Starry Lin stared blankly at the glass panel covered with a layer of white mist beside her. She reached out and touched the dense curtain of tiny water droplets on the tiles, and the hot water flowed down the girl's smooth skin.

The sound of dripping water in her ears, the steaming water vapor around her, and the moist warmth enveloping her body created a quiet and peaceful sanctuary in the bathroom.

This was the first time in her life that she stayed overnight at a classmate's house.

She never had this opportunity before. Starry Lin thought, could this be a sign that her life is gradually getting back on track?

At first, Starry Lin was a little nervous. But unlike at home, where she had to be cautious about everything she did, she found herself rare to have the chance to enjoy a leisurely bath without rushing back to her room or even running away from home.

So, she emptied her mind, and a flurry of thoughts rushed to her mind.

Because she didn't want Sunny Xu to know about her family background, Starry Lin always said goodbye to her friends at the alley when she came back. She always avoided this topic during casual conversations.

Starry Lin told herself that it wasn't necessary to be so sensitive. After all, she had been embarrassed in front of him more than once. Was it really necessary to be so dramatic?

This self-comfort was not without reason, but for some reason, she still couldn't bring herself to speak up.

As a result, even the rare leisure time after school couldn't improve her mood after the truth was exposed. She remained gloomy, like the sky before a storm.

When Starry Lin came out wearing a slightly oversized outfit, Sunny was no longer in the living room.

She looked around curiously and saw their school bags neatly placed on the chairs. At the same time, the aroma of stir-fried dishes wafted from the kitchen.

...He really is like a "good wife and loving mother," Starry Lin thought.

The boy in the kitchen heard the movement here and shouted, "Take a seat, the food will be ready soon."

"Do you need help?"

"No need."

After a while, Sunny, wearing an apron, came out with a tray, took out juice from the refrigerator, and two sets of bowls and chopsticks from the cupboard. He patiently arranged them before sitting down.

"...Thank you," Starry Lin said softly.

"Are you feeling better? You looked tired when you came back earlier."

"I'm fine now."

"Is it because of Little An?"

"Maybe."

Sunny could tell that she wasn't in a good mood. He thought for a moment and decided to speak his mind.

"Let's eat first." He pointed at the food on the table with his chopsticks. "We can talk later. If you don't want to talk, you can go straight back to your sister's room."

"Can I go to bed early?"

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The girl blinked her eyes.

"Of course not."

Sunny frowned and answered without hesitation.

"You still have homework to do."

"Huh..."

"It's useless to say anything. Just listen to me."

Whenever it came to studying, he would adopt this tone that brooked no argument.

"Okay, I got it."

Starry Lin raised her hands in surrender helplessly.

*

In Sunny's sister's room, a dim yellow light was turned on.

Starry Lin was focused on writing at the desk.

After she finished the last math problem she could solve, she let out a sigh and stretched her wrists. At this moment, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

"I cooked a bowl of red date soup for you. Drink it while it's hot."

Sunny's voice came from behind.

"...You don't have to be so good to me." Starry Lin turned her head and couldn't help but laugh when she saw the boy carefully holding the bowl. She shook her head. "You really feel like my parent."

Advising children to study, checking their homework, and even preparing nutritious food for them to read at night... what Sunny was doing made her feel this way.

Of course, Starry Lin had only occasionally heard about their family situation from others. She had never personally experienced anything like this.

"I used to have to cook something for myself every night when I studied, or else I would get hungry and couldn't concentrate. Today, I just made a little more."

He placed the steaming bowl on the table.

"Is it ready?"

"Yeah."

Sunny sat on the bed and checked the homework while Starry Lin held the bowl and ate spoonfuls of soup.

The bedroom fell silent. The dim light of the desk lamp adorned the white walls and the deep windows, creating a serene atmosphere between the two. Sunny focused on checking, and the girl's gaze never left his face.

"You did well."

After a while, Sunny handed back the homework book with an involuntary smile. Starry Lin could tell that he was genuinely happy for her.

"Are all the answers correct?"

"No, there are quite a few mistakes. But the fact that you finished them all shows significant progress compared to a week ago, and I can tell that you didn't just randomly fill them in. You thought about them."

"Hmph, I would never cheat."

Starry Lin took it and smiled, suggesting, "Then can you help me correct them?"

"No."

Sunny replied firmly.

"Hey, you never give in on this..."

"What's the point of the answers themselves? After the teacher corrects them, you know where you went wrong and can improve based on that. That's the most important part of learning."

He stood up and clapped his hands, his tone becoming relaxed.

"Alright, let's take a break. You don't sleep this early, do you? How about watching a movie together? I just bought a few DVDs today."

"Ah, this is just like how parents encourage their children!" Starry Lin's eyes sparkled. "If you can finish your homework within the designated time or achieve good grades, you will be rewarded with a big meal or something you want as a gift, right?"

Sunny Xu didn't answer, he just shrugged and walked towards the living room.

"What do you want to watch?"

"Um... a comedy."

"Then let's watch Stephen Chow's."

Sunny Xu had already put the DVD in earlier, and now he pressed the button on the machine.

*

The two of them sat back on the sofa.

The living room was quiet, and the atmosphere in the room seemed to return to how it was when they had just come back from outside. The TV screen was emitting a faint light, but neither of them paid any attention to it.

"Do you want to hear about what's happening in my family?"

The black-haired girl spoke softly with a slightly hoarse voice, breaking the silence.

"If I say I want to hear, will you answer?"

"I've said it before, as long as you ask, no matter what the question is, I will honestly answer."

Sunny Xu placed his hands on his knees, straightened his back, and sat up straight. He didn't look directly at Starry Lin, but tried to make his expression appear serious.

Starry Lin's eyes were fixed on the TV screen, and she subconsciously didn't want to look at her friend's face.

"Please go ahead."

"I have a boyfriend, you know? That scumbag who only thinks about women."

"Shi Hui?"

"Yes. I heard he has connections with people on the streets and often gets into fights himself. He has been pestering me several times, hoping that I will be his girlfriend. Three days before we entered that building, I agreed. Of course, it's not because I was annoyed and had no choice, but... I hoped someone could help me, protect me."

Without waiting for Sunny Xu's response, the girl lowered her head and began to laugh at herself.

"Isn't this ridiculous? I find it ridiculous myself, relying on a little scoundrel like him."

"Protect you? Why?"

Starry Lin didn't answer. She suddenly grabbed the hand that Sunny Xu had placed aside and lifted it upwards.

Sunny Xu was surprised, but he didn't resist and tried hard to suppress the urge to turn his head. He found that his fingers were being pulled towards one side of the girl's face, and he felt a rough sensation on his fingertips.

It was a band-aid.

Sunny Xu had noticed this wound a long time ago. And now, he could finally touch the truth behind it.

"...Who caused the injury on your face?"

"It was my mom's new boyfriend. He's in my house now."

Sunny Xu took a deep breath, then took another deep breath, unconsciously clenching his hands.

"...Did you tell your aunt about it? She didn't react? And she's still with that guy?"

"My mom just tells me not to make him angry."

Starry Lin seemed to shake her head. The ends of her long hair brushed against the back of Sunny Xu's hand.

"Can this woman still be considered a mother?"—This sentence spun in Sunny Xu's throat, and he finally managed to swallow it back.

"Don't blame her." Starry Lin seemed to hear the voice in his heart, with a bitter smile in her tone. "That woman... my mom is just a bit stupid, easily fooled, and very timid. She will obediently listen to a man's threats. And that man is not easy to deal with."

"Of course, the men my mom used to find were not good people either. I said her taste was terrible, and it might just be bad luck. Either they were scammers or playboys, or they were idle and didn't do anything. But those people were relatively easy to deal with. I could find a way to drive them away."

"But this person is different." Starry Lin's tone became unusually heavy. "I... I have investigated him. He used to be a real street thug, and he still has a group of followers who listen to him. I heard that he even has blood on his hands and was just released from prison."

"Even if he didn't have this background, he is not someone I can deal with at all. He is too tall, strong, and has a violent temper... That day, when he was drunk and my mom happened to be away, I came back from the street and happened to run into him. For no reason, he suddenly flew into a rage, calling me a 'whore' while slapping me... I guess he probably mistook me for someone else."

"After that, he wanted to beat me up, and it seemed like he really intended to kill me. In that moment, I realized that he was a natural violent man, and it wouldn't be surprising if he caused someone's death. If I hadn't reacted in time and escaped to my room, locking the door, I'm afraid..." Starry Lin touched her own cheek, took a long breath, and sighed with relief. Even now, she still had lingering fear from that day. "The price was just a slap on the face at the beginning, I think it was relatively light."

"Since then, I realized that I could only avoid him. As long as he is around, I dare not even go home. But this kind of avoidance can't last long. I can't imagine what will happen if things continue like this; if he really becomes my father and I have to live under the same roof as him...""I'm running out of time, and I have no way out. I can only try my best to save myself. I once tried to seek help from adults, just like you said before, to find teachers or police, but the results were all the same. Even if there were adults willing to listen to me and help check the situation, they were often stopped at the door. Everyone would only say 'a clean official finds it hard to settle a family dispute', so with a mother who is completely submissive to that man, this approach is meaningless. After all, she is my guardian, the only relative I have in this world."

"I can only try to figure it out on my own. I have no friends, so I think I must use everyone I know to deal with the threat that man brings to me... even if the other party is a thoroughly annoying ghost, as long as there is a slight possibility that they can help me..."

"Sunny Xu, you said the best way for someone like me to get out of my current situation is to study. I think you're absolutely right, it's not too late to start now, yes, study hard, endure for a year or two, get into a good university, get a scholarship, then I can make it, I can legitimately leave my guardian, leave this city, leave those two people. As long as I can learn to be patient, as long as I try my best to study, endure for a little longer, I can, I can get out of this misery... but, but..."

Starry Lin's words paused for a moment, as if she was choking, or as if her emotions were so intense that she was breathing too hard, making her unable to catch her breath for a moment.

"...but what I fear most is that I might not even be able to hold on for a year and a half. I don't know how others view their high school life, but for me, every day in these three years feels like an eternity. It's too long, just too long!"

"Sunny Xu, in this world, there are always people who have no choice. There are many difficulties, and there are many ways to solve them, but there are also people who are truly at a dead end, who really have no way out for the future... so they will do anything, try any method, even if it seems stupid to others..."

"Is it because I'm too stupid? Is it because I'm not brave enough? Is it because I don't know enough people? Sunny Xu, if it were you, you would definitely do better, you would definitely have smarter ways, you're amazing, you can study, take care of yourself, and you're so decisive in doing things, even willing to help a fool like me who once looked down on you... I just want you to know, back then, I really had no choice."

Starry Lin spoke without turning her head.

She didn't dare to turn her head, fearing to see an expression that would break her heart. She just kept talking, with only the sound of the projector "shushing" in her ears.

Starry Lin sniffled, took several deep breaths, and was silent for a moment before she prepared to continue speaking; but at that moment, she suddenly heard a strange and faint sound, like someone sobbing.

Starry Lin finally couldn't help but turn her head.

Then, to her surprise, she found two clear tear tracks streaming down the boy's face, which was slightly pale under the light of the television.