This time it was Chun Chang's turn to handle this hot potato, and she was particularly excited, eagerly raising her phone high.
Afraid she might answer, Cen Jin warned with a cold expression, "Don't you dare pick up! Don't you dare betray the organization!"
"Alright, alright, can't I just take a look?" Chun Chang resigned herself, springing up from the sofa to examine it closely. "Isn't this your old number? Did you give it to Li Wu?"
"Yeah," Cen Jin leaned back. "The phone is last year's model too."
The phone still wobbled in Chun Chang's hand. "How did he get my number?"
Cen Jin said, "I saved four contact numbers for him before, and the last one was yours."
"Damn, why am I the last one?" Chun Chang grumbled.
Cen Jin tilted her head. "Numbers one and two are my parents, girl."
"Oh..." Chun Chang finally smiled contentedly. "This kid is pretty clever. When he couldn't reach you, he knew to call your friend."
Cen Jin's heart skipped a beat, realizing belatedly, "He wouldn't have called my parents too, would he?"
Chun Chang burst into laughter. "Very likely!"
"How annoying," Cen Jin rested her hand on her head. "Luckily my parents have already turned off their phones and gone to bed by this hour."
Chun Chang kept laughing. "Isn't you running away from home even more ridiculous?"
As they chatted, Li Wu's second call came through.
Chun Chang was at a loss too, sitting back on the sofa and holding the buzzing phone. "What should we do? The kid must be worried sick."
"Let him worry," Cen Jin curved her lips, continuing to munch on cereal rings. "It's good for him to experience what it's like when someone stays out all night."
Chun Chang shook her head and sighed. "You're so immature, Cen Jin. Are you a high school student too?"
Cen Jin didn't mind. "This is called giving someone a taste of their own medicine."
Chun Chang gestured toward the still-vibrating phone. "But I don't want to leave a bad impression on Li Wu."
Cen Jin raised a slender eyebrow. "Then answer it. Just don't say I'm here."
"What if he goes out looking for you?"
Cen Jin sucked in a breath and said firmly, "He won't. He has no idea who I know or where I work. How would he find me? Even if he went out, he'd just return home empty-handed."
―
Li Wu indeed did not go out to search for her.
At a certain moment after repeatedly failing to contact her, an impulse did drive Li Wu toward the doorway. But soon, he came to his senses—in this vast, cold city, he knew nothing about Cen Jin's surroundings.
And Cen Jin was his only connection to Yishi.
He had to reexamine his true self—that small, isolated insect in the deep sea, surviving on just a thread of oxygen. And now, the very lifeline that sustained him had been ripped away.
Though surrounded by luxurious comfort, Li Wu felt utterly suffocated.
He paced anxiously around the house, unable to focus on a book or write a single word.
He was filled with regret, worry, and restlessness, completely helpless. Cen Jin was like an addiction; in the hours since their unpleasant parting, his body was wracked with unbearable, devastating pain. Her kindness and tenderness had made him too complacent, blinding him to his own reality.
Tormented, Li Wu began searching through his contacts for other numbers. Not daring to disturb Cen Jin's parents, he dialed the last number, hoping to learn something about her from her friend.
Twice in a row, still no one answered.
It was one o'clock. Li Wu sank back onto the sofa, utterly despairing.He knew Cen Jin would return, would come back here, but their relationship might never be the same again.
He had no idea how long he sat there in a daze before his phone suddenly vibrated, jolting him back to reality as Li Wu opened it.
It was a text from Cen Jin’s friend:
“She’s with me, don’t worry. Snuck this in while she’s showering—no need to reply! Remember to delete the message!”
Finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, Li Wu deleted the text, closed his eyes, and remained seated in introspection for a long while before getting up and returning to the study to finish the rest of his homework.
Li Wu stayed up all night. At five in the morning, he packed his schoolbag and left Cen Jin’s apartment.
The winter dawn still clung to the deep chill of night.
The streets were sparsely populated—only a few drifting cars, sanitation workers sweeping with brooms, and breakfast vendors just setting up their stalls. Occasionally, overnight office workers passed by, their faces etched with numbness and exhaustion.
The city’s gears had yet to spin into full motion. In the vast stillness, these mundane details felt particularly precious.
Li Wu walked unhurriedly toward school, taking nearly an hour.
It was the first time he had navigated the city without guidance or the detached view from inside a car. He immersed himself in it, measuring it with his steps, sketching it with his gaze, and sensing it with his thoughts.
He realized it wasn’t as frightening, distant, arrogant, or enigmatic as he had imagined.
The sky was still the sky, the earth was still the earth, and he was still himself.
Soaking in the surroundings, Li Wu gradually grew grounded and serene.
―
It was noon by the time Cen Jin woke with a splitting headache on her friend’s bed.
Chun Chang, a seasoned drinker, had thoughtfully prepared a bowl of stomach-soothing congee and left it on the table for her.
After brushing her teeth, Cen Jin felt slightly better. She drank half the bowl of congee, her strength returning, and only then remembered to check her phone.
WeChat showed only the company group chat—no other messages.
Everything was under control, as expected. Cen Jin let out a dry laugh. “See? Not so persistent after all. In the end, he still didn’t care whether I lived or died.”
Chun Chang was wiping her camera. “Who, Li Wu?”
Cen Jin took a sip of water. “Who else?”
Chun Chang smiled faintly, hinting it was time to leave. “Finish up and get out. I’ve got to head to the studio this afternoon. Who knows—maybe your little brother’s still at home waiting for you, sleepless all night.”
“That ungrateful brat?” Cen Jin scoffed. “No way.”
Even so, after the simple lunch, Cen Jin didn’t linger long at her friend’s place. They chatted idly until one o’clock before she got up to leave.
Back home, Cen Jin paused briefly outside the door, took a deep breath, then unlocked and entered. She stopped in the entryway, scanning the surroundings.
The living room was exceptionally quiet, everything still neatly in place, the plants standing silently. Only the shifting light and shadows hinted at any restlessness.
After changing into slippers, Cen Jin took a few steps forward and peered down the hallway. Aside from her own bedroom door being shut tight, all the other rooms were open; the balcony was clean and empty. Clearly, aside from her, there was no one else in the entire apartment.
She noticed something on the coffee table.
Cen Jin approached and found the phone Li Wu had been using, with a torn sheet of notebook paper tucked beneath it.
Frowning, Cen Jin quickly pulled out the paper. On it was a single sentence, written in a clear, elegant hand:
“I will study hard and not make you worry anymore.”
A surge of emotion shot straight into her chest and lodged there, stubborn and hard to dispel.Cen Jin’s chest heaved heavily. She placed the paper back on the coffee table, stood there smoothing her long hair twice, then eagerly pulled out her own phone to snap a picture of the scene that nearly gave her a heart attack, sending it to Chun Chang.
She vented: What does he mean by this, leaving his phone behind? Is he trying to challenge me? Threaten me? Break ties with me? If he’s so capable, he might as well skip school too.
Chun Chang replied with a rolling-on-the-floor laughing emoji: Isn’t this exactly what you hoped for? Such an obedient kid.
Cen Jin felt a headache coming on: I’m about to faint from anger, seriously. This is the first time since I was born I’ve met someone so hard to get along with. What kind of trial am I facing this year? Why is fate throwing all this at me?
Chun Chang consoled: Alright, maybe he really just wants to focus on studying.
Cen Jin forced herself to calm down: Fine, it’s almost finals anyway. Let’s see how far this “studying hard” gets him.
―
The new week began, and Li Wu reverted entirely to his former self.
He kept to himself, coming and going alone, attentive in class and burying himself in studies during breaks.
The previous Friday’s drama of staying out overnight had ended with parents being called and warnings issued.
Ran Feichi and Gu Yan hadn’t booked a hotel room—they’d simply been celebrating the girl’s birthday, setting off fireworks at midnight, which caused their late return. Afterward, they’d stayed at an internet café.
Li Wu declined the homeroom teacher’s suggestion to switch dorms, remaining in his original room, where he became a completely invisible presence.
The other three ignored him, chatting and amusing themselves as usual. Only occasionally would their unreadable glances inadvertently drift over him, then harden into deeper contempt.
But this week, that subtle dorm atmosphere underwent a qualitative shift, transforming into concrete actions.
At noon on Monday, Li Wu had just settled at a cafeteria table with his meal when Ran and Lin flanked him, sandwiching him in.
They ate in silence for a while, exchanged a look, then began picking all the fatty meat from their bowls and tossing it onto Li Wu’s tray, sneering, “Eat up, make sure you finish it. It’s not easy for you to get meat usually—don’t waste it.”
Li Wu stared at the pile of fat for a moment, picked up a piece, and chewed it calmly.
Ran Feichi immediately clapped: “So supportive, bro.”
On Tuesday evening, Li Wu was washing his clothes on the balcony as usual after his shower.
Suddenly, Lin Honglang sauntered over casually and dumped several pairs of worn socks into Li Wu’s basin, grinning lazily, “Wash these together.”
Li Wu’s hands paused briefly. He lowered his gaze and buried the socks back into the suds.
From then on, the deliberate alienation and exclusion from his peers expanded, spreading from the dorm to the entire class.
This became evident during Wednesday afternoon’s P.E. class.
The P.E. teacher instructed several tall boys to fetch volleyballs, and Li Wu was among them.
They walked shoulder-to-shoulder, naturally forming a group, laughing and chatting, automatically distancing themselves several meters from Li Wu.
When they reached the equipment room by the field, they filed in and came out carrying ball baskets in pairs.
Li Wu was last. Entering the equipment room, he glanced at the sizable basket and decided to try lifting it alone. Just as he leaned forward to grip the handle—
Thump!
A volleyball slammed into his back, jolting him forward and nearly sending him stumbling. He steadied himself in time, frowning as he turned to identify the culprit.
“Oops, sorry, my hand slipped,” a buzz-cut classmate beamed at him brightly.Li Wu shot him an expressionless glance before bending to lift the ball basket again.
"You can't aim for shit," another voice chimed in lazily. "Watch this."
A volleyball struck the back of his neck with force, bouncing over Li Wu's shoulder and onto the ground.
"This is a volleyball. Your form's all wrong—shouldn't you be using your hands to bump it?"
Another hit, this time on his left shoulder blade.
They snickered.
He remained silent.
They swaggered.
He stood firm.
"First time realizing volleyball could be this fun."
"Right? So many ways to play."
"Let's try basketball next time."
"Nah, basketball's too hard. Not friendly at all."
"..."
Li Wu took a deep breath and bent down for the fourth time to pick up the ball basket.
A ball smacked squarely against the back of his head.
After a brief dizziness, Li Wu dropped the basket, scooped up a ball with one hand, turned around, and slammed it violently onto the cement ground in front of them.
The ball bounced sky-high.
The boys leaped back in alarm, faces flushed with terror.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Asshole!"
"Stop acting tough!"
Enraged and embarrassed, they hurled more nearby balls at Li Wu.
It wasn't until Cheng Rui rushed over shouting, "The teacher wants to know why you haven't brought the balls back yet—" that they finally settled down.
Without glancing sideways, Li Wu brushed off his clothes, gathered the scattered balls, and alone carried the full basket of volleyballs down the steps.
Seeing them return, the P.E. teacher reassembled the class.
The students stood at ease, then attention, calling out numbers in turn—young faces, clear voices.
Cheng Rui joined the lineup and stole a glance at Li Wu, who was placing the basket not far away. Under the bright sun, the boy's slender frame stood out, the white parts of his uniform now stamped with messy gray marks. Stung by the sight, a flicker of scalding pity rose in Cheng Rui's eyes before he looked away.
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