The late autumn night was heavy with dew. Lu Xixiao took off his hoodie, leaving only a short-sleeved shirt underneath, and made a move to have Zhou Wan put it on.
Zhou Wan glanced at his thin clothing, shook her head, took a step back, and silently refused.
Lu Xixiao paid her no mind. He grabbed her arm, pulled her closer, and directly slipped the hoodie over her head. His movements were so rough that Zhou Wan’s hair became a tangled mess.
He simply tugged off her hair tie and used his fingers as a comb to smooth her hair back into place.
"Hands," Lu Xixiao said flatly.
Zhou Wan stretched her hands out through the sleeves.
The hoodie was too big for her—it could have passed as a dress on her frame, and her hands barely emerged from the sleeves.
She looked like a child who had sneaked into an adult’s clothes.
Lu Xixiao lifted the corner of his mouth silently, then turned and continued walking ahead.
Zhou Wan followed him through several traffic lights. Her tears had long dried on her face. During the last three seconds of a green light, she jogged a few steps to catch up to Lu Xixiao.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
Lu Xixiao glanced sideways at her. "Only asking now?"
"..."
He laughed. "To sell you off."
"..."
The late-night last bus honked as it drove past.
Lu Xixiao grasped Zhou Wan’s wrist through the hoodie fabric.
Zhou Wan froze for a moment, then lowered her gaze to his hand—slender and bony, with pale skin and prominent veins beneath.
He performed the action so naturally, not even sparing her a glance, and continued walking ahead expressionlessly.
Noticing Zhou Wan’s stare, Lu Xixiao turned his head to look, then followed her gaze to her arm. He raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "Too late to run now."
"..."
To sell you off.
Too late to run now.
Zhou Wan said softly, "I wasn’t thinking of running."
Lu Xixiao laughed and praised her, "Then you’ve got some guts."
"I’m not worth much if you sell me," Zhou Wan said.
Lu Xixiao looked her up and down, nodding in agreement. "True. Flat as a board—won’t fetch a good price."
"..."
His words were too blunt, his gaze even more brazen. Zhou Wan lowered her head in shame.
Lu Xixiao pinched her overly slender wrist. "I’ll fatten you up before selling you."
Zhou Wan followed Lu Xixiao through countless turns and intersections. Eventually, the traffic grew sparse, and even the traffic lights disappeared at the crossroads.
Further ahead, Zhou Wan heard the roar of motorcycle engines.
The sound felt somewhat familiar.
It took her a few minutes to recall where she had heard it before—it was the same background noise during Lu Xixiao’s phone call to her yesterday.
He must come here often.
Finally, they arrived at a dilapidated neighborhood, where a small supermarket of about twenty square meters stood at a corner.
Lu Xixiao released her hand, lifted the door curtain, and walked inside.
After hesitating for two seconds, Zhou Wan followed him in.
The supermarket’s fluorescent lights were harsh, shining down without any softening effect. Zhou Wan saw a few rough-looking young men sitting inside.
Their eyes turned in unison toward Zhou Wan.
Feeling uncomfortable, Zhou Wan moved closer behind Lu Xixiao.
Lu Xixiao, however, stepped boldly to the side, completely shielding her from view. "What are you looking at?"
"What, we can’t look?" one of the young men teased with a laugh. "Who’s this? Your girlfriend? First time we’ve seen you bring someone here."
Lu Xixiao chuckled, not bothering to explain. "Where’s the bike?"
"Out back. You riding today?"
"Yeah."
Lu Xixiao took Zhou Wan’s hand again—this time, he held her hand directly—and led her toward the back.
He lifted the rolling shutter, revealing a dim but spacious interior, a hidden world within.On one side were several sleek and handsome motorcycles, the other side was the racetrack.
He picked up a smaller helmet from nearby and was about to put it on Zhou Wan when he noticed the dried tear stains on her face. He tilted his chin: "Go wash your face."
Zhou Wan walked into the restroom.
There was only cold water. She washed her face with cold water and came back out.
She let Lu Xixiao put the helmet on her.
He looked into her eyes and asked, "Scared?"
Zhou Wan blinked: "Am I riding by myself?"
"You know how to ride?"
"..."
She shook her head.
Lu Xixiao chuckled: "Sit behind me."
Zhou Wan nodded.
Lu Xixiao pulled down her windshield goggles with a "click."
It wasn't until the motorcycle started that Zhou Wan understood why Lu Xixiao had asked if she was scared.
Zhou Jun used to ride a motorcycle too, and Zhou Wan often rode with him. She would always pester him to go faster and faster, wanting to overtake the vehicles beside them.
But a racetrack bike was completely different from a road bike.
The moment the motorcycle shot forward, Zhou Wan reflexively wrapped her arms around Lu Xixiao's waist, letting out a scream. Her whole body tensed up, her forehead pressed against his back as she tightly shut her eyes.
The racetrack was set with many obstacles and sharp turns. Several times, they leaned so far that they almost touched the ground.
"Zhou Wan." Lu Xixiao suddenly called her name.
She barely managed to respond in the rushing wind.
"Open your eyes."
She didn't dare, holding onto him even tighter, her eyes squeezed shut.
"I'm telling you to open your eyes," he said.
Zhou Wan trembled, "I don't dare."
Of course, Lu Xixiao knew how to handle her, and it was simple.
He pushed the throttle to the limit. The engine roared, and the wind hitting them became even more violent.
Zhou Wan rarely raised her voice in front of him: "Lu Xixiao!"
He smirked triumphantly: "Open your eyes, and I'll slow down."
Zhou Wan's eyelashes fluttered rapidly before she finally slowly opened her eyes.
She saw Lu Xixiao's smooth neck and prominent Adam's apple, as well as the scenery flying past around them.
Her head was tightly enclosed in the helmet, shielding her from the fierce wind, giving her an inexplicable sense of security.
For over a decade, she had always followed the rules and stuck to the routine, never experiencing anything beyond the ordinary.
And now—
For some reason, Zhou Wan suddenly remembered what Dr. Chen had told her today:
He wanted Wanwan to become a carefree child, one who could always have the courage to stride forward boldly and the confidence to start over.
She thought that perhaps Lu Xixiao was exactly that kind of person.
Feeling her relaxed grip, Lu Xixiao knew she had opened her eyes. He teased her deliberately: "Holding on so tight, you're about to break my waist."
Zhou Wan blushed and tried to loosen her hold.
But then he suddenly accelerated again, making Zhou Wan slam back against him.
"Let go if you want to fall off," he said.
Zhou Wan had no choice but to wrap her arms around his waist again, deliberately holding back her strength to avoid hurting him.
Lu Xixiao took her around the racetrack once before finally returning to the starting point and getting off.
Zhou Wan tried to take off her helmet but fumbled with it unsuccessfully. Lu Xixiao glanced down, raised his hand, pressed his fingers against her chin, undid the buckle, and helped her remove the helmet.
Zhou Wan said softly, "Thank you."
"You're braver than I thought," Lu Xixiao said.
Zhou Wan took off her gloves, and Lu Xixiao noticed her hands were bright red, with faint red spots on the back of her hands.
"What happened to your hands?"
"Oh, this." Zhou Wan looked down at them. "My hands react like this when they touch cold water. I used cold water to wash my face earlier. It'll go away in a bit. It's nothing."Lu Xixiao frowned imperceptibly. "Oh."
Zhou Wan asked, "Are we leaving?"
"Yeah."
He walked out, and Zhou Wan quickly followed.
Lu Xixiao returned to the supermarket but didn't leave immediately. Instead, he circled around and picked up a pair of gloves from a shelf.
The small supermarket had limited goods, and there was only one style of gloves in two colors. Lu Xixiao took the top one—a pair of black gloves with red patterned wool.
He tossed the gloves onto the counter. "How much?"
Only one guy remained in the supermarket now, with dry, yellowish hair that was long and pulled back with a thin black headband. He raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you use this kind of thing?"
Lu Xixiao clicked his tongue in annoyance.
The headband-wearing guy laughed. "Just take them. They’re not worth much."
Lu Xixiao didn’t stand on ceremony and briskly tore open the packaging before tossing the gloves to Zhou Wan.
Zhou Wan hadn’t expected them to be for her and fumbled to catch them.
She froze for a moment. "What’s this for?"
"Your hands are practically frozen," Lu Xixiao said, glancing at her, his tone indifferent.
As if annoyed by her hesitation, he took the gloves back, grabbed her hand, and roughly pulled them onto her.
Zhou Wan pressed her lips together lightly. "Thank you."
"A Xiao," the headband-wearing guy chuckled, "you’ve grown up, huh? Starting to care about girls now."
Lu Xixiao shot him a sidelong glance.
Zhou Wan thought for a moment, then walked over and asked, "Hi, how much are these gloves?"
He’d given them to Lu Xixiao out of friendship, but there was no reason to give them to her for free.
"Little sister, I said it’s fine. Why so polite?" The headband-wearing guy leaned forward, elbows propped on the glass counter, and said to Zhou Wan, "It’s nothing. Just do me a favor and keep your boyfriend in check so he causes less trouble."
He said, your boyfriend.
Zhou Wan froze.
She tried to sneak a glance at Lu Xixiao’s expression but couldn’t see it.
Still, it was easy to guess—he was a man of few words, indifferent to others’ opinions, and would surely look unconcerned, too lazy to correct anyone.
Zhou Wan didn’t say anything either.
Lu Xixiao was already at the door and turned back. "Not coming?"
"I’m coming," Zhou Wan said quickly.
Huang Mao called out, "Leaving already? You only played one round?"
Lu Xixiao raised a hand and waved without turning around, as if in reply.
Outside, the night had deepened.
Stopped at a red light, Lu Xixiao turned his head to look at her and asked calmly, "Happy now?"
Zhou Wan was taken aback.
Lu Xixiao didn’t know why she was happy, of course, nor did he know about that matter*—how could she let it go so easily?
But after what had just happened, the heaviness in Zhou Wan’s heart finally eased. Earlier, she had been teetering on the terrifying edge of collapse.
"Yeah," she smiled faintly. "Thank you."
Lu Xixiao watched her smile—the soft curve of her profile, the faint dimples that appeared, gentle and tender.
He averted his gaze and focused again on the red light’s countdown.
Zhou Wan had walked quite a bit today, and her shoes were starting to rub. After following Lu Xixiao for a while longer, she gradually fell behind, her heels aching.
Lu Xixiao looked back. "Tired?"
"...Yeah."
"Let’s take a taxi," he said, pulling out his phone.
Zhou Wan stopped him. "No need..."
Taxis were too expensive.
Lu Xixiao fell silent, his eyes questioning.
Zhou Wan pointed to a shared yellow bike nearby. "Let’s use this."
Lu Xixiao had never ridden one before and stood still, watching as Zhou Wan walked over and unlocked a bike with her phone.That wasn't a bicycle, but a small yellow electric scooter with a square headlight at the front. In the basket sat a yellow plastic helmet with an antenna sticking up from the top.
She was quite adept at putting on this kind of helmet, slipping it on swiftly.
The helmet was too big for her, wobbling unsteadily, making her look both adorable and comical—like some cartoon character with an antenna on her head.
Lu Xixiao tugged at the corner of his lips and chuckled.
Zhou Wan glanced at him: "Aren't you riding?"
"I don't know how."
"...This is really simple."
He even raced on the racetrack—how could he not know how to ride an electric scooter?
"I'll ride with you."
Zhou Wan hesitated: "But this scooter isn't meant for passengers. It's against traffic rules, and there's no extra helmet."
"No one's checking this late." Lu Xixiao made up an excuse casually, "My phone's dead, can't scan one."
Though somewhat reluctant, Zhou Wan agreed: "Then I'll take you."
Lu Xixiao chuckled: "Oh."
The electric scooter was extremely narrow. Zhou Wan dared only to perch on the very edge, her back ramrod straight, as tense and rigid as if she were being punished. Lu Xixiao, however, was completely at ease—this grown man sitting behind her showed not a hint of embarrassment.
She didn't dare let her eyes wander, keeping them fixed straight ahead.
Momentarily distracted, she failed to notice a pothole in the road, and the scooter jolted.
Lu Xixiao swayed with the motion, leaning against her back.
Zhou Wan's entire spine stiffened instantly, and she hurriedly said, "Sorry, I didn't see it."
He rested a hand loosely at her waist, almost like a complaint: "Drive carefully, will you?"
Scolded by him, Zhou Wan didn't even register the hand at her waist, apologizing again, "Sorry."
"Such a wide road, and you had to drive right into a pothole." He continued, his tone leisurely, almost teasing.
Zhou Wan was so embarrassed she could barely lift her head.
He chuckled, his meaning unclear: "Did you do it on purpose?"
"..."
Zhou Wan had never encountered someone so infuriating. Twisted by his words, her face flushed repeatedly. Stiffening her neck, she forced calm into her voice: "Of course not."
Fortunately, Lu Xixiao didn't push further.
She secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
The late autumn wind was cool, but Zhou Wan drove so slowly that the breeze against them felt rather pleasant.
At a red light, Lu Xixiao looked at her, at the exposed section of her pale, slender neck.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, pulled out his phone, and quite casually took a photo of her.
Posted it on his social media.
Just the single photo, no caption.
OpenNovel