29 Second Watch

Xu Youxiang held a pessimistic and bleak view of the world. Long-standing unresolved melancholy had twisted his perspective into an unyielding extremity.

The wounds inflicted by his harsh realities could not be healed by empty words, nor could he accurately discern whether they were truly real.

Zhou Suirong, standing with her back to Fang Qingzhao, whispered to Xu Youxiang, “I believe you. How hard can it be for ordinary people to face trouble? These societal elites simply don’t understand.”

A mixture of anger and sorrow crossed Xu Youxiang’s face, but it eventually transformed into a frustrated resignation over his own helplessness.

Sharing his resentment, Zhou Suirong said, “But I don’t believe anyone can control everything with a single hand. If he dares to send someone after you again, you can come to me.”

Xu Youxiang glanced at him, not to discourage, but to utter a harsh truth: “What can you do? You only know how to take pictures.”

Zhou Suirong was speechless for a moment.

“What do you mean I only know how to take pictures?” Zhou Suirong said with a mixture of frustration and amusement. “Do you think the muscles on my body are just for show?”

Xu Youxiang muttered vaguely, “Don’t make trouble for yourself.”

“I’m doing this for my brother too. He won’t come back with me unless he sees Liang Yizheng’s true colors,” Zhou Suirong said with a worried frown, casually inquiring, “What did you do to make Liang Yizheng want you dead? Or does he just dislike you for no reason?”

Xu Youxiang remained wary of them.

Even though he trusted Zhou Suirong to some extent, he didn’t believe he would risk offending the deeply rooted Liang Yizheng on his behalf.

Pulling at the hem of his shirt, Xu Youxiang diverted the conversation: “My photos should be ready. I’m going to pick them up. Don’t follow me.”

He quickened his pace to leave, but Fang Qingzhao took out her phone and said, “Let me give you some money. You’re injured and it’s hard for you to work.”

Xu Youxiang turned back, still holding resentment towards her, and snapped, “No need!”

Zhou Suirong caught up and grabbed his arm, persuading him, “Accept it, why not? Do you have any money left?”

After several moments of inner struggle, Xu Youxiang firmly refused, “No! I’m not some scammer!”

“Are you stupid? She scared you with a stick, that’s why you crashed into the wall. Her compensating you is only right, how is that scamming? You think she’s short on money?” Zhou Suirong patted his chest and then reached into his pocket, took out his phone, unlocked it with his face, and effortlessly opened a payment QR code, adding Fang Qingzhao and himself as contacts.

Xu Youxiang was convinced but too proud to refuse and let him handle it. He caught a glimpse of himself accepting the payment, his face flushing red. His body stiffened as he stood, and after putting the phone back in his pocket, he muttered a shy “Thank you” before turning away briskly.

With insufficient clues, the two made a tacit agreement not to comment on Xu Youxiang’s description.

After much fuss, night was falling.

The sky stretched like a vast gray curtain, with sporadic lights flickering from the tall buildings in the foreground.

Zhou Suirong’s car was still parked near Xu Youxiang’s home. He hailed a taxi at the hospital entrance and drove directly to the block where they had parked temporarily.

The area was quiet, with few pedestrians, and their shadows slanted across the smooth stone pavement.

Zhou Suirong pondered and said, “Should I call Wang Da out to chat? He probably knows quite a bit about Liang Yizheng.”

Fang Qingzhao, busy researching Liang Yizheng’s company, agreed, “Good idea.”

Zhou Suirong took out his phone and dialed.

***

The call connected quickly.

“Hello?”

“Brother Wang, how are you? Are you alright?”

“You actually remember me?” Wang Da exclaimed with surprise, then proudly added, “What could have happened? The police just asked me a few questions and let me go with my tail between my legs. Ha!”

Zhou Suirong asked, “Are you free now? How about coming out for dinner? My treat—to bring you some good luck.”

Wang Da replied, “You’re generous. But don’t you have to accompany your boss?”

“She got scared by a dead body and hasn’t been feeling well today. She’s resting in her room. I’m just bored, so I called you out,” Zhou Suirong explained. “You pick the place; I’ll be there soon.”

Wang Da laughed heartily, completely forgetting how he had sweated nervously and shrunk away the day before. “Women are always so timid.”

After settling the time and place, Zhou Suirong hung up and checked the time. “I’ll take you back to the hotel first and order some takeout. You’ll eat on your own tonight. You need to eat; I’ll check on you when you return.”

Unexpectedly, Fang Qingzhao decisively said, “I’m coming with you.”

Zhou Suirong gave her a strange look. “Why follow me? Don’t you hate these social gatherings with superficial friends the most?”

Wang Da was a crude man with a filthy mouth and a penchant for malicious speculation. Zhou Suirong disliked hearing anyone make judgments about Fang Qingzhao, even if he harbored silent grudges, because Wang Da possessed an uncanny talent for lewd expressions and a pair of expressive eyes.

Last time at the villa, Wang Da’s gaze clung to her like a bad stink, making Zhou Suirong feel utterly disgusted.

He tried to persuade her, “If you show up, you become the center of attention, and most of our conversation won’t flow.”

Fang Qingzhao said, “I can wait in the car.”

For her, socializing with people she disliked was a matter of deep aversion, far worse than when her mentor had once forced her to help guide an undergraduate thesis.

Zhou Suirong studied her for a few seconds before suddenly smiling brightly. “So clingy, Fang Qingzhao.”

He leaned in mischievously, pinning her against the car. To see her face clearly in the dim light, he got so close their noses nearly touched.

Feigning seriousness, he asked, “By the way, I checked my bank account last night. How come I have so much money? Is it the reward for years of working? Or are you secretly supporting me?”

Zhou Suirong’s salary card had gone missing somewhere in a cabinet the day after it was issued. He had told Fang Qingzhao the account and password but hadn’t paid much attention to his finances.

Last night, curious about how unlucky the substitute player Xiao Fang was, he reactivated a long-unused app to see how much had been topped up—and was startled upright by a string of large numbers.

Streetlights flickered on, casting a warm yellow glow that illuminated his handsome profile.

Fang Qingzhao stared at his long eyelashes stretched by the light and asked, “…Don’t you know how to check the transaction details?”

Zhou Suirong shamelessly replied, “I don’t want to. If money falls from the sky, why would I trace its source?”

Fang Qingzhao was speechless at such a brazen excuse.

Taking her silence for embarrassment, Zhou Suirong turned off the screen with a face full of knowing wisdom and said, “Alright, I know why we broke up. Because you tried to handle our relationship in an unhealthy way. I chose to reject you, poured myself into work, and distanced myself. You felt lonely…”

By the end, his imagination knew no bounds, spinning wild, melodramatic tales.

***

“You decided to break up with me, I refused, and to save our relationship, I recklessly threatened suicide but accidentally injured myself badly and was rushed to the hospital.”

Fang Qingzhao’s expression shifted from shock to blankness. Unsure how to respond, she averted her gaze lightly.

Zhou Suirong grasped her chin, forcing her attention back to him as he continued his absurd story vividly: “Or maybe after breaking up, you still couldn’t forget me, so to heal your heart quickly, you found a new boyfriend. But it didn’t go well, and you missed my mature steadiness even more. You regretted it, sought to reconcile, hoping I’d change my mind. Your new boyfriend, jealous, targeted me for retaliation…”

He laughed at his own ridiculousness and playfully bumped her leg, urging her to respond, “Speak up, Fang Qingzhao.”

She opened her mouth and sighed deeply, “Wow… your mental world is still so rich and entertaining.”

Zhou Suirong’s shoulders trembled as he suppressed his laughter and leaned on her.

Fang Qingzhao asked, “Did you come up with this in the hospital room?”

“Yeah. Lying still, unable to move, thinking about you every day,” Zhou Suirong said, touching the wound on his neck, his lips near her ear, “wondering how you could abandon me.”

He dared not ask Lu Shengxing or let Fang Qingzhao probe for details. Reality was too chaotic for him to face; only in dreams could he indulge these absurd fantasies. The more ridiculous, the more he clung to hope. It was this faint, illusory hope that helped him open his eyes each day and endure the bitter, colorless time.

He didn’t dare seek Fang Qingzhao after being discharged, fearing she might be ruthless enough to deny him even the comfort of self-deception. He lacked her calm and strength, unable to accept losing her love so suddenly and without warning.

Fang Qingzhao echoed with a rising tone, “Then I couldn’t forget you, regretted it, and sought to get back together?”

Zhou Suirong felt her doubt and threatened with a squeeze on her waist, “Just admit it, was it you who came to me first?”

She swallowed her pride and admitted, “It was me.”

He studied her expression and murmured, “So my injury really wasn’t due to emotional troubles?”

But what else could it have been? A man as tough as steel like him.

Zhou Suirong stared unblinkingly at Fang Qingzhao and said, “You’re the one who decided to break up with me.”

She pushed him playfully, “Mature and steady, huh, little Zhou?”

He guessed again, “Was it me who broke up with you?”

Calmly, she said, “Keep guessing.”

Surprised and confused, he asked, “Was it me?”

Fang Qingzhao stiffened.

Zhou Suirong frowned and pondered deeply as her thumb brushed his moist lips.

He lowered his head, abandoning the tangled thoughts, smiled at her, and leaned in for a kiss—only to be interrupted by a passerby’s loud cough.

Only then did Zhou Suirong realize they weren’t alone. Embarrassed, he stepped back, opened the car door, and helped Fang Qingzhao inside.