A large group of people swaggered out of the alley in a great procession, disappearing without a trace a few minutes later.
The narrow alley returned to its quiet and oppressive state. Only the messy footprints on the ground and the injured youth curled up in a corner indicated that a fierce fight might have occurred here not long ago.
After confirming everyone had left, Li Yue slowly moved his limbs. The wound on his right arm made him hiss softly in pain.
Making do with what was available, he picked up the mineral water bottle that Qin Yuan had knocked over earlier. He used the small amount of water left inside to quickly rinse the dust and pebbles from the wound on his palm, then supported himself against the wall to stand up.
The slender youth limped to the large dumpster in the middle of the alley and bent over to retrieve his schoolbag from inside.
Just moments ago, Zhu Yunle and the others had rummaged through its contents piece by piece for fun, mocking his poverty as they did so, before tossing the whole pile of what the young master deemed “trash” into the dumpster.
Li Yue found his most important reference books inside, but his pens and other stationery were not as conspicuous as the books. Finding such small items in the entire dumpster was like searching for a needle in a haystack. Unwilling to give up, he tried rummaging around for a bit, but in the end, he couldn’t stand the rotten stench emanating from the dumpster in the midsummer heat and had no choice but to stop.
The movement pulled at his wounds, and there wasn’t a single spot on his body that didn’t ache. But Li Yue’s mind remained calm. He was very good at controlling his emotions, his fury firmly suppressed beneath a layer of ice.
First, go home and clean up, then go to a nearby clinic to buy some medicine…
The youth walked while checking the pages of his books for any stains, far more carefully than he treated his own injuries.
Fortunately, only the covers were a little dusty. Li Yue put “Guidance for High School Physics Competitions” back into his bag, wondering as he walked how he would explain his injuries to his grandmother.
The old woman was getting on in years and wasn’t in the best of health, but she cared deeply for her grandson. There was no way he could hide the obvious wounds on his face and hands.
He had been out for a part-time job today. The owner of a breakfast shop two alleys away was an old friend of his father’s and was willing to give Li Yue, this pitiful underage boy, a chance to work part-time. The owner was kindhearted and allowed him to study on his own during his free time, so Li Yue would bring a set of practice problems with him each time.
He could tolerate the various overt and covert forms of suppression and verbal abuse at school, but he hadn’t expected these young masters and misses to be so idle during the summer vacation that they actually had time to corner him.
How to explain this to his grandmother was the most important thing Li Yue had to consider now. As for Zhu Yunle and the others, he had a much longer-term plan.
Li Yue slowly shuffled to the alley’s entrance. Unlike the dark, sunless long alley behind him, the street outside was drenched in the unrestrained sunlight of a midsummer afternoon. Cars and pedestrians came and went, flanked by familiar small shops. It was as if he had stepped back into the world of the living.
Having been in the shadows for so long, his eyes had some trouble adjusting to such bright light. Li Yue instinctively squinted. When he opened them again, his vision was slightly blurry, but he saw a familiar figure.
It was Qin Yuan.
The girl was dressed casually, but her aura didn’t quite match this old street—the exposed skin of her calves and arms was so fair it seemed to glow, whereas the residents here were all poor people who couldn’t afford to cultivate such a pale complexion.
She was standing with her arms crossed in the shade of a convenience store entrance. The moment she saw him walk out of the alley, her gaze immediately followed him.
What else does she want? Li Yue instantly became vigilant. He scanned the surroundings but didn’t see Zhu Yunle or anyone else, only a Bentley parked by the roadside that, like her, was out of place in this neighborhood.
She was alone, and from the looks of it, she seemed to be waiting for him. Li Yue silently guessed at her reasons but didn’t let his guard down, standing his ground to see what other tricks she had up her sleeve.
Her behavior today had been very strange. In the past, in a situation like the one in the alley just now, Qin Yuan would have definitely been one of those clapping and cheering from the sidelines. It was impossible for her to have rushed forward and yelled “stop.”
Unsure of what this Young Miss Qin was up to, Li Yue paused and waited for a moment.
The two of them stood in mutual silence. For the first time, Li Yue discovered that this arrogant young miss actually possessed a somewhat tranquil temperament.
After thirty seconds of silence, Li Yue felt that he might not be normal today either. Why stop? Did he expect to hear some kind words from Qin Yuan?
He slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and prepared to go home. His pace wasn’t slow. If one ignored his blood-stained clothes and slightly odd gait, no one would have noticed that the youth was covered in injuries.
Qin Yuan watched him stagger out of the alley and walk past the convenience store, her brow furrowed the entire time.
Could Zhu Yunle and the others have injured his leg before I arrived?
She was indeed waiting for Li Yue.
The look the male lead had given his enemies at the end had truly unsettled Qin Yuan. She was determined to minimize the impact of today’s incident.
Nothing could happen to Li Yue’s leg. Even if it had to be broken, it couldn’t be broken today.
To be honest, she was a little afraid of being in such close proximity to Li Yue. Even with four or five meters between them, Qin Yuan worried that he might resent her even more just because of the way she was standing, leading to an even more miserable fate for her in the future.
Although she wanted to improve the male lead’s impression of her, she couldn’t just suddenly grovel and say, “My lord, I apologize, please don’t kill me in the future, okay?” Nor could she be as domineering and arrogant as the original owner of this body. So, Qin Yuan had tried her best to appear indifferent, putting on a profound and inscrutable expression, even though her palms were sweating.
But then he came out and stared at her for a long time, nearly scaring Qin Yuan to death, thinking he had seen through her.
Li Yue was still too young at this point and had not yet cultivated the shrewdness that would make his future business rivals wary. He was naturally not very skilled at hiding his emotions. So, in the thirty seconds they locked eyes, Qin Yuan once again read the disgust he had for her in his expression.
Damn it! This male lead is so hard to please!
Both angry and cowardly, Qin Yuan cursed at his retreating back under her breath, then walked to her family’s car, where the driver, Uncle Wu, had been waiting for a long time.
At that moment, Li Yue, who had already walked more than ten meters away, cautiously glanced back, as if to confirm that she wouldn’t cause him any more trouble.
He saw Qin Yuan walk to the Bentley, but she didn’t seem to be getting in. Instead, she bent down and said something to the driver.
…Truly incomprehensible. Li Yue didn’t want to waste any more thought on meaningless people and meaningless things.
His steps were somewhat unsteady, but the familiar Bentley slowly pulled up beside him.
Qin Yuan wasn’t in the car. A middle-aged man in a suit got out of the driver’s seat. With a kind smile, he nodded at him. “Young man, the young miss asked me to take you to the hospital.” Then, without giving him a chance to refuse, he supported him and stuffed him into the car.
Li Yue was stunned for a moment. First, he hadn’t expected Qin Yuan to be so kind-hearted. Second, he hadn’t expected even the Qin family’s driver to have such thuggish methods.
“Wait a minute,” Li Yue had never handled a situation like this, and his brain didn’t know how to react. Fortunately, Uncle Wu was efficient. Supporting him, pushing him into the car, and fastening the seatbelt were all done in one smooth motion. The car door slammed shut in front of him with a “thud,” giving Li Yue no opportunity to refuse or feel awkward.
Li Yue remained silent on the way. It wasn’t until Uncle Wu parked the car in the hospital parking lot that he finally spoke. “You can drop me off here and go back. That should be enough for you to report back to Qin Yuan.”
Uncle Wu still smiled benevolently. “The young miss told me to accompany you inside to have a look. We’re already here.”
Li Yue opened his mouth but had nothing to say. He could only let Uncle Wu half-carry, half-support him into the lobby, then watch as he queued up to register for him and entered the consultation room with him.
He keenly noticed that Uncle Wu paid particular attention to his leg, even specifically asking the doctor in detail about the injuries to it.
But this driver hadn’t seen how he had been injured. Only Qin Yuan had.
Li Yue easily concluded that this special care was ordered by Qin Yuan. Not only did she insist on the driver accompanying him, but she was also very concerned about his leg injury.
Why? Li Yue couldn’t help but frown. Was she really scared by Zhu Yunle’s harsh words?
He hadn’t actually passed out at the time, so he had heard Qin Yuan’s reasons for persuading Zhu Yunle not to act. To be honest, Li Yue didn’t believe she was that cautious, nor did he think she genuinely cared if his injuries would attract the school’s attention.
Li Yue sat on a bench in the hospital corridor, deep in thought. His wounds had been treated, and his right forearm was wrapped in a layer of gauze. Uncle Wu sat down beside him and handed him a plastic bag containing items like gauze, iodophor, and anti-inflammatory drugs. It even included scar repair gel—it was very comprehensive.
Uncle Wu smiled and patted the young man’s unharmed leg, then took an envelope out of his pocket.
Li Yue opened it suspiciously. Inside was a stack of red banknotes.
This envelope felt like another slap to his dignity. Li Yue immediately let out a cold laugh. “Hush money?”
He knew it. How could anyone associated with Qin Yuan be any good? The driver was so practiced at handling these matters; it seemed he had cleaned up after these young masters and misses plenty of times before.
Uncle Wu didn’t get angry at the young man’s jab. He gently corrected him, “It’s compensation. The young miss said it must be delivered into your hands.”
Hearing this, Li Yue turned his head to look at Uncle Wu. His focus was on the latter half of the sentence. This money being from Qin Yuan was different in nature from it being from her parents. If it were the latter, it would be purely for sealing his lips. After taking the money, he would not be allowed to say anything that might affect Young Miss Qin’s reputation.
As for the former, Li Yue felt that neither Qin Yuan nor Zhu Yunle had the brains to think of this, so they probably never intended to silence him. It was likely more about compensation.
Seeing his continued suspicion, Uncle Wu added with a smile, “The young miss said you can use it to buy a new set of study materials.”
This was too strange. The doubts that had just been suppressed refilled Li Yue’s mind.
What exactly is her motive?
Qin Yuan, who had taken a taxi home alone, was sprawled on the sofa, zoning out. When she received Uncle Wu’s message on WeChat, her mother was calling her for dinner.
Qin Yuan quickly scanned the message. Uncle Wu said her classmate had accepted the compensation.
That smoothly? She was a bit skeptical. Normally, shouldn’t this kind of “cool” novel protagonist be particularly unyielding? The type to throw the money back and say, “Don’t think you’re so great just because you have some stinking money.”
She was too conflicted and cautious. If Li Yue didn’t take the money, she would be on tenterhooks, worried that the situation had become irrevocably dire. Now that Li Yue had taken the money, she was suspicious that the villainous male lead was up to something.
What exactly is his motive?
The author has something to say:
Li “Little White Flower” Yue: Don’t insult me with your stinking money! (stubborn face)