"Lu Xixiao."

Zhou Wan looked at his side profile and asked softly, "Are you angry?"

He didn't speak.

After a pause, Zhou Wan said, "I was wrong."

"What were you wrong about?"

"..."

Zhou Wan thought for a moment, then answered, "I shouldn't have provoked those guys."

"If they ever say that kind of stuff to you again, you hit them back," Lu Xixiao said flatly. "What else?"

"..."

This time, Zhou Wan really didn't know what she'd done wrong.

When he didn't hear her answer, the atmosphere around Lu Xixiao palpably chilled again.

She had to coax him again.

Zhou Wan recalled the things he had said to her when he was angry. She blinked and said tentatively, "I won't hide things from you in the future."

Lu Xixiao glanced at her, the corner of his mouth twitching without any real expression. His voice finally softened. "Does your leg hurt?"

"It's—"

Zhou Wan subconsciously wanted to say "bearable," but thankfully, she stopped 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 again.

"There's a pain relief plaster and medicinal liquor for bruises in the bag. Apply them after the ice pack," Lu Xixiao said. "Don't walk around much. Take tomorrow off, don't go to school."

"Classes have been a bit difficult recently, so I still have 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 walked all the way to the entrance of her residential complex without putting her down, heading straight inside.

There was no elevator here, only stairs.

"Which floor?" he asked.

Zhou Wan hadn't wanted him to carry her up, but she knew he was stubborn.

"Third floor." She wrapped her arms around Lu Xixiao's neck, leaned in gently, and said in a soft voice, "Thank you."

He carried Zhou Wan to the third floor. "Here?"

"Mhm."

Lu Xixiao put Zhou Wan down. She took the key from her pocket, and just as she was about to open the door, her Grandma suddenly pushed the door open from the inside in a panic.

"Grandma?"

"Wanwan, are you okay?" Grandma took her hand. "You scared me to death. A boy from your part-time job called the house and said you didn't show up today, and your phone wouldn't go through."

Zhou Wan froze for a moment, only then realizing she had completely forgotten about the Arcade today, and her phone must have died at some point.

She didn't want her Grandma to worry, so she just said she was fine and made up an excuse to cover for it.

Grandma looked at Lu Xixiao behind her.

She had seen this boy before; he had brought breakfast once when she was hospitalized.

Lu Xixiao took the initiative, calling out in a low voice, "Grandma."

"Ah," Grandma smiled. "You brought our Wanwan home?"

"Mhm."

"Thank you," Grandma said. "Would you like to come in and sit for a while before you go?"

Zhou Wan quickly said, "No need, Grandma. We don't have anything to offer him, and it's late. He needs to go back and rest."

Lu Xixiao's lips curved. For once, he stood up straight. "Mhm, I'll be heading back then."

"Alright then. Come visit when you're free," Grandma offered.

"Mhm," Lu Xixiao agreed.

Zhou Wan watched him turn and go downstairs, then suddenly called out to him in a hurry, "Lu Xixiao."

The voice-activated light switched on at the sound.

He stood on the landing one floor below, looking up at her.

Zhou Wan pressed her lips together. "Thank you."

Zhou Wan didn't let her Grandma know she was injured. After returning to her room, she first called the guy who works the morning shift at the Arcade to apologize, saying that she would pay him back for the day's wages once she got paid this month.

"It's fine, no need to be so formal," the person said with a laugh. "As long as you're okay."

After hanging up, Zhou Wan sat quietly on her bed.

She did as Lu Xixiao had just told her, rubbing the medicinal liquor on her ankle and applying the pain relief plaster.

The thick scent of medicinal liquor spread through the bedroom.

She recalled again how Lu Xixiao had knelt in front of her in the noodle shop to apply the ice pack. Even though he had been deliberately rough when disinfecting the wound to make it hurt.

But Zhou Wan still felt that Lu Xixiao was a really good person.

Ever since Zhou Jun passed away and Guo Xiangling left home, Zhou Wan couldn't remember the last time someone had stood so firmly behind her.

Like a pillar of support.

When she was wronged, she could go to him, and he would stick up for her.

This feeling was truly unfamiliar to Zhou Wan.

She leaned against the headboard, looking at the Kobito Lu Xixiao had given her on the desk opposite her.

After a while, she got up, hopped on her uninjured leg to the desk, took the Kobito to her bed, and hugged it.

She tried to sleep, but just couldn't.

After a long while, she took out her phone and sent a message to Lu Xixiao.

[Zhou Wan: Have you reached home?]

She waited for a long while, but Lu Xixiao didn't reply. He might have already been asleep.

[Zhou Wan: Good night.]

She placed her phone aside and closed her eyes.

Lu Xixiao came out of the shower, soaking wet, water trickling down the lines of his muscles.

He had also gotten a few bruises from the fight earlier, but they weren't serious.

After a cold shower, that inexplicable irritation from before had finally eased somewhat.

He didn't know why he had been angry either.

What did Zhou Wan getting hurt have to do with him? Her wanting to hide it had even less to do with him; it saved him the trouble, so there was really nothing to be angry about.

Lu Xixiao couldn't figure it out, which made him even more irritated. The more irritated he felt, the angrier he got.

He felt ill at ease all over.

And he had directed all that fire at Zhou Wan.

And the little girl, she didn't get angry at all, nor did she complain. She took all of his bad temper, cautiously observing his expression and racking her brain trying to coax him into a better mood.

Lu Xixiao wasn't an idiot; of course he could sense all this.

He dried his wet hair, tossed the towel aside, and walked to the bed to pick up his phone.

[Zhou Wan: Have you reached home?]

[Zhou Wan: Good night.]

Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow, looking at the two messages for a moment, then checked the time.

They had been sent an hour ago.

He sat on the bed and called her back.

It wasn't that he had anything to say; he just felt like calling, so he did.

It rang for a while before connecting, and a girl's soft, drowsy voice came through, "Hello?"

For some reason, Lu Xixiao felt a jolt, as if a current had shot up from his tailbone. His temple throbbed.

Hearing that Zhou Wan had been woken up, Lu Xixiao didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt.

He lit a cigarette and slowly exhaled a puff of smoke.

When Zhou Wan didn't hear his voice, she asked patiently, "Is something wrong?"

"Can't sleep," Lu Xixiao said. "Let's talk for a bit."