Qian Wang stood by Zhao Ziqiang’s bedside, his gaze warm and reassuring.

Zhao Ziqiang stirred awake as if sensing something. He remained motionless, unable to turn over yet, as if even sleeping had turned into an unbearable torture these past few days.

Waking up in the dim moonlight, although his mind wasn’t fully alert, his heart was unexpectedly felt light and soft.

It felt as if they had agreed to set aside their grievances for this moment; there was no trace of any negative emotions in their gazes as they faced each other.

They even smiled at each other.

“How do you feel?”

“I’m okay.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It feels really bright tonight.”

Zhao Ziqiang smiled, his eyes innocent like a newborn’s. He slowly turned his stiff neck to look out at the beautifully lit moonlight outside the window.

Qian Wang also smiled, crouched down, and pressed a kiss on Zhao Ziqiang’s eyes, then turned and left before Zhao Ziqiang could react.

Zhao Ziqiang didn’t look at the man’s departing back; he simply let the smile at the corners of his mouth fade and then hazily closed his eyes again. His even breaths barely visible, as if he had already drifted back to sleep.

---

The midday sun shone brightly.

“Ding~~Ding~~Ding”

The doorbell rang three times.

Qian Wang pouted, clearly able to hear the footsteps inside the house, but the other party stubbornly refused to open the door. He smiled nonchalantly, shook the document bag he was holding, and took out the key to unlock the door.

Sun Kan’s father’s face showed a moment of panic, but Qian Wang acted as if he didn’t see it. He walked calmly into the living room, glanced around the house, and turned to the old couple, who looked as if they were facing a great enemy. He gave them a slight smile.

“The house is well maintained. Sun Kan hasn’t come back yet?”

Sun Kan’s father made a move to rush forward but was stopped by the woman beside him.

The man’s face was filled with uncontrollable anger.

“What? Haven’t you had enough of a beating last time? You came here looking for trouble, right? That damn kid gave you the key, didn’t he?”

Qian Wang shrugged his shoulders. His submissiveness towards Zhao Ziqiang stemmed from the fact that he willingly looked up to that person, but that didn’t apply to others. Last time, this old man had taken advantage of him when he was too weak from drinking and ended up getting a beating. He hadn’t taken it to heart; he just didn’t want to fuss over it. But if it happened again, things would be different.

He leisurely rested his elbows on his knees as he sat on the sofa, picked up an apple from the table to toy with, and remained silent, letting the man continue his threats.

“Last time was just a warning. If you keep bothering him, I’ll make sure to tell the school everything!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, the front door swung open, and this time it was Sun Kan.

The boy instinctively showed surprise upon seeing Qian Wang, but then, noticing his parents confronting Qian Wang, he nervously and flusteredly ran over to sit beside him.

“Dad… Mom, sit down and talk it out calmly.”

He guessed that Qian Wang had come to find him to ask about ‘that’ matter, but right now, he felt a faint joy in his heart just from seeing Qian Wang take the initiative to look for him.

Seeing that the family of three was all present, Qian Wang leisurely took out the documents in his hand.

“There are three days left until our lease contract expires. As for this house, um… you should find a place to move out by the end of the month.”

The couple and the boy all had expressions of disbelief.

The man of the house seemed to still not understand what this person was saying; he wanted to ask but didn’t know where to start.

Qian Wang continued:

“Didn’t Sun Kan tell you? I’m the owner of this house. I had a two-and-a-half-year contract with Sun Kan. You still owe 2,000 yuan in rent, but since Sun Kan is my student, I don’t want to make things difficult for you, so let’s forget about it. Just make sure to move out by the end of the month.”

The three of them stiffly processed the information in this statement, and the couple instantly became flustered. Only Sun Kan’s expression gradually calmed down. He lifted his head and looked at Qian Wang seriously. How had he not noticed before that there had never been any emotion in this man’s eyes—never!

“I don’t know anything about the incident involving Zhao Ziqiang. It wasn’t me!”

Qian Wang turned back to look at him with a strange expression, as if mocking him.

“I know.”

He took out a copy of the contract and handed it to the family of three, then glanced at his watch.

“I have things to do this afternoon, so I’ll be leaving. You all should hurry up.”

Sun Kan didn’t see the man off as he usually did; instead, he sat in place with his parents, feeling downcast. He understood now what it meant to lose utterly and completely.

Zhao Ziqiang silently calculated that it was about time to be discharged from the hospital. Although his family could be considered moderately well-off, his mother was currently ill, and the various expenses each day were already at their limit. If he continued to be a burden here, it would truly be unfilial.

However, there was still a difficult situation to face: the person he thought he had already resolved the crisis with—Sun Wanjue.

Zhao Ziqiang propped himself up weakly, his face twisted in pain.

“I’m telling you, why don’t you listen, kid?”

“…”

“Ahem… Do you know what puberty is? What does it mean when puberty stirs? What does ‘curiosity killed the cat’ mean? … And what does it mean to not force others to do things they don’t want to do!”

Sun Wanjue lifted his eyes slightly but continued with his actions—his hand slipped under the quilt, exploring the thigh of the immobilize person, feeling the warmth and slowly moving towards the even hotter areas within reach.

Zhao Ziqiang’s face was turned increasingly red but his complexion was gradually becoming ugly. His body was filled with sore and painful injuries so he wasn’t able to move easily.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his gaze gradually becoming profound.

“Sun Wanjue, I won’t preach you but listen carefully: just because you’re young and inexperienced doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want. Even if you were as handsome as Takeshi Kaneshiro, I wouldn’t engage in anything with you!”

He deeply regretted his previous indulgence towards this kid.

He had to admit that he was blinded by hatred at that time, and the desire for revenge against Qian Wang cursed like a thorn in his heart, which was why he had come to tell Sun Wanjue a few stories.

But now he was awake to the reality; he couldn’t harm others and himself. Not to mention that his mind was in turmoil now, even if he were completely unburdened, it would be impossible for him to do anything with this 15-year-old kid. That would be luring a minor!

He gritted his teeth, exerted himself to prop himself up, and suddenly jumped off the bed, nearly doubling over in pain. Still, he persisted, staggering toward the door.

Sun Wanjue was startled and withdrew his hand.

Zhao Ziqiang coldly brushed away the boy’s attempt to help, panting with his mouth half-open. The pain in his chest and ribs was so intense that he could barely speak, his head spun as blood rushed to it, filling his vision with little stars.

Seeing this, Sun Wanjue furrowed his brows and stubbornly leaned over. He put one arm around the man’s back under his armpit while trying to lift him with the other hand from beneath Zhao Ziqiang’s knee. However, being just a teenager, he struggled a few times and nearly ended up pushing Zhao Ziqiang to the ground.

Just then, the ward door was pushed open. Zhao Ziqiang instinctively sensed the awkwardness of the situation. He struggled to push away Sun Wanjue, who was bent over to lift him, and noticed Qian Wang’s eyes fill with anger as he entered.

Not knowing how long Qian Wang had been watching at the door, Zhao Ziqiang calmly analyzed the situation, noticing that the man’s anger seemed to be directed at the boy who had nearly fallen.

Just as he was preparing to catch his breath and move back to the bed, he felt his body lighten. Qian Wang picked him up using the same position that Sun Wan Jue had tried multiple times. Although he gritted his teeth in effort, he ultimately managed to gently place Zhao Ziqiang back down.

After making sure Zhao Ziqiang was settled, Qian Wang turned around aggressively and looked down at the younger man, grabbing his collar and half-dragging, half-lifting him out of the ward.

During this time, the three of them didn’t say a word.

Zhao Ziqiang initially wanted to intervene but then thought that having Qian Wang take the boy away would be good to dispel any inappropriate thoughts. Although Qian Wang was also one of the people Zhao Ziqiang didn’t want to provoke right now, at least he was an adult. Overall, he was much easier to deal with than an innocent young boy.