“You can tell me anything. In front of me, don’t feel pressured. Just treat me as a friend. I can be your listener.”
The silly girl still believed, even now, that this matter had nothing to do with him.
Su Qinghe sat on the bench with her head lowered, her fingers digging hard into the hem of her clothes. She said nothing. She just cried.
Every word Jiang Che spoke was like a stream of warm spring water, slowly flowing into her frozen heart. It was warm. So warm that she could not help but cling to it.
But… she did not dare.
She was afraid that if she said the wrong thing, Jiang Che would abandon her. She would lose this hard-won care and gentleness forever.
The moment she left campus and ended up wandering the streets a month ago, Su Qinghe had thought that perhaps she would never see Jiang Che again in this lifetime.
But the goddess of fate had favored her. One month later, she met him again, and he even brought her home.
Only after losing something do people learn to cherish it. And Su Qinghe had cherished him from the very beginning.
In her family, her parents might allow her younger brother to date early, but they would absolutely never allow her to do the same.
Because she had once tested their attitude in a roundabout way. What she received in return was merciless insults and curses.
“I’m telling you, Su Qinghe, if you dare to date early, I’ll break both your arms!”
“At such a young age and you’re already learning to seduce men? You’re shameless! Cheap and disgusting! All you think about is how to climb into a man’s bed!”
She had cried and tried to explain that she was not dating anyone at all, but they would not listen. Instead, they cursed even more viciously.
Because of that, a thick layer of fear covered her heart. From her first year of high school, she had liked Jiang Che, yet she could only watch helplessly as he pursued other girls. She could do nothing.
So this time, no matter what, Su Qinghe would never let go of Jiang Che so easily. No matter what.
Jiang Che could only belong to her.
After a long internal struggle and endless self-persuasion, she finally gathered the courage to ask in a voice as soft as a mosquito’s hum, “Are you… angry at me?”
“Because I… spent your money recklessly… and… and lied to you…”
Jiang Che was stunned when he heard her words. He had never expected that this was what she had been thinking about.
The misunderstanding was huge.
He did not know whether to laugh or cry, but more than anything, he felt heartache. He hurried to explain, “I’m not angry at you. I never was.”
Su Qinghe did not believe him. She lifted her head and “looked” in his direction. Though she could not see, Jiang Che could still feel the overwhelming unease in her eyes.
“But just now…” Your attitude was so fierce.
Before she could finish, Jiang Che had already guessed the rest and cut her off. “Just now I was thinking about something else. Maybe my tone and attitude were a bit stiff, but I swear, it had absolutely nothing to do with you.”
As he spoke, he even raised three fingers to swear to the heavens. Only after lifting his hand did he remember that Su Qinghe could not see. Feeling a little foolish, he awkwardly lowered it again.
“Su Qinghe, when you came out after changing into the dress earlier, I saw the injuries on your body. I was angry at the people who bullied you.”
Seeing that her emotions seemed to settle slightly, Jiang Che simply poured out everything he had planned. “I’ve already asked someone to investigate the relatives who kicked you out and hired people to beat you, your parents’ whereabouts, and the gang of thugs who bullied you yesterday.”
“Don’t worry. Anyone who has bullied you, not a single one of them will get away.”
From the moment she heard that he had been angry because he was furious at the people who had hurt her, Su Qinghe had already gone a little blank.
Now, after hearing his fiercely protective words, her small mouth parted slightly and her mind turned empty.
Someone… was going to stand up for her?
Was she really not dreaming? No, she would not even dare to dream of something like this.
From childhood to now, no matter how much injustice she suffered, her parents had only ever told her to endure it.
When relatives bullied her and drove her out of the house, she went to argue with them. What she received in return was a vicious beating and permanent darkness.
Su Qinghe had truly believed that this was how her life would be. Survive one day at a time. And if she could not survive anymore, then die.
She had never imagined that someone would appear at her most miserable moment, pull her out of the mud, and solemnly promise to seek justice for her.
Jiang Che…
A powerful surge of warmth rose from the depths of her heart, instantly breaking down all her defenses and disguises.
She could not hold it in anymore. Large tears rolled out of her eyes one after another, falling heavily onto the back of her hand.
Years of oppression had trained her to suppress her sobs, but because of that, her thin shoulders trembled violently.
Seeing her beautiful face covered in tears, Jiang Che felt even worse than before.
He had said those words to make her feel better. Instead, he had made her cry. He had completely backfired.
He sighed softly, borrowed a few tissues from a passerby, and waited until she had cried for a while before handing them to her.
Su Qinghe took the tissues and wiped her face haphazardly, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed. Soon, all the tissues were soaked through.
Jiang Che simply ran to a nearby convenience store, bought a full pack of tissues, then carefully wiped the tear stains from her cheeks himself.
“Alright, alright. Stop crying. If you keep this up, you’ll flood the whole mall,” he teased deliberately, hoping to cheer her up a little.
Without relying on money, comforting a girl was honestly beyond his expertise. School had never taught him this.
But since he was the one who made her cry, what else could he do? He could only bear with it.
Su Qinghe sniffled and said in broken phrases, “Th-thank you, Jiang Che… really… thank you…”
She kept repeating her gratitude, as if it was the only way she knew how to express her emotions.
Jiang Che paused and looked at her red, tear-swollen nose. Half amused and half helpless, he said, “Is ‘thank you’ the only thing you know how to say?”
Caught off guard by his question, Su Qinghe froze. She even forgot to let her tears fall.
“I… I…”
Seeing her stunned, adorably foolish expression, Jiang Che could not help but laugh.
“I mean, it’s only natural for me to stand up for you. You don’t have to keep thanking me.”
He slowed his voice and explained seriously, “We’re friends, aren’t we?”