The jacaranda trees in the south city bloomed overnight.

Willow catkins drifted through the air across the city, and the spring cherry blossoms were nearing their end. The brilliant spring sunlight erased all traces of the gloomy chill that came with the changing seasons.

Xia Xia lifted her head from her English textbook, rubbing her sore neck. Zhao Shijie came running excitedly from the garden with a soccer ball: “Xia Xia, let me show you something.”

He placed a willow leaf in front of her, mischievously watching for her reaction.

Xia Xia leaned in closer – a caterpillar was crawling on the willow leaf.

Since Zhao Shijie hadn’t completed his afternoon tasks, Xia Xia complained to Zhao Jinsong, and he was punished for not being allowed to play soccer that evening.

The child was seeking revenge.

Xia Xia smiled, picked up the caterpillar, and placed it on his T-shirt.

Zhao Shijie, who only dared to touch insects with a small stick, was stunned by her action and shook the caterpillar off with a yelp.

Xia Xia stood up and packed her things: “Finish these two exercises, and I’ll check them next week. If you don’t do them, I’ll catch a whole box of caterpillars and throw them all in your bed.”

The unruly little demon king Zhao Shijie, who had lived for thirteen years, had finally met his match in the fearless great demon king Xia Xia. The great demon king was unmoved by threats or pleading, not only punishing him with exercises but also scaring him with caterpillars. The boy looked utterly defeated. After Xia Xia left, he couldn’t even be bothered to play soccer, dejectedly opening his exercise book to work on problems at his desk.

Xia Xia left the residential complex and walked toward the bus stop when a BMW pulled up beside the road.

The window rolled down, revealing Zhao Jinsong’s face: “Heading back to school? Let me give you a ride.”

Xia Xia: “No need, I have to go somewhere else.”

Zhao Jinsong: “It’s rush hour now, you won’t be able to get on a bus, and there aren’t any taxis nearby. Let me take you.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Xia Xia got into his car: “I need to go to the detention center.”

Zhao Jinsong turned at the intersection, driving toward the outskirts of the city.

He was a refined man, well-mannered, with measured speech and smiles.

The car was filled with incense, and Zhao Jinsong wore a silver-gray suit, appearing content: “Going to pick up Xie Huai?”

He smiled: “Don’t look at me like that. Of course, I’d pay attention to the boy Shanqi likes. It wasn’t difficult to find out these things.”

“Are you driving me there to see me, or to see Xie Huai?”

“Both,” Zhao Jinsong said. “Shijie always wants to know what kind of boy both you and Shanqi could like. I’m curious too.”

He turned to glance at Xia Xia: “Your dress is very pretty today.”

Xia Xia: “Thank you.”

Zhao Jinsong gave an ambiguous smile, and Xia Xia noticed the wedding ring on the middle finger of his left hand that held the steering wheel.

“Is tutoring tiring?” he said. “Shijie is a disobedient child, he must have caused you a lot of trouble.”

Xia Xia said: “It’s normal for children to like playing. Shijie is very well-behaved and cute.”

Zhao Jinsong made a sound of acknowledgment, his gaze still lingering on Xia Xia. He said softly: “Girls your age are the most adorable, it’s a time when you should be enjoying your youth and living freely. Working so hard with all these part-time jobs – don’t your family members feel bad for you?”

He said: “Even I feel bad for you.”

Xia Xia was startled and looked away: “Thank you for your concern, but I don’t find it difficult.”

The jacaranda trees along both sides of the road were in full bloom, with purple petals scattered across the asphalt from one end of the street to the other, looking like an oil painting from afar.

Seeing the sky again after half a month, Xie Huai’s eyes were dazzled by the evening sun. He squinted slightly and took out his phone to check the time.

Six in the evening, the setting sun was perfectly round.

He looked back at the detention center gates.

Xu Dalong smiled: “Suffering all this because of a girl, do you regret it?”

Xie Huai replied carelessly: “I regret not kicking him a few more times.”

Xu Dalong laughed heartily: “I like your attitude, it’s good for young people to be proud. Pride gives you drive.”

Xu Dalong’s son came to pick him up in a car. He put his arm around Xie Huai’s shoulders: “Come on, Little Xie, let Brother Xu give you a ride back to school.”

Xie Huai said coolly: “No need.”

He looked toward the end of the asphalt road, where the heavy jacaranda branches and flowers blocked his view. There were no cars or pedestrians.

Xu Dalong asked: “Is someone picking you up?”

He said: “No.”

Only Xia Xia knew he was getting out today, but she hadn’t said she would come.

A BMW M6 slowly approached from the distant intersection, and Xia Xia got out of the passenger seat.

Zhao Jinsong rolled down his window, his gaze lingering between Xia Xia and Xie Huai: “Get in, I’ll give you both a ride back to school.”

Xia Xia politely said: “Thank you, but there’s no need.”

Xu Dalong’s chubby cheeks puffed up as he narrowed his eyes and said quietly: “Little Xie, that man’s looking at your girlfriend wrong. I’ve seen plenty like him – too comfortable in life with money to burn, can keep three or four college students at once. That M6 of his isn’t cheap, and many young girls like these successful middle-aged men. You better be careful.”

Xie Huai said indifferently: “He’s just an old man, Xia Xia wouldn’t like him.”

“They don’t like the old men, they like their money. Young girls these days are so practical,” Xu Dalong said. “You think he’s just an old man, but let me tell you, if we’re making comparisons, you can’t compete with him in any way. Any girl who isn’t stupid would choose him.”

“Who hasn’t had money before?” Xie Huai said. “I used to drive BMW M6s like bumper cars for fun. Xia Xia has seen it all, she’s not that kind of person.”

Xia Xia walked over, and Xie Huai said: “You can go, we’ll be in touch another day.”

As soon as Xu Dalong left, Xie Huai couldn’t maintain his composure anymore. He asked Xia Xia: “Who is this person?”

Zhao Jinsong sat in the driver’s seat, composed and calm like a mature man, looking at Xie Huai as if he were looking at an immature child.

Xie Huai stared back unfriendly, his gaze sharp with hostility.

Zhao Jinsong: “I’m Shanqi’s father.”

“Hello, Uncle Zhao.” Xie Huai said casually, “Thank you for bringing Xia Xia here. Would you like to join us for dinner?”

Zhao Jinsong saw through his hostility: “No need, I have other matters to attend to. If you ever need help, give me a call.” The last sentence was directed at Xia Xia.

After the BMW disappeared from view, Xie Huai asked: “Why would you need to find him if you have trouble?”

Xia Xia: “Then who should I find?”

Xie Huai said: “You really need a beating, it’s been too long since Brother Huai taught you a lesson.”

Xia Xia hung her head, preferring to look at the fallen flowers beneath her feet rather than at him. Xie Huai turned to leave, but she grabbed his wrist.

“Wait.” She moved in front of him. “Let me look at you.”

Xie Huai had lost weight, though he had always been lean but strong.

After not seeing him for half a month, his jaw had become sharper, and his complexion was somewhat pale from being kept indoors away from the sun.

Xia Xia said: “You’ve gotten thinner.”

Xie Huai’s wrist was held in her palm, and his gaze fell on the girl’s delicate white hands. He couldn’t help but remember the vivid and real dream from last night. In the dream, Xia Xia was pure yet alluring, holding him with her sweat-dampened body. She was incredibly soft, biting his neck, her smooth lips and tongue trapping his soul in the dream, unable to escape for quite some time.

Xie Huai felt like a beast and a brute. While making someone cry miserably, he still couldn’t stop thinking about and yearning for her in his dreams. There couldn’t be anyone more despicable than him in the world. If the younger Xie Huai knew he would become so pathetic one day, he would surely die of anger on the spot.

When others said they liked him, Xie Huai refused, saying he didn’t want to waste time.

But when it came to Xia Xia, he pretended not to care because he didn’t want Xia Xia to waste time on him.

Xia Xia bit her lip and asked: “Did they not feed you well in there? Did they beat you?”

“No,” Xie Huai came back to his senses. “Have dinner with me.”

Xie Huai ordered 200 yuan worth of Maocai and ate a bucket of rice by himself.

Xia Xia sat across from him, holding her bowl.

“These days while you were gone, Yuan Tai helped manage your deliveries, and I occasionally went to help too.”

“Sister Yan handled the aftermath, she said Li won’t dare cause trouble anymore, and she wants to treat us to dinner when you get out.”

…

Xie Huai gave her some beef and refilled her empty cup with sour plum juice.

One talked while the other ate as if they had never had any awkwardness between them. Xia Xia hadn’t properly looked at him for a month, and now that they had a chance to sit together peacefully, her heart felt sour.

“Brother Huai, thank you,” she put down her chopsticks and said softly. “Forget about what happened that day. You’re right, I am quite heartless, so don’t be so good to me anymore. I know what you think of me.”

“You don’t know shit,” Xie Huai said.

He paid the bill, and Xia Xia followed behind him.

“I know you don’t like me, that I’m just a little plaything to you,” Xia Xia looked at him seriously. “You just pity me, sympathize with me, seeing me struggling in a sea of bitterness and helping me as you passed by. I thought too much, I’m already soaked, yet I wanted to get you wet too.”

…

Xie Huai stood before her as she couldn’t control her sadness, rambling out all the thoughts she’d been turning over in her mind for the past month.

She kept her head down, appearing docile and submissive.

Xie Huai looked at the empty plastic water bottle in his hand, suddenly remembering when Xia Xia fought on the street.

— Her expression was cold, full of anger, pinning a man to the ground in just a few moves and beating him until he wailed and covered his head.

During his days in detention, whenever he thought about this incident, he was always puzzled. The girl in that state was completely different from her usual self, and her fierce appearance even scared him a bit. He couldn’t quite figure out whether Xia Xia had truly been provoked or if she had been pretending to be gentle with him all along, and he just happened to witness her true nature that day.

Xie Huai tossed the plastic bottle – it was soft and light.

He raised his hand, experimentally hitting Xia Xia on the head.

“Ah!” Xia Xia covered her head. “Why did you hit me?”

Xie Huai couldn’t say he was testing her.

He thought for a moment, then demanded: “Why did Zhao give you a ride?”

Xia Xia said innocently: “I’m his son’s teacher. I couldn’t get a taxi, so he offered to drive me here.”

Xie Huai hit her again: “He’s interested in you, isn’t he!”

“He’s so rich, he could find any woman he wants, why would he be interested in me?”

“Oh?” Xie Huai continued hitting her, and Xia Xia’s hair was already messed up.

Xia Xia fixed her hair: “Brother Huai, can you stop hitting me?”

“No,” Xie Huai said with more enthusiasm. “He has bad intentions! He wants to pursue you! He’s just a sneaky, creepy old man!”

The plastic bottle in his hand made crackling sounds, and Xia Xia got annoyed with his hitting and shouted: “Stop hitting me! Fine, he wants to pursue me!”

Xie Huai: “Why are you shouting? Can’t tell who’s the big brother and who’s the little brother anymore?”

Xia Xia’s temper flared, and she couldn’t help saying: “Who the hell wants to be your little brother?”

Xie Huai said: “What, you want to be my father instead?”

He had just said it casually, but seeing the girl’s expression change, he remembered things were different now.

— When Xia Xia said such things, it was no longer just joking around; her words contained many of a girl’s delicate and sensitive thoughts.

And his words had been somewhat hurtful.

Just as Xie Huai was about to make amends, Xia Xia said tiredly: “Mother.”

She spoke calmly: “Zhao Jinsong wants to pursue me, Zhao Shanqi wants to pursue you, if we both try a little harder, in a few years, you might have to call me Mother-in-law.”

Xie Huai: “……”

He was so stunned he couldn’t say a word.

Xia Xia turned to leave, and Xie Huai couldn’t help but look at the bottle in his hand again.

Xia Xia had always spoken to him in gentle, soft tones, never even raising her voice before. Her shouting at him just now was unprecedented, and he could hardly believe it.

But he couldn’t say Xia Xia was pretending to be gentle just based on this, could he?

Xie Huai thought: Even rabbits bite when cornered, and after how much he had bullied her, it was normal for her to shout at him once.

Thinking this, his hand became restless again.

Like a mischievous child, full of playfulness and energy, he once again tapped the bottle on the girl’s head.

Xia Xia turned around, looking at him coldly.

Xie Huai blinked, and then the bottle was snatched from his hand.

She turned the bottle around and smashed it on his head, beating him vigorously: “What the hell is wrong with you? Who are you hitting? Try hitting me one more time! Hit me one more time and I’ll end you, you believe it or not!”