“Didn’t my dad tell you to take a taxi over and not ride your bike yourself?” When Lü Ze opened the door and saw the helmet in Fan Jun’s hand, his brows immediately furrowed.

“Getting some air.” Fan Jun entered the room and walked straight to the mat beside the sofa in the living room.

Xiao Bai, who had been sleeping on the mat, was startled awake and immediately rolled over and sat up.

“Don’t move.” Fan Jun reached out and patted Xiao Bai’s head.

Xiao Bai licked his hand frantically, looking very happy.

The two fractures on Xiao Bai’s front leg were no longer a major issue, but the right eye… The injured eye couldn’t be saved and had to be removed. The wound had healed now, though the stitch marks were still visible.

Xiao Bai had actually completely adapted to life with one eye, except for occasionally crying out suddenly at night.

“Can you handle it? If not, it’s fine to leave him here with me for a while longer,” Lü Ze said.

“I need to move around every day now anyway. Walking him works out well, and he won’t run around recklessly,” Fan Jun said, looking at Xiao Bai.

After licking his right hand, Xiao Bai started carefully sniffing his left hand, seemingly able to sense that this arm was different from before.

“Whatever, you’re always stubborn anyway,” Lü Ze said. “If you can’t handle it, call me.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun responded.

“Don’t just ‘mm’,” Lü Ze said. “Did you buy a phone yet?”

“Not yet,” Fan Jun said.

“Then what are you ‘mm’-ing about?” Lü Ze asked.

“…Mm.” Fan Jun tried using his left hand to scratch Xiao Bai’s chin, but didn’t succeed.

Xiao Bai nudged his hand with its head and finally held it gently in its mouth.

“Bai, let’s go.” Fan Jun pulled his hand out, reached out with his right hand to pat Xiao Bai’s head. “Say thank you to Brother Lü Ze.”

Xiao Bai jumped up happily and lunged straight at Lü Ze.

“Hey!” Lü Ze yelled. “What are you doing! Enough! Get him away.”

“Bai, stay.” Fan Jun gave Xiao Bai a command.

Xiao Bai sat down obediently.

Fan Jun picked up the leash. He tried snapping it onto the collar a few times with his right hand alone but couldn’t get it. Just as his left hand was about to try and help, Lü Ze reached over.

Fan Jun quickly pulled back his right hand holding the leash: “I’ll do it myself.”

Lü Ze ignored him, sitting down on a chair nearby to watch.

After hooking it two more times, Fan Jun finally got the leash attached to the collar.

Leaving Lü Ze’s newly rented apartment, standing downstairs, and turning a corner was the New New Gym. It was very close.

He had actually considered renting an apartment in this complex in the future…

Fan Jun got on the scooter, and Xiao Bai sat on the floorboard, paws resting on the handlebars. Even with only one eye, it still sat upright and looked straight ahead just like before.

His left hand currently had poor grip strength, and the angle to which he could raise his left arm was limited. He could only place it on the handlebar for show. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t safe, but he could still ride—at least it was better than those people who rode while playing on their phones.

Lü Ze was definitely watching him from the window upstairs. Their relationship over the past decade or so couldn’t be called good, but after this incident, both Uncle Lü and Lü Ze were terrified he would get into another accident.

So he twisted the throttle with the quickest, most practiced posture and rode off.

He always felt that Lü Ze was afraid he would commit suicide.

He wouldn’t commit suicide.

He hadn’t thought of suicide even when things were at their most bitter and terrifying.

Let alone now.

It was just pain.

Not the kind of agonizing, heart-wrenching pain.

It was a dull ache.

Hidden behind his breaths, tucked between half-sleep and half-wakefulness; sometimes imperceptible, but always there.

Returning to Nanzhou Ping, he first brought Xiao Bai back home.

Just as he got out of the elevator, the old man across the hall had just opened his door to come out. Hearing the noise, he immediately slammed his door shut.

He was probably hiding behind the door observing, and after realizing it was Fan Jun, he opened the door again.

But he didn’t come out; he just stared at his face.

Ever since Fan Jun was discharged and came back, the old man would come to his door every day to listen for sounds. It was hard to tell if he was acting out of concern or fear. This was the first time the two of them had actually run into each other.

Fan Jun glanced at him. The old man, his face a conflicted mask of fear, retreated back into his apartment and closed the door.

He really did look even less like a good person now than before. Even though he was wearing a hat, the cut at the corner of his right eye—whether from a knife or something else—was currently in its most gruesome stage of healing.

Fan Jun entered the apartment. After closing the door, Xiao Bai started sniffing carefully around the room, spending a long time sniffing by the cat bed.

“We haven’t found Da Hei yet,” Fan Jun said. “Don’t know where he hid. We’ll go out tonight and leave some wet food. Da Hei is too timid, he doesn’t dare come out during the day. Uncle Lü put food out at night before and it was eaten, but he didn’t see the cat.”

Xiao Bai whimpered.

The apartment had already been cleaned up. The smashed tables, chairs, and furniture had been removed, and since he planned to move, he hadn’t replaced them.

Now, with a few empty spots in the living room, it looked very unfamiliar.

A place he had lived in for so many years had suddenly become strange.

He couldn’t really bring himself to stay in it either.

It seemed like there were shadows of people in every corner he looked at.

This once incredibly comfortable little home had been destroyed. He even clearly remembered where the bloodstains had been.

Zou Yang’s, his own.

“I’m going out for a bit to check on Sun Xulei…” Fan Jun was halfway through his sentence when the dull ache starting from the side of his neck and shoulder suddenly flared up, the continuous pain surging constantly toward his arm.

Before long, he was breaking out in a sweat.

“You stay home…” Fan Jun grabbed the elbow brace left on the sofa and strapped it onto his arm. “Wait for me.”

Xiao Bai lay down on the mat next to the cat bed.

Fan Jun stepped out, pausing his movement as he was closing the door.

After a moment, he pushed the door open and whistled at Xiao Bai: “You follow me.”

Xiao Bai jumped up and instinctively grabbed the leash by the door in its mouth. For convenience, he had taken off the collar and leash together earlier, so right now, he only needed to slip the collar over Xiao Bai’s head.

“So convenient.” He patted Xiao Bai’s head.

Sun Xulei had already recovered and was still living with his grandmother. It wasn’t far away; he could just walk there.

Because Sun Laowu had been warned by the police station and the neighborhood committee, plus all the neighbors were keeping an eye out, he had reportedly dialed back his behavior considerably when visiting his old mother recently.

Every time Uncle Lü had gone to the hospital to take care of him previously, he would give him updates on Sun Xulei’s situation.

Sun Xulei had met someone online who claimed they could introduce him to a job, and he went straight to join them. But when he got there, he found out the other party was just a few fifteen- or sixteen-year-old kids.

Right after meeting them, he was taken to an unfinished building and brutally beaten. They took his phone, robbed all his money, and locked him up for half a month—for no other reason than to beat him for amusement…

In the end, he took advantage of the group going out to eat, jumped from the second floor, and crawled all the way out to call for help.

“Those kids, once they were caught and investigated,” Uncle Lü sighed, “all came from problematic families—single parents, raised by grandparents, or even just living completely alone, and they were all minors…”

Fan Jun sighed softly and looked around.

He could feel many people looking at him on the street. He didn’t know the people sitting at the shop entrances, though some were familiar faces.

Although Nanzhou Ping was chaotic and things like fights, brawls, and break-ins were common, a murder case involving armed home invasion hadn’t occurred at least in the dozen or so years Fan Jun had been living here as an NPC.

He was now a living, breathing horror story walking among these people.

He and his past would be dug up little by little, becoming a topic of sighing gossip.

The look in everyone’s eyes carried complex emotions.

Pity, emotion, fear—a bit of everything.

Mostly it was morbid curiosity.

He could imagine what Uncle Lü and Lü Ze had to face every day while he was in the hospital.

All kinds of inquiries and discussions, all sorts of speculations and imagination. Even without subjective malice, it was still uncomfortable, and the gym’s business would definitely be affected.

Sun Xulei was sitting in a daze in the illegally constructed small courtyard his grandmother had forcibly fenced off during an enclosure movement in the early years.

When he saw Fan Jun, he immediately stood up, stared at Fan Jun for a good while, then rushed over to open the courtyard gate. His voice trembled as soon as he spoke: “Fan-ge.”

“Looking energetic. How are your injuries healing?” Fan Jun asked.

“They’re completely healed. My injuries weren’t serious.” Sun Xulei patted Xiao Bai’s head, then stared at Fan Jun’s face and left hand. His eyes instantly turned red. “What happened to you…”

“Hold it in,” Fan Jun pointed at him, walking into the courtyard and sitting down. “Otherwise I’m leaving.”

“Mm.” Sun Xulei rubbed his eyes, turned, and ran into the house to pour a cup of water, handing it to Fan Jun. “I couldn’t get through when I called you, and you didn’t reply to WeChat.”

“My phone broke and I haven’t replaced it yet,” Fan Jun said.

“I can go to the new gym every day in a few days. Can you take me for training then?” Sun Xulei asked.

“You’re skipping classes again?” Fan Jun frowned.

“It’s a holiday in a few days,” Sun Xulei said. “National Day.”

Fan Jun paused. Ever since being hospitalized, he had lost the concept of time.

Was it almost October already?

During those days in the hospital room, watching the light change outside the window, time was clearly agonizing in his groggy state.

Looking back, he realized time could also pass this quickly.

Zou Yang’s birthday was in October.

He didn’t know which day in October.

Back then, he couldn’t predict the future; he only thought he would just ask Sister Shan when the time was right.

But now there was no chance.

He had no one to ask, and he didn’t need to know anymore.

“Fan-ge? Fan-ge? Are you okay?” Sun Xulei’s somewhat anxious voice sounded in his ear, like it was coming through a layer of fog.

“I’m fine.” It was only after answering that Fan Jun understood why Sun Xulei was asking.

The radiating pain from his left arm had covered his forehead in sweat.

“Lü Ze said you were discharged early,” Sun Xulei said. “Are you still not fully healed?”

“These past few days were around the time I was supposed to be discharged anyway,” Fan Jun said.

“But you weren’t discharged just these past few days.” Sun Xulei, despite having been beaten up, still had a working brain. “How is that the same?”

“Enough,” Fan Jun stood up. “I just came to see you. I’m leaving.”

“I’m going to the gym tomorrow. Are you going?” Sun Xulei asked.

“No,” Fan Jun said.

“When are you going?” Sun Xulei asked again.

“…Don’t know,” Fan Jun said. “Have Bang-ge take you.”

“Huh?” Sun Xulei froze.

Fan Jun walked forward in silence. Exiting the alley and returning to the street, the pain finally eased up a bit.

He also just remembered that he hadn’t taken his medicine today.

“Fan Jun!” someone called out to him. He could tell the voice was raised.

But for a moment, he couldn’t determine the direction.

A small delivery box flew over from the left. He reached up, caught it, and turned his head to see Big Head Fish.

He had already walked to Big Head Fish’s package pickup station.

Big Head Fish gave him a thumbs up: “Those reflexes, still as badass as ever… Got a package for you.”

“You threw my package at me?” Fan Jun looked at the delivery box in his hand. “My package is a phone.”

“Would I throw yours! That’s the fishhooks I bought,” Big Head Fish waved him over. “Yours is over here.”

Fan Jun went inside, and Xiao Bai, as usual, found a piece of cardboard by the wall and sat down.

“How are you doing?” Big Head Fish looked him up and down while looking for his package. “Why does it feel like your ear got worse again?”

“Mm,” Fan Jun leaned against the table and responded. “I can’t hear out of it.”

“The left one?” Big Head Fish was stunned.

Fan Jun nodded.

“What about the right one?” Big Head Fish asked.

“It’s passable,” Fan Jun looked at him.

“Fuck me,” Big Head Fish walked over with his package. “Then… wearing a hearing aid?”

“A hearing aid isn’t a cure-all,” Fan Jun took the package and looked at it. It was the phone he bought. “We’ll see if there’s a chance of recovery later.”

“Jun-er.” Big Head Fish looked at him, seemingly trying to squeeze out a few words of comfort.

Fan Jun handed the package back to him. “Help me open it.”

“Your hand…” Big Head Fish sighed and picked up a box cutter nearby. “Wait, I’ll open it for you.”

After opening the package, Big Head Fish forgot about comforting him, and Fan Jun left the station with his phone.

Back in his apartment, Fan Jun sat on the sofa holding the new phone, zoning out for a long time before finding his SIM card, inserting it, and turning it on.

Re-logging into WeChat, there weren’t many unread messages—mostly group chats, and most of them had expired and were lost.

But there was a tiny “1” on [Zou_yang]’s profile picture.

[Zou_yang] You were discharged?

Fan Jun unconsciously scrolled down the chat window, but no further content appeared.

His and Zou Yang’s chat history was gone.

Only this single, lonely line of text remained.

He tapped on Zou Yang’s profile picture again and looked at it for a long time. The little pig was still pointing at the sky, looking dignified.

Putting down the phone, he took off his T-shirt, stood up, and loosened his left shoulder. Walking over to the rack by the wall, he slowly placed his left hand on a five-kilogram dumbbell, trying to grip it tight little by little, then releasing it, and gripping it tight again.

His hand shook violently, and the muscles connecting to his chest twitched along with it.

Actually, grip training didn’t require a dumbbell; grabbing anything worked, even grabbing air.

But he still wanted to perceive something familiar, to use a movement he used to do every day in the past.

After practicing for about half an hour, he was sweating. He turned on the AC, opened the fridge, and took out a bottle of water.

The drinks in the fridge were exactly as they had been. He stood up the few bottles that had fallen over and arranged them properly.

Just as he was about to close the fridge door, he saw the freezer drawer.

Hesitating for two seconds, he pulled the drawer open.

There were no other frozen goods inside. At a glance, he could see the chocolate plaque he had sealed in a ziplock bag.

A Smooth Road Ahead.

In this instant, it felt as though a certain place in his brain had been struck by a hammer. Countless memories surged forth.

Various chaotic images and sounds filled every inch of his body, dragging him down little by little, until even the light outside the window faded.

He could barely catch his breath, leaning against the fridge door, unable to move…

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he finally closed the fridge door amidst the sharp yet faint warning beep.

As he turned around, he felt a slight itch on his face.

He raised his hand and scratched it.

His fingertips were wet.

---

“The photocopies of all the bills are here.” Mom opened a folder and took out the photocopies of various checkup reports and receipts inside. “What do you need these for?”

Zou Yang looked down and flipped through the bills one by one: “To ask for money.”

“What?” Mom paused. “Ask who for money?”

“Who else could I ask,” Zou Yang pushed his glasses up. “Your ex-husband.”

Mom didn’t say anything. After a while, she reached out and pressed her hand on the receipts: “Xiao Yang, it’s only right that he pays, and I think he should pay, but… maybe wait a bit? Or I can go, he wouldn’t dare not see me… You were just discharged, you haven’t fully recovered yet…”

“Not being fully recovered is exactly right.” Zou Yang pulled the bills out and put them into the folder. “If anyone dares to trigger me, I’ll immediately lie down on the floor, and this amount will have to go up.”

“Xiao Yang…” Mom was at a loss, wanting to stop him.

“Don’t worry,” Zou Yang’s phone rang, and he answered it. “I’m not going alone.”

“That’s right! You’re not going alone! You’re going as one sheep [Yang] and three martial artists!” Liu Wenrui’s voice came through. “We’re downstairs.”

“Let’s go, Liu Wenrui and the guys are waiting for me downstairs.” Zou Yang picked up the folder and opened the door.

“Don’t get into a physical fight with him!” Mom followed behind him, somewhat panicked.

“If he doesn’t get physical with me, I won’t get physical with him,” Zou Yang said.

“If he gets physical with you, if he… if he touches you,” Mom was a bit incoherent, finally shouting, “I’ll fight him to the death! I’ll make his whole family—”

“Mom, Mom,” Zou Yang covered her mouth. “I know what I’m doing.”

Standing at his dad’s door, the group still looked quite imposing, making the hallway seem a bit crowded.

“How are we doing this once we get inside?” Zhang Chuanlong asked.

“I don’t know,” Zou Yang said.

“Didn’t you just say you knew what you were doing?” Liu Wenrui was stunned. “Where’s the plan?”

“One, two, three,” Li Zhiyue said.

“He’s giving you the count,” Zou Yang said, and rang the doorbell.

“That was fast,” the woman said as she opened the door.

Seeing the group of people standing outside, she immediately froze and then tried to close the door.

Zou Yang jammed his foot against the door: “Where’s my dad?”

“What do you want?” The woman pushed harder, trying to force the door shut.

“Warning you, my injuries haven’t healed yet,” Zou Yang looked at her. “The case hasn’t been closed either. If anything happens to me, as a witness, don’t say I didn’t warn you when the police come looking for you.”

“What’s wrong?” Dad’s voice came from the tea room, and he quickly walked out into the living room.

“Your karma son! And he brought people!” the woman yelled.

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Dad lowered his voice and glared at Zou Yang. “What is this behavior! Let them in.”

The woman very reluctantly let go, turned, and walked over to stand beside Dad.

Zou Yang pushed the door open, and the group entered the apartment together.

“What is it?” Dad looked at him.

“Settling accounts.” Zou Yang tossed the folder in his hand onto the coffee table.