“Lin Shen, I’ve already broken up with Zhao Hui.”
“Oh, what does that have to do with me?” A trace of impatience flashed between the young man’s brows as his thin lips parted.
“Lin Shen, I like you. Can’t you give me a chance?” Chen Leyi noticed the person before her had reached the peak of impatience, and anger began coloring her expression.
What’s he being so arrogant about? He’s just a cripple. A worthless person, yet he dares treat me like this.
“Get lost.”
The disgust in Lin Shen’s eyes deepened, his slightly magnetic voice now cold enough to send chills down one’s spine.
“You… Lin Shen, how can you be so ungrateful? Who would want a cripple like you? That I’m interested in you is your good fortune, yet you dare reject me.”
Chen Leyi couldn’t stand such treatment. Her eyes reddened slightly as she shouted at Lin Shen, thoroughly enraged.
The Chen family owned a small company, and Chen Leyi had essentially grown up in a honey pot. Since childhood, everyone had spoiled her, giving her whatever she wanted. When had she ever suffered such humiliation?
Since when could such trash come here and boss him around?
Lin Shen’s hands on his wheelchair tightened. His eyes were dark and calm, his lips curling into a mocking arc.
Meeting the young man’s bottomless dark gaze sent a shiver through Chen Leyi’s heart.
But then she remembered the Lin family’s young master was no longer the lofty, unattainable figure he once was, and her fear vanished.
She retorted with unbridled sarcasm.
“Do you still think you’re the glorious young master from before? Hah, besides me, no one would want a cripple like you.”
Just as Chen Leyi was about to flash a triumphant smile, a soft female voice suddenly came from behind her – so pleasing that even as a woman herself, she felt inferior.
“Who says no one wants him?” Ruan Xing’s crisp voice clearly reached both people present.
Lin Shen turned to see the girl standing there, her small face puffed up with anger, head held high as she stared fixedly at Chen Leyi, undisguised malice in her eyes.
Was she angry? Was she angry for him? Was she defending him?
Lin Shen couldn’t quite identify what he was feeling, only that something seemed to have scratched at him, leaving his heart itching.
When Chen Leyi turned and saw the owner of the voice, a flash of awe appeared in her eyes, but she quickly concealed her expression.
Too beautiful. With a face like that, how could any woman not feel jealous?
Chen Leyi disliked the person before her at first sight, even feeling hostile toward her. The reason was simple – she didn’t like women prettier than herself.
“Who are you?” Chen Leyi stared at the person before her, scrutinizing her from head to toe before speaking irritably.
The person before her wore the most ordinary outfit, it was impossible to tell which designer had personally designed it, so Chen Leyi’s attitude was far from good.
Instead of answering, Ruan Xing stared at Chen Leyi with an amused expression, occasionally shaking her head meaningfully as if examining something.
Chen Leyi didn’t understand what she meant, but being stared at like this made her extremely uncomfortable.
Ruan Xing thought back to the scene she had just witnessed, her heart aching with bitterness. Her gaze at Chen Leyi was fierce and venomous, yet her delicate, innocent appearance made her seem more cute than threatening in Lin Shen’s eyes—unwittingly hitting all his soft spots.
“How dare you say no one would want our Shen Ge when he’s so handsome? Are you blind?”
She never imagined Lin Shen had endured such cruelty in his youth, where anyone could hurl such hurtful words at him.
Ruan Xing’s fierce expression only intimidated herself, failing to intimidate Chen Leyi beside her at all.
Chen Leyi seemed to have heard a hilarious joke, her eyes filled with mocking laughter as she curled her lips into a provocative smile. “A cripple who’ll spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair—anyone who’d want him must be blind.”
The young girl’s eyes widened into perfect circles at these words.
Having never cursed before in her life, she felt the urge to swear for the first time.
Coincidentally, her mouth reacted more honestly and quickly than her brain.
“Idiot.” She seemed surprised at her own outburst.
The moment those two words escaped her lips, Lin Shen was even more astonished.
This girl looked so well-behaved, yet she knew how to curse—and her cursing face was rather adorable.
Chen Leyi, hearing the two words clearly from Ruan Xing’s mouth, flushed crimson with rage. “You… you…” She stammered, unable to form a complete sentence.
“Why don’t you look in the mirror and see what you look like? How dare you chase after our Shen Ge? Do you even deserve him?”
The young girl kept calling him “Shen Ge” without any embarrassment, while Lin Shen—his heart usually hard as stone—felt something scratch at it, softening slightly.
“How dare you, a wretched girl, speak to me like this! Do… do you know who my father is?” Chen Leyi, furious, had no choice but to flaunt her background.
“What does your father have to do with our conversation? You’re such a grown-up still running to daddy—aren’t you ashamed?” Ruan Xing wasn’t afraid; she didn’t believe anyone could match her father’s influence.
“You… just you wait!”
Chen Leyi was nearly bursting with anger, leaving behind only this threat before slinking away.
Most students had already left the school, leaving only Ruan Xing and Lin Shen at the gate.
Silence hung between them, making the occasional passing vehicles seem excessively noisy.
After a long while, to break the awkward atmosphere, Ruan Xing spoke up.
“Why are you so foolish? Letting a girl bully you like that.”
“…” Lin Shen was speechless. When did she see him being bullied?
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Ruan Xing couldn’t read his emotions.
“…” What was there to say?
“Let’s go home together!” Ruan Xing tentatively suggested.
“Mm.” The young man’s face showed no expression.
Only after walking with the girl for quite some time did he realize—
Why had he agreed? He hadn’t planned on going back there today.
Along the way, Ruan Xing chattered incessantly while Lin Shen occasionally responded with a quiet “Mm.”
“By the way, what’s your relationship with that girl today?” Ruan Xing suddenly remembered the girl from earlier and grew somewhat curious.
“I don’t know her.”
“Alright.” Seeing his reluctance to elaborate, Ruan Xing felt slightly disappointed but didn’t press further.
Yet Lin Shen was telling the truth – the girl had insisted on following him while professing her liking for him, and he genuinely didn’t even know her name.
Sensing the slightly downcast mood of the person beside him, Lin Shen added after a long pause, “I really don’t know her. She kept following me around, and I don’t even know her name.” Only after finishing his explanation did Lin Shen realize what he was doing.
Why was he explaining himself to her anyway?