The rain poured down in sheets, leaving the back alley empty on both sides.
Gu Hantian glanced around discreetly and tightened his grip on his phone.
If necessary, the phone could become his weapon.
Qiao Man had noticed him too and nodded calmly. “Good afternoon.”
Gu Hantian’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice tense as he spoke. “Hello.”
“Out for fun?” Qiao Man continued making small talk.
Gu Hantian glanced at the person on the ground again. “Yeah.”
Another flash of lightning lit up the sky, briefly revealing their faces to each other before they were swallowed by darkness once more.
After an unknown length of time, Gu Hantian spoke up first. “You’re…”
Qiao Man remained silent for three seconds before asking, “If I told you this person tried to rob me and I subdued him instead, would you believe me?”
Gu Hantian looked at the person on the ground for the third time.
The rain was too heavy, and the back alley sat in a low-lying area with poor drainage. Dirty water had already accumulated to about five or six centimeters deep.
The person lay soaked in the filthy water, suddenly beginning to groan.
Still alive, not a corpse.
Gu Hantian inexplicably felt relieved but then stated matter-of-factly, “He looks like he’s about to die.”
Qiao Man: “…”
“Should I call the police?” Gu Hantian asked.
Qiao Man refused. “No need. I exceeded the limits of self-defense. Involving the police would only cause trouble.”
“If he reports it, you’ll be in a more passive position,” Gu Hantian said, feeling the scene before him was utterly bizarre but still sticking to the facts.
Qiao Man replied, “Robbery carries a heavier penalty. He wouldn’t dare.”
“But…”
Qiao Man shot him a glance, and even through the heavy rain, Gu Hantian could sense the chill in her eyes.
In that moment, the usually arrogant male lead fell silent.
Ten seconds later, he said, “I have things to do. I should go.”
“Be careful on your way,” Qiao Man added, not forgetting to show concern.
Gu Hantian left without looking back, disappearing into the darkness in an instant.
Qiao Man let out a soft sigh and turned to look deeper into the alley.
Jiang Sui leaned against the wall, his ankles completely submerged in the dirty water.
His eyes were lowered, the heavy rain streaming down his hair—some flowing over his straight nose bridge and pale lips, disappearing into his collar past his Adam’s apple, while the rest traced the lines of his arms and dripped from his swollen, reddened knuckles.
Noticing Qiao Man’s gaze, he lifted his eyes to meet hers.
As their eyes locked, Qiao Man’s expression instantly turned cold.
Half an hour later, in a hotel room near the school.
After a quick shower and changing into the clothes just delivered by takeout, Qiao Man stepped out of the bathroom to find Jiang Sui standing by the window, a puddle of water already forming at his feet.
Furious, Qiao Man threw the towel in her hand at him.
“This is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you,” she said coldly.
Jiang Sui lowered his gaze, picked up the towel that had hit him, and casually wiped his half-dry hair, ignoring her words.
Qiao Man paced restlessly on the spot.
“Now look what happened. I missed the most crucial part of the plot. Where am I supposed to find another thug to rob me? Even if I found one, would Gu Hantian cooperate with the storyline?”
“The way he looked at me today—he clearly thinks I’m some kind of psychopathic killer. If he doesn’t avoid me from now on, it’ll be a miracle. How could he possibly develop any good feelings for me? Without that, how am I supposed to proceed with the rest of the plot?!”
The more she spoke, the angrier she became. When she turned and saw Jiang Sui still looking completely indifferent, her temper flared to its peak.
“When will you ever grow up? Don’t you want to go home?!” Qiao Man demanded.
Jiang Sui finally reacted, though his response remained indifferent: “Shouldn’t I be asking you that? When will you ever mature?”
“What do you mean?” Qiao Man frowned.
Jiang Sui smiled mockingly, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes: “You deliberately hid the plot from me because you were afraid I’d ruin things?”
“Shouldn’t I have?” Qiao Man retorted. “If you hadn’t suddenly shown up, I would have completed the plot long ago.”
Jiang Sui’s expression remained blank: “What makes you so certain the plot would proceed smoothly without me?”
“Because I…”
“Because you’ve read the book and know the plot in advance?” Jiang Sui suddenly stepped closer with each word. “Are you the original novel’s female supporting character? Can you perfectly replicate her emotions and movements? Do you know exactly how many degrees to turn when the thug’s knife comes at you to avoid fatal injury?”
With each question, the chill around him intensified. Qiao Man retreated continuously before his tall frame until her back hit the wall with nowhere left to go.
“You can’t guarantee it, can you? You can’t guarantee anything. So what makes you think you’d safely complete this part of the plot like the original female supporting character?”
Jiang Sui’s eyes gleamed coldly as he circled back to the original topic.
Provoked by his questioning, Qiao Man countered: “So what? Would telling you make it safer?”
“At least I could protect you.”
“I don’t need it!”
The room suddenly fell silent. The decorative lamp in the corner, long in disrepair, flickered twice before dying completely, leaving only a few downlights stubbornly glowing.
Under the cool lighting, Qiao Man’s cheeks flushed with anger. After declaring she didn’t need his help, she took a breath and forced herself to calm down.
“This is just a simple plot. I have eyes and judgment. I know when to do what and how to protect myself. I don’t need your overprotectiveness.”
“Overprotectiveness?” Jiang Sui laughed in disbelief.
“Isn’t it?” Qiao Man frowned. “The situation earlier wasn’t that critical. You rushed out without understanding what was happening and caused me great trouble.”
“Trouble.” All emotion drained from Jiang Sui’s voice.
He emphasized the word alone. Qiao Man frowned: “What I mean is, in the future…”
“There is no future. I won’t interfere with you anymore.” He turned and walked away.
“Jiang Sui? Jiang Sui!”
Qiao Man called after him several times, but was only answered by the slam of the door. Her temper flared, and she coldly kicked the wet clothes on the floor with force.
The wet clothes skidded two meters away, their decorative chain accidentally scraping the sofa and leaving a small dent.
Qiao Man: “…”
That small dent cost her five hundred yuan. When Qiao Man left the hotel, she was seething with resentment.
Outside, the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared. The darkened sky brightened again, with storm-fallen branches and leaves piled along the streets. Sanitation workers in orange uniforms were cleaning up the city after the heavy rain.
When Qiao Man returned to the dormitory, Yi Yuanyuan was having a private discussion with Jia Xin.
After some analysis, the two had realized they’d been manipulated by Qiao Man ever since she overheard them speaking ill of her, and had decided to make a change.
“Why should we take turns cleaning just because she says so? We’re often out, while she’s in the dorm all day long. If anything, she generates more trash and should be the one cleaning,” Yi Yuanyuan voiced her opinion first.
Jia Xin pursed her lips. “The no-talking-after-10-pm rule is really annoying. How many young people these days can actually fall asleep before ten?”
“Exactly! So when she comes back later, we’ll make things clear with her,” Yi Yuanyuan immediately agreed.
Just as Jia Xin was about to discuss their approach further, the dorm door was suddenly kicked open.
“Sorry, I had too many things in my hands,” Qiao Man said flatly from the doorway.
The two inside exchanged glances, neither speaking.
Qiao Man entered with her satchel and drawing board, eyes lowered.
Yi Yuanyuan coughed, signaling Jia Xin to speak first, but Jia Xin quickly shook her head, indicating she didn’t dare.
Disgusted by her cowardice, Yi Yuanyuan marched up to Qiao Man. “Qiao Man, I need to talk to you. I think—”
“Not in the mood. Can we do this another day?” Qiao Man sat at her desk without looking up.
Yi Yuanyuan frowned. “No, we must—”
Qiao Man raised her head, giving her a cold stare. “I said I’m not in the mood.”
Yi Yuanyuan swallowed hard, stammering, “I—I just remembered I haven’t taken out the trash. I’ll go do it now.”
“I’ll come with you!” Jia Xin hurriedly added.
Grabbing the trash bin, the two scurried away. Left alone at her desk, Qiao Man suddenly recalled her first big argument with Jiang Sui.
Though they’d known each other since they were three, his easygoing nature meant they rarely fought. Their first major blowup happened at the end of summer vacation in ninth grade.
After the high school entrance exam results came out, she started dating the boy who ranked first in the city. Jiang Sui was abroad with his family at the time, and she didn’t tell him, afraid he’d tattle. But right after returning, he caught her holding hands with someone at the movies.
She repeatedly threatened him not to tell their parents. He agreed to her face but immediately reported it to her mom and dad.
After getting scolded, she unleashed her fury on him. He refused to apologize, and they had a huge falling out, giving each other the silent treatment for over half a month.
What did Jiang Sui do afterward to earn her reluctant forgiveness?
Qiao Man couldn’t quite remember, but she was absolutely certain of one thing: this time, no matter what Jiang Sui did or how he tried to make amends, she would never, ever forgive him.
“Never forgive him!”
Qiao Man sneered. To prove her determination to cut ties completely, she transferred all the money in her WeChat wallet to him.
Jiang Sui accepted the transfer within a second.
Qiao Man took a deep breath and typed forcefully: I’ll pay back the rest as soon as possible.
She hit send. A red exclamation mark appeared.
Jiang Sui! He had blocked her!
Qiao Man let out a bitter laugh and sternly added all his contact methods to her blacklist.
Having finally one-upped him, Qiao Man felt satisfied and tossed her phone onto the desk with a flourish.
Clatter.
The screen flickered and went black.
Qiao Man’s face instantly turned darker than the phone screen.
“…Should we go in now?” Jia Xin, who had just pushed the door open, retreated back out. “Why do I feel like she’s kind of scary?”
Yi Yuanyuan: “Forget it, let’s go take a walk.”
The door closed silently. Focused on reviving her dying phone, Qiao Man didn’t notice her roommates had come and gone.
After two hours of effort, the phone was beyond saving and officially deceased. Qiao Man added this debt to Jiang Sui’s account.
With new grudges piling on old grievances, she decided that even if they crossed paths in the future, even if he initiated conversation, even if he begged on his knees—
She would absolutely, absolutely, absolutely ignore him!
Monday afternoon, by the basketball court.
The male and female leads encountered each other head-on. The female lead turned to leave immediately, while the male lead followed with a stern expression, directly abandoning their respective supporting characters.
“Hello,” Qiao Man said with a wooden face, reciting mechanically, “You’re Jiang Sui, right? I’ve heard of you.”
Jiang Sui stared at her expressionlessly.
“Line. Delivery.” Qiao Man reminded him with a stern face.
Jiang Sui: “This part requires you to take the initiative to be friendly.”
Qiao Man: “…”
Jiang Sui: “But you don’t seem very friendly.”
Qiao Man: “…”
Jiang Sui: “Why should I cooperate with someone who’s not being friendly?”
Qiao Man took a deep breath and forced out a slight smile: “Hello, you’re Jiang Sui, right? I’ve heard of you.”
“Don’t try to get chummy.” After saying this, Jiang Sui turned and walked away.
Qiao Man: “…”
No matter how good her memory was, she couldn’t possibly remember every single line. If not for the plot completion reminder echoing in her mind, she would have suspected Jiang Sui’s line was intentional.
…So they were both supporting characters—why did she have to make the first friendly move? Why could the male supporting character deliver such arrogant lines? What was the author thinking when writing this?!
The more Qiao Man thought about it, the angrier she became. She lifted her foot and kicked the nearby tree.
The next second, the white sneakers that had just been glued at the beginning of the semester gaped open at her like a bloody mouth.
She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, when she turned her head and saw Gu Hantian storming toward her.
No need to ask—he must have argued with the female lead again. Who knew why they had so many arguments day after day.
Qiao Man confirmed there were no more scenes requiring her presence and was considering whether to leave directly when Gu Hantian passed by her. Seeing her, he hesitated and stopped.
“You…” He gradually furrowed his brow.
Since mistakenly identifying Qiao Man as the rainy night killer last Saturday, Gu Hantian hadn’t spoken to her and had subconsciously avoided her during Monday’s large lecture.
Qiao Man, already in a bad mood from arguing with Jiang Sui, was glad for the avoidance. She wouldn’t have deliberately followed him earlier if not for completing the mission.
“What’s wrong?” she asked proactively, noticing his hesitation.
Gu Hantian’s brow remained tightly furrowed: “Why do you look so terrible?”
He hadn’t planned to ask, but remembering her holding the fruit knife that day made him inexplicably uneasy. He felt that if she had a knife now, she might stab someone.
The male lead taking initiative to care about her was a good thing… although his expression seemed more wary. But Qiao Man knew she should be enthusiastic now to gain his favor as much as possible.
But she really wasn’t in the mood.
“Nothing, just annoyed by that Jiang Sui,” she said coldly, mixing in personal resentment. “He’s rude and arrogant. I get irritated just seeing him.”
Gu Hantian stepped forward: “You think so too?”
Qiao Man hummed in agreement and looked up to see him nodding, his gaze toward her somewhat different now.
She paused, feeling she had found the key to winning the male lead’s favor.