Shi Niannian turned her head back.

The young man sat on the ground, one leg bent, the other sprawled out carelessly. Those cold eyes, now narrowed with mockery, were looking at her.

His eyelids were slightly narrow, creating a thin crease when he looked up.

His raised jaw traced a smooth and sharp line.

He smelled strongly of tobacco.

The air was peaceful under the glow of the streetlight.

After a few seconds of eye contact, Jiang Wang reached into his pocket, his hand so white that the blue veins beneath his skin were visible. He raised his index finger, pointing toward the crowd.

His fingers were beautiful, slender and bony, with neatly trimmed, clean nails.

However, there was a blood mark on the tiger’s mouth of his hand, which didn’t detract from their beauty.

Shi Niannian’s gaze lingered on his fingertips for two seconds before following where he pointed.

A voice neither soft nor loud sounded from behind: “Xu Ningqing.”

“Fuck!” A curse erupted from the crowd.

Shi Niannian saw Xu Ningqing, dressed in a white shirt, deliver a vicious kick to someone’s stomach, then break free while catching his breath. “What is it, A-Wang?”

Then he saw Shi Niannian standing nearby and frowned. “Why did you come out so late at night?”

“Night… snack,” she said.

“Ah.” Xu Ningqing remembered.

He turned around and said to the seated Jiang Wang: “You’re just sitting here? But how’s your ear? Is your hearing improving? Can it fully recover?”

Jiang Wang casually ran his hand through his hair, too lazy to speak, and gave a faint “mm” in response.

“Keep an eye on things over there, they’re all trash. I’m heading home first, or my mom will roast me alive.”

As Xu Ningqing spoke, he buttoned up all three buttons on his shirt collar, looking much more proper than before.

“Let’s go.” Xu Ningqing extended his hand in front of Shi Niannian and snapped his fingers.

Shi Niannian followed him out. Just as they left the basketball court, they heard a furious shout: “Jiang Wang! I fuck your mother!”

She turned her head.

Jiang Wang, who had been sitting lazily with his arms propped behind him, sat up and narrowed his eyes at the speaker. The next second, he lunged forward, grabbed the person by the collar, and violently slammed him against the wall.

A huge “bang” resonated.

The person stuck to the wall for two seconds before sliding down like a puddle of mud.

Shi Niannian thought the wall might crack.

“Say that again if you dare.”

Jiang Wang lowered his voice, his expression fierce, the muscles in his shoulders and arms tense, completely different from his appearance moments ago.

“Little girls shouldn’t watch this fighting and killing.”

Xu Ningqing lit a cigarette and gently flicked her nape with his bent finger.

Shi Niannian turned her head back, showing no signs of fear.

As calm as a wooden doll.

Xu Ningqing paused, halting his steps.

His thumb and index finger pinched together, rubbing off a layer of dirt. He brushed aside Shi Niannian’s hair and saw dried mud spots on her nape, starkly visible against her fair neck.

Then there was a spot on the hem of her school uniform.

“Someone bullied you again?” Xu Ningqing asked.

The girl shook her head.

Xu Ningqing extended his dirt-stained finger in front of her: “Then what’s this?”

“I… I ran,” she said. “Fell.”

Due to her stutter, the girl found speaking laborious, so she kept it as brief as possible.

Xu Ningqing thought for a moment and asked: “You fell while running away, and that’s how you got dirty?”

Shi Niannian nodded.

Xu Ningqing frowned but ultimately didn’t pursue it. He had asked her several times before about who bullied her, offering to fight back for her, but she wouldn’t say.

Finally, he laughed and ruffled the girl’s soft hair: “With your escape skills, you could win gold medals at sports meets in the future.”

As they left the street, Shi Niannian looked back one last time.

The moon was setting rapidly, obscured by thick clouds, making the night darker.

Jiang Wang had his back to her, his spine erect like a mountain peak, and the person who had cursed earlier knelt before him with a bloodied forehead.

The next day.

The red and white curtains were drawn tightly, but the summer sunlight was too bright and scorching, vigilantly seizing any gap to launch a major invasion, filling the room with light.

Shi Niannian emerged from a long and restless dream.

The moment she opened her eyes, she completely forgot the content of the dream, only remembering that it seemed unpleasant.

She rubbed her eyes and sat up, went to the bathroom to wash up, and came out.

Today was the weekend, no school. Shi Niannian picked up her school uniform from yesterday, scraping off the mud spots with her fingernail, leaving only faint gray circles.

Just as she opened the door, the family’s housekeeper was about to knock, coming to collect laundry.

Shi Niannian thanked her and handed over the clothes.

It was still early, 7 o’clock.

Shi Niannian took out her MP3 player and put on headphones, pressed a few buttons, and a series of melodious music came out.

She opened the English listening notebook on her desk, made circles and marks, and wrote down answers.

Turning to the last page to check her answers, she marked two checks in the notebook.

There was also a small booklet with the detailed content of the listening exercises. She replayed it once, softly reciting along.

She stuttered through it for quite a while.

Eventually, she had to give up and switch to silent reading.

She studied until nine o’clock before leaving her bedroom.

The refrigerator was filled with various fruits, a sight that lifted one’s spirits. She took out two apples, ate one herself, and knocked on Xu Ningqing’s bedroom door with the other.

“Come in.”

Xu Ningqing had probably just finished showering, his black hair dripping wet, wearing a loose robe as he sat at his computer desk playing games, exposing a large area of wet collarbones and chest.

“What is it?”

Xu Ningqing spared her a glance while at a critical point in his game, and turned off his microphone.

“Here.”

Shi Niannian compressed “Do you want an apple?” into a single word, “Here,” placing the apple next to his computer desk.

“Thanks.” Xu Ningqing smiled, then suddenly stood up, grabbed Shi Niannian’s shoulders, and pushed her to sit at the computer desk.

“Play for me, I need to take a leak.”

Shi Niannian looked at the complex screen before her, not knowing where to put her hands: “I, I…”

“I know you don’t know how.” Xu Ningqing interrupted her, speaking quickly. “WASD to move, find a place to hide first, and when you see someone, press the left mouse button to shoot.”

After saying this, Xu Ningqing left his bedroom. Although his bedroom had a bathroom, he probably went to the living room bathroom out of consideration for the girl’s presence.

Shi Niannian had seen Jiang Ling play the mobile version of this game before but had never tried it herself and wasn’t familiar with the specific operations.

She found a building to hide in.

Then she heard footsteps with a “tap-tap-tap” sound in the game music. Shi Niannian expressionlessly gripped the mouse.

She stood with the gun opposite the door, like a little soldier preparing to blow up a pillbox.

As the door opened, she pressed the left button.

“Fuck,” a male voice said.

Only then did Shi Niannian realize the microphone was on, followed by a system prompt indicating friendly fire.

“Hey, what’s going on? Xu-ge, your skills seriously don’t match your former self. Were you cheating before?”

“What are you standing there for? Revive me quick!”

“Xu Ningqing, are you tap dancing or what?!”

When Xu Ningqing was talking to her earlier, he had turned off voice chat, so his teammates still thought he was playing.

Shi Niannian reopened the sound settings and turned on the microphone.

She paused, then spoke: “How… to revive? This is my first… time playing.”

As soon as the girl’s sweet, clear voice came out, there was a few seconds of silence on the other end.

It was already too late to save the teammate. As they died completely, Shi Niannian softly apologized: “…sorry.”

“No, no, no, it’s me, your brother, who’s too impulsive!”

“Don’t be afraid, sister! How did you get scared into stuttering? Fan Mengming’s pig mouth should be sliced and plated!”

“Sister, your aim is pretty accurate, one-shot headshot, that’s sick! Want to play another round later?”

Shi Niannian pressed her lips together, sitting quietly.

At the same time, a completely different voice came through, with light mockery: “Are we still playing or not?”

Shi Niannian opened her mouth but didn’t speak.

This was followed by another voice, full of delight: “Brother Wang! It’s a little loli!”

Shi Niannian: “…”

Xu Ningqing finally returned, wearing black loungewear.

As soon as he entered, he heard Fan Mengming’s stupid voice—It’s a little loli!

“Loli your mother’s ass!” Xu Ningqing cursed.

Sitting back in his chair, he waved at Shi Niannian to leave.

These people were used to hanging out together and had no filter.

“Xu-ge, who was that just now? That voice! Fuck! Half my body went numb!! Even stuttered from shyness, it’s too sweet!!”

Xu Ningqing took a bite of the apple and placed it on the desk: “Looking to die?”

“No, but what does she look like?”

Xu Ningqing restarted the game: “She’s a high school student.”

“Which grade?”

Xu Ningqing clicked his tongue.

Fan Mengming asked: “Don’t tell me she’s at the same high school as Brother Wang?”

Xu Ningqing paused: “Actually, she is.”

Fan Mengming whistled suggestively: “Yo! Brother Wang is so fortunate, already 19 and still gets to be in school with a little loli.”

Jiang Wang sat at his computer desk, his mind suddenly filled with the image of the girl he had seen last night.

He had just washed his hair, which was wet and slicked back, revealing his clean forehead, water droplets sliding down his nape.

His jawline was sharp, with distinct angles, and his prominent Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.

He recalled last night.

That girl, standing before him, happened to block a crescent moon.

Her clear, limpid eyes seemed to contain the vast stars.

He curved his lips, leaned back in his chair, and hissed.

Fan Mengming was still chattering nonstop in his ear.

“Bang—” a sound.

The system prompted: J.Wang killed a handsome boy with a 98 K.

Fan Mengming was shocked: “Seriously, Brother Wang? It’s enough that the little loli killed me, why did you have to kill me too?!”

“Brother, mind your attitude,” Xu Ningqing said, rubbing his nose with a laugh. “Have you developed some misunderstanding about A-Wang’s temperament after not seeing him for half a year?”