Liang Muzhi had gotten into a fight.
When Xu Zhi received the call from the police station, it was already eleven o'clock at night.
The dormitory had a curfew, and when Xu Zhi was about to leave, she was given a hard time by the dormitory manager, Auntie. In the end, the auntie seemed to sigh at the decline of the world's morals: "Nowadays, university students, especially girls, really don't know how to take care of themselves..."
She knew Auntie misunderstood something, but she had no heart to explain. She quickly left, braved the heavy snowfall at the school's side gate to hail a taxi, and then went to the police station.
Bailing Liang Muzhi required some paperwork, mainly filling out forms and paying fees.
The policeman asked Xu Zhi: "What is your relationship with Liang Muzhi?"
After hesitating for a moment, Xu Zhi answered, "We're childhood friends."
The Liang and Xu families had been close friends for a long time. When Xu's grandfather was alive, he even arranged for their grandchildren to be betrothed. There were no objections from their parents' generation, and it was assumed that Xu Zhi would become their daughter-in-law.
Of all of them, Liang Muzhi's attitude was the most ambiguous. He couldn't be said to oppose the arrangement, as he only smiled when teased about it. Yet, he didn't seem to agree, either, as he never talked to Xu Zhi about being together.
Though he was always good to her, he seemed to always keep his distance.
His attitude sometimes made Xu Zhi feel a bit anxious. But she was a girl after all, and her cheeks were thin. Although she liked Liang Muzhi very much and had accepted the arrangement between their families, she never dared to take the initiative to say anything about it. Even now, she could only call herself his childhood friend.
"There's only one emergency contact in his phone, which is you. I thought you were his family," the police officer seemed a bit surprised. "He smashed a bar for his girlfriend."
Xu Zhi paused, doubting her ears. "What... girlfriend?"
"Yes, a girl named Chen Jing. When they were out at a bar, some punks harassed Chen Jing, and Liang Muzhi hit them directly on the head with a bottle," the policeman clicked his tongue, "He's pretty ruthless. The man is still in the hospital undergoing surgery, and the bar was affected too. You guys need to figure out how to handle this matter, or you might end up in court."
Xu Zhi was completely stupefied. She and Liang Muzhi communicated almost daily, either by WeChat or phone call. He had never mentioned having a girlfriend.
Upon finishing the procedures, Liang Muzhi was escorted out by the police.
It was only when Xu Zhi looked up that she noticed a new scar on his forehead.
A full three centimeters in length, slanting across the corner of his left brow, a freshly healed scab was quite noticeable on his handsome face.
This was not Liang Muzhi's first fight.
His history of quarrels can be traced back to middle school. As a spoiled young master from a rich and powerful family, his vocabulary never contained words like "compromise" or "retreat". For years, he had lived in sheer abandon and arrogance.
He came to Xu Zhi and called her, "Little Zhi."
Those close to Xu Zhi would call her Zhi. Only Liang Muzhi insisted on adding the word "little" in front. A subtle difference, but it carried a hint of familiarity and intimacy.
At this moment, Xu Zhi was still in a daze, staring at the wound on his forehead. Naturally, she wanted to ask if it hurt, but when the words came to her lips, she changed her question: "Who is Chen Jing?"
Liang Muzhi was taken aback for a moment. He gently tugged at her sleeve and led her out of the police station, "Let's talk outside."
Tonight's weather forecast predicted a blizzard. But the brutality of the weather far exceeded expectations.
Xu Zhi's figure was slim. She felt as if she was about to be blown away. She regretted that in her rush to leave, she had grabbed a woolen coat that was hardly capable of warding off the wind and snow.
Liang Muzhi led her across the street to the hotel opposite.
With her mind in a turmoil, Xu Zhi clenched her coat and followed him. Her brain, almost frozen stiff, kept wondering, who was Chen Jing?
When they entered the warm hotel lobby, she finally felt revived and managed to unclench her stiff fingers.
Without heading to the front desk, Liang Muzhi took her straight to the elevator, and said, "Chen Jing is my girlfriend. I was planning to introduce her to you soon, but I didn't expect things to turn out this way... She's in the room upstairs."
Xu Shi was still stunned, she felt numb with cold, and only when she stepped off the elevator did she manage to ask a question, "If she's your girlfriend, why didn't she bail you out from the police station?"
"She was harassed by a thug and was greatly scared," Liang Muzhi explained as he walked, "Besides, the snowstorm outside is so heavy..."
He only realized his words might not be appropriate when he said them out, "Xu Shi, sorry for the inconvenience today. Once everything is settled down, I'll treat you to a meal."
Xu Shi felt like the snowstorm of the night had penetrated her heart, how could it be so cold.
Liang Muzhi knocked on the door. Someone arrived swiftly and flung herself into Liang Muzhi’s arms as soon as the door opened.
Chen Jing spoke with a sob in her tone, "I was so scared...You're so impulsive; why did you fight with those guys? Are you hurt? Is it painful?"
"I’m fine." Liang Muzhi held Chen Jing’s hand that was reaching toward his forehead, cleared his throat to hint her someone was there, "this is Xu Shi."
Only then did Chen Jing realize there was someone else in the room. She turned to look at Xu Shi.
Xu Shi possessed the kind of slightly cold beauty, her natural face wasn’t dull. However, compared with Chen Jing who had makeup on, she seemed much more delicate.
"You must be Xu Shi. Muzhi has often mentioned you. Nice to meet you."
Chen Jing extended her hand, and Xu Shi paused before shaking hands with her out of courtesy.
Liang Muzhi closed the door behind them and sat on the couch, and Chen Jing moved over, intending to clean his wounds with a tissue.
Xu Shi felt uncomfortable and stood still in her spot.
Liang Muzhi pushed Chen Jing away, "Stop it, I'll clean up later, first I need to arrange a place for Xu Shi, the dormitories at the school are probably locked by now."
Liang Muzhi picked up the hotel phone to call the front desk, hanging up after only a few words.
In extreme weather conditions, the hotel was fully booked.
Chen Jing pouted, "There's no way we can book a room now. This double room was booked by me for us this morning."
The first thought that came to Xu Zhi's mind was that these two had booked a room in the morning - a double room, no less.
She didn't know how her attention could be so diverted, but the more she tried to suppress it, the more uncontrollable it was to think, had they already progressed to this stage? How long had they been dating?
Liang Muzhi had managed to keep this a secret so well.
About a month ago, when she met him at the Liang family home, Grandpa Liang half-jokingly asked him when he planned to marry Zhi, she blushed deeply, she distinctly remembered what he said.
He answered Grandpa Liang: "Grandpa, you're too eager. We should at least wait for Zhi to graduate before we discuss this."
Her misunderstanding deepened gradually in his ambiguous attitude, often feeling differently about him.
But now, she felt that he had played a huge joke on her.
She couldn't laugh, took out her phone, and looked down, "It's okay, I'll look for other hotels nearby."
Chen Jing suggested, "Let's help you find on the phone, you go down quickly to see if there is another hotel nearby. If we find one, we will call you. It's more efficient if we work from both ends."
Xu Zhi was not a fool. It was clear that Chen Jing was rushing her out.
She also didn't want to stay, so she turned around and left.
"Wait, let me send you..." Before Liang Muzhi could finish speaking, Chen Jing had already pulled him back.
"You're injured, why are you running around? Rest instead..."
She didn't hear the rest of what he had to say, she left and closed the door.
Walking out of the hotel, the cold air hit her face, as if the world was covered by a swirling white veil.
Xu Zhi wrapped her coat tighter. Snowflakes landed on her long eyelashes, and fell when she blinked, like a tear drop.
