Li Li was injured.

He was forced to take leave again and convalesce at home.

This time it was real.

Because that bellow of his had been heard by several neighboring households — including Li Li’s own mother.

Most of the people living in that neighborhood knew one another, and many of them were elders who had watched Su Man and Li Li grow up. They passed the time strolling around the complex, playing chess, and chatting, so the story spread quickly.

A gossipy neighbor went to Li Li’s father and said, half joking:

“Those two kids, Li Li and Su Man, have been fighting again. Your Li Li is a carbon copy of you when you were young — same explosive temper. He called Su Man a dog, and the whole complex heard it, haha ha ha ha…”

Everyone else found it entertaining. But Li Li’s father’s face went dark on the spot.

He and Su Man’s father were good friends. And his own son had just called his good friend’s daughter a dog — which made Su Man’s father, by extension, what exactly?

So when Li Li’s father came home after work, he gave Li Li a thorough thrashing.

Li Li was no longer a child — he was a grown man in his mid-twenties. He wasn’t about to just stand there and take it. Naturally he leaped and dodged in every direction, but as he was scrambling down the stairs, he tripped and fell —

His arm. Fractured.

That was the full story behind Li Li’s injury.

Su Man heard the news while she was out having dinner with Lu Yuwen.

She looked at the message her mother had sent, her feelings too tangled to put into words. The filet of beef on her plate in front of her seemed suddenly less appetizing.

[Mom: Li Li just got back from the hospital. Arm’s fractured. Old Li went too far — a few smacks would have been enough, why did he have to break the kid’s arm?]

[Mom: That said, Li Li is far too fragile. He’s in his mid-twenties and his bones are as brittle as crackers. In that respect our Manman is much stronger — sturdy as a young calf, barely got injured once growing up.]

[Mom: What are you doing? Why aren’t you replying?]

[Mom: Sent to the wrong person, I was trying to send this to your father.]

[Mom: Never mind, forward it to your father for me. I’m too lazy to type it out again.]

Su Man: “…”

Lu Yuwen noticed she had gone still and asked, “Why aren’t you eating?”

“It’s nothing…” Su Man put down her phone and let out a quiet, involuntary sigh. “It’s Li Li again. He got injured.”

“Injured again?” Lu Yuwen’s expression remained calm, but genuine surprise was hard to conceal in his voice.

He couldn’t help wondering whether the other party was pulling the same trick twice — but would the same play really work a second time?

Su Man lowered her eyes and cut her steak, saying helplessly, “I’ll need to drop by his place when I get back.”

Lu Yuwen was silent for a moment, then nodded. “You should go see him. You live right next door, after all — it would look odd not to.”

“I know.” Su Man hadn’t noticed the shift in Lu Yuwen’s mood. She ate as she spoke. “I’ve mentioned it to you before — Li Li is an extremely proud person. He’s this old and still got beaten by his father. Right now his pride must be in pieces… I wonder what Li’s uncle did it for this time, to go that far.”

Lu Yuwen said, “Since he’s so proud, it would be better not to ask when you go. You don’t want to make him feel even worse.”

Su Man considered it, then nodded. “You’re right — I won’t ask then. Otherwise he might fly into a rage and insult me again.”

Su Man hated being insulted most of all, because she could never win a verbal fight. Her only effective method of retaliation was physical force.

But physical force wasn’t always an option.

Lu Yuwen looked at Su Man with a warm, steady gaze. “You know you’re likely to get insulted, and you’re going to go anyway?”

Su Man paused slightly, then laughed at herself. “…Probably because I’ve been insulted so many times I’ve gone numb.”

Lu Yuwen laughed softly.

—