around, which counted as an answer.
*
Outside, the night had grown even deeper.
Standing at a red light, Lu Xixiao turned to look at her and asked softly: “Feeling better?”
Zhou Wan froze for a moment.
Lu Xixiao didn’t know what had made her happy, and of course, didn’t know how such things couldn’t be easily forgotten.
But after that experience, Zhou Wan’s heart finally didn’t feel as stifled as before. Earlier, her entire being had been teetering on the terrifying edge of breakdown and falling.
“Mm.” She smiled faintly, “Thank you.”
Lu Xixiao watched her smile, her profile soft, revealing shallow dimples, gentle and tender.
He looked away, continuing to watch the traffic light countdown.
Zhou Wan had walked quite a distance today, and these shoes pinched a bit. After walking with Lu Xixiao for a while, she gradually fell behind him, her heels starting to hurt.
Lu Xixiao looked back: “Tired of walking?”
“…mm.”
“Then let’s get a taxi,” he said, taking out his phone.
Zhou Wan stopped him: “No need…”
Taxis were too expensive.
Lu Xixiao said nothing, looking at her questioningly.
Zhou Wan pointed to a shared yellow bike to the side: “How about this?”
Lu Xixiao had never ridden one before, standing in place watching Zhou Wan walk over and unlock one with her phone.
It wasn’t a bicycle but a small yellow electric scooter, with a square headlight in front, a yellow plastic helmet in the basket, and an antenna sticking up on top.
She knew how to wear this kind of helmet, putting it on efficiently.
The helmet was too big for her, wobbling around, looking cute and comical, like some cartoon character with an antenna on top.
Lu Xixiao’s lips curved in a laugh.
Zhou Wan looked at him: “Aren’t you going to ride?”
“I don’t know how.”
“…This is very simple.”
How could someone who raced on tracks not know how to ride an electric scooter?
“I’ll ride with you.”
Zhou Wan hesitated somewhat: “But this bike isn’t meant for passengers, it’s against traffic rules, and there’s no extra helmet.”
“No one’s checking at this hour,” Lu Xixiao casually made up an excuse, “My phone’s dead, can’t scan it.”
Although Zhou Wan was somewhat resistant, she still agreed: “Then I’ll drive you.”
Lu Xixiao laughed: “Oh.”
The electric scooter was narrow, and Zhou Wan only dared to sit on a tiny bit of the seat, her back ramrod straight, as stiff and nervous as if she were standing punishment. Lu Xixiao, on the other hand, was completely at ease, such a big person sitting behind her without feeling any embarrassment at all.
She didn’t dare let her eyes wander, staring straight ahead.
Not noticing a pothole in the road for a moment, the scooter jolted.
Lu Xixiao took the opportunity to fall against her back.
Zhou Wan’s entire spine instantly tensed up, and she quickly said: “I’m sorry, I didn’t see clearly.”
He loosely placed one hand on her waist, as if complaining: “Be more careful, would you?”
Being scolded by him, Zhou Wan didn’t even have time to mind the hand at her waist, apologizing again: “I’m sorry.”
“Such a wide road and you still manage to hit a pothole,” he continued his tone leisurely, seemingly teasing.
Zhou Wan felt like she couldn’t lift her head under his words.
He laughed, with unclear meaning: “Did you do it on purpose?”
“…”
Zhou Wan had never met someone so difficult, having her intentions twisted like this, her face reddening again and again. She stiffened her neck and tried to maintain composure: “Of course not.”
Fortunately, Lu Xixiao didn’t push further.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The late autumn wind was cool, but Zhou Wan drove very slowly, making the breeze comfortable against their skin.
At a red light, Lu Xixiao looked at her, at the exposed section of her slender white neck.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth and very casually took out his phone to snap a photo of her.
Posted it to his Moments.
A single photo, no text.