If this had been before, Cheng Simian wouldn’t have held back at all. She would’ve beaten them without hesitation. But now, she didn’t have the energy for it.
“Let go.”
She darkened her expression and looked at the three girls grabbing her.
“Classmates, don’t you have any backbone at all? Lin Yinghan tells you to do something and you just do it?”
The three girls weren’t exactly good people either, but hearing Cheng Simian say something so cutting at a time like this still caught them off guard.
“What… what does it have to do with you?”
“Exactly. Yinghan said you used to be really tough. What’s wrong—scared now?”
Lin Yinghan laughed smugly and stepped closer, lifting her hand to pat Cheng Simian’s cheek.
“Isn’t it obvious you’ve chickened out, Cheng Simian? Look around—who do you think would stand on your side now?”
“Take your hand off me. Do you believe I’ll—”
“Um… Cheng Simian?”
A weak, hesitant voice suddenly sounded, extinguishing the tension between the two.
Cheng Simian paused and turned her head toward the newcomer.
“Believe you’ll what?” Lin Yinghan said. Seeing that Cheng Simian didn’t answer, she shifted her gaze to the newcomer.
“Who are you? Get lost—this has nothing to do with you.”
“I… you guys… what are you doing?”
It was Fu Ziwen. She also took this route after school. From a distance she had thought the person looked like Cheng Simian, and when she got closer, it really was her. But this scene… felt wrong.
“Why are you grabbing her?”
Seeing several girls holding Cheng Simian, Fu Ziwen slowly pieced things together. She was scared, but still couldn’t help saying,
“Don’t bully people.”
“Tch. Which eye of yours saw me bullying someone?”
Lin Yinghan walked up to Fu Ziwen. Fu Ziwen was shorter, and Lin Yinghan looked down at her condescendingly.
“What, you want to help her?”
Cheng Simian glanced at Fu Ziwen.
“Hey, go home.”
Fu Ziwen looked at her worriedly.
“Cheng Simian, y-you should come home with me.”
Cheng Simian was taken aback. Fu Ziwen looked timid and fearful, yet she was still saying something like that at a moment like this. She was clearly… trying to help her.
Lin Yinghan rolled her eyes.
“I told you to get lost. Can’t you understand?”
As she spoke, she casually shoved Fu Ziwen. She hadn’t expected Fu Ziwen to be so easy to knock over—one push and she fell.
“Lin Yinghan, are you asking for it?!”
Cheng Simian swore to heaven that she really didn’t want to cause trouble, but seeing this soft, gentle girl get bullied for trying to help her made the anger she’d been holding back finally explode.
She struggled hard and broke free from the three girls grabbing her, then lifted her leg and kicked!
“Ow!”
The girl who got kicked cried out in pain.
“Grab her!” Lin Yinghan shouted.
The shadow of being beaten by Cheng Simian in the past still lingered. The only reason she dared to act so arrogantly now was because Cheng Simian no longer had family backing her and had no one standing behind her. Seeing Cheng Simian turn vicious again, Lin Yinghan hurriedly ordered others to charge in for her.
There were simply too many of them. And the girls were much bigger than Cheng Simian, so she couldn’t gain any advantage.
There weren’t many people at the corner—only passing students. No one dared step forward to intervene. Tangled up with the three girls, Cheng Simian didn’t know whose nails were so sharp. She only felt her hands and neck burning with pain.
“Cheng Simian! Stop fighting!”
Fu Ziwen was so anxious she was on the verge of tears.
Cheng Simian shoved away the girl lunging at her, and in that brief opening, grabbed Fu Ziwen and ran.
“Cheng Simian!”
“If you don’t want to get beaten, run!”
“W-we should tell the teacher!”
Cheng Simian, “……”
That was exactly what she was afraid of. Even though Lin Yinghan started it, given her background and Cheng Simian’s current situation, the one who would suffer in the end would only be herself.
“Why are you spacing out? Chase them!”
Lin Yinghan had finally caught Cheng Simian outside school—there was no way she’d let her off easily.
Cheng Simian dragged Fu Ziwen along, running back the way they came. Just as they turned a corner, they crashed straight into someone.
“Move—”
“Cheng Simian?”
The voice was warm and low. Cheng Simian froze. Following the hand that had grabbed her arm, she looked up—and was stunned.
“Su… Su…”
“What are you doing?”
Su Xianyan frowned, his gaze sweeping over the two bloody scratches on her neck.
“What happened?”
Running into Su Xianyan here had already left Cheng Simian completely stunned. Before she could answer, Lin Yinghan and the others caught up.
“Cheng Simian, stop right there!”
Cheng Simian stiffened.
This was bad. What if Su Xianyan told Cheng Qin about this?
“Uh… we—we were running. Running home. Yeah—exercise.”
Su Xianyan narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Running home? Then didn’t you run in the wrong direction?”
Cheng Simian blinked.
“Did we? Oh! I’m taking my deskmate home first. Right, Fu Wenzi?”
Fu Ziwen was panting.
“Cheng Simian, my house isn’t in this direction either.”
Cheng Simian, “……”
Su Xianyan glanced at the girls behind them, then at the two in front of him, both disheveled. Understanding dawned immediately.
So she really was a troublemaker.
“Come home with me,” Su Xianyan said calmly.
Cheng Simian paused.
“You came to pick me up?”
“Cheng Qin had something to do today. He asked me to come.”
“Oh.”
“Let’s go.”
“Wait!”
Lin Yinghan stepped forward, looking Su Xianyan up and down, clear surprise in her eyes.
Su Xianyan was strikingly good-looking, and coupled with that gentle, steady aura, Lin Yinghan didn’t dare act recklessly for the moment.
“What’s your relationship with Cheng Simian?”
Su Xianyan didn’t look at Lin Yinghan. He only asked Cheng Simian,
“Your classmate?”
Cheng Simian glanced at her.
“I’m not familiar with her at all. Just ran into her on the road while jogging.”
Lin Yinghan, “You—”
“Brother! Let’s go!”
Suddenly, Cheng Simian shouted a loud “bro,” so loud that not only Su Xianyan, but even she herself was startled.
“Brother?”
Lin Yinghan looked at them suspiciously.
Cheng Simian raised her brows. The meaning in her eyes was obvious—don’t think I’m finished just because my dad went bankrupt. You have no idea how deep my family’s roots are. See that? That’s my brother. My brother.
Su Xianyan was low-key by nature, but his clothes were refined and tasteful. Lin Yinghan might be rebellious, but she’d grown up seeing all kinds of people and scenes. She knew very well that clothes reflected status.
This man was clearly not someone ordinary.
Su Xianyan was momentarily taken aback at first, but quickly understood. A trace of helpless amusement flashed through his eyes as he reached out and grabbed the back of Cheng Simian’s collar.
“That’s enough. We’re going home.”
“Hey—hey—okay, okay! You’re choking me, my neck—”
They walked over to the car.
“Wenzi, where do you live? I’ll give you a ride home.”
Fu Ziwen waved her hands.
“No need. My house is really close—I’ll be there in just a few steps.”
“That won’t do. What if you run into them again later… ahem…”
Cheng Simian remembered Su Xianyan was still there and could only convey the rest with her eyes.
Fu Ziwen replied, “I think they’ve all left. It’s fine. Hey, Cheng Simian, what exactly is going on with you? Why did that woman—”
“Hey, hey, be careful on the road! Go home early and do your homework. We still need to discuss things tomorrow.”
Cheng Simian didn’t wait for her to finish and quickly pushed her aside.
“Bye. Good luck with your homework.”
Fu Ziwen, “……”
“All right, now we can go home.”
Cheng Simian got into the car, tossed her backpack onto the back seat, and said lightly.
A few seconds passed with no reaction from Su Xianyan. Sensing something off, Cheng Simian turned to look at him.
“Um… aren’t you driving?”
Su Xianyan looked at her quietly for a few seconds.
“Did you get into a fight?”
Cheng Simian widened her eyes.
“No!”
“Are you sure?”
He looked gentle and easygoing on the surface, but when he questioned her in such a serious tone, she suddenly felt guilty. She lowered her head, picking at the seat, and after a moment of silence said,
“Don’t tell my uncle.”
The sky gradually darkened, the last traces of light filtering into the car. The air felt heavy and slow.
The silence made Cheng Simian uneasy. After a long while, she heard Su Xianyan let out a soft sigh. She raised her head, about to “remind” him again not to tell Cheng Qin about today, when she saw him open the car door and step out.
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Su Xianyan didn’t answer. He didn’t go far—he walked to the back of the car and opened the trunk. A moment later, he returned carrying a small box.
“What’s that?”
“A first-aid kit.”
Su Xianyan glanced at the scratches on her neck, red and slightly swollen, with thin traces of blood.
“You keep a first-aid kit in your car?”
“Just something I keep on hand,” Su Xianyan said meaningfully.
“I’ve never used it before. Looks like it finally has a purpose today.”
Cheng Simian felt a bit awkward.
“You don’t have to make it sound so serious. It’s just a small injury. I never used to bother with these things…”
Her words stopped abruptly.
Yeah… better not bring up her past “heroics.”
She rubbed her nose and changed the subject.
“Let’s just go home first. I’m starving. I want to eat.”
“Didn’t you say you don’t want your uncle to know?”
Su Xianyan spoke while opening the kit.
“If it gets infected, you’ll still have to go to the hospital. Are you sure you don’t need him?”
Cheng Simian wanted to say that applying medicine would make it even more obvious, but watching Su Xianyan quietly lower his head and prepare the medicine, she suddenly lost the desire to speak.
His skin was really fair—almost excessively so. From this close, she couldn’t spot any flaws at all. His eyelashes were long, casting a faint shadow beneath his eyes as they drooped.
She found herself momentarily distracted.
Could a man really look this good?
“Turn your head,” Su Xianyan suddenly said.
Cheng Simian jumped.
“W-what?”
“Move your hair aside and turn your head. How else am I supposed to apply the medicine?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Cheng Simian hurriedly swept her hair aside.
“You’re doing it for me?”
Su Xianyan raised an eyebrow slightly.
“Can you see it yourself?”
Cheng Simian shook her head.
“Then behave and don’t move.”
She fell silent. Turning her head to look out the window, her heart suddenly started pounding uncomfortably fast.
A sharp sting came from her neck, but she had no mind to spare for it. All her senses seemed to be focused on Su Xianyan. No one had ever treated her wounds so carefully before.
In the past, no one cared about her. Her parents had divorced long ago. Her father was busy with work—and busy being with those shameless women of his. He never had time for her.
She deliberately caused trouble, deliberately picked fights. No matter what she did, her father never scolded her. He would clean up the mess, then act as if nothing had happened, telling her to behave before heading out again.
He never cared whether she was hurt, or whether she wanted him to stay with her…
Over time, Cheng Simian got used to it. At a very young age, she learned not to expect family affection, not to expect care or concern. She learned how to armor herself, how to rebel, how to do whatever she pleased.
But at this moment, her heart softened just a little.
So this was what it felt like to be treated gently—it was actually very, very nice. Even if Su Xianyan was only doing this because she was Cheng Qin’s family, or simply out of momentary kindness…