Everything at this moment was excruciating for Jiang Mu – the mysterious people around them, the events of the night, and Jin Chao’s warm hand with every ridge pressing into her skin so distinctly she couldn’t ignore it.

Jiang Mu felt her heart floating, the surreal feeling making her steps unsteady. Just then, the white car pulled up, and she immediately recognized the man who had kept pace with them several times on the sandy terrain.

When Jin Chao had intentionally kicked up dust to obstruct their pursuers’ vision, only this man hadn’t slowed down, even pulling ahead by half a car length at one point. But with their extra person during the chase when neither car could stop, they’d had a slight advantage.

The man with the circular crew cut stepped out of his car, wearing an expensive fur coat. He crossed his arms and leaned against his car, addressing Jin Chao: “You Jiu, is your navigator for sale?”

His eyes fixed on Jiang Mu with interest. Someone nearby chimed in: “What’s this? Is Young Master Feng changing his tastes? Going for the fresh ones now?”

Liang Yanfeng didn’t respond to the comment, just giving Jiang Mu a meaningful look.

Jin Chao let out a cold laugh and replied directly: “Sorry, she’s priceless.”

Liang Yanfeng raised an eyebrow, and several of his friends teased Jin Chao: “Watch out, You Jiu. Young Master Feng always gets any woman he sets his sights on.”

Jin Chao gave him a dismissive glance, his tone contemptuous: “Try it and see.”

Liang Yanfeng’s smile gradually widened as he lit a cigarette, then slowly raised his head to blow heart-shaped smoke rings at Jiang Mu. She had never seen anyone do this before and immediately labeled him as frivolous, fixing him with a serious, analytical stare.

Liang Yanfeng had never seen a girl look at him with such an archaeological gaze before, and her unimpressed expression made him burst out laughing.

Jin Chao frowned slightly and turned his head to give him a cold look. Jiang Mu awkwardly looked away and said to Jin Chao: “It’s so cold.”

The area was completely bare, with night winds whipping around them. Jin Chao slowly shifted his gaze to Jiang Mu’s wind-reddened face, unzipping his jacket with an amused look in his eyes: “Want a hug?”

Jiang Mu’s pupils dilated, her dark eyes trembling slightly. Even so, she couldn’t tell if Jin Chao was acting or being sincere. His eyes held a hook-like quality, emanating a captivating gleam that made her chest flutter. In comparison, her acting was amateur – she didn’t dare to touch him, only sliding her hands into his jacket without actually making contact with his waist, keeping them hovering.

Jin Chao looked down with a slight smile, suddenly tightening his jacket to pull her into his embrace. Jiang Mu’s body unexpectedly fell against his warm chest, enveloped by his jacket as warmth and familiar security immediately overwhelmed her.

What had she felt that first day in Tonggang, seeing Jin Chao standing by the road watching her? She had imagined sharing a long-overdue embrace like this, but by then she’d already realized that this Jin Chao wasn’t the same brother from before. He no longer pinched her cheeks spontaneously, warmed her hands when she was cold, or picked her up and spun her around for no reason.

This embrace came more than five months too late. Jiang Mu’s hands gradually rose to wrap tightly around his waist, her eyes stinging.

Jin Chao told the others: “My girlfriend gets cold easily. I’ll take her home first.”

The others agreed it was cold and started dispersing. Jiang Mu’s expression froze – she didn’t know if Jin Chao had pulled her close just to find an excuse to leave.

She looked up at him from his embrace. Jin Chao looked down, his eyes filled with an indecipherable tenderness as he smiled at her: “If you haven’t had enough hugging, we can continue at home.”

A man nearby said: “Alright, you two go home and get busy.”

Jin Chao raised his head, wearing a rakish expression as he exchanged playful insults with the man. Jiang Mu released her hold and turned away in flustered confusion. Jin Chao kept his arm around her shoulders as they walked to the car, but as soon as they were away from the crowd, he let go of her.

Everyone got into their cars, and within moments all the vehicles had driven away. Jin Chao’s phone was still in Jiang Mu’s pocket, and as soon as they got in the car, it vibrated. She took it out to see that the group from earlier had been dissolved.

She returned the phone to Jin Chao, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. The tenderness and flirtatiousness were completely gone from his face, replaced by his usual coldness and indifference.

Everyone had been fooled by his act, but even though she knew it was fake, she had still lost herself in his burning gaze for a moment. Jiang Mu turned to look out the window, unusually quiet.

Jin Chao glanced at her occasionally. Her expression was tense, hands gripping the seatbelt tightly. Though they weren’t driving fast, she remained stiff, her face full of worry.

After about ten minutes, Jin Chao turned onto a small hill in the wilderness, driving until they reached the summit before slowly stopping.

Ahead was a cliff with no visible bottom, and above them an endless starry sky. There was no light anywhere around them – in the city where Jiang Mu had grown up, it would be almost impossible to find such a vacuum-like silence.

Jin Chao opened the door and got out, walking around to her side. The car was still running with the heater on. He knocked on her window, and when she lowered it, his body blocked the cold wind from outside. He lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and lifted his head to blow the smoke into the night sky, telling her: “Open the envelope and look.”

Jiang Mu tore open the envelope she’d been clutching – it was filled with hundred-yuan bills. She looked down, gripping the money tightly.

Jin Chao stood with his cigarette, gazing into the vast darkness: “This is what you wanted to know.”

A chill ran through Jiang Mu’s body: “For money.”

“What else would it be for?”

Jiang Mu said fearfully: “That person crashed earlier.”

“He won’t die,” Jin Chao’s tone was cold, almost casual.

Jiang Mu looked up at his silhouette in disbelief: “What do you mean he won’t die? I’m the one who told you to circle and take the second turn. I wanted you to shake him off, not make him crash. If something happens to him, they’ll trace it back to us.”

Jin Chao held his cigarette, eyes half-lowered: “There are so many car accidents every day across the country. Do they blame nearby cars?”

“But this is… this is illegal street racing. What if someone calls the police?”

“What can they do? Who knows we were there?”

“The others—”

Jin Chao snorted: “And implicate themselves?”

“What if passersby saw?”

“I don’t know those people. Am I not allowed to drive on that road?”

“The group location, the group…”

The group was dissolved, everyone muted, and no chat records remained. The transaction was in cash, untraceable. The area was undeveloped, without even surveillance cameras.

A chill suddenly spread from Jiang Mu’s feet to her chest. She threw the envelope onto the seat violently, yanked open the car door, got out, and slammed it shut, glaring at him: “Even if you cover everything up, what if something goes wrong? Are you willing to risk your life for money? Today it was him, tomorrow it could be you! Is money really that important? Why do you have to live with a sword hanging over your head?”

Jin Chao’s brow cast a shadow that made his eye sockets as deep and unfathomable as a starlit sea. His voice seemed to echo from the valley as he repeated in a low murmur: “A life with a sword hanging overhead.”

A mocking smile suddenly crossed his lips: “Then what kind of life do you think I should live?”

The cold wind ruffled Jiang Mu’s short hair as she turned to walk toward the cliff edge, staring into the endless darkness before answering: “I don’t know. But not like this. Can’t you live peacefully?”

“Since you don’t know, let me tell you.” Jin Chao dropped his cigarette onto the dirt, grinding it with his thick sole until the butt was completely crushed into the ground, beyond recovery.

“When Jin Qiang and I first came to Tonggang, we had nowhere to live. We rented a basement with no windows and no light. Day felt like night. Whenever it rained heavily, the room would flood up to our legs. Homework, backpacks, mattresses—all soaked. Dead rats floating on the water. We could only sleep by pushing tables together, then spend the next day bailing out water bucket by bucket.

He heard someone could introduce him to earthwork jobs, but it required a referral fee. He gave them all our money, and their phone number turned out to be fake. We couldn’t even keep the basement after that.

We slept under overpasses, on streets, and in bathhouses. You tell me money isn’t important?

Later, he finally found a reliable job and met Zhao Meijuan. He was divorced, she’d never been married. He had no house and was dragging me along. When we finally scraped together a down payment, his entire salary went to mortgage payments with nothing left over. Every time the school needed money, I had to stand at their door with the payment slip, embarrassed to ask for two or three hundred yuan. You say money isn’t important?

Twenty years of mortgage, and endless medical bills—you think Jin Qiang could handle it all alone? When things were hardest, he didn’t abandon me. You think I should just walk away from your father now?”

The brightest star hung in the northern sky, the same star that had guided Jiang Mu through countless nights as she felt her way to today. She had thought that after her father and Jin Chao left her, her life had shattered. While she was envying other children who had fathers and wallowing in self-pity over her emotional needs, on the other side of the earth, Jin Chao had been struggling just to survive, unable to even secure necessities.

When Jiang Mu looked up again, that star still hung in the north, but its light now seemed harsh, like an icicle piercing her heart, making her eyes blur with tears.

She turned to face him: “Does my mom know? About Dad being cheated on when he came here? About you having nowhere to live?”

The darkness outlined Jin Chao’s profile as he lowered his head. At Jiang Mu’s mention of Jiang Yinghan, something flickered in his eyes before settling back into deadness. He said quietly: “What difference would it make if she knew or didn’t? They’re divorced.”

Jiang Mu walked up to Jin Chao, looking at him through tears: “Even so, it doesn’t mean you have to do such dangerous things.”

Jin Chao raised his eyes, his expression cold and mocking: “For me, anything that gets money is worth it. A life with a sword overhead—so what? If you’ve got nothing to lose, why fear the sword? I didn’t want you to see any of this. Yes, you’re right—you’re just here for a year of school. You shouldn’t have gotten involved at all. Scared now?”

Jiang Mu rose on her tiptoes, clutching his collar tightly as she shouted: “Why must you be like this? Why choose the dark path when there’s a bright road ahead?”

Jin Chao just looked down at her, saying: “Let go.”

“No, why should I?”

His jacket was crumpled in her tight grip. His patience exhausted, he warned one last time: “Let go.”

Jiang Mu glared at him, gripping tighter: “Make me! You think no one can control you anymore?”

Jin Chao lifted his chin, his thin lips pressed into a cold, dangerous line. He grabbed her shoulders, lifting her off the ground and pressing her against the car door as he moved closer: “You want to control me? In what capacity? Do you still think your surname is Jin? You changed your name—let me remind you what it is, Jiang Mu.”

She was so small before him, trapped against the car door, fragile yet stubborn as she stared back. Jin Chao’s powerful but cold presence enveloped her, seeping into her heart through every pore. She was shaking with anger.

He had never called her by name before. Since coming to Tonggang, he had never once used her full name, and neither had Jin Qiang. They must have cared about it—one small surname that had sent their relationships, their lives, spiraling in opposite directions.

Her voice choked as she asked: “So… is this why you never came back to see me? Do you blame us? Blame Mom for leaving Dad with nothing? You hate her, don’t you?”

Jin Chao’s hand on her shoulder trembled almost imperceptibly. His eyes gradually lowered, a contemptuous curve to his lips as he swallowed his bitterness. He opened the car door and pushed Jiang Mu back inside before closing it.

Jiang Mu sat in the car while Jin Chao stood outside, chain-smoking. This wasn’t their first fight—in fact, during their childhood, arguments had been a weekly occurrence. They’d fight over toys, food, games, and even a piece of chalk. But Jin Chao always gave in. He would give her his toys, share his favorite fish roe and chicken gizzards, and indulge her in games he found childish and boring.

But there was one thing he would never yield on going to the model shop every Saturday afternoon. Even when Jiang Mu cried and threw tantrums, even when Jin Qiang and Jiang Yinghan forbade him, he would stubbornly stand at the door until they gave up.

Jiang Mu knew he could compromise on everything else, but when it came to things he truly wanted to do, no one could stop him. It had always been this way, and this was exactly why she grew increasingly anxious. She feared he was heading down a path of no return, that history would repeat itself, and that after she left, he would become even more reckless.

After what seemed like ages, Jin Chao received a phone call. He extinguished his cigarette and knocked on the window: “Jin Qiang called. Ready to go home?”

“No.” Jiang Mu didn’t look at him or lower the window, just those two words.

Jin Chao walked around to the driver’s seat and closed the door, resting one hand on the steering wheel as he turned to look at her. When she was angry, her face always puffed up like she’d suffered some great injustice. His tone softened: “What will it take to go home?”

“Promise me first.”

Among Jin Chao’s friends, Crazy Jin had the most extensive romantic history. Though he’d dated many women, relationships rarely lasted beyond three months, leaving him in a constant cycle of being dumped and heartbroken.

He would always call his brothers out for drinks after a breakup, and eventually, everyone got used to it—it almost seemed like he dated just to have an excuse to drink.

Crazy Jin often said: “With women, when they’re upset, you always feel like you’ve done something wrong.”

Though Jin Chao had never experienced this problem, looking at Jiang Mu’s pouty face now, he inexplicably understood the feeling.

Jin Chao laughed silently, his fingers tapping the steering wheel, his eyes regaining their casual look: “What do you want me to promise?”

Jiang Mu couldn’t understand how he could still laugh and said irritably: “Promise me you’ll do legitimate work, stop this dangerous stuff. If you don’t promise, neither of us is going home tonight.”

Jin Chao held his jaw tight, his gaze steady. His dark eyes watched her quietly for a moment before he reclined his seat and lay back.

Jiang Mu sat up straight, alarmed: “You…”

Jin Chao crossed his hands behind his head, looking completely at ease: “Then we won’t go.”

Jiang Mu was about to explode with frustration. Jin Chao even closed his eyes. If this were when they were young, she would have jumped on him for a fight by now, but she couldn’t overpower him anymore and didn’t dare climb over him. She could only recline her seat as well, letting out a heavy “hmph” as she turned away.

Jin Chao watched her through half-closed eyes as she made these deliberately noisy movements, turning her back to him and curling up.

Jin Chao had too much on his mind, and Jiang Mu’s interference tonight had stirred things up. He needed to sort through it all, so though his eyes were closed, he wasn’t sleeping.

But Jiang Mu’s breathing became even shortly after lying down. Jin Chao sat up and watched her—her slightly curled lashes lay docile, her brows furrowed even in sleep, looking worried. He raised his thumb to gently smooth her brow. Jiang Mu turned over, her soft face bathed in moonlight like it was draped in gentle silk, brushing against his heart.

He was rootless, drifting from south to north, and she was the only one who would always care about him!

No matter how dark the night or how long the road was, on this night, the perpetually cold corner of Jin Chao’s heart was touched by light because of the person before him.