“All done. Don’t let it get wet when you get home.”
Su Xianyan packed up the kit and prepared to start the car.
Just as he was about to, a pale, slender hand pressed down on the hand he had on the steering wheel. Su Xianyan was slightly surprised and turned to look at Cheng Simian.
She pressed her lips together, her dark eyes looking at him pitifully.
“Can you not tell my uncle?”
Su Xianyan pondered for a moment.
“So you know you were causing trouble?”
“I didn’t want to.”
Cheng Simian lowered her gaze.
From Su Xianyan’s perspective, she looked delicate and weak like this. What he didn’t see was the faint trace of ruthlessness that flashed through her lowered eyes. Cheng Simian said softly,
“She was the one who kept provoking me.”
Su Xianyan sighed lightly.
“Cheng Simian, Cheng Qin can’t watch over you forever. A lot of things, you need to think through yourself. Right now, you need to behave and focus on school. Do you understand?”
“I understand.”
As she spoke, Cheng Simian looked up and smiled at him. But the smile didn’t reach her eyes. It was an expression that didn’t belong on the face of a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old. She said,
“No one has ever cared about me. Not before, and not now. But I’m afraid my uncle won’t let me stay. If my uncle doesn’t want me anymore… then I’ll end up living on the streets.”
Su Xianyan paused slightly.
“So… you can help me keep this a secret, right?”
Cheng Simian looked at him with hopeful eyes.
Su Xianyan gazed at her, as if seeing someone else through her. Slowly, he turned his head and looked forward through the windshield.
“I can keep it a secret—but from now on, you have to behave.”
Cheng Simian nodded repeatedly.
“Mhm, mhm! I’ll behave. I’ll listen to everything you say.”
Su Xianyan froze for a moment, both amused and helpless.
“That’s not what I meant… not listening to me.”
“Then who am I supposed to listen to?”
Cheng Simian blinked.
“Other than you, no one has ever told me to behave properly.”
“…Enough. Let’s go home.”
Seeing that he seemed to have agreed, Cheng Simian immediately broke into a smile.
On the drive back—
“Su Xianyan, is that house yours? The one we’re living in now.”
“Yes.”
“Then you letting my uncle live there means he’s still somewhat useful after all.”
Su Xianyan replied calmly,
“Your uncle has helped me a great deal.”
“Oh, I get it—one of the company’s core pillars.”
Cheng Simian propped her chin on her hand.
“Sounds like your company has amazing benefits. Employees get to eat and live with the boss.”
Su Xianyan laughed softly. Company benefits certainly weren’t that generous.
Cheng Qin was one of Su Xianyan’s few close friends and business partners. Back in the early days, Cheng Qin had been down on his luck. After he started working with Su Xianyan, Su Xianyan arranged for him to live there. Their relationship had always been close, so there was no need for polite refusals.
“Oh… so it’s just the two of you living there?”
“There’s one more.”
“One more? How come I haven’t seen them?”
“They didn’t come back yesterday.”
Cheng Simian thought for a moment.
“No wonder. I was wondering why one room was locked. So it was the three of you who started the business together… Hey, by the way, my uncle has such a bad temper—can you guys really put up with him as a colleague?”
A trace of amusement flashed through Su Xianyan’s eyes.
“You can ask him that directly.”
Cheng Simian choked on her words.
“…Let’s pretend I didn’t say anything.”
They finally arrived home. Su Xianyan opened the door, and Cheng Simian followed behind him.
“Why are you back already?”
Su Xianyan was a little surprised to see Cheng Qin sitting in the living room.
Cheng Qin pointed to the man beside him, Cha Yiguan.
“This guy suddenly flew back. I’d just finished my business, so I hitched a ride with him. But why did you two take so long to get back?”
When Cheng Qin said that, Cheng Simian lifted her hair, letting it cover the marks on her neck.
“The teacher dragged the class out, and I didn’t know you’d asked him to pick me up, so I wasn’t in a hurry.”
“Oh. Next time, just come back on your own. Today was only because it was your first day.”
Cheng Qin nodded.
“And you’re one to talk.”
Cheng Simian pouted.
“I knocked on your door all morning and you didn’t wake up. I didn’t even have money for the bus.”
Cheng Qin cleared his throat.
“I went to bed really late last night. It’s normal that I couldn’t get up!”
Cheng Simian snorted softly.
Good thing there was the reliable Su Xianyan.
“Hey, wait a second.”
Cha Yiguan finally found a chance to speak.
“This girl… who is she?”
“Didn’t I tell you already? My little niece.”
Cheng Qin replied impatiently.
“Your niece?”
Cha Yiguan leaned in for a closer look.
“Didn’t you say she was a delinquent? A little troublemaker? She doesn’t look like that at all.”
She was wearing a school uniform, her face fair and clean—nothing like the violent, unruly problem student Cheng Qin had described.
Cheng Simian took a step back, widening the distance between them. Her gaze, however, lingered on Cha Yiguan.
This guy… looks familiar.
Cheng Qin took a sip of coffee.
“Don’t underestimate her.”
Cha Yiguan straightened up.
“Come on, Cheng Qin, that’s a bit much. Such a cute little girl, and you make her sound like a demon.”
“Cha Yiguan.”
“Hm?”
Cha Yiguan paused and looked at Cheng Simian, who had suddenly called his name. He reached out and pinched her cheek.
“What is it, little sister?”
Cheng Simian curled her lips into a half-smile. She had already remembered where that sense of familiarity came from.
“Nothing. I was just wondering—how did things turn out later with Sister Jin Ling?”
“J–Jin Ling?”
Cha Yiguan’s expression changed instantly.
Both Cheng Qin and Su Xianyan looked at them in surprise.
“How do you know about that…?”
Cha Yiguan had always been a playboy, drifting through countless relationships. But the one woman he could never forget was Jin Ling, the eldest daughter of the Jin family—not because he loved her deeply, but because that experience was unforgettable in the worst possible way. It was the greatest humiliation of his life.
The incident had been far too embarrassing, so he had never mentioned it to anyone. No one knew he had ever pursued Jin Ling—not even his close friends Su Xianyan and Cheng Qin. So how did this little girl know?
Cha Yiguan stared at Cheng Simian.
“You…”
“I was there.”
Cheng Simian smiled.
“Don’t you remember?”
Cha Yiguan stiffened.
“Th-there…?”
Cheng Simian giggled.
“Yep. I was the one who called someone to rescue you while you were in the bathroom. I helped you out, you know.”
“……”
Her words dragged Cha Yiguan straight back into that nightmare.
Back then, he had sweet-talked Jin Ling into going out with him. After a candlelight dinner at a hotel and a few glasses of wine, things naturally progressed to the bedroom. But just as things were heating up, his stomach suddenly started hurting—badly. The kind of pain that meant he was about to have explosive diarrhea.
He scrambled off Jin Ling and rushed to the bathroom. But the moment he sat down on the toilet, he couldn’t stand up again—because his legs were stuck. Completely stuck. Naked. Glued to the toilet seat.
The humiliation and despair were beyond imagination. Losing face in front of the goddess—and then in front of the hotel staff!
Cha Yiguan’s face turned pale.
When the hotel staff later came to help, he vaguely remembered seeing two kids outside the bathroom—one was Jin Ling’s younger brother, and the other was a short-haired kid standing nearby, staring at him with a terrifying look in her eyes. But at the time, he was in no state to care.
“You remember now, right?”
Cheng Simian grinned.
“I had short hair back then. I was standing next to Jin Yue—the one right there.”
A sudden chill ran down Cha Yiguan’s spine. He had remembered—he had completely remembered that short-haired little girl!
Later, he had learned that the prank had been carried out by Jin Ling’s younger brother, Jin Yue. Angry that Cha Yiguan had flirted with his sister, Jin Yue had slipped something into his food and smeared glue on the toilet seat.
Back then, Cha Yiguan had found it strange. Jin Yue had always seemed simple-minded, hardly the type to come up with such an elaborate scheme. But thinking about it now… there must have been a mastermind behind him! Cha Yiguan stared hard at Cheng Simian. Why did he suddenly feel like this whole thing had something to do with this little menace?
“Hey, what are you two talking about?” Cheng Qin interrupted. “You knew each other before?”
“Not really,” Cheng Simian replied casually. “We’ve just met once before—back then…”
Before she could finish, Cha Yiguan suddenly covered her mouth.
“We met at Jin Ling’s birthday banquet!” he blurted out. “I just remembered—your niece is classmates with Jin Ling’s younger brother. Hahaha, what a coincidence!”
Cheng Qin stared at him.
“…Why are you laughing so awkwardly?”
“Huh? A-am I?”
Cha Yiguan forced a smile, then wrapped an arm around Cheng Simian’s shoulders and steered her toward the study.
“Come on, little niece. Let’s go check out the new bed. See if you’re satisfied with your room.”
Dragged off against her will, Cheng Simian looked up at him leisurely and whispered,
“Oh? You don’t want them to know? Fine, then I won’t say anything.”
Once inside the room, Cha Yiguan glared at her.
“Was it you? Did you do it?”
“I’ve been wronged!” Cheng Simian protested indignantly, though inwardly she thought, I’d have to be an idiot to admit it.
Cha Yiguan eyed her suspiciously.
“You little brat really are no saint.”
“Right back at you, Mr. Scumbag.”
With a room of her own now, Cheng Simian could finally unpack her clothes and hang them up properly. She could sprawl out comfortably when she slept. Slowly, she began to get used to life here.
During the day, no one was home. She went to school, and they went to work. In the evenings, she was usually the first to return. Occasionally, Su Xianyan would already be home, but he always seemed busy—either shut in his room or sitting at his computer, working on lines of code she couldn’t understand at all.
Cheng Qin would sometimes check in on her, give her some money, and warn her not to spend it recklessly. As for Cha Yiguan, Cheng Simian treated him like entertainment, while he regarded her with wary fear, constantly afraid she might reveal his embarrassing secret. Perhaps trying to appease her, he often brought back snacks and desserts for her.
Before class ended one day, the homeroom teacher came in to announce something.
“You’ve all seen your monthly exam results. Overall, the class did quite well,” the teacher said. “But there are some students I need to remind—if you keep dragging the class down like this by the final exams, don’t blame me for being harsh.”
His gaze swept over a few underperforming students and finally settled on Cheng Simian.
Fu Ziwen poked Cheng Simian’s arm.
“Hey… the teacher’s looking at you.”
Cheng Simian glanced at her report card.
“I got the worst score. Who else would he look at?”
Fu Ziwen: “……”
“There will be a parent-teacher meeting the day after tomorrow,” the teacher continued. “Everyone go home and inform your parents. Especially those who did poorly this time—your parents must attend. Do you hear me?”
Cheng Simian frowned slightly.
“Simian,” Fu Ziwen asked quietly, “will your parents scold you?”
Cheng Simian paused.
“No.”
“Your parents are so nice. With my grades, I’ll definitely get yelled at.”
Cheng Simian smiled faintly.
She wished someone would scold her. But her parents were gone—who was left to scold her?
When she got home, Cheng Simian sat in the living room waiting for Cheng Qin to return. Instead, Su Xianyan came back first.
Dressed in a shirt and suit, he loosened his tie naturally after entering, every movement looking like something out of a fashion spread. Cheng Simian composed herself and asked,
“Is my uncle coming back soon?”
Su Xianyan stood near the entrance, looking at her.
“He didn’t tell you he’d be on a business trip for the next couple of days?”