Late-Night Knocking

10:40 p.m.

The non-compete agreement had already been sent to Gu Siyue, but she had not replied yet.

Han Luyi sat in front of his computer, writing code.

Outside the window, it was quiet. The entire building had six floors, and at this hour, most people were already asleep.

The glow from the screen lit his face as his fingers tapped a steady rhythm across the keyboard.

There was movement in the hallway.

Someone was banging on a door.

It was heavy and urgent, carrying a forceful impatience.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Han Luyi's fingers stopped.

Another round of pounding sounded, followed by a man's slurred voice, thick with alcohol.

"Open up! I just want to see Duoduo! What right do you have to stop me from seeing my own daughter?!"

Han Luyi stood up.

Next door, apartment 501.

He activated Sight.

His fifty-meter perception range instantly spread out. The data for the entire building overlaid his vision like a translucent hologram, but he focused on only one direction: apartment 501, separated from him by a single wall.

Two people—one outside the door, one inside.

The person outside had an emotion panel glowing red.

The person inside, Lin Wanqing, had a dark-blue emotion panel labeled: Fear (hidden: forcing herself to stay calm).

There was a third data signal inside—Lin Duoduo. Her emotion label contained only one word: Scared.

Han Luyi walked to his front door and pulled open the security door.

The motion-sensor light in the hallway had long been jolted on by the pounding. Under its dim yellow glow stood a man in front of apartment 501.

He was about five foot nine, stocky, wearing a wrinkled dark jacket. His hair was a mess, and he reeked of alcohol. One hand braced against the doorframe while the other continued pounding on the door.

Lin Wanqing had opened the door only a crack and was blocking it with her body. She wore loungewear, her hair loose around her shoulders, her face pale.

"Xu Jiaming, you've been drinking. We'll talk tomorrow." Her voice trembled, but she was still trying to keep it steady.

"What do you mean, talk tomorrow?! You've been hiding from me for two months! What's wrong with me taking one look at Duoduo? I'm her dad!"

"How can you see her when you're like this? Duoduo's already asleep."

"Then I'll wait until she wakes up."

"Leave!"

Xu Jiaming pressed forward half a step and slapped his palm against the door. Lin Wanqing instinctively shrank back, but she did not close it. His foot was wedged in the gap.

Han Luyi walked over.

His footsteps made Xu Jiaming turn his head.

Sight opened a panel with the man's information before Han Luyi's eyes.

[Relationship label: Lin Wanqing's ex-husband]

Han Luyi strolled unhurriedly to the middle of the hallway and stopped between the two apartments.

"Friend, it's the middle of the night. You're disturbing the neighbors."

Xu Jiaming sized him up. "Who the hell are you?"

"The neighbor." Han Luyi pointed toward his own door.

"What's it got to do with you? I'm here to see my daughter."

"Seeing your daughter is a good thing, but it's almost midnight, and the child is asleep." As he spoke, Han Luyi took out his phone, its screen lit up. "How about this? You've had quite a bit to drink. Want me to call you a cab?"

He waved his phone, then added in a voice neither too loud nor too soft, "If you can't get a cab, I can call 110 for you instead. Your choice."

The words were like a bucket of cold water.

Xu Jiaming's expression changed. Alcohol had made him impulsive, but it had not robbed him entirely of his reason. He looked at the phone in Han Luyi's hand, then at Han Luyi himself. At six foot one, Han Luyi was lean but half a head taller than him. He stood there calmly, his gaze as placid as a lake.

For some reason, that gaze seemed to see straight through his bluster.

"Mind your own damn business," Xu Jiaming muttered, but he pulled his foot out from the door.

"Take care," Han Luyi said.

Xu Jiaming glared at him, then at Lin Wanqing through the crack in the door. Finally, still cursing under his breath, he turned and headed downstairs. His footsteps struck the stairs, descending floor by floor and fading farther away.

The hallway fell quiet, and the motion-sensor light clicked off.

In the darkness, Han Luyi heard a faint gasp.

He turned on his phone's flashlight and shone it over.

Lin Wanqing leaned against the doorframe, her arms wrapped around herself. Her whole body was trembling. Several seconds passed before she slowly loosened the hands that had been clutching herself so tightly.

Through the gap in the door, a pair of little hands gripped the edge of the door panel. Then Lin Duoduo's face peeked out from inside, her eyes red and tear tracks streaking her cheeks.

"Brother Luyi..." Her voice was tiny. "I'm scared of Daddy."

Han Luyi crouched down.

"It's okay, Little Duoduo. He's gone." His voice was soft, softer than ever. "Did you protect your mom?"

Lin Duoduo nodded hard.

"Then you did great."

Lin Duoduo's lips quivered as she nearly cried again, but she held it back.

Lin Wanqing took a deep breath, crouched down, and pulled her daughter into her arms. After a long while, she looked up at Han Luyi.

"Thank you."

The three words came out with difficulty.

Han Luyi stood. "It's nothing."

Lin Wanqing carried Lin Duoduo back inside, then turned back once more at the doorway.

"Han Luyi." She paused. "Thank you so much for today."

Han Luyi waved a hand.

The door closed, and two locks clicked into place.

The hallway went dark again. Han Luyi stood there for a while, making sure there was no further movement next door, then turned and went back into his apartment.

After closing the door, he leaned against it and activated Sight.

The basic panel next door faintly appeared through the wall.

With Sight at Lv.2, data from next door was automatically pushed to him within its fifty-meter range. He could not choose to view only part of it. Beneath the basic panel, deeper information unfolded as well.

Han Luyi focused on another piece of information—

The Bug tag that had been gray and marked "Locked" ever since their first meeting.

It was now lit up.

Sight at Lv.2 had finally allowed the Bug's details to fully unfold.

[Bug: Family dispute (Severe)]

[Details: Lin Wanqing's ex-husband, Xu Jiaming, is preparing a custody lawsuit]

[Evidence collection status: Xu Jiaming's side has retained a lawyer and is preparing to sue on the grounds of "the mother's insufficient financial means and unstable living environment"]

[Threat level: High]

[Lin Wanqing's current response status: No legal support, has not consulted a professional lawyer, currently on the defensive]

[Recommended response path: Professional legal intervention required; prepare a response plan in advance]

"The mother's insufficient financial means and unstable living environment."

He had heard something similar in his second year of middle school. His father had called and said, "It's too hard for you to raise a child alone," meaning that he wanted to fight for custody. After his mother hung up, she stood on the balcony for a long time, thinking he had not seen her.

He had been thirteen that year. Lin Duoduo was five this year.

Professional legal intervention required. A name surfaced in his mind.

Gu Siyue.

Gu Siyue handled intellectual property litigation, not cases like this, but she worked at Boheng. There had to be lawyers there who handled related matters.

Still, he and Lin Wanqing were only neighbors, and they had known each other for less than a month. Driving off a drunk was one thing; meddling in someone else's custody battle was another.

Han Luyi turned off Sight.

He went back to his computer and sat down. The screen was still on, the cursor blinking on the line where he had stopped.

He stared at the code for two seconds but did not continue writing.

Picking up his phone, he found that Gu Siyue had replied ten minutes earlier: "Received the non-compete agreement."

After thinking for a moment, Han Luyi changed her contact note from "Lawyer Gu" to "Legal Consultant—Lawyer Gu."

Then he shut down the computer, washed his face, and went to bed.

Next door was quiet. Lin Duoduo had probably already been soothed to sleep.