The moment he thought she might have fallen for the kind of delinquent with bleached hair that Meng Chuan had mentioned, Meng Huaijin’s expression became darker than the night.
“I’m not interested.”
His tone was firm and icy, completely devoid of warmth.
Seeing that she was already awake, the man placed her directly onto the bed, his movements much rougher than when she had been asleep.
Shu Wan propped herself up with one hand, a thousand words stuck in her throat.
Meng Huaijin didn’t leave.
Instead, he pulled over the chair from beneath the vanity and sat down lazily. After looking at her for a moment, he said,
“Shu Wan, let’s talk.”
The girl sat on the bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. She stared at his long legs, which nearly reached the edge of her bed, and became slightly distracted.
“I was wrong today. I shouldn’t have smoked and drunk on the rooftop.”
“That trick doesn’t work on me anymore.”
“…”
Fine.
The man asked seriously,
“Was the cigarette good?”
Shu Wan remembered the feeling of taking her first drag.
The spicy smoke had rushed straight into her airway, making her cough violently and bringing tears to her eyes.
“It wasn’t good.”
She shook her head.
“Where did you get the cigarette?”
“…”
“I took it from your cigarette pack.”
Meng Huaijin felt as though his entire understanding of her had been overturned.
He stared at her.
“And where did you get the alcohol?”
“I bought a bottle of beer from the convenience store. Just one bottle.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
Whether she said yes or no, neither answer seemed appropriate.
So Shu Wan simply kept her mouth shut.
Meng Huaijin continued,
“Shu Wan, I raised you like a princess. I didn’t do that so you could hurt yourself over some random man.”
The girl pouted and quietly defended him.
“He’s not some random man. He’s very capable.”
“So capable that even after he slept with someone else, you’re still defending him and can’t let him go?”
“You’re even willing to argue with me over him?”
“…”
The moment he said that all the clarity in Shu Wan’s eyes disappeared.
There was even a spark of anger in them.
She fell backward onto the bed and pulled the blanket over herself.
“I’ll find out what really happened.”
“He might not have slept with her.”
Seeing the lump beneath the blanket trembling, Meng Huaijin immediately pulled it away.
Sure enough, beneath it was a face covered in tears, looking utterly broken.
Meng Huaijin suddenly froze.
His usually sharp, stern features changed several times.
It felt as though the carefully protected cabbage he’d raised had finally been trampled by a pig.
A complicated feeling surged through the man’s heart.
“Shu Wan…”
He frowned as he called her name.
His fingertip wiped away the tears on her face, his voice cold as a frozen lake.
“Let me see you shed one more tear.”
“I’ll have this man arrested immediately.”
His movement as he pulled out his phone was almost like drawing a gun.
“One phone call is all it takes.”
“Go ahead. Shed one more tear and see what happens.”
Shu Wan stopped crying instantly.
She stared at him in shock, her eyes widening.
She became lost in his deep, dark eyes, like an endless expanse of midnightblue sky, unable to recover for a long time.
His coldness, sharpness, and intimidating presence had only revealed a third of their full force.
Yet that alone was enough to make her infatuated.
Enough to drive her crazy.
Enough to fill her heart with a strange sense of happiness and excitement.
She was beyond saving.
In the end, Shu Wan rolled her eyes slightly and forced herself to swallow every last tear.
“I’m already an adult.”
“It’s just that I’ve fallen in love with someone.”
“Could you please not react so strongly?”
Her probing was so cautious that she didn’t even dare look at him.
Meng Huaijin was still thinking about the delinquent from outside the school that Meng Chuan had mentioned.
His voice remained as cold as an ice cellar.
“Your mother entrusted you to me.”
“I have the duty and responsibility to take care of you.”
“You’d better take what I say seriously.”
“…”
“I understand.”
Shu Wan secretly sighed.
Then she slowly reached one hand out from beneath the blanket and, risking her life, grabbed the edge of his shirt.
“Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”
Meng Huaijin lowered his eyes and glanced at her.
Silence.
“I don’t have anyone here I can really talk to.”
“When I’m upset, I have no one to tell.”
“Could you stay with me for a while?”
Seeing that he remained silent, she became a little bolder.
Stay with her.
Listen to what was on her mind.
Try to understand her.
Support some of her strange ideas.
You can’t stop a flood by blocking it.
Zhao Heng’s endless advice echoed in Meng Huaijin’s ears.
He looked at the girl in front of him.
She didn’t dare meet his eyes, yet she still clung to the corner of his shirt.
His mind flashed back to what she had looked like when she first arrived in Beicheng a year ago, lying in the hospital so fragile that it seemed she might shatter at the slightest touch.
The man kept a stern expression and said nothing.
But he quietly moved his chair a little closer to her.
It wasn’t until the girl gradually fell asleep and the room filled with her soft, steady breathing that he gently pulled his shirt free.
Then he tucked a pillow beneath her head, which was spread with long, flowing hair.
The next day was Wednesday.
Shu Wan had school, so she got up early.
After washing up, she put on her backpack and walked out.
At the dining table, she saw Meng Huaijin sitting there.
“Good morning!”
Just like countless mornings before.
The man merely responded with a淡淡的 “Mm,” signaling for her to eat breakfast.
The two of them finished breakfast quietly and went downstairs together.
Shu Wan assumed things would be the same as usual.
He would drive to work himself, while his guard would take her to school.
But unexpectedly, once the man sat in the driver’s seat that morning, he simply said two words.
“Get in.”
“Are you taking me to school?”
Shu Wan’s eyes immediately lit up.
Meng Huaijin didn’t look at her.
He simply answered,
“Mm.”
Because of work and other matters, he hadn’t taken her to school himself for at least two months.
Afraid he might step on the accelerator and drive off without her, Shu Wan quickly climbed into the car.
What surprised her even more was that Meng Huaijin was also the one who picked her up from school that afternoon.
She began to suspect that he was doing it all just to keep an eye on her.
He was determined to catch the boy she liked.
Fine, catch him.
Shu Wan secretly enjoyed every second of it.
On the way home, Meng Huaijin stopped at a supermarket.
Shu Wan followed him inside.
When they came out, they were carrying bags upon bags of groceries.
Everything was highly nutritious, rich in protein, and packed with energy.
“Are we having guests at home?”
“Why did you buy so much?”
She tilted her head and asked.
The man shot her a sideways glance.
“To nourish your brain.”
“…”
Shu Wan was easily pacified.
This was the nationwide, allaccess treatment that came with preparing for the college entrance examination.
She had better cherish it.
For the next twenty days, Meng Huaijin drove Shu Wan to and from school every day.
He barely allowed her to interact with strangers.
He didn’t even allow her to go out with her classmates without supervision.
Friends were no exception.
This continued until the examinations began.
Naturally, Meng Huaijin personally took her to the exam on the day of the college entrance examination.
Before getting out of the car, she shamelessly asked him for some words of encouragement.
Without even thinking, the man said bluntly,
“Do whatever questions you can.”
“If you don’t know how to solve something, don’t force yourself.”
What kind of parent says that?
Wasn’t that basically the same as those jokes online:
“Study if you can. If you can’t, eat more. After all, we’ve already paid for the tuition.”
The girl smiled until her eyes curved into crescents.
“I’ll try to follow your example and get a high score.”
Now, she certainly didn’t look like a rebellious girl who had been blinded by love.
Meng Huaijin ultimately didn’t dampen her confidence.
He raised a hand and casually ruffled the top of her smooth, silky hair.
“Come find me here after you finish.”
“I’m waiting for your triumphant return.”
It was a June morning.
The summer breeze brushed gently against them, and the sunlight was warm.
The smile on the girl’s face was radiant, with even her dimples seemingly filled with sunlight.
She gave him a comical salute, then turned and ran toward the examination hall.
At that moment, youth was displayed in its fullest form.
The sourness and bitterness, the hardships and happiness, the pain and sorrow—all of it was entrusted to those four answer sheets over the course of two days.
When she finished her final examination and walked out of the examination hall, Shu Wan suddenly felt as though her entire body had become weightless.
She was finally free.
At the same spot as before, she saw Meng Huaijin’s understated black car.
She had barely approached it when—
Bang!
The sudden sound startled her.
The next moment, colorful streamers came fluttering down from above.
“Congratulations, Miss Shu, on successfully finishing the college entrance examination!”
Meng Chuan waved a party popper.
“How does it feel?”
“Pretty damn good and relaxing, right?”
Shu Wan’s hair was covered in colorful streamers.
She smiled with pure, unrestrained joy.
“Mm!”
“I’m finally free!”
“Then we absolutely have to celebrate, right, Brother Jin?”
As he spoke, Meng Chuan climbed into the front passenger seat.
Only then did Shu Wan realize that Dr. Zhou was sitting in the driver’s seat.
Meng Huaijin was sitting in the back.
She opened the rear door and got in.
After greeting Dr. Zhou, she asked,
“Where are we going to celebrate, Uncle Meng Chuan?”
“Where should we go, Brother Jin?”
“Want to go to a bar or KTV?”
“Last year, I took her out to celebrate her birthday, and I discovered that this girl can really sing. She’s good enough to debut on the spot.”
Meng Chuan turned around and said,
“She’s finished with her exams. Just let her have some fun.”
Meng Huaijin glanced at the colorful girl beside him.
Then he calmly asked,
“You want to drink and smoke?”
“…”
Shu Wan’s survival instincts immediately kicked in.
She shook her head like a rattle.
“No drinking, no smoking!”
“I’ll sing for you instead.”
“I can actually sing pretty well!”
The man looked away from her youthful, radiant face and stared straight ahead.
His voice was calm.
“Then let’s find a KTV.”
“Let’s hear Miss Shu sing.”