Si Nan sat quietly on the floor “watching” them play cards, legs crossed, one hand propping his chin. Zhou Rong observed him for a while and carefully took out the three ten-yuan notes, rolled them into a tube, and tried to slip them into Si Nan’s white shirt collar.
Unexpectedly, before he could do so, his hand was firmly grasped by Si Nan, who then leaned in and kissed his wrist.
The room fell silent. After a while, Ding Shi said, “I told you my dog eyes were going blind, but you didn’t believe me.”
Yan Hao crouched with his knees drawn up, back to everyone. Chun Cao squatted beside him and said, “See, isn’t marrying Ning Yu suddenly not a bad choice…”
Si Nan stood up, took two apples from the fruit plate, and said, “I’ll go check next door.”
Next door was Guo Weixiang’s room, just two steps to the left after leaving. Zhou Rong wanted to accompany him, but Si Nan waved him off, took a bite of an apple, and walked out.
“Who’s there?” came Guo Weixiang’s voice.
Si Nan said nothing, bending down to place the other apple at his doorstep.
Moments later, Guo Weixiang opened the door, but outside was empty, not even a shadow. An apple lay at his feet, which he picked up inexplicably.
Si Nan walked downstairs, and as he took the first step out of the stairwell, he felt sunlight falling on him, warm and comfortable. He spread his arms, the wind passing through his neck, arms, and waist, carrying the slight fishy scent unique to the ocean.
Facing the sunlight, he exhaled deeply and tore off the bandages that had covered him for days.
Sunlight pierced his eyes, causing them to involuntarily close briefly before snapping open. Before him was an empty playground, with no one around during the afternoon training time. In the shade of a tree nearby, several plainclothes men were staring intently at him, clearly caught off guard when he suddenly removed his blindfold.
Si Nan curved his lips in a slightly provocative smile, then began eating an apple as he walked out.
The plainclothes agents exchanged glances, with one rushing upstairs to notify Zhou Rong, while the others followed at a discreet distance.
