Hidden Love

Shortly after five in the afternoon, though the sun wasn't as fierce as at noon, it remained glaring.

The smell outside the alley wasn't pleasant either, so Chen Junwen didn't make Sang Zhi stand there foolishly with him. He glanced around and simply took her to a nearby stall, buying two sticks of candied strawberries.

The two found a shady spot, each holding a stick and taking bites.

Afraid Sang Zhi might feel awkward, Chen Junwen struck up a conversation: "This area is a bit rough, so don't come here if you don't have to in the future."

Sang Zhi replied obediently, "Got it."

"Qian Fei was supposed to come too," Chen Junwen said. "You remember him, right? That chubby brother. But he had something on today, so he didn't make it."

Sang Zhi didn't like the sugar coating on top and was carefully peeling it off bit by bit: "I remember. During summer break, my brother took me to eat with him."

Chen Junwen: "Oh? Maybe I had already gone home by then, so I didn't go."

Sang Zhi nodded: "Brother Jia Xu was there too."

"Ah? Old Duan?" Chen Junwen suddenly remembered something, "Hey, right. He doesn't go home during holidays."

Sang Zhi paused, hesitantly asking: "Why not?"

Chen Junwen wasn't too sure either, scratching his head: "Maybe he just can't be bothered to go back, plus with the short semesters and all, there isn't much time left in the break anyway."

"Oh."

"But he does go back occasionally," Chen Junwen thought for a moment. "Mostly during short holidays. Like last semester, I think he went back during Qingming Festival? But I've never seen him go home during long breaks."

Sang Zhi asked quietly: "Not even during New Year?"

"Yeah," Chen Junwen said. "But that's pretty normal, right? Quite a few students at our school don't go home for New Year. The school organizes New Year's Eve dinners too. Those who stay on campus for New Year even get Red Packets."

Sang Zhi bit through the outer layer of crystal sugar, seemingly pondering something. After a while, she didn't continue asking and changed the subject: "Brother, what will my brother and the others do inside there?"

"Huh?"

"Will they fight?"

"If they were guys, maybe," Chen Junwen stroked his chin. "But since you said they're girls... hmm... then they'll probably just reason with them?"

Meanwhile, inside the alley.

Because the path was narrow and upper floors had protruding windowsills that blocked most of the sunlight, the lighting was noticeably dimmer than outside, as if they had entered another world.

Hearing Duan Jiaxu's words, Sang Yan's eyelids twitched as he looked over.

The red-haired girl immediately sensed something was wrong, cautiously stepping back two steps and playing dumb: "What? I don't know you guys."

After saying this, she shot meaningful glances at the two other girls beside her.

"No problem, I know you guys well enough," Sang Yan raised his eyebrows slightly, sneering. "Was it you who took twenty dollars from my little sister yesterday and burned her with a cigarette butt?"

"What burning her!" the red-haired girl raised her voice. "I just took twenty dollars from her, I didn't do anything else, okay? Don't frame me! It's just twenty dollars, if you want it I'll give it back to you."

"Just twenty dollars?" Sang Yan's face showed no trace of a smile. "Classmate, even if you had only taken two dollars from my sister, I'd still settle this account with you."

The red-haired girl's anger was clearly rising, but she didn't argue stubbornly, pressing her lips tightly together as she fished out money from her pocket and silently offered it to Sang Yan.

Sang Yan didn't move.Duan Jiaxu glanced at the school badges on their uniforms: "Vocational school? Underage, aren't you?"

"What are you doing here at this age instead of studying hard at school?" Sang Yan remarked with faint sarcasm. "Planning to do this for life?"

"Take the money and get lost," the red-haired girl snapped, her expression darkening. "What I do is none of your damn business."

Duan Jiaxu lowered his gaze, took another drag from his cigarette, and slowly exhaled the smoke, lost in thought. Soon, he stepped forward to stand before the girl, lifting his long lashes to study her contemplatively.

A silent stare.

His eyes, with their naturally alluring shape that curved inward and tilted outward, seemed to be flirting when he fixed them on someone. But now, devoid of any warmth, they felt unnervingly chilling.

The red-haired girl's heart raced, her fear finally boiling over into anger: "What do you want? Are you annoying or what? I said I'd give it back to you!"

Another girl tugged at her arm: "Let's just go..."

In the next moment, Duan Jiaxu suddenly raised his hand holding the cigarette.

Recalling Sang Zhi's words about "patting my face," he raised an eyebrow slightly, his slender fingers slowly approaching the red-haired girl's face as he murmured, "Like this yesterday?"

"..."

An overwhelming sense of oppression washed over her.

Staring at the cigarette in his hand, its tip still glowing red, the red-haired girl clenched her fists but didn't dare move, her eyes gradually welling up with tears.

To her, this extremely handsome man before her was essentially a demon. He might be smiling, but he seemed even more terrifying than the sharp-tongued, aggressive man beside him.

The cigarette stopped two centimeters from her face.

Duan Jiaxu's hand didn't touch her skin; instead, he tapped his fingers twice, letting cigarette ash fall onto her clothes and leave a faint burn mark. He straightened up leisurely, his tone polite and gentle: "Did I scare you?"

"..."

The red-haired girl immediately stepped back, tears instantly streaming down her face.

"Not gonna lie," Duan Jiaxu chuckled, "seems pretty scary, huh?"

On their way out of the alley.

Sang Yan followed behind Duan Jiaxu, hands in his pockets, and remarked idly, "Bro, you've really got a knack for scaring people lately. Even I'm freaked out."

Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow: "Oh?"

"Heard of that idiom?" Sang Yan said. "Hiding a watermelon knife behind a smile."

"..."

"And another thing," Sang Yan recalled something and scoffed, "since when did my little sister become your kid? By that logic, wouldn't that make you my damn dad?"

Duan Jiaxu replied nonchalantly, "Sure."

"..."

"I don't mind."

"Piss off."

As they exited the alley, they spotted Chen Junwen and Sang Zhi by a small street vendor nearby. The two—one tall, one small—stood side by side, each holding a bright red candied strawberry on a stick.

Sang Zhi kept glancing toward the alley entrance and soon noticed them. She had just stuffed a large strawberry into her mouth, her cheeks bulging as she tried to speak but couldn't get the words out.

Chen Junwen spoke first: "Find them?"

Sang Yan grunted in affirmation.

Chen Junwen's words came out rapid-fire: "So what'd you do? Intimidate them? How? Tell me! I'm curious!"

"I told her I only kill ten people a month," Sang Yan said lazily. "This month's quota is used up, so I'll come back for you next month."

"..." Chen Junwen was speechless. "Who are you trying to fool?"

"You."Chen Junwen was fuming at Sang Yan. He rolled his eyes and turned to Duan Jiaxu, trying to get an answer from him: "Old Xu, can't you just satisfy my curiosity?"

"Hmm?" Duan Jiaxu let out a long, drawn-out chuckle, "Why should I satisfy you?"

"..." Chen Junwen nearly choked, pointing at him with the candied hawthorn skewer in his hand, "There's a kid here, what kind of dirty talk are you spouting! Have you no shame!"

Listening to them, Sang Zhi stayed silent, quietly wondering what "dirty talk" meant.

Lewd remarks?

But where was the lewdness in what he just said?

Wasn't it just a normal conversation?

Still, she had to agree with Chen Junwen's comment about "having no shame."

Sang Zhi felt inexplicably troubled.

Why did he talk like that to everyone? Regardless of the content, just his tone alone made him sound shameless. Even when speaking to men, it sounded like he was talking to a lover.

Hearing the words "kid," Duan Jiaxu finally lowered his head to look at Sang Zhi, the corners of his lips curling into a faint, roguish smile as he said, "Kid, why are you eating like that?"

Sang Zhi: "?"

He chuckled, "Like a pufferfish."

Sang Zhi immediately swallowed the food in her mouth, licked the sugar residue from her lips, and muttered, "You're the one who's like a pufferfish."

"Is that so?" Duan Jiaxu pointed at the candied strawberry in her hand, half-jokingly, "Then give your brother a bite? I'll put on a handsome pufferfish show for you."

"..."

"Here, have mine." Chen Junwen couldn't take it anymore, "Can you stop tricking the kid? Even I feel guilty. You're just scamming for food and drinks."

Sang Yan glanced over, "Don't bother, she won't give you any."

Ignoring them, Duan Jiaxu didn't respond.

Sure enough, Sang Zhi shook her head the next moment, "No way."

Then, she lowered her head, rummaged in her pocket, pulled out a five-yuan bill, and unhesitatingly stuffed it into his hand, "Go buy your own stick."

"..."

Duan Jiaxu froze.

This was clearly beyond Sang Yan's tolerance. He put his phone back in his pocket, stared at Sang Zhi for a few seconds, and said coolly, "Why don't you buy one for me?"

Sang Zhi looked at him, felt her pocket again, and said innocently, "But I only have five yuan left."

Meaning, I have no money for you.

Sang Yan fell silent for two seconds, then laughed in exasperation, "Fine, well done."

Duan Jiaxu looked at the money in his hand, chuckled softly, and quickly returned it to her, "Brother was just teasing you. I don't like eating this stuff. Use it to buy one for your brother."

Sang Zhi let out an "oh" and handed the money over to Sang Yan.

Since Duan Jiaxu didn't want it, Sang Zhi settled for the next best option and gave it to him. To Sang Yan, it felt like he was just a trash can for Duan Jiaxu's leftovers.

Sang Yan took a deep breath, accepted the money, and stuffed it into his pocket, "Let's go home."

Sang Zhi blinked, "Aren't you going to buy one?"

"Don't feel like it."

"Then give me back the money."

"No."

Sang Zhi wasn't having it, "Aren't you just scamming me out of my money?"

"Scamming?" Sang Yan pulled out the five-yuan bill from his pocket, along with the twenty yuan he'd just taken back from the red-haired girl, "Forget this five, I even took twenty from you."

"Eh." Sang Zhi paused, "You got it back?"

"Obviously."

"Then give it to me."Sang Yan twitched the corner of his mouth and stopped teasing her, handing the money back: "You're still so young and already this pragmatic, quibbling over money with me like this. What will you become in the future..."

Before he could finish, he saw the "extremely pragmatic" Sang Zhi he'd just described take the money and immediately pass it to Duan Jiaxu, accompanied by an obedient and ingratiating remark.

"Here you go, Brother."

"..."

Sang Yan: ???

Author's Note: Sang Zhi: Because he gave me twenty yuan yesterday, I'm returning the money to him now. This has absolutely nothing to do with my secret crush on him.

Duan Jiaxu: Having a little sister feels really nice (smiles)

Sang Yan: ?????? Since when do you have a little sister?

Sang Yan: Oh. Now that I think about it, you do seem more like someone who'd have a little sister (heh