A Chance Occurrence

During the day, Hou Rui was just an ordinary university student; at night, he worked part-time as a server at Tomorrow Shooting Range. But once midnight passed, Hou Rui transformed into a trainee immersed in shooting and bullets, honing his marksmanship amidst the constant clatter of empty shells. One day followed another in this alternating routine, and Hou Rui thought things would continue quietly, unchanged.

"Ding—alright, that's it for today. Tomorrow, we'll start using the cameras in class. Don't forget to get yours ready," the old professor said, gathering his notes before leaving the classroom. The rest of the Photography Class Two students immediately burst into chatter, comparing what cameras each of them had prepared.

Hou Rui was about to wander into the city and casually pick up a camera to get by, when suddenly someone called his name at the lecture hall door. "Hou Rui? Is Hou Rui here?"

Startled, Hou Rui looked up and saw a sporty girl with a ponytail standing at the entrance. Strangely, he didn't know her.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"Hello, Hou Rui. I'm Xia Xiaoru, a senior from the Social Sciences department. Do you have a moment to talk?"

"Oh, Monkey, who's this senior?" someone from his class called out.

"Yeah! How do you know her?" another joined in.

Seeing a girl looking for Hou Rui, Ma Siyuan and the others began to tease him. Hou Rui rolled his eyes helplessly and said to the athletic girl, "Let's talk in the hallway."

"Alright," Xia Xiaoru replied, leading the way with poise.

They found a relatively quiet spot in the corridor. Only then did Xia Xiaoru explain, "It's nothing much. I'm the vice president of the Athletics Club. I heard that during military training you showed remarkable endurance running laps. Have you considered joining our club in your free time?"

Hou Rui looked at her with a wry smile. To be honest, this senior was at least 170 centimeters tall, her figure long and graceful from years of athletics, and her looks rated at least an eight out of ten. But Hou Rui’s own life was so precarious that he had no mind for joining any club.

"Sorry, I'm not interested in sports," Hou Rui replied bluntly, turning to leave. But Xia Xiaoru was not so easily deterred.

"Hey, Hou Rui! Don't rush off! Why not think it over? Our Athletics Club has brought the school a lot of honor. This year—"

"I really don’t have time; any free time I have outside of class I spend working," Hou Rui replied, unwilling to listen further.

"Alright, alright. Just remember, the Athletics Club meeting room is Room 417 on the fourth floor of the Comprehensive Building. You’re welcome anytime if you change your mind," Xia Xiaoru said, finally letting him go.

As soon as the second big lecture began, Xia Xiaoru sent a friend request on WeChat. Who knows how she got Hou Rui’s number.

Hou Rui glanced at it and refused.

She sent the request again.

He refused again.

A third time.

Still, he refused.

The fourth time, Hou Rui, resigned, finally accepted.

For the next 48 hours, Senior Xia Xiaoru bombarded Hou Rui with messages on WeChat. After 24 hours of futile resistance, Hou Rui decided to ignore her altogether. Only by completely ignoring her did her enthusiasm finally subside.

Today was another day working at Tomorrow Shooting Range. Fully in his role, Hou Rui handled everything with practiced ease. His attentive service even earned him occasional tips—twelve red bills at a time—from regular customers. After midnight, as always, once all the guests left, Qiangzi would bring Hou Rui a matching set of bullets based on the last guests' rented firearms, and Hou Rui would be responsible for using them all up in practice.

By the time everything was done and Hou Rui left Tomorrow, it was already 1:15 a.m. The street was pitch black; not only were there no pedestrians, but even cars were rare.

Since there was no hope of getting a cab, Hou Rui simply started running along the avenue. Lately, to keep a low profile, he’d moved his physical training to nighttime, so this was a good chance to exercise.

As Hou Rui ran, skyscrapers flashed by. Despite the city’s rapid development in recent years, its population had reached a bottleneck. The area under his feet was mainly a business district, with few residential buildings—most of the street-facing spaces housed restaurants and bars.

Just as Hou Rui passed a small alley between two buildings, the sound of breaking glass and raised voices drifted out—"Clatter, clatter, get away from me!"

As he passed, Hou Rui caught a glimpse of several figures struggling in the alley. Having seen the darker side of the world, he had no interest in getting involved in such petty conflicts.

"Let me go!" a woman's voice came through, muffled by distance. Hou Rui slowed, then finally stopped. The voice sounded vaguely familiar.

He quietly doubled back, pressed himself against the wall, and peered inside. About thirty meters in, in the dim alley, two men were pinning a struggling figure to the ground, tearing at her clothes. In just a minute or two, they’d nearly stripped her bare.

"You bastards!" the woman cried and fought. This time, Hou Rui recognized the voice without a doubt—it was Xia Xiaoru, the same senior who'd pestered him for 48 hours.

They were classmates, and strictly speaking, Xia Xiaoru was just a bit persistent, not truly annoying. Hou Rui weighed his options for a moment, looked up at the night sky, and decided to intervene. He pulled out his phone, opened the camera, and snapped a photo of the three in the alley.

In the dead of night, the sound of the shutter was jarringly loud. The three immediately froze. They watched as Hou Rui swaggered into the alley from the entrance.

"Still busy? I've taken photos. If you don't leave now, I'll send them straight to the police!"

"Who the hell are you? You looking for trouble?" one of the men, clutching Xia Xiaoru's leg, shouted menacingly.

"It's a misunderstanding, man! She's my girlfriend. This is none of your business, alright?" the other man, gripping Xia Xiaoru's wrist, said in a completely different tone, even snarling at Xia Xiaoru, "Hey! Tell him! Say something!"

What surprised Hou Rui most was that, after all her cries for help, Xia Xiaoru suddenly fell silent, making Hou Rui seem like the villain interrupting their 'happy' scene.

"Whatever, I'm not happy with this. I'll send the photo," Hou Rui said, looking for an excuse to exit.

"Don't!" Xia Xiaoru, silent until now, was the first to shout. The two men, angered by the interruption, released her and charged at Hou Rui; one grabbed an empty bottle and swung it at his head.

So much for keeping the peace. Hou Rui moved forward, closing the distance so the bottle's arc was thrown off, and then he headbutted the man squarely in the nose, dropping him instantly.

The other man swung at Hou Rui’s left eye. Hou Rui dodged back, planted his right foot, and delivered a lightning-fast kick to the man's stomach, sending him sprawling.

Though Hou Rui’s fighting wasn’t elegant, years of training had given him explosive strength the two thugs couldn’t handle. In just a few moves, both were writhing on the ground.

"Get lost! If I see you again, you're dead," Hou Rui threatened. The two men struggled to their feet. The one with the bottle spat at Xia Xiaoru, "Found yourself a protector, huh? Just wait and see!" before limping away.

"Enough talk—disappear!" Hou Rui kicked him in the rear for good measure, finally chasing them off.

Now only Hou Rui and Xia Xiaoru remained in the alley. He moved to help her up, but she said abruptly, "Turn around! Don’t look at me!"

Hou Rui did as told, even stepping away. Xia Xiaoru's dress was in tatters, and there was no way she could cover herself. After a few futile attempts, she broke down, sobbing in anguish.

Hou Rui knew everyone copes with trauma differently, so he let her cry for about forty minutes. When she quieted, he took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders, helping her to her feet.

But as soon as she stood, Xia Xiaoru squatted back down. One glance told Hou Rui why, so he handed her his trousers as well.

When they left the alley, Hou Rui was in a vest and shorts, while Xia Xiaoru wore his oversized clothes, her hair a tangled mess. They walked in silence, one behind the other, as dawn began to break. Eventually, they saw the outline of the university’s main building in the distance.

After some thought, just before they entered campus, Hou Rui couldn’t help but advise, "It’s not safe for girls to be out so late alone."

Xia Xiaoru kept her head down, saying nothing.

"I’ve already forgotten what happened last night. You should forget it too."

"What do you know? I don’t need you meddling!" Xia Xiaoru suddenly snapped, throwing a few angry words at Hou Rui before striding off with her long legs.

"Being a good person really isn’t easy," Hou Rui shrugged and headed toward the men’s dormitory.