Xiao Cheng’s eyes darkened as he turned to look at Yan Juexia.
He wasn’t allowed?
Who did he think he was?
Li Zhiyin looked at Yan Juexia in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Yan Juexia walked up to her with an unhappy expression. “I have something to ask you.”
His gaze swept past her, and his eyes widened in shock. “You’re hurt?”
Every knuckle on the back of Li Zhiyin’s hand was scraped, and Xiao Cheng was still holding it, disinfecting the wounds.
Li Zhiyin didn’t seem to care. “Just minor scratches.”
But Yan Juexia snatched her hand away. “Minor scratches?! They’re all torn up like this! And you call them minor scratches??”
Li Xinghao leaned over, trying to get a look at the back of Li Zhiyin’s hand.
Seeing the crimson spots, his face paled slightly, and a layer of worry clouded his brows.
Xiao Cheng snatched Li Zhiyin’s hand back, displeased. “Could you not snatch it? I’m still disinfecting it!”
Yan Juexia froze, then grew irritated. “How dare you talk to me like that? Don’t you know who I am?!”
Xiao Cheng: “?”
Yan Juexia looked at Xiao Cheng arrogantly. “Usually at school, everyone treats me with the utmost—”
He suddenly remembered something and glanced awkwardly at Li Zhiyin.
Li Zhiyin stared at him curiously. “Everyone treats you how?”
She wanted to learn too.
Yan Juexia looked into her clear, innocent eyes and, for some reason, couldn’t bring himself to say what he’d intended. “They all… treat me with great care and respect, reciprocating kindness.”
Xiao Cheng sneered. “Little brother, I understand ‘treating with great care,’ but what kind of description is ‘reciprocating kindness’?”
The Li brothers in the hallway scoffed at his lack of nerve. “How does this sharp-tongued Yan Juexia go mute as soon as he sees Li Zhiyin?”
Yan Juexia frowned in frustration, not understanding what was happening to him.
Several times now, he’d lost his ability to speak the moment he saw Li Zhiyin.
Would she laugh at him?
Li Zhiyin did laugh. “Heh.”
Yan Juexia froze, his cheeks quickly flushing with heat. Feeling mocked, he turned to leave.
Li Zhiyin: “You really are the type people want to care for.”
Xiao Cheng: “?”
Li Xinghao: “?”
Li Yanlang: “?”
Yan Juexia looked at her in surprise.
Li Zhiyin smiled gently, the corners of her lips curving upward.
When she smiled, faint dimples appeared on her cheeks, softening her otherwise aloof beauty considerably. “I was wondering why I felt like caring for you as soon as I saw you. So everyone feels that way.”
Yan Juexia’s eyes widened, his mouth agape, completely stunned.
“Y-you want to care for me?”
Li Zhiyin smiled without answering, a subtle calculation rising in her eyes.
Since everyone treated Yan Juexia with great care, she would have to do the same.
Blending into the crowd was the best way to avoid standing out.
And her care had to be more remarkable than others’, making him willing to reciprocate her kindness.
That way, the Yan family would come to her for their next security contract.
The Yan family’s contract… she should be able to get a fifty-fifty split, right?
Li Zhiyin concealed her calculations beneath her gaze and asked him instead, “Was the strawberry milk good?”
Yan Juexia’s face flushed, and he instinctively touched his bulging pocket. “How did you know I drink that brand?”
Li Zhiyin replied, “Your lackeys buy it for you every day. I just asked around and found out.”
Her bright, large eyes carefully observed the details of his face. “I hope it made you happy?”Yan Juexia’s face seemed to explode into a mushroom cloud of embarrassment. Like a shy child, he turned his head away, avoiding her gaze. “A carton of milk makes me happy? Do you think I’m that cheap?”
Xiao Cheng watched from the side with a cool, detached expression.
Unhappily, he handed Li Zhiyin a spare tie. “I have an extra tie here. You can use it.”
Li Zhiyin replied politely, “Thank you.”
Xiao Cheng then turned his displeased gaze toward Yan Juexia. “I still want to check you for other injuries. Why don’t we let this classmate leave first?”
Yan Juexia’s face flushed red, lost in thought, and he didn’t react to the comment.
Li Zhiyin didn’t either. She was struggling with the tie, unable to tie it back to its original form no matter how hard she tried.
Noticing her difficulty, Xiao Cheng was about to lean down and help when Yan Juexia suddenly rushed forward and crouched in front of Li Zhiyin!
Xiao Cheng: “?”
Li Xinghao: “??? Holy crap, am I seeing things? What is Yan Juexia doing!”
Li Yanlang frowned in displeasure.
In the sunlit school infirmary, the slightly weary girl sat on the sofa while the golden-haired boy crouched before her.
The light fell on his blond hair, making it shimmer with a delicate golden glow. His demeanor was noble, yet his posture was lowered.
With his fair, slender fingers, he hooked onto the girl’s navy-blue tie. His face was flushed so red it seemed about to drip blood as he muttered softly, “How can you not even know how to tie a tie? You’re so clumsy.”
Though his tone sounded disdainful, his movements were smooth and practiced as he tied the tie for her.
Li Zhiyin answered honestly, “I never had a reason to wear a tie before. This is my first time. This morning, I had the housekeeper help me, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t learn.”
She sounded puzzled. “Why can’t I learn it?”
Yan Juexia: “If you can’t learn it, then don’t. You have a housekeeper at home, and at school—”
He paused, biting his lip thoughtfully, his voice as faint as a mosquito’s hum. “You have me to help you…”
Xiao Cheng let out an incredulous scoff as he watched Yan Juexia crouching before the girl.
It looked as though he were half-kneeling to tie her tie.
His face beneath his golden hair was flushed crimson, yet his hands moved with meticulous care.
This was truly bizarre.
Since when had Yan Juexia, the so-called “Prince” who always threw his weight around outside, become a servant?
People called him “Prince” because he was fussy and delicate, with a terrible temper. He needed someone to take care of him for the smallest things and couldn’t tolerate the slightest inconvenience.
Yet here he was, tying a tie for Li Zhiyin.
If his followers saw this, wouldn’t they be shocked out of their minds?
Yan Juexia focused intently on tying Li Zhiyin’s tie, his azure-blue eyes stealing glances at her.
Li Zhiyin rested her chin on her hand, lazily watching his hands as he worked.
She seemed to be studying his movements, her gaze focused and serious.
His heart skipped a beat, and he quickly lowered his eyes. “Why didn’t you sit at the same table as me?”
Xiao Cheng: “?”
Li Xinghao: “?”
Li Yanlang: “?”
Li Zhiyin shifted her gaze to Yan Juexia.
Yan Juexia adjusted the tie to its perfect position, keeping his head down as he mumbled, “There were only two seats left in the classroom. Why didn’t you choose to sit next to me?”
He hurriedly added, “Of course, I don’t care. I—I was just asking!”
Without hesitation, Li Zhiyin replied, “Because the window seat has a better view, and if something happens, I can escape quickly. It’s a habit of mine. Sitting by the window makes me feel more comfortable.”
After a pause, she seemed to realize something and leaned closer to Yan Juexia.Yan Juexia crouched on the ground, sensing Li Zhiyin approach, and looked up at her.
The distance between them narrowed, her eyes brimming with sincerity.
“Do you want me to sit with you?”
Yan Juexia widened his eyes, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he stared at her in confusion.
Li Zhiyin tilted her head and smiled at him. “Do you want to?”