Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The habit of keeping the first-aid kit on the bedroom windowsill started because of He Zhi.

After she finished the last subject of her Gaokao, her parents-who had just been released from administrative detention-went to the testing center to pick her up. We had originally agreed the night before that I would take her out for a celebratory dinner, but I was delayed by a court hearing.

That night, I returned home carrying a gift for her. When I opened the door, the house was empty, and only then did I realize she had already gone back to her own home.

After hesitating for a long time, I took the gift up to the seventh floor, intending to give it to her.

As soon as I stepped out of the elevator on the seventh floor, I heard He Zhi’s parents fighting again.

It seemed more severe this time. Even through the door, I could hear He Zhi’s sobbing mixed with her mother’s screams and her father’s rebukes.

I called the police. He Zhi’s mother was sent to the hospital, and her father was taken back to the police station.

Looking back now, I can still vaguely remember He Zhi draped in my coat, hiding behind me, her body trembling uncontrollably.

In the biting night wind, she took my hand.

I brought her back to my apartment and let her change her clothes in my bedroom first.

That was when I saw the marks of domestic violence on her shoulders-red welts left behind by a clothes hanger.

Only a dim bedside lamp was lit in the bedroom. He Zhi sat on the edge of the bed. I took out the ointment from the first-aid kit, but I found it difficult to start.

I said awkwardly, “Maybe I should just take you to a clinic.”

She unbuttoned her shirt, exposing half of her shoulder. “It’s fine. You help me apply it.”

I dabbed the ointment onto my fingers and touched the skin of her shoulder.

The room was silent. Suddenly, she spoke.

“I said I wanted to major in law, but they didn’t agree.

“They’re always fighting because of me.

“They don’t support it, but I don’t care.”

She tilted her head, her face delicate and pale. There were tears in her stubborn eyes, making them appear even brighter in the darkness. She looked at me and said, “As long as I have your support, that’s enough.”