After that night when Xu Sui made things clear with Zhou Jingze, she finally felt relieved. Someone as proud as Zhou Jingze surely wouldn’t lower himself to come looking for her again, right?

Xu Sui was busy at the hospital every day. When she came home at night, just after washing her hair, her phone on the table kept vibrating with incoming messages.

She sat on the sofa, tilting her head to dry her damp hair with a towel while casually picking up her phone to check the messages. The notification bar showed new comment reminders on one of her answers on Zhihu.

It was still that question she’d casually answered years ago – During your secret crush in student days, what was the funniest thing you did?

People still liked and replied to her answer to this day.

Her thumb scrolled down the screen, scanning through quickly.

1: I feel like I see another version of myself, but he’s married now, to someone else, very happily. I hope the original poster can find her own happiness.

2: Do you still keep in touch?

3: Miss, do you still have feelings for him?

…

Xu Sui stared at these questions for a full three minutes. Water droplets dripped from her hair tips onto her neck. She leaned forward to grab a tissue and wiped her neck clean.

Finally, she clicked to hide the answer.

The answer became a blank space.

Putting down her phone, she dried her hair, did her skincare routine, lit aromatherapy candles, and finally had a good night’s sleep.

Wednesday night at nine o’clock, Xu Sui had just finished surgery. She removed her surgical gown and protective gloves, walked into the sterilization room. Her white coat hanging on the side was buzzing with vibrations.

Xu Sui ignored it, turned on the faucet, washed her hands clean before taking out her phone from her pocket. Looking at it, she saw it was a call from Liang Shuang. She answered with a smile: “Girl, what’s up?”

Silence on the other end, followed by suppressed sobbing. Xu Sui opened the door, hearing her crying and frowning, her tone gentle: “What’s wrong? Who bullied you?”

Liang Shuang still didn’t answer, continuing to cry.

Xu Sui patiently continued asking while comforting her and checking the time: “I’m about to get off work here. How about I take you for some Singaporean food you like?”

Perhaps Xu Sui’s voice was too gentle, Liang Shuang finally couldn’t hold back and burst into tears on the phone, her speech mixed with nasal tones but her tone irritable and broken:

“Damn his grandfather, Tan Wei cheated! Son of a bitch, the night before he was still saying he loved me, and the next day… he ran off to a hotel with an old woman. I must teach them a lesson!”

“What?” Xu Sui’s tone was surprised. She responded while taking off her white coat and putting on her jacket. “Don’t cry, where are you now? I’ll come find you.”

Liang Shuang sniffled, her voice aggrieved: “I’m near the club where those cheating dogs are meeting. I came to catch them in the act today. I even brought a camera and live streaming equipment. Isn’t Tan Wei a minor celebrity? Today I’m going to expose him, teach these cheating dogs a lesson, prove that I’m not someone to mess with!”

Xu Sui’s eyelid twitched: “Don’t be impulsive, I’m coming to find you right now.”

Xu Sui stuffed her phone in her pocket, not even having time to change her flat shoes, quickly walking out of the hospital straight to the parking lot. Xu Sui drove out all the way.

Liang Shuang had always been hot-tempered and impulsive. Xu Sui was worried she might do something rash in her anger, so she pressed the accelerator and rushed to the location she mentioned.

Langqiao Gui Club. When Xu Sui arrived nearby, calling Liang Shuang went unanswered. She had to honk the car horn to find her, seeing a girl in an apricot-colored windbreaker and black beret waving at her from not far away.

Xu Sui parked the car, pulled out the keys to find her. Walking up to Liang Shuang, she noticed her eyes were swollen. Xu Sui hurriedly looked for tissues, but Liang Shuang waved them away, her voice hoarse when she spoke: “This club is members-only. How can we get in without a card?”

“Are you really going in? What if we encounter something bad?” Xu Sui was being rational.

“I just feel so frustrated. Why should I treat him so well only to be cheated on quietly? I just used my salary card to buy him a watch a couple days ago…” Liang Shuang’s eyes started reddening again as she spoke.

Xu Sui couldn’t handle Liang Shuang like this, hurriedly wiping her tears, her voice soft: “Don’t worry, let me think of a way.”

Cars continued parking one after another behind them in the parking lot. Xu Sui was wearing a black and white checkered mohair coat today, high-waisted jeans with boots. She thought for a moment, having slight nearsightedness, she took out glasses from her bag and put them on, buttoned up her open coat neatly, pinned her hair low, wiped off her lipstick with a tissue. This transformation made her look like a well-behaved woman just getting off work.

Liang Shuang watched Xu Sui walk toward the parking lot, seeing her calmly talking to a middle-aged man. She didn’t know what consensus they reached, but finally she nodded and smiled at him.

Five minutes later, Xu Sui returned: “It’s settled. We’ll follow him in later. He has a card and will help us swipe the elevator.”

“Once we’re inside, hide your camera well. Don’t be impulsive no matter what, or you’ll be the one who suffers.”

“Mm-hmm,” Liang Shuang nodded eagerly, asking: “But Xu Sui, how did you get that man to agree to help us get in?”

Xu Sui seemed a bit unaccustomed to having her hair tied so low, lowering her head to adjust it: “That man obviously has kids at home. I just took advantage of parental empathy. Told him my little brother was being rebellious, wouldn’t go to school and insisted on working as a server here. Our parents were so stressed they got sick, so I came to persuade him to go back.”

Liang Shuang linked arms with her, her eyes reddening again: “Wuu wuu wuu, you’re so smart.”

“Alright, wipe your tears. Let’s go in.” Xu Sui patted her arm.

The middle-aged man in a blue suit, with his assistant, led the two of them into Langqiao Gui Club, smoothly swiping cards all the way up the elevator to room 2070.

In the corridor, incompletely closed room doors leaked out the sounds of men and women flirting. The adjacent room was playing dice, conversations mixing together in indulgence and pleasure.

Liang Shuang stood at the door, clenched fists, fingertips slightly trembling.

“Xu Sui, I’ll be responsible for holding down the cheating dogs later. After we finish taking photos, we’ll leave immediately.” Liang Shuang said.

Many things – what you imagine and what you can actually do are different matters. When Liang Shuang pushed open the door and saw the scene before her, all reason was lost. All plans, all restraint were thrown out the window.

As the door opened, in the VIP luxury private room, the KTV machine’s selected song went unsung, becoming their background music. Tan Wei was shirtless, his hoodie thrown on the floor. The two were entangled together on the sofa. That woman was nearly 40 years old. Tan Wei had his eyes closed, energetically performing his skills, even calling out “baby.”

Liang Shuang was so angry her blood boiled. She couldn’t care less about taking photos, rushing over to throw cups from the table and vases from the corner at the two of them, throwing and cursing:

“Cheating dogs! In ancient times I would have had you both thrown in pig cages! Tan Wei, you bastard, how can you face me?”

Xu Sui stood to the side, took out her phone, opened the camera and secretly took several photos.

The woman hastily put on her clothes. Tan Wei pulled up his pants, looking panicked as he tried to explain, but Liang Shuang kept throwing things. He dodged while saying: “Shuang Shuang, it’s not like that…”

“Don’t call me that, it’s disgusting. If it’s not like that, then what is it? Were you filming a behavioral art piece?”

Initially Tan Wei could still endure it, until Liang Shuang threw an ashtray that hit his forehead directly, blood flowing. He simply stopped pretending, grabbing Liang Shuang’s arm, his eyes showing sharp malice:

“Even tantrums should have limits. Do you think I won’t hit women?”

Tan Wei raised his palm, his face cold. Liang Shuang was startled, dodging back in fear. A cold but powerful voice rang out: “Let her go.”

Xu Sui stood not far away, holding her phone, waving it at him, her thumb pressed on the screen: “What you just did, and what you’re doing to Liang Shuang now – I don’t mind packaging these photos and sending copies to media, forums, and your company.”

To hit someone, you must find their weakness. To throw stones at others, you must be confident in your aim.

Tan Wei’s expression changed immediately. He quickly let go, his face full of flattery: “Sister Xu Sui, I just reached the end of my relationship with her…”

Xu Sui was listening intently when suddenly a strong force pushed her from behind. Xu Sui uncontrollably fell forward, her phone flying out. She crashed into the coffee table, her elbow hitting the side with a sound like ceramic shattering as she fell to the ground.

“How dare you threaten my husband? No way…” the woman cursed.

She immediately rushed over to delete the photos from the phone, her movements swift and practiced.

“Why are you pushing my friend!”

Liang Shuang exploded immediately, rushing over to grab the woman’s hair. The two wrestled together. Xu Sui struggled up from the coffee table with some difficulty. She had a bit of a headache – she shouldn’t have been soft-hearted and come with Liang Shuang. She should have let her handle it rationally.

Tan Wei saw the broken blue and white porcelain pen holder on the ground and completely broke down, shouting at the fighting woman: “Why did you push her? The thing I was giving to the director is broken!”

This was something he’d coaxed the rich woman for over a month to buy – a Ming Dynasty antique he was using to curry favor with a director for more screen time. Now it was all broken.

“Make her compensate for it.” The woman pointed at Xu Sui.

The scene was chaos. Xu Sui just felt a headache. She felt her arm had developed a bruise. Supporting herself with her hand, she went to pick up her phone from the floor, planning to call the police.

The phone had barely dialed “1” when “bang” – the door opened and several police officers walked in: “Don’t move. We just received a tip that there’s group prostitution happening here. Please cooperate with our investigation.”

Great, no need to call the police – they’d just run into trouble.

Xu Sui and the others were escorted out. Police searched each room, taking suspicious persons back for questioning. Cheng You had just come out of the bathroom, whistling, when he spotted Xu Sui at the corridor corner with a group of people around her.

Cheng You took a photo of her, slipped behind a pillar, and sent Zhou Jingze a message. Finally having good timing for once, he even played coy:

[Boss, guess who I saw?]

Zhou Jingze had just finished showering at home. He opened a bottle of wine, grabbed his phone from the table, and replied: [Seeing anyone has nothing to do with me.]

Reading this reply, Cheng You thought – keep pretending, let’s see if you can hold back later. So he said nothing and sent Xu Sui’s photo over.

Sure enough, within three seconds, Zhou Jingze’s call came through. Cheng You answered, hearing sounds of him getting dressed and looking for keys, leaving three words:

“Where is she?”

Cheng You told him what had happened.

At the police station, Xu Sui’s group gave statements. For their fighting incident, naturally not wanting to make it a big deal, they chose private settlement.

Xu Sui needed to call someone to come sign for her bail. She was used to being independent, with few friends around, and even if she had any, they weren’t in Jingbei.

Xu Sui held her phone, looking at the call history hesitantly. Finally she clicked on Li Yang’s contact. Her thumb pressed down, about to hit call when a hand with distinct bone structure snatched away her phone, and simultaneously, a shadow fell over her.

She turned to look – Zhou Jingze wearing a black parka, jacket half open, carrying the harsh wind from outside as he entered, nodding to the police. The captain came over with his thermal mug, his face lighting up seeing Zhou Jingze:

“Little Zhou, you really came.”

Zhou Jingze nodded politely, his low deep voice responding with a smile: “Yes, here to pick someone up.”

He took the blue folder and black pen, signing with sharp handwriting. The captain put down his mug to shake hands and chat, the two discussing recent developments.

Xu Sui was momentarily dazed – why did Zhou Jingze appear here, how did he know? All these questions swirled in her mind.

After signing, Zhou Jingze was about to take her away when the woman called out, her tone harsh: “Just leaving like that? Don’t you need to compensate for the blue and white porcelain pen holder you broke?”

“Right, Sister Xu Sui, there’s surveillance.” Tan Wei also blocked her path, not letting her leave.

Liang Shuang was jumping mad, pointing at them: “I’ll compensate! And you did such despicable things – just wait and see.”

“That’s a separate matter, but the porcelain was indeed broken by Sister Xu Sui.”

Xu Sui was truly amused by the logic and shamelessness of this couple. She moved away Liang Shuang’s hand, her expression calm: “You pushed me first, and I injured my arm – that’s also compensation owed.”

Seeing they wanted to continue entangling, Xu Sui put both hands in her pockets, stepping back: “I can compensate at most one-sixth of this porcelain’s price.”

But this was still a considerable amount.

After hearing this, Tan Wei gritted his teeth. Things had reached this point anyway, and he’d been short on money lately – every bit counted.

Xu Sui and Liang Shuang went aside, calculating the money they could scrape together to compensate Tan Wei.

Zhou Jingze lowered his head with his phone, pushed open the glass door. A cold wind blew, his back straight and broad, apparently calling someone.

Liang Shuang had just bought a new car recently. Even pooling everything together, they were still short.

Xu Sui was troubled when Zhou Jingze pushed the door open again, lifting his eyelids to look directly at Tan Wei, his tone casual: “How much? I’ll compensate for her.”

…

Near midnight, Zhou Jingze drove Xu Sui home. After a tiring day at work plus Liang Shuang’s incident, she was exhausted and dozzy, finally leaning against the car window and falling asleep.

She had a fragmented dream.

When she woke up, she found herself asleep in the car. Xu Sui rubbed her eyes, cleared her throat: “How long was I asleep?”

Zhou Jingze sat in the driver’s seat, leaning over to pull out a box of mints from his pocket, shaking two into his palm: “Not long.”

Xu Sui felt for her phone in her pocket, a strand of hair falling across her forehead: “What’s your account number? I’ll transfer the money back to you later.”

Zhou Jingze unwrapped the candy, popping the mint into his mouth, his tone leisurely: “No rush.”

“Just remember I’m your creditor.”

Xu Sui was momentarily speechless: “Anyway, thank you for tonight. I’ll pay you back in installments.”

After Xu Sui left, Zhou Jingze sat in the car smoking several cigarettes, the light at his fingertips flickering on and off. The night grew deeper and heavier. The car window was half down when he looked up to see the warm yellow light on the upper floor turn on with a “pop.”

A nearly burned-out cigarette butt was thrown into the damp soil before he drove away.

Returning home, Zhou Jingze threw his keys at the entrance, leaning back on the sofa. He closed his eyes for a moment, just planning to continue drinking the wine he hadn’t finished earlier when the doorbell rang.

Opening the door, it was Sheng Nanzhou.

He came over carrying two bottles of wine. Seeing the wine on the coffee table, he said: “Wow, quite synchronized, buddy.”

Zhou Jingze tossed him a beer can, opened one himself, and drank in sullen silence. Sheng Nanzhou said nothing either, just drinking with him.

“By the way, buddy, why did you ask to borrow money from me earlier?” Sheng Nanzhou asked.

“You’re a super rich second generation, quite wealthy. When would it be your turn to borrow from me? Besides, where are all those years of pilot salary you earned?”

Zhou Jingze didn’t respond. Seeing he was hiding something, Sheng Nanzhou didn’t press but changed his approach: “Didn’t your mom leave you a trust fund? That’s enough for you to live comfortably for two lifetimes. That’s gone too?”

“Tsk,” Zhou Jingze was probably annoyed by the questioning. He gulped his beer, laughing casually, “It’s with my grandfather. He says he won’t give it until I find a wife.”

“Brilliant, grandfather’s got game.” Sheng Nanzhou gave a thumbs up.

Sheng Nanzhou, being quite the pest, continued asking: “So what did you need the money for?”

“…” Zhou Jingze.

Sheng Nanzhou playfully kicked him, persistently asking: “Hey, I’m talking to you.”

Zhou Jingze crushed the beer can in half, his tongue pressing against his left cheek, lazily responding: “Xu Sui got into some trouble. I had to handle it.”

The air froze, followed by silence, then Sheng Nanzhou jumped up from the sofa, grabbed his throat, absolutely livid: “So you borrowed money from your brother to chase a woman?!”