006: Good Morning
Wen Yan woke up surrounded by the smell of disinfectant. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a glaring white ceiling.
The palm of her hand still throbbed with the pain from being cut by phone fragments, and her head ached as if it might split open. She instinctively clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm, intensifying the pain.
Yet she seemed to feel nothing—her eyes hollow and vacant, her face deathly pale, like a fragile porcelain doll.
“You’re awake?” A low male voice came from beside her.
Wen Yan flinched instinctively, then belatedly realized the voice was familiar.
She slowly turned her eyes and met a pair of gentle, warm ones.
It was Professor Fu Qinghe, sitting in the chair by the bed, peeling an apple with a small knife.
“Professor Fu?” Wen Yan was taken aback. “Why are you here?”
Fu Qinghe explained that he happened to be at the mall buying something when he spotted Pei Jinye and his group coming out of the storage room on the third floor. Sensing something was wrong, he asked the mall manager for the storage room key and managed to rescue her in time.
“Thank you, Professor, for saving me.” Wen Yan lowered her eyelashes and said in a soft, apologetic voice, “I’ve caused you trouble again. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me, Wen Yan.” Fu Qinghe said with a smile. “You’re a student at this school, and as a teacher here, protecting my students is what I should do.”
“I…” Wen Yan didn’t know what to say at that moment. Tears silently slid down the corners of her eyes, dripping onto the pillow and leaving a small damp patch.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry.” Fu Qinghe quickly grabbed a tissue and pressed it to the corner of her eye, gently wiping away her tears. Then he brought the peeled apple to her lips. “Have an apple. It’s sweet and sour—it’ll lift your mood.”
Wen Yan’s mind felt numb, but she eventually opened her mouth and took a bite of the apple. The sweet-and-sour taste flowed down her throat, and her mood did seem to improve a little.
In the end, Professor Fu helped her request the afternoon off, took her to get something to eat, and drove her home. He even took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
Soon, the car pulled up in front of Wen Yan’s building. She tried to return the jacket to him, but he shook his head.
“It’s cold and windy outside. Wear it in.”
Wen Yan felt that since he’d already helped her twice, she shouldn’t refuse his kindness again. So she said thank you, opened the car door, and got out.
After Fu Qinghe’s car had driven off into the distance, she turned and walked to a laundromat.
Her brother had told her she wasn’t allowed to date, so she couldn’t let him find this man’s jacket—otherwise, there would be no way to explain it.
She went inside, handed the jacket to the shop owner, paid in cash, and arranged to pick it up the next day before leaving.
But the moment Wen Yan turned and walked out of the shop, the owner immediately lowered his head, pulled out his phone, and sent a message. This small action went completely unnoticed by Wen Yan.
Her brother got off work early today. He was already home when Wen Yan returned.
Wen Qingyang had brought her a milk tea as usual, telling her to take it into her room and do her homework while he prepared dinner.
About twenty minutes later, Wen Qingyang untied his apron and called out toward his sister’s room, “Ayan, come out now. Wash your hands and get ready to eat.”
“Coming!”
Wen Yan put down her pen, pushed open the door, washed her hands, and walked into the kitchen.
As soon as she entered, she was hit by a rich aroma of food.
Looking at the table, all her favorite dishes were laid out.
“Brother, why did you make so much today?” Wen Yan pulled out a chair and sat down, blinking at him.
Wen Qingyang smiled at her. “You’ve looked thinner these past couple of days. You must be exhausted from studying, so I thought I’d make you something good to build you back up.”
Wen Yan couldn’t help but lower her eyelashes.
Because she knew full well that she hadn’t lost weight from studying—besides, the coursework in America wasn’t heavy at all.
But she couldn’t tell her brother the truth. The things Pei Jinye did to her had to be swallowed down and buried in her stomach.
Her brother cared about her so much, held her in the palm of his hand. She couldn’t let him get hurt.
“Eat up, don’t just sit there spacing out.” Wen Qingyang pushed a plate of dumplings in front of her. “I’m going to the hospital to see Dad in a bit. You take a shower and rest early.”
“Okay.”
After dinner, Wen Qingyang ran a hot bath for her, then grabbed his thermos and headed out.
Wen Yan didn’t take a bath. Instead, she took a dry towel, dipped it in hot water, and simply wiped herself down.
She still had some injuries on her body, so she couldn’t bathe properly—this was the only option.
After cleaning herself, she drained the bathwater, then went to the living room to watch TV and wait for her brother to come home.
Time ticked by, minute after minute, but her brother still hadn’t returned.
A bad feeling crept into her heart. Wen Yan quickly threw on a jacket and was just about to open the door when the lock clicked. Wen Qingyang walked in with a displeased expression on his face.
Wen Yan’s heart skipped a beat. She quickly asked, “What’s wrong, brother? Why do you look so upset?”
“That’s strange.” Brother sets down thermos, pulls her hand sit on sofa, serious expression says: “On the way back met a yellow-haired young man, standing under streetlight, looking at me with strange eyes, I don’t know him, quickened pace to get away, he even chased up and followed me a distance.”
Wen Yan’s heart instantly tightened.
Yellow hair, streetlight, strange eyes.
What brother encountered was Pei Jinye, wasn’t it?
So, Pei Jinye had been waiting for her on the road, but instead ran into brother…
Fortunately, there was no conflict. If there had been a conflict…
Wen Yan held her breath, not daring to think further.
“What’s wrong, why that expression?” Wen Qingyang noticed her tense look and immediately asked with concern: “Ayan, do you know this person?”
“No, no, I don’t know him, brother!” Wen Yan immediately shook her head, forcing a smile, “I just think what you said sounds scary, so I got a bit nervous.”
Wen Qingyang slightly frowned: “Is that so…”
Wen Yan hummed twice, then said: “Brother, next time you go to the hospital, don’t walk there. Just take a taxi directly to the hospital entrance. It’s not safe walking on the road.”
“It’s fine.” Wen Qingyang smiled and shook his head, “Taking a taxi costs so much money. I’ll just walk. I don’t believe I’ll run into that yellow-haired kid a second time. If he dares to follow me again, I’ll give him a punch to taste!”
“Don’t, brother!” Wen Yan quickly urged him: “When you’re out, don’t casually get into conflicts with people. This is America, not as safe as back home. It’s better for us to stay steady and stable.”
Wen Qingyang nodded, feeling Wen Yan made sense, so he promised her he wouldn’t get into conflict with that person.
Wen Yan let out a deep sigh of relief.
The next day, when Wen Yan got up, brother had already gone to work. On the dining table was a ten-dollar bill, and beside it a sticky note with brother’s handwriting, telling her to use the money to buy breakfast.
Wen Yan put the money in her pocket, slung her backpack on, and headed out.
After eating breakfast at a breakfast shop, she didn’t go straight to school but took a detour to the laundromat where she’d dropped off her coat for cleaning yesterday.
“Boss.” Wen Yan stepped through the door and called out into the shop, “I’m here to pick up my clothes.”
The shop was quiet, only the low hum of the washing machine. Clothes hanging on the drying rack dripped water, forming a small puddle on the floor. She waited a few seconds, but no one answered.
Had the boss not heard her while busy in the back? Wen Yan hesitated, then decided to walk toward the work area in the back to take a look.
Just as she took a step, a tall, slender figure slowly emerged from behind the racks full of clothes inside, striding briskly to stand in front of her.
“Good morning, classmate Wen Yan.” Pei Jinye tilted his head looking at her, a hint of a half-smile curling at the corner of his mouth, and even extended his right hand to wave at her.
Wen Yan’s pupils slightly contracted, and she instinctively stepped back, her back nearly hitting the wall.
However, when her gaze shifted down a little, she saw draped over the crook of his left arm a piece of clothing.
It was Professor Fu’s!