During dinner, Xu Jingqian paced back and forth at the entrance, tapping his phone against his palm. Apart from a few unimportant messages, the screen remained dark.

As dusk fell, the entire ancient town was shrouded in a grayish-blue hue, making the streets and alleys seem even narrower. Xu Jingqian sat by the glass wall at a coffee table, his gaze occasionally falling on the dark screen of his phone.

About ten minutes later, a bright beam of light shone through, momentarily blinding him. A car passed by the window, and Xu Jingqian recognized it as Qi Yu’s.

She drove steadily into the ancient town and carefully backed into the garage. After turning off the engine, Qi Yu got out of the car with her bag slung over her shoulder. She then retrieved her day’s purchases from the back seat, including the apology gift she had bought for Xu Jingqian.

Seeing her approach, Xu Jingqian picked up his phone and randomly opened and closed different apps, not really focusing on any of them.

“This is for you,” Qi Yu said as she entered the door and saw Xu Jingqian sitting by the window. She placed the flower cakes on the table in front of him. Remembering her impulsive kiss from the previous night, she suddenly understood why he hadn’t accepted her apology.

“Last night… I’m sorry. I was wrong. My apology is sincere, and I didn’t buy this to make you accept it. It’s okay if you don’t accept it. And thank you for this afternoon,” she said, bending down, her attitude completely different from their midday conversation.

Xu Jingqian wasn’t paying attention to her words. He noticed that Qi Yu was walking strangely, with a bandage on her right knee. As she came closer, he saw that the bandage was stained with blood, and there were dried bloodstains around it.

Xu Jingqian acknowledged her with a noncommittal “hmm,” his eyes fixed on her knee. “What happened here?”

“I accidentally fell,” Qi Yu replied. The sudden concern made her think that Xu Jingqian might have truly accepted her apology, as he had said on the phone. Following his gaze, she looked down at her knee again. “It’s okay, it doesn’t hurt much anymore.”

Xu Jingqian kept staring at her knee.

Qi Yu genuinely didn’t feel much pain anymore. After finding her way out of the ancient town, she had gone to a nearby pharmacy to buy a bandage and quickly treated the wound. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been in the mood to enjoy the rest of her day.

She returned neither too late nor too early; it was almost 8 PM.

The front desk lady had gone home, leaving only Xu Jingqian sitting there with a serious expression. With only a few dim lights on, Qi Yu felt an inexplicable tension, as if she had stayed out too late and was caught.

Qi Yu thought she was overthinking it. She tried to make polite conversation before leaving.

“It’s getting dark. Why are you sitting here?” she asked.

“Waiting for you,” Xu Jingqian replied.

He looked up and saw her slightly panicked face, then looked away and stood up, pointing to the door. “The main door needs to be closed at night.”

It was a false alarm.

Qi Yu breathed a sigh of relief and quickly stepped aside. “Then you close it. I’ll go now.”

With that, she was about to hurry back to her room.

“Wait for me,” Xu Jingqian said, stopping Qi Yu in her tracks. He swiftly closed the wooden door, secured the latch, and under Qi Yu’s gaze, picked up the flower cakes she had given him. He naturally took her wrist and led her to the staircase, then up to the second floor.

Qi Yu was led into a room that was clearly Xu Jingqian’s bedroom. It was similar to her room but also different, with more signs of daily living, not just a place to sleep.

“No need to change shoes, find a place to sit,” Xu Jingqian said, walking straight in.

Qi Yu stood at the doorway, hesitating, not sure why she felt nervous. “What are we doing?”

Xu Jingqian had his back to her, searching for something, his dark head the only thing visible. “Don’t worry, nothing.”

“How can I not worry?” Qi Yu muttered to herself.

“At least, I won’t just kiss anyone,” Xu Jingqian said, glancing at her. “Right?”

Qi Yu fell silent.

Then she saw him take out a first aid kit and find iodine, cotton swabs, and band-aids.