Liang Jin’s unruly gaze drifted down, sweeping over Li Wenshui’s absent expression, gliding over his gently moving Adam’s apple, and finally resting on his shirt pocket. At that moment, Li Wenshui only wanted to leave, but Liang Jin pressed his hand firmly on his waist, his warm palm pushing down hard through the thin fabric. Li Wenshui, with his old injury, didn’t have much strength, and his waist collapsed under the pressure, making it look as if he was pressed against Liang Jin. In reality, there was still some distance between them.

Liang Jin’s fingers slid into Li Wenshui’s pocket and pulled out two small balls of paper. He opened them in front of Li Wenshui. The papers had the same number “1” written on them. Disdainfully, he threw the pieces away, having seen through Li Wenshui’s little trick from the beginning. The lie had been exposed, but Li Wenshui felt no shame. He simply wanted to stay in the same tent as Liang Jin and ask about past matters. He hadn’t broken any laws or moral codes, so what was there to feel ashamed about?

He asked angrily, “Why are you playing with me?”

Liang Jin laughed, finding Li Wenshui’s lack of wit amusing. He had said so much, yet a perceptive person would have already kept quiet. His pupils darkened slightly, and he asked in return, “A stranger, using not getting close to my cousin as leverage, trying to exchange for a company position that’s already been decided. A trick like this, would you agree to it if it were you? Li Wenshui, what have you given me in return?”

Li Wenshui’s gaze shifted uneasily. “You’ve asked me to stay away from Luo Jianan so many times.”

“I do want you to stay away from Luo Jianan, but that can’t be used as leverage. If I wanted to, I could find many ways to solve it,” Liang Jin said lazily. He didn’t want to use force, so Li Wenshui kept appearing before him, and he would just speak a few words.

Li Wenshui lowered his eyelids, feeling conflicted inside.

Just as Liang Jin thought that Li Wenshui had understood, Li Wenshui suddenly looked up, his eyes shimmering like water. “What do you need me to do? I can.”

Liang Jin fell silent. Many people had thrown themselves at him, but Li Wenshui was the first to make such an offer. Liang Jin’s smile faded, and he squinted his eyes.

He didn’t deny that Li Wenshui had a very outstanding face, one that fully met his aesthetic standards. But that wasn’t enough to move him. The Li Wenshui before him always reminded him of the woman from his childhood who tried to destroy his parents’ relationship and used every trick to force herself into the Liang family. Their gazes were exactly the same—innocent, yet full of calculation.

“To what extent can you do it?” Liang Jin asked with interest.

Li Wenshui remained silent, his eyelashes trembling.

Liang Jin reached out toward Li Wenshui’s shirt collar and slowly moved his hand up along his waistline. Every spot his cool fingers touched made Li Wenshui’s skin shiver. Liang Jin observed his expression and asked, “How many boyfriends have you had?”

“Two.”

“Really? That’s different from what I’ve heard.”

Liang Jin’s palm slid across Li Wenshui’s chest, his fingertips lightly flicking, causing the fabric on his chest to puff out. Li Wenshui clenched his fist, his face, ears, and neck all turning red.

“That’s a rumor,” Li Wenshui’s body tensed, and his tone suddenly rose when talking about the topic. “My ex-boyfriend couldn’t stand seeing me do well after we broke up, so he spread rumors about me everywhere.” Liang Jin didn’t say whether he believed it or not, but pinched the smooth skin and changed the subject: “Have you slept with anyone?”

Li Wenshui bit his lip and nodded. “Mm.”

Liang Jin’s hand slid lower. “How many?”

Li Wenshui’s back was wet with sweat, his lips biting harder and harder, his lower lip turning bright red. The waistband was pulled open, and Liang Jin’s fingertips slid across his lower abdomen. Li Wenshui’s scalp tingled, and he couldn’t control himself anymore, grabbing Liang Jin’s hand to stop him from going further.

Liang Jin tilted his head and looked at him. Li Wenshui exhaled heavily: “Can you help me once you’re done touching?”

Liang Jin was puzzled. Was Li Wenshui really so innocent, or was he pretending? If he was pretending, he was overdoing it. He shook his head: “Just touching isn’t enough. There’s no such cheap deal.”

Li Wenshui hesitated. While he was hesitating, Liang Jin pulled his hand back, picked up his coat, and draped it over Li Wenshui’s slightly sweaty back, saying, “Forget it, you’re too stiff, I’m not interested anymore.”

Li Wenshui lowered his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

As night fell, Liang Jin walked out of the tent and not far off, he saw Luo Jianan, covered in mud, running towards him with Li Liyan, who was also dirty, following behind. Liang Jin stepped aside in surprise: “What happened to you? Where’s the firewood?”

Luo Jianan gasped for breath: “Liyan fell into a pit. Wenshui said he would go get the flashlight, so I waited for a long time, thinking I should pull Liyan out. But then my foot slipped, and I fell in too.”

Li Liyan said: “The pit’s not deep, you can climb out. I said I’d climb first, but when I was halfway up, Luo Jianan suddenly screamed, and I got scared and fell back in.”

Luo Jianan defended himself: “It’s not my fault, the pit was really scary! It was pitch dark, and I couldn’t see anything, there were sounds too, it scared me! I climbed out and just ran, forgot the firewood.”

Liang Jin: “…”

“By the way, where’s Wenshui?” Luo Jianan looked around.

Li Wenshui walked out, his expression normal. He looked at Luo Jianan and frowned: “What happened to you? Why are you all covered in mud?”

Luo Jianan repeated what had happened.

Li Wenshui rubbed his forehead and sighed: “You should have made him climb out himself, why pull him?”

Li Liyan complained: “You…”

Liang Jin suddenly spoke: “Jianan, you and Li Wenshui share a tent tonight, I’ll stay with Li Liyan.”

Luo Jianan looked confused: “Why? Didn’t we decide by drawing lots?”

“No reason, just based on my mood,” Liang Jin glanced at everyone, “No objections, right?”

Li Wenshui stayed silent, Li Liyan was happy to stay with Liang Jin, and Luo Jianan didn’t dare to object.

The four went back to their respective tents. Luo Jianan, after changing out of his dirty clothes, asked Li Wenshui, who seemed to be in a bad mood: “Wenshui, why didn’t you bring us the flashlight? What were you doing all this time?”

“I suddenly got hungry and ate something,” Li Wenshui picked up the dirty clothes that Luo Jianan had thrown on the ground and folded them, “Did you hurt anywhere?”

Luo Jianan stretched his muscles and bones, letting out a “hiss” sound: “I remember my arm hitting a rock.”

“Let me take a look.” Li Wenshui rolled up Luo Jianan’s sleeve, revealing a bruise on his elbow. Li Wenshui pressed on it, and Luo Jianan winced in pain. “It’s not a bone injury, and there’s no red oil here. I’ll make you a boiled egg to put on it. Next time something like this happens, don’t bother with it.”

Li Wenshui rolled up his sleeve, about to wash the pot, but Luo Jianan grabbed his wrist: “And what about you? What’s with the injury on your hand? It wasn’t there before. You got that when you were saving Li Liyan, right?” On his smooth arm, a blood-soaked scratch stretched from his wrist to his elbow, with the blood already dried.

If Luo Jianan hadn’t mentioned it, and Li Wenshui had almost forgotten about the injury, but now that it was brought up, he could feel the spot throbbing with pain. He yanked his sleeve down to cover the wound. “Do you think I really wanted to save him? It was a reflex. I value my life.”

Luo Jianan thought to himself, Wenshui was great in every way, except for being so stubborn.

The next morning, Li Wenshui felt a bit out of sorts. After he put the boiled egg on Luo Jianan’s bruise last night, Luo Jianan fell asleep, snoring loudly. Li Wenshui, wearing earplugs, tossed and turned, unable to sleep well all night. Before leaving, Luo Jianan suddenly suggested they take a group photo to remember the moment.

The four of them stood by the river, from left to right: Luo Jianan, Li Wenshui, Liang Jin, and Li Liyan. While adjusting the selfie stick, Luo Jianan realized he was out of the frame, so he squeezed in. “You all move a bit closer, I’m barely in the shot!”

Suddenly squeezed—Li Wenshui lost his balance and leaned on Liang Jin’s shoulder. Liang Jin instinctively steadied Li Wenshui by the waist. Luo Jianan smiled widely: “Cheese!” Li Liyan made a peace sign.

“Click—” The group froze in the photo.

In the small room, Li Wenshui lay tiredly on the bed, staring blankly at the photo Luo Jianan had sent him. Then he cropped out Li Liyan from the photo and posted the group picture on his social media. His phone kept ringing with notifications. Li Wenshui opened a conversation with Lin Yumo.

Lin Yumo had sent a voice message: “Wenshui, you’re impressive! When did you get close to the vice president?”

Li Wenshui glanced at the blood marks on his arm, took out a cotton swab and iodine from the drawer, snapped the swab, and applied it to the wound. His tone carried a hint of smugness: “No, we’re just friends.”

“Stop lying. The vice president was holding your waist, and also, Ji Xingzhou broke up with him. Was it because of you? I ran into him at the office today, and he was throwing a tantrum everywhere. Hmph, serves him right for being arrogant!”

“They really broke up, but it has nothing to do with me.” — This part was the truth.

“You, just keep it low-key! But I don’t mind. Wenshui, if you put in some effort, I’ve heard the vice president spends money lavishly. When that happens, I’ll stick with you. You’ll take me to eat well and live luxuriously! Let those people who looked down on us in the past, take us more seriously.”

Li Wenshui thought to himself, if it’s really that kind of relationship, what’s there to be respected for? But at least it could change his life. After the call ended, Li Wenshui unexpectedly received a transfer from Suge. Suge sent a sweet voice message: “Wenshui, I thought about it after I got back. It was wrong of me to spill coffee on you. I’m slow to think, don’t blame me. I’ve sent the full amount for the clothes to you.” What would have taken a lot of explaining was solved with just a group photo. He didn’t do anything, and Suge took the initiative to send the money. Liang Jin was really too useful.

Not long after, the manager also sent a message, explaining politely the reasons for the previous coldness. It was some work-related excuses, but Li Wenshui had a good guess about the real reason. It was probably because the manager had heard somewhere that he and Liang Jin were not in a relationship. But it certainly wasn’t from Liang Jin, as the manager didn’t have the guts to ask Liang Jin such private questions. The most likely source was Ji Xingzhou.

The next day, friends whom he hadn’t heard from in a long time began to subtly inquire about his relationship with Liang Jin. Li Wenshui kept his answers vague, neither admitting nor explaining. But if others misunderstood, it wasn’t really his fault, right? He hadn’t lied to anyone.

The next morning, Liang Jin went for his usual morning run. The path he ran on was usually quiet, and just five minutes into his run, someone caught up with him from behind. Liang Jin turned around, and the other person’s eyes were sparkling: “Classmate Liang, you’re running too? What a coincidence. Want some water?” Liang Jin didn’t think it was a coincidence. Their homes were on opposite sides of the city, so it was impossible they would run into each other like this.

“Got something to say to me?” Li Wenshui smiled brightly, completely different from the pitiful look he had in the tent the day before. Just as he was about to speak, Liang Jin showed a mischievous grin: “Run three laps with me in silence, and I’ll listen to you.”

Li Wenshui could barely pass the school’s 1,000-meter physical test, and the three laps on this path were at least five kilometers. Liang Jin ran further and further ahead. Li Wenshui gritted his teeth, thinking, forget it! At first, it wasn’t too hard, but by the second lap, Liang Jin was running effortlessly while Li Wenshui was gasping for air, his legs feeling heavier with each step, his heart almost about to burst. Sweat poured down his face, his hair soaked, and his chest felt tight. By the time he reached the third lap, every breath he took burned in his lungs. He had worked the night shift yesterday, hadn’t slept all night, and now with the intense exercise, his body could no longer keep up and collapsed onto the ground.