Zhao Changfeng showed an impatient look. “Let’s go already, what are you standing around for? You’re coming home with us tonight!”

Jiang Ruotang lifted his chin toward Cai Ji. “Yeah. From now on, you stick with Zhao Changfeng. Your brother’s just a coward who only picks on the weak. That day on the street, when he saw Zhao Changfeng, he didn’t even dare fart. If that bastard tells you to go to the internet café, don’t listen to him, got it?”

Cai Ji nodded, got up from his seat, and followed behind Jiang Ruotang and Zhao Changfeng.

Xiao Gao had been waiting by the roadside for a while. When he finally saw the three of them arrive, he let out a huge sigh of relief.

Even though Cai Ji had always known that Jiang Ruotang’s family was well-off, the moment he stepped through the doorway and saw the spacious, brightly lit living room, he was still stunned. It looked like something out of a TV drama.

Zhao Changfeng dug out a pair of slippers for him from the shoe cabinet, patted his shoulder, and said, “Come on, talk to my mom. She knows what to do!”

Jiang Ruotang nodded. “That’s right, Cai Ji. Sometimes you just have to trust the adults.”

“But… it’s so late. Auntie must already be asleep, right?”

Just as Cai Ji finished speaking, Zhao Yunshu came down from the study on the second floor, frowning. “You kids—something this serious happens and you think you can solve it on your own? Where’s Cai Ji? Let me have a look at him.”

“Auntie Zhao… I’m here…” Cai Ji’s voice was barely above a whisper.

Looking at him, Zhao Yunshu took a deep breath. In a voice more tender than even Zhao Changfeng had ever heard, she said, “Come, come with Auntie into the study. Let Auntie take a proper look, alright?”

At that moment, Cai Ji probably thought of his own mother, and his heart softened instantly, like molten lava flowing without restraint.

He was gently led into the study by Zhao Yunshu.

When she saw the bruises from kicks, belt marks, and multiple burn scars on his body, Zhao Yunshu’s tears fell uncontrollably. Her shoulders trembled with emotion.

“If your mother saw this… it would break her heart…”

It was the first time someone had cried for Cai Ji. He asked carefully, “Really?”

“Silly boy, every child is a piece of flesh cut from their mother’s body.”

Zhao Yunshu immediately called a lawyer friend, the same person who had helped her with her divorce years ago.

After the call, she said to Cai Ji, “I really want to help clean up your wounds, but first we need to go get a medical injury assessment and collect evidence. No matter what decision you make—whether you want to leave the people who hurt you or not—we have to secure the evidence first.”

Cai Ji pressed his lips together and nodded.

Originally, Zhao Yunshu had told Jiang Ruotang and Zhao Changfeng to get to bed early, but neither of them could sleep.

“The injury assessment place is cold and unfamiliar. What if Cai Ji gets scared? He’ll definitely need someone he knows with him,” said Jiang Ruotang, changing into a jacket.

“Mom, he’s my classmate. He’s been abused like this—how could I sleep?” Zhao Changfeng said, sitting on the bench at the entrance to put on his shoes.

In the end, it was Jiang Huaiyuan who drove them. Zhao Yunshu sat in the front passenger seat, and in the back, Cai Ji was flanked on both sides by Jiang Ruotang and Zhao Changfeng.

All the way there, Zhao Yunshu and Jiang Huaiyuan comforted him and discussed what he should do next.

“Cai Ji, Auntie thinks this is something your mother must know. For things like your college applications, you’ll need a guardian’s signature. I hope you’ll give me a chance to talk to her, see what her attitude is, and based on that, we’ll decide how to move forward. Is that okay?”

Cai Ji bit his lip. He felt hopeful, but more anxious. After a pause, he nodded firmly.

Jiang Huaiyuan added, “Xiao Cai, I know you’re reluctant to let go of your father. You think your brother treats you poorly, so you try to win their approval. But they’re just exploiting that mindset to take advantage of you. That’s not right. That kind of environment isn’t good for your college prep—or your future. You have to leave the well if you want to see the vast sky. Once you meet more people, you’ll make new friends and have your own family someday.”

From the backseat, Jiang Ruotang glanced at his father in the rearview mirror. Those words could easily apply to the relationship between Jiang Huaiyuan and Lin Chengdong, too.

“Yeah! That brother of yours doesn’t deserve the title. From now on, I’m your big bro! I’ll look out for you!” said Zhao Changfeng.

Jiang Ruotang laughed. “Zhao Changfeng, you should be grateful your big brother is me!”

“Wow, getting cocky now! You can’t even lift a bag of rice and still have the nerve to act like someone’s big brother!”

“At least I don’t bully you!”

“You’re so scrawny I can’t even see you if you stand behind me! You should be thanking me for not beating you up! Don’t you remember how annoying you used to be?”

The two of them started bickering again across Cai Ji, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he felt warm and happy. In his home, no one ever spoke so freely or without tension.

When they arrived for the injury assessment, the staff saw the long-term abuse on Cai Ji’s body and couldn’t help cursing his family as worse than animals.

Mr. Song Qinghe, his teacher, had heard what happened and rushed over from another district on his bike. When he saw Cai Ji’s scars, he was overwhelmed with guilt. He had been Cai Ji’s teacher for over two years and had never realized the abuse.

Zhao Yunshu’s lawyer friend had just finished working late but immediately called to understand the situation and give guidance on collecting evidence. When she saw the cigarette burns on Cai Ji’s arms and back, she vowed on the spot to take the case with no legal fees, fully committed to seeing it through.

It was the first time Cai Ji ever felt so many people cared about him. For a fleeting moment, it felt like all the love he’d missed out on for years was suddenly pouring in from every direction.

After securing the evidence, his wounds were treated. Zhao Yunshu and Jiang Huaiyuan drove the kids back and told them to get some sleep.

Cai Ji lay in bed, Zhao Changfeng beside him. Like a real older brother, he tucked him in.

Even though it was just a few hours before sunrise, it was the most peaceful sleep Cai Ji had had in years.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yunshu and Jiang Huaiyuan stayed up all night, thinking ahead for Cai Ji.

“To be honest, after seeing those injuries, I really want to take that kid in myself. I might not be the best father, but at least I don’t hurt children! That’s your own flesh and blood—hell, even a tiger won’t eat its cubs!” Jiang Huaiyuan sighed deeply.

“But that father of his and that whole family—they’re bad news. Even if we took the kid in, they might come after us for money. And even if Cai Ji wins the lawsuit, even if the father and brother get convicted, they’ll be out in no time. People like that cling like leeches. What if they retaliate? We need to be thorough. At the very least, we can’t let them disrupt his college entrance exams. After the exams, if he gets into a university in another city, we can help cover his living expenses. If he stays local, dorm life will still give him some space—and since we’re here in this city, we can support him anytime.”

“We definitely need to talk to his mom. I can tell she’s probably the most important emotional anchor for this child.”

“He gave me her number. Cai Ji’s the type who’s not used to asking for help. Telling him to open up to his mother is too hard. He thinks that since she has a new family now, he’s just a burden. He doesn’t want to hold her back anymore. So, it’ll have to be mom-to-mom—some things can only be fully understood that way.”

Meanwhile, Jiang Ruotang finally lay in bed. As he picked up his phone to set an alarm, he saw a message from Lu Guifan.

[Not doing practice questions tonight?]

The message had been sent at 10:30 p.m.—over three hours ago. Lu Guifan was probably asleep by now.

But the fact that he cared whether or not Ruotang did his questions… basically meant he cared that they hadn’t talked that night.

And somehow, Jiang Ruotang couldn’t stop smiling about it.

[I didn’t get a chance to do practice questions tonight, but there’s something really important I want to tell you. It’s just… too late now.]

Just as Jiang Ruotang was about to put down his phone, the screen lit up. He quickly tapped it and saw a message from Lu Guifan: [Go ahead.]

His heart seemed to lift off from gravity for a second—it felt like he was floating.

Jiang Ruotang touched Lu Guifan’s profile picture and suddenly thought of his past life.

After he started chemotherapy, the later it got at night, the more scared he became… scared that he might die silently in his sleep.

Holding his phone, Jiang Ruotang had wanted to talk to someone. But ever since Huanyu Entertainment kicked him out, most of his contacts had become just “strangers” in his phone book.

He had opened his chat history with Lu Guifan just to scroll through old messages, maybe listen to a few old voice notes through his earphones—but somehow, he accidentally typed “1” and hit send. He meant to delete it, but before he could, Lu Guifan replied, asking if something was wrong, if he wasn’t feeling well.

That was past two in the morning.

That one message gave Jiang Ruotang a sense of safety he had never felt before—because he knew that there was someone out there who would always respond to him.

Jiang Ruotang sat up, leaned against the headboard, and called Lu Guifan. He told him everything about what had happened to Cai Ji.

Lu Guifan listened quietly the entire time, so quiet that Jiang Ruotang began to wonder—was he even still there? Had he fallen asleep?

“…Class rep?” Jiang Ruotang called out softly to test.

No response. Looked like Lu Guifan really had fallen asleep.

“Good night… Guifan,” Jiang Ruotang whispered.

But just as he was about to hang up, Lu Guifan’s voice came through again.

“I looked into the relevant laws. If we just pursue this as a case of domestic violence, and considering that there’s no concrete evidence from the times Cai Ji was hurt in the past, the sentence might be really light. They might only get a few days in detention. If that happens, Cai Ji’s attempt to fight back would go unsupported, and he might end up facing even worse retaliation and emotional trauma.”

What Lu Guifan said… was exactly what Jiang Ruotang, Zhao Yunshu, and the others had been most worried about.

“But what we can do is keep staying by Cai Ji’s side—help him build mental strength first. If someone loses their will to resist and save themselves, then no amount of legal help can do anything.”

“Yeah, I understand.”

“It’s late. Get some sleep.” Lu Guifan’s voice was soft and calm.

Jiang Ruotang had been on a rollercoaster of emotions the entire day, but Lu Guifan’s voice had a calming effect that stilled his thoughts.

“Okay. Good night, class rep.”

“Good night, Ruotang.”

Jiang Ruotang set down his phone and was just about to fall asleep when something suddenly clicked in his mind.

Wait… what did Lu Guifan just call him at the end of the call?

He hugged his blanket and rolled around in bed several times, trying to replay the moment in his head. He couldn’t even be sure what he’d heard.

If Lu Guifan had actually called him “Ruotang,” then that meant he had heard him whisper “Good night, Guifan,” thinking he was asleep?

Jiang Ruotang rubbed his ears. Ugh—how was he supposed to sleep now!

---

The next morning, Jiang Ruotang yawned as he stepped out of his room. In the hallway by the bathroom, he saw Cai Ji, dressed in an oversized set of pajamas.

His soft hair was sticking up in all directions, like a messy bird’s nest.

The sleeves and pant legs were way too long—he tried rolling them up, but they just slipped down again. He looked kind of ridiculous.

“Morning…” Cai Ji greeted him shyly.