Yan Binghua had initially disapproved of Yan Songyu being with Jiang Chengli, not because he looked down on the poor, but because he had originally wanted to match Feng Yu with Yan Songyu. Feng Yu was also a Rui Xin-sponsored impoverished student and an orphan.
But Yan Songyu seemed utterly bewitched when it came to Jiang Chengli. This was her only act of rebellion in twenty years, and ultimately, Yan Binghua conceded.
Parents always yield to their children. Yan Binghua thought that no matter what, with him and Rui Xin around, Jiang Chengli could never bully Yan Songyu. Yet he couldn’t understand where he had gone wrong in raising his daughter, leading her to be so blind in love.
They had experienced false romance and happiness, Yan Songyu reflected, though it was all his careful design and her lovesick brain filling in the gaps with wild fantasies.
Yan Songyu had fallen in love at first sight. But the next day, when she eagerly went to care for her savior, she was met with a closed door.
“Stop knocking. The guy next door left before dawn,” the neighbor brother said while brushing his teeth at the sink, spitting out toothpaste foam before reminding her.
“He’s gone?” Yan Songyu was surprised. Hadn’t she told him to wait for her yesterday?
“Yeah, these walls are paper-thin. He kept me up all night, and I have work soon,” he grumbled irritably.
Yan Songyu handed him the thermal lunchbox. “Here, you haven’t had breakfast, right? Consider this my apology on his behalf.”
“Oh, lover’s quarrel?” The neighbor brother wiped his hands on his clothes, took the lunchbox, opened it, and popped a crystal shrimp dumpling into his mouth. “Delicious! Don’t worry, I’ll talk to him tonight when I get back. A grown man shouldn’t make a girl do all the chasing.”
“We’re not there yet,” Yan Songyu waved and left.
That evening, Yan Songyu returned but never saw Jiang Chengli come back. Remembering her previous experience, she didn’t dare stay out too late and left a note before going home.
On the third day, she arrived earlier but still faced a locked door.
When the neighbor’s door opened, Yan Songyu stepped forward to ask, but the yawning neighbor brother backed away, lacking yesterday’s friendliness. “No, no, stay away. I don’t want to get involved in your business anymore.”
Yan Songyu was confused. “Wh-what happened?”
“What happened?” The neighbor brother pointed at his face. “Look at these bruises. The guy next door did this.”
“Huh?”
“I just tried to give him the lunchbox and talk to him. I barely said he was missing out before he punched me, grabbed my collar, and told me to stay away from you. Then he snatched the lunchbox back.” The neighbor grew angrier as he spoke. “How did I bother you? I just took advantage of a free breakfast! With one arm in a sling, he still hits hard—almost knocked my tooth out.”
Human sorrows and joys don’t interconnect. Hearing this, Yan Songyu’s lips curled unconsciously. She handed him today’s thermal lunchbox. “Brother, keep this one too. No need to return it—my apology.”
“Really? This costs dozens of yuan.”
Yan Songyu nodded. “If you feel bad about it, just let me know when he comes back tonight.”
So that evening, Yan Songyu finally cornered Jiang Chengli. His first words upon seeing her were: “Why are you here again?”
Yan Songyu pouted discontentedly, “Why are you avoiding me?”
Jiang Chengli didn’t answer, pulling her away with his uninjured left hand. “I’ll see you out. Has your driver arrived?”
Yan Songyu struggled. “No, let go. Let go now! You haven’t answered me yet.”
“I’m not avoiding you. I just have things to do.” Jiang Chengli practically dragged her outward, his movements far less gentle than his appearance suggested. “This isn’t a place you should be. Go home.”
Yan Songyu stubbornly squatted on the ground, looking up in protest. “Why shouldn’t I be here? I said I’d take care of you until you recover.”
“I don’t need your care.” Jiang Chengli refused coldly. “If you really feel guilty, just pay my medical bills. I’m quite poor.”
“How could that be enough? You saved me!”
Jiang Chengli suddenly moved closer to Yan Songyu, pretending to be fierce. “Miss Yan, do you think I’m some kind of saint? If I hadn’t received four years of funding from the Yan Songyu Foundation, I wouldn’t have stepped forward, let alone taken that blow for you.”
“You recognized me before saving me?”
“Of course. So you don’t need to feel indebted. I didn’t look away just to ease my own conscience.” He lifted his injured right hand. “From now on, I’ll consider my debt repaid. So can you leave now?”
The always-pampered Miss Yan, repeatedly rejected, developed a rebellious streak. Moreover, Jiang Chengli’s frank manner actually deepened her fondness for him.
“You said it yourself – I’m Miss Yan. Am I only worth that little money?”
From that day on, Yan Songyu openly pursued Jiang Chengli. Though he never gave her a friendly look, she became more determined with each rejection, because she had discovered his secret.
One day, she forgot the bracelet her father gave her at Jiang Chengli’s place. When she returned to retrieve it, she happened to see him looking despondently at a box, his eyes filled with such deep despair and brokenness that it stunned her. The box contained items all related to her:
The thermal container he had retrieved from the neighbor’s brother;
The half-used hand cream she’d forgotten at his place;
The clothes, shoes, and the clumsily knitted scarf she made for him;
The doodles she made while playing with his painting supplies, for which he scolded her for wasting paint and paper;
The four-leaf clover she found in the patch of clover at the alley entrance while waiting for him to return – she had excitedly shared her joy with him back then, only to be dampened by his casual “How boring”…
So he wasn’t indifferent to her after all. He even liked her very much, but felt their differences were too great and there was no future, which was why he kept pushing her away. Having reached this conclusion, Yan Songyu left filled with joy.
Lost in her romantic fantasies, Yan Songyu didn’t see this as a problem. She only believed that “love can conquer all mountains and seas,” strengthening her resolve to get closer to him.
Thus, she decided to confront him directly.
“Ah, how could I forget my hand cream!” Yan Songyu complained after washing her hands, pouting. “It’s so dry in winter, my skin will peel soon.” She stretched her fair, delicate hands toward Jiang Chengli. “What should I do?”
Jiang Chengli paused, fumbled under the bed for a moment, and pulled out the half-used tube of hand cream.
“Isn’t this my hand cream?” Yan Songyu feigned surprise. “I thought I’d lost it. Why do you have it?”
“You know you’re always forgetting things, don’t you?” Jiang Chengli said impatiently. “Hurry up and leave. Stop bothering me all the time, young lady. I’m not as fortunate as you—I need to go work to earn money for food.”
“Jiang Chengli, do you really find me annoying?”
“Isn’t it obvious enough?”
Yan Songyu pulled out the box he had hidden under the bed. “Then what are these?” She threw the clothes into Jiang Chengli’s arms. “Didn’t you say you threw these clothes away? Why did you retrieve them? And didn’t you say this scarf was ugly?”
“If you don’t like me, why did you keep these things?”
Jiang Chengli gazed deeply at her, his eyes slowly reddening. A thousand words condensed into a light, mocking laugh. “Heh~”
“Why did you have to expose me?”