The iron gate outside the courtyard was being pounded with a clanging noise. Lin Yiran had locked herself inside the house, doors and windows tightly shut. In the late June weather, the room was suffocatingly hot.

Lin Yiran leaned against the door, curled up in a ball. The pounding on the door seemed endless. Lin Yiran shut her eyes tightly, her body drenched in sweat.

Whether it was from the heat, from fear, or from weakness due to not eating for two days, Lin Yiran only felt her head growing heavier and her vision blurring.

In her daze, she once again wished that she had sunk into a long nightmare, one that she would eventually wake from.

After all, this year’s life had been too much like a dream for her.

Her mother’s sudden death had taken away her mom. Compared to her moody stepfather, who always filled her with inexplicable fear, she would rather return to this place where she had lived as a child. Here was a father who loved to drink and was unreliable, but he was her biological father. At least she didn’t have to worry about the bathroom door that never locked properly, or have to keep one nerve on alert even while sleeping.

Despite the dilapidation everywhere, at least here she was safe.

However, her father’s sudden disappearance before the college entrance exam took away even this last bit of safety.

Her father had only sent her a message saying he had something to do and would be away for a while, telling her to focus on her exam and get into a school far away. After that, he vanished, leaving only a thousand yuan under her pillow.

By now, her father had been missing for half a month. His phone was off, and he didn’t reply to any messages. Lin Yiran didn’t know where he had gone or if he would ever come back.

Three days ago, people started coming to pound on the door. They knew there was only a young girl inside. They came in, looked around, and then left. Before leaving, they told her to contact her father quickly, saying if her father didn’t come back, they would be forced to do inhuman things.

Lin Yiran didn’t know what “inhuman things” referred to, but she was very, very afraid.

The sound of motorcycles approaching from a distance was abrupt and jarring in the night.

They stopped in the alley, seemingly right at the courtyard gate. Lin Yiran crouched behind the door, nerves taut, not knowing if new people had arrived at the door.

She vaguely heard talking outside but couldn’t make out what was being said.

A moment later, the chain on the neighboring courtyard gate clanked—someone was coming home next door.

Qiu Xing ignored the people blocking the door beside him, opened the gate, and pushed his motorcycle into the courtyard.

He hadn’t been back for more than two months. Now he was covered from head to toe in dust and sweat, his hair a messy clump. The courtyard was cluttered with random items—a washing basin, plastic stools, mineral water bottles—empty yet giving off a defeated, desolate air.

It was one o’clock in the deep of night.

Qiu Xing was washing his face and hair at the water well in the courtyard. A stool stood by the well with a basin on it. There was no light in the courtyard. Qiu Xing washed roughly in the moonlight, splashing water everywhere. He was bare-chested, still wearing the dirty pants from before. Dirty water slid down his shoulders, flowed across his back and arms, drawing winding streams on his body.

The sound of water continued, so much so that Qiu Xing didn’t notice the four small stones that had fallen into the courtyard. Only when another small stone rolled to his feet did he look down.

His gaze shifted from the small stone to the edge of the courtyard wall. The moonlight was faint and dim. Qiu Xing instinctively narrowed his eyes, and despite his typically fearless nature, he was startled.

Qiu Xing looked over there for a few seconds, thought of the people at the door earlier, didn’t speak, just finished washing, casually splashed a basin of dirty water in the courtyard, shook the water from his head, and walked over.

Lin Yiran stood on a stool, carefully leaning on the wall, looking at Qiu Xing pleadingly.

As Qiu Xing walked toward her, she pointed toward the door, then made a “shh” gesture.

“Speak,” Qiu Xing said, expressionless, water still dripping from his head.

“Can you help me get out of here?” Lin Yiran’s hands gripped the wall bricks tightly, her voice so low it was almost inaudible, her voice trembling. Qiu Xing hadn’t seen her during this time and asked, “Who are you?”

“Lin Weizhen is my father.” Lin Yiran’s sweat-dampened hair had a few strands stuck to her forehead. She brushed her hair aside to let Qiu Xing see her clearly, and reminded him, “Lin Xiaochuan.”

Qiu Xing raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat surprised, looked at her twice, and asked, “Where’s your father?”

Lin Yiran shook her head, saying in desperation, “I don’t know…”

There was a noise from the door. Lin Yiran immediately crouched down, and after a while, hearing no sound, she peeked up again. Qiu Xing was still there.

“Your father owes money?” Qiu Xing asked.

“Probably,” Lin Yiran’s voice sounded very panicked. Looking toward the door, she pleaded with Qiu Xing, “They block the door every day. I’m so scared…”

Qiu Xing was silent for a moment, then said, “Come over.”

In a suburban area not yet included in the city’s development plan, old and chaotic, without a single streetlight, this place seemed forgotten by the city, with few residents left.

In front of two adjacent dilapidated gates, two men leaned against the wall, arms folded, dozing.

Lin Yiran struggled to climb over the courtyard wall, trying not to make a sound during the process. On this side, Qiu Xing caught her, helping her land lightly.

Her heart was still beating violently, her chest heaving, eyes wide as she looked at Qiu Xing.

Qiu Xing raised his chin toward the house, signaling her to go in.

The house had a damp, moldy smell. Qiu Xing, wearing shorts, lay on the bed sleeping. He slept deeply, as if extremely tired. Lin Yiran didn’t dare leave this room. She hugged her knees, curled up in a corner of the sofa, her face buried in her knees.

She didn’t know when this chaotic dream would end.

Qiu Xing woke up before the sky was fully bright; he had only slept for a little over two hours.

Lin Yiran hadn’t slept at all. As soon as Qiu Xing sat up, she immediately raised her head to look at him.

Qiu Xing glanced at her, paused briefly, remembering the previous night’s events. After that, he paid her no more attention, carrying a basin to the courtyard to wash up and wash his hair.

After she came over last night, Qiu Xing hadn’t asked her any questions. Lin Yiran kept watching him through the window, as if afraid he would just leave.

Qiu Xing came back in and casually pulled out a set of clothes from the wardrobe—a short-sleeved shirt and shorts—and took them to the next room to change. When he came out again, he said to Lin Yiran, “Stay here for a while, don’t come out.”

Lin Yiran nodded.

Qiu Xing opened the courtyard gate with a heavy motion. The two men at the door opened their eyes, glanced at him, then closed their eyes again.

Qiu Xing went back and forth several times, and even washed his motorcycle with a basin of water in the courtyard.

The sky had just begun to lighten, when people are most drowsy. Qiu Xing pushed the motorcycle out as if to leave, then turned and went back in. With his multiple movements, those two men wouldn’t even open their eyes to look at him again.

This was how Lin Yiran was taken away by Qiu Xing. Qiu Xing didn’t even try to hide it. Lin Yiran walked out with light steps and sat on the motorcycle first. Qiu Xing straddled it afterward, and before leaving, he locked the door.

After leaving the alley, Lin Yiran’s heart was beating as if it wanted to escape through her throat.

The motorcycle moved fast, and Lin Yiran could barely keep her eyes open in the wind. Behind her, Qiu Xing’s hands rested on the handlebars, his body leaning slightly forward, making it hard for Lin Yiran to raise her head.

Qiu Xing finally drove the motorcycle into a large factory compound filled with trucks. Some trucks had their doors open, showing people sleeping inside, feet dangling out the windows. Snoring sounds emanated from all around, accompanying the smell of engine oil in the compound. In such an early morning, it displayed a kind of rough harmony.

Qiu Xing parked the motorcycle in front of a house on one side of the yard and casually tossed the keys through an open window.

He turned back to see Lin Yiran still following him and said, “You should go now. They probably haven’t woken up yet.”

Lin Yiran didn’t know where she could go. This city made her feel unsafe. She didn’t know where she could hide or if those people would find her again.

She looked at Qiu Xing helplessly, and Qiu Xing asked her, “Where’s your mother?”

Lin Yiran answered, “Gone.”

“Where to?” Qiu Xing asked casually.

Lin Yiran pressed her lips together and pointed upward with her finger.

This time Qiu Xing was genuinely surprised, his eyebrows raising in astonishment. He looked at Lin Yiran, momentarily at a loss for words.

To Lin Yiran at that time, Qiu Xing was like a piece of driftwood she had grabbed onto in water, like the only person she had encountered when lost.

Qiu Xing went back and forth, tying tarpaulin around a truck. Lin Yiran stood quietly in a corner by the truck.

“Don’t stand here anymore. I’m leaving soon,” Qiu Xing said to her.

Lin Yiran hadn’t slept for days. Her eyes were now bloodshot, and she looked extremely disheveled, her hair and clothes in disarray, her lips dry and chapped.

Qiu Xing tied the rope to the hook and asked, “Do you have any other relatives?”

Lin Yiran silently shook her head.

Qiu Xing was not a warm-hearted person. His face showed no excess emotion as he said, “Classmates’ homes, teachers’ homes, you must have somewhere to go.”

Lin Yiran’s lips were pressed tightly together, with no intention of persisting. She nodded.

After saying this, Qiu Xing paid no more attention to her. He received a phone call and spoke in a dialect Lin Yiran couldn’t understand. His tone on the phone sounded very impatient, and the only thing Lin Yiran could understand was that he kept repeating “arriving tonight.”

Someone called out “Qiu Xing” from a distance. Qiu Xing looked up and saw Uncle Lin waving.

Qiu Xing’s brows were knotted tightly as he shouted into the phone again, “I said arriving tonight!”

He walked toward Uncle Lin, pointing Lin Yiran toward the main gate.

Lin Yiran watched him leave. The early morning sun wasn’t yet scorching, but this was, after all, the fiery month of June. A ring of sweat had already formed around Qiu Xing’s collar. As he walked, he raised his arm to wipe his forehead. After working for half the day, his hands were already dirty.

“I’ve packed up everything that needed packing. That broken tire—I replaced it with an old one taken from Xiao Hu’s vehicle last time. Tell him later, and I won’t charge you. Although the tread patterns are different, it’s not on the front wheel anyway, so it’ll manage.”

Uncle Lin brought Qiu Xing a bottle of water and asked, “What are you hauling this time?”

“Still hauling timber,” Qiu Xing twisted open the water and took a sip, saying, “I’ll settle the account with you next month, Brother Lin. I don’t have money left this month.”

“It’s fine even if you pay me next year. Who’s rushing you?” Uncle Lin smiled at him. “You should still call me Uncle. I’m not used to you calling me Brother. I used to call your father Brother.”

Qiu Xing said flatly, “Let’s each use our terms.”

Qiu Xing owed Uncle Lin quite a bit of money. He had taken 150,000 yuan from him to pay someone else, robbing Peter to pay Paul. Now, every time he came back, he had to leave his truck with Uncle Lin for repairs. Truck drivers never had a time when they didn’t need to service their vehicles. Heavy-duty machines need parts replaced regularly. Even without problems, they needed to be inspected and tuned up.

Qiu Xing had two old trucks that could only keep running thanks to Uncle Lin’s help. Between what he originally owed and the repair costs, Qiu Xing couldn’t clear his debt anytime soon.

“Alright, hurry up and go,” Uncle Lin tossed him the keys.

Qiu Xing pocketed them and said, “I’m off, Brother.”

After seven in the morning, trucks weren’t allowed in the urban area. Qiu Xing had to leave before then, go to several surrounding villages to load his cargo, and then haul several dozen tons of timber over a thousand kilometers.

The thousands of kilometers of highway seemed endless when driving, but Qiu Xing had been doing this for three years.

Yet Qiu Xing was only twenty-one this year.

“Brother Qiu, leaving now?” Uncle Lin’s son, Lin Chang, drove an Audi into the yard, stopped beside Qiu Xing, and greeted him.

He was nineteen this year, just graduated from high school. According to him, he did well in the college entrance exam, making Uncle Lin so happy that he immediately bought him a car.

Uncle Lin was a decent man, but his son didn’t take after him at all. In his second year of high school, he had gotten a girl pregnant, and in his third year, another girl’s parents had come to the school, saying he was constantly harassing their daughter.

Qiu Xing raised his arm slightly as a gesture of greeting.

His phone rang again. Qiu Xing answered it, walking toward his truck while on the call.

But before he got close, Qiu Xing’s eyes gradually narrowed, then his brows furrowed as he ran over with large strides.

At the spot where Lin Yiran had been standing just now, a person now lay. The young girl, still in her school uniform, was lifelessly on the ground, eyes tightly shut, her face as pale as paper even in the gradually brightening daylight.