The day after the National Day holiday was the Physics Competition—a provincial-level event requiring travel to another city for the exam.
The school had chartered a bus, and the Competition Class students boarded it together after school the previous day.
Only those who secured a Provincial First Prize would qualify for the national competition.
Out of the 26 students in the Competition Class, only Zhou Wan and Jiang Yan had a realistic chance of winning the first prize.
On the bus, the two sat together.
Zhou Wan, who hadn’t slept well the night before, dozed off as soon as she got on the bus, while Jiang Yan sat beside her reviewing his notes on past mistakes.
By the time they arrived at their destination, the sky had grown completely dark.
The supervising teacher stood at the front of the group and reminded everyone, "Pair up to check into your rooms. Dinner will be delivered to your rooms later. Please don’t order takeout tonight—if anyone gets sick from the food, all your preparation will have been for nothing."
Zhou Wan was assigned to share a room with a cute-looking girl named Huang Jia, who had a cheerful personality and immediately greeted her with a smiling "Hi!"
The school placed great importance on this competition and had arranged comfortable accommodations to ensure the students could rest well.
"Zhou Wan, do you want to shower first or study first?" Huang Jia asked.
"Either is fine."
"Then you shower first. I’m going out for a bit and will shower when I get back."
"Okay."
Zhou Wan called her Grandma first.
Just as Zhou Wan finished her shower, Huang Jia returned and was standing at the door waving goodbye to someone. "Good night, sleep well, and good luck on the exam tomorrow!"
A gentle male voice replied from outside, laughing, "You too. Good night."
Huang Jia closed the door and turned to see Zhou Wan. "Oh, you’re done showering?"
"Yeah, it’s still warm in there. You should go shower now."
Huang Jia rubbed her hands together. "Okay, it’s freezing outside. Feels like winter already, and it’s only October."
Zhou Wan sat at the desk and pulled out several completed Prediction Papers. Huang Jia soon joined her, sitting beside her to review.
Huang Jia’s phone kept vibrating, and she occasionally chuckled softly while texting. After a while, she turned to Zhou Wan and asked, "Zhou Wan, do you have a boyfriend?"
"Huh?" Zhou Wan shook her head. "No."
"You’re so pretty—why aren’t you dating? I’m sure lots of guys like you." Huang Jia shrugged. "Actually, when the Competition Class first started, I thought you and Jiang Yan were a couple."
Zhou Wan looked surprised. "How could that be? Jiang Yan and I are just friends."
"Well, you’re the top two in the class, and you sit together. But I figured it out later." Huang Jia said, "Besides, I think dating Jiang Yan would be pretty boring—he’s so rigid and bookish, even though he’s handsome."
Zhou Wan thought for a moment and said, "Dating me would probably be boring too."
"Not at all!"
Huang Jia exclaimed dramatically, "You’re super pretty! And you seem really sweet and gentle—I’m sure lots of guys like your type."
It was true that many boys had confessed to Zhou Wan.
But she had always turned them down, using the excuse that she was too young and needed to focus on her studies.
Zhou Wan asked, "Are you dating someone?"
"I was just out for a walk with my boyfriend." Huang Jia pulled out her phone and showed her a photo. "Look, this is him."
It was a photo of the two of them, cheeks pressed together, smiling happily.
The boy was a tall, bespectacled student from the Competition Class.
As Zhou Wan looked at the photo, she inexplicably remembered how Lu Xixiao had been when he was in a relationship."Huang Jia." Zhou Wan asked, "What does it feel like to be in a relationship?"
"It's really happy. I'm happy when I see him, I'm happy when I talk to him. Although we sometimes argue, he always comes to comfort me right away." Huang Jia's face was full of happiness as she spoke about it.
Zhou Wan paused.
Huang Jia leaned in gossipily: "Zhou Wan, asking like this—do you have a crush on someone?"
"...No."
"What do you mean no! Your reaction definitely means yes! Who is it, who is it?"
Zhou Wan didn’t know how to explain.
Fortunately, Huang Jia didn’t press further. She cupped her face in her hands, clicked her tongue twice, and suddenly said, "Anyway, I think as long as it’s not Lu Xixiao from our class."
Zhou Wan paused and turned her head.
Huang Jia: "Even though so many girls like him, I always feel that dating a guy like him would only be happy at the beginning. Later, you’d definitely be insecure and overthink everything."
At that moment, Zhou Wan’s phone buzzed.
[6] sent a message.
Zhou Wan, feeling guilty as if she’d done something wrong, quickly picked up her phone and opened it.
[6: Not at the arcade?]
[Zhou Wan: I’m not there today. I went out of town for a competition. The shop should be open, you can go.]
[6: When are you coming back?]
[Zhou Wan: The evening of the day after tomorrow.]
After a pause, she added: [Why?]
Lu Xixiao didn’t reply again.
Zhou Wan read for a while longer and then went to bed early.
...
Two days of exams.
Last year’s papers were easy, and according to the pattern, this year’s would be difficult—and indeed, that was the case.
Zhou Wan tied her hair up neatly and focused on solving the problems.
Actually, Zhou Wan was suited for difficult questions—the harder they were, the more the gap could widen.
The final exam lasted three hours. When the bell rang, many people still had half the paper left blank.
Some students who took this competition seriously started sobbing as soon as they handed in their papers.
Zhou Wan packed her things and walked out of the exam hall. On her way downstairs, she ran into Jiang Yan.
"Zhou Wan, how did you do on the exam?"
"Not bad. I couldn’t do the last two sub-questions of the second-to-last problem," Zhou Wan said.
"That problem? I solved the second sub-question, but I only got halfway through the third and couldn’t finish it."
It seemed Jiang Yan had performed quite well.
Zhou Wan smiled, noticing his unusual mood: "You seem to be in a particularly good mood today?"
"Yeah." A rare, openly happy smile appeared on Jiang Yan’s face. "My dad is picking me up today."
Zhou Wan had attended many parent-teacher meetings but had never seen Jiang Yan’s parents.
She knew Jiang Yan had been raised by his maternal grandparents and assumed his father worked out of town all year.
They took the bus back to Pingchuan City, and the school bus dropped them off at the school.
By the time they arrived, it was already dark.
As soon as Jiang Yan got off the bus, he rushed toward a shiny black car at the school gate. There was a small golden figurine on the front of the car—even though Zhou Wan knew nothing about cars, she recognized what it was.
The car window rolled down.
Jiang Yan said with a smile, "Dad, have you been waiting long?"
The man in a suit also smiled: "Not long, I just got here. Hurry and get in, I’ll take you to dinner."
"Okay." Jiang Yan turned and waved goodbye to Zhou Wan.
The man asked, "Is this your classmate? Come on up too, I’ll drive you home."
"No need, Uncle," Zhou Wan said. "Thank you, Uncle. It’s very convenient for me to take the bus up ahead."
Zhou Wan had met Jiang Yan’s grandmother—a very simple elderly woman—and knew his family was not well-off, which was why he had always been so driven to succeed.
And his father... he seemed somewhat familiar.But Zhou Wan didn't think she had the ability to recognize such a man so easily.
She thought it might be an illusion and continued walking alone toward the bus stop. Halfway there, she suddenly paused—she remembered.
That was... Lu Xixiao's father.
She had caught a glimpse of him once before at the hospital.
The man driving the luxury car just now seemed to be Lu Xixiao's father.
Then, she recalled what Jiang Yan had said about Lu Xixiao before.
He said that Lu Xixiao relied on his family's money to squander his days away, living aimlessly. But once he left home, he would be nothing.
What exactly was going on...
Before Zhou Wan could think further, a frantic voice called out to her from ahead.
"Hey, little classmate! Hey, little classmate!" Jiang Fan ran over, panting heavily. "I finally found you!"
"You... you can just call me by my name," Zhou Wan said, taking a step back instinctively. "Did you need something?"
"Have you been in touch with A Xiao?"
Zhou Wan froze for a moment. "We were in contact last night."
"Damn it! That lunatic Luo He has been holding a grudge ever since he lost face because of A Xiao last time. Last night, he pulled some shady shit when A Xiao was alone!"
Zhou Wan's heart skipped a beat. "Is he okay?"
"That's exactly why I'm so worried—I don't know how he is." Jiang Fan wiped the sweat from his forehead. "He's not answering the door, and he hangs up as soon as I call. At least he's hanging up, though—that means he's still alive."
"Was it serious?"
"I'm not sure. I saw a pool of blood on the ground. I think they used a knife. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but of all days, it had to happen yesterday."
Zhou Wan asked, "What was special about yesterday?"
Jiang Fan hadn't wanted to say, but seeing the clear, earnest look in Zhou Wan's eyes and feeling utterly helpless himself, he decided to tell her everything.
"Yesterday was the anniversary of A Xiao's mother's death. Her passing hit him really hard back then. Every year on this day, even though he doesn't say anything, his mood is always really low."
Jiang Fan sighed. "I'm mainly worried that he's injured and not taking care of himself. Minor injuries are one thing, but if they used a knife and he doesn't pay attention, an infection could be serious—it could even be life-threatening."
Zhou Wan frowned. "Do you have any way to see him?"
"If I did, I wouldn't have come looking for you!"
"..."
Jiang Fan said, "Go to his place. Maybe he'll be willing to see you."
"Huh?"
"Please."
"..."
Zhou Wan took the address Jiang Fan gave her and successfully found the small Western-style house two streets behind her own home—No. 18, Xiaoshan Road.
It was an older, three-story Western-style house with a small garden. However, it was clearly neglected—weeds had grown waist-high, and one side of the wall was completely covered in ivy.
It felt abandoned, yet exuded a raw, untamed wildness.
Zhou Wan was afraid that something might really have happened to Lu Xixiao.
The outer iron gate wasn't locked. With a push, it swung open, emitting a harsh, grating sound.
Zhou Wan glanced around and slowly walked inside.
The inner door was shut. Zhou Wan rang the doorbell and waited for a long time, but no one answered.
After a pause, she took out her phone and dialed Lu Xixiao's number.
There was no ringtone—just the dull, repetitive sound of the dial tone.
Finally, a cold female voice came through—"The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."
Zhou Wan frowned and called again.Just as she thought Lu Xixiao wouldn't answer the call, the ringing suddenly stopped. Dead silence fell on the other end, leaving only the faint sound of breathing.
"Lu Xixiao," Zhou Wan said softly.
He remained silent.
Zhou Wan's eyelashes fluttered slightly as she spoke slowly, "I'm at your doorstep."
After two seconds, the call was directly disconnected.
Zhou Wan's fingers tightened slightly around the phone. She lowered her hand, put the phone in her pocket, gripped her backpack strap, and let out a soft sigh.
Even Jiang Fan, his good friend, couldn't do anything about it—what could she possibly accomplish?
Zhou Wan stood at the door for a moment before deciding to go to the pharmacy to buy some gauze and disinfectant alcohol, then get some food to leave at his doorstep.
Just as she turned to leave, the door suddenly clicked open.
The room was dark, not a single light turned on.
Lu Xixiao stood in a white shirt and gray pants, his hair disheveled, his lowered eyelashes casting shadows under the dim light. He looked down at the girl before him with an expressionless, imposing gaze.
Zhou Wan had come directly from the bus, her heavy backpack still slung over her shoulders. Her black hair, which reached her chest, hung loosely by her cheeks, making her already small, pale face appear even tinier. Her dark, ink-like eyes gazed at him calmly and gently.
She stood out starkly against her surroundings.
Lu Xixiao released the doorknob, said nothing, took off the slippers he was wearing, kicked them toward Zhou Wan, and turned back into the room.
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