That day was truly chaotic. In the end, the wailing of police sirens tore through the darkening sky, finally separating the two groups who had been brawling.
Zhou Wan witnessed Lu Xixiao in a fight firsthand.
She finally understood why even someone like Luo He would fear him.
He simply wouldn’t listen to any persuasion, his eyes bloodshot, reckless and completely out of control, not even feeling the pain of his own injuries.
The police car hauled a group of people away, finally putting an end to the farce.
Zhou Wan was among them, as a bystander who understood the situation.
She sat beside Lu Xixiao, cautiously studying him from the side. His brow was bleeding, his tall, handsome nose bridge had a cut, and the base of his palm was scraped raw, with five knuckles bleeding.
Zhou Wan reached out, trying to hold his hand.
But Lu Xixiao quickly pulled his hand away, turned to look out the window, his face cold, not uttering a single word.
Zhou Wan pursed her lips and asked softly, "Does it hurt?"
He didn’t respond.
Zhou Wan bit her lip and stubbornly, silently reached out again to hold his hand. Lu Xixiao avoided it once more but finally turned to look at her, though his eyes still held a lingering anger.
"Zhou Wan, you’re something else."
She lowered her head, unsure of what to say. Her eyes grew warm, and a bitter feeling surged into her nose.
For some reason, she felt like crying but refused to shed tears in such a situation.
She sniffled.
"Cry? Bullshit," Lu Xixiao said coldly.
Zhou Wan clenched her teeth, forcing back the sob in her throat.
Lu Xixiao: "Have you gone mute? Getting bullied and not coming to me, and even trying to cover for those bastards. You’re something else. Why don’t you just go with them?"
Zhou Wan buried her head even lower.
"I just didn’t want you to fight with them," she mumbled.
"Then why didn’t you run? What are your legs for? Didn’t I tell you to stay away?"
"You did," she said quietly, unable to resist defending herself under his scolding. "There were a lot of them, I couldn’t run. Later, one of them pushed me, and I twisted my ankle. It hurts a little."
Lu Xixiao paused, then directly reached out and pulled up the leg of her school uniform pants.
His movements were rough, yanking the pants up to her knee, revealing her pale, slender calf. Her ankle was bruised purple and swollen badly.
Lu Xixiao stared at it for a moment, then couldn’t help but curse under his breath.
Jiang Fan sat in the front seat, watching the two through the rearview mirror.
If A Xiao weren’t so furious that he didn’t dare interfere, anyone would have softened at Zhou Wan’s pitiful state. Only A Xiao could look at a face like that and not only fail to comfort her but also have the heart to scold her.
More importantly, this was the first time Jiang Fan had seen Lu Xixiao like this.
He’d had many girlfriends before, and if any of them had been bullied by Luo He, Lu Xixiao would always seek revenge.
So it wasn’t particularly shocking that Lu Xixiao had fought for Zhou Wan. What was shocking was that he was willing to waste so many words lecturing a girl.
After seeing the injury on Zhou Wan’s ankle, Lu Xixiao grew even angrier, but he couldn’t bring himself to vent it anymore.
It just raged inside his chest, burning so fiercely it hurt his entire being.
Police station.
The police asked them to explain the brawl. Lu Xixiao couldn’t be bothered to speak, and Luo He, bruised and battered, was too stubborn to say anything either. Both sides were equally obstinate, so the police turned to Zhou Wan. "You tell us."
Zhou Wan paused for a moment, then recounted everything that had happened after the game ended.
Including the unspeakable things the guys from No. 18 High School had said.Anyone who heard this would be furious, let alone the girl before them with her soft voice, frail figure, red-rimmed eyes, and pitiful, aggrieved expression.
The more the police listened, the more they felt Luo He and his gang were despicable.
And all of this was unknown to Lu Xixiao.
He had hit Luo He only after seeing the wound on Zhou Wan’s temple. Now, learning that her ankle was sprained and that she had been humiliated in such a way—
He abruptly stood up and threw another punch at Luo He. Both sides erupted into chaos again, and it took several officers to barely drag Lu Xixiao back to his seat.
He rarely showed his anger so openly. His chest heaved, and his eyes were cold enough to kill. "Luo He, this isn’t over. Just see if I don’t end you."
An officer slammed his hand loudly on the table. "This is a police station! Try causing trouble again, and I’ll detain every last one of you!"
Zhou Wan quickly tugged at Lu Xixiao’s sleeve, shaking it gently to signal him not to act impulsively.
Lu Xixiao shot her an annoyed glance and shook off her hand, but fortunately, he didn’t escalate things further. He pressed his fingers to his temples, leaning back in his chair with a mix of irritation and exhaustion.
Half an hour later, after Zhou Wan had recounted the entire incident and the police had finished their admonishments, everyone signed statements of assurance, finally bringing the matter to a close.
As soon as Lu Xixiao stepped out of the station, he lit a cigarette.
His nicotine craving had kicked in.
He took a deep drag, then exhaled. The cold night air swept over him, finally easing the suffocating tension.
"A Xiao, are we still getting something to eat?" Jiang Fan asked.
"Eat my ass," Lu Xixiao snapped impatiently. After a pause, he tilted his head toward Zhou Wan beside him. "I’ll take her home first."
Jiang Fan and the others left first, while Lu Xixiao hailed a taxi.
The taxi arrived quickly, pulling up outside. Zhou Wan endured the worsening pain in her ankle in silence, limping as she followed Lu Xixiao into the car.
She had no idea where they were headed,
and didn’t dare ask.
It wasn’t until the surroundings grew increasingly familiar that the car stopped at the noodle shop next to the arcade.
Lu Xixiao was the first to push the door open and get out.
Zhou Wan’s leg was hurting more and more. She bent over with difficulty, bracing herself hard against the seatback.
Lu Xixiao stood to the side, watching her for a moment. He had initially intended to leave her to manage on her own, but the longer he looked, the more irritated he felt. He made a sound of annoyance, tossed his cigarette aside, strode over to her, leaned halfway into the car, and simply scooped her up into his arms.
Once she was out of the car, he didn’t set her down but carried her straight into the noodle shop and deposited her on a chair.
His expression remained unreadable throughout, his face frighteningly cold.
Uncle Kang, who had been cooking noodles, exclaimed, "Oh my! What happened?"
Zhou Wan offered him a faint smile. "I sprained my ankle."
"Is it serious?"
"It’s fine."
"What would you like to eat?"
Lu Xixiao said, "Two bowls of Three Treasure Noodles."
The noodles arrived quickly. Zhou Wan lowered her head, focusing on her meal, when suddenly Lu Xixiao across from her set down his chopsticks and walked out of the shop without a word.
Zhou Wan was taken aback.
Uncle Kang asked with a chuckle, "Did you two have a fight?"
"I don’t know either,"
Zhou Wan murmured softly. She had no idea why Lu Xixiao was so angry or how long this mood of his would last.
"Young men are full of fire and have quite the temper, but they shouldn’t treat a young lady like that," Uncle Kang remarked with a smile.
A short while later, Lu Xixiao returned, holding a small bag.
He stretched out his leg, hooked it around Zhou Wan’s chair to turn her sideways, then crouched down and pushed up her pant leg.
Zhou Wan instinctively pulled her leg back, but one look from Lu Xixiao made her freeze. She didn’t dare resist further as her ankle rested in the palm of his hand.Seeing her wounds again, Lu Xixiao's brow furrowed tightly. He bit open the cap of the disinfectant bottle, spat it aside, and poured it directly onto her ankle.
A stinging pain seeped from the scraped wound, spreading through her nerves to her entire body.
Zhou Wan shuddered all over, biting her lower lip hard to keep from making a sound.
Lu Xixiao efficiently finished disinfecting her, pressed the ice pack against her ankle, and secured it with gauze.
He looked up and saw that Zhou Wan had bitten a deep mark into her lower lip, her eyes rimmed red as she struggled to hold back tears.
"You won't say anything when you get bullied, and you won't say anything when you're in pain either?" Lu Xixiao said flatly.
Zhou Wan kept her head down and murmured, "It's not that bad."
Lu Xixiao scoffed, too lazy to bother with her anymore, and sat back down opposite her. But the noodles had already swollen and clumped together. After stirring them a few times, he put down his chopsticks.
Zhou Wan said, "Let's order another bowl."
"Let's go." He stood up.
Zhou Wan hurriedly followed.
Outside the noodle shop, Lu Xixiao stood at the door. Hearing her footsteps as she came out, he glanced sideways and crouched down. "Get on."
Zhou Wan paused.
Her intuition told her it was better not to go against Lu Xixiao's wishes right now.
She slowly moved behind him, then cautiously and hesitantly leaned onto his back.
Lu Xixiao wrapped his arms around her legs and effortlessly lifted her up.
Zhou Wan kept her chest slightly drawn in, maintaining some distance without fully leaning against his back. But even this distance felt too close—she could clearly smell the scent of tobacco on him.
The wind rustled through the bare branches noisily.
Lu Xixiao's shadow stretched long behind him.
"Lu Xixiao."
Zhou Wan looked at his profile and asked softly, "Are you angry?"
He didn't speak.
After a moment, Zhou Wan said, "I was wrong."
"What were you wrong about?"
"..."
Zhou Wan thought for a moment and replied, "I shouldn't have provoked those people."
"If they say things like that to you again, hit them back," Lu Xixiao said calmly. "What else?"
"..."
This time, Zhou Wan truly didn't know what else she had done wrong.
Not hearing her answer, the pressure around Lu Xixiao noticeably dropped again.
She needed to coax him again.
Recalling what he had said to her when he got angry earlier, she blinked and tentatively said, "I won't keep things from you in the future."
Lu Xixiao glanced at her sideways, the corner of his mouth twitching without expression, but his voice finally softened. "Does your leg hurt?"
"It's—"
Zhou Wan instinctively wanted to say "not too bad," but she caught herself in time and changed her answer. "It hurts."
After answering, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
If she had answered wrong again, Lu Xixiao might have gotten angry once more.
"There's medicated patches and bruise liniment in the bag. Apply them after the ice pack," Lu Xixiao said. "Don't walk around too much. Take tomorrow off and don't go to school."
"The recent lessons are a bit difficult. I still need to go to school," Zhou Wan said while observing Lu Xixiao's expression. "I'll take a taxi in the morning."
Lu Xixiao frowned but finally said, "Fine."
He carried her all the way to the entrance of the residential complex without putting her down, walking straight in.
There was no elevator here, so they had to take the stairs.
"Which floor?" he asked.
Zhou Wan hadn't wanted him to carry her up, but she knew how stubborn he was.
"Third floor," she said, wrapping her arms around Lu Xixiao's neck and leaning gently against him. "Thank you."
He carried her to the third floor. "Here?"
"Mm."
Lu Xixiao set Zhou Wan down. She took the key out of her pocket and was about to open the door when Grandma suddenly pushed it open in a panic from inside.
"Grandma?""Wanwan, are you okay?" Grandma held her hand, "You scared me to death. A boy from your part-time job called home saying you didn't show up today and your phone was turned off."
Zhou Wan froze for a moment before realizing she had completely forgotten about her shift at the arcade today, and her phone had run out of battery at some point.
Not wanting to worry her grandmother, she just said she was fine and quickly made up an excuse.
Grandma looked at Lu Xixiao standing behind her.
She had seen this boy before—he had brought breakfast once when she was in the hospital last time.
Lu Xixiao took the initiative, speaking softly, "Grandma."
"Yes." Grandma smiled, "Did you bring our Wanwan home?"
"Mm."
"Thank you." Grandma said, "Would you like to come in and sit for a while before leaving?"
Zhou Wan quickly interjected, "No need, Grandma. There's nothing to serve at home anyway, and it's getting late. He should go back and rest."
Lu Xixiao curved his lips into a slight smile, standing unusually straight, "Mm, I'll head back now."
"Alright then, come visit when you have time." Grandma called out.
"Mm." Lu Xixiao responded.
Zhou Wan watched him turn and go downstairs, then suddenly called out urgently, "Lu Xixiao."
The motion-sensor light flickered on.
He stood on the landing of the next floor, looking up at her.
Zhou Wan pressed her lips together, "Thank you."
Zhou Wan didn't tell Grandma about her injury. After returning to her room, she first called the morning shift guy at the arcade to apologize, saying she would compensate him for the day's wages when she got paid this month.
"Don't worry about it, no need to be so polite." The other person laughed, "I'm just glad you're okay."
After hanging up, Zhou Wan sat quietly on her bed.
Following what Lu Xixiao had told her earlier, she applied medicated wine to her ankle and then put on a healing patch.
The strong scent of medicated wine spread throughout the bedroom.
She thought back to earlier at the noodle shop, when Lu Xixiao had crouched in front of her to apply an ice pack. Although he had been deliberately rough during the disinfection, making it hurt.
But Zhou Wan still felt that Lu Xixiao was truly a good person.
Ever since Zhou Jun passed away and Guo Xiangling left home, Zhou Wan couldn't remember the last time someone had firmly stood behind her.
Like a solid backing.
If she suffered any grievances, she could go to him, and he would help her get justice.
This feeling was really unfamiliar to Zhou Wan.
She leaned against the headboard, looking at the Pikotaro doll Lu Xixiao had given her on the opposite desk.
After a while, she got up, hopping on her uninjured leg over to the desk, brought the Pikotaro back to her bed, and held it in her arms.
She tried to sleep but couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
After a long while, she took out her phone and sent Lu Xixiao a message.
[Zhou Wan: Did you get home?]
She waited for quite some time, but Lu Xixiao didn't reply. He was probably already asleep.
[Zhou Wan: Good night.]
She put her phone aside and closed her eyes.
Lu Xixiao came out of the shower, his body still damp, water tracing the lines of his muscles.
He had a few bruises from the fight earlier, but they weren't serious.
After the cold shower, the inexplicable irritation he had been feeling finally eased up a bit.
He didn't know why he had been so angry.
Zhou Wan getting hurt had nothing to do with him, and her wanting to hide it had even less to do with him. It should have been less trouble for him, so there was really nothing to be angry about.
The more Lu Xixiao thought about it, the more irritated he became, and the more irritated he was, the angrier he got.
He felt uncomfortable all over.
And he had taken all that anger out on Zhou Wan.The girl was quite something—not a hint of anger or complaint, taking all his bad temper in stride. She carefully observed his expression, racking her brains to figure out how to cheer him up.
Lu Xixiao was no fool; he could naturally sense all of this.
He wiped his damp hair, tossed the towel aside, and walked over to the bed to pick up his phone.
[Zhou Wan: Are you home yet?]
[Zhou Wan: Good night.]
Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow, stared at the two messages for a moment, and then glanced at the time.
They had been sent an hour ago.
He sat on the bed and dialed her number for a voice call.
It wasn’t that he had anything particular to say—he just felt like calling, so he did.
The phone rang for a while before it was answered, and a soft, drowsy voice came through: "Hello?"
For some reason, it felt as if an electric current shot up Lu Xixiao’s spine, jolting his entire body. His temple throbbed.
He could tell Zhou Wan had been woken up, but he didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty.
Lighting a cigarette, he slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.
When Zhou Wan didn’t hear him speak, she patiently asked again, "What’s wrong?"
"Can’t sleep," Lu Xixiao said. "Let’s talk for a bit."
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