Shi Niannian turned her head back.
The young man sat on the ground, one leg bent, the other sprawled out carelessly. Those cold eyes, now narrowed with mockery, were looking at her.
His eyelids were slightly narrow, creating a thin crease when he looked up.
His raised jaw traced a smooth and sharp line.
He smelled strongly of tobacco.
The air was peaceful under the glow of the streetlight.
After a few seconds of eye contact, Jiang Wang reached into his pocket, his hand so white that the blue veins beneath his skin were visible. He raised his index finger, pointing toward the crowd.
His fingers were beautiful, slender and bony, with neatly trimmed, clean nails.
However, there was a blood mark on the tiger’s mouth of his hand, which didn’t detract from their beauty.
Shi Niannian’s gaze lingered on his fingertips for two seconds before following where he pointed.
A voice neither soft nor loud sounded from behind: “Xu Ningqing.”
“Fuck!” A curse erupted from the crowd.
Shi Niannian saw Xu Ningqing, dressed in a white shirt, deliver a vicious kick to someone’s stomach, then break free while catching his breath. “What is it, A-Wang?”
Then he saw Shi Niannian standing nearby and frowned. “Why did you come out so late at night?”
“Night… snack,” she said.
“Ah.” Xu Ningqing remembered.
He turned around and said to the seated Jiang Wang: “You’re just sitting here? But how’s your ear? Is your hearing improving? Can it fully recover?”
Jiang Wang casually ran his hand through his hair, too lazy to speak, and gave a faint “mm” in response.
“Keep an eye on things over there, they’re all trash. I’m heading home first, or my mom will roast me alive.”
As Xu Ningqing spoke, he buttoned up all three buttons on his shirt collar, looking much more proper than before.
“Let’s go.” Xu Ningqing extended his hand in front of Shi Niannian and snapped his fingers.
Shi Niannian followed him out. Just as they left the basketball court, they heard a furious shout: “Jiang Wang! I fuck your mother!”
She turned her head.
Jiang Wang, who had been sitting lazily with his arms propped behind him, sat up and narrowed his eyes at the speaker. The next second, he lunged forward, grabbed the person by the collar, and violently slammed him against the wall.
A huge “bang” resonated.
The person stuck to the wall for two seconds before sliding down like a puddle of mud.
Shi Niannian thought the wall might crack.
“Say that again if you dare.”
Jiang Wang lowered his voice, his expression fierce, the muscles in his shoulders and arms tense, completely different from his appearance moments ago.
“Little girls shouldn’t watch this fighting and killing.”
Xu Ningqing lit a cigarette and gently flicked her nape with his bent finger.
Shi Niannian turned her head back, showing no signs of fear.
As calm as a wooden doll.
Xu Ningqing paused, halting his steps.
His thumb and index finger pinched together, rubbing off a layer of dirt. He brushed aside Shi Niannian’s hair and saw dried mud spots on her nape, starkly visible against her fair neck.
Then there was a spot on the hem of her school uniform.
“Someone bullied you again?” Xu Ningqing asked.
The girl shook her head.
Xu Ningqing extended his dirt-stained finger in front of her: “Then what’s this?”
“I… I ran,” she said. “Fell.”
Due to her stutter, the girl found speaking laborious, so she kept it as brief as possible.
Xu Ningqing thought for a moment and asked: “You fell while running away, and that’s how you got dirty?”
Shi Niannian nodded.
Xu Ningqing frowned but ultimately didn’t pursue it. He had asked her several times before about who bullied her, offering to fight back for her, but she wouldn’t say.
Finally, he laughed and ruffled the girl’s soft hair: “With your escape skills, you could win gold medals at sports meets in the future.”
As they left the street, Shi Niannian looked back one last time.
The moon was setting rapidly, obscured by thick clouds, making the night darker.
Jiang Wang had his back to her, his spine erect like a mountain peak, and the person who had cursed earlier knelt before him with a bloodied forehead.
The next day.
The red and white curtains were drawn tightly, but the summer sunlight was too bright and scorching, vigilantly seizing any gap to launch a major invasion, filling the room with light.