“Get lost before I have to say it twice,” Kong Ning barked at the drunk, her gaze so fierce it seemed ready to skin him alive.
Her ferocious expression instantly sobered the man up. Scared to press any further, he hesitated to step forward; after all, this was the capital, and nobody dared to spark real trouble with security cameras on every street corner.
“Tch, acting like some kind of pristine martyr,” the greasy man muttered under his breath, unable to resist one last sharp tongue-lashing before slinking away.
Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Kong Ning spotted a loose brick sticking out from the ground nearby.
“Care to say that one more time?”
Kong Ning strode forward a few paces, picked up the brick, and marched back toward the man.
Watching her, Wei Mu felt a long-buried memory suddenly flash into clear focus.
It was back in their second year of middle school, right after she had just transferred back.
The teenage Kong Ning was even more brazen and high-spirited than she was today.
She loved standing up against injustice, and even more than that, she loved fiercely protecting Wei Mu behind her back.
Wei Mu’s parents had divorced early on. That year, to keep the family assets from falling into the hands of her father’s illegitimate child, Wei Mu’s mother, Huo Han, agreed to let her transfer back to Hangzhou.
When she returned, Qi Zhirou felt immense sympathy for her best friend’s child. She arranged for Wei Mu and Kong Ning to attend the same school so Wei Mu could settle in better.
Even though they hadn’t seen each other in years, Kong Ning and Wei Mu got along quite harmoniously back then.
One day, driver Uncle Zhang was on leave. Instead of taking a cab or calling for a ride, Kong Ning, who adored the feeling of freedom, wanted to show Wei Mu around. They decided to walk home together, only to run into a group of three young thugs along the way.
Relying on their status as minors, the thugs shamelessly eyed Wei Mu up and down.
“Where’d this little beauty come from? How about giving us a turn?” the head thug jeered.
“Get lost.”
Kong Ning utterly despised those gazes and those words.
Perhaps due to her broken family, or perhaps because she grew up amid endless domestic arguments, Wei Mu had a timid, soft personality before high school.
Unlike Kong Ning’s robust, energetic beauty, Wei Mu looked far too delicate, so delicate that people felt an urge to pick on her, which naturally attracted scumbags like these.
Back then, Kong Ning had guarded her in the exact same manner as today.
“Don’t cry, Mu-Mu. Big Sister Kong will protect you.” With those words, Kong Ning tossed her backpack aside and stepped in front of Wei Mu, just like she did when they were kids, shielding her from every harm.
From her parents’ fighting, to the shoving of mean kids, to malicious jealousy, she shielded her from all of it.
It was at that moment that the young girl’s heart began to flutter.
“Stupid bitch! It’s your luck our boss took a liking to you, don’t be ungrateful!” another thug barked.
BANG!
Kong Ning planted a fist right onto his eye.
That’s right, Kong Ning had been practicing martial arts since primary school.
“Holy crap, you dare hit me?!” the lackey cried out, clutching his eye.
“I’m hitting you, you little minion.” Kong Ning struck a grand, showy pose like IP Man, flicking her hand to taunt them all to come at once.
“And that goes for the rest of you, too,” she sneered at the other two.
“Come at me, garbage.”
In the end, it turned into a chaotic brawl.
Before Wei Mu could even step in to help, Kong Ning was already stomping on one thug’s arm, grinding her heel into it. “Talk trash, will you?! Talk trash, will you?!”
Wei Mu picked up a wooden stick from the ground and swung wildly at anyone in reach.
Eventually, the three thugs fled in terror.
After all, Kong Ning was fighting like a complete lunatic, recklessly throwing herself into the brawl.
Having finished her dramatic show, Kong Ning raised an eyebrow, let out a cold smirk, and delivered a classic anime protagonist line: “You guys are still a long way off.”
The very next second:
“Damn it… that actually hurts a bit.” Feeling a sharp pang in her right shoulder, Kong Ning rubbed it.
“Where does it hurt?!” Wei Mu threw herself into Kong Ning’s arms.
“It’s all my fault… it’s because I’m so useless that you got hurt.” Crybaby Wei Mu began sniffling and crying all over again.
Only then did Wei Mu realize that, even if not for herself, she couldn’t stay weak and keep crying for Kong Ning’s sake.
At least in the eyes of outsiders, she had to appear strong.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, seriously, don’t cry. As long as you don’t cry, it won’t hurt,” Kong Ning said, unable to bear seeing Wei Mu tears. She patted Wei Mu’s back with her uninjured left hand.
“Then will you come to the doctor with me?” Wei Mu asked anxiously.
“Hmph~ Those little trash heaps are nothing. Don’t worry, my hand just cramped up for a second, I’m fine. I’m not going.” Kong Ning tried to reassure her.
“But your mouth is bleeding!” Wei Mu’s eyes glistened as she stared at Kong Ning’s face. “Doesn’t it hurt terribly? It must hurt so much…” Her hand reached out tenderly to touch the spot, but she pulled back at the last second, terrified of hurting Kong Ning more.
“Oh, come on, a bit of ointment and it’ll be fine. Seriously, I’m fine, little crybaby.” Kong Ning thought to herself that if she went to the hospital to get bandaged up, her mom would nag her to death.
Ultimately, Kong Ning was dragged to the hospital by Wei Mu anyway. Fortunately, it was just surface-level trauma, and the doctor simply prescribed some ointment.
Upon returning home, Kong Ning snuck Wei Mu into her bedroom to apply the medicine, acting all secretive when they accidentally bumped into Auntie Ge along the way.
“I’m a martial arts genius, balanced in both mind and body, Ouch! Wei Mu, apply it a bit gentler!” Kong Ning couldn’t help boasting even while receiving treatment.
“Mm.” With red, puffy eyes, Wei Mu applied the ointment with even greater care.
Little did they know, Auntie Ge had spotted them and immediately informed her mother.
“Did you two go out and get into a fight?” Qi Zhirou said, displaying a rare aura of overwhelming authority. Her tone sounded furious.
“We ran into some thugs doing bad things on the street, so we stopped them.”
“A real woman takes responsibility for her own actions! I was the only one fighting! Mom, it was me, your daughter, the righteous, crime-fighting, evil-vanquishing hero of justice, Kong Ning!!!”
Kong Ning didn’t want anyone else to know the nasty things those thugs had said to Wei Mu.
Vulgar, disgusting, a complete insult, those scumbags’ names weren’t even worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Wei Mu.
She didn’t want to repeat a single word of it.
Not a single detail.
So, Kong Ning specifically warned Wei Mu, using her own injuries as leverage, forbidding her from revealing the true reason for the fight. She claimed it was because she wanted to act tough, and if Wei Mu spilled the beans, she would never talk to her again.
“Look at my medal of honor! Pretty cool, right? Your daughter is amazing, one against three!” Kong Ning pointed at the wound on the corner of her mouth, boasting proudly.
“You little rascal! You’ve completely lost your mind, learning how to pick fights now?!”
“Tell me, why did you really fight?” Qi Zhirou didn’t buy Kong Ning’s initial explanation for a second. If it had truly been a random act of justice, her daughter would have described every single detail down to the last letter.
“They provoked me, so I beat them up,” Kong Ning said fearlessly, raising her eyebrows and mimicking the arrogant, domineering aura of a dramatic TV show CEO.
When Kong Ning was little, she loved watching TV.
That, at least, sounded like her daughter’s style. Qi Zhirou nodded.
She added, “Did you forget that your little sister Wei Mu was right next to you? And you call yourself an older sister! You might be tough, but what if Mu-Mu had gotten hurt?”
“I would never let her get hurt! As long as I, Kong Ning, am by Wei Mu’s side, nobody gets to harm a single hair on her head. See? She’s completely fine!”
Everyone turned to look at Wei Mu, who had clearly been crying heavily but didn’t have a scratch on her, leaving the room silent for a moment.
“What? Your daughter really is just that awesome!”
Unrepentant and openly defiant.
Tearing off her usual gentle persona, Qi Zhirou grabbed a clothes hanger just like thousands of other parents, intent on giving Kong Ning a dose of ‘loving education.’
Who handed her the hanger? Auntie Ge did.
The whole family felt that Kong Ning deserved a beating. Fighting wasn’t the only way to solve problems, and protecting oneself should always come first. She shouldn’t put herself in dangerous, vulnerable situations.
“Auntie Qi, don’t hit her! She only fought them to protect me! Please don’t scold her or hit her!” Wei Mu cried pitifully, completely abandoning Kong Ning’s warnings as she spilled the whole truth, piece by piece.
Back then, Wei Mu was nowhere near as strong as she was today. The present-day Wei Mu would hide under her covers to cry secretly when she felt wronged, letting no one see. But back then, seeing Kong Ning injured and getting scolded made the tears spill over on the spot.
Her heart ached for Kong Ning.
Kong Ning was right about one thing: Wei Mu really was a crybaby who needed a lot of coaxing, especially the kind of coaxing that only worked when it came from Kong Ning.
How did that incident end again? Kong Ning was forced to drink restorative herbal soup for a whole month, and her mother, Qi Zhirou, even apologized to her afterward.
Facing the “terrifying” Kong Ning holding a brick, the drunk quickly scrambled away on all fours.
Seeing Wei Mu staring blankly, Kong Ning assumed she was frightened. She waved her hand awkwardly and tossed the brick back onto the pile of dirt.
“Don’t be scared, I’m right here. Even without a brick, I can still beat him up,” Kong Ning said cockily, as if reclaiming her home court advantage.
Kong Ning figured Wei Mu must be brimming with gratitude right about now.
To her surprise, Wei Mu stepped forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist.
“Didn’t we promise that you wouldn’t fight so recklessly anymore?” Wei Mu murmured softly against her.
“You broke your promise… Kong Ningning.”
Kong Ning didn’t understand what Wei Mu was talking about at first; she was still completely stunned by the fact that her arch-nemesis was hugging her.
Besides, wasn’t Kong Ningning a nickname Wei Mu only used a long time ago whenever she was throwing a petulant tantrum?
Then, Kong Ning remembered, it was a promise she had made to Wei Mu during her “foolish” teenage years. But she felt the two situations couldn’t be lumped together! It wasn’t like she wanted to fight!
I mean, who could possibly hold back?!
Either way, Kong Ning couldn’t stand by and let anyone harass Wei Mu.
“It’s because he was being a scumbag! I was acting in self-defense! Besides, I really couldn’t hold it in! Wei Mu, I was standing up for justice!”
“I…” Kong Ning wanted to say more.
“I was really worried about you, Kong Ning.”
Hearing the soft, delicate voice from her arms, Kong Ning froze once more.
When was the last time she had heard that?
“I’m really worried about you, Kong Ningning,”, that was what a young Wei Mu had said when she worried Kong Ning would be punished by the teacher for fighting other kids.
“Don’t get hurt anymore, Big Sister Kong,”, that was what a teenage Wei Mu had said, tears streaming down her face as she stared at the cut on Kong Ning’s mouth.
When did it turn into, “You’re so stupid, Kong Ning”? It seemed to be during high school, though Kong Ning couldn’t quite remember clearly anymore.
Did she really hate Wei Mu?
No way, she was getting confused by Wei Mu again!
Kong Ning mentally punched herself twice in the face.
How could she trust anything Wei Mu said? Wei Mu was the person who had put on a fake act through their entire high school years, a secret only Kong Ning had seen through.
Wei Mu had always been targeting her on purpose.
She definitely hated Wei Mu.
“Tch, I’ve got a body of steel! You’d better worry about yourself,” Kong Ning grunted, pushing Wei Mu away.
“Let me tell you, you’re not allowed to walk alone at night from now on,” Kong Ning added, thinking to herself how kind-hearted she was. Even though the other girl was her arch-rival, proper advice still needed to be given.
It definitely wasn’t out of worry; she was just afraid her mother would scold her for not taking care of Wei Mu. After all, her mom had assigned her as Wei Mu’s “college guardian.”
Who could feel at ease letting Wei Mu walk alone at night anyway?
“Mm… and try not to dress so flashily either,” Kong Ning added awkwardly after a moment of thought.
She wasn’t trying to lecture her like a father figure, it was just…
Wei Mu looked undeniably stunning tonight.
“Why?” Wei Mu reached out and grabbed her sleeve.
“It draws people in.”
“Did it draw you in, too?” Wei Mu looked up into Kong Ning’s eyes, speaking boldly.
She felt it was time to take the initiative and let this clueless girl realize her feelings.
She knew that she truly couldn’t afford to lose Kong Ning, nor could she bear watching her Kong Ningning fall for someone else.
She had already waited far too long.
Even if Kong Ning grew to truly hate her in the future, she would still keep her by her side.
“What on earth are you talking about?! No! Absolutely not!”
What was wrong with Wei Mu, looking at her with those kitten-like eyes? Especially while her little claws were still clutching her sleeve!
With that, Kong Ning took long, hurried strides forward, refusing to be stared at any longer. She could feel the tips of her ears burning hot.
Just now, just now she was merely stating an objective fact! She definitely didn’t mean Wei Mu had caught her eye!
Wei Mu definitely hadn’t drawn her in!
Looking at her every now and then tonight was purely to keep an eye on her rival, nothing more!