Qin Nan found her some workout clothes and changed into sneakers, then brought boxing gloves and focus mitts. When he led her to the rooftop, Ye Sibei was still a bit dazed.
It was already evening, and the rooftop was empty. Qin Nan guided her to the open space in the middle, set the gloves and mitts aside, and pulled out a white cloth from the gloves. He lowered his head and said, "Give me your hand."
Ye Sibei hesitantly extended her hand. Qin Nan grasped her fingertips to steady them, and she trembled slightly. His voice remained calm: "Spread your fingers."
Suppressing her discomfort, Ye Sibei spread her fingers. Qin Nan began wrapping the white cloth around her hand, layer by layer.
"The first year after leaving school was tough—low pay, endless work, and older employees always bullying me. Back then, I was skinny and short, so every night I did a hundred push-ups. Later, I saw people boxing and found tutorials online to teach myself. Whenever I felt wronged or hurt, I’d punch the bag, imagining the day I’d catch my tormentors alone, throw a sack over their heads, and beat them until even their own fathers wouldn’t recognize them."
Ye Sibei listened, then lifted her gaze to look at him.
Now, though not burly, he was lean and strong, clearly someone not to be trifled with. It was hard to imagine him as the scrawny teenager fresh out of school, enduring abuse as an apprentice mechanic.
"Make a fist," Qin Nan said once the wrapping was done, demonstrating by clenching his own hand. "Move it around—see if it’s too tight."
Ye Sibei flexed her hand and shook her head. "It’s fine."
"Other hand."
After wrapping one hand, Qin Nan had her offer the other. Once both were secured, he helped her put on the boxing gloves and began instructing: "Stand like this first. We’ll start with the basic punch. When you throw a punch, remember—it’s not just your arm. The power comes from your whole body." He demonstrated slowly. "Your waist and hips drive the motion. There’s a slight rotation in your punch—like this."
After showing her the stance, Qin Nan strapped on the focus mitts, bent his knees slightly to brace himself, and tapped the mitt. "Come on," he said, eyes locked on hers. "Don’t overthink it. Just hit here."
Ye Sibei wasn’t entirely sure what Qin Nan was getting at, but she tentatively threw a light punch at the mitt.
"Did you skip dinner?" Qin Nan tilted his head, raising his voice. "Hit harder!"
At that, Ye Sibei put more force into her next punch.
Qin Nan didn’t even budge. "Right hand! Put your whole body into it! Don’t hold back just because you’re a woman—"
"I’m not!" Ye Sibei retorted immediately. Qin Nan slapped the mitt. "Then hit it!"
The moment he spoke, Ye Sibei threw another punch. Qin Nan commanded, "Ten left, ten right."
Following his orders, Ye Sibei struck the mitt again and again.
"I don’t care what anyone’s told you before," Qin Nan counted her punches, gauging the force behind each one, his voice steady. "But from today on, remember this—the world runs on survival of the fittest. It won’t go easy on you just because you’re a woman. In fact, it might even prey on you more for being weaker."
"So you have to work harder, toughen up—build a strong body and an unbreakable will. You have to be fiercer than those who bully you, more ruthless than those who hurt you!""Ten to the left!"
After counting twenty punches, Qin Nan calmly instructed the next move, continuing to tell her: "You, me, and Ye Nianwen—there's no difference between us."
"You have fists too. You can make them strong, strong enough to knock down someone you hate with one punch. Come on, hit, hit hard! When you see the killer later, smash your fist right into his face!"
Hearing this, Ye Sibei mustered all her strength and finally landed a punch that made Qin Nan's hand tremble.
Qin Nan smiled slightly: "Yes, just like that!"
Ye Sibei looked up, panting, as Qin Nan encouraged her: "Understand now?"
Ye Sibei nodded: "I understand."
Then she added: "I’ve always understood."
Qin Nan laughed and demonstrated a new move: "When my hand moves toward your head, squat down."
"Listen to me. Let’s go—left, left, left, left, right, left kick, right kick, squat..."
Ye Sibei didn’t speak, just followed his commands.
At first, her mind was still cluttered with thoughts, but as she kept punching, everything else slowly faded away, leaving only Qin Nan’s orders—punch, punch, knee up, squat down.
As her movements grew more fluid, each time her fist struck the hand target, she felt an indescribable rush as her strength poured out.
It was as if she had forgotten everything, lost in the excitement and euphoria brought by adrenaline and dopamine. She didn’t want to stop at all. Qin Nan observed her condition and, seeing her movements slow, promptly called a halt. As she staggered forward with one last punch, he caught her fist between his palms: "Enough. Rest."
"I can keep going."
Ye Sibei, drenched in sweat, looked at him with bright, pleading eyes. Qin Nan shook his head, releasing her fist and walking toward the steps to remove his hand wraps. "I can’t. Another day."
Ye Sibei felt a twinge of regret, but as soon as she stopped, exhaustion hit her. She sat down beside Qin Nan, gazing at the sky tinged red by the lights.
The night breeze brushed past, cooling the sweat on her face. Qin Nan took her hand and carefully removed her boxing gloves, unwinding the white wraps binding her hands.
Ye Sibei watched the man opposite her, his movements meticulous. She studied his striking features and felt a gentleness she had never noticed before.
For the first time, curiosity about him stirred in her: "Aside from smoking, drinking, and boxing, what else do you like?"
Hearing this, Qin Nan paused. He looked up at Ye Sibei, his expression complicated. After a long silence, he finally answered: "Watching movies, cooking, reading martial arts novels."
"You’re not lying, are you?" Ye Sibei scrutinized him cautiously. Qin Nan glared at her, grabbing her other hand and roughly unwinding the wraps. "Ye Sibei, you really weren’t picky when you married me. A guy who only finished high school, with nothing to his name, who likes smoking, drinking, and boxing—what did you marry him for?"
"Weren’t you the same?"
Ye Sibei wrapped her arms around her knees, tilting her head to watch him pack up the gear. "Back then, I had no job, was introverted, average-looking, had a younger brother, and my family asked for a high bride price. What did you marry me for?"
"You were a college graduate."
"And you made over a hundred thousand a year."After speaking, the two exchanged a glance and couldn't help but laugh. After a moment of thought, Ye Sibei spoke softly, "Actually, I used to be quite outstanding too. It's a shame you never saw that side of me."
Qin Nan twisted open a bottle of water and handed it to her. Ye Sibei took a sip. She didn't know why, but she wanted Qin Nan to know more about her better qualities. She began recounting her past in a quiet voice, "I was the top liberal arts student in my high school back then."
Suddenly remembering something, Ye Sibei asked, "Which high school did you attend?"
Qin Nan paused, as if recalling something, and answered in a low voice, "No. 7 High."
"What a pity," Ye Sibei turned her head. "I was from No. 2 High, class of '06. If you'd been at my school, you'd definitely have heard of me. I was always among the top in my grade."
"Impressive," Qin Nan pulled out a cigarette from his pocket and leaned against the stairs behind him. "As a college graduate, why didn't you stay in the provincial capital?"
Hearing this, Ye Sibei fell silent for a moment before smiling faintly. "Couldn't stay."
She recalled her struggles after graduation, sending out resumes everywhere and attending countless interviews. "Back then, finding a job after graduation wasn't easy. I finally landed a position at an accounting firm with a monthly salary of over 5,000. The project bonuses were good—if you performed well, you could make over 100,000 in the first year."
"But my mother wasn't happy about it," Ye Sibei shrugged. "She went to the firm and made a scene for two days straight. In the end, they fired me. So I cut ties with my family and stayed outside on my own for half a year."
"At the time, I thought I had to make something of myself. But I wasn't very capable—I'd just lost my new job, I wasn't considered a fresh graduate anymore, and I had no work experience. No matter where I looked, the jobs weren't great. Finally, I found a decent one, but within the first week, my boss started making inappropriate remarks. I lost my temper on the spot and got fired before my probation period was over."
"After that, I joined a private company with a low salary—2,700 a month. I didn't dare live in a bad area, so I rented an apartment in a residential complex, spending over 1,000 a month just on rent. The boss had a terrible temper and often yelled at people. I didn't dare quit. Every day, I worked overtime and got scolded. After a while, I got used to it. Whenever he yelled, I'd just say sorry, and eventually, he'd run out of steam. If you talked back, he'd keep going for two more hours."
"But life was hard," Ye Sibei looked up at the sky. "After a while, I started wondering—what was I even doing this for?"
"Then one day, my landlord suddenly came to kick me out, saying I hadn't paid rent for months. That's when I realized the agency I'd paid upfront had run off with the money. Stupid of me—I'd paid six months' rent in one go to save money, thinking a big property company like that would be reliable. Turns out they were just scammers preying on people like me."
"My salary hadn't come in yet that month, so I had no money to give the landlord. The next day, he pried open the door and threw my things outside. It happened to be raining. With nowhere to go, I dragged my luggage to the train station and stayed there until nightfall. When I saw drunk men passing by, I felt terrified. Suddenly, I realized my mother was right—this city had no place for me, and I didn't have what it took to stay."
"So that's when you came back?"
Qin Nan vaguely understood the reason behind Ye Sibei's return.Ye Sibei mimicked Qin Nan's posture, leaning against the stairwell: "That night, I was freezing cold, burning up with fever, and collapsed by the roadside. When I opened my eyes again, I saw my mother with red-rimmed eyes taking care of me beside me. At that moment, I suddenly gave in."
"I suddenly realized that even though my family always scolded me and asked me for money, at least I had a home. She wouldn't drive me away, she'd take care of me when I was sick. When I suffered grievances outside, when people bullied me, I still had a place to return to."
"You see, this is my dilemma."
Ye Sibei turned to look at Qin Nan: "If my family was truly terrible, that might actually be better. Because then I'd have no way back—I would have stayed away long ago. But the problem is they give you just enough love—not too much—to pull you back into this swamp, letting you sink little by little until you're completely submerged. By then, even if you want to escape, you can't."
"Why couldn't you escape?"
Qin Nan looked at her and pointed to the emergency exit: "Walk out now, go down the stairs, get in the car, and drive toward the provincial capital. Three hours on the highway."
"The car isn't mine." Ye Sibei laughed.
Qin Nan pulled out his car keys, spinning them in his hand: "Before divorce, it's marital property. After divorce, I'll give it to you." Then he raised his eyes: "Coming?"
Ye Sibei was stunned: "Now?"
Qin Nan nodded: "Now."
Ye Sibei didn't speak. She stared into Qin Nan's calm eyes, flecked with faint amusement. After a long moment, she suddenly laughed, snatched the keys, and stood up: "I have a license. I'll drive."
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