Chapter 8: Which Part Offended You?

A man climbed out of the driver's seat—thirties, with a somewhat refined look about him.

He carried a leather briefcase under his arm. Not tall, but he carried himself with weight. This had to be Zhao Na's boyfriend.

Zhao Na slipped her arm through his and gazed up at him prettily. "This is my high school classmate. She was the beauty of our school back in the day."

Then she looked at Xia Wu. "My boyfriend, Liu Qian."

Xia Wu kept her smile and gave a slight nod by way of greeting.

Liu Qian's eyes held a shrewd, calculating glint—a little sharp. He looked Xia Wu over from head to toe, so carefully it was almost imperceptible, and a flicker of admiration passed through his gaze. Somehow it didn't come off as offensive.

"Any classmate of Nana's is a friend of mine," he said. "It's too hot out. Where are you headed, Miss Xia? Let us give you a ride."

"No need to trouble yourselves. I'm just wandering. You two go on ahead." Xia Wu declined. Liu Qian might have given off the air of a perfect gentleman, but she had caught the calculation beneath it.

Zhao Na was melting. The heat was enough to roast a person alive. She twisted her waist. "You—you'll never change that stubborn streak of yours. One day it's going to cost you."

Then she turned to Liu Qian, voice dripping with sweetness. "It's too hot. Let's go first. You don't know her—she's stubborn as a mule. Once she's made up her mind, ten bulls couldn't drag her back. Back in the day—"

The rest of the sentence died in her throat. Her mouth fell open.

Broad daylight, and she was seeing a ghost?

Xia Wu turned. Behind her, a boy was walking toward them along the elm shade, treading through the spilled sunlight.

The scorching sun had softened the asphalt just slightly. Flecks of light fell across Xu Ying's shoulders, and the cicadas rose and fell in chorus, filling the streets of the little town.

"Isn't it hot? What are you standing around here for? Go home." Xu Ying handed Xia Wu a small fan as he spoke, then brushed the damp hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her ear.

The motion was practiced, natural—as if he'd done it a thousand times.

Xia Wu blinked, then quickly lowered her head. "I'm just looking around. I'll head back soon. What are you doing here?"

"Mm. I saw you just now. Didn't want you out in this heat too long—didn't want you getting heatstroke." That was all the explanation Xu Ying offered, and nothing more.

But that one sentence nearly made Zhao Na's jaw hit the ground. Was this really Xu Ying—the Xu Ying who said nothing to anyone about anything?

Hadn't the rumor been that Xia Wu was throwing herself at him, that Xu Ying was only with her because he'd been backed into a corner?

The way he was acting, this didn't look forced at all.

"This is my high school classmate Zhao Na. We just ran into each other, said a few words, and we were about to leave." Xia Wu's face was flushed from the sun. Under the blazing light, even the fine down on her cheeks was visible.

Xu Ying nodded slightly and said nothing. Zhao Na, Qian Na—what did he care? He didn't know either of them.

But his body shifted forward a half step, blocking Liu Qian's line of sight to Xia Wu.

From the moment Xu Ying appeared, Zhao Na's eyes hadn't left him.

Xu Ying's youthful presence was simply magnetic. Some people only had to show up and everyone else was reduced to mud at their feet. He was born to live in the light.

"I'm heading out. You two do as you like." Xia Wu turned to leave. Xu Ying followed behind, head lowered, and as he walked he leaned in close and murmured something in her ear.

When Zhao Na glanced back, she realized Liu Qian's eyes had been fixed on Xia Wu the whole time—burning so hot it was impossible to ignore.

She shoved him. "Let's go. What are you staring at? Am I not prettier than her?" The question came out a little defensive, but she couldn't stand men who lost their heads the second a better-looking woman walked by.

"Of course not. You're the prettiest. Our Nana's the best." Liu Qian snapped back to himself at once, smiling at Zhao Na. He put an arm around her waist, opened the car door for her like a gentleman, and even put a hand on the top of the frame so she wouldn't bump her head.

"Damn right. But what's the point of being pretty when you've got a one-track mind? She's still hung up on Xu Ying. I'd like to see how that ends for her." Zhao Na was sweating buckets, her makeup running. She hurried into the car to fix it.

In the rearview mirror, the two figures shrank into the distance—but Xu Ying's face was carved into her mind, sharper by the second.

Xu Ying was a glacier that never thawed. From the day he set foot in Shiqiao High, girls had flocked around him, and every one of them had been driven off by his coldness.

Only Xia Wu never gave up. In the end, no one knew what she'd done to wear him down until he agreed to be with her.

Zhao Na thought: if she'd had Xia Wu's persistence back then, maybe Xu Ying would have been hers.

Xia Wu stopped and turned to Xu Ying. "You don't need to walk me any further. Go on back to the shop. I'll head home myself in a bit."

"Mm. Anything else you want to say?" Xu Ying was tall—Xia Wu had to tilt her head back to see his face.

His forehead was slick with sweat. He must have run over.

Xia Wu pulled out a tissue, rose on her tiptoes, and carefully dabbed at the boy's forehead.

Under the elm shade, the girl's expression was focused and serious, as if she were performing something sacred.

The boy bent slightly at the waist and lowered his head.

"I'm going home now. Go do what you need to do." Xia Wu looked up at Xu Ying and smiled, gentle.

"Mm. Don't shower right when you get back. Wait till the sweat dries." Xu Ying gave the instruction and strode off.

You could tell he'd slipped out on a tight schedule.

In the end, Xia Wu found a part-time job at a bookstore.

They needed someone to shelve and organize books. The owner was away on summer vacation with his daughter for a while, and Xia Wu had happened to come along at just the right time. She could start tomorrow.

Xia Wu was thrilled. This was her first time earning money, after all. She had to go tell Grandma—otherwise the old woman would spend every day waiting for her to come back to the countryside.

All day, Xu Ying's phone didn't ring once—nothing but China Mobile texts and a few spam calls.

He opened his chat with Xia Wu. The last message was from a few days ago, when she'd said she had a surprise for him and told him to come home early.

A surprise, all right. She'd bought a set of things that made him feel both mortified and furious, and then she'd insisted on trying every single one of them on him.

His fingertip scrolled up. No new messages.

Normally, even when she wasn't throwing a fit, she'd be asking:

"Have you eaten? I found another fun place today. You have to come with me next time."

"Have you been talking to any girls? Remember, you're a married man. You have to reject them, understand?"

"Xu Ying, the showerhead at home seems loose. Remember to tighten it when you get back."

"Xu Ying, why aren't you home yet? It's so late, and it's pitch black. I'm scared."

…

Usually, Xu Ying would only reply: Mm.

Got it.

No.

—that sort of thing. Just enough to count as an answer.

Before, whenever Xia Wu came to the shop, she'd wave for Xu Ying to come out, or she'd go in and talk to him for a while.

The last time, he'd lost his temper, and that had made her hold back a little.

Had he scared her last time? Was that why she hadn't come in to find him when she reached the shop entrance today?

But hadn't he gone out looking for her?

That night, Xu Ying went home. The house was empty—not a soul in sight.

He pulled out his phone at once and called Xia Wu. It rang for a long time before someone finally picked up. "Hello? Who's this?"

Xu Ying's chest tightened. "What kind of new game is this?"