After sleeping for an unknown duration, Cen Jin was startled awake by a dream of plummeting. She flexed her shoulder blades and, glancing sideways, noticed a figure standing outside her window.

She froze for a moment before recognizing who it was, then immediately lowered the window completely.

The young man outside heard the movement and turned around. His face was small with high-brow bones, drawing immediate attention to his upper features, especially his eyes—clear as stream water after being washed clean.

Cen Jin smoothed down her disheveled hair at the back of her head and asked curiously, “Why didn’t you come in? The car wasn’t locked.”

Li Wu remained silent.

Cen Jin belatedly reached for her phone in the cup holder to check the time: “How long was I asleep,” she looked at Li Wu in shock, “You’ve been standing here for forty minutes?”

Li Wu shook his head: “Not that long.” His expression remained neutral, showing no signs of displeasure or grievance.

“Are you stupid?” Cen Jin was nearly speechless, “Couldn’t you have woken me up?”

When her tone grew stern, he became even more hesitant to speak. Cen Jin felt anxious: “Get in.”

The young man finally moved, walking around the front of the car toward the passenger side, but stopped before reaching the door and turned toward a nearby flowerbed.

Cen Jin leaned back slightly and saw him scraping his shoes against a brick in the twilight.

“What are you doing?” She couldn’t believe this kid.

Li Wu turned back: “There’s mud on my shoes.”

“I have mud on mine too, it’s already dirty,” Cen Jin felt a mix of emotions, “We can just wash the car tomorrow.”

She gestured: “That’s enough, come back.”

Upon hearing this, Li Wu quickly walked over and got in the car.

Cen Jin glanced at him and reminded him: “The seatbelt is on your left.”

While she was still considering how to teach him to fasten the seatbelt without hurting his pride, Li Wu had already pulled it out and clicked it into place.

Cen Jin curved her lips, mocking her excessive internal drama, then pulled out a tissue and handed it to him: “You paid respects to your grandfather, right?”

Li Wu looked at her, unclear how she knew.

Cen Jin pointed to her forehead, “There’s mud there.”

Li Wu realized and hurriedly wiped it away with the tissue, worried it wasn’t clean enough, he rubbed it several more times vigorously.

Cen Jin laughed: “That’s enough, you’ll rub your skin raw.”

Li Wu finally stopped awkwardly, crumpling the tissue nervously in his hands. Sure enough, the spot on his forehead began to warm and redden. He felt out of place, not knowing where to look, and could only stare at an elegant metal disc above the air vent.

A faint fragrance permeated the car, like the lily of the valley after rain—he guessed it came from there.

Cen Jin stopped watching Li Wu and placed her hands on the steering wheel, asking casually: “Where is your grandfather’s grave?”

Li Wu said: “In the field behind our house.”

Cen Jin asked: “Do you need to pay for burial plots here?”

“No,” Li Wu said.

As she drove out of the courtyard, darkness suddenly enveloped them. The mountains and sky merged into one, like black barriers pressing in from all directions.

The village was pitch dark, with households conserving electricity, let alone having street lights. Cen Jin’s car had a low chassis, unsuitable for mountain terrain—like being forced to wear shoes filled with pebbles.

Cen Jin didn’t dare speed up, moving slowly along, following the navigation. After a while, she was already getting irritated from the bumpy ride.

She vented by switching between high and low beams, occasionally glancing at Li Wu. The young man remained completely silent, sitting extremely straight, as if in some public lecture with a thousand eyes watching.

She couldn’t be that intimidating, Cen Jin pondered, puzzled: “Don’t you want to sleep for a bit?”

Li Wu said: “I’m not tired.”

Cen Jin pressed her lips together, coming up with an idea: “Lean back a bit, I can’t see the rearview mirror.”

Li Wu’s ears suddenly grew hot, and he quickly moved back, pressing himself against the seat as if pinned there by an invisible hand, unable to move.

Trying to get him to relax somehow felt like forcing him, and Cen Jin couldn’t help but be amused. Her bad mood instantly vanished, and she naturally started the casual conversation: “Do you take this road to school too?”

Li Wu: “Mm.”

“How do you get there, by bike?”

“I walk.”

“On foot?” Cen Jin was surprised: “That’s very far, at least two hours.”

“Three hours.”

Cen Jin’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel: “What time do you have to leave and return every day?”

Li Wu didn’t give a specific answer, only saying: “I’m used to it.”

Cen Jin sighed softly, her tone gentling: “It’ll be better once you’re boarding at school, just a few steps to the classroom.”

Li Wu just responded: “Mm.”

The car grew quiet. Half an hour later, they finally descended the mountain and gradually picked up speed as they entered the highway.

The road suddenly became smooth and open, no longer as monotonous as before, with occasional other vehicles visible.

Good road conditions also meant it was easier to get drowsy. Cen Jin turned on some music to keep herself alert.

However, besides the music, there were no other sounds in the car. Cen Jin was usually quite talkative, but the boy beside her was so reticent it left her no room to engage. If not for occasionally catching him in her peripheral vision, she might have forgotten there was another person in the passenger seat.

Li Wu hadn’t eaten much dinner, and Cen Jin worried that at his age he might get hungry easily. As they approached a rest area, she asked: “Are you hungry? Want to get off the highway and eat something?”

Li Wu quietly uttered two words: “Not hungry.”

“…” Cen Jin turned without further discussion, heading toward another exit: “I’m hungry.”

Li Wu: “…”

Cen Jin parked the car and went to the convenience store.

Before getting out, she didn’t tell Li Wu where she was going, just told him to wait in the car. She knew she wouldn’t get any useful input from asking.

She casually picked out some boxed milk and snacks, bringing them back to the car.

Cen Jin kept two items for herself and handed the rest, bag and all, to Li Wu, saying concisely: “Eat.” Then she opened her bag with a pop and put a small piece of bread in her mouth.

The young man accepted it, but only tidied up the bag of items and placed it on his lap, taking no further action.

Cen Jin glanced at him and swallowed her bread.

She kept her gaze fixed on him, just watching.

Li Wu gradually became uncomfortable, his jaw tightening. The woman’s gaze was undoubtedly a form of pressure—she was waiting, waiting for him to comply and properly eat something from the bag.

Li Wu couldn’t hold out anymore. His long lashes lowered as he pulled out a package, opened it, and took a big bite.

Mission accomplished, Cen Jin said coldly: “You’ve already borrowed thirty thousand, there’s no need to be polite about these small things.” She turned away, secretly smiling, impressed with her authority.

Li Wu had no idea how to interact with Cen Jin—this feeling wasn’t fear, but anxiety. He couldn’t help but worry that at some point, some action would displease her and make her develop negative feelings toward him.

So, the safest behavior was to have no behavior at all.

The young man opened his mouth to try to express an apology, but in his peripheral vision, the woman’s hands were already on the steering wheel, no longer looking his way.

Li Wu could only lower his eyes and concentrate on eating the bread in his hands.

Just as she started the car, Cen Jin’s phone in the cup holder suddenly rang. Seeing the name on the display, her brows instantly furrowed.

Cen Jin put on her Bluetooth earpiece, “Mom? Why aren’t you asleep yet?”

The voice on the other end wasn’t loud but sounded somewhat hollow, as if calling from a balcony, “Can’t sleep.”

“Insomnia?”

Cen Jin’s mother said: “I went to your place today.”

Cen Jin’s heart suddenly jumped: “Why didn’t you say something before coming?”

Her mother said: “I went to see a play on Qingping Road this afternoon, so I brought some things for you both. There are two boxes of skincare products—you weren’t home, so I left them with Wu Fu. Ask him for them when you get back.”

Cen Jin was still hiding the separation from her parents, so she had to go along with it. Her voice turned sweet, using the unique wheedling tone of a “daughter”: “Okay, thanks Mom~”

“You didn’t rest today?”

“Mm,” Cen Jin suddenly cut the engine, not knowing how Wu Fu had dealt with her mother, so she gave a vague explanation that wouldn’t be easy to find fault with: “I’m out, had something to do.”

The other end was quiet for a moment, then suddenly asked: “Are you and Wu Fu living separately?”

Cen Jin’s whole body froze, but she stubbornly denied it: “How could that be? Did Wu Fu say that?”

“He didn’t say anything,” her mother sighed: “You think I can’t tell if you’ve moved out? There’s no trace of you living there, probably been gone for a while.”

Cen Jin’s nose suddenly stung, her eyes misting over.

“Did you two have another fight?” Her mother sighed: “I couldn’t sleep thinking about this, figured I should just ask directly.”

Cen Jin smoothed her hair, hesitating, considering whether to try to gloss over it or come clean immediately.

The current situation left Cen Jin little room to think. With Li Wu’s boarding school matter still needing her father’s help, and the cause and effect laid out, she didn’t want to keep spinning complicated lies. She decided to lay it all out: “We’re getting divorced.”

“What?” Her mother was incredibly shocked: “Why?”

“Just can’t go on anymore.” She leaned back against the seat, trying to make light of it.

“You’re just saying things in anger,” her mother didn’t believe it: “I’ve heard you say this a hundred times, is marriage just a game to you?”

Cen Jin sniffled, her hand loosening and tightening on the steering wheel: “This time Wu Fu brought it up.” Just mentioning his name made her heart ache.

Her mother realized the situation was serious, her breathing becoming rapid: “Why did he bring it up?”

With someone else present, for the sake of face, Cen Jin couldn’t speak directly.

Her mother pressed: “Where are you now?”

Cen Jin said: “Shengzhou.”

“Why did you go there?”

“Mom,” Cen Jin steadied her voice: “I want to ask you something. Does Dad know Teacher Qi—the head of the math department at Yi Zhong?”

“Why are you asking about that?”

Cen Jin glanced at Li Wu and said: “Remember that kid Wu Fu and I were supporting? I came to pick him up today, want to get him into Yi Zhong as a boarding student. His grandfather…”

Before she could finish, her mother’s explosive voice cut her off: “You’re still running around picking up children?”

“Yes.”

“You’re getting divorced and still have the mind to manage these things? Huh?” Her mother’s voice rose sharply, like smashing a glass vessel into Cen Jin’s ear: “You can’t even manage your own home and you’re still trying to be some kind of philanthropist?”

Cen Jin straightened her back, also trying to dominate with volume: “You think I want to? Wu Fu’s not handling it anymore, who else will? Let the child fend for himself?”

“I never thought divorce would happen to my daughter! Still worried about others! Worry about yourself first!”

“How am I not taking care of myself,” blood rushed up, and Cen Jin’s eyes overflowed as she spoke without thinking: “I’m doing fine, I should be asking you—if you hadn’t forced me, would I be sponsoring anyone? If you hadn’t forced me, would I need to be out in the middle of nowhere at night driving these terrible roads? Without you, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in any of this!”

“Who forced you? Which of us, your father or I, forced you?” Her mother was even more furious: “Weren’t you the one who wanted to marry Wu Fu? If you hadn’t married Wu Fu, none of this would have happened, and now you’re blaming us?! I was wondering why we hadn’t seen you, turns out you’ve been separated for a while, hiding it from your parents. You’re amazing, able to drive thousands of miles to pick up some kid, but where’s your child? If you’d spent more effort on having a baby earlier, would Wu Fu be asking for a divorce? You still have the heart to care for other people’s children?”

As if stabbed in the heart, Cen Jin’s tears fell uncontrollably as she choked out: “Fine, you’re all right. It’s all my fault alone. I still need to drive, don’t call me anymore.”

Cen Jin hung up and reached for tissues, wiping messily, but couldn’t stop crying.

Her dignity, which she had maintained all day like a paper sculpture, was so fragile it could be easily shattered by a few words from her mother.

Through tear-blurred eyes, Cen Jin remembered there was still someone sitting beside her, and realized her loss of composure and careless words.

Her eyes were red, she turned to look at Li Wu.

The young man still sat formally upright, his lips straight, showing no extra expression. He quietly stared straight ahead at the night view through the windshield, ensuring not a single glance escaped toward her that might cause embarrassment.

He was like a gray shadow, like a winter fog, accustomed to hiding, to being overlooked; as if he was also… trying to prove that he didn’t mind.

In that instant, Cen Jin was crushed by an enormous sense of guilt. She bent over, covering her face tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.