Xiao Chen raised his hand to cover his forehead, hesitating whether he should jump out of the car window.
He didn't want to break the peaceful yet ambiguous atmosphere, but the intense eye contact between his two friends was making his teeth ache.
All he did was mention a "hero saving the beauty" scenario, which, to be precise, wasn't even accurate because the roles of the hero and the beauty were slightly different from what people typically imagined.
He didn't dare to say it outright, so he joked with what he thought was emotional intelligence, "How about I take another lap around the block?"
The car had already reached the entrance of the neighborhood and had stopped.
Xiao Chen, appearing to be considerate, said, "Anyway, it's not too late."
He Chuan Zhou opened the car door, bent down before leaving, and said goodnight to them.
Xiao Chen waved out the car window, then turned back to ask Zhou Tuoxing to come sit in the front, only to find his friend staring intently at the now-empty corner, looking as if his soul had flown away.
He asked innocently, "Brother, is there money growing outside?"
Zhou Tuoxing shot him a cold look, and his action of closing the door was equally unfeeling. After switching to the passenger seat and fastening his seatbelt, he closed his eyes and leaned back, clearly not interested in talking.
Xiao Chen: "??" Did he do something wrong?
---
He Chuan Zhou turned on the main light and stood at the doorway for a moment, looking at the piles of various old and messy items in the living room, feeling a sudden urge to clean up.
Last time she cleared out two old nightstands and a nearly collapsing TV cabinet, creating quite a bit of space. But the biggest project was the stack of boxes filled with books, piled half a meter high against the wall, which was blocking the light.
After a moment of consideration, she decided to start with the large furniture for maximum efficiency, like the old wooden desk in their house.
However, after squatting for less than fifteen minutes, her back muscles began to feel weak, and she decided to take a break.
When she went to the bathroom to shower, she checked her back in the mirror.
There were no obvious bruises yet, and it didn't hurt much, but the real extent of the injury would likely show in the next couple of days. She couldn't apply medication to this area herself and would have to wait until she went to the station to have Xu Yu take a look.
Back in the living room, facing a row of high school notebooks she had just pulled out of the desk drawer, He Chuan Zhou felt a headache coming on. She really felt quite awful. If no one helped her, she might still be unable to move by the time the neighbor downstairs finished their college entrance exams next year.
She squatted by the coffee table again, bundling up discarded books to take to the recycling station the next day.
While checking if there was any money hidden between the pages, she found a math workbook that Zhou Tuoxing had lost.
She casually flipped through a few pages, her fingers stopping on one with some problem-solving steps she had scribbled down.
When explaining problems to Zhou Tuoxing, there were rare moments when, after explaining twice and he still didn't understand, she would silently think he might be hopeless.
Because some problems were really simple.
She would usually suggest tactfully, "Why don't you ask the teacher? I might not be good at explaining."
Zhou Tuoxing would sincerely ask back, "Is your patience that limited?"
Her unnecessary pride often led her to waste an unmeasurable amount of time due to this not-so-clever provocation.
Fortunately, Zhou Tuoxing was smarter than she thought and usually wouldn't take up too much of her time. When she started to lose patience, he would skillfully grasp the problem-solving techniques.
In the first half of the second year of high school, Zhou Tuoxing's grades improved steadily, and after the new year, he was promoted to the top class, officially becoming her classmate.
To this day, He Chuan Zhou still suspects he was fooling her.
No, she's pretty sure he definitely was.
After finishing her tidying up, she moved everything to the doorway and then lay down on the bed to rest.
Perhaps due to the earlier fight draining her energy, sleep came quickly this time. In a half-awake state, she vaguely saw a scene of Zhou Tuoxing secretly coming to City A.
In the seemingly real yet dreamlike scene, Zhou Tuoxing usually walked alone on the streets. From deserted tree-lined paths to the school gate crowded with students, or the bustling city center. He kept his head down, as he had described before, taking pictures of various mundane and uninteresting scenes with his phone, solitary and lonely.
He still looked like he did at eighteen.
He Chuan Zhou wanted to go up and greet him, ask him why he came back, but she found herself standing too far away, unable to get close.
She thought that with Zhou Tuoxing's personality, he might not do well at B University. But with a friend like Xiao Chen, he shouldn't be too lonely.
He didn't lose his temper often, and apart from being somewhat unapproachable, he rarely offended anyone. Being so good at his studies, he was probably quite popular and enjoyed his time at university. Only during holidays would he throw a fit and wander around City A for a couple of days.
So He Chuan Zhou didn't quite understand why he would return to a cold, unwelcoming city like City A when his college life was new and exciting.
This confusion lingered in her dream, swirling around twice before waking her up.
The phone screen had just gone dark. She reached out, picked it up, and saw a message from Zhou Tuoxing saying he would come to pick her up for the hospital the next morning. The tone was somewhat forcefully firm.
After He Xu passed away, He Chuan Zhou developed a bad habit.
She turned off all social media notifications, not responding promptly to people's messages of concern. After starting work, her daily routine became so fast paced that she barely maintained any social interactions. She rarely replied to non-work-related chats during work hours.
This time, she glanced at the message and put her phone down. After a few seconds, she picked it up again and replied with "Okay."
---
The next day, after getting an X-ray at the hospital, it was already afternoon.
There was no major injury, but due to the delay in treatment, the bruise on her back looked quite alarming, extending about twenty centimeters from her left shoulder downward. The new nurse gasped upon seeing it.
Back at the station, she was immediately pulled aside by Brother Huang.
Brother Huang asked with a stern face, "Last night, you were beaten up by Tao Xianyong's son when you were on your way home?"
Shao Zhixin's hearing could sometimes surpass human limits.
Sitting in the corner of the room against the wall, Brother Huang's voice wasn't loud, but as soon as he spoke, Shao Zhixin, who had been drowsy, snapped awake, jumped up, and exclaimed, "No way? Captain He got beaten up?"
Then, regaining his senses, he angrily cursed, "That's outrageous! Why beat us up? What's it got to do with us?"
He Chuan Zhou’s intended words were preempted by Shao Zhixin. She glanced at him, calmly replied, "Yes," and asked, "How did you know?"
"Got to have some sources, right? Otherwise, how could I live up to my reputation?" Brother Huang examined her arm, looking her up and down, and asked, "Are you okay?"
He Chuan Zhou said, "I'm fine. Zhou Tuoxing got hurt worse."
Brother Huang muttered some curses under his breath, then praised, " Zhou Tuoxing is not bad, he really steps up when needed."
He Chuan Zhou paused and said, "Then he better not step up."
Brother Huang patted her shoulder, laughing, "What's this about? Looking down on him? I think he can take a beating, just give him another chance next time."
Xu Yu indignantly exclaimed, "Guangyi may be a big company in City A, but they aren't yet powerful enough to do whatever they want. Tao Xianyong's son is completely lawless!"
She hurried over to He Chuan Zhou, her expression changing to one of pitiful pleading, "Captain He, I can't fight. How about you take me home tonight? Please, darling!"
Shao Zhixin quickly flipped through his contacts, saying, "No way, I'm calling my girlfriend to pick me up after work too."
Everyone in the office looked at him incredulously.
Brother Huang thought he misheard, "You want your girlfriend to come protect you?"
"Yeah," Shao Zhixin said matter-of-factly, "She's really tough. If her dad hadn't forbidden her from attending police school, she might have been our colleague."
Xu Yu looked at him with shock and admiration, humbly asking, "What's your secret? How did you get a girlfriend? I want to date too. Tell me how to charm people!"
Shao Zhixin, looking smug and irritating, replied, "It's fate!"
Everyone jeered, pretending to want to hit him.
---
In the evening, City A reached its busiest time of the day.
From a high vantage point, the main roads were packed with cars, stretching endlessly in both directions. The air was filled with the mingled scents of food and exhaust fumes.
Tao Ruiming was stuck in traffic. He had spent the whole day wandering the streets, with nowhere to go and not wanting to go home.
Tao Siyue had called him twice and then stopped, leaving him feeling both frustrated and humiliated.
A number had been persistently trying to add him on WeChat, though he had no idea how they got his contact information.
Bored, Tao Ruiming accepted the request. The other person immediately initiated a voice call, which was his least favorite way to communicate. He wanted to delete the contact right away but, having nothing else to do, he reluctantly answered.
"Hello?"
The person on the other end spoke gently, not sensing his rudeness at all, "Hello, is this Tao Ruiming? My name is Han Songshan. I'm a friend of your father."
Tao Ruiming thought for a moment but didn't recall the name, responding rudely, "Yeah, right. Nine out of ten people say they're my dad's friend. I've never heard of you. Who are you?"
The other person replied, "You can check my Moments."
Tao Ruiming scoffed, thinking this person was a bit off, but he opened the person's Moments anyway. The first post he saw was a tribute to his father, Tao Xianyou.
"Rest in peace, Mr. Tao. Regretful."
The post included a photo of Han Songshan with Tao Xianyou, though it looked like it was taken over a decade ago.
Tao Ruiming zoomed in on the photo to examine the details.
The man standing next to his father was holding a camera, with a work badge hanging around his neck, the words too small to read.
The two men had their shoulders together, smiling brightly, appearing to be very close.
Tao Ruiming switched back to the chat and replied, "My dad is dead. He's already been buried."
Han Songshan replied, "I know."
Tao Ruiming asked, "What do you want?"
Han Songshan sent another photo, saying, "Actually, this is an article I wrote."