After Grandma was discharged from the hospital, Zhou Wan no longer had to run to the hospital every day and went straight to the Arcade after school.

Just after Zhou Wan had taken over the shift from someone and sat down, she heard a girl's sweet, cloying voice from the side praising someone for being amazing, clapping her hands, extremely supportive.

Besides students, most of the people who came to the Arcade to play were couples. Such sounds were often heard, so Zhou Wan paid no mind and didn't look in that direction.

Until she heard another voice: "Go play by yourself."

Magnetic and deep, cold and sharp.

It also perfectly blended a devil-may-care roguishness with a casual indifference.

Lu Xixiao.

Ever since that time he got angry and told her to "scram," he hadn't come back.

And the owner of that sweet, cloying voice was standing right beside him, in a high-waisted short skirt and long boots, with a youthful yet glamorous face—exactly the type Lu Xixiao used to date.

So, was this his new girlfriend?

It made sense, he hadn't had a girlfriend for two months already.

In the past, he never had such a long period of being single.

The girl whined coquettishly, "Didn't you promise to accompany me?"

Lu Xixiao tsked, impatient.

"Lu Xixiao." The girl tugged at his arm, bouncing on her feet. "Will you go watch me dance, please?"

Lu Xixiao raised his hand, pulled hers off, and walked with her to the dance machine.

The girl clearly had a background in dance. As soon as the opening melody started, she spread out on the dance machine, dazzling and confident, with a slim waist and long legs, attracting a crowd of onlookers.

Except for Lu Xixiao.

He received a call midway and walked to the side.

Leaning lazily against the wall, he answered the phone while lowering his head to light a cigarette.

Jiang Fan: "Ah Xiao, my sister's with you, right?"

He exhaled a puff of smoke. "I'll give you ten minutes. Come over and get her. She's so noisy it's killing me."

"Damn it, I really can't get away right now, Old Liu caught me." Jiang Fan was on the verge of a breakdown. "Just help me watch her for a little while, don't let that lunatic run wild."

Lu Xixiao tsked and hung up.

After one song, a round of spontaneous applause erupted. Jiang Yun turned her head but couldn't find Lu Xixiao. She frowned, finally spotting him on a chair in the corner.

A cigarette hung from his lips as he played on his phone.

Jiang Yun stomped over angrily. "Didn't you promise to watch me dance!"

Lu Xixiao lifted his foot, hooked the leg of the coffee table, and dragged it to the side, blocking Jiang Yun's path. "Stand there."

Jiang Yun couldn't get past and could only stand two meters away from him.

"Say one more noisy word to me, and I'll throw you out," Lu Xixiao said impatiently.

Jiang Yun's eyes widened in an instant, unable to believe he would say something so ungentlemanly, even rude.

Jiang Yun was only a year younger than Jiang Fan and was now a first-year at No. 3 High School. She had seen Lu Xixiao's photo through her brother and thought he was handsome, finally finding this opportunity today.

His face was a hundred times more handsome than in the photos, but his rotten temper was truly infuriating!

Jiang Yun had been spoiled since she was a child. She stomped her foot immediately, picked up a nearby magazine, and threw it at him. "Jerk, jerk, jerk!"

After venting, she turned around resentfully and went back to playing by herself.

Lu Xixiao sat alone on the sofa chair, his body sunk into the backrest, long legs spread out brazenly, his eyes lowered, looking weary and indifferent.

Meanwhile, Zhou Wan sat on the other side, head down, doing her homework, quiet and gentle, a stark contrast to the noisy background.

Lu Xixiao didn't know when he had lifted his eyes to look at Zhou Wan.

He only came back to his senses when the heat of the cigarette burned his fingertips. He sat up straight and stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray.

Jiang Yun finished a round of games and ran to Zhou Wan with the prize tickets she had collected. "Little sister, can I exchange these?"

Zhou Wan did indeed look young and small, so it was no wonder Jiang Yun called her little sister.

"Mhm, yes." Zhou Wan smiled faintly and pointed to the glass cabinet behind her. "These points are enough to exchange for items in this section. You can see which one you like."

Jiang Yun leaned on the counter and looked carefully. After a while, she pointed her index finger. "That keychain is quite cute!"

Zhou Wan's fingertips paused slightly.

She resisted the urge to look at Lu Xixiao.

A keychain. Lu Xixiao had one too, a blue one.

"Do you want the pink one?" Zhou Wan asked softly.

"Mhm."

Zhou Wan took one out for her. Jiang Yun hooked the keychain with her index finger and lifted it up to look. She smiled and took out her keys from her bag.

Just as she was about to attach it, a hand suddenly reached out from behind her.

Lu Xixiao snatched the keychain from her hand and threw it back in front of Zhou Wan.

With a "thud."

Jiang Yun's feud with him was now thoroughly cemented. "What are you doing!"

Lu Xixiao raised an eyebrow. "Who said you could take it?"

"I won it myself!"

He reached out, took the game card from her hand with two fingers, and waved it. "My card."

"How can you be so petty!" Jiang Yun was in disbelief. "A handsome guy being so petty isn't likable at all!"

Lu Xixiao sneered, "Do I need you to like me?"

Jiang Yun was thoroughly infuriated by him.

She really couldn't understand how someone so handsome could have such a sharp tongue!

Then, her eyes turned red.

It wasn't that she was wronged and wanted to cry; she was simply angered.

Jiang Yun had been like this since she was little; her eyes would turn red whenever she got angry.

But in Zhou Wan's eyes, it was different.

Come to think of it, she had indeed seen a few girls being angered to tears by Lu Xixiao.

Pressing her lips together, she tried to smooth things over, looked at Lu Xixiao, and said softly, "You have tens of thousands of points in your card. The keychain is only a little over 2000 points, it won't make a difference."

Lu Xixiao turned his head to look at her.

His gaze was indifferent and sharp, filled with ridicule, mockery, coldness, and scrutiny.

Zhou Wan couldn't withstand his gaze and lowered her head.

Lu Xixiao let out a light laugh, its meaning unclear. "You're quite generous on my behalf."

Zhou Wan remembered what he had said before: Zhou Wan, who do you think you are.

That's right, who did she think she was.

Jiang Yun stomped her foot, unable to bear it any longer, and turned to leave.

Lu Xixiao didn't chase after her. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from a nearby shelf, threw it on the counter, and took out a banknote.

Zhou Wan gave him 20 in change.

His phone vibrated again. Jiang Fan had sent a voice message. He tapped on it—

"Ah Xiao, did you argue with my sister? She called me in a huff and cursed you out."

Zhou Wan was taken aback.

...Jiang Fan's sister?

Lu Xixiao lowered his head to reply, "What would I argue with her about."

Zhou Wan: "..."

It really wasn't an argument, just a one-sided beatdown.

Jiang Fan sent another voice message, laughing, sounding exceptionally happy. "This is the first time I've ever seen a girl say she never wants to see you again."

Lu Xixiao sneered. "Perfect. I've never seen anyone as annoying as your sister."

Zhou Wan didn't know what was so funny about that sentence, but she lowered her head and the corners of her lips curled up. She quickly suppressed it and looked up to find Lu Xixiao looking at her.

Unsure if he had seen it, Zhou Wan looked back at him without changing her expression.

Lu Xixiao stuffed his phone back into his pocket, his gaze not moving.

Zhou Wan paused for a moment, then asked, "Aren't you going to chase her?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you hear what Jiang Fan said?"

"Huh?"

"She's not my girlfriend, why the hell would I chase her."

"...Oh."

A few seconds later, Zhou Wan felt his statement wasn't precise and corrected him, "Even if she were your girlfriend, you probably wouldn't chase her."

Lu Xixiao suddenly smiled. Unlike his earlier laughs, this was a genuine smile.

He narrowed his eyes. "Zhou Wan, haven't seen you in a few days, and you've grown some guts."

Realizing her previous words sounded like she was retorting, Zhou Wan shrank back, pulling back the leg that had crossed the line, and shook her head. "No."

Lu Xixiao was about to say something, but his phone rang again.

He lowered his gaze, his brows furrowed slightly, his eyes deep.

He turned and walked outside to answer the call, not speaking first.

Lu Zhongyue coughed once. "Where are you?"

Lu Xixiao curled his lip. "Why do you care where I am?"

It was laughable that the relationship between father and son had come to this.

Lu Zhongyue couldn't bring himself to say a more affectionate "Ah Xiao," while every word from Lu Xixiao was barbed.