Her body rose and fell with Ji Bei's breath. The two men faced each other, their faces a mess, but Ji Bei's eyes were even more arrogant, like a victorious rooster.

Chen Ningsheng withdrew his fist from the woman's ear.

He withdrew his gaze from the two of them, rubbed his shoulder, which was clearly injured, and Xu Xinchen heard him hiss softly.

Her heart tightened, but she still didn't look at him. She let go of Ji Bei and said to him, "Come on, let's go back to your room and put on some ointment."

The two left together.

In Ji Bei's room, Xu Xinchen opened the ointment, applied a little to his forehead, and smeared it on.

Ji Bei remained motionless as she ravaged him, his eyelashes lowered, lost in thought.

She applied the dressing to his wound, covered it, and got up.

Ji Bei grabbed her arm, looked up at her, and asked, "Where are you going?"

"There might be guests downstairs, I'll go check..."

With a cry of "Ah!", Ji Bei suddenly clutched his stomach in pain.

"What's wrong with you?" Xu Xinchen asked anxiously as she crouched down to check on her.

"I don't know, he probably hit me just now."

Xu Xinchen, unaware of the severity of the situation, pulled him along, saying, "Let's go see a doctor first."

Ji Bei lay on the bed, clutching his stomach with one hand, and hurriedly pleaded, "I don't want to go to the hospital, just help me apply some more medicine."

"......."

Xu Xinchen applied medicine to his wounds as well. Ji Bei kept pestering her not to leave, saying he was hungry, thirsty, or bored. He just wanted her to stay with him every step of the way.

They lingered like this for a while, until dusk fell.

Ji Bei tidied his messy hair, got out of bed, and put on a coat. "Let's go, I'll take you home. It's not safe lately."

The two went downstairs, and as they passed the first-floor stairwell, she glanced inside unintentionally. It was empty, with only a broken door panel lying across the entrance.

Ji Bei escorted her home and stopped at her doorstep. The streetlights cast a cold glow, and the alley was dark and quiet, with only the occasional cough coming from the neighbor's yard.

Ji Bei touched the ground with his toes, looking at his own shadow, "I'll walk you home every day from now on."

"Um."

Xu Xinchen agreed without much thought, watching Ji Bei's figure disappear around the corner of the alley, when suddenly a figure flashed by on the right corner of the wall.

Her heart tightened, and she held her breath.

A figure flashed by, and the person darted out from behind the wall. Xu Xinchen's tense nerves finally relaxed when she saw the person.

Chen Ningsheng stood with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall and quietly watching her.

His lips were still bruised, but his expression showed no sign of distress; the injury only added to his sinister aura.

She could tell at a glance that he hadn't treated the wound.

But that's none of her business.

She turned away, refusing to look at him, took out her key, opened the door, and locked it from the inside, completely shutting out his handsome face from the outside.

She didn't go back to her room immediately, but stood in the courtyard for a while, looking at her own shadow.

She listened intently to the sounds outside the door, but there was no sound for a long time. She thought he must have left by now.

Just as she was about to go back to her room, with a thud, Chen Ningsheng leaned against the wall, easily jumped down, and landed on his feet in front of her.

"I have something to say to you."

His deep eyes gazed at her silently.

"Hmm." She walked to the door, took the lock, and unlocked it.

Xu Xinchen took out the medicine box from the cabinet and saw Chen Ningsheng standing by the bed with his hands behind his back, looking around her room.

The furniture in the cramped room was clearly visible, and he took it all in, yet his expression remained unchanged.

Xu Xinchen sat beside him and skillfully took out ointment, gauze, and alcohol to clean his wound.

The dim, yellow light shone down from above, casting a soft glow on her cheeks.

His gaze was focused, his dark eyes like deep lake water, inviting one to drown.

Xu Xinchen applied the ointment to him in a neat and careful manner.

He suddenly spoke, "I've been looking for you."

She showed no particular expression, her hands continuing their work, and said calmly, "You already said that this afternoon. And then?"

“I’ve been looking for you for a long time, turning the whole town of Qingyuan upside down, but your parents don’t know where you went, nobody knows where you went.”

“I spent quite a while in Qingyuan County, asking from house to house, but the people here said they had never seen you before.”

"oh."

Xu Xinchen remained expressionless, only responding softly.

Do you miss me?

He lowered his voice, leaned forward, and brought his face closer to hers.

Xu Xinchen put the cap back on the ointment before looking at him again. "Do you need my longing? Did you come here to see me? Or are you on your honeymoon?"

Chen Ningsheng paused, looked at her, and frowned. "What honeymoon?"

A moment later, he suddenly realized and looked at her with amusement, "You mean Bailing? It's not like I wanted to take her with me. What could I do if she insisted on coming with me?"

He looked down at her face. "Are you jealous?"

Xu Xinchen threw the alcohol into the trash can, her voice curt, "Who's angry?"

Chen Ningsheng's lips twitched slightly. He pressed down on her from behind, wrapped his arms around her slender waist, and pulled her into his embrace. He rested his head on her shoulder and hummed, "Don't be angry. It was my fault. She's gone back by train now, and no one will bother us anymore."

Xu Xinchen remained motionless in his arms, showing no reaction whatsoever.

He waited a while, but received no response from her. Growing anxious, he blurted out, swearing, "I really have nothing to do with her, you have to believe me..."

."

"Didn't you leave so easily back then? Why are you back now?" Xu Xinchen interrupted.

Chen Ningsheng hesitated, but still didn't tell her the truth. At that time, his father was on the verge of death; otherwise, why would he have abandoned her and left without saying a word?

Something came up unexpectedly, and I forgot to tell you...

He spoke cautiously, glancing at her expression from time to time.

Hearing this, Xu Xinchen was furious, but she only took it as an excuse. She couldn't hold back any longer, wriggled out of his arms, grabbed him, and pulled him towards the door. "Didn't you have something to do? Busy man, if you've disappeared, don't ever look for me again."

Chen Ningsheng was being pushed along by her, and he dared not resist, afraid that he would lose control of his strength and hurt her.

He was pushed out the door step by step until the door slammed shut in front of him.

He listened as she locked the door from the inside. Soon, the light went out. He sighed, hissing as he touched the wound at the corner of his mouth.

Only moonlight shone in front of the door, and the chilly air surrounded him.

He slowly squatted down, rested his head against the door frame, and closed his eyes contentedly.

Xu Xinchen didn't sleep well that night. Chen Ningsheng's words kept echoing in her mind, disturbing her peace. She didn't understand him at all; he said one thing and did another. He was utterly unreliable.

She had no idea which of his words were true and which were false.

Her long hair spread out like fine silk, and she drifted off to sleep with her eyes closed.

When she woke up in the morning, she got ready and opened the door, only to be suddenly confronted by a dark shadow falling onto her shoes.

She was taken aback. Chen Ningsheng propped himself up on the ground, rubbed his eyes, and looked at her through the sunlight. "You're up so early?"

She opened her mouth but didn't speak. He emanated a chill and slept in front of her door all night. Xu Xinchen couldn't describe the feeling in her heart.

She walked around him and went out the door. Chen Ningsheng quickly tidied himself up, stood up, and caught up with him in a few steps.

Perhaps because she felt guilty, she did not refuse when Chen Ningsheng bought some steamed buns from a roadside vendor and handed them to her.