Wu Xinghai bolted at a sprint, as though the mere sight of Su Man was more than he could handle.

Su Man stared after him with wide eyes. “Where are you going?!” she called.

“To deal with the other guy from the fight!” he yelled back over his shoulder, already disappearing in the distance.

Su Man: “……”

She closed her fingers around the keycard, pressed her lips together, and stepped into the elevator.

She swiped the card; the elevator took her straight to the twentieth floor. She found Room 2001, keyed in the code, and went inside — and there was Li Li, lying on the living room sofa.

This apartment’s living room was exceptionally large, fitting Wu Xinghai’s particular tastes perfectly — ideal for entertaining his rowdy circle of friends.

Su Man walked over to Li Li and saw that the area around one eye had bruised, there were traces of wiped blood beneath his nose, and he had clearly been punched. She didn’t know yet if the rest of him was alright.

Every time she’d thought of what he’d done to her lately, she’d gritted her teeth in fury — but seeing him like this now, she couldn’t help but feel her heart soften, feeling a helpless kind of pity.

Li Li lifted his lids slightly and looked at her. He said in a muffled voice, “I thought you wouldn’t come.”

Su Man let out a breath, sitting down beside him with quiet resignation. “Why are you still the same as ever? When someone comes at you, why can’t you just run? Or tell them who your parents are — that would do it. Or call Wu Xinghai for backup.”

Li Li turned his face away toward the back of the sofa. “Everyone had too much to drink. Who’s thinking straight?”

Su Man frowned. “Who hit you? What’s their name?”

“You wouldn’t know them anyway,” Li Li said irritably. “Can you stop interrogating me like my parents? Besides, I hit him too! It was a *fight*, not a one-sided beating!”

Su Man said nothing.

She was thinking of their school days, when Li Li used to get picked on all the time.

It was because he’d always been so arrogant. Young as he was, he’d skipped multiple grades in a row — top student, academic genius, prodigy — title after title stacked on his name. Add to that a privileged family background, and he’d developed a certain disdain for the world around him. And because of skipping grades, he was always the youngest in the class, the most slight-framed.

Many students weren’t like adults who knew to weigh risks. They didn’t care whose parents held what position. If you provoked them, they’d hit first and think later.

Su Man had been fighting his cross-grade battles since they were children. She’d lost count of how many times.

She looked at Li Li now and felt a knot of complex feelings rise in her chest. Knowing how protective he was of his pride, she asked quietly, “You really don’t want to go to the hospital?”

“No broken bones — why would I go to the hospital?” Li Li replied, brow creased. “And which hospital doesn’t have someone who knows my parents in some leadership position?”

Su Man sighed again. “So how are you going to explain to your parents why you’re not coming home for the next few days?”

Li Li was quiet for a moment. “I’ve already put in a leave request at the research institute. The only story I can give my parents is that I went traveling with a friend — should be fine to say I’ll be back in two or three days.”

“That excuse is way too thin,” Su Man couldn’t help saying. “Not a single bag packed — does that look like someone going on a trip?”

Li Li hesitated for a beat. “Can you go to my house for me, give my mom some explanation, and then bring some clothes over? It’s only two or three days — I don’t need that much. Once the bruising clears up in a few days, I’ll go home.”

Su Man thought it over. “I suppose that’s the only option,” she said, resigned.

She glanced at the time. “Should I go get your things now?”

“First… get me some water,” Li Li said, brow furrowing as a flicker of pain crossed his features. “My leg still hurts a bit — can barely walk. When you come back, bring me a crutch.”

“You can barely walk? It’s that bad?” Su Man tensed, and bent down to look at his legs. “Which leg? Don’t joke around with something like this — you should go to the hospital!”

—