The "Impressionist" walked around the house in annoyance. He went to the kitchen, unscrewed the light bulb, and handed it to a subordinate. Then, he gestured with his eyes and said, "Stuff it inside of her and see whether she’ll talk."

The subordinate let out a perverted laugh. The group held her down and prepared to strip her clothes.

One of the subordinates suddenly screamed. They saw Kaowei biting his face ruthlessly.

"Hurry and let go, you stinking bitch!"

No matter how the group kicked her or ripped her hair off lock by lock, she didn't let go of his face. Her heart was beating wildly and she didn't feel the pain at all. Strong anger drove her to bravely revolt.

Finally, the subordinate was "saved." On his face, a whole piece of flesh was almost bitten off, leaving only a small piece of skin attached. Blood was flowing out like a tap. It looked extraordinarily horrifying.

"Crazy! Crazy! Crazy!" The other subordinate kicked Kaowei's stomach wildly, then dragged her up by her hair and smashed her head onto the edge of the table. The impact bounced Kaowei back and she collapsed on the wall. Blood hung from her forehead like a big red cloth.

The "Impressionist" watched this subordinate’s solo-play and got very upset as he kicked him down. He shouted, "Did I let you do it?"

"Boss, I'm sorry."

The "Impressionist" looked at Kaowei. Her hair was disheveled and her face was full of blood, causing her eyes to look very gloomy. He grinned and praised, "Good woman. You have more backbone than Wang Xi."

He searched the house for some time and found laoganma[1], green onions, milk bottles, and steel wire balls amongst other things. He placed them in a row on the table and educated his subordinates. "You must be innovative when torturing a woman. What's the point of beating them to a pulp? Torturing a chaste woman until she’s a crying, begging cheap bitch is the way to go. Go and strip her clothes..."

Kaowei sneered contemptuously. She suddenly saw the bandaged man's face outside the window. His eyes were full of anger. She pleaded in her heart. Don't come in, don't come in. These unreasonable people will treat him as Wang Xi and things will become troublesome.

The sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance. The "Impressionist" was like a mouse who heard a cat meowing. He shook with fright and instructed, "Retreat!"

The gang of people swarmed out. As they left, the "Impressionist" left a threatening sentence. "I’ll finish you up another day."

"Go back and play with your mum you disgusting guy!" Kaowei cursed.

When they got outside, the "Impressionist" discovered that it was only a police car passing by. It was a false alarm. Over the past two days, they heard that a police officer had killed people and was at large. The police have been looking for him. A subordinate asked, "Should we go back and teach that bitch a lesson?"

"Forget it. Forget it." With the police active nearby, the "Impressionist" felt uncomfortable and waved his hands. "Let her live in fear for a day or two!"

He saw the old tailor tied to the alley and kicked the old tailor. The old tailor woke up from his slumber. Thinking that the "Impressionist" wanted to entertain himself again, he kept begging for mercy. The "Impressionist" asked, "Do you want to go home?"

The old tailor nodded desperately.

The "Impressionist" pointed to the door of Kaowei's house, "Keep an eye on that woman for me. If you see her with a man, call me immediately." He asked his subordinates for a mobile phone and handed it to the old tailor.

The old tailor was naked, so the phone could only be held in his hand. The "Impressionist" wasn’t assured. "Why don't you even have a pocket on your body? Don't lose it. Put the phone in your butt!"

"What?"

"Faster."

Under the supervision of the group of people, the old tailor completed this feat with difficulty. The "Impressionist" who didn’t get to satisfy his thirst for torture earlier felt like he had been compensated for it a little bit. He left in content.

The bandaged man walked into the room, helped the injured Kaowei up from the ground, and asked if there were any medical supplies at home. Kaowei pointed to a cabinet.

The bandaged man took out gauze, Yunnan Baiyao,[2] and iodophor. He put them in front of Kaowei. "I won't wipe it for you. That would seem too intimate."

Kaowei smiled. "Even if you’re a little gentle with me right now, I won't think twice about it."

She handled the wound herself as the bandaged man said, "I'm sorry."

"Why are you saying ‘I'm sorry’? I didn’t bear this beating for you, but for Wang Xi. When Wang Xi disappeared, thugs often harassed me. They were the ones who made me quit my job at the time... Actually, I’m used to it."

"It hasn’t been easy for you."

"You don't have to sympathize with me. I hate being pitied. I love him and I’m willing to bear this." There was firm perseverance within Kaowei's tearful eyes. She glanced at the clock and said, "It's time to rest. I still have to go to work tomorrow."

"Resign from your bad job."

"Resign? Then who’ll feed me?"

"What major did you study in the past?"

"I didn’t study any major. I dropped out of high school. I fooled around with Wang Xi all day. I didn't think about working until I was twenty. I tried thinking of different means to get money every day. I often regret what I did when I was younger. You must have studied in college before. That’s why you asked me like that. You can’t imagine how bad life is for people like us! Living life like this in Goupi Alley, the one most responsible for it is myself!"

"Actually, you’re still young. If you don't change now, you will regret it even more ten years later." The bandaged man suggested sincerely.

This sentence made Kaowei angry. "Don't tell me this! Haven’t I heard enough philosophical stuff already? I know how lazy I am. I can't change it at all. People high above like you shouldn’t judge me because you don’t understand anything!"

Suddenly, the air was filled with tension. The bandaged man didn't want to argue with her, so he said goodnight and went upstairs by himself.

Kaowei didn't sleep until very late. The bandaged man saw her drinking and crying from a gap in the attic.

It may be a bit lacking in virtue to say this, but the bandaged man did receive some comfort from Kaowei. It wasn’t just his life that was a mess. Most people hide a messy life under their smiles.

When she got up the next morning, Kaowei fried up an egg that looked incomparably ugly and made a bowl of pumpkin porridge. She also left a note: "I shouldn't have been angry with you last night, I'm sorry! Stop smoking, please!"

Leaving so early, perhaps she didn't sleep at all, the bandage man thought while lighting up his first cigarette of the morning.

In the early morning, a little girl walked in and asked the old tailor who was tied to the ground, "Old man, do you know if there’s a tailor shop here?"

"Yes, I’m the tailor."

"Really? Is it true you give out dresses?"

"It's true, but I can't do it right now."

"What do you mean you can’t do it? You mean making a dress or that..."

"I can't do either of them."

"Then when can you do it?"

"Look at me like this right now..."

"Tch, how annoying, I even purposefully woke up early for this. What a waste of time!" The little girl left in a huff.

Kaowei came back late at night. She put down her handbag and took out a few boxes. "Hey, this is the jewellery recovered from the pawnshop. I’ll pay the money back."

"There’s no need to pay it back."

"It needs to be repaid! It needs to be!"

The bandaged man opened the jewellery boxes. These were all very ordinary jewellery. He fiddled with them. Kaowei sat beside him while holding her cheek and asked, "You're not angry with me, are you?"

"I’m good at self-mediation."

"Haha, it seems that you’re still angry. I’m a bastard. I always hurt the people around me and I always speak without thinking."

"Although you have a bad personality, you have a positive point!"

"What’s that?"

"You’re born pretty."

Kaowei smiled happily. The bandaged man suddenly discovered that one of the pendants could be opened, and a small memory card fell out of it...

1. Chill oil brand that’s very popular.

2. Household Chinese herbal supplement. The product description says it’s used to stop bleeding and promotes healing of wounds and internal injuries.