“Li Zi, look, it’s… it’s just a minor wound. I accidentally scraped it a couple of days ago. The doctor just went a bit overboard with the bandages.”
He tried to salvage the situation.
Li Zi remained stony-faced, her eyes fixed on his injury.
“Really. Look, aren’t I standing right here? Stop looking.”
He reached out, trying to pull his shirt back down.
It wouldn’t budge. Li Zi’s grip on the hem was like iron, unmoving.
His unease grew, and he began to stammer out more excuses. “Stop looking, really. It’s actually a bit cold. It’s fine, truly…”
In the next second, Li Zi’s voice cut him off, startling him.
“Li Zhenting, shut the fuck up!”
The usually calm and elegant girl was now knitting her brows tightly, her expression ghastly. She couldn’t even keep her volume down.
“What. Happened!”
Li Zi suppressed the rising tide of terror in her heart. She spoke each word with a heavy pause, as if she wanted to grind someone to dust, her gaze never leaving the wound.
When Li Zhenting tried to answer, she cut him off again.
“I’m giving you one last chance. Tell the truth.”
An unbearable silence filled the room.
A war was raging in Li Zhenting’s mind. Should he tell her? If he did, what if Li Zi broke up with him? She had emphasized over and over that he shouldn't be impulsive, that he shouldn't fight anymore. But if he didn't tell her? If he didn't, she would only get angrier.
He had always been clumsy when facing her; now, he could only keep his mouth tightly shut.
“Are you mute?!”
Li Zi couldn't take it anymore and erupted in a roar.
“You were quite the talker just a moment ago!”
“Is it that hard to tell the truth? Is it that hard to listen to me?”
Just as her fury reached its peak and she was about to lash out indiscriminately, a faint, almost imperceptible gasp came from outside the door.
She took a deep breath, stepped forward, and yanked the door open. Tang Jiu was standing there holding two cups of hot water, wearing the expression of someone who knew exactly why he shouldn't have been there.
“If you won't talk, someone else will.”
Li Zi let out a sharp, cold laugh that sent a chill down one's spine.
She grabbed Tang Jiu, who was trying to slip away, and hauled him in front of Li Zhenting.
“Xiao Tang, I know you’re a good kid. Tell me exactly what happened these past two days. Help your Big Brother explain.”
Tang Jiu was losing his mind. He couldn't understand how he had been dragged into this nightmare.
He couldn't afford to offend either side.
At that moment, he truly hated himself. Why did he have to be so thoughtful and bring water? Wouldn't it have been better to just be a fool who only knew how to fix cars?
He looked at Li Zi; a storm was brewing.
He looked at Li Zhenting; he looked like a deer in headlights.
Closing his eyes in despair, he opened his mouth.
“Brother Li went to Xi’nan Street to investigate and was spotted. The night before last, he was cornered on the road. He was stabbed in the waist.”
He was afraid of Brother Li, but Brother Li was afraid of Sister Li Zi!
With one sentence, he had betrayed Li Zhenting. Unsurprisingly, he received a murderous glare from his boss.
“The doctor told Brother Li to stay in the hospital for at least three days for observation, but today…”
The rest was clear to everyone.
No one had expected Li Zi to return early, and no one could have guessed she would bring the dog.
The original plan couldn't keep up with the changes.
“Ha.”
Under the tense gazes of the two men, Li Zi let out a self-mocking laugh.
“You guys are amazing. Li Zhenting, you’re the most amazing of all.”
“If I had waited two more days to come back, you would have been ‘fine,’ wouldn't you?”
It was always like this—his self-righteous arrogance, his self-righteous way of keeping things from her.
“I’m tired from the trip. I’m going home.”
She picked up the leash from the floor and prepared to leave, pulling along a bewildered Golden.
Li Zhenting, who had been silent until now, finally moved. He grabbed the leash.
“Don’t go.”
He looked at Li Zi imploringly.
His rugged face was filled with fragile insecurity.
“I was wrong. Don’t go.”
*Don’t leave me.*
Li Zi didn't look at him. She tried to shake off his hand, but she couldn't.
Amidst his look of utter despair, she said to Tang Jiu, “Take him back to the hospital.”
Then, she simply let go of the leash and turned to walk away.
“A-Zi!”
Behind her, the man’s voice carried a sob as he called out a name he usually only uttered when he was about to lose consciousness in bed.
Yet Li Zi didn't look back; she walked straight out.
“Brother Li…”
Tang Jiu looked worriedly at the man whose eyes were bloodshot and who looked like he was about to lose control.
Li Zhenting watched the woman’s figure cruelly vanish from his sight. Finally, he slammed a fist into the wall.
Blood smeared instantly.
“Damn it.”
It was unclear who he was cursing.
Li Zi didn't stop. Tense as a coiled spring, she walked all the way home from Xi’an Street.
Her luggage was still piled in the living room, but she didn't spare it a glance as she walked into her bedroom.
The moment she entered, she leaned against the door, her strength failing her. She stared blankly at the bed. If anyone had been there, they would have seen that her eyes were terrifyingly red—not the physiological reaction of sadness like Li Zhenting’s, but the kind of bloodshot eyes where the veins seem ready to burst from sheer distress.
She suppressed the waves of nausea rising in her chest, her expression unreadable. Just then, the phone in her pocket began to vibrate again. She let it ring.
Once.
Twice.
...
It wasn't until the vibrations stopped that she snapped out of it. She took out her phone and saw it had automatically shut down due to a dead battery.
Only then did she seem to lose all her strength. She buried her face in her hands and let out a long sigh.
“What on earth am I supposed to do...”
***
“Brother, let’s go to the hospital, okay? Your wound is bleeding again.”
Tang Jiu was truly terrified. He didn't understand why things had turned out this way.
He didn't even quite understand why both of them had such extreme reactions.
He watched his larger-than-life boss holding his phone with a bloody hand, dialing the same number over and over.
“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is not answering. Please redial later.”
He was numb from hearing that sentence.
He was practically developing PTSD from it.
It wasn't until the prompt suddenly changed to “The phone you have dialed is powered off” that Li Zhenting’s rigid movements stopped.
“Brother Li…” Tang Jiu called out cautiously.
“Why did it turn out like this…”
Li Zhenting truly didn't understand. He looked at the phone screen in agony, as if asking someone else, or perhaps just himself. “Everything was so happy on Christmas…”
“She doesn't want me anymore.”
As he said those words, it felt as if a fist had tightened around his heart.
“She’s gone.”
“What should I do?”
He suddenly looked at Tang Jiu for help, seeking an answer from an outsider.
Tang Jiu was still young; he could only apologize fearfully. “Brother Li, it’s all my fault. I shouldn't have said anything.”
“If I hadn't talked, Sister Li Zi wouldn't be this angry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
His boss shook his head, saying dejectedly, “You only told the truth.”
Seeing Li Zhenting sinking further into a vortex of negativity, Tang Jiu grew frantic. Suddenly, a yellow figure entered his line of sight. He felt a jolt of inspiration and grabbed onto his "lifeline."
“Brother Li, look! Sister Li Zi’s dog is still here! She must have left him here for you to bring back to her!”
He knelt beside Golden, excitedly hugging the "saving straw" to get Li Zhenting’s attention.
Li Zhenting’s dull eyes brightened slightly. “Really?”
“Yes, yes!”
Tang Jiu’s brain was working at full speed now.
“Sister Li Zi even told me to take you to the hospital before she left! Even though she was that angry, she was still worried about you. She definitely cares about you a lot.”
Li Zhenting was drawn in by his words. He looked at Golden, then at his phone.
“But she won't pick up my calls…”
“Sister Li Zi is just in the heat of the moment! If you don't go to the hospital and let the wound get worse, she’ll definitely be even angrier!”
“...”
Li Zhenting thought for a moment, finally regaining half of his senses.
“Go buy some dog food and supplies. Take Golden to my place.”
He started walking toward the door.
“Then what about you, Brother Li? Where are you going?” Tang Jiu asked.
“The hospital.”
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
--- | --- | ---
希南街 | Xi’nan Street | A location mentioned where the injury occurred.
阿恣 | A-Zi | An intimate diminutive of Li Zi's name.
修勾勾 | Pupper / Doggy | Internet slang (a cutesy way of saying 'dog').
见红 | Drawing blood | Literally "seeing red," referring to blood appearing after an impact.
