The late autumn night was heavy with dew. Lu Xixiao took off his hoodie, leaving only a t-shirt underneath, and moved to make Zhou Wan put it on.
Zhou Wan glanced at his thin clothing, shook her head, and stepped back in silent refusal.
Lu Xixiao ignored her resistance, grabbed her arm to pull her close, and directly pulled the hoodie over her head. His movements were so rough that they left Zhou Wan’s hair in disarray.
He simply removed her hair tie and used his fingers as a comb to smooth her hair back into place.
“Hands,” Lu Xixiao said softly.
Zhou Wan extended her hands through the sleeves.
The hoodie was too big on her, long enough to be a dress, and her hands barely reached the ends of the sleeves.
She looked like a child trying on adult clothes.
Lu Xixiao’s lips quirked up silently as he turned to continue walking.
Zhou Wan followed him through several traffic lights. Her tears had long since dried on her face. When the green light had three seconds left, she ran a few steps to catch up to Lu Xixiao’s side.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
Lu Xixiao turned his head to look at her: “Only now you think to ask?”
“…”
He smiled: “Going to sell you off.”
“…”
The last bus of the night drove past, honking its horn.
Lu Xixiao gripped Zhou Wan’s wrist through the hoodie’s fabric.
Zhou Wan froze for a moment, lowering her eyes to look at his hand – long-fingered and bony, pale-skinned with visible veins underneath.
He made this gesture naturally, not even looking at her, continuing forward with no change in expression.
Sensing Zhou Wan’s gaze, Lu Xixiao turned to look, following her line of sight to her arm. He raised an eyebrow and said carelessly: “Too late to run now anyway.”
“…”
Going to sell you off.
Too late to run now anyway.
Zhou Wan said softly: “I wasn’t planning to run.”
Lu Xixiao laughed and praised her: “Then you’re quite brave.”
“Selling me wouldn’t be worth much anyway,” Zhou Wan said.
Lu Xixiao looked her up and down, nodding in agreement: “True, flat as a board, wouldn’t fetch much.”
“…”
He was too direct, his gaze even more blatant. Zhou Wan lowered her head in embarrassment.
Lu Xixiao squeezed her overly thin wrist: “We’ll fatten you up before selling.”
*
Zhou Wan followed Lu Xixiao through countless turns and traffic lights. Eventually, there were fewer and fewer cars and even the intersections no longer had traffic signals.
Walking further, Zhou Wan heard the roar of motorcycle engines.
The sound was somewhat familiar.
After thinking for several minutes, Zhou Wan remembered where she’d heard it before – it was in the background when Lu Xixiao had called her yesterday.
He must come here often.
Finally, they arrived at a run-down residential area with a small convenience store of about twenty square meters at the corner.
Lu Xixiao released her hand, lifted the door curtain, and walked in.
Zhou Wan hesitated for two seconds before following him inside.
The fluorescent lights inside were harsh, shining down without any filtering, and Zhou Wan saw several rough-looking young men sitting inside.
Their gazes all turned toward Zhou Wan at once.
Zhou Wan uncomfortably moved closer behind Lu Xixiao.
Lu Xixiao casually stepped to the side, completely exposing Zhou Wan behind him: “What are you looking at?”
“What, we can’t look now?” One of the young men teased, “Who’s this, your girlfriend? The first time we’ve seen you bring someone here.”
Lu Xixiao smiled slightly, not bothering to explain: “Where’s the bike?”
“In the back, you riding today?”
“Yeah.”
Lu Xixiao took Zhou Wan’s hand again, this time holding her hand rather than her wrist, and led her to the back.
Lifting the rolling door revealed a vast, dimly lit space that opened up unexpectedly.
On one side were several gleaming, impressive motorcycles, on the other was a race track.