Nobody's expecting me, so it's okay if I don't go back.

A sound of a can being crushed suddenly broke out at the end of the quiet sixth-floor corridor, but the people facing off at the moment had no time to pay attention to it.

A cold laugh escaped Chen Sizhe's throat. He took out his lawyer's license from his inner pocket and held it in his hand, coldly looking at the man in front of him whose expression had changed. He said slowly, "I really am a lawyer."

Coming to his senses, Zhang Xia raised his hand to snatch the lawyer's license from Chen Sizhe's hand, but the latter had already taken it back.

He clenched his fist and said in a drawn-out tone, "Who knows if your lawyer's license is real? There are tons of fake licenses these days."

“I have no obligation to prove myself to you. If you don’t pay the balance now, I don’t mind spending some time taking you to court,” Chen Sizhe said coldly.

Judging that his patience had run out, he glanced sideways at Bingbing Mingri high in the sky, clicked his tongue and said, "Now you can either pay the final payment or go through legal procedures, it's your choice."

It felt good to be able to stay behind others without lifting a finger. Wen Dai, always eager for a good show, peeked out and raised an eyebrow at Zhang Xia, who was hesitating, saying, "He really is a lawyer, the kind who charges eight thousand a hour for consultations."

However, Wen Dai's reminder made Zhang Xia think he had found a breakthrough. He argued confidently, "How could a lawyer who charges 8,000 yuan per hour for consultations possibly work in this industry? Besides, you've spent so much time here, and I'm only paying you 8,000 yuan in total..."

His words were interrupted by Wen Dai, who stepped forward and gestured for him to pause.

"Have you ever considered that not everyone in this line of work is in it for the money? Take the guy next to me, for example. Look at his clothes, they're obviously expensive, right? And look at his demeanor, he's clearly from a wealthy family, isn't he? Have you ever considered that he's in this line of work purely out of kindness? Although he doesn't act very kind, he's willing to spend his 8,000 yuan an hour helping you with this kind of thing, and he's even willing to talk to you like this. Isn't that practically charity? After all, not everyone is willing to do this kind of thing, like casting pearls before swine."

Then she changed to a gesture, standing on Chen Sizhe's left and then on his right, both hands palms up, one higher and one lower, facing Chen Sizhe.

Even though Zhang Xia didn't want to accept reality, he had to face it. The quality of the clothes on the man in front of him was such that even though he didn't know the brand, he could tell that they were not cheap. It seemed that what the man had said earlier about the fee he had given him not even being a fraction of the price of this coat was true.

He gritted his teeth, reluctantly switched his phone to the payment page, his face tense, his voice full of reluctance: "I'll scan you."

Smiling, Wen Dai held out her phone's payment page and said in a raised voice, "Why didn't you do this earlier? All that fuss was just an attempt to skip out on the bill, and in the end, you still have to pay. You've accomplished nothing but wasting time."

After the transfer was completed, Zhang Xia put his phone away and snorted coldly, "Let me tell you, if my mother-in-law still doesn't leave after I do what you say, I will ask you for a refund."

“It’s impossible not to go, unless you didn’t follow the procedure I told you. I will send you the specific process again in text form on WeChat. Just read it carefully and do it yourself.” Wen Dai retorted without hesitation. Looking at the extra amount in the balance of the payment app, she immediately transferred four thousand to Chen Sizhe.

Looking up from her phone screen, Wen Dai glanced at the end of the corridor and walked towards it.

Chen Sizhe's gaze followed her back, his brow furrowing slightly before relaxing as he realized her destination.

He turned around and followed behind her, leaving Zhang Xia standing there alone.

At the far end, around the corner, there was a storage room. The broken lock on the door was just for show. Wen Dai glanced at the pale yellow door in front of her, then kicked the bottom of the door. The door creaked open, releasing the dust and grime from inside, which hit her in the face.

She shrank her neck, frowned, waved her raised hand in front of her mouth and nose, and lowered her gaze to the deflated aluminum can by the door.

The can was covered in dust, and the steel was rusted. The dented area looked more like it had been stepped on than squeezed. It seemed to belong to a child.

She raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose, and placed the other hand on the door that had been closed again. Stepping into the storage room, the first thing she saw was a stack of cardboard boxes reaching the ceiling, and next to the door were several old mops. It was as if she had stepped into a world forty years ago.

"You really love meddling in other people's business." Chen Sizhe, who had followed behind her, suddenly spoke, his deep voice carrying a sarcastic tone.

She grabbed the mop and used it to prop the door shut, keeping it open. Wen Dai turned to look at him, her tone laced with a carefree smugness: "Because who knows, maybe my meddling in this matter will create a positive domino effect? ​​Perhaps the next domino to fall will be used at another time. Since it's happening around me, and I just happen to want to see and intervene, unless I gain nothing, I have to get involved. Just consider me bored."

At the end of the corridor was only a thin window, its pale light mingling with the soft sunlight, casting a warm glow on her profile. In that instant, Chen Sizhe seemed to see starlight gleaming in her eyes.

There are always some people who are like cockroaches, indestructible and always have strength, even if they themselves suffer greatly.

Her long hair, which was hanging loosely over her body, was probably because she was too lazy to comb it. She seemed annoyed by her hair at the moment, and slapped her hands together as if brushing off dust. Then she raised her arms and put them behind her neck to gather her long hair and tie it with a hair tie.

Wen Dai's goal was exceptionally clear. Any cardboard boxes, discarded basins, or buckets that blocked her way would be kicked aside. She tilted her head slightly, her gaze purposefully tracking anything in the corner.

Squeezed into the innermost corner of the room, Wen Dai turned her gaze to the mountain of cardboard boxes on the left. Blocked in the corner was an abandoned metal cabinet, with deformed cardboard boxes right next to it.

In the now quiet storage room, the sound of bubble wrap bursting open echoed, seemingly from Ning Mi and Xiao Xi.

Immediately following was a stillness so profound that even breathing seemed impossible. Wen Dai's gaze lingered on a small opening in the mountain of cardboard boxes. They appeared to have been hastily folded, with plastic bottles piled inside the deflated, slanted boxes. Through a crack exposed by the compressed boxes, one could glimpse a white sweater.

A sudden laugh escaped Wen Dai's nose as she crossed her arms, adopting a posture of waiting for her prey. "Should you come out by yourself or should I drag you out? Sneaking around in the storage room, you were eavesdropping quite a bit, weren't you?"

She thought the pressure from this statement would be enough to make the person hiding inside come out, but to her surprise, she waited for another five minutes and the child she was playing hide-and-seek with didn't come out.

Wen Dai reached for the cardboard boxes and, caught off guard, knocked over the mountain of boxes. The hider, who had been hit on the head by a box, reacted much faster than she had imagined. He immediately slammed the box containing a bunch of plastic bottles at her and turned sharply to run out the door.

"Damn it." Covered in plastic bottles, Wen Dai couldn't help but furrow her brow in disgust. She wanted to chase after it, but the plastic bottles rolling on the ground seemed to be ready to make her fall on her butt if she dared to walk.

However, the child who rushed towards the door could not escape Chen Sizhe's arrest at the door.

The child who suddenly ran out had hair that was almost up to his nose. Many of his hairs were matted and tangled, covered in grease and dirt. Although it was already springtime, the temperature probably wasn't warm enough for him to go out in his clothes—a single white fine-knit sweater with blackened cuffs and several loose threads that revealed a black thermal undershirt underneath; black pants that looked like they were lined with fleece, but the surface was also extremely worn; and his sneakers had his toes sticking out.

Chen Sizhe, who was holding the little boy by the back of his collar, couldn't help but frown. When the boy turned around, the first thing that caught Chen Sizhe's eye was a pair of fierce eyes.

Like a wolf cub.

Before long, after passing through the obstacles of rolling plastic bottles and messy cardboard boxes, Wen Dai emerged. Her hair, which was tied up with a hair tie, was loose and hanging down in a lot. She tucked the strands of hair that were sticking to her face behind her ears and focused her gaze on the culprit.

The boy was extremely thin, his face was skin close to his bones, and his flesh was too thin. You could tell that his bone structure was good. Judging from his pale skin and facial features, he must have good genes. His white knitted sweater was out of place with his cotton pants and sneakers. Although the sweater was dirty and torn, the difference in material was obvious.

The child's sneakers seemed to be a little too big, with the heels hanging loosely, but his toes were peeking out of the holes in the toes; he wasn't wearing socks.

The little boy was probably clenching his teeth, his almond-shaped eyes filled with fierce intent, and the muscles in his face were trembling slightly.

It is clearly very aggressive.

Wen Dai took two steps forward and rudely patted his cheek twice with the back of her hand. "I'm not here to arrest you, and you're throwing things at me. You're very rude."

Her calm and leisurely tone did not lower the boy's guard. The little boy who had been slapped in the face suddenly became an enraged wolf. He opened his mouth as if to show his fangs and stretched his head toward her, trying to bite her arm.

However, Chen Sizhe grabbed him by the back of his collar, making him personally act out a scene of "the late emperor's unfinished undertaking of his great cause was cut short by his death."

Wen Dai, who seemed like a strange aunt to the little boy, was completely oblivious to her own shortcomings. She frowned, raised her chin, and immediately began to criticize, "Tsk, what a fierce child."

“You scared him. Wen Dai, can you stop being so weird? I’ll suspect you have some kind of fetish. Even if you’re my business partner, I won’t cover for you.” Chen Sizhe still refused to lower his chin, his arrogant posture making one want to punch him, but Wen Dai was now somewhat in the wrong.

Wen Dai, who had pursed her lips into her teeth, blinked twice. Her bent-over posture turned into a squatting position in front of the little boy. She met his deep, fierce almond-shaped eyes and smiled without any fear, her dimples greeting him.

"Were you abducted? Did you escape from the traffickers? I'm just guessing... But I really don't think you're the kind of kid who throws a tantrum and runs away from home and ends up like this. You must have lived in a group environment, with people older than you, or people stronger than you."

She raised her hand and lightly touched the little boy's sweater, shoes, and trousers. Her eyelids twitched, her gaze lowered, then rose again. Two pairs of eyes met—in one pair, the fierceness in their depths was momentarily replaced by stunned silence.

"Your pants were taken by someone else. The person who could fit into your pants should be around your age. Of course, it could also be an older dwarf, but the probability is too small. Your shoes were probably taken by someone else as well. I'm not sure about the rules of the group you were in before. It's possible that the person who made the rules used your shoes and pants as a prize for someone else. Similarly, taking your shoes and pants could also be considered a punishment for you."

Wen Dai never looked away from the little boy, carefully observing the details of his expression.

The little boy, who had been baring his fangs in an attempt to scare away these potential threats, was now bewildered. He relaxed his body, which had been trying to rush away from the place, his clenched teeth loosened, and his tense jawbone no longer pricked his flesh.

His eyes met hers blankly, but his lips remained tightly closed.

The person playing the role of the analyst suddenly had to wrap up filming, and Wen Dai abruptly changed her tone and expression. She shrank her neck and looked at the little boy with disdain, pointing at his hair and his clothes, but never making any contact with him.

"Look at yourself now, all dirty. How long has it been since you washed your hair? Judging from your appearance, I guess you must have come from a good family, right? Your parents must be looking for you. What are you doing huddled here?"

At that very moment, his eyes suddenly dimmed, the limp hedgehog lowered its head, and its still-childish voice became terribly hoarse: "I don't have a mom or dad."

The critical action abruptly stopped.

Wen Dai met his eyes in surprise.

Once again, the firm words echoed in my ears: "I have no father or mother."

His thick, long eyelashes drooped, and the little boy's voice suddenly became weak: "They're abroad, busy with work, and don't have time to take care of me; the nanny beats me. I was caught by human traffickers, you guessed right. Nobody expects me, it's okay if I don't go back."

No one is expecting me, so it doesn't matter if I don't go back—Wen Dai's heart suddenly felt as if it had been pierced by a needle.

Wen Dai reached out again and cupped the little boy's dirty cheek, brushing away the dust with her thumb. Her emotions were complex as she gazed into his eyes, her tone softening slightly: "Although I don't even know your name yet, I want to tell you: even if no one expects you, don't give up. Strive for the best possible conditions for yourself. As long as you have principles, don't harm society or break the law, and don't force yourself, it's okay to use any means necessary to achieve those best conditions."

"Hope is something you give yourself. It's not that having hope will lead to disappointment, or that having expectations will result in failure. These are the things that support you and help you move forward, so don't give up on them. I can't say whether your parents expected you to be here, because I am neither you nor your parents. If you haven't asked them, and they certainly haven't said they didn't expect you, then when you get home, you should ask them that question yourself. Don't give yourself the answer."