…

Judging from the number of news articles, her disappearance back then had indeed caused quite a stir in Beiwan City.

After two years of being missing due to an accident, a person could be officially declared dead.

Though she was still alive ten years later, she had long since experienced a “social death.”

Ji Fanling found reading news about herself far more enjoyable than reading about others.

At the time, apart from her, who had gone missing, the only people present were the drunk driver responsible for the accident and seven-year-old Xiaoxing. Both of their testimonies were unreliable, and the surveillance footage from that rainy night was too blurry.

As a result, there were countless theories from netizens about the cause of her disappearance.

As Ji Fanling kept reading, she suddenly let out a soft laugh.

Fu Yingcheng looked up and saw the corners of her eyes curving with amusement. His tone, unusually gentle, asked, “What’s so funny?”

“I’m reading the news from back then.”

Ji Fanling stretched her phone out toward him, her pale fingertips curling as she tapped the screen. “Someone guessed that I didn’t go missing but was caught by a passing truck and dragged somewhere else.”

“There were so many vehicles coming and going that I was crushed, shattered into pieces.”

“The rain was heavy that day, and the pieces were washed into…”

“Into the sewer?” His voice was as cold as ice.

“Yeah, how did you know?”

Ji Fanling put down her phone and looked up, meeting his gaze.

The soft light from the small lamp hanging above the table cast a warm glow, but his eyes were dark, lurking in the shadow of his tousled hair.

His gaze was as black and chilling as an unfathomable abyss beneath a thin layer of ice.

There wasn’t the slightest hint of a smile.

The air froze for a moment.

Ji Fanling blinked. “…Why aren’t you laughing?”

The suppressed tension subtly simmered, but the man’s Adam’s apple moved slightly.

Only she could sit in front of him, grinning and joking about the way she could have died.

“Sorry.”

The girl thought she had disgusted him, so she pulled back and slowly said, “Sometimes I forget, not everyone is as brave as me.”

Fu Yingcheng remained silent for a moment, then composed himself, casually replying, “It’s fine.”

“Compared to those fabricated fake news stories…”

He gave her a pointed glance, his words cryptic, “The bulldozer is still scarier.”

Ji Fanling: “…”

*

Maybe it was because of the news she mentioned, but Fu Yingcheng seemed to lose his appetite, taking just a few more bites before getting up.

Ji Fanling followed behind him, carrying the dishes to the kitchen to wash.

Fu Yingcheng bought her food, and she washed the dishes for him—it seemed reasonable.

However, every time she washed the dishes, Fu Yingcheng would stay in the kitchen, wiping the countertops, cleaning the cutting board, organizing the utensils, or freshly juicing some fruit and sharing a glass with her for the evening.

Although he remained silent and appeared busy, Ji Fanling had already seen through him—he wasn’t truly busy. He just wanted to take the opportunity to keep an eye on her.

It was obvious.

Fu Yingcheng thought she couldn’t wash the dishes properly and wanted to supervise her.

Ji Fanling turned to the dining room to collect the remaining dishes. To make it easier, she stacked them together in her arms, mentally planning to soak them in warm water first before using dish soap.

As she walked into the kitchen, deep in thought, she suddenly felt a gust of wind at the back of her neck. Instinctively, she bent down to dodge.

The moment she dodged, the dishes she was holding scattered.

After snapping back to reality, she instinctively tried to catch them.

But the oil-slicked plates slipped right through her hands, crashing to the floor with a series of sharp clatters, shattering into pieces.

Ji Fanling was about to reach down to pick up the broken pieces when a large hand suddenly intervened, grabbing her wrist and practically lifting her off the ground, pulling her forcefully to his side.

And an urgent voice came from above, “Don’t pick them up!”

She stumbled a couple of steps before steadying herself. When she looked up, she saw the cupboard above her, and it all made sense.

He had only been reaching to open the cupboard above her head.

Logically, he wouldn’t have even touched her.

“Did I bump into you?” Fu Yingcheng frowned deeply. “Did your hand get cut?” As he spoke, he grabbed her hand to inspect it.

Her hand was covered in water and oil, her pale fingers cold and slightly curled, but thankfully, there was no cut.

Fu Yingcheng caught a glimpse of a dark red mark on her wrist, and a flash of almost uncontrollable agitation flickered deep in his eyes. Holding her wrist with one hand, he quickly pushed up her sleeve with the other.

A fleeting glimpse revealed the bruises spreading up from her forearm, the deep, nearly black-purple bruising was shocking.

But he only managed to catch a brief glance.

The girl pulled her hand back as if she’d been shocked, quickly lowering her sleeve. “I didn’t get cut, I just dropped the dishes… sorry.”

Fu Yingcheng’s voice grew a little heavier. “Your arm.”

“I fell off my bike, it’s nothing.” She quickly replied.

The same excuse.

Just like the one she used back then.

The scene before him pulled Fu Yingcheng back to that night during their first year of high school.

In front of the convenience store, the girl sat on a plastic chair under a sunshade, awkwardly turning her back to him as she fiddled with her hair.

Her slender neck was tensed, exposing a long, diagonal gash from the back of her neck to her shoulder blade. Blood had soaked through her school uniform, the fabric clinging to her skin in a way that made the sight all the more horrifying.

Ji Fanling refused to go to the hospital, so he had no choice but to clean the wound with cotton swabs and iodine.

There were tiny shards of glass embedded in the wound, stuck in her flesh, and he had to painstakingly pick them out, one by one.

He couldn’t imagine how painful it must have been. Each time the cotton swab touched her skin, she seemed to tremble slightly.

Fu Yingcheng’s movements became gentler and gentler, but despite his usual calm and detached demeanor, he now felt an overwhelming sense of restlessness, as if he were being roasted over a fire. In the dim light, his fingers, gripping the cotton swab, turned white, and his palms were damp with sweat.

After a while, the girl, who had been completely silent, suddenly made a sound.

Fu Yingcheng, tense and on edge, instinctively thought he had hurt her. He looked up, only to find her watching stray cats fight near the flowerbed.

She was so absorbed in watching the spectacle that she even laughed out loud.

Ji Fanling even reached out to pull him, saying, “Look! The tabby is taking on three! Wow, they’re all up on the wall now!” The stray cats hissed at each other, chasing and biting as they scaled the walls.

She truly didn’t care, as if she couldn’t feel any pain—or perhaps, she had long become accustomed to it.

When she smiled, her little sharp tiger teeth showed. In the dim night, her pale face contrasted with the sudden bloom of her smile, so stunning that it was almost heart-stopping.

A sudden night breeze rose, sweeping away the sweat that had soaked Fu Yingcheng.

It was then that Fu Yingcheng realized Ji Fanling wasn’t the one trembling.

It was his own hand that was shaking.

…

“I’ll clean this up,” Ji Fanling said.

“Stand there and don’t move,” Fu Yingcheng responded curtly, leaving no room for argument.

He turned around to get a broom, came back, and swept up the broken pieces on the floor, then put them into a plastic bag. He wrapped it in a cloth bag, secured it with several layers of clear tape, and hastily wrote a warning, “Caution: broken porcelain,” before tossing it into the garbage bag. Then, he came back with a mop, carefully cleaning the floor. He ran his palm over the tiles, ensuring there were no leftover shards, and then went to meticulously wash his hands.

When he returned, Ji Fanling was still standing in the same spot, feeling a bit awkward. She stole a glance at Fu Yingcheng.

He stood at the boundary between light and shadow, his aura cold and distant as he pondered, his eyes lowered, slowly turning the black-gold tail ring on his left hand.

His fingers, repeatedly rinsed in cold water, were clean and slender, with distinct knuckles like bamboo. The black surface of the ring accentuated the cool whiteness of his skin, and the veins on the back of his hand stood out sharply.

It made him look… especially intimidating.

“How about you calculate how much that bowl cost?”

Ji Fanling fiddled with her fingers, speaking softly, “When I earn some money, I’ll pay you back all at once.”

Fu Yingcheng’s fingers paused in their motion of turning the ring, and his dark eyes glanced at her, the tension around him easing slightly.

“Compensate for what? I didn’t buy that bowl.”

“It was a gift, and it’s so ugly it makes me uneasy, ruins my appetite every time I eat.” Fu Yingcheng said indifferently, “It’s good it broke. I’ll buy a new one tomorrow.”

Ji Fanling nodded and prepared to explain the reason she had been rehearsing in her mind for a while. “Just now, I wasn’t dodging…”

“And those slippers of yours.”

Fu Yingcheng interrupted, not giving her a chance to continue.

Following his gaze, Ji Fanling looked down and saw the pair of men’s slippers she was wearing, which were far too big, with the heels extending well past her own.

“We’ll get new ones tomorrow as well,” Fu Yingcheng said calmly.

“—That way you won’t keep slipping and breaking all the bowls in the house.”

*

The only time they could go shopping together would be after dinner the next day.

Before she knew it, it was already evening again, and Fu Yingcheng would be home soon.

The orange and purple hues of the sunset streamed through the balcony, casting a watercolor-like glow into the empty living room, blending with the stark black-and-white decor, giving the cool space a soft touch.

Auntie Tong, who had prepared the meal, took off her apron and smiled at Ji Fanling, telling her that the dinner was kept warm in the pot, before leaving. Ji Fanling lounged lazily on the sofa, playing on her phone.

Her hand was raised, and the sleeve naturally slid down half an inch, revealing the bruised marks.

Ji Fanling glanced at it indifferently, but after a moment, her gaze slowly drifted back to it, her mind replaying the events of the previous night.

…Luckily, Fu Yingcheng had misunderstood and thought she slipped.

From now on, she definitely couldn’t dodge again.

It seemed like she could still feel the lingering warmth of his fingertips on her wrist from when he had grabbed her yesterday.

It’s strange.

He always seemed so cold.

But his touch was scorching and intense.

It was at this moment that Zhou Sui’s message suddenly popped up.

Sui Sui Ping An: 【Fanling, I know where Cheng Jiali is now.】

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Author’s Note:

The ex-boyfriend is about to stir up trouble.

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