He was silent for a long while before he suddenly, gently unbuttoned his lapel.

  “I choose the second one,” he mumbled.

  With that, he unbuttoned his shirt, one at a time, and allowed it to slip down his shoulders slowly.

  The actress looked at his back and drew in a breath sharply. “You…… Your back……”


  He closed his eyes helplessly. “My back must be very ugly.”


  The woman was shocked beyond words.

  Hua Jin’s fair back was strewn with many old scars, some looking especially deep. Her hands clenched into fists as she felt her heart constricting slightly.

  Reaching out, she gently touched a scar and asked, “What is this?”


  “Where?”


  “It looks like some kind of burn……”


  “That one is a cigarette burn.”


  “Cigarette burn?” Her heart squeezed for a moment. “Did you do this to yourself?”


  The man frowned and then his voice turned husky all of a sudden. “I’m not that cruel to abuse myself.”


  “Then……”


  The actress suddenly came to an abrupt halt as she brashly recalled the past Hua Jin had spoken to her about.

  She vaguely remembered that before he entered showbiz, he had been……

  “Ow!” She inhaled deeply, now roughly having an idea where exactly these scars came from.

  The idol became more and more self-conscious and he hurriedly pulled up his shirt again. “Don’t look anymore.”


  “Wait!” She stopped him and went to touch another elongated scar. “What about this one?”


  “I’m not sure anymore. These are old wounds—some are from whips while some are from blades. Well…… there are probably some scars left from a fracture surgery.” He calmly recounted his experience as if he was narrating another person’s tale. “These injuries have long healed.”


  She could bear it no longer. Spinning him around to face her, she lambasted with eyes rimmed red from angry tears, “Why did they abuse you so much?!”


  He looked at her, dumbfounded, and smiled feebly. “I don’t know; probably because it made them happy?”


  “Made them happy?!”


  “Yes.” He paused and then continued speaking. “Those whip marks are there because I misbehaved and was whipped by the boss.”


  “.……”


  He forced a smile and gently wiped the tears streaking down the corners of her eyes. “Why are you crying again? When have you become so weepy?”


  “Could those people abuse you for fun?” She gazed into his eyes.

  “Mm. At that time, I was still young and didn’t know any better, so I cried when I was in pain. They thought I was particularly entertaining when I cried, so they used all their tricks just to see how I would look when crying.” He curled his lips into a smile after a bit and asked, “Don’t you find it incredible? Isn’t that a ridiculous reason?”


  Unable to take it anymore, the woman brought him into her arms while feeling heartbroken. Her tears could not stop from falling as anger and heartache surged uncontrollably in her heart.

  “Hua Jin”—she felt choked—”I’m sorry; I’m so sorry……”


  She did not know exactly what she was apologizing for.

  Was it for the injuries that the man had suffered?

  Perhaps it was because she had despised him in the past, treating him coldly and even avoiding him like the plague!

  The idol was hapless with her emotional outburst. Her tears, including her affectionate hug, made him quite nervous and anxious, while her profuse apologies confused him.

  “Don’t cry anymore; it’s all in the past……”


  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”


  “Shishi”—he carefully hugged her back—”are you crying because you feel bad for me?”