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Join the ServerHe waited a few seconds. Nothing.
He knocked again, harder.
The iron door boomed with a dull echo.
Still no answer.
Asleep? Or just not back yet?
Li Xiao stood at the door, checking the time. It was 9:10 PM.
He frowned and was about to leave.
Going downstairs, just as he reached the third-floor landing, he heard the ground-floor unit door creak open, followed by footsteps and voices.
“…The doctor said you need to take your medicine on time, drink plenty of water, and rest a lot.”
A girl’s voice, crisp and concerned.
“I know.”
It was Jiang Yu’s voice, hoarse, but carrying a nearly tender resignation that Li Xiao had never heard from him.
Li Xiao stopped and stood in the shadows of the stairwell.
The footsteps drew closer. Two figures, one tall and one short, came up the stairs from the bend.
Jiang Yu led the way, wearing a gray hoodie and jeans, his face still pale, but his eyes a bit clearer.
He carried a plastic bag with a medicine box inside.
Behind him was a girl in a school uniform, her hair in a ponytail. Her features were sixty to seventy percent similar to Jiang Yu’s, but softer.
She was looking up at him, her face full of worry.
“Bro, you have to stay in bed tomorrow. No delivering food.”
“We’ll see.”
“What do you mean ‘we’ll see’? Your fever hasn’t even broken yet!”
“We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“No!”
“Aiyah… you little nag.”
As Jiang Yu spoke, he looked up and stopped abruptly.
He saw Li Xiao standing on the stairs.
The mild warmth on his face vanished instantly, replaced by shock and a rapidly rising wariness. His body tensed instinctively.
Jiang Qing almost bumped into his back. Following his gaze, she froze for a moment too.
The hallway was dimly lit, but Li Xiao’s appearance and clothes seemed out of place.
He was tall and straight, wearing a well-fitted dark coat. His presence was overwhelming.
For a moment, none of them spoke.
Li Xiao’s eyes rested on Jiang Yu’s face, capturing that fleeting, warm, innocent smile he had shown his sister.
That smile was completely different from the detached coldness at the bar, the desperate tension in the alley, or the painful fragility in bed.
It stirred something in Li Xiao, making him even more curious and more fascinated by this person.
He walked down two steps to meet them.
“What are you doing here?”
Jiang Yu spoke first, his voice low and guarded.
Li Xiao didn’t answer. His gaze swept over the IV tape on Jiang Yu’s hand, glanced at Jiang Qing beside him, and gave a what could be considered a friendly smile.
“I went to the bar looking for you. You weren’t there. Heard you were sick, so I came to see you.”
Then he turned to Jiang Qing, his tone natural:
“You must be Jiang Yu’s sister? I’m your brother’s friend.”
Jiang Qing blinked, looking at Li Xiao, then at her brother. She nodded politely:
“Hello, I’m Jiang Qing. Thanks for coming to see my brother.”
She could feel her brother’s stiffness, but the man before her had a proper smile and a concerned tone. Nothing seemed wrong.
Jiang Yu took a deep breath and said to Jiang Qing,
“Go upstairs and do your homework. I’ll be up in a minute.”
Jiang Qing hesitated, glancing at Li Xiao.
“Go ahead.”
Jiang Yu repeated.
“Oh… then I’ll go up first.”
Jiang Qing nodded at Li Xiao, took the medicine bag from Jiang Yu’s hand, turned, and quickly went upstairs.
The sound of footsteps disappeared at the fifth-floor door, followed by the jingle of keys and the door closing.
Only the two of them remained in the stairwell.
The motion-sensor light flickered off, and darkness fell.
“How did you find out where I live?”
Jiang Yu’s voice sounded in the dark, cold.
Li Xiao didn’t answer; instead, he stepped forward.
They were close now. Li Xiao could smell the faint disinfectant and bitter medicine on Jiang Yu.
“Why did you run this morning?”
Li Xiao asked.
“I woke up and left.”
“At least we should get to know each other, right?”
Li Xiao stared at him:
“You don’t even know my name yet.”
Jiang Yu said nothing.
Li Xiao suddenly raised his hand, as if to feel Jiang Yu’s forehead.
Jiang Yu jerked back sharply, avoiding it.
“Still have a fever?”
Li Xiao’s hand stopped in midair, an eyebrow raised.
“We shouldn’t be in a relationship where we need to care about each other.”
Jiang Yu’s tone held obvious distance.
Li Xiao withdrew his hand and slipped it into his coat pocket:
“You got sick because of me. I have to take responsibility.”
“No need.”
Jiang Yu looked away:
“It was my own choice. I should bear the consequences.”
Li Xiao’s eyes darkened:
“When you begged me to pay off your debt yesterday, you weren’t like this.”
Jiang Yu stiffened.
“Thank you for helping me pay off the debt yesterday.”
His voice was dry:
“But the transaction is over now. We’re square.”
“Who told you we’re square?”
Li Xiao suddenly smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes:
“I paid that money to ‘buy’ something. But you passed out midway, left without saying goodbye this morning… That hardly counts as a completed transaction, does it?”
Jiang Yu’s head snapped up, his face even paler:
“If you think it was a loss, I’ll pay you back at the end of the month when I get my salary.”
“I told you, I’m not short of that money.”
Li Xiao stepped closer, nearly trapping Jiang Yu in the shadowy corner of the stairwell:
“Take good care of yourself. Our business isn’t over yet.”
He said this, glanced at Jiang Yu’s blurred but tense silhouette in the darkness, then turned and walked downstairs.
His footsteps quickly faded away.
Jiang Yu leaned against the wall and didn’t move for a long time.
Until the motion-sensor light clicked off again, swallowing him completely into darkness and cold.
Li Xiao stepped out of the unit door. The night breeze blew away the coldness on his face, replacing it with the amusement of a hunter who had locked onto his target.
He sat in the car but didn’t start it immediately. His fingers tapped lightly on the steering wheel.
The smile Jiang Yu had shown his sister replayed in his mind over and over.
Along with the image of him now—pale and fragile, yet stubbornly erecting his thorns.
Li Xiao suddenly felt that this game was far more interesting than he had initially imagined.
Then he started the car and drove away from the dilapidated neighborhood.
Behind the window of the fifth floor, Jiang Qing finished a page of homework and looked at the door with confusion.
Why hadn’t her brother come up yet?
She walked to the door and quietly cracked it open.
The hallway was pitch black and silent.
She waited a few more minutes before hearing extremely slow, heavy footsteps dragging up the stairs, one step at a time.
Jiang Yu opened the door and came in. His complexion was even worse than before, with a fine sheen of cold sweat on his forehead.
“Bro? Your friend left? Are you… okay?”
Jiang Qing asked worriedly.
Jiang Yu forced a weary smile:
“I’m fine. Just talked a bit. Go do your homework.”
He changed his shoes and walked straight into the tiny bathroom, closing the door behind him.
With his back against the door, Li Xiao’s words replayed in his mind: “Our business isn’t over yet.”
Jiang Yu had thought the shame and pain of that night had bought him freedom.
But now, that man obviously didn’t see it that way.
He closed his eyes, his body trembling slightly from the fever and the turmoil churning inside him.
A long time passed before Jiang Qing’s worried voice came from outside the door:
“Bro, are you okay?”
Jiang Yu’s eyes snapped open. He took a deep breath and answered in the steadiest voice he could muster:
“I’m fine. I’ll wash my face and come out.”
He pushed himself up, using the wall for support.
He couldn’t collapse.
At least, not in front of his sister.
The adventure continues! If you loved this chapter, The Moon Reflected In The Water is a must-read. Click here to start!
Read : The Moon Reflected In The Water
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