Chapter One: His Dog

The notification that "5,000 yuan has been transferred to Xu Chen's account" popped up late.

The moment the key was inserted into the lock, Cheng Yin's phone vibrated; it was an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Come over here now." Xu Chen's voice came through the radio, carrying the noisy background noise typical of a KTV room and a hoarse voice soaked in alcohol.

The call ended without even an address being left, but Cheng Yin's fingers had already automatically opened the ticket-buying app.

The next high-speed train was forty minutes away, and she didn't even plan to go home to pack her luggage.

With a swift swipe of the finger across the screen, one can book tickets and hail a ride in one smooth motion.

"Driver, to the high-speed rail station, please hurry." She got into the taxi, gave her destination, and immediately opened WeChat.

She clicked on the large image and, in the blurry background, recognized the three bottles of Ace of Spades and the fruit cut covered in gold leaf that she had ordered half an hour earlier.

Xu Chen was always like this, treating everything she gave him as a joke.

The high-speed train cut through the night, and Cheng Yin's expressionless face was reflected in the window. She opened her memo app and began listing the work items she needed to ask for leave for tomorrow.

The supervisor wouldn't be happy, but it didn't matter; she was already used to Xu Chen disrupting all her plans. The last time was when he left midway through the company's annual meeting, and the time before that was when he suddenly disappeared for three days before a client meeting.

She could always find an excuse, just like she could always find a reason to skip class in high school to bring Xu Chen lunch.

At the entrance of the KTV, Cheng Yin paid the fare with her mobile phone.

She took a deep breath under the neon sign and straightened the clean T-shirt and jeans she had hastily changed into in the high-speed train restroom.

Xu Chen hated that she appeared in front of his friends in business attire, saying it made her look like a "pretentious bitch."

When the door to the private room was pushed open, a wave of murky air, a mixture of alcohol, cigarette smoke, and cheap perfume, hit you.

Xu Chen sat on the sofa in the center, with a heavily made-up girl on each side. When he saw Cheng Yin, a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"Hey, our ATM lady is here." He raised his glass, and a burst of laughter erupted in the private room.

Xu Chen was thinner than when they last met, his cheekbones casting sharp shadows under the shifting lights of the private room. "Come here," Xu Chen beckoned with his finger.

Cheng Yin walked over and stopped half a meter away from him.

Xu Chen suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, the force so strong that she staggered.

"Who told you to stand?" He spoke softly, but the music in the private room changed at that moment, and everyone heard it.

Cheng Yin slowly knelt on the carpet stained with wine.

The first time she was treated like this in high school was at the basketball court, where Xu Chen made her kneel down and tie her shoelaces in front of all her brothers.

Cheng Yin's gaze fell on the phone soaking in the ice bucket behind him. The water had overflowed, forming a puddle on the glass surface. She needed to get him a new phone.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Xu Chen pushed a half-full glass of whiskey mixed with cigarette ash in front of her, "Drink this."

Cheng Yin took the glass. The burning sensation of the alcohol in her throat reminded her of when she was an adult, when Xu Chen took her to a bar for the first time and forced her to drink three glasses of tequila.

She vomited so badly that day that she felt dizzy and disoriented, but Xu Chen just patted her back and said, "Go on after you're done vomiting. My dog ​​can't be so useless."

When the glass was emptied, whistles and applause erupted in the private room.

Xu Chen seemed satisfied. He stubbed out his cigarette, then suddenly leaned close to Cheng Yin's ear, his breath hot against her earlobe: "You're still as shameless as ever."

Cheng Yin's eyelashes trembled, but she did not look away.

Xu Chen smelled of cologne and tobacco, a scent that had both frightened and reassured her since high school.

“I’m going to Macau next week.” Xu Chen leaned back on the sofa, tapping his knee absently with his fingers. “I need someone to carry my bag.”

Cheng Yin looked up: "I can ask for leave."

Xu Chen chuckled, "Who said I was going to take you?" He turned to the girl on his right, "Baby, want to go to Macau?"

The girl giggled and nodded, her red-nailed fingers tracing circles on Xu Chen's chest.

Cheng Yin watched quietly, the alcohol in her stomach churning into a dull ache. This wasn't the first time; Xu Chen always deliberately flirted with other women in front of her.

"Brother Chen, your little follower is really obedient." A man with dyed yellow hair approached and looked Cheng Yin up and down with ill intent. "Can I borrow her for a couple of days?"

Xu Chen's eyes turned cold instantly. He grabbed a wine bottle from the table and smashed it at the feet of the blond-haired man, sending shards of glass flying everywhere.

"Who do you think you are?" His voice was soft, but the temperature in the private room seemed to drop suddenly. "My dog, only I can beat him."

The party ended at 3 a.m. After Xu Chen sent everyone away, only the two of them remained in the private room.

Cheng Yin was still kneeling on the ground, her knees already numb.

"Get up." Xu Chen kicked her calf.

Cheng Yin tried to stand up, but her numb legs wouldn't obey her commands.

Xu Chen clicked his tongue, grabbed her arm, and dragged her to the sofa. He roughly rolled up her trouser leg, revealing large bruises on her knee.

"Idiot, can't you move yourself?" he cursed, but then pulled out a tube of ointment from his pocket, scooped out a large dollop, and smeared it on Cheng Yin's knee.

The ointment was icy cold, a stark contrast to the temperature of his fingertips.

Looking at his lowered eyelashes, Cheng Yin suddenly remembered that winter in her second year of high school. Xu Chen had come back from a fight, his right hand joints a bloody mess. She hid in the men's restroom to bandage him, and he, like always, would scold her for meddling while letting her treat his wounds.

"Why are you still following me?" Xu Chen suddenly asked, tightening his grip. "Do you know who I am?"

Cheng Yin was silent for a moment: "You saved me."

Xu Chen sneered: "You call that saving me? I was just in a bad mood that day and wanted to find someone to hit."

In an abandoned warehouse behind the high school building, three girls cornered her, pulling her hair and writing on her school uniform with markers. Xu Chen, a cigarette dangling from his lips, walked by and kicked open the warehouse door. He didn't fight back against the girls; he simply said "Get lost," and they ran away in fright.

For Cheng Yin, that was salvation.

Xu Chen's phone suddenly vibrated. He glanced at the caller ID, his expression turning grim. After answering the call, he grabbed his coat and headed out.

"Get lost," he said without turning his head.

Cheng Yin knew it was pointless to ask; Xu Chen never explained anything to her. She slowly stood up; the ointment on her knee had dried, forming a thin, transparent film.