After the Winter Solstice, the weather finally turned cold.
A layer of mist blurred the tightly closed window panes, making it almost impossible to see the world outside.
I couldn’t tell if the sun was hiding behind the clouds, too afraid to show its face.
The sound of flipping paper continued.
My fingers kept rubbing against the surface of the pages, leaving dark marks behind as the handwriting distorted along the newly formed creases.
An Zhi’s small body was slumped in my arms.
Ever since I said “I’m here,” she had collapsed against me as if she had lost her soul.
My vision shook.
I wasn’t sure if it was me or her who was still trembling and breaking out in a cold sweat.
“Brother Mingshan, don’t be in a hurry,” Xiao Ji said, breaking the silence.
“Look, life has to go on. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!”
“Yeah…”
I squeezed the sound out of my dry throat.
“Do you think Su Xixia is intentionally delaying giving those to me? That girl still won’t let me go… No, that’s not right. Sigh.”
I had already voluntarily vanished from her side, so it couldn’t be “intentional.”
‘Why am I still thinking about her now?’
Xiao Ji shook his head.
“I don’t think so. When she rushed over, the dark circles under her eyes were so heavy it looked like someone had punched her. She was probably just in a hurry. Didn’t you block all her contact information? She doesn’t know your address either, and you haven’t gone to work lately, right?”
“……”
It was my own negligence.
I hadn’t dared to think deeply about the consequences of enjoying this happiness, choosing to escape instead.
I shouldn’t push the blame onto Su Xixia.
I had to face this myself!
“Thanks,” I said, offering my gratitude.
“At least I know what the problem is now. If there’s a problem, there’s a solution… a solution.”
No matter how many times I repeated it, my brain failed to provide a method.
“I’ll go back and ask my sister first. But, well, my family can’t produce that much money either… I’ll try my best!”
“No need. I’ve troubled you too much lately. I don’t want to involve your family, and 500,000 isn’t a small amount… Xiao Ji, I’m fine for now. Don’t worry.”
Xiao Ji shook his head, incessantly scratching his red hair.
“We’re brothers; I’ll help as much as I can! I’ll think of something… I’ll go back and test the waters first! I’ll let you know if I find anything. Let’s leave it at that for now…”
I knew very well that in the face of such a major issue, it was unrealistic to think of relying on others.
I shouldn’t push him any further.
“Yeah. I’ll talk to An Zhi alone. Thanks, Xiao Ji.”
“Then… then I’ll head home first. My family probably noticed I snuck out a long time ago. See ya!”
Xiao Ji nodded repeatedly and hurried to put on his shoes before leaving my house.
—
Amidst the *whoosh* of the heater, the mist on the glass grew thicker, turning into droplets that rolled down and left long, thin water trails.
I stroked An Zhi’s back, waiting for her to calm down.
“…I’m so scared,” she whispered.
“Sister Lulan has changed. She scolded me… the messages she sent these past few days were so terrifying… Mingshan, it’s all my fault. It’s my mistake.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t think about it.”
“I knew… it would turn out like this. But… if I go back, I’ll be locked up again. I’ll have to leave you again… I don’t want that.”
“That is their fault. Not yours.”
The more I listened to her vent, the stronger the pain in my heart became.
“Should I… not have run away? Is it wrong of me to want to see you? If I had just stayed obediently until one year later… maybe I wouldn’t have breached the contract… I wouldn’t have to pay so much money.”
“No! That’s their fault. Because you can make a lot of money and you’re easy to bully, they restricted your personal freedom. This isn’t your fault! even if you didn’t escape… they would have found a way to control you one year later anyway. I’m certain of it, okay?”
Yes, that was exactly how it would be.
All bullies were the same, acting as if they had an endless supply of motivation to cling to their victims and never let go.
The pain that once weighed on me was now being inflicted upon An Zhi.
At that thought, the pain transformed into anger.
I stroked An Zhi’s long hair with a heavy hand.
“But, because of me… we have to pay 500,000. I don’t have that much money in my card. I can’t afford to pay… I’m sorry. I didn’t want to cause you trouble, but I… what should I do? *Ugh, waah — *”
An Zhi poked her head out from my chest. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and her cheeks were slightly chafed from the friction.
“Don’t think about that. I’m your boyfriend. I’m thinking of a way.”
“…I’ll go back. These past few days have already been so happy, so… I’ll just go back. I’ll go beg Sister Lulan… beg her to plead with the Company…”
“Wait!”
I immediately grabbed her small hand as she reached for her phone.
Dammit, it’s just 500,000!!
500,000…
Compared to An Zhi’s wishes, what did 500,000 matter!
“Don’t go back. You don’t want to go back, right! I want you by my side too. I won’t let them have their way!”
“Mingshan…”
Two more strings of tears flowed from the corners of her eyes.
“Leave it to me! I’ll find a way! You don’t have to wrong yourself by begging for mercy. The more weakness you show, the more excessive they become!”
Compared to An Zhi running away, what their company did was far more outrageous! They were the ones who bullied An Zhi first!
And now they were acting like victims to demand a huge sum of money?
Did they have no shame?
I loved An Zhi.
In the past, even though I knew An Zhi was being bullied, I kept procrastinating, thinking about how to keep escaping.
I even committed a major blunder by following Su Xixia.
Now, seeing An Zhi’s face covered in tears, I finally woke up.
I wasn’t originally like this.
Why did I become more fragile as I grew up?
Why did I feel that things far away were somehow unreachable no matter what?
My path had strayed too far.
Now that I’ve decided to make up for this strayed path, am I still in time?
—
At noon, when the sunlight finally dried the mist, An Zhi gradually stopped crying.
She clung to my chest, looking much more at ease.
“Can I see your phone?”
I asked.
“Um… it’s full of very dirty words…”
“It’s fine. I’ve heard the filthiest things. Don’t worry.”
“Huh? Okay.”
An Zhi reluctantly reached out from my arms, picked up the phone from the table, and hesitated as she handed it to me.
“Don’t take it to heart… she’s just scolding me.”
I patted her head to comfort her as I woke the screen.
I found that there weren’t many unread messages; most of the previous records were from Jiang Lulan.
The screen was small, with only a few app icons on it.
Her communication was restricted, and she could only send or receive messages from members within the Company.
Entering the minimalist chat interface, Jiang Lulan’s avatar was flashing.
After scrolling through the content in the chat box, I couldn’t help but furrow my brows.
“Zhizhi, Sister missed you so much. When are you coming back~”
“My heart hurts so much. Sister might die because I can’t see you~”
……
It started with gentle expressions like that, but as time went on, the content began to fall apart.
I had to ignore the foul language that was incredibly unpleasant to read.
“If you don’t come back soon, the Company will punish me. Won’t your heart hurt?”
“Sister worked so hard to take care of you and help you, and this is how you treat me?”
“The leaders found me. It’s! All! Your! Fault! I reported that you ran away. The Company will find you, haha.”
“Did you receive the Lawyer’s Letter? I advise you to reply to my message within one day. If you come back now, you’ll only receive a small punishment, otherwise~”
……
“Are you crazy? This is officially a breach of contract. I didn’t expect you to be so stupid! I’m going crazy taking care of a woman like you. Do you have any humanity! Get ready to pay the compensation. That poor boyfriend of yours clearly can’t help you. It’s your own fault for being so obsessed with him!”
“I found the address you left~ Where exactly are you hiding? The classmates living in your dormitory still recognize you. Are you hiding nearby?”
“The people sent by the Company are also looking for you. They’ll find you very soon. It’s useless even if you come back now. By the time we go to court, the compensation will only increase! If you can’t afford it, just wait to be locked up at the Company to livestream and pay off your debt for the rest of your life!”
“Just wait, someone will be knocking on your door eventually~”
Besides Jiang Lulan, the Company’s official account had also sent several warnings, which were almost identical to the content in the previous documents.
After reading these messages, I held my chest, trying to soothe my tightening heartstrings, but it was no use.
I really didn’t know how An Zhi had managed to take care of me and stay by my side while looking at messages like these.
She had known long ago that she breached the contract.
Perhaps from the moment she ran out, she had planned to go back obediently once the breach happened.
No wonder her behavior was strange; she was much more clingy than before…
I also understood her reason for saying she wasn’t ready.
During the time we spent together, she must have been terrified.
I flipped through every app, checking the livestreaming quotas the Company assigned her every month, the reward and punishment explanations, and all sorts of other ridiculous, messy rules…
Just looking at these was enough to make me feel suffocated.
The only reason she could persevere until now was her love for dancing and her simple, kind personality.
“Will someone… from the Company find us?”
An Zhi asked softly.
Maybe one day they really would find us.
After all, this place was considered a student apartment and wasn’t far from An Zhi’s previous dormitory.
“It’s fine. I’ll handle it.”
My fingers sank into her soft hair, stroking the back of her hot neck.
Since they were pressing us step by step, we also had something to say.
I tapped on the chat box with Jiang Lulan and began editing a message.
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