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Seeing them walk away, Xiao Yang turned back to Tang Hui.
"Hey, you’re smart enough not to expose me in front of that bunch of idiots just now, which gave me a chance to escape," Xiao Yang said, raising an eyebrow and casting him a cold glance.
Tang Hui shot her a sidelong look, his expression as indifferent as if no one else existed. He said nothing and turned to leave.
"Hey! Wait a minute," Xiao Yang suddenly called out from behind him.
"What do you want?" Tang Hui stopped and turned back, his tone sharp.
"Although you saved me last time, don’t expect me to be grateful. As for the medical expenses, don’t worry; I’ll pay you back every penny in due time."
"I never expected you to be grateful. My saving you wasn’t out of kindness; if I had a choice, I’d rather not have met you at all."
Tang Hui’s words were as chilling as if they had just come out of a refrigerator, leaving her momentarily speechless. She lowered her head, trembling with anger.
At that moment, Tang Hui didn’t care whether she felt comfortable or not. With a cold snort, he turned to leave.
"Wait—" Seeing him about to go, Xiao Yang called out again.
Tang Hui turned back with evident displeasure, frowning at her with palpable disdain.
"Is your hand... better now?" Xiao Yang asked hesitantly, unable to meet his gaze.
Hearing her question ignited a fierce anger within Tang Hui. He raised his weak left hand and looked at it with a pained sigh. Even if he beat her up right now and crippled her left hand too, it wouldn’t change the fact that his own was already useless.
"It’s fine. Are you disappointed to hear that?" Tang Hui asked coldly, his gaze burning as if it could incinerate everything beautiful around them into ashes.
"Hey, what’s with your attitude? You can’t talk to me like that," Xiao Yang shot back, glaring at him. "You think just because I’m giving you some face you can act all high and mighty? Last time I didn’t cripple you; do you believe next time I’ll make sure you’re bedridden forever, with your mother taking care of your every need?"
Tang Hui remained silent, his eyes devoid of interest in her threats. He dismissed her completely with a scoff before turning away once more.
"You arrogant brat, how dare you act so cocky in front of me?" Xiao Yang fumed as she stepped forward, arms outstretched to block his way, refusing to let him leave.
"What do you want? Move aside, do you hear me?" Tang Hui was irritated by her persistence and shouted at her.
"Why are you being so fierce? I just want to treat you to a late-night snack! It's to repay you for saving my life last time," Xiao Yang retorted, rolling her eyes in frustration.
"What? You want to treat me to a late-night snack?" Tang Hui looked at her with disbelief, unable to trust his ears.
"What's wrong? Don't believe me? Afraid I'll poison you?" Xiao Yang shot him a glare, her tone sharp. "Are you going to eat or not? If not, then forget it."
"Sorry, but I can't accept. My mom is waiting for me at home, and I have school tomorrow. I can't afford to be late like you," he said impatiently, pushing her aside without caring about her feelings.
Xiao Yang felt his words pierce her like needles, the pain striking at her dignity.
"You think you're better than me just because I didn't go to school? No education, no manners, no upbringing—who cares if no one looks after me?" She glared at him with tears welling up in her eyes, her voice trembling with anger.
Hearing this made Tang Hui recall the time he called her home from the hospital; her parents treated her poorly. Regret washed over him as he realized his earlier words had struck a nerve. After all, people fear heartbreak just as trees fear being stripped of their bark; his comments had indeed hurt Xiao Yang.
"I didn't mean it that way. Believe it or not," Tang Hui replied coldly.
"I know exactly what you think. You're going to be a college student; why would you want to sit down and eat with someone as lowly as a hostess?" Xiao Yang's self-esteem plummeted as she sobbed even harder.
"Alright, alright. It's just a late-night snack. Is it really necessary to bring up occupational discrimination?"
Xiao Yang looked at him without saying a word, wiped away her tears, and decided to join him for the meal.
As the night deepened and the streetlights cast a dim glow, they chose a restaurant that was open until four in the morning. After ordering several dishes, they began eating absentmindedly.
"What do you think of the boiled fish here?" Xiao Yang asked eagerly, pointing at the dish on the table.
"It's okay," Tang Hui replied dismissively without even glancing at her.
Xiao Yang, seeing that he was still speaking to her in such a cold tone, felt a surge of anger. She slammed her chopsticks down on the table, pouted, and couldn't help but question him again, "Is that how you talk to your good friend Zhu Hui as well?"
"Hey, what do you want from me? Is my food not good enough for you? Do you want me to make it taste terrible before you’re satisfied?"
"I... that's not what I meant." Xiao Yang was both anxious and angry, too tired to explain herself. Instead, she called the waiter over and ordered a bottle of red wine, downing it in large gulps.
Tang Hui initially didn’t stop her from drinking, but as she continued to drink more aggressively, he could no longer bear to watch. After several bottles, he stood up and snatched the wine bottle from her hands. "Hey, what are you doing? Stop drinking! I don’t want to carry you back later."
"Who needs you to carry me? You can leave right now! No one is stopping you!" Xiao Yang shouted at him, her eyes bloodshot.
"Aren't you afraid that hurting yourself like this will upset your parents?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yang slapped Tang Hui across the face in anger and shouted, "Let me tell you, everyone in this world who would care about me is already dead! So there's no need for you to pretend to be a good person here and meddle in my affairs."
Tang Hui was stunned by her slap; in his moment of panic, he had forgotten about her troubled relationship with her parents. His intention had been to comfort her, but instead, he had struck a nerve and made things worse.
"Alright, alright! Consider it my mistake for meddling and saying the wrong thing. Is that enough?" Tang Hui impatiently slammed the wine bottle down on the table. He decided to let her drink as much as she wanted; if she wanted to die, that was her choice—he wouldn't interfere anymore.
However, Xiao Yang didn’t take the bottle back to continue drinking. Instead, she pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her bag and started smoking one after another. After some time passed, when she finally calmed down and her anger dissipated, she spoke again.
"Did you think that my biological parents were already dead when I said that earlier?" Xiao Yang asked quietly, looking down.
It was Tang Hui's turn to clean the classroom that day. As he left school, the campus was nearly deserted. Just as he stepped out of the school gate with his backpack, he heard someone calling his name from behind. Curious, he turned around and saw Xiao Yang standing quietly by the gate like a beautiful ghost.
Spring in Wuhan was always so short; as soon as the sun shone a little brighter, it would leap straight into summer without hesitation. The temperature would rise impulsively. In the evening, the sunset was shy like a young girl holding hands with twilight while returning birds carried the dusk along with them. The final bell rang at Nanhua High School, and students poured out of the school like a wave of relief, hurrying home.
"I did think about that," Tang Hui admitted candidly.
Xiao Yang exhaled a puff of smoke nonchalantly. "Actually, my biological parents are not dead; they are alive and well. They are happily searching for new step-parents for me everywhere. Unfortunately for them, I don’t share their enthusiasm for such pursuits; hence I'm not as happy as they are." She shrugged dismissively with a smirk before extinguishing the cigarette that had burned down to her fingers and tossing it into the ashtray. Lighting another one up, she continued with a cloud of smoke swirling around her: "You might not believe this, but even though I work as an escort at nightclubs, I've never sold my body. To be precise, I'm still a virgin. Aren't you surprised?"
"Unfortunately," Tang Hui replied bluntly, "the purity of a virgin is not only reflected in the body; more often than not, it shows in one's soul."
“What do you mean? Do you think my heart is filthy, that my soul has been tainted and is no longer pure?”
“I didn’t mean it that way, but if you want to interpret it like that, I won’t argue.”
Xiao Yang listened to him and didn’t get angry. After a sigh of relief, he spoke calmly, “Actually, I’ve really failed in life. In the past, I was too arrogant, truly believing that the Earth revolved because of my existence. But after stepping into society, I slowly realized that I am not the engine of the Earth; whether I exist or not, it wouldn’t stop or cause more tsunamis.”
“What does that have to do with your failure?” Tang Hui interjected in confusion.
Xiao Yang smiled faintly at him and chuckled, “Actually, my family is very wealthy—wealthy beyond your imagination. But since I can remember, my parents have never gotten along. They fought constantly, indulging in affairs and living carefree lives, never bothering to discipline me or even care about me. Then one day, I discovered that my father would obsess over a tiny oil stain on his tie, while my mother would fret endlessly over a pimple on her face. Seeing this made me realize that ugly things attract more attention than beautiful ones. From that moment on, I began to envy that insignificant oil stain and the pimple on my mother’s face. After that, I resolved to become bad; I wanted my parents to be ashamed of me so they would pay attention to me like they did to the oil stain and the pimple. Unfortunately, my thoughts back then were too sincere and naive. At first, when I started acting out, they did show some concern for me. But it didn’t last long; soon enough, they shifted all the blame for my behavior onto each other, accusing one another of failing to raise me properly. Little did I expect that they would later use this excuse to agree on a divorce. I was assigned to live with my wealthy father. Afraid I would be lonely after the divorce, he brought a woman home shortly after as my stepmother. Worse still, within three months, she gave me a little brother. From then on, whenever I wanted to turn back and return to shore, I could never find a dock to land at again.”
“What about your biological mother? You could go live with her!” Tang Hui asked in confusion.
“Biological mother?” Xiao Yang scoffed at the mention of her name, taking a drag from his cigarette with a cold smile. “She’s even more shameless than my dad. After divorcing him, she went through three men and had two children with them. Of course, those two children’s fates are just as miserable as mine—no one cares for them either. Recently, I heard from someone that after she divorced her fourth husband, she went to Canada with a Taiwanese man. But knowing her character, she probably dumped that Taiwanese guy long ago and is now fooling around with some foreigner who has a wife!” He laughed dismissively.
Tang Hui gazed deeply at her without saying a word; his cold stare unconsciously melted into boundless sympathy for her. The hatred reflected in his eyes was no longer the icy chill of winter but rather a warmth filled with pity for her after spring had arrived.
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