It was freezing out, and I still didn’t dare get up. I was scared that the second I moved, a cannon of a fist would smash into my nose.

Right then, I was straddling Long-ge, gripping both her wrists. The two of us were stuck in an awkward position. She glared at me resentfully while panting, and there was a sickly flush on her face—

We stayed like that, panting, for a full minute.

I was gasping for air and thinking this couldn’t go on. If someone walked by, what were they supposed to think? That we were having a wild alley hookup?

A scream suddenly came from the alley entrance. It scared me so badly my whole body jolted. I turned my head and saw a little girl holding a bag of groceries, staring at me in horror.

At that moment, I was sitting on Long-ge’s petite body, clutching her wrists and not daring to let go. I looked up and locked eyes with the girl while panting hard. Then it finally hit me, and I shouted, “Y-you wait, hold on...!”

The girl screamed at the top of her lungs, “Something happened! Somebody help! Rape!”

I couldn’t care about Long-ge anymore. I hurried to stand up. The girl kept screaming, and I frantically waved my hands. “Wait, wait, you misunderstood, little sis. You probably won’t believe me if I say it, but this little girl attacked first— no, wait, what little girl... this is between men—”

“Ahhh!!”

The moment she saw me stand up, she let out another ear-splitting scream. I pulled a miserable face and stepped toward her. She was practically about to cry. She threw her basket at me, then turned and ran off sobbing.

I got showered in cabbage leaves. I was screwed no matter how you looked at it.

Along with the girl’s scream, I heard an old lady’s excited shout. “Where? Where? In broad daylight? Is there no law anymore?”

To hell with this...

I was so scared I spun around and hurried to pull Long-ge up. If I got caught like this, I wouldn’t be able to clear my name even if I jumped into the Yellow River. But Long-ge was lying limply on the ground. No matter how I tugged, she wouldn’t stand. I looked down and saw her face was bright red, and she was glaring at me through gritted teeth.

The alley entrance was already getting noisy. The girl from before was still screaming there, “Over here! Over here!”

What the hell kind of mess is this?!

I hurriedly grabbed Long-ge by the legs and swept her up in a princess carry, then bolted down the alley behind me.

I knew this area well. Past a side path, and through there, it was my place. I ran out of the alley carrying her, looked both ways, saw there were no cars this early in the morning, and quickly dashed across the street.

Long-ge stayed limp and quiet in my arms the whole time.

When we got downstairs, I struggled to nudge open the security door with my foot, then took the stairs two at a time. I finally made it to my door, crouched down with one arm around Long-ge, fumbled out my key, and opened it.

Long-ge stayed limp in my arms without making a sound. I slammed the security door shut with a bang and let out a sigh. Finally home. Seriously, what a day...

I slowly set Long-ge down by the wall, then slid down with my back against the door and sat there. At that point, I didn’t even care if it was dirty. She was pretty light, but I’d still been sprinting while carrying a whole person. I was exhausted.

Leaning against the wall, Long-ge struggled to sit up. That sickly flush was still on her pale little face, and she kept panting with a hand over her chest.

I just figured she’d gone too hard beating me up earlier and was a little spent now. I didn’t think much of it. After catching my breath for a bit, I stood up. That was when I glanced at the entryway and realized there wasn’t a single pair of shoes by the door—

I really had taken way too long buying that malatang. When I left, I figured it wasn’t far, so I didn’t bring my phone. After Old Han came back with his little sister, the three of them probably waited forever, got too hungry, and took Minghai and the others out to eat.

That was when I remembered: Long-ge and I hadn’t even eaten breakfast before going at it outside all morning—

Though to be fair, I was the one getting beaten the whole time.

I glanced at Long-ge and said irritably, “Why’re you still sitting there? Didn’t you want to play? Go inside and play your Dungeon or whatever.”

Long-ge sat slumped on the floor. Her white socks were filthy. She looked at me with a flushed face, braced herself against the wall, and tried to stand. But the second she straightened her waist, she went soft again and slid back down the wall. She tried two or three times and still couldn’t get up.

I stood there watching, having no idea what she was up to, and asked, “What are you doing?”

Long-ge was breathing hard, one hand over her chest. Since she couldn’t stand no matter what, she gave up and just leaned against the wall, staring at the ceiling with a flushed face.

Seeing her clutch her chest made my old face heat up too—

When I was fighting Long-ge earlier, I’d been grabbing that part of her the whole time and never let go... Yeah, it was kind of shameless, but I had a feeling that if I had let go back then, I wouldn’t have made it home in one piece.

At best, an ambulance would’ve shown up, a bunch of people would’ve carried me off on a stretcher, and I’d have gotten a one-day ICU tour at the provincial hospital.

The room fell silent again. The only sound left in the air was Long-ge’s breathing. I scratched my head and said, “Can you stand up or not?”

Long-ge’s red eyes were damp. She weakly turned her head and glanced at me, then closed her eyes and nodded. She forced herself to try standing again, but all she could do was struggle by the wall.

After two more tries, she sat there by the wall panting for a while. She probably felt like this wasn’t going anywhere, so she just lay down and started trying to crawl toward the room—

I couldn’t hold back a laugh. That was just too damn pitiful. I stepped forward, turned Long-ge over, hooked an arm under her legs, and picked her up again.

Long-ge lay in my arms for a long while, like she still hadn’t processed what was happening.

I carried her toward her room. Her body was so soft, and every now and then it gave a slight tremble. I set her on the bed. She sat on the edge, legs dangling, staring at me blankly.

During our fight earlier, Long-ge had kicked off those busted sneakers with holes in them. Now her white socks were filthy. I put my hands on my hips, sighed, and said, “Did you bring extra socks... actually, never mind. Wait here.”

I dug out a washed pair of socks from my room and brought them to Long-ge. For some reason, she kept her head lowered and didn’t dare look at me. She took my socks, curled up her legs, and pulled them onto her feet. Then after putting them on, she took them right back off and looked aside. “Too big.”

I looked at Long-ge’s slender feet, and that blurry whipping kick flashed through my mind. I shivered without meaning to.

Long-ge kept hugging her feet. After a while, she looked up at me. The second I looked back down at her, she lowered her gaze again.

I sighed, thought for a moment, and said, “Let’s wait till tomorrow. We made too much of a scene outside today. That girl’s probably still looking for me everywhere. Tomorrow I’ll buy you a set of clothes, and a better pair of shoes too... We’ll go together. Just don’t collapse again.”

Long-ge’s eyes drifted to the side. “No need. This tracksuit’s pretty comfortable...”

A little helpless, I raised my voice. “Listen to me.”

Long-ge’s whole body trembled. She gritted her teeth and said, “I don’t like shopping!”

Like I enjoy it that much...

I was pretty speechless. “Then I’ll go by myself tomorrow. I’ll just buy whatever looks good. What size do you wear?”

Long-ge froze for a second. “Whatever. Save your money. Just get a tracksuit.”

I asked, “You’ve never measured?”

Long-ge glanced at me, hugged her feet, and lowered her head.

Seeing her sit there hugging her feet without saying anything, I sat down beside her and moved her hands away. Then I saw that a large patch of her foot had turned blue. There were several scrapes by the sole, and there was even a small cut on the top of her foot that was still bleeding.

I sighed. Then I suddenly remembered she’d been standing barefoot on frozen ground. Forget whether it was cold or not—of course she’d get hurt easily...

Long-ge lowered her eyes and looked at the wounds on her foot without saying a word.

I stared at her. When she sat there quietly, she was actually kind of cute—

Pfft, cute my ass. This was Long-ge we were talking about.

I lifted her pale calf and set it on my leg, then checked how deep the wounds were. They looked minor, easy enough to treat. I stood up and said, “Wait here.”

Long-ge nodded blankly.

Back in my room, I pulled a first-aid kit out from under the bed. Back when Long-ge was still a man, he used to come find me all the time. We always said we were going to the internet café, but every single time, he’d run into all kinds of messy trouble, and I’d get dragged into it too.

By the end, I’d lost count of how many fights big and small we’d gotten into. After enough time passed, I just kept a first-aid kit in my room. Bandages, cotton swabs, painkillers, hydrogen peroxide... it had everything. Enough to deal with all kinds of injuries. Damn it.

I carried the kit into Long-ge’s room. She was still sitting on the bed, hugging her legs a little awkwardly. I crouched down, stretched her leg out, and said, “The disinfectant might sting a little. Bear with it.”

Long-ge didn’t say anything. She lowered her eyes and stared at my bruised and swollen face.

I soaked a cotton swab in disinfectant and pressed it onto the scrape on her foot. Long-ge’s whole body trembled. Her pale, tender toes curled tightly. I rotated the swab twice, making sure the disinfectant covered the scrape completely. Once I finished one spot, I moved on to the next.

Long-ge watched me in silence. I held the cotton swab and cradled her pale little foot. A crisscrossed streak of dried reddish-brown blood had hardened on the top of it. I took some absorbent cotton from the kit, soaked it with alcohol, and carefully wiped away the dried blood.

After I cleaned all the blood off, I tore off another bit of cotton, soaked it in alcohol, took a breath, and pressed it onto the clotted wound—

That one obviously hurt more. Long-ge’s leg gave a clear tremble, and suddenly she grabbed my sleeve. I looked up on instinct. Enduring the pain in her foot, Long-ge stopped looking at the wound and looked at me instead.

Her eyes were a wet gemstone red. Fine tears dampened her lashes as she stared at me blankly.

For some reason, my heart suddenly jolted. My face still stayed expressionless as I reached into the kit, took out a bandage, pressed it to the sole of her foot, and wrapped it around a few times with practiced ease. I looped it past her delicate toes, then tied a knot over the top of her foot.

I clapped my hands, stood up with some effort, and walked straight out of the room. “Don’t get the wound wet. And smoke less, okay...”

“Old Lu, don’t go. Stay with me for a while.”

Long-ge suddenly spoke.

I turned and looked at her. She was staring at the edge of the bed, not at me.

I stared at her for a moment, then dropped onto the bed with a thump. “What?”

Long-ge stared blankly at the bed’s edge. That was when I realized something was clearly off. Her face still had that sickly flush, and she was still breathing a little hard.

I looked at her suspiciously. She stared at the bed in a daze for a while, and then after a moment, she started taking off her tracksuit on her own.

I blanked out a little. I just watched as she dizzily took off her clothes, then sat there on the bed in a haze after she was done.

I stared at her snow-white underwear for a moment, and heat started rising in my chest. It felt like something was rushing up through my nose. I covered my nose, feeling like this was very bad, and asked, “What are you doing?”

Long-ge’s face was red. Her petite body swayed unsteadily as she stared at the bedding. After a long while, she slowly toppled onto the pillow. She looked really uncomfortable. Lying limp on the bed, she took a few deep breaths, then stretched out a slender hand and pulled the blanket over herself.

I asked, “What’s wrong with you? Say something.”

Long-ge panted a few times, looked at me, then laboriously stretched a hand out from under the blanket and lightly patted the edge of the bed. “My head really hurts... it hurts so bad. Sit here. Stay with me for a bit.”

I hesitated for a moment, then shifted over and moved closer to her.

Long-ge said, “Come here.”

I had no idea what she was up to. I leaned my head over, and she slowly lifted both her pale, soft arms, wrapped them around my neck, and pressed me down toward the bed. I hurriedly struggled. “What are you doing?”

Long-ge panted a few rough breaths, then suddenly coughed hard once. Weakly, she said, “Come here. It’s not like I’m going to eat you...”

Pulled by Long-ge, I slowly fell onto the bed.

I noticed the arms holding me felt a little hot. Her face was getting closer and closer to mine, glowing with that sickly red. Her gemstone-red eyes were watery, reflecting my shadow.

That strange heat surged through my body again. Long-ge and I were so close, just looking at each other. I could even feel her breathing. I realized the atmosphere was way too intimate, so I instinctively leaned back a little to keep some distance.

Long-ge looked at me in silence, then reached out again, wrapped her arms around my neck, and gradually pulled me toward her. My mind went completely blank. By the time I came back to myself, I was already lying in her arms—

Her chest was very soft. I could hear her heart beating slowly. She smelled like the laundry detergent from my house, mixed with a faint trace of cigarette smoke.

For a moment, I had no idea how to react. Long-ge closed her eyes, reached out, tugged the quilt a little, and covered me with it too.

In the hazy glow, I saw the loose neckline of Long Ge’s white T-shirt revealing a sweep of snow-white skin and the soft curve of her chest, half-exposed. A dark bruise marred one breast—eyes closed, arms wrapped gently around my neck, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her face utterly defenseless.

I stared, dumbfounded, at the bruise. Then it hit me—damn, that must hurt like hell—

I did a quick mental swap: if someone yanked my dick and slammed me down like that… yeah, I’d drop to my knees instantly.