Chapter 2: “List of Bad Things”

By late June, Xicheng was entering the hottest time of the year. The camphor trees along the roads drooped under the scorching sun, and even the shadows beneath them shimmered with heatwaves.

For the past month, Zhou Mo had been consumed by final exams, her life like a stagnant pond covered in fallen twigs and withered leaves, without a single ripple.

As soon as her last exam of the semester ended, Zhou Mo was called to the office by Jiang Ye, who taught oil painting at the college.

Jiang Ye enjoyed a stellar reputation in the industry and was one of the flagship faculty members at Xicheng University’s School of Fine Arts. She was usually very busy, rarely seen outside of class, so when she saw Zhou Mo, she didn’t waste time on pleasantries and handed her a sheet of A4 paper directly. “Fill this out.” She glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes should be enough, right?”

Zhou Mo glanced at the paper, bit her lip slightly, and said hesitantly, “Professor Jiang, I don’t want to enter.”

“Why not?”

“I feel… I’m not mature enough yet. It’s not a good time for me to enter competitions.”

“Other students might not be ready, but you’re more than capable…” Her phone rang, and Jiang Ye glanced at the screen. “I need to take this. Think it over.”

Three minutes later, Jiang Ye returned to the office, only to find Zhou Mo still standing in the same spot, the application form completely blank.

Zhou Mo felt a bit apologetic. “Professor Jiang, I’m sorry…”

Jiang Ye looked at her. “Have you thought it over? I’ve taught you for two years, and I know your skill level. Participating in competitions like this and connecting with people in the industry won’t do a student of your caliber any harm.”

Zhou Mo’s mind was made up. She pushed the application form back onto the desk and apologized again.

“Take the form with you and think it through. If you decide to enter, fill it out and drop it in my mailbox before next Monday.” Jiang Ye seemed to have something else to attend to, leaving hurriedly right after giving her instructions.

Zhou Mo stood in the office for a moment, looking closely at the form in her hand, before finally letting out a soft sigh.

Just as she walked out of the department building, Zhou Mo ran into her good friend Ye Yinyin on the path outside.

Sweating profusely from whatever she had just been doing, Ye Yinyin linked her arm with Zhou Mo’s. “Momo, I was just looking for you.”

“What’s up?”

“Come to a meeting with me for that entrepreneurship competition I mentioned before.” Ye Yinyin paused, noticing the paper in Zhou Mo’s hand. Glancing down, she saw the words “Application Form” and asked, “What’s this?”

“Nothing…” Zhou Mo crumpled it into a ball and casually tossed it into a trash can.

Zhou Mo and Ye Yinyin had known each other since their freshman year. They were in the same college but different departments, with Ye Yinyin studying art management. Last time, the reason Zhou Mo’s parents were able to track her down at the bar was that Ye Yinyin had caved under pressure and revealed her whereabouts. Ye Yinyin felt immensely guilty about it, and seeing Zhou Mo moping over her breakup lately, she decided to drag her into the competition team to give her something to do and take her mind off things.

The team members had already gathered in the activity room on the east side of the department building. Counting Zhou Mo, there were seven people in total, with Ye Yinyin serving as the team leader.

As roles were being assigned, Zhou Mo finally realized she had been foolishly dragged into what sounded like a completely unreliable trap. “Yinyin, what am I supposed to do?”

Ye Yinyin raised the proposal in her hand. “Visual Design Director! How’s that? Doesn’t that title sound impressive?”

“Will I have to run around outside all the time?”

A guy answered, “Pretty much. Over summer break, we’ll definitely need to reach out to a lot of businesses.”

“Then I can’t join.”

Understanding her situation and knowing how strictly Zhou Mo’s family controlled her, Ye Yinyin quickly spoke up, “As the Visual Director, you don’t need to be there in person. You can just follow up on the project remotely.”

Zhou Mo fell silent, pondering it.

Right then, the door to the activity room was suddenly pushed open, making everyone turn their heads in unison.

A group of four or five people stood at the door, but the most eye-catching were the man and woman in front. The guy was tall and handsome, arm in arm with a girl with a hot body. The two clung to each other so tightly that half their bodies seemed glued together.

Zhou Mo pressed her lips together and turned her face away.

Ye Yinyin froze for a moment before greeting him anyway. “Lin Heng.”

Lin Heng greeted them back with easy confidence. “Having a meeting?” He glanced at the blackboard inside the classroom, which read ‘XX Entrepreneurship Competition Pep Rally.’ “Heh, looks like we’re rivals.”

Ye Yinyin said, “We won’t go easy on you.”

“No need to go easy, it’s fair competition.” Lin Heng’s gaze lingered on Zhou Mo for a second before he turned to the others. “Come on, let’s head somewhere else.”

The doorway fell quiet, leaving an awkward atmosphere in the room. Ye Yinyin stepped closer, squeezed Zhou Mo’s hand, and asked softly, “Momo, are you okay?”

Back then, Lin Heng’s high-profile pursuit of Zhou Mo had been the talk of the campus, and their brief three-month relationship had constantly drawn attention. Yet only a little over a month after breaking up, Lin Heng had already…

Zhou Mo raised her eyes and shook her head. After a brief pause, she said clearly and firmly, “I’ll join.”

On the agreed day, He Chong went to look at the car.

An Audi R8 V10 Plus. With its royal blue body, it attracted countless eyes just sitting there quietly. The car cost just over two million Yuan, which was considered quite cheap for people like Sun Qi. Sun Qi likely wanted to test his skills first, which was why he got a cheaper model for him to work on.

Sun Qi had blond hair as eye-catching as the car itself. He stepped forward to offer He Chong a cigarette, exchanged a couple of pleasantries, and finally tapped the side of the car, raising an eyebrow. “What do you think?”

He Chong smiled. “Can I take it for a couple of laps?”

Sun Qi tossed him the keys right away. “Take it as much as you want! Brother Chong, if you like it, once this business goes through, I’ll even buy you one!”

“No need. Bad luck follows me around. Driving a nice car just makes me a target to get robbed.”

He Chong got into the car, drove two laps around the spacious grounds and track, then brought it back and pulled up smoothly beside Sun Qi. Unbuckling his seatbelt, he stepped out, pulled out a cigarette to light it, took a slow drag, and asked, “What are your requirements?”

“Like I mentioned last time, bump the horsepower up to 1,000.”

“This car only has 611 horsepower to begin with. Boosting it that much won’t be easy.”

Sun Qi smiled and said, “With you handling it, Brother Chong, how hard could it be? The price is completely negotiable.”

“It’s not a question of price.” He Chong tapped the hood of the car. “I have a rule, though I don’t know if Young Master Sun can accept it.”

“Go ahead, Brother Chong.”

“I only design the modifications. I won’t be doing the actual work.”

Sun Qi looked at him, seemingly weighing his options. After a moment, he smiled and said, “Fair enough. When can you have it ready, Brother Chong?”

He Chong thought it over for a moment before giving a timeframe with plenty of leeway for himself. “Give me a month.”

With the deal settled, He Chong politely turned down Sun Qi’s offer of a meal and drove his beat-up Jeep slowly back to the bar.

The bar was closed during the day, but as he reached the door, he heard a noisy commotion inside. Puzzled, He Chong pushed the door open to find Han Yu surrounded by three young women, looking practically floating on air and beside himself with delight.

“Boss Han, feeding the ladies lines again?”

At the sound of his voice, all three girls turned around.

He Chong glanced over and paused. Well now, Little Jasmine^[1] was here too.

With a cigarette between his teeth, he strolled over and leaned against a nearby partition shelf. “What big business deal are you all talking about?”

Ye Yinyin glanced at He Chong and asked Han Yu, “Who’s he?”

“Just an odd-job guy at the bar.”

The next second, He Chong felt Zhou Mo’s gaze sweep over him, looking him up and down once again. Of course, he had no idea that in Zhou Mo’s eyes, he was already pitiful beyond belief.

“Oh.” Ye Yinyin naturally paid no mind to a mere “odd-job guy.” Flipping open her thick proposal, she continued introducing her project to Han Yu.

“Hey, beautiful…” Han Yu was getting a headache listening to all this. “Forget the vision, the goals, and the plan. Just lay it out straight: what do you want me to do?”

Ye Yinyin snapped the proposal shut. “Invest in us.”

Han Yu laughed. “So I give you money, bear all the losses if it fails, and split the profits if it succeeds?”

Ye Yinyin replied, “Yes.”

Han Yu said, “I’m not that stupid.”

He Chong added, “Yes, you are.”

Han Yu rolled his eyes at He Chong. “Don’t cause trouble.”

Ye Yinyin continued, “But you’ll get benefits too. Do you know who I am? Vice President of the Student Association Union. If your bar wants to draw customers from our campus, this gives you a rock-solid, highly profitable channel.”

“Do I really need a handful of student customers? You students are the stingiest. You buy a twenty-Yuan bottle of liquor and still ask if there’s a group discount.”

Undeterred, Ye Yinyin asked, “Then what are you lacking?”

“Right now?” Han Yu stroked his chin. “Right now, I don’t lack anything except a girlfriend.”

“Sure.”

Han Yu was dumbfounded.

Without batting an eye, Ye Yinyin asked, “Would I do?”

Han Yu began to stammer. “Are… are you kidding me?! Can college students these days exercise a little restraint?”

Seeing that Ye Yinyin and Han Yu were going to keep bickering, He Chong waved at Zhou Mo. She had intended to pretend she hadn’t noticed, but the other girl with them nudged her in the back with her elbow. “That handsome older guy is waving at you.”

“I know.” Zhou Mo ambled over to He Chong. “What?”

“What are you doing here scamming people out of money?”

“We’re not scamming anyone. We’re pitching for investment. It’s the sharing economy. What do you know?”

He Chong chuckled. “Got chewed out pretty bad when you went back last time, didn’t you?”

Zhou Mo frowned. “Don’t go bringing up sore subjects.”

“Then why are you still messing around here with your classmates? Aren’t you afraid of getting another beating…”

“They didn’t beat me. My parents don’t hit.” Hitting was the crudest method; besides physical punishment, Tang Shulan had a thousand other ways to make her submit.

He Chong looked down at her. “Are you on summer break?”

“Yes, otherwise where would I find the time? Have you been back to the Gu family’s place since then?”

“I did, but it was useless.”

“I heard from my dad,” Zhou Mo lowered her voice, “that Aunt Gu suffered a major loss in her business recently, leaving a huge deficit. If you grit your teeth and hold out a little longer, maybe she’ll come looking for you on her own.”

He Chong chuckled. “This isn’t as simple as just being about money.”

“Then what else is there?”

“You’re just a kid, you don’t need to understand. It’s better to keep things simple.”

“I’m already twenty.”

“You’re twenty,” He Chong tapped her shoulder, then pointed across to Ye Yinyin, who was working the room with her silver tongue. “She’s twenty too, but are you two the same? Countless people would kill to be in your shoes.”

Zhou Mo really disliked hearing that. She asked He Chong if he had anything else to say, and when he said no, she returned to her little circle.

He Chong had never bothered with the bar’s business, leaving everything for Han Yu to manage. At the moment, he had a far more troublesome task on his hands. A month was hardly a generous window, especially given that the client was someone like Sun Qi, whom he couldn’t afford to offend under any circumstances. He wasn’t confident in handling it all alone and needed to bring in help.

The helper arrived at the garage on Saturday afternoon. He was a slender, refined-looking young man, yet he arrived riding a heavy motorcycle. He took off his helmet, held it in his hand, and greeted, “Brother Chong.” After that, he said nothing more. His name was Lin Xinghe, a marine engineering student at Xicheng Jiaotong University who would be starting his senior year after the summer break.

He Chong led him inside to see the car. Sun Qi’s Audi R8 had already been driven over to the garage.

“Those are the requirements.”

Only then did Lin Xinghe, who had been silent all along, finally speak up. “We need to call in another helper.”

Soon, the second helper arrived. He was Lin Xinghe’s classmate, Yan Tianyu, a transportation major. Compared to Lin Xinghe, Yan Tianyu was far more talkative, his mouth running non-stop from the moment he walked through the door. After the two of them walked a lap around the car, Yan Tianyu formed a rough concept and was itching to get started. “Brother Chong, when are we stripping down the car to check out the structure?”

“No rush. Let’s grab dinner tonight and officially start tomorrow.”

That evening, He Chong treated the two of them to spicy crayfish at the best restaurant in Yannan Town.

Sweat poured down Yan Tianyu’s face as he ate. “Brother Chong, Old Lin mentioned you to me a long time ago. It’s a real pleasure to meet you!”

“You’re both top students from prestigious universities. No need to be so humble.”

Yan Tianyu grinned. “Brother Chong, what do you say we start a studio together?”

He Chong smiled without saying yes or no, changing the subject instead. “Is that enough crayfish? Want another tray?”

Satisfied after their meal and drinks, the three of them left the restaurant. Since everyone had been drinking and couldn’t drive, He Chong got a room for Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu at a local inn in town, then returned to the garage himself.

He lit a cigarette, whistling to himself. But as soon as he locked the garage gate and turned around, he saw someone sitting on the steps of the workshop.

He Chong grew alert. “Who’s there?”

The person didn’t say a word.

He Chong stepped closer and was surprised to see Zhou Mo.

“What are you doing here?”

Zhou Mo raised her head to look at him, her eyes full of grievance.

“Heartbroken again?”

Zhou Mo reached out and gave the skin on her arm a hard pinch. “There are so many mosquitoes here!”

He Chong brought her inside, closed the door, turned on the air conditioner, and dug out an electric mosquito swatter that hadn’t been used in a long time. He paced around the room, hunting down the mosquitoes.

Once he had mostly wiped them out, he walked back to the living room and found Zhou Mo still sitting blankly on the sofa, occasionally scratching the red mosquito bites on her legs and arms.

“What brings you here?”

Zhou Mo blinked. “I have nowhere to go.”

He Chong chuckled. “Want to pay me rent again?”

Zhou Mo hung her head. Heavy, miserable feelings were pent up inside her, as though she had swallowed something cold, hard, and filthy that she couldn’t digest. She had gone to the university library today to look up some materials and run into Lin Heng. He was standing under a tree in front of the library, kissing the hot girl she had seen outside the activity room last time, completely out in the open.

She didn’t dare bring her mood back home, or Tang Shulan would notice and scold her again. Besides, that lifeless house served no real purpose other than giving her grief anyway.

When trying to think of somewhere to go, He Chong had been the first person to come to mind. Yannan Town was a place she had never experienced before, a completely opposite world, chaotic and noisy, but bursting with life.

“Can you drink with me?”

He Chong smiled. “You threw up all over my car last time, and I haven’t even made you pay for that yet.”

Zhou Mo gasped, hastily apologizing as she dug through her backpack for her wallet. “How much? I’ll pay for it.”

He Chong: “…”

Zhou Mo realized. “Oh. That was a joke.”

“Head on back. I hate hassle, especially dealing with rich people.”

But Zhou Mo refused to leave. “You fix cars… sometimes… I mean, just sometimes… you must be pretty tight on money, right?”

“I get by.”

“Actually…” Zhou Mo hesitated. “Didn’t you say last time that you’d do anything except good deeds?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’m hiring you,” Zhou Mo said, looking up with conviction, as if she had made up her mind in an instant. “To do bad things with me.”

He Chong raised an eyebrow and looked her over from head to toe. How could such a pretty girl have something wrong with her head? he thought.

“Is there something wrong with you?”

Zhou Mo was completely serious. “I’ll pay you by the hour. Name your price.”

“I don’t come cheap.”

“A thousand Yuan an hour?”

He Chong glanced at her again, half-smiling. “Not gonna lie, I’m actually a little tempted. But tell me first, what kind of bad things? Disclaimer upfront: I’m a law-abiding citizen. I don’t do murder or robbery.”

Zhou Mo reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Here’s the list. As long as you go through them with me one by one, I won’t shortchange you.”

He Chong was genuinely a little curious. He took it, scanned it, and nearly burst out laughing.

Task List:

1. Watch movies all night;

2. Sneak out of the house in the middle of the night;

3. Get ear piercings;

4. Dye my hair;

5. Get a tattoo;

6. Dine and dash;

7. Swear;

…

He Chong didn’t read any further. “These are the bad things you were talking about?”

“Aren’t they?” Zhou Mo absently pressed cross marks^[2] into the red bug bites on her arm. “So… does that mean you agree?”

He Chong looked her over, still finding it hard to believe. He tapped his finger against the line that read “Watch movies all night.” “Are you sure?”

“I have a nine-thirty curfew at home, and I have to be asleep before eleven.”

“Watch under your covers, then. Surely they don’t check your room, do they?”

Zhou Mo was silent for a moment. “They don’t, but the nanny at home does.”

He Chong had nothing to say to that. He suddenly felt a surge of pity for Zhou Mo. What kind of life had this girl been living growing up?

“So will you?”

“No.” He Chong shoved the list back into Zhou Mo’s hand and walked toward the bathroom. “I’ve been drinking, so I can’t drive you back. Stay here for tonight, and head straight back tomorrow once your head clears.”

Zhou Mo lowered her eyes. “My head is perfectly clear.”

He Chong shut the door.

Zhou Mo stared blankly at the closed bathroom door for a while. In the end, she didn’t dare completely vanish, nor did she want to cause trouble for He Chong. So before nine-thirty, she called home to say she was spending the night at Ye Yinyin’s place.

Zhou Mo had been behaving well lately, so Tang Shulan seemed to be in a decent mood and didn’t give her a hard time, simply telling her to go to sleep early.

Less than five minutes later, Ye Yinyin called her. “My little ancestor, why didn’t you give me a heads-up so I could help coordinate our story? We almost got caught!”

Zhou Mo: “My mom called you?”

Ye Yinyin: “You bet she did! Thank goodness I reacted quickly. I realized she was probing for info and managed to cover for you.”

Zhou Mo’s heart leapt into her throat. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think my mom would pull something like that.”

“That’s not the point.” Ye Yinyin chuckled. “Which wild guy’s place are you staying at, spending the night out like this?”

Zhou Mo: “The hourly worker’s place.”

Ye Yinyin: “Huh?”

Zhou Mo looked up and noticed that He Chong had already come out of the bathroom at some point. Leaning against the windowsill with a lit cigarette, he was smiling in her direction.

Zhou Mo: “I’m hanging up now.”

Holding her phone tight, she looked at He Chong. “Have you thought it over?”

He Chong: “Consider what? Instead of being a proper young lady, you insist on hanging around me. Haven’t you noticed you’re always unlucky whenever you run into me? Have you still not learned your lesson?”

Zhou Mo went quiet.

He Chong puffed on his cigarette, casting occasional glances at Zhou Mo. Her downcast look struck him as strangely pitiful. He had just showered, and the water droplets on his skin had already evaporated. Feeling a bit warm, he shuffled over in his slippers to turn down the air conditioner, then sat on the armrest of the sofa, looking down at Zhou Mo. “That’s not how you tell a lie.”

Zhou Mo raised her eyes slightly.

“You have to retreat to advance.” He Chong curled his lips into a somewhat wicked smile.

Zhou Mo looked at him. “How do you retreat to advance?”

“Want me to teach you?”

“Yes.”

“Not happening. Teach the apprentice, starve the master^[3].” Seeing her still absentmindedly picking at the bug bites on her arm, He Chong stood up, bit down on his cigarette, squatted in front of the TV cabinet, opened a drawer, and began rummaging through it.

Zhou Mo stopped talking and just sat there with her head drooping, casting a thin shadow across the floor.

After a moment, He Chong stood up and walked over to her. “Out of all the things to learn, you just had to learn how to be bad.”

Zhou Mo looked up from within the shadow he cast as he leaned down, meeting a pair of remarkably serious eyes.

He Chong grabbed her hand, which had been sitting neatly on her knee, placed something in her palm, and headed straight for the bedroom.

In Zhou Mo’s palm was a bottle of essential balm^[4].

Having given up his bed to Zhou Mo, He Chong slept on a makeshift pallet on the living room floor for the night. The moment dawn broke, he woke up, washed up quickly, and went downstairs to strip a car.

He had maintained this habit for years: dismantling a car down to the last nut and bolt, then reassembling it piece by piece. It was mentally exhausting at first, but once he got used to it, it became exceedingly dull. Yet he had never stopped, feeling it was just like the daily morning drills back in the military, honing the fundamentals.

He Chong installed the last part he had been holding between his teeth and crawled out from under the car.

Someone was squatting beside him, staring right at him.

His heart nearly skipped a beat. Standing up, he patted down the back of his pants. “Could you make a noise or something?”

Zhou Mo had simply been mesmerized watching him.

Finding no one in the living room when she woke up, she had gone straight downstairs, wandering around the workshop for a couple of laps based on her previous experience until she found him. For reasons even she couldn’t explain, she hadn’t called out to him, choosing instead to squat on the ground with her head tilted, peering under the car.

His arms were firm and muscular, handling the wrench with deft agility as if it were a living thing. He was completely focused, biting on a spare part, his jaw tight and defined, radiating an intense, coiled power.

It turned out that when a man was focused, even fixing a car could be… pretty handsome.

“He Chong…” Zhou Mo stood up as well, her gaze still fixed on his hands. “Have you ever held a gun?”

“I spent three years in the military. What do you think?”

“Teach me.”

He Chong glanced at Zhou Mo and suddenly noticed she was wearing his black T-shirt. Because it was oversized on her, she had tied it in a knot at her waist. She hadn’t changed out of her hot pants, and on her feet were low-top Converse sneakers. Set against the oil-stained backdrop of his workshop, her long, slender legs looked exceptionally fair.

He instantly forgot what he was about to say. After a brief silence, he reached out and gave the sleeve of her T-shirt a light tug. “Did you ask me before wearing my clothes?”

“I left money for you,” Zhou Mo said hurriedly. “Five hundred yuan on the nightstand by your bed. That should be enough, right?”

“…”

He Chong washed his hands and slipped on a short-sleeved shirt that was draped nearby. Seeing Zhou Mo still intently examining the car, he walked over, pulled gently on her waist-length hair, and said, “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“Breakfast.”

Across the street, at a steaming breakfast stall, Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu had already arrived.

He Chong pulled out two low plastic stools. Zhou Mo looked at the cheap, crumpled tissues on the ground and the broken disposable chopsticks stamped with black footprints, visibly hesitating.

He Chong swept his eyes over her and sat down on his own. “There’s a bus back to the city center in ten minutes. The stop is five hundred meters south across the street. Head back on your own. I won’t be dropping you off.”

Yan Tianyu exchanged a look with Lin Xinghe, then chuckled under his breath. “Chong-ge^[5], that’s pretty cold.”

He Chong reached for his cigarettes. “What are you thinking? She’s my niece.”

“Who’s your niece?” Zhou Mo snapped back. Using the tip of her shoe, she kicked away the garbage around the stool and sat right down.

Yan Tianyu glanced at Zhou Mo. “Heh, Chong-ge, your niece has quite a temper.”

He Chong didn’t bother joining in. He took a drag of his cigarette and offered a lazy introduction: “Lin Xinghe, Yan Tianyu. Students from Xicheng Jiaotong University. This is Zhou Mo…” He glanced sideways at her. “From Xicheng University, right?”

Zhou Mo said, “Xida Art Academy.”

Yan Tianyu said, “An artist! No wonder you’re so gorgeous.”

Nobody responded, making the moment a bit awkward. Yan Tianyu nudged Lin Xinghe’s elbow. “Right, Old Lin?”

Lin Xinghe glanced at Zhou Mo, then quickly looked back down, awkwardly fidgeting with the chopsticks resting across his bowl of rice soup. “Yeah.”

Yan Tianyu was an extrovert who could hit it off with anyone in no time. By the time He Chong finished a phone call, Yan Tianyu had already progressed to asking Zhou Mo for her WeChat.

He Chong narrowed his eyes without a word. He picked up a plastic cup and tapped his ash into it, idly flicking the cigarette now and then.

Yan Tianyu was naturally outgoing, but Zhou Mo was not. None of his questions coaxed much out of her, leaving him looking a bit awkward after having done all the talking since they met. Sensing the wall, Yan Tianyu changed the subject, asking He Chong whose order they were modifying the car for today.

He Chong shot him a look. “Why? If I said it was an order for Lin Chi-ling, could you make it turn out any fancier?”

Zhou Mo let out a soft laugh.

He Chong looked at her. “What are you laughing at?”

“You like Lin Chi-ling?”

“Did I say that?”

Lin Xinghe, who hadn’t said a word until now: “He does.”

He Chong reached out and rapped Lin Xinghe on the head. “Throwing your teammate under the bus, are you?”

Lin Xinghe said with utter sincerity, “Even his GPS voice is set to Lin Chi-ling^[6].”

“Getting rebellious now, are we?” He Chong didn’t bother defending himself. Seeing four bowls of rice noodles served up, he tossed his half-smoked cigarette into the plastic cup of cheap tea.

Zhou Mo snapped her chopsticks apart and lifted a bite of hot and sour noodles into her mouth…

“Ack!”

She hadn’t expected it to be so scalding hot. She shuddered, choking on a violent fit of coughing, her entire face flushing red.

He Chong hurriedly shouted to the owner, “Bring a bottle of ice water!”

He Chong unscrewed the water bottle, shoved it into Zhou Mo’s hand, and muttered in annoyance, “Choking on simple noodles… you’re really something else.”

After gulping down three mouthfuls of water, Zhou Mo finally calmed down. “I’m not very good with spicy food.”

“If you can’t handle spicy food, why did you dig in? Couldn’t you tell how red that bowl was?”

He Chong had the server clear the noodles from in front of Zhou Mo and brought out steamed buns and porridge instead.

Yan Tianyu took in all of He Chong’s attentive care. He had originally harbored a slight interest, but now he didn’t dare give it a second thought. Looking at He Chong, he grinned, “Brother Chong, is Zhou Mo really your niece?”

He Chong replied nonchalantly, “Suppose so.”

Zhou Mo glared at him. “Don’t take advantage of me.”

He Chong smirked at her. “With a niece as airheaded as you, it’s hard to say who’s taking advantage of whom.”

After finishing breakfast, He Chong led Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu back to the auto shop. After walking a few dozen meters, he looked back and saw Zhou Mo trailing behind them.

“You two go inside first. I’ll be right there.”

He Chong gave instructions to Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu, then strode up to Zhou Mo and blocked her path. “What, planning to latch onto me now?”

“You haven’t agreed yet.” The sun had risen, making Zhou Mo squint slightly against the light.

He Chong studied her for a long moment. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted an oncoming taxi and raised his hand to hail it.

He pulled open the car door, gripped Zhou Mo by the arm, and pushed her inside, his expression stern and tone leaving no room for argument. “The world is full of rotten adults. It doesn’t need another one like you.”

Through the car window, he saw the light in Zhou Mo’s eyes dim. She leaned toward the door as if to get out, but in the end, she merely pressed her lips together, turned her face away, and lowered her head to pull out the seatbelt and buckle in. She didn’t look up again even after the car drove off.

He Chong stood in place, watching the taxi disappear down the bumpy lane between low-rise buildings, the dim look in Zhou Mo’s eyes still lingering in his mind.

Over the summer break, Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu had nowhere else to go, so they lived and ate together at He Chong’s run-down auto shop. By day, they spent their time in the workshop studying modification plans; by night, they played cards under the air conditioner, sleeping on makeshift floor beds when they got tired.

After a while, He Chong’s conscience kicked in. It was fine for him to rough it, but he couldn’t mistreat these two top-tier students. That afternoon, he found time to make a trip nearby and hauled back two single spring beds. He carried them upstairs, assembled them, and then went back downstairs to call the boys for dinner.

Lin Xinghe waved him over. Once He Chong walked up, he pointed at the blueprint and said, “Brother Chong, Tianyu and I have finalized the plan.”

He Chong felt in his pocket for a cigarette. “Shoot.”

“20-inch forged wheel rims, sticky sports tires, KW V3 coilovers, a rear spoiler… forged engine internals, plus a twin-turbocharger system for the engine…”

Yan Tianyu gave a thumbs-up. “One thousand horsepower, guaranteed.”

He Chong pondered for a moment and nodded. “Alright. We’ll discuss it more after dinner.”

Yan Tianyu leaned against the car body and asked with a smirk, “Brother Chong, why hasn’t your big niece come over to hang out?”

He Chong shifted his gaze from the blueprint to glance at Yan Tianyu, ignoring the comment. He lowered his head again, tracing his finger inch by inch over the specs Lin Xinghe had provided.

Yet as he studied them, a fair, delicate little face kept hovering in his mind.

He snapped the blueprint shut. “Go change your clothes, both of you. I’m taking you into town for some fun.”

Business at “2046” was growing even hotter. Watching the packed house, Han Yu was beside himself with joy.

He Chong rolled his eyes at him. “Look at you.” He pushed forward the two clean-cut young men behind him. “Put their drinks on my tab.”

“On your tab? You still haven’t cleared that hundred-thousand-Yuan hole in your account.”

Before the sweat on Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu could even dry under the air conditioner, a few bold, flirtatious girls approached and dragged the two of them over to join their crowd.

He Chong sat down at the bar. Instead of ordering alcohol, he asked for a glass of ice water, a cigarette hanging from his lips as he asked Han Yu, “How’s that ‘sharing economy’ thing of yours going?”

“I invested, of course. What else could I do? Otherwise, that Ye girl would’ve foisted a girlfriend onto me for no reason.”

He Chong laughed. “Isn’t that what you wanted anyway? Turning down a gift handed to you for free?”

“Now that’s where I look down on you. How can you mix business with feelings?”

Only half-listening, He Chong took a sip of ice water and suddenly asked Han Yu, “Has Zhou Mo been here?”

“Zhou Mo? Who?”

“My big niece.”

“Nope, hasn’t been around for a while. Look at her vibe, pure as a little jasmine flower. Does she look like a clubber to you?”

He Chong smiled; he actually agreed with that. Setting his glass down, he asked, “Then give Miss Ye a call and ask if she’s with Zhou Mo.”

Han Yu let out a teasing hoot. “Oho, look at you, actually fussing over her!”

“Just make the call. And wipe that sleazy grin off your face, you’re scaring the customers away.”

Ever since leaving Yannan Town that day, Zhou Mo’s life had returned to its normal rhythm. Aside from painting every day, she took piano lessons, occasionally meeting up with Ye Yinyin for meetings. Everything went strictly by the book without a ripple, no different from the first twenty years of her life.

That bouquet of roses in the misty rain, that dilapidated yet vibrant small town, and that enigmatic, vagabond-like man seemed to have vanished completely from her life.

That day, after their startup project passed the preliminary round, Ye Yinyin organized a dinner party at the “Jinghu Garden” restaurant near the university to celebrate their progress.

Because all the private rooms were fully booked, they had to sit in the main dining hall. Shortly after sitting down, they saw another group swagger in with great fanfare. The leader was none other than Lin Heng. Ye Yinyin hadn’t expected such a coincidence and quietly asked Zhou Mo if she wanted to change locations, but Zhou Mo declined.

The two groups were separated by only a single table, neither too close nor too far. Lin Heng’s group consisted almost entirely of girls, and their chatter and laughter were loud enough to blow the roof off.

Just after ordering, Ye Yinyin’s phone buzzed with a call. Seeing Han Yu’s name on the screen, she paused before answering with a few vague grunts. Then she glanced over at Zhou Mo, gave the name of the restaurant, and hung up.

“Who was that?”

“Nobody, just a friend.” Ye Yinyin leaned into Zhou Mo’s ear and whispered, “Want to hear some gossip about Lin Heng?”

“Tell me.”

“His current girlfriend…” Ye Yinyin tilted her chin toward the girl snuggled up next to Lin Heng at the round table across from them. “She’s from the normal university^[7] next door. Also an art student, oil painting specifically. Don’t you think there’s something wrong with him?”

Ye Yinyin had usually taken care not to mention Lin Heng around Zhou Mo, but seeing her composed demeanor today, she figured Zhou Mo had mostly moved on from the past.

“Word is her paintings are decent. She just won gold in a recent youth oil painting competition.”

Zhou Mo paused. “What competition? The Duan Shao’an Cup?”

“Yeah, that’s the one. Momo, why didn’t you enter? Didn’t the department nominate you?”

They had, but her application form was probably lying in some dump right now. A wave of nausea washed over Zhou Mo. Frowning, she raised her glass for a sip of water, trying to force down the discomfort.

Once Han Yu got the address from Ye Yinyin, He Chong drove off to Jinghu Garden. On the way, he had his excuse all worked out: he was going to see her simply because he had been too harsh and blunt when he rejected her last time. He was coming to apologize and buy her a meal to thank her for her help.

He parked in front of the restaurant. Just as he was about to push the door open, a conversation between two stylishly dressed women nearby caught his attention.

He heard a woman ask with a laugh, “Is that Lin Heng’s ex-girlfriend?”

The two women stood in front of the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling glass window, looking through into the brightly lit dining hall. He Chong followed their gaze, and his eyes landed on Zhou Mo.

Zhou Mo sat on the northeast side of the round table, clutching a glass in her hand. Her eyes were fixed on it as if someone had ordered her to protect that glass with her life.

He Chong found her deeply contradictory. She wasn’t without a sharp edge; otherwise, she wouldn’t have stood up for him, nor would she have nearly left him speechless several times. Yet every time he saw her, she wore that same detached, forlorn look. The world turned seamlessly, while she was a gear out of place.

The other woman replied, “Yeah, that’s her.”

“She looks pretty decent. Why did Lin Heng dump her?”

A disdainful chuckle laced the answer. “She’s pretty, sure, but she’s boring. Who likes someone like that? What era is this, acting like some chaste martyr?”

“What do you mean?”

“She wouldn’t even let Lin Heng kiss her…”

An exaggerated gasp. “Are you serious?”

“Said she felt kissing after dating for two months was too rushed…”

“That’s rushed?”

The two exchanged a knowing laugh.

“I heard it from someone else, too. Back in May, right after they broke up, after an elective class, she handed Lin Heng a letter right in front of a whole hallway of people…”

“What did it say?”

“How should I know… but you can guess, right? Knowing her personality, she probably gave Lin Heng a righteous lecture analyzing why she couldn’t sleep with him…”

“If I were a guy, I couldn’t stand it either.”

“A while ago, she ran into Lin Heng and stopped him in the street to ask for a definitive reason. Lin Heng told her, ‘You’re too serious, too proper, and too well-behaved. I can’t take it’…”

Dazzling crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling of the restaurant, illuminating a room full of smiling, lively diners. Except for her.

He Chong walked past the two women who were still gossiping away, pushed open the glass door, and stepped inside.

Ye Yinyin spotted him, immediately stood up, and waved, calling out loudly, “Hey, bar handyman! How come it’s you? Where’s Boss Han?”

Ignoring everyone, He Chong walked straight over to Zhou Mo’s side.

A shadow fell over her, followed by the sight of a pair of well-defined hands. Zhou Mo blinked in surprise and slowly looked up. He Chong had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, smiling down at her with his usual cynical swagger.

Before Zhou Mo could speak, He Chong snatched the glass from her hand, set it on the table, grabbed her hand, and pulled firmly. She was yanked off her feet and nearly tumbled into his chest before catching her balance.

He Chong tilted his head, took the cigarette between his fingers, and looked down at her. A curl of pale smoke drifted up, enveloping them and walling them off from everyone else. He said nothing, and Zhou Mo asked nothing. Just like that, he dragged her away from the table and walked toward the exit.

Ye Yinyin stared in shock. “Hey, hey!”

Without looking back, He Chong raised a hand in farewell. “I’m borrowing her for today.”

He took just two steps with Zhou Mo before running into a young man coming from the direction of the restrooms. The young man glanced at He Chong, then turned to Zhou Mo with a complicated expression in his eyes.

The look was far too loaded to be just a normal guy looking at a female classmate. A suspicion formed in He Chong’s mind, and he sized him up. “Lin Heng?”

Lin Heng looked puzzled. “Do I know you?”

He Chong locked his gaze onto his face and gave a low laugh. “You will.”

Heat pressed down outside, coating them in sweat the moment they stepped out. He Chong stuffed Zhou Mo into the passenger seat and glanced at his watch. “Isn’t it almost your dorm curfew?”

Zhou Mo adjusted the air conditioning vent and mumbled, “I don’t want to go back.” She stole a glance at him. “Did you come looking for me?”

“Yeah,” He Chong replied casually, stubbing out the cigarette butt in the ashtray before rolling up the window. “I only suspected it before, but now I’m sure of it. There’s really something wrong with your head.”

Zhou Mo glared at him.

“If you were unhappy, why stay? Who could stop you if you wanted to leave?”

“Who said I was unhappy?”

“Look in the mirror and ask if the word ‘happy’ even recognizes you.” As he spoke, he actually adjusted the rearview mirror to face Zhou Mo. Zhou Mo gave a faint snort and turned her face away.

He Chong chuckled. “He’s just a man. He isn’t worth all this.”

“Lin Heng…”

“Good or bad, he’s not worth it. No man in this world is worth you acting like this.”

“What about you…”

“Whoa now,” He Chong said, raising an eyebrow with a grin. “Don’t go getting ideas about me. Someone like me is an exception, of course.”

Zhou Mo rolled her eyes at him.

He Chong leaned back, interlacing his fingers behind his head. “If you don’t want to go home, where do you want to go?”

“I don’t know.”

He Chong didn’t know what had gotten into him, planning things out for Zhou Mo like this. After a moment, he suddenly held out his hand to her. “Phone.”

Zhou Mo had no idea what he was up to, but she handed it over anyway. The screen was locked, and He Chong didn’t bother asking for her passcode. He simply grabbed her hand and pressed her thumb onto the Home button. Scrolling through her call history, he found “Ye Yinyin” and dialed. “I’ve got Zhou Mo. Turn right outside the restaurant and head to the parking spots. The license plate is…”

Zhou Mo shot him a look that suggested he had lost his mind.

Before long, Ye Yinyin came over and knocked on the window. He Chong rolled it down and grinned. “Do us a favor and cover for her, will you?”

Ye Yinyin arrived out of breath, resting her hands on her hips as she caught her breath. “Are you crazy?! I thought…”

“With a girl like her, how much could I even get for kidnapping her? I’d probably end up losing money on food costs. You have her parents’ number, right? Give them a call.”

Ye Yinyin hadn’t let her guard down completely. “Who are you, anyway?”

“Just a handyman at the bar. Isn’t Han Yu your daddy investor? He can vouch for me. If anything happens to Zhou Mo, you can go hang a protest banner outside the bar.”

Ye Yinyin looked at Zhou Mo. “Momo…”

Zhou Mo said in a low voice, “I don’t want to go home today. Yinyin, please help me out.”

With things said to this point, Ye Yinyin couldn’t question it any further. When it came to lying, she was on a completely different level than Zhou Mo, delivering a story that was absolutely airtight.

“Wait a sec.” He Chong pulled out his ancient feature phone that should have been retired ages ago. “Since you’re helping, might as well go all the way. Record a couple of lines, just in case.”

Ye Yinyin said, “You certainly thought of everything.”

After recording, Ye Yinyin was still a bit uneasy and pressed them on where they were going.

He Chong chuckled. “That wouldn’t be very convenient to answer, now would it?”

Ye Yinyin looked at Zhou Mo like a mother hen watching over a fragile egg in her nest. “Momo is very innocent. Don’t you dare…”

“She’s an adult. She can make her own decisions.” He Chong glanced at her, his expression turning significantly more serious. “Do me a favor. Next time you run into that guy named Lin, don’t waste words, just punch him. Right in the face. Punch him once, and I’ll give you a thousand Yuan.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s fine. After you hit him, tell him to get his medical bills from Han Yu and put them on my tab.” He shoved his phone into his pocket, started the engine, and smiled. “The name’s He Chong. ‘He’ as in Helan Mountain, ‘Chong’ as in Linghu Chong^[8].”

The jeep headed west along the riverside highway. A few boats lay anchored on the river, their light reflections shattered across the water. Zhou Mo suddenly rolled down the window, propped her elbows against the frame, and leaned out to look, her hair whipping wildly across her face.

The wind was warm, instantly sweeping away the cool air inside the car. He Chong clicked his tongue. “You’re wasting my gas.” But he didn’t make her close the window, letting her do as she pleased.

Half an hour later, the jeep turned into a narrow lane, twisting and turning before coming to a stop. Zhou Mo unbuckled her seatbelt and leaned out to look. It was a storefront, with three bold, wild characters written across the illuminated sign: “Jianghu Dao”.

He Chong turned off the engine, pulled out the key, and walked around to open the door for her. Once Zhou Mo stepped out, he shut and locked the car, calling out toward the shop, “Old Wang!”

After a moment, a shadow shifted, and a man opened the door and stepped out. Zhou Mo caught one look at him and shrank back in fear.

He Chong seemed to know what she was thinking. “Don’t be scared. Old Wang just looks intimidating because of his size.”

Zhou Mo asked under her breath, “What does he do?”

“Haven’t you already guessed?”

Zhou Mo had never interacted with someone like this before and felt a bit intimidated. She couldn’t help leaning closer to He Chong, whispering, “You even know people from the underworld?”

He Chong chuckled. “Can’t be helped. Life leaves me no choice.”

Two minutes later, looking at the room full of boxing equipment, Zhou Mo rolled her eyes at He Chong. What “underworld”? This was just an ordinary boxing gym.

“The big guy” was named Wang Song, the owner of the gym, who had known He Chong for years.

He Chong leaned against the wall, lit a cigarette, and instructed, “Boss Wang, get a set of gear for this young lady.”

Zhou Mo took the gear from Wang Song, but having no idea how to use it, she cast a bewildered look at He Chong.

He Chong pushed off the wall and slouched over to Zhou Mo with a reluctant, lazy air, as if taking those few steps had drained half his life’s energy.

Wang Song said, “Don’t get ash on my floor.”

He Chong replied, “Isn’t Miss Zhou here? She’ll wipe it up for you.”

Zhou Mo protested loudly, “I am not wiping it up!”

He Chong had already reached her. He gave a low chuckle. “Right. Not only will we not wipe it up, we won’t even pay.”

Wang Song barked, “I can bloody hear you.”

He Chong grabbed the hand wraps and pulled her arm over, wrapping them round and round from her wrist to her palm, then down to her fingers. “Wiggle your fingers. Is it too tight?”

“It’s fine.”

Once he finished wrapping both hands, he slipped the boxing gloves onto her. Zhou Mo held up her two oversized red boxing gloves, looking absurdly silly. He Chong laughed out loud and popped a headguard onto her head.

Zhou Mo took half a step back. “I don’t know how to fight.”

He Chong deigned to walk over to a nearby trash can, stubbed out his cigarette, and walked over to the boxing ring, lifting the ropes. “Get up here.”

Once inside the ring, the two stood facing each other. Zhou Mo raised her hands and eyed He Chong. “You’re not wearing a headguard?”

“Why would I need a headguard to deal with you? One hand is enough.” He Chong put on his gloves and assumed a textbook starting stance. “Come on.”

“I don’t know how.”

“Just swing wildly. Whatever makes you happy.”

Zhou Mo stood with her eyes lowered, her shadow resting at her feet like a docile little animal. After a moment, she let out a low cry, raised her fists, and charged straight at He Chong.

He Chong chuckled and murmured, “Silly girl.” As Zhou Mo charged right up to him, he dropped his guard, which had only been for show anyway, letting her punch land squarely on him.

The emotions Zhou Mo had bottled up over the past few days welled up in waves, as if waiting for this exact outlet. As her fist connected solidly against him, the anguish in her heart burst through the floodgates.

Holding nothing back, she landed one punch after another.

He Chong didn’t fight back at all, serving as a human punching bag. After dozens of hits, he had only been pushed back four or five steps, while Zhou Mo was left panting for breath.

Zhou Mo stopped. On her sweat-beaded face, her eyes were bright and clear, where even her sorrow was plainly visible. Catching her breath, she bit her teeth tightly together, and under He Chong’s unfathomable smile, charged forward to deliver one last heavy blow.

He Chong collapsed at the impact, but at the last moment, he grabbed her arm, pulling them both down onto the boxing ring.

He Chong didn’t look at her. He pulled off his gloves, yanked off her headguard, and pressed her head firmly against his chest. He looked up at the ceiling, thinking the overhead lights were quite bright, almost warm. Suddenly, he felt a warm liquid soak through the fabric of his shirt onto his chest. His skin flared hot, as if singed by a flame.

He Chong chuckled, still not turning his head. “I have to say, you hit pretty hard.”

Zhou Mo went to the shower room. He Chong lit another cigarette and sat down by the doorway, no longer ruining Wang Song’s wooden floor.

“Picking up girls at my place now?” Wang Song said.

He Chong laughed. “Don’t talk nonsense. She’s my grandniece.”

“Bullshit.” Wang Song gave him a look. “Is that matter with your mom resolved yet?”

He Chong blew a smoke ring. “Working on it right now. This little girl is the grandniece of the Gu family siblings. Once I win her over, she’ll be my insider.”

Wang Song completely ignored his nonsense. “Still refusing to budge?”

“Rich people, clinging to their pride and suffering for it. I’m in no rush, and my mom definitely isn’t either. A woman like her can endure any hardship.”

Wang Song shrugged it off. “Screwing you over even after she died.”

He Chong grinned. “Screwing me over with sixty million in real estate? I’d welcome her doing that a few more times.” He turned his head and saw the side door open as Zhou Mo walked out. Standing up, he said, “Got things to do. I’ll drop by again next time.”

“He Chong,” Wang Song called out to him, “when should I pay you back the money?”

“Keep it for now. Your situation has only just started getting better.”

“Count it as an investment?”

“What investment?” He Chong chuckled. “You really want me taking a cut of your earnings every day?”

“I wouldn’t mind,” Wang Song said.

He Chong was left speechless for a moment. “We’ll talk later.”

Zhou Mo hadn’t let down the hair she had tied back before putting on the helmet, and while showering she had loosely twisted it into a bun, with stray strands hanging down. Droplets of water still clung to her freshly washed face, making her look remarkably clean.

He Chong’s gaze brushed over her face without lingering. “Feel better?”

Zhou Mo said softly, “Thank you.”

He Chong led her out through the side door. A car passed by occasionally along the road, where a few scattered shops cast light onto the pavement. Seeing a small supermarket still open, he suddenly said, “Wait here.”

Moments later, He Chong came out holding an ice cream cone and thrust it into Zhou Mo’s hand. “Kids your age love this stuff.”

Zhou Mo silently peeled off the wrapper, licked the top, and took a big bite. Having vented, cried, taken a shower, and now eaten something cold, she felt an indescribable sense of relief, so much so that even He Chong’s casual, slacker face looked exceptionally agreeable.

“Thank you,” she said, completely sincere.

She looked down. Their two shadows on the concrete ground were very close, as if taking just one step closer would make them merge into one.

He Chong was about to lead her back to where the car was parked by the main entrance. Just as he stepped forward, he heard Zhou Mo whisper from behind, “Actually, I wasn’t upset because of Lin Heng…”

He Chong stopped immediately and turned back to look at her. “Then why?”

“There’s a competition, a major one. My teacher recommended me for it, but I turned it down…”

“Regretting it? Is the prize money big?”

“It has nothing to do with prize money…” Zhou Mo took a big bite of the ice cream cone, shivering from the cold. “He Chong, have you ever been afraid of anything?”

He Chong didn’t answer right away, unable to help gazing down at her. Before, he had always seen her as a greenhouse rose. She had a few thorns, but they were just harmless little bursts of temper, making it hard for him to take her seriously.

But at this moment, Zhou Mo seemed to be extending her trust, offering a glimpse beyond the flower and its thorns into something deeper inside her.

He Chong considered it for a moment before answering carefully, “I have.”

“What were you afraid of?” She looked up at him, her eyes glistening faintly like a thawing spring river, clear yet with a touch of chill.

He Chong paused. “If I said I was afraid of dying, would you think that’s cliché?”

Zhou Mo shook her head.

“What about you? What are you afraid of?”

He Chong didn’t get an answer. Instead, he saw Zhou Mo avert her eyes, taking small bites of her ice cream.

“Little girl, I already told you mine, but you won’t tell me yours. That’s hardly fair, is it?”

“But I never promised I’d tell you.” Zhou Mo raised her chin slightly, her eyes bright with a sly smile.

He Chong looked at her, opening his mouth to speak.

Zhou Mo quickly added, “Just because I won’t tell you doesn’t mean you get to swear at me!”

He Chong slapped his forehead. “I completely forgot about my two trusted lieutenants^[9]!”

Zhou Mo laughed. “Then hurry up!” She kicked a stone off the path and stepped forward.

He Chong hastened his steps to catch up, resting his broad palm on the crown of her head and turning her in the other direction. “Wrong way. Over here.”

Those two “trusted lieutenants,” Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu, were already thoroughly plastered. If He Chong hadn’t made it back in time, they might have already been dragged back to the Spider Demon’s Cave^[10] by a few female sirens.

He Chong still believed in democracy and freedom. Facing the drunk duo, he said, “If you guys don’t want to come back with me, stand up right now and do a Thomas flare kick. If you want to come back with me, say nothing at all.”

Lin Xinghe and Yan Tianyu remained silent as dead pigs.

He Chong strained to haul them both back to the car, stacking one on top of the other in the backseat. He added a warning: “If either of you throws up, don’t expect a single cent from your cut of this deal.” After giving his instructions, he looked over at Zhou Mo. “Are you going back, or…”

Zhou Mo said, “I’m coming with you.”

He Chong chuckled, wanting to take the opportunity to tease her, but for some reason, the words stuck in his throat. He could only grumble to himself: Damn it, there go my principles^[11].

The jeep carried two drunks and one fresh-faced girl away from the city center, rolling down deserted roads and speeding along beneath sparse, scattered lights.

Remembering something, Zhou Mo leaned forward and turned on the center console’s GPS navigation. A sweet, coquettish voice rang out: “Traffic camera ahead at the next intersection. Please obey traffic rules!”

Zhou Mo exclaimed, “Oh, Lin Chi-ling!”

He Chong: “…”

Her eyes were bright with laughter. He Chong stole a glance at her, his intended comeback dying on his lips once again.

Whether it was Lin Chi-ling’s hypnotic voice or the warm night breeze making her groggy, Zhou Mo tilted her head and drifted off to sleep.

He Chong didn’t wake her. He turned off the navigation, switched on the radio, turned the volume down low, and hummed along to the music.

The jeep jolted as it hit a pothole. He turned to look; Zhou Mo hadn’t woken, only furrowing her brow slightly. She had a delicate, refined face that made it hard to look away in the dim yellow light.

Arriving at the parking lot in Yannan Town, He Chong dragged the two men upstairs, tossed them onto their respective beds, and couldn’t be bothered with them anymore.

As snores echoed back and forth across the room, He Chong and Zhou Mo stared at each other.

He Chong said, “I’ll get you a room at a hotel.”

“I can sleep here.”

“Oh? You really want me sleeping on the floor that badly?”

Zhou Mo quickly said, “A hotel it is, then.”

The two walked outside, their footsteps echoing hollowly on the concrete. Zhou Mo looked up and realized there were actually stars in the sky, and very bright ones at that. Noticing her slow down, He Chong stopped as well.

Zhou Mo pointed to the bright band of light dividing the sky in half, looking as if it were about to cascade down. “Is that the Milky Way?”

“Yeah.” He Chong looked at her. “Never seen stars before?”

“I have, but only when I was very little.”

“Back when I was on missions out in the deep mountains, I saw them all the time.” He Chong patted his pockets, searching for a cigarette again. “Brighter than here. You could see every single one clearly.”

Zhou Mo remained quiet. Thinking He Chong’s tone meant he was about to share some secret from his past, she waited, but he didn’t say another word.

Zhou Mo looked up at him. “He Chong?”

He Chong snapped out of it. “Let’s go, before the mosquitoes carry us away.”

The moment he mentioned it, Zhou Mo felt a bite on her arm and brought her hand down with a loud slap. Right then, a sudden buzzing broke the silence.

Zhou Mo scrambled to pull out her phone, her face pale with panic. “My phone… it’s my mom!”

“What’s the panic? Answer it.”

Zhou Mo took a deep breath and answered, “Mom…”

Tang Shulan asked, “Not asleep yet?”

“Just about to go to bed.”

“Pass the phone to your classmate. I want to say a few words to her.”

Zhou Mo looked frantically at He Chong, her voice turning dry. Putting it on speaker, she called out loudly, “Oh, okay… Yinyin! Yinyin! My mom wants to talk to you…”

Unhurried, He Chong pulled a phone from his pocket, stepped back a few paces, and pressed a few buttons. Ye Yinyin’s voice, recorded back in the parking lot, came through the phone: “Auntie! I’m taking off my makeup right now! Did you need something?”

“Oh, I just wanted to thank you for letting Mo Mo stay over.”

“We’re going to sleep right away, don’t worry, Auntie!”

Tang Shulan said, “Alright, get some sleep early.”

Zhou Mo breathed a sigh of relief, but then Tang Shulan’s voice turned stern. “Zhou Mo, I need to make my stance clear to you. I know you’ve grown up and deserve your own life, but I don’t approve of you staying out so often, nor do I approve of you getting too close to friends like Ye Yinyin.”

Zhou Mo bit her lip. “What’s wrong with Yinyin?”

“Don’t you know in your heart? You shouldn’t be making friends like her. She isn’t from the same circle as you.”

Zhou Mo gave a stiff “I understand,” wished her good night, and hung up. Looking up, she saw He Chong watching her with an unreadable look in his eyes.

He Chong took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled a heavy cloud of smoke. “Let’s go.” He turned around without looking back at her.

Zhou Mo took a few quick steps to catch up and grabbed his arm. He Chong looked back down at her hand. “What?”

“I don’t think Yinyin is from a different circle than me. She’s my best friend…”

He Chong gave a flat laugh. “Why tell me all this? My last name isn’t Ye.”

Zhou Mo was left tongue-tied. She felt she ought to explain things properly and clear it up, but there seemed to be no place to start.

“Let’s go.” He Chong twisted his arm, shaking off her grip.

Zhou Mo stood frozen in place for a moment. Looking up, she realized He Chong hadn’t waited for her. Holding a cigarette between his fingers, he walked straight ahead, the smoke rings drifting in the wind and scattering into the thick darkness of the night.

She suddenly felt completely at a loss, her heart tightening for no reason. “He Chong!” she blurted out.

The figure paused, then slowly turned around.

Zhou Mo clenched her hands tight, staring at him, her voice low. “Ever since I was little, I’ve never had many friends. When classmates asked me out, my mom always said no. I had classes for drawing, piano, ballet, English… It felt like there was always an endless list of things to learn. Once after school, I couldn’t resist. I secretly went shopping with a few girls from my class and lost track of time… After that, my mom didn’t speak to me for an entire month. She ordered everyone in the house, including the housekeeper and the old gardener who came to trim the yard, not to speak a word to me. She called it my punishment… Can you understand how that felt? Surrounded by so many people in the house, yet I was invisible, like air…”

Despite the sultry summer night, Zhou Mo shrank into herself as if she were cold. “My mom never hits me, but she has plenty of ways like this to torment me.”

He Chong felt a twist in his heart, a knot he couldn’t loosen. A streetlamp stood by the garage entrance, moths darting wildly under its dim yellow light, throwing themselves at the bulb as if eager to die. Zhou Mo stood not far from the light. One step outward lay heavy darkness, one step inward was the faint glow, yet she stood right on the boundary between light and shadow, a solitary figure.

He Chong took a step closer, then another. He had thought that an apology and a meal would wipe the slate clean between them. They were from completely different worlds, brought together only by chance. A brief commotion was just that, like a pebble skimming across a lake, raising a few ripples before sinking to the bottom, where everything eventually returned to calm.

Yet far from returning to calm, it had raised towering waves in his heart.

He was no longer an earnest, fearless youth in his early twenties. At twenty-eight, an age no longer considered young, he had learned to look past most things and didn’t take much to heart.

Yet at this moment, he truly had to admit that he had taken a liking to this slip of a girl. He couldn’t say what kind of feeling it was; it might not even qualify as affection. He just cared, and he didn’t want her to suffer even the slightest grievance.

He Chong stopped in front of Zhou Mo, leaning down to peer at her. “Is this your declaration of friendship? After a speech so full of emotion, how could I say no? Hey, don’t cry. I really don’t know how to comfort people.”

Zhou Mo quickly sniffled and turned her eyes away. “Who’s crying?”

He Chong looked at her with a smile. “I’m actually curious. Tell me, aren’t you afraid I might be a bad guy?”

“If you were a bad guy, you would’ve done something bad already.”

“Some high-level bad guys take their time, focusing on winning the heart first^[12]. You’d better watch out, or I might sell you off and you’ll still be helping me count the money^[13].”

Zhou Mo looked up at him, her eyes bright. “Would you sell me?”

He Chong grabbed her sleeve and pulled her along. “Come on, let’s go find somewhere to rest. You’ve been wearing me out all night.”

Zhou Mo smiled, her steps uneven as she followed behind him.

When they reached the best hotel in town, He Chong used his ID card to check into a room and led Zhou Mo upstairs. He stepped inside first, flicked the lights on and off, tested the mirror, tapped the walls, pulled back the bedsheets and quilt, and even squatted down to check under the bed before letting Zhou Mo enter.

“The conditions aren’t great, so just make do. Lock the door after I leave, and don’t open it for anyone.”

Zhou Mo nodded like a chick pecking at grain. He Chong thought for a moment and decided there was nothing else to remind her of, so he asked, “Are you scared to be alone?”

Zhou Mo blurted out, “Will you stay with me?”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a strangely awkward silence fell over the room.

Zhou Mo rubbed her nose. “Um…”

He Chong, having seen plenty of the world, kept his tone exceptionally calm. “Just to confirm, what was your rate again last time? A thousand Yuan an hour?”

Zhou Mo was caught off guard, staring at him blankly. “What?”

He Chong stood at the doorway, leaning against the wall in his usual lazy manner, and smiled. “Didn’t you want me to do bad things with you? I agree.”

If he had said this in the morning, at noon, or at night, at any time other than right now, Zhou Mo would have been overjoyed. But it came right at this moment, following hard on the heels of a topic ripe for imagination.

The skin from Zhou Mo’s neck to her ears turned bright red at a speed visible to the naked eye. Completely speechless, she stepped forward and gave He Chong a hard shove out the door. “Get out of here! I’m going to sleep!”

After He Chong left, Zhou Mo closed the door and leaned against it, grinning foolishly. She began to look forward to tomorrow, wondering how He Chong would arrange the “bad things” on her list.