"Boss, I'd like a bowl of Jujube and Tremella Porridge." Zhou Wan said, standing in front of the cashier. "Thank you."

Lu Xixiao was injured, so Zhou Wan only dared to buy him something light to eat.

This porridge shop was right in front of his house. It mainly sold porridge, with some small side dishes. The taste was very good, the portions were large and affordable, and business was excellent.

Zhou Wan sat to one side and waited, playing on her phone to pass the time.

She opened her Moments, and the first post was from Jiang Yan. It was a photo of him sitting in a car with his father.

Zhou Wan's fingertips paused. She tapped on the photo and zoomed in.

Her brows furrowed. She looked at the photo seriously and became even more certain that this was Lu Xixiao's father, the man she had seen at the hospital.

Although she had been some distance away that time, Lu Xixiao's father didn't have a forgettable face. He looked stern and serious, with a powerful aura and a distinct presence.

In fact, he was very different from Lu Xixiao's nonchalant personality. He was more like his mother.

But why did Jiang Yan and Lu Xixiao have the same father?

"Little girl, your porridge is ready," the owner called out.

Zhou Wan's thoughts were interrupted. She quickly got up to take it and thanked him again.

The portion of Jujube and Tremella Porridge was very generous, a heavy container.

...

When she returned, the door was still ajar. Zhou Wan gently pushed it open, changed into slippers, and walked in.

Lu Xixiao heard the sound and glanced at her indifferently.

Zhou Wan helped him open the lid of the take-out container and pushed the porridge in front of him. "I don't know what you like to eat, but you're injured, so you should eat something light today."

Lu Xixiao asked, "What about yours?"

"What?"

"Dinner."

Zhou Wan paused. She had forgotten that she hadn't eaten either.

"I'm not hungry. I can eat later."

Lu Xixiao got up and went into the kitchen.

Zhou Wan heard the sound of the faucet. Soon, Lu Xixiao came out with a bowl. It wasn't drained, and water dripped onto the carpet.

He put the bowl on the table, a pair of chopsticks held in his mouth, and silently poured half of the steaming hot porridge into the bowl.

He pushed the porridge in front of Zhou Wan and tossed a spoon down before her.

Lu Xixiao didn't say a word the entire time. After doing this, he lowered his head and began eating the porridge in large mouthfuls.

Zhou Wan pursed her lips and held the bowl with both hands. "Thank you."

The two of them occupied two corners of the coffee table, eating their porridge in silence.

Zhou Wan ate slowly and attentively. After Lu Xixiao finished, he turned his head and stared at her.

Several times, Zhou Wan felt uncomfortable under his gaze and looked back at him, but he continued to stare without flinching or speaking. Finally, Zhou Wan couldn't take it anymore and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Lu Xixiao: "Didn't you say you weren't hungry?"

"..."

Zhou Wan paused for a moment, then said softly, "It shouldn't be wasted."

He let out a disdainful sneer.

Zhou Wan finished her porridge more quickly, then took the bowl and chopsticks to the kitchen to wash them. It was at this moment that the doorbell suddenly rang.

"I'll get the door," Zhou Wan said.

It was probably Jiang Fan again.

Zhou Wan ran to open the door. The moment she pulled it open, she froze, staring at the person standing outside.

It wasn't just Zhou Wan; the person outside was also stunned.

"Zhou Wan?" Jiang Yan's eyes widened. "Why are you here?"

There are always so many coincidences in this world.

Some things are made better by coincidence, while others are made worse.

Lu Xixiao had come up behind Zhou Wan at some point. He looked at Jiang Yan with cold, calm eyes, then grabbed Zhou Wan's slender wrist and pulled the girl behind him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Jiang Yan finally tore his gaze away from Zhou Wan. "Dad couldn't reach you, so he asked me to come get you for dinner. The car is downstairs."

Without a word, Lu Xixiao raised his hand to close the door.

Jiang Yan blocked it with his elbow. His face was grim, his eyes dark, and he said in a low voice, "If you've got the guts, then never come back."

Lu Xixiao suddenly laughed, as if he had heard a particularly amusing joke. He tilted his head and asked Jiang Yan, "Do you know why I look down on you?"

"All of this should have been mine!" Jiang Yan raised his voice, a rare occurrence. "Why do you get to have all this so easily, while I have to work a million times harder!?"

"Fine, then go ahead and change your surname to Lu. No one is stopping you."

"Lu Xixiao, what gives you the right to speak to me so condescendingly." Jiang Yan's eyes burned with fire as he stared at him viciously. "You remember this: when it comes down to it, you're the illegitimate one."

Illegitimate son.

A buzz went through Zhou Wan's head.

The next second, Lu Xixiao had already rushed over and shoved Jiang Yan to the ground.

He grabbed Jiang Yan by the collar and slammed his fist into his face.

The arm of his glasses snapped, and the bridge of his nose immediately turned red and swollen.

"Lu Xixiao!" Zhou Wan snapped out of it and rushed forward to break them up.

He was injured, and with the violent movements, his wound quickly split open. Blood soaked through the gauze and trickled down his skin, but he seemed to feel no pain at all, his eyes bloodshot as he punched Jiang Yan's face again and again.

Zhou Wan tried to pull his arm but was pushed back by the force and fell to the side.

Dark clouds swiftly covered the cold, clear moon.

Not even the last sliver of light was spared.

Zhou Wan didn't have time to tend to her scraped and bloodied palm as she reached for Lu Xixiao's hand again.

"Stop fighting!" She hugged his arm with all her strength. "Stop fighting, Lu Xixiao!"

Lu Xixiao finally stopped, looking down at the streaks of blood and dirt on Zhou Wan's snow-white palm. A sliver of reason returned to him.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his anger and hostility, and stood up.

He watched as Zhou Wan helped up Jiang Yan, whose face was bruised and battered. Jiang Yan was nearsighted by four or five hundred degrees; with his glasses knocked off, his vision was a blur. Zhou Wan helped him struggle to sit up. "Jiang Yan, are you okay?"

Lu Xixiao's gaze was lethally cold.

"Jiang Yan, if you dare to run your mouth again, I'll definitely kill you." The corners of his narrow eyes tightened, radiating a sharp, murderous aura. "Get out."

Lu Xixiao turned and went back inside, grabbed Zhou Wan's schoolbag, and threw it in front of her. "You get out too."

After the storm, a thick fog enveloped the entire city in the morning, and the damp air carried a biting chill.

An autumn rain brings a layer of cold.

"Wanwan." Gu Meng turned around and leaned on Zhou Wan's desk, asking in a low voice, "What happened to Jiang Yan? Did he get into a fight?"

Zhou Wan thought of yesterday's argument.

Illegitimate son, and things like that.

She shook her head, indicating she didn't know, and said nothing.

Jiang Yan was the school's most prized top student, not just a top university prospect, but also a candidate with the potential to be directly recommended for admission.

The moment he arrived at school today with a bruised face, he was immediately called to the head teacher's office to be questioned.

He didn't return until just before math class was about to start.

The math teacher walked into the classroom right after him and tapped the desk. "Come on, everyone back to your seats. Take out yesterday's test paper."

Zhou Wan took out her test paper and turned her head to ask in a low voice, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jiang Yan answered. After a moment, he asked, "Zhou Wan, how do you know Lu Xixiao?"

"We met at the arcade I was looking after, he came by before."

Jiang Yan wasn't so easily fooled. He frowned. "Then why were you at his house? Did you go there as soon as you got back yesterday?"

Zhou Wan paused for a moment and said, "There was a time before when my grandma wasn't feeling well at night, and he helped by accompanying me to the hospital. Yesterday, I ran into his friend who said he was injured, so I went to check on him."

"He helped?" Jiang Yan asked back in disbelief, scornfully. "It's a wonder he doesn't cause trouble."

Jiang Yan's attitude made Zhou Wan inexplicably uncomfortable. She insisted, "It's true."

"Are you two close?"

Zhou Wan remembered his last words, "You get out too," his cold face and cold eyes. He looked like he was utterly disgusted with her.

Zhou Wan shook her head. "No."

"Stay away from him. He's not a good person."

"Then you and he..." Zhou Wan paused, then asked, "Jiang Yan, what is your relationship with him?"

Jiang Yan was silent for a while.

Just as Zhou Wan thought she had touched on his privacy and was about to apologize, Jiang Yan spoke up. "My birthday is in March, and his is in November. I'm older than him."

"So when you said yesterday that he was..."

An illegitimate son.

Zhou Wan didn't say the words "illegitimate son." She felt it was too heavy a label.