Less than fifteen minutes after Zhou Wan replied to him with an 'en', Lu Xixiao arrived at the Arcade.

He seemed to have just woken up, with a faint red mark on the side of his face and his hair a bit messy. The sleepiness and weariness made his entire face look even colder and more distant. Dressed in a black shirt and black pants, he exuded an icy coldness.

It was already dark, and he was only just waking up.

He walked straight up to Zhou Wan, pulled out his wallet with one hand, lit a cigarette with the other, and placed five hundred yuan on her desk.

Zhou Wan added the five hundred yuan to his game card and handed it back to him. "It's done."

Lu Xixiao didn't leave. He remained leaning against the counter, smoking with a roguish air. Then he raised his eyes to look at Zhou Wan, his gaze devoid of emotion, like a deep pool.

Most of the time, Zhou Wan felt that Lu Xixiao wasn't someone who liked crowds, even though he had so many boisterous, unsavory friends and was never short of girls around him. But he always seemed to lack interest in all of it.

Just like now. Having just woken up, that frivolous and sociable facade was torn away, and an unadorned indifference poured out, soaking his entire being in apathetic darkness.

He raised an eyebrow. "Don't recognize me anymore."

Zhou Wan said his name, "Lu Xixiao."

He pulled at the corner of his mouth in a smile, his voice very hoarse, as if he had a cold.

But it made sense. Wearing so little when the temperature dropped, it would be strange if he didn't catch a cold.

He flicked his cigarette ash, his chin lifting slightly. "So you're pretending not to know me?"

…

Zhou Wan didn't know what he was referring to.

Was he referring to how she didn't cling to him like those other girls, or how she had seen him on the afternoon the vacation started and pretended she hadn't?

After a pause, Zhou Wan lowered her eyelashes and asked in a soft voice, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

She asked very directly.

Lu Xixiao furrowed his brows, as if he didn't understand why she would ask that. "No."

Then, he remembered the scene from that afternoon and added, "That wasn't one."

…

Zhou Wan froze for a moment. She unconsciously curled her fingers. "Oh."

She had a physics competition coming up soon and didn't have the spare attention to chat much with Lu Xixiao, so she quickly buried her head in her practice papers.

Meanwhile, Lu Xixiao played games on the side. He was already an expert at all these machines and effortlessly won a lot of prize tickets.

Girls around them watched with admiration, their discussions buzzing.

Lu Xixiao was undoubtedly attractive to girls this age.

Some girls mustered the courage to ask for his contact information, but Lu Xixiao didn't give it, casually rejecting them all.

Zhou Wan heard the voices over there, looked up for a moment, then lowered her head again.

After finishing two competition practice papers, the light in front of her was blocked.

She looked up.

Lu Xixiao stood before her, placing a thick stack of prize tickets from his hand onto her desk.

"So many…" Zhou Wan was startled.

Lu Xixiao tapped the desk. "Off work yet?"

Zhou Wan glanced at the time and realized it was already eleven at night. The Arcade was completely empty except for the two of them.

"I am." Zhou Wan said, "Let me enter the points for you first."

The stack was so thick that just entering them took several minutes. Zhou Wan looked at the amount displayed on the machine; there were already forty thousand points. "Do you want to redeem them?"

He took out a cigarette and tapped it on the desk. "Save them."

Zhou Wan returned the game card to him. He still didn't leave, and when Zhou Wan had packed her things and walked out of the Arcade, he left with her.

He exhaled a puff of smoke.

He actually looked very handsome when he smoked.

Zhou Wan looked at the hollow of his cheek as he smoked and said softly, "You're always smoking."

He lowered his eyes. "Did it bother you?"

Zhou Wan shook her head gently.

Guo Xiangling smoked. Back then, they had no money, and although she smoked the long, slender ladies' cigarettes, the smoke was especially pungent. Zhou Wan had been used to the smell since she was a child.

The two of them walked together on the quiet, empty street.

After the autumn rain, the ground was covered with withered yellow leaves that rustled under their feet.

Lu Xixiao suddenly asked, "Want to get noodles?"

Zhou Wan's steps faltered. She nodded. "Okay."

It was still the same old noodle shop. This time, Uncle Kang didn't even ask what they wanted, simply shouting towards the small kitchen inside, "Two bowls of Three Delicacies Noodles."

Zhou Wan rushed to pay the bill again.

Noticing Lu Xixiao's gaze on her, Zhou Wan thought that perhaps he didn't like this when he went out with girls. She paused, then explained softly, "You put a lot of money in at the Arcade. I get a commission, so I should treat you."

He raised an eyebrow.

Zhou Wan thought for a moment and added, "Though for now, I can only treat you to something cheap."

He laughed. "Fine. Treat me to something expensive in the future."

When he was in a good mood, he could toss out such intoxicatingly ambiguous words with ease. No wonder so many girls couldn't get over him.

Lu Xixiao wasn't talkative, and neither was Zhou Wan. The two of them quietly finished their noodles, got up, and left.

Lu Xixiao had walked her home once before. Today was the second time.

Zhou Wan didn't think he was going out of his way to walk her home; it was probably just because it was on his way.

But, Guo Xiangling didn't live here now, did she?

This area was mostly old buildings, far from the developing downtown district. Guo Xiangling lived in the area with the highest property prices now.

Zhou Wan could only think of one reason.

Lu Xixiao had moved out on his own.

It wasn't hard to guess. He looked like he really hated Guo Xiangling.

"Lu Xixiao." Zhou Wan jogged a few steps forward to catch up with him.

He turned his head.

"Do you live around here too?"

"I live alone." He said, "A little further ahead."

As expected.

In the old residential area two streets ahead, there was a patch of old buildings, with a few small Western-style houses that were quite old. Though they couldn't compare to modern villas, those little houses had been the height of fashion twenty-some years ago.

He probably lived in one of the old buildings there.

When they reached the outside of Zhou Wan's home, she waved at Lu Xixiao. "I'm heading in. Goodbye."

He gave a soft "en."

Zhou Wan walked into the apartment building, glanced back at him once more, then retracted her gaze.

The old complex had no elevator. She ran upstairs, stomping her foot hard at the landing. The motion-sensor lights came on one after another, but the one on her floor, the third, was broken and didn't light up.

Zhou Wan unlocked the door and went in. "Grandma."

No sound.

Was she asleep?

It was rare that she wasn't feeling unwell today; she could finally get a peaceful night's sleep.

Zhou Wan took off her schoolbag, rubbed her eyes, and planned to pull an all-nighter to do more practice problems. It was then that she faintly heard rapid gasping sounds coming from Grandma's bedroom.

Zhou Wan's heart leaped into her throat in an instant, and she rushed into her room.

The white-haired old woman was curled up on the floor, struggling to breathe, as if she couldn't get any air in. Her fingers were tightly clutching at her heart, and there was vomit on the floor.

Zhou Wan lunged forward and helped her grandma up into her arms. "Grandma, Grandma… What's wrong? Don't scare me…"

The old woman's face was deathly pale, her forehead covered in large beads of sweat, and her body was convulsing non-stop.

Having never encountered a situation like this, Zhou Wan was so panicked she didn't know what to do. All her usual composure and calmness vanished—she couldn't imagine how she would live her days without Grandma.

If even Grandma left, she would truly be all alone.

Lu Xixiao hadn't gone far.

His place was empty and silent anyway, devoid of any warmth. He was in no hurry to go back.

Suddenly, he heard a voice from behind him.

"Lu Xixiao!"

It was the first time he had seen Zhou Wan like this, her face streaming with tears, her breathing ragged and broken, on the verge of collapse.

She grabbed Lu Xixiao's wrist tightly, as if grasping the last piece of driftwood in a vast ocean. Her voice was choked and trembling. "My grandma… my grandma is acting strange, it's like she can't breathe… What do I do, Lu Xixiao, what do I do…"

"Zhou Wan."

Lu Xixiao held her by the shoulders, bent down, and stared straight into her eyes. His jet-black pupils were like a swamp, pulling one in.

His voice was calm, composed, and firm. "Did you call an ambulance?"

Under his gaze, Zhou Wan slowly regained her senses and immediately pulled out her phone to dial 120.

The sound of the ambulance siren cut through the quiet night sky.

Fortunately, Doctor Chen was on duty tonight. He was familiar with her grandma's condition and quickly took her into the emergency room for oxygen and to monitor her heart rate.

Zhou Wan stood outside the operating room, drenched in a cold sweat. She hadn't yet recovered from the terror of moments ago. Her face was pale, and she had unconsciously bitten her lower lip, leaving a bloody mark.

Lu Xixiao stood to the side, watching her.

Seeing the mark on her lip deepen to the point where blood was about to seep out, he took a step forward, raised his hand, and his cool, tobacco-scented fingertips gently brushed against her cheek.

Zhou Wan snapped back to her senses, her eyes flying up to meet his. She finally released her lip.

"What's wrong?" Zhou Wan asked.

"Nothing." Lu Xixiao withdrew his hand, shoved it into his pocket, and said softly, "I'm going downstairs for a bit."

"Mm."

After a pause, Zhou Wan thought of something else. "Thank you."

Lu Xixiao didn't respond and turned to go downstairs.