Chu Hang’s face was as handsome as ever, and just as sour as ever, his brow furrowed, his expression thoroughly impatient. “How long have I been waiting for you?” he said, forcefully pulling Tan Yin out from among the thugs surrounding her. “Let’s go. Back to eat the spicy crab.”

His attitude couldn’t have been worse, yet Tan Yin was no longer afraid. She held tightly onto Chu Hang’s hand, just as she had at the edge of drowning and death — once again, Chu Hang had reached out his hand to her, once again pulling her out of danger.

Unfortunately, the thugs weren’t ready to give up so easily. The boss blocked Chu Hang and Tan Yin’s path, his face full of unwillingness to back down and contempt. “Kid, I’d advise you to get lost while you can. If you don’t want to get beaten up, scram. Who do you think you are? Trying to play the hero and stand up for justice?”

It was clear the boss was trying to overpower Chu Hang with sheer presence, but unfortunately, even his burly build offered no advantage in front of Chu Hang. Sure, compared to Tan Yin, the boss was tall and imposing, but comparisons are cruel — Chu Hang simply stood in front of him, expressionless, and the difference was immediately obvious. Chu Hang was a full half-head taller.

Though the boss tried hard to put on a scornful expression, because of the height difference he was forced to tilt his head back just to look Chu Hang in the eye — turning what should have been a haughty, disdainful sneer into something more like rolling his eyes at the sky. Add a bit of foam at the corners of his mouth, and it would have looked more like food poisoning.

Chu Hang simply stood coldly in front of the boss, tall, long-legged, with well-proportioned muscles. Even just from the lines of his body beneath his clothes, one could tell Chu Hang had an excellent physique. He had a quality somewhere between a teenager and a grown man — both the aloof detachment of a mature, elite adult male and the arrogance and purity unique to youth.

At that moment, his beautiful eyes, long and slightly upturned, embodied natural, effortless disdain. Chu Hang glanced casually at Tan Yin, then spared a bit of his attention for the thug in front of him. “Didn’t she already tell you who I am?”

The thug leader was clearly enraged by Chu Hang’s attitude, and with a vicious grin he reached out to pull Tan Yin into his arms — but before his hand even reached her, it was intercepted midair by another hand.

Chu Hang’s motion was light, almost effortless, as he pinned the man’s arm with one hand, coldly lifting an eyebrow. “Can’t you understand human speech? Didn’t she tell you her boyfriend is jealous and violent?”

The boss, straining with all his force, gritted his teeth. “What the hell does that have to do with you?!”

Chu Hang smiled, utterly unafraid. “Because I’m that garbage boyfriend.”

His tone was light, almost careless, yet brimming with undisguised provocation, and though it was an entirely ordinary sentence, coming from Chu Hang in this moment it somehow carried an indescribable undertone. Tan Yin knew perfectly well it was fake, yet her face still couldn’t help flushing slightly, her heart pounding wildly.

She couldn’t help but glance at Chu Hang’s profile…

If her garbage boyfriend looked like this, Tan Yin thought, she’d honestly be willing to take him back — after all, didn’t people always talk about the green economy these days? Young people really should answer the national call to recycle…

The boss, naturally, wasn’t willing to back down. Straining with effort, his face flushed red, he still tried hard to project the same effortless air Chu Hang had, but the strain made even speaking difficult. “Since — since he’s such a garbage boyfriend, then maybe you should trade up.”

“You’re welcome to try to make her trade up.” Chu Hang, still holding the man’s arm with ease, smiled. “But you’d have to beat me first.”

Chu Hang’s tone remained flat, yet every word carried an air of arrogance, and unfortunately, he genuinely had the swagger to back it up. Even a burly thug leader like this couldn’t gain the upper hand against him, and in the end, the man could only be shoved back by Chu Hang, stumbling.

But as a gang leader, he couldn’t back down so easily in front of his underlings. The boss immediately shot a signal, preparing to gang up on Chu Hang.

Seeing this shaping up, Tan Yin instinctively grabbed onto Chu Hang’s arm. “Chu Hang, don’t worry if there’s a fight — I definitely won’t leave you and run!”

“Who said anything about fighting?” Chu Hang shot Tan Yin a cool glance. “This is a modern, civilized society. What, am I supposed to fight over every little thing? You think I have nothing better to do than fight for your sake?”

As if to prove his point, right after he finished speaking, the sound of sirens rang out, and police motorcycles and a patrol car pulled up nearby.

The boss and the other thugs’ faces immediately showed panic. Though reluctant, the boss made a “retreat” gesture, and the others turned to leave with him.

Tan Yin let out a breath of relief and glanced at Chu Hang. “You called the police?”

Chu Hang said matter-of-factly, “Did you expect me to fight off several guys alone just for you?” he said coldly. “I only fight for my girlfriend. Are you my girlfriend?”

With the crisis over, Tan Yin’s mood relaxed completely, and she blinked. “But didn’t you just say you were my garbage boyfriend?”

“Is this how you treat the person who saved you?” Chu Hang snorted coldly. “I stepped in to help you out, and now you’re trying to pin something on me?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Tan Yin shook her head, playing along. “I was just saying that off the top of my head. Thanks for earlier, though — but you actually like women?”

Chu Hang’s expression looked like he’d stepped in dog poop, his voice rising involuntarily. “What do you mean, do I like women? Am I supposed to like men?!”

“You… that… Xu Yu?”

“Tan Yin, you really do let your imagination run wild, don’t you — is your head full of nothing but trash like that? Do you want to publish your original comic drafts to the whole school or something?”

Tan Yin waved her hands quickly. “No need, no need — those who stand out get shot down first, I only want to be a low-key person… My bad, my bad! Misfire! Friendly fire! You and Xu Yu have a pure friendship, I get it!”

So it seemed she’d misunderstood! Given how strongly Chu Hang had reacted, it looked like the person he was pining for wasn’t Xu Yu after all — it was someone else entirely, and a woman at that!

Faced with Chu Hang’s dark expression, Tan Yin didn’t dare say anything more and changed the subject instead. “Let’s go, I’ll treat you to some spicy—”

She had already turned with Chu Hang to head back toward the food stall when, glancing sideways at him just as she was about to say “spicy crab,” she caught sight, out of the corner of her eye, of the thug leader’s face twisted with rage as he charged toward Chu Hang, a blade in his hand…

Perhaps having lost face and fueled by alcohol, the thug leader’s temper had flared, and he’d decided to teach Chu Hang a lesson before the police arrived.

The turn happened too suddenly, and his movements were too fast, too vicious — this strike carried real killing intent, aimed straight at the small of Chu Hang’s back, a vital point.

In a split second, there was no time for Tan Yin to warn Chu Hang. She could only instinctively shove him out of the way.

But though Chu Hang was pushed aside, Tan Yin herself couldn’t dodge in time. Instinctively, she raised her hand to block the blow, and immediately felt the sharp pain of the blade cutting into her hand, along with a hot rush of blood.

Chu Hang, caught completely off guard by this turn of events, was pushed away, and when he turned to look at Tan Yin and saw her wound, his entire face went cold. His eyes turned fierce and savage, and before Tan Yin could even react, she saw Chu Hang, lips pressed tight, roughly grab the thug leader and slam him to the ground. He didn’t even bother knocking the knife out of the man’s hand — he simply, without a shred of mercy or hesitation, drove a heavy punch straight into him.

Though Tan Yin’s hand was injured and bleeding, for some reason, she felt that this punch of Chu Hang’s was probably even heavier than the cut she herself had taken.

The thug naturally tried to struggle, but Chu Hang seemed to have snapped, pinning him down firmly without a word. His punches were fierce and heavy, yet his expression remained cold and detached, his handsome lips pressed thin, brow slightly furrowed — he looked less like he was fighting and more like he was…

Like he was performing an act of violent aesthetics.

Turns out even a good-looking person’s fighting could be beautiful to watch.

But this wasn’t the moment to appreciate any of that. The sirens grew closer, and Tan Yin turned to see several police officers already stepping out of the patrol car and running her way. Chu Hang had called the police himself, and it looked like he was prepared to have himself arrested along with everyone else.

Chu Hang had clearly noticed the commotion around him too, and although the situation was urgent, he remained, as ever, composed and elegant, giving the thug beneath him a few more vicious punches before slowly getting to his feet. Just as Tan Yin was thinking he was resigning himself calmly to face the police, Chu Hang walked over, glanced once more at Tan Yin’s wound, confirmed that the cut wasn’t serious and had already stopped bleeding, and only then spoke.

“Do you still have the energy?”

Tan Yin, not quite understanding, nodded, and then, connecting a few dots, she cautiously asked, “Do you want me to get arrested with you, or resist arrest with you?” Tan Yin swallowed. “I don’t think that’s a great idea, actually — how about we just go out heroically together, share hardship and honor, and do a one-day tour of the police station together, side by side?”

Chu Hang looked at her like she was an idiot. He pressed his lips together, too weary to bother with Tan Yin’s nonsense, and without saying a word, simply looked at her and held out his hand.

Big bro’s unreliable lackeys had already scattered and fled without a trace, leaving only the boss lying on the ground, groaning in pain, as the sound of the approaching police grew louder.

Chu Hang shot Tan Yin a glare, keeping his hand extended toward her, urging, “Hurry up, the police are almost here.”

Tan Yin stared at Chu Hang’s slender, pale, sharply defined hand, uncertain for a moment what he wanted. The situation was urgent, so after a few seconds of confusion, she suddenly had a flash of insight, and began digging frantically through her skirt pocket — first pulling out a hairpin, then some gum, then the room key to the guesthouse, and finally, from the very corner of her pocket, a crumpled ten-yuan bill.

She quickly smoothed the ten-yuan note flat, then respectfully placed it into Chu Hang’s outstretched hand.

Chu Hang stared at Tan Yin the whole time with an expression like he’d seen a ghost, glaring down at the crumpled ten-yuan bill in his hand, his face turning completely dark. “You’re giving me this?”

Tan Yin apologized hurriedly. “Sorry, Chu Hang, I don’t really carry cash on me these days — here’s ten yuan for now, I’ll send you a red envelope on WeChat later?”

But Chu Hang’s expression didn’t improve at all — his voice even came out through gritted teeth. “Money? You think I want money? What do you take me for?”

“Then why’d you hold out your hand?”

Chu Hang didn’t answer this question — he didn’t have time to, as the police had already reached them, immediately followed by a loud, forceful shout—

“Everyone who was just fighting over there, come with me to the station!”

At this booming shout, Chu Hang pressed his lips together, looking resigned to his fate, and simply grabbed Tan Yin’s hand, giving her no chance to refuse. As for how to deal with the police, he gave Tan Yin only a single word—

“Run.”