[They seemed to drift peacefully between the cracks of estrangement and intimacy.]

Hou Feng had come to urge Hou Zihao to hurry home because Su Ruini was furious about his son staying out all night without even making a phone call.

Although Su, as a CEO, had always advocated for respecting individuality and giving children more freedom, staying out overnight plus being unreachable clearly exceeded her tolerance limit. Su felt it was necessary to have a talk with her son, and Hou Feng, as the father, needed to be present as well.

Thus, Director Hou was innocently dragged into the situation.

He could easily guess that Hou Zihao had gone to see his female classmate. Sure enough, when he checked at the hospital during the day, he found him there, still accompanying her while she received an IV drip. So, he quickly called Zihao over, informed him of Su’s anger, and took him home. On the way, Hou Feng hesitantly asked, “Last night… were you with that female classmate of yours?”

Though the fact was indeed so, Hou Zihao was certain that what his father imagined wasn’t exactly what he had done. He rubbed his temples and replied, “Dad, where did you get that idea?”

Hou Feng fell silent for a moment, driving while feeling troubled. He thought Zihao’s evasive response only confirmed some of his suspicions.

With a sigh, he earnestly advised, “If I’m wrong, that’s good… You’re both still minors. Don’t do anything that could harm your futures.”

Hou Zihao didn’t respond because the word “future” brought back the image of Zhou Leqi standing on the rooftop last night. If he had been a step slower or if his hand hadn’t reached her in time, then she wouldn’t have any so-called “future”…

This assumption was cruel and easily led to more worrying thoughts. He even feared that after leaving the hospital, Zhou Leqi might do something impulsive again. This made him want to stay by her side constantly, vigilant to prevent her from hurting herself.

But he knew this was only a temporary fix—what she really needed wasn’t him; it was a doctor.

She should see a doctor.

“Dad,” Hou Zihao suddenly spoke up.

Hou Feng quickly responded, asking what was wrong. But at that moment, Zihao closed his mouth, realizing he shouldn’t let his father know about Zhou Leqi’s mental and emotional issues. It might lead his family to form negative stereotypes about her, and he wanted them to like her.

He needed to find another way to handle this.

“It’s nothing,” he shook his head, his tone natural.

By now, Su Ruini was already waiting at home, having postponed two meetings just to deal with her son’s overnight absence. She was ready to give him a proper scolding.

As soon as father and son walked in, Su launched into her tirade. Arms crossed, sitting on the spacious sofa, she started firing off accusations before they even stepped fully inside: “Well, Hou Zihao, you’ve learned to stay out all night now? Are you trying to drive me crazy?”

Clearly livid, her southern accent came out strong.

However, when Hou Zihao finally entered the living room from the entrance, Su’s anger shifted to concern because she noticed how disheveled he looked—his clothes wrinkled as if he’d been caught in the rain, and his face appeared exhausted.

This… didn’t seem like someone who had been out partying.

She quickly stood up, walked over to Hou Zihao, and asked, “What happened? Where were you last night?”

In truth, Hou Zihao hadn’t slept much since Yu Qing’s attempted suicide three days ago. He had rested even less than Zhou Leqi, and at this point, he truly didn’t have the energy to explain.

He rubbed his temples again, mustering the strength to say, “Mom, can we talk after I’ve slept for a bit?”

His weary appearance made Su feel deeply sorry for him, and she immediately abandoned her plans to scold him further. She hurriedly sent him upstairs to rest and even thoughtfully asked if he’d like some food prepared by Aunt Ding when he woke up.

However, while the son managed to escape, the father wasn’t so lucky—though Hou Zihao was spared, Hou Feng was caught by his wife.

Su Ruini sternly questioned him about who Zihao had been visiting at the hospital these past few days and what had happened the previous night. Hou Feng stammered, trying to calm his wife down by asking her to sit. Realizing there was no way to cover this up, he disclosed everything he knew about Zhou Leqi, including how Zihao had once gotten into trouble at the police station because of her and how Yu Qing’s recent suicide attempt had landed her in the hospital.

Upon hearing this, Su furrowed her brows, her temper flaring. She turned her anger toward Hou Feng, demanding, “So many major incidents, and you’re only telling me now? Hou Feng, what’s your deal!”

When Su addressed someone by their full name, it meant serious trouble. Director Hou realized his precarious situation and quickly tried to make amends, saying, “I’ve already seriously reprimanded him, telling him not to date too early or act recklessly. Our child is sensible; nothing will happen—I mean, that girl is actually quite good. Though her family situation may be complicated, she’s well-mannered and excels academically, ranking first in her grade.”

At this, Su’s eyelids lifted slightly.

Well-mannered and top of her grade?

That does sound… pretty good.

After a moment of contemplation, Su became stern again, saying, “Even being the top student doesn’t excuse dragging our kid into police stations and hospitals! They’re still minors, and things are already this complicated. What will happen when they grow up?”

Hou Feng agreed repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes,” then added quietly, “Actually, these two incidents weren’t initiated by the girl; it was our son who voluntarily went to help…”

Su froze mid-breath, unable to process this sudden revelation. After a moment of frustration with nowhere to vent, she redirected her anger back at her husband, exclaiming, “He takes after you! Such a pushover! So useless!”

Director Hou was momentarily speechless, inwardly wanting to remind Su that she was the one who pursued him back in the day. However, bringing up old stories in this context would only inflame the situation further. So, he silently accepted these unwarranted accusations and continued to patiently soothe his beautiful wife.

Once Su’s temper subsided slightly, she paused and then asked, “Do you have a photo of that girl? What does she look like? Is she a match for Zihao?”

Hou Feng: “….”

What nonsense was this? Were they already sizing her up?

Stumped for a moment, he said, “No photos. Maybe you can check her out yourself during the next parent-teacher meeting.”

Su found this proposal very reasonable and even began to look forward to it, thinking about it while calling Aunt Ding to prepare a good dinner.

Life eventually returned to normal. Zhou Leqi and Hou Zihao went back to school, resuming their intense, repetitive routine of preparing for the college entrance exam as third-year high school students.

Ge Ao was thrilled about Hou Zihao’s return because for the past two days, he had been discussing with Yan Lin whether Hou Zihao and Zhou Leqi had eloped together. He was eager to verify this news with the parties involved.

“I didn’t,” Yan Lin clarified to Hou Zihao, “Only he was interested. I just ‘hmm’-ed, and he thought I was discussing it with him.”

Ge Ao punched Yan Lin lightly, then winked and discreetly asked Hou Zihao, “Come on, buddy, spill the beans. What’s going on?”

Hou Zihao paid little attention to such teasing and inquiries because all his focus was on Zhou Leqi.

She had become even more silent.

Of course, she had never been very talkative. When alone with him, she was slightly better, but at school, she could go an entire day without saying a word. Now, it was even worse—during breaks, she didn’t speak to anyone, only sat silently lost in thought. Even when Hou Zihao tried to communicate, he was ignored. It was as if she had entered a vacuum world, completely shutting others out.

She even zoned out during class.

Once, during a math lesson, Xue Jun was explaining a challenging problem and called on her to answer. After calling her name twice without a response, he tapped her chair from behind to snap her out of it. When she finally stood up, she was completely dazed, unaware of which question Xue Jun had asked.

At that moment, Hou Zihao wanted to help, but unfortunately, he hadn’t been paying attention either because he was preoccupied with finding her a psychologist. Only later did he learn from Yan Lin that Xue Jun had been discussing the third part of the conic section problem—finding the minimum distance from a moving point on curve C1 to line l.

With time running short, Hou Zihao didn’t bother calculating himself. Instead, he quietly relayed the answer from Yan Lin to Zhou Leqi, allowing her to pass Xue Jun’s questioning.

Yan Lin, typically indifferent to others’ affairs, genuinely considered Hou Zihao a friend and noticed that both he and Zhou Leqi were acting strangely. Concerned, he subtly reminded Hou Zihao after class, saying, “There’ll be plenty of time after the college entrance exam. For now… you both need to be careful.”

Don’t collapse in these final months—it’s not worth it.

Hou Zihao understood Yan Lin’s goodwill, but his mind simply couldn’t focus on studying because he was constantly worried about Zhou Leqi.

When she stayed silent, he worried. When she didn’t reply to his texts, he worried. When he couldn’t see her on weekends, he worried… Any ordinary situation was enough to make him anxious.

What worried him even more was her physical condition.

He could tell her state was deteriorating. At school, she was perpetually drowsy, with obvious dark circles under her eyes—a sign of prolonged lack of rest.

And indeed, she couldn’t sleep.

Her sleep had always been poor over the years, but after Yu Qing’s attempted suicide, it worsened. She began to fear her home, finding it suffocating just to enter the house. Worse still, at night, she experienced auditory hallucinations—hearing continuous crying and the piercing wail of ambulance sirens.

This tormented her endlessly.

She suffered through sleepless nights, tossing and turning in bed, staring at the ceiling until dawn. By day, she was exhausted, her eyes barely able to stay open. But she couldn’t sleep in school, as teachers might call on her at any moment. Her only chance to rest was on the bus ride.

During these times, Hou Zihao would always be by her side—their closest moments of the day. She could feel him nearby, within arm’s reach, providing a fleeting sense of security. Just being close to him made her feel she could rest. Gradually, she managed to snatch about an hour of precious sleep on the swaying bus.

Their relationship grew strange: when she was lucid, she never spoke to him, creating a distance so noticeable that even Ge Ao, oblivious as he was, sensed something was off. There was no tension—just a growing barrier. Yet, when she was drowsy, she subconsciously leaned on him, treating him as a silent companion and instinctively seeking comfort from him.

They drifted quietly between estrangement and intimacy.

This delicate peace lasted for a while, but the passage of time couldn’t fully resolve existing tensions—

A week after the rooftop incident, they finally erupted into their most intense argument.