Chapter 4

When I woke again, the strong smell of disinfectant filled my nose.

I opened my eyes. Jiang Haozhi was sitting beside me.

The moment he saw I was awake, he let out a huge breath of relief.

“You’re awake? Are you all right? Do you still feel sick?”

I took a moment to collect myself, then asked, “Did he pay me?”

Jiang Haozhi stared. “What?”

I said,

“The client. He said if I picked up his trash and cleaned up the broken bottle, he’d give me fifty thousand yuan. He didn’t pay, did he?”

Jiang Haozhi’s expression turned grim.

“No.” He clenched his teeth. “I was in a hurry to get you to the hospital, so I didn’t ask. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you get that money.”

I smiled. “All right.”

“But how did you end up there?”

Jiang Haozhi was silent for a moment. “I was worried, so I followed you. I didn’t expect something to actually happen.”

He was probably afraid I would ask how he had known the exact floor, because he quickly changed the subject.

“The doctor says you’re malnourished and anemic. You need to eat properly from now on. Do you hear me?”

“I will.” I nodded and looked at him. “It’s all right. I’m still young. I’ll get better little by little.”

After saying that, I felt dizzy again and closed my eyes to rest for a while.

My phone vibrated several times in a row.

I didn’t move. Jiang Haozhi probably thought I had fallen asleep.

He picked up my phone with the lightest of movements.

I paid no attention and drifted off for ten or fifteen minutes.

When I opened my eyes again, Jiang Haozhi was looking at my phone, his face frighteningly dark.

I gently drew the phone from his hand.

The messages were from my older cousin.

“Xiaohe, why did you send three hundred less this month?”

“When your parents needed money to save their lives, you knelt in front of my dad to borrow from him. You promised you’d quit school, work, and pay us back. Where’s the money?”

“Are you out there working or enjoying yourself?”

“Oh, forget it. You’re a young girl without a mother or father. I know you don’t have it easy. I’m short on money too, or I wouldn’t be saying this.”

“Xiaohe, a friend of mine runs a club back home.”

“Why don’t you come back? A pretty girl like you could make enough to pay everything off in a few months, and the work isn’t hard.”

“Why aren’t you answering? Are you angry?”

“Fine, you’re too good for that. Then hurry up and repay the money. Stop hiding out there, too scared to come home year after year. Who the fuck do you think you’re fooling?”

I read the messages without expression.

Of course they had hurt at first.

These were relatives I had once gathered with for meals as a child.

But after seeing messages like these often enough, I had gone numb.

Once I finished paying them back, I would cancel both my phone number and my WeChat account.

I would never return to my hometown, and I would never have anything to do with anyone from my past again.

With that thought, I typed back, “I got sick last month and had some medical expenses. I’ll make up the difference next month.”

Jiang Haozhi suddenly asked, “How much do you owe his family?”

“Not much.” I smiled. “I should be able to pay it off soon.”

Jiang Haozhi repeated, “How much, exactly?”

I said, “It really isn’t much. This is private. Please stop asking.”

His expression grew even darker.

“Aren’t we—” He paused, then continued awkwardly, “Aren’t we dating? You still consider this private?”

I nodded and earnestly brushed him off.

“Yes. It’s precisely because we’re dating that I know how hard you work for your money too.”

“So you don’t need to worry about me. I’ll handle it. Really.”

“Just having you beside me makes me feel happy.”

The first sentence was a lie.

The second was true.

The third was half lie and half truth.

I hadn’t felt happy in a very long time.

Perhaps, for me, the absence of pain was happiness enough.

As these idle thoughts wandered through my mind, warmth suddenly closed around my hand.

For the first time since we met, Jiang Haozhi and I touched.

He held my hand very tightly.

“Xiaohe, I still have some money. You—”

I raised my free hand and gently touched the back of his.

“It’s all right. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“Let me rest a little longer, then we’ll go home. I want to finish the cake from yesterday.”