"What's wrong with your hands?"

"Oh, this," Zhou Wan said, looking down. "My hands get like this easily when they touch cold water. I used cold water to wash my face just now. It'll be fine in a bit, it's nothing."

Lu Xixiao frowned almost imperceptibly. "Oh."

Zhou Wan asked, "Are we leaving?"

"Yeah."

He started walking out, and Zhou Wan quickly followed.

Lu Xixiao went back into the supermarket but didn't leave immediately. Instead, he walked around and took a pair of gloves from a shelf.

The small supermarket had a limited selection of goods. The gloves only came in one style with two color options. Lu Xixiao grabbed the pair on top—black woolen gloves with a red pattern.

He tossed the gloves on the counter. "How much?"

By now, only one guy was left in the supermarket. He had long, straw-colored hair held back by a thin black headband. He raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you use stuff like this?"

Lu Xixiao clicked his tongue.

The guy with the headband laughed. "Just take 'em, they're not worth much."

Lu Xixiao didn't argue. He deftly tore open the package and tossed the gloves to Zhou Wan.

Not expecting them to be for her, Zhou Wan fumbled to catch them.

She paused, stunned. "What's this for?"

"Your hands are about to freeze off," Lu Xixiao said softly, glancing at her.

As if annoyed by her hesitation, Lu Xixiao took the gloves back, grabbed her hand, and roughly put them on for her.

Zhou Wan pressed her lips together lightly. "Thank you."

"Ah Xiao," the guy with the headband chuckled. "You're all grown up, huh? You know how to dote on a girl now."

Lu Xixiao shot him a sidelong glance.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Wan walked over and asked, "Hello, how much are these gloves?"

He was giving them to Lu Xixiao out of friendship, but there was no reason to give them to her for free.

"Little sister, I said it's fine, no need to be so formal." The guy with the headband leaned forward, propping his elbows on the glass counter. He said to Zhou Wan, "Don't worry about it. Just keep an eye on your boyfriend in the future, make him cause a little less trouble, and that'll be a big help to me."

He said, your boyfriend.

Zhou Wan froze for a moment.

She tried to see Lu Xixiao's expression out of the corner of her eye, but couldn't.

But she could imagine it. He was a man of few words and didn't care what others thought. He surely had an indifferent look on his face and was too lazy to correct the assumption.

Zhou Wan didn't say anything either.

Lu Xixiao was already at the doorway. He turned back. "Not leaving yet?"

"Coming," Zhou Wan said quickly.

Yellow Hair shouted, "Leaving already? You only rode one lap?"

With his back to them, Lu Xixiao raised a hand and gave a wave in response.

Outside, the night had grown even deeper.

Standing at a red light, Lu Xixiao glanced sideways at her and asked softly, "Happy now?"

Zhou Wan was taken aback.

Lu Xixiao didn't know why she would be happy, and of course, he didn't know that something like what she'd gone through couldn't be so easily let go.

But after that experience, the oppressive feeling in Zhou Wan's heart had finally eased. A moment ago, she had been on the terrifying edge of collapsing and plunging into despair.

"Mhm," she said with a faint smile. "Thank you."

Lu Xixiao watched her smile. The line of her profile was gentle, revealing shallow dimples. She looked warm and soft.

He averted his gaze and went back to watching the countdown on the red light.

Zhou Wan had walked a lot today, and her shoes were starting to chafe. After following Lu Xixiao for a while longer, she gradually fell behind, her heels aching.

Lu Xixiao turned back. "Tired of walking?"

"...Mhm."

"We'll get a cab then," he said, taking out his phone.

Zhou Wan stopped him. "No need..."

A cab is too expensive.

Lu Xixiao was silent, looking at her with a questioning gaze.

Zhou Wan pointed to a shared yellow scooter at the side of the road. "How about this."

Lu Xixiao had never ridden one. He stood still and watched as Zhou Wan walked over and unlocked one with her phone.

It wasn't a bicycle but a small yellow electric scooter, with a square headlight up front and a yellow plastic helmet in the basket. An antenna stuck out from the top of the helmet.

She, however, knew how to put on this kind of helmet and did so deftly.

The helmet was too big for her, wobbling on her head. She looked both cute and comical, like a cartoon character with an antenna sticking out of its head.

Lu Xixiao's lips curved into a smile.

Zhou Wan looked at him. "Aren't you getting one?"

"I don't know how."

"...This is really simple."

He rode on a racetrack; how could he possibly not know how to ride an electric scooter?

"I'll ride with you."

Zhou Wan hesitated. "But, these aren't meant for two people. It's against traffic regulations, and there's no extra helmet."

"No one will be checking this late at night," Lu Xixiao fibbed casually. "My phone's dead, so I can't scan it."

Although a little reluctant, Zhou Wan agreed. "I'll give you a ride, then."

Lu Xixiao chuckled. "Oh."

The electric scooter was very narrow. Zhou Wan only dared to sit on the edge of the seat, her back bolt upright, as stiff and tense as if she were being punished by having to stand at attention. Lu Xixiao, in contrast, was completely at ease, a big guy like him sitting behind her without the slightest hint of embarrassment.

She didn't dare let her eyes wander, keeping them fixed straight ahead.

She failed to notice a pothole in the road, and the scooter jolted.

Lu Xixiao took the opportunity to fall against her back.

Zhou Wan's entire spine went rigid in an instant. She quickly said, "I'm sorry, I didn't see it."

One of his hands rested loosely at her side as he complained, "Drive a little more carefully."

Being chided by him, Zhou Wan was too preoccupied to even register the hand at her waist and apologized again.

"Such a wide road, and you just had to drive into the pothole," he continued, his tone slow and teasing.

Zhou Wan was so embarrassed by his words she couldn't lift her head.

He chuckled, his meaning ambiguous. "Did you do that on purpose?"

“……”

Zhou Wan had never met such a malicious person. At his insinuation, her face flushed red. Stiffening her neck, she forced herself to say calmly, "Of course not."

Fortunately, Lu Xixiao didn't push his luck any further.

She quietly sighed in relief.

The late autumn wind was cool, but since Zhou Wan drove very slowly, the breeze against her skin was still comfortable.

At a red light, Lu Xixiao looked at her. The exposed section of her neck was pale and slender.

The corners of his mouth twitched. He took out his phone and very casually snapped a picture of her.

He posted it to his Moments.

A single photo, with no text.