Сhарtеr 10: Just Self-Defеnsе
Shеng Shurаn еmerged from thе bаthroom wеaring a drеss thаt fеll раst hеr cаlvеs. Shе had аlso lеt down her mеssу updо, allоwing hеr hаir to саscаdе dоwn bоth sidеs оf hеr chеst…
Evеrу possible arеa wаs cоvеrеd.
Whеn she saw Сhi Hen аgаin, his ехprеssion hаd softenеd sоmеwhаt. Нe hоisted her cеllо оntо his bаck and said grufflу, “I’ll tаkе yоu baсk.”
Sheng Shuran didn’t dаrе rеfusе and let him hаvе his way.
Тhe two wаlkеd sidе bу side аlоng the campus path.
Chi Нen wаs аlrеаdу a lеgendary figurе at С Universitу.
With flawlеss, superior looks, a brooding and mysterious personality, and a collection of top-tier sports cars he changed more frequently than a woman changes clothes—though he rarely appeared on campus, he remained the undisputed top topic on the university forums.
Beside him, Sheng Shuran stood tall and slender. Her jet-black hair, simply tucked behind her ears, cascaded like a waterfall. Without a trace of makeup, her delicate smile was enchanting. Her face was small as a palm, with round, almond-shaped eyes and youthful features that made the three-year age gap between them completely unnoticeable.
Naturally, such a pair walking together attracted the gazes of passersby all along the way.
“Our little Hen is quite popular at school. Everyone looks at you with starry-eyed admiration,” Sheng Shuran remarked with a hint of familial pride.
Thinking it was a compliment, she didn’t expect him to respond coldly, without a trace of gratitude:
“What about him? Is he looking at you or me?”
Sheng Shuran was taken aback. Following Chi Hen’s gaze, she saw Fan Chao standing by the roadside, watching them.
“Senior Fan Chao?” Sheng Shuran approached him. “You haven’t left yet?”
Fan Chao was a violinist in the SR Orchestra.
“The group wanted to go sing karaoke. I was wondering if you’d like to join us.”
“And this is?” Fan Chao’s eyes fell on Chi Hen. He remembered it was this person who had held an umbrella for Sheng Shuran in the crowd during the performance. After the event ended, it was also him who dragged Sheng Shuran away.
“He’s my younger brother, Chi Hen,” Sheng Shuran introduced generously, completely unaware of the sudden drop in temperature beside her.
“Oh, it’s your brother. I’m your sister’s colleague,” Fan Chao extended his hand.
Chi Hen didn’t shake it, afraid he might lose control and crush the hand that played the violin.
Fan Chao awkwardly withdrew his hand and continued speaking to Sheng Shuran, “So, shall we go sing karaoke? It’s at the new place right across from the orchestra.”
Sheng Shuran wasn’t particularly keen on going, but seeing that her senior had waited specifically for her, she found it hard to refuse. Turning to Chi Hen, she said:
“You…”
“I’m going too.” Chi Hen anticipated Sheng Shuran’s words, speaking first in a firm tone.
“This is a gathering for us adults. Little brother, you should head to class first. Here, let me take that…” Fan Chao reached out, intending to take the cello strap from Chi Hen’s shoulder.
Chi Hen raised his hand, ready to break the hand that touched him, but at that moment, Sheng Shuran gently grasped his other hand, soothingly saying:
“They’re all colleagues from the orchestra. You might feel out of place. Why don’t you head back first, and I’ll treat you to lunch tomorrow?”
Chi Hen was momentarily stunned by Sheng Shuran’s appeasing smile. The weight on his shoulder lightened as the cello was taken away.
“Well then, little brother, we’ll be off now. Goodbye.”
Chi Hen watched as the two gradually walked away, a chill rising within him.
He took out his phone, his voice obsessive and his expression violent: “Qian Song, bring my Bugatti to the school.”
The cigar in Qian Song’s mouth fell out. The Bugatti? The newly bought one?
“Now!” Chi Hen hung up.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Brother Qian?” The woman on the bed, already mostly undressed, looked puzzled as Qian Song hurriedly pulled up his pants in a panic.”The young master is in a bad mood, he’s going to go racing again!”
Qian Song knew the pattern—which car Chi Hen chose to race was directly related to how angry he was.
The angrier he was, the more expensive the car.
The Bugatti he just mentioned, worth over seventy million, meant he must be pretty furious.
Qian Song’s legs, which felt like dead weights, moved even faster.
Night fell, and the city lights began to glow.
After venting his emotions, Chi Hen rode a shared bike, dressed in clean, crisp white, waiting for Sheng Shuran outside the KTV entrance.
He stared at his phone screen, at the chat history with Sheng Shuran from an hour ago—
[I’ll pick you up at eight.]
[OK.]
It was now 7:30.
Just then, a drunken man stumbled out of the KTV, talking on the phone:
“Hey? Can you hear me now?!”
Chi Hen glanced over casually and recognized Fan Chao.
“I wanted to ask you, how do you handle a virgin! Yeah! She’s at the KTV, absolutely refusing to drink! So damn difficult!”
Fan Chao let out a drunken burp and leaned against a roadside stone post.
“It’s that Sheng girl from our band—the one whose secretly taken photos I showed you last time! Yeah, the one with fair skin and long legs! I’m dying for her!”
“What do you think? Have her take me home? Say I forced myself on her after getting drunk? Hehehehe~”
“Tonight, I’m going to have her…”
The last word, “her,” was drowned out in a wave of obscene laughter.
Then, he noticed a pair of white sneakers appear in front of him.
Blinking his bleary, drunken eyes, he looked up and saw a young man staring down at him with a dark, menacing glare.
“Well, if it isn’t my future brother-in-law?” Fan Chao hung up the phone, straightened his posture slightly, but his height still only reached Chi Hen’s shoulders.
“Give me your phone,” the young man’s voice was sharp and icy.
“What for?”
“Delete her photos.”
So, his earlier conversation had been overheard. But Fan Chao felt no guilt at all. He rummaged through his pockets, pulled out a pack of cigarettes, and tossed it to Chi Hen.
“Get lost. Don’t meddle in your sister and my private fun.”
Chi Hen clenched his fists, veins bulging on his cold, pale face.
He said something to Fan Chao that infuriated the other man, who immediately threw a punch at his face.
Chi Hen cursed viciously but didn’t fight back.
Drunk and enraged, Fan Chao, seeing Chi Hen not retaliating, kicked him to the ground and began punching him relentlessly, holding nothing back.
“Think you’re tough? Think you’re hot stuff? Think you can ignore people when they greet you?” Fan Chao grew more aggressive with each blow, venting all the frustration Sheng Shuran had caused him by repeatedly rejecting him that night onto Chi Hen.
“Tonight, I’m going to have your sister, and what can you do about it? I’ll make both you and your sister beg me in tears!”
With that, he stomped on him hard once more.
Chi Hen still didn’t fight back, only curled up and painfully crawled toward the nearby alley.
Not satisfied, Fan Chao chased after him, continuing the assault.
Until both of them were inside the alley…
Fan Chao threw another punch at Chi Hen’s fair, handsome face, but this time, Chi Hen caught his fist.
With a swift twist, Chi Hen slammed Fan Chao hard onto the ground.
Thinking it was just a fluke—that Chi Hen was still the weak, fragile boy from outside the entrance—Fan Chao steadied himself and charged again, fists raised.
This time, Chi Hen knocked him flat with a single punch.
Unlike the entrance, the alley had no passersby and no surveillance cameras.
Chi Hen looked down at the shocked Fan Chao sprawled on the ground, flexed his fist, and curled his bloodied lips into a wild, vicious smile, like a bloodthirsty devil.
“I don’t like using my hands—they hurt.”He casually picked up the iron rod beside him, the metal scraping against the ground producing a piercing sound.
“You, you, what do you want to do?” Fan Chao sat slumped on the ground, retreating in terror step by step.
“Me? Just self-defense.” Chi Hen said it with an air of indifference.
Chi Hen swung the iron rod, and screams echoed through the alley.
7:55.
Chi Hen stopped, the person at his feet lying in a pool of blood, battered and bloodied.
Chi Hen took out his phone, picked up his broken finger to unlock it, found all the photos of Sheng Shuran and deleted them, then tossed the phone back into the blood.
“Trash.” A sinister voice tinged with disdain.
While straightening the wrinkles on his clothes, Chi Hen dialed the number saved as “S”:
“I’ve caused trouble, help me clean it up.”
Chi Hen tilted his head, his expression unnaturally calm, and glanced coldly at the person groaning in pain on the ground:
“It’s not difficult, he’s not completely dead yet.”
He shrugged his shoulders to hold the earpiece in place, crouched beside Fan Chao, and with difficulty found a spot on his clothes that wasn’t stained with blood, wiping the blood from his hands clean.
“Now, I’m going to find my sister. She likes me clean…”
He leaned close to his ear, a low, sinister laugh escaping his throat:
“Tonight, I can finally have her…”
The last word was very soft, drowned out by the fearful and agonized groans.
Her.