Chарtеr 10: Нuh, Whу Are Your Еаrs Red?
Lin Ling thought hе must have mishеаrd. “Whаt did уоu sаy?”
Jiаng Еr rеpеatеd with utmost pоlitеness: “Еxсusе mе, but is therе рerhарs sоmеthing wrоng with уоur brain?”
Lin Ling: “…”
Нe turnеd tо his second-in-cоmmand lаckеу. “Whаt dоes she mеan?”
Thе sесоnd laсkeу scratсhеd his hеаd. “Nо ideа. Teaсhеr nеvеr tаught us that.”
Then hе аskеd the оthers, “Dо any оf уоu knоw?”
The оthеrs repliеd uncertаinlу:
“Воss, I think she sаid уou have a mental prоblem.”
Lin Ling stаrеd аt Jiаng Еr in disbeliеf:
“You’re insulting me?”
“Yеs, I am insulting уou.”
Jiаng Er tоok a few steps to the side, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Fu Tinghan. She planted her hands on her hips, her voice clear and crisp.
“You just demanded I kneel and kowtow to you. Why can’t I insult you?”
Lin Ling immediately bristled, nearly charging over to strangle her, but his lackeys desperately held him back:
“Boss, calm down! She’s a girl! We can’t hit a girl!”
“Get lost!”
He shoved them aside, haphazardly stuffed the hearing aid into his pocket, and stomped angrily up to Jiang Er.
Just as his hand was about to touch Jiang Er—0.001 seconds away—a slender, pale hand shot out from the side, firmly gripping his wrist.
He couldn’t move an inch.
But Jiang Er suddenly let out a sharp cry and collapsed softly to the ground.
The slender figure of the girl resembled a lilac flower in the rain—tragically beautiful and fragile.
Lin Ling: “…”
Fu Tinghan’s expression changed instantly. He immediately crouched down, wanting to check her injuries.
Jiang Er secretly opened one eye and winked at him.
Fu Tinghan: “…”
He stiffly withdrew his hand.
Jiang Er closed her eyes in relief.
Everything happened so fast. The onlookers only saw Lin Ling raise his hand, then get grabbed by Fu Tinghan. As for exactly when Jiang Er fell…
“Boss, you actually hit a girl?!” The lackeys’ eyes widened in shock.
Well, now it was before Fu Tinghan grabbed that hand.
“Shut up!” Lin Ling retorted. “I didn’t fucking touch her at all!”
Jiang Er’s move almost overturned his nearly seventeen years of life experience. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was probably…
“Faking it!” he gritted his teeth. “She’s definitely faking it!”
Hearing this, Jiang Er’s eyes reddened, her expression pitiful and delicate. She didn’t deny it:
“If you say I’m faking it, then let’s just say I’m faking it.”
Lin Ling: “See? She admitted it herself!”
After saying that, he turned around, only to see his lackeys looking at him with pity, and the surrounding crowd wearing expressions of condemnation.
Lin Ling: ?
Whispers spread like a tide.
“She was clearly scared by him.”
“He’s really something, bullying a girl like that.”
“Yeah, that’s too much. And then turning around and accusing her of faking it. What kind of man does that?”
Lin Ling: “…Damn.”
His temples throbbed. He said sharply, “Hey, stop pretending. Get up right now.”
Jiang Er trembled as she reached out, her slender, pale fingers clutching desperately at his pant leg. She said weakly:
“Give… the… hearing… aid… back.”
With each word, her grip tightened. In that short sentence, Lin Ling’s school uniform pants had already slid down quite a bit.
Any further… and things would get awkward.
He tried to pull his pants back up.
Impossible.
The two engaged in a silent tug-of-war, undercurrents swirling in a place no one else could see.
Suddenly, Jiang Er added her other hand, saying feebly:
“Give… it… back.”
The school uniform pants slid down another inch.Lin Ling recalled the color of his innermost pair of pants, a cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
He glanced at the crowd surrounding them and forced the words through gritted teeth:
“Fine, I’ll give it back. Let go first.”
Jiang Er still refused to release her grip. “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“If you don’t let go, how can I get it for you?” His chest heaved rapidly. “I’ll count to three, and we both let go at the same time.”
Jiang Er: “Deal.”
“3, 2, 1—”
Neither of them let go.
Lin Ling fumed with rage: “I knew it! You’re really despicable!”
Jiang Er refused to back down: “You’re no better than me, you’re shameless!”
“Do you still want the hearing aid or not?” he glared at her.
“Have someone else get it,” she said. “Otherwise, I won’t let go.”
Lin Ling had no choice but to order his first underling to come over and search his pocket.
The first underling didn’t think twice. He put down the small blackboard, reached into the pocket with precision, and with a rustling sound, pulled out a handful of Pop Rocks.
—Strawberry flavored.
The crowd fell silent.
Suddenly, someone couldn’t hold back a laugh.
Soon, laughter spread, rising and falling.
Lin Ling wanted to kill someone.
The first underling looked as helpless as a child.
With trembling hands, he passed the hearing aid to Fu Tinghan, then crouched down to pick up the Pop Rocks scattered all over the ground, carefully placing them back into Lin Ling’s pocket.
“Boss, my family runs a convenience store. If you like Pop Rocks, I’ll bring you a whole jar tomorrow. Please don’t be mad, okay?” he pleaded, on the verge of tears.
Lin Ling: “…”
He wanted to kill someone even more.
He looked down at Jiang Er and said, word by word:
“Are you satisfied now?”
True to her word, Jiang Er immediately let go.
Lin Ling pulled up his pants, curled his lips, and bared his white teeth. “Now, shall we settle this properly?”
Suddenly, a loud shout came from the crowd:
“The dean is coming, run!”
In the next moment, the crowd scattered in chaos. The underlings grabbed Lin Ling without another word and hurriedly followed the fleeing crowd.
Lin Ling, who had been ready for a fight: “…”
As he was jostled along, he struggled to look back, the black diamond stud in his earlobe catching a blinding flash of sunlight.
“What’s your name? I won’t let this go!” he shouted.
Jiang Er had already pulled Fu Tinghan and run in the opposite direction, scoffing:
“Only a fool would tell you.”
“You just wait!”
“Only a fool would wait.”
Lin Ling’s frantic shouts faded into the distance, no longer audible.
After running all the way to the small grove and making sure no one was following, Jiang Er gradually slowed to a stop, leaning against a sycamore tree to catch her breath.
The weather was hot, and she had run in a hurry. Her face was flushed, and she was sweating heavily. Without any tissues on her, she could only wipe her face against her shoulder. Glancing at Fu Tinghan standing in front of her, she asked curiously:
“What are you still standing there for?”
Fu Tinghan watched her lips, hesitated for two seconds, then uncertainly raised his hand toward her.
Jiang Er: “…”
He rotated his wrist, clumsily fanning her.
Now it was Jiang Er’s turn to be stunned.
A gentle breeze brushed her cheeks, the coolness soothing her heated skin, and her agitated emotions strangely calmed down.
“I, I didn’t mean that,” she stammered inexplicably as she spoke. “I meant for you to put on the hearing aid.”
After saying this, afraid he might misunderstand her again, she simply took his other hand.
He flinched sharply, trying to pull his hand back.
Jiang Er held on tightly. “Wait a moment.”After speaking, she pried open his tightly clenched fingers one by one and retrieved the hearing aid from his palm.
“Here, put this on.” She inspected it to make sure it was undamaged, then lifted her head and waved the hearing aid in front of him. “This way you’ll always understand what I mean—Huh, why are your ears so red?”
At some point, the young man had turned his face away, no longer looking at her, but his earlobes were flushed almost crimson, and even his neck had taken on a faint pink hue.
Jiang Er seemed to have discovered a new world. She leaned in close to his flustered face, examined him carefully, and suddenly understood:
“I get it, you must be—”
“Feeling hot from running?”
Fu Tinghan: “…”
Watching her lips, he raised a hand to touch his own earlobe and nodded firmly.
“That’s strange. When you get hot, your ears turn red?” She handed the hearing aid to him. “I’m not like that. Every time I get hot, my face turns red, and it looks really silly.”
Fu Tinghan shook his head, glanced at her cautiously, and quickly averted his gaze again.
Not silly.
Very cute.
“What does shaking your head mean?”
Jiang Er looked somewhat confused. She leaned in front of him again, making sure he could see her lips:
“Aren’t you going to put on the hearing aid?”
Fu Tinghan pressed his lips into a thin line, rubbing the worn device in his palm.
Whether he wore the hearing aid or not, whether he could hear or not—it made no difference to him.
After all, he didn’t like the sounds of this world.
He lowered his head, staring at the hearing aid in his palm, and squeezed his eyes shut tightly.
A black tide surged overwhelmingly toward him.
Suddenly, someone tugged at the hem of his clothes.
Fu Tinghan opened his eyes. The girl was looking at him earnestly, her full, rosy lips slightly parting. Afraid she might speak too quickly for him to read her lips, she deliberately slowed her pace as much as possible.
She said:
“Can you put it on? I have something I want to say to you.”
“…”
The black tide receded, replaced by the grand and brilliant summer sunlight.
The girl stood under the shimmering light, her eyes sparkling like glass beads.
She looked so expectant.