After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

It wasn't the short notification tone of a WeChat message, but a telephone ring—that old-fashioned, shrill, death-like beeping sound.

Qi Liuhai picked up his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and froze for a moment.

"It's my mom."

She whispered something, then slid off the bed, walked barefoot to the balcony door, opened it, and stood on the terrace outside the French windows.

The moment the glass door closed, all sounds in the living room were cut off, but her profile could still be seen through the glass—her pale yellow cotton nightgown clung to her legs in the night breeze, one hand held her phone to her ear, and the other gripped the balcony railing so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Huang Mao lifted his head from the mattress, his eyes still red, but his attention had been diverted.

"Qi Liu's mom called again? Last time she called to urge her to send money, I wonder what it's about this time—"

The tattooed man put the pillow aside, rolled off the bed, walked to the French windows, hugged his arm to his chest, and looked at the man with bangs through the glass.

The woman with the floral tattoo walked over and stood next to the woman with the floral arm tattoo, her rose tattoo on her leg flickering in the glass reflection.

Shen Qing said softly, "Her shoulders are shaking."

Lin Ye sat up straight from the head of the bed, put a cigarette in his mouth but didn't light it, and stood up as well.

Just as the glass door was pulled open from the inside, Qi Liuhai hung up the phone.

She turned around, lowered her head, and her bangs completely covered her face.

Her fingers were still gripping the phone, her knuckles white from the pressure, and a faint nail mark was left on the cartoon rabbit printed on the phone case.

She walked back to the master bedroom and stood by the bed. Wangcai jumped down from the corner of the bed and rubbed against her ankle, but she didn't react.

The blond-haired guy was the first to walk over, bending down and tilting his head to try and see her expression through the gap in her bangs.

"What did your mom say?"

Qi Liuhai remained silent for a while before speaking, his voice softer than ever before, almost like a breath squeezed from his throat.

"My mom wants me to go home for a blind date. She said she found me a guy who's 18 years older than me, owns a hardware store in our hometown, and has a house and a car. She said he doesn't mind my looks and wants me to hurry back and get things done."

The blond-haired man's eyes widened.

The man with the tattooed arms frowned.

The woman with the floral dress tightened her grip on the curtain.

The phone with the bangs was still lit up, displaying the call log from just now, with the contact name "Mom".

She looked down at the note, her lips trembling.

Then she suddenly raised her head, her bangs parted in the middle, revealing a pair of red eyes, brimming with tears but desperately holding them back.

Her voice split in two, one half a sob, the other a roar.

"I'm your mother! You're my daughter, and as long as I'm alive, I'll take care of you!"

The blond-haired man snatched the phone from the man with bangs, glanced at the screen, and then held it up for everyone to see.

"She sent voice messages! Sixty seconds long! More than a dozen!"

Qi Liuhai squatted down and buried his face in Wangcai's cat fur, his shoulders twitching.

The cat squirmed uncomfortably from being held too tightly, but she didn't let go.

Huang Mao tossed his phone onto the bed, squatted down next to Qi Liu Hai, reached out and patted her back. After a couple of pats, he felt it wasn't enough, so he hugged her from the side, his honey-brown hair rubbing against Qi Liu Hai's black bangs.

"Stop crying, stop crying. If you don't want to go back, you don't have to. It's not like your mom is going to jump out of your phone screen and grab you."

"But she said—she said if I don't go back she'll come looking for me—she knows where I used to live—"

Qi Liuhai's voice was muffled by Wangcai's cat fur.

"She knows nothing."

The tattooed man turned around in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, crossed his arms, and flickered his tongue between his lips, his tone turning cold.

"Does she know you moved? Does she know you live in a villa now? Does she know you have eight sisters and one brother?"

Huatui chimed in from the side, his tone completely indifferent.

"Exactly, if you let her come, she'll probably run away the moment she sees this house—"

The girl with bangs lifted her face from the cat's fur, her eyes and nose were red, and her bangs were a messy bird's nest.

"But—but she's my mother—she said that if I'm disobedient, I'm unfilial—she said she raised me for nothing—"

"Filial piety doesn't mean you have to sell yourself for a bride price."

Lin Ye spoke up.

The voice was soft and the tone was flat, but every word sounded like it was being hammered out on an anvil.

Qi Liuhai turned her head to look at him, and tears finally fell from her eyes, one after another, sliding down her cheekbone and dripping onto the neckline of her pale yellow nightgown.

She hastily wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, and after wiping them, she looked at the glistening watermarks on the back of her hand, her lips moved several times, and then she said something in an extremely weak voice, almost drowned out by her sobs.

"Brother—tell me what to do—"

Lin Ye took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it on the bedside table.

He got up from the bed, walked to Qi Liuhai, bent down and pulled her up from the floor, making her sit on the edge of the bed. Then he took two tissues from the bedside table and stuffed them into her hand.

"You have a home now."

He said.

Just five words.

Qi Liuhai clutched the two tissues, crumpling them into a ball.

She lowered her head, and her bangs slipped down again, covering her eyes, but her shoulders stopped shaking.

The blond guy sat down next to her, put his arm around her shoulder, and rested his honey-brown head on her temple.

The tattooed man took an ice-cold Coke from the refrigerator, unscrewed the cap, and stuffed it into the hand of the man with bangs.

Hua Tui pushed the fruit plate towards her, saying that eating something sweet would lift her spirits.

Green Hair crawled over from the foot of the bed and stuffed a pillow behind Qi Liuhai's back, saying it would be more comfortable to lean against.

Pink Hair didn't know what to do, so he reached out and patted Wangcai's head, saying, "Bumpy Hair, don't cry, Wangcai is watching you."

Shen Qing picked up the glass of honey water that hadn't cooled down from the bedside table, gently placed it in Qi Liuhai's other hand, then squatted down in front of her, looking up at her with a small, gentle smile on her lips.

"You are not alone."

Qi Liuhai sat on the edge of the bed, her left hand stuffed with iced cola and her right hand with honey water. Wangcai was perched on her knees, and a pillow was placed behind her. Huang Mao hugged her, and Shen Qing squatted in front of her, his tattooed arm leaning against the bedpost, watching over her with his eyes.

She looked down at the two drinks in her hands—one iced, one hot—the walls of which were covered with tiny droplets of water, mixed with the tears she had just wiped away.

She looked up, her bangs still messy, her eyes still red, her nose still swollen, but the corners of her mouth were already curved up, forming a small but genuine smile with tears in her eyes.

Thank you.

she says.

Then she turned to look at Lin Ye.

"Brother, I'm not going back. I'm staying here. What if Mom really comes looking for me—"

She paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"I'll let the blond guy curse at her."