Gu Zhuoyan came out of his house carrying a box of pizza, strolled to the front of the Zhuang Family's home, and reached up to turn on the small light on the wall. He waited there for a while, glancing at his phone from time to time. The screen was still on Zhuang Fanxin's reply.

'How is he unlucky? Why unlucky for no reason?'

He even used an emoji, which showed that the vast and profound Chinese language was not enough to express Zhuang Fanxin's pitiful state.

Gu Zhuoyan moved towards the small intersection, walking a few meters out before turning back, repeating this restlessly. He turned around again and saw a taxi drive in, from which an extremely thin figure emerged.

Zhuang Fanxin saw Gu Zhuoyan as soon as he got out of the car. He walked forward, and although his knees were burning with pain, he endured it and tried to walk normally. When they were a meter or two apart, Gu Zhuoyan asked, "You didn't ride your bike today?"

Zhuang Fanxin replied, "I left it at school."

He stepped into the illuminated area, his head slightly lowered, a bit evasively. However, Gu Zhuoyan wasn't blind and almost immediately noticed the wound on his face, asking, "How did you cut your face?"

He had been feeling wronged when he replied to the message, which was why he complained. He had calmed down on the way, but now he felt that saying 'I was beaten up' was too embarrassing. Zhuang Fanxin was too embarrassed to reveal the truth and lied, "I missed a step coming down the stairs."

Gu Zhuoyan confirmed, "Really?"

"Really." Zhuang Fanxin put on a fake smile, but the movement pulled at his wound, making him look like he was about to cry from the pain. "Anyway, I'm so unlucky... Oh right, here's today's homework for you."

He raised his arm to take off his backpack strap. "Ah!" His shoulder hurt too, and he cried out instantly. Gu Zhuoyan was startled. He took the backpack and asked, not easily fooled, "Where are all your injuries? Tell me everything at once."

Zhuang Fanxin felt a little intimidated for no reason. "My knees hurt too."

Gu Zhuoyan glanced at the Zhuang Family's small villa. The lights were off; Zhuang Xianyang and Zhao Jianqiu hadn't returned yet. He held Zhuang Fanxin's other arm and walked him home. Zhuang Fanxin limped along. Going up the stairs, he was practically carried up by Gu Zhuoyan, whose arm was around his waist. When he turned on the light in his room, besides the injuries, he looked quite pathetic, covered in dust.

Zhuang Fanxin went to the bathroom to take a bath. His movements were clumsy, and the wounds couldn't get wet, so he took a long time. Gu Zhuoyan waited in the bedroom, found Qi Nan's profile picture in a group chat, and sent a message: "How did Zhuang Fanxin get hurt?"

Being his deskmate wasn't for nothing. After receiving the message, Qi Nan thought, 'Zhuang Fanxin is so thin-skinned, how embarrassing would it be for people to know he was beaten up.' So, as if reading his mind, he replied, "He fell by accident."

Gu Zhuoyan stared at his phone. 'Did he really fall?' He asked one more question: "How did he fall?"

Qi Nan: "He fell while playing ball in P.E. class."

'Alright, no need to ask anymore. The inconsistent stories mean something's fishy.' The sound of water from the bathroom stopped. Gu Zhuoyan put his phone away and helped the damp and flushed Zhuang Fanxin to the bed. Zhuang Fanxin was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. His left knee was purplish-red and bleeding, and the outside of his left arm had small scrapes. All the injuries were on one side.

Gu Zhuoyan sized him up. "It's like you hit a wall with half your body."

Zhuang Fanxin panicked and tried to deal with it by remaining silent. But when the alcohol-soaked cotton swab wiped his wound, he couldn't help but cry out. Gu Zhuoyan's touch was as light as could be, like he was playing house. He had no choice but to talk to distract the patient.

"Last time I came to pull out your needles, this time I'm here to apply medicine. Your condition is stabilizing in a step-by-step decline."

Zhuang Fanxin mumbled, "You're not coming to my wake next time, are you?"

Gu Zhuoyan flicked his forehead. "How dare you say something so unlucky." After flicking, he didn't remove his hand, instead using it to lift Zhuang Fanxin's chin to check the wound on his face. The cut wasn't big, located below the outer corner of his eye, and it was red.

He changed to a new cotton swab and dabbed gently. He was very close. With a slight shift of his gaze, he could see his own reflection in Zhuang Fanxin's eyes. He joked in a low voice, "Will I be giving you CPR next time?"

Zhuang Fanxin was stunned, unsure whether to look away or maintain eye contact. His attention was indeed diverted; he didn't feel any pain until the medicine was fully applied.

Gu Zhuoyan closed the first-aid kit, opened the pizza box, and took out a slice. "Eat up, it's still hot."

Zhuang Fanxin took a bite. "It has mushrooms and onions..."

He was being picky and wouldn't eat it. Gu Zhuoyan used a toothpick to pick all the mushrooms and onions off the pizza, leaving almost nothing. He said helplessly, "Just pretend you're eating a flatbread."

Zhuang Fanxin chuckled, watching Gu Zhuoyan as he ate. The fact that the other guy had applied his medicine and gotten him food really moved him. He suddenly felt that it wasn't so bad to lose face in front of Gu Zhuoyan, and said in a low voice, "Actually, I didn't fall."

After narrating the whole story in detail, he looked at the pizza. "Another slice."

Gu Zhuoyan said, "So if we want to find out who it was, we can only go back there to catch them."

"With my cautionary tale, it's not going to happen unless Old Feng goes himself." Zhuang Fanxin said indignantly, "They were all as tall as you, and they actually managed to lift me up. I need to eat more."

After Zhuang Fanxin had eaten his fill, Gu Zhuoyan picked up the homework to go home. He figured Zhuang Fanxin hadn't gotten anything done during the last class period and said, "Give me your copy too. Go to bed early today."

Zhuang Fanxin's heart felt as warm as the flatbread, but he still reminded him, "Don't get a perfect score again."

People become more sensitive and vulnerable when they are sick or injured. The moment the space beside him was empty, Zhuang Fanxin suddenly felt enveloped by a tide of loneliness. He tugged on Gu Zhuoyan's clothes and said haltingly, "I don't want to be alone."

Gu Zhuoyan stopped by the bed, his heart suddenly racing. He asked, "Then you want..."

Zhuang Fanxin looked up at him. "It would be nice if someone could stay with me."

'Hinting to this extent, and looking so pitiful with his injuries,' Gu Zhuoyan thought, his heart softening. 'Even if he asked me to marry into his family for a night, I could consider it.' He agreed gently, "Okay, then I'll—"

Zhuang Fanxin said happily, "Then bring Bond over, I'll return him to you tomorrow morning!"

Gu Zhuoyan doubted his own ears. 'Bond? He wants that stupid dog?'

'I'm so fucking speechless. Can a dog talk? Can it take care of him? A dog doesn't know shit!' Gu Zhuoyan's gentleness vanished into thin air, his expression like it was covered in a layer of frost from Mohe City, Heilongjiang Province. He went home to get the dog, probably kicking the German Shepherd 73648263 times in his mind on the way.

Zhuang Fanxin was happy now. He lay in bed hugging the German Shepherd and watching a movie. He ate potato chips while the dog ate biscuits, as happy as an immortal.

The next morning, Gu Zhuoyan waited at the Zhuang Family's door to hand over the homework with one hand and take back the dog with the other. He was relieved to see that the wound on Zhuang Fanxin's face had started to scab over. If it had truly left a scar, he would have been quite regretful.

Zhuang Fanxin was wearing a hooded jacket, covering the small scrapes on his arm. He asked, "Do you have tutoring at home again today?"

Gu Zhuoyan caught his meaning. "It's the last day. The teacher has a flight tonight." He saw Zhuang Xianyang come out and lowered his voice, "Just one more day, and I'll go to school with you tomorrow."

Zhuang Fanxin's face scrunched up. "Tomorrow is Saturday. You can go by yourself."

Gu Zhuoyan couldn't help but laugh. After Zhuang Fanxin turned around, he grabbed his hood and reminded him, "Don't go to the little corner today. Behave yourself, and even if you find out who those guys are, don't provoke them."

The car started and drove away until it was out of sight. Gu Zhuoyan led the dog home. He looked down and met the German Shepherd's dark eyes. His earlier composure and consideration instantly evaporated. He said coldly, "What are you looking at?"

Zhuang Fanxin was driven to school by Zhuang Xianyang. He kept his hood on the entire way, hiding the wound on his face. Qi Nan brought him a cake, a chiffon cake, a very large slice.

"My mom was originally going to make a soufflé," Qi Nan couldn't pronounce the word correctly, "but I asked her to make chiffon cake instead."

Zhuang Fanxin asked, "Why?"

Qi Nan said, "Because whenever I think about what happened yesterday, I get furious." He had also asked around in Classes 7 and 8. Someone had run into those guys in the bathroom at the time, so it seemed the culprits were indeed someone else.

"There were five of them in total!" Zhuang Fanxin took a big bite of cake and mumbled, "I think we can rule out the skinny guy and the short guy. Do you think it could be that chubby Brother Hao from Class 1?"

No one was in the mood for morning reading. The number of people joining the case discussion gradually increased. With a bang, the Sports Committee Member burst through the door, nearly knocking over Zhuang Fanxin's desk.

He threw himself onto Zhuang Fanxin's desk, panting, "The... the case is solved..."

People gathered around from all directions, their ears perked. The Sports Committee Member caught his breath and said with a mysterious expression, "After P.E. class on Tuesday, I took a school basketball home to play with for a few days because my own ball was lost by my little brother."

Zhuang Fanxin frowned. "Why don't you start from when your little brother was born?"

The Sports Committee Member had to cut it short. "I just went to the equipment room to return the ball and ran into two guys. I heard them talking about yesterday with so-and-so and whoever, anyway, a few other people. They were smoking in the little corner."

"That's them! Five of them!" Zhuang Fanxin said anxiously. "And then? What else did they say?"

"They also said they ran into a little idiot who told them to go smoke on the sports field and was asking for a beating." The Sports Committee Member paused, taking the opportunity to eat a bite of cake. "Little idiot, was that you?"

Finishing the chiffon cake certainly made him furious. Zhuang Fanxin was so angry he was speechless. Who else could it be?! The Sports Committee Member sniffled. "The guy said he originally wanted to beat him up, but he was so light when he lifted him that he couldn't bring himself to do it, so he only tossed him against the wall gently."

Everyone was stunned. Gently? Gently?!

The Class Monitor could no longer control his temper. "Just tell us which class they're from!"

The Sports Committee Member said, "Basketball Team One."

The Class Monitor's temper was immediately brought under control. Basketball Team One was made up of third-year students who basically only trained and didn't attend classes. After getting results in provincial competitions, they would be directly admitted to a sports college. They were a bunch of big, burly guys who loved to break the rules. The school turned a blind eye for the sake of the awards they won in competitions. Those cigarette butts were probably from smoking before morning training and after evening training.

Zhuang Fanxin thought despairingly, 'When they threw me, it was probably as easy as shooting a basket.'

The culprits' identities were now confirmed, but there was no concrete evidence to bring a complaint to the head teacher. They could either handle it privately or let it go with a laugh. The Sports Committee Member suggested, "I'll crowdfund ten yuan to install a security camera in the little corner to get evidence of them smoking."

Qi Nan said, "No matter how tough they are, there are only five of them. If all of us confront them together, can't we beat them?"

"Exactly!" The Class Monitor regained some confidence. "You can't just get beaten up for nothing. Many hands make light work. Cohesion creates strength, unity gives birth to hope."

The boys were in a heated discussion. Zhuang Fanxin sat in the middle, conflicted. He remembered Gu Zhuoyan's warning from the morning: don't go to the little corner, and don't provoke those people. He was right. If they went, a conflict was inevitable, and more people would probably get dragged into it, making it even harder to resolve.

"Thank you all for sticking up for me." He spoke up, having made a decision. "But let's just forget it. Let's not dwell on it. I believe Old Feng will catch them sooner or later."

Everyone found it hard to accept. They didn't disperse until Xia Wei entered the classroom. Zhuang Fanxin took out his textbook for morning reading, but as he stared at the lines of words, not many of them actually sank in.

The bruises still hurt. There was, after all, some grievance in choosing to smooth things over.

In the afternoon, the Xue Family's villa was quiet. Gu Zhuoyan was having lessons in the study. After three full days of high-intensity, high-efficiency tutoring, he really wanted to go out and get some fresh air.

He held out until six o'clock. The teacher finished the lesson, and the pre-competition classes were basically over. "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher." Gu Zhuoyan stretched. "What time is your flight tonight?"

The teacher said, "Eight-thirty. I'll go back to the hotel and then head to the airport. Where's your form?"

Gu Zhuoyan pulled the competition registration form out from under a stack of lecture notes. The teacher would take it back to help him register. The driver was already waiting. He saw the teacher out the main gate and said, "I'll be back home at the end of the month. I'll treat you to a meal then."

The SUV drove out of the alley. Gu Zhuoyan checked his watch; the timing was just right, not too early, not too late. He turned his head and shouted, "Grandpa, I've been cooped up all day. I'm going out for a walk."

Xue Maochen was drinking tea in the garden. Seeing his grandson was empty-handed, he figured he wasn't going far and said, "Go ahead. There's a park nearby."

Gu Zhuoyan only had his phone and wallet on him. He got to the small intersection and hailed a taxi. It was rush hour. Forty minutes later, he arrived at the entrance of Tianji High School. The sky looked like it was smudged with ink.

The first evening self-study session had just begun, and the campus was very quiet. Gu Zhuoyan walked slowly towards the Science Building, then turned into the little corner on its side. There were unswept fallen leaves on the ground. It seemed Zhuang Fanxin had been obedient and hadn't come here today.

About ten minutes later, a team of boys who had finished training left the gymnasium. Five of them, covered in sweat, went to their old spot to smoke. When they got to that nook and lit their cigarettes, they also saw Gu Zhuoyan's figure. One of them called out, "Who's there?"

It wasn't completely dark yet. Gu Zhuoyan stood with his hands in his pockets. "I'm on cleaning duty."

"Cleaning duty again?" The guys laughed and sauntered in. "Why isn't that little idiot from yesterday here? Are you guys taking turns, one per day?"

Gu Zhuoyan walked outwards, brushing past them. Just as he was about to exit, he turned and stopped, effectively blocking the way out. He took out his phone and wallet, placed them on the stairs, and said, "The guy from yesterday wasn't very good. He couldn't even sweep up the cigarette butts properly, so I came today."

At a time like this, words didn't need to be very explicit. Their auras made it clear whether they were friend or foe. The five of them understood. They took two harsh drags, threw down their cigarettes, and stamped them out forcefully.

Gu Zhuoyan unhurriedly took off his watch, like a refined gentleman.

Inside the Science Building, Zhuang Fanxin had just finished attentively appreciating an ancient poem. He took out his phone and saw a text message from Gu Zhuoyan sent twenty minutes ago—I'll pick you up after school today.

He smiled to himself, then suddenly heard an extremely piercing scream.