“We grew up together. We’ve known each other since we were little,” Xu Tao explained softly. “He’s always been good to me and helped me out so many times.”
She suddenly found the courage to look at Qin An. “We’re very close, Mr. Qin.”
“And he got hurt this time because of me.”
Shi Jin had protected her many times. It wasn’t as Qin An had said—that he couldn’t protect anyone.
Whether Qin An was drunk or not, whatever he was thinking, all she needed to do was make her position clear.
Xu Tao leaned back against the car door. “Mr. Qin, I’m very grateful you rescued me tonight. When my boyfriend is better, could we treat you to a meal to thank you?”
“You think I did it for a meal?” Qin An’s tone cooled. He sat back down. “Keep your money to buy medicine for your boyfriend, Teacher Xu.”
He could tell she wasn’t stupid. She was eager to prove something, to make clear there was nothing between them.
He thought he was being pretty ridiculous himself.
It was all because of the drinks that night.
Qin An’s voice returned to its usual evenness. “I asked you into the car because of Yuting. Teacher Xu, you’d be better off staying away from places like that. Don’t set a bad example for a child.”
His voice turned cold, and the faint smell of alcohol lingered in the air. Xu Tao could hear his displeasure, but she kept pretending not to understand.
“Do you really like your boyfriend?” Qin An turned his head toward her and asked again, as if he wanted to see right through her.
As if he still couldn’t give up.
Xu Tao didn’t feel the least bit guilty. “Of course I do. We’re childhood sweethearts. We have a very strong bond.”
Qin An lowered his eyes and chuckled.
Childhood sweethearts, huh?
He rolled down the window, letting in a little air. The alcohol haze cleared, and that flicker of interest vanished.
He’d actually entertained improper thoughts about a woman who already had a boyfriend—but only for a moment.
“Tell your boyfriend to stay away from Zhao Qingyan.”
That was all he had to say. He closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.
The window was clearly closed, yet the cold seemed to keep blowing in just as before. Xu Tao hugged herself, feeling cold inside and out.
She knew this matter should be over now. Their position just moments ago had been ambiguous, but it must have been a passing impulse, spurred by the alcohol. Once he learned she already had someone, he would naturally let go.
He could find any kind of woman he wanted. There was no need to steal someone else’s.
When the car pulled up at the entrance to Wancheng Normal University, the driver said something, and a luxury car drove straight onto a campus where outside vehicles were usually barred.
Xu Tao pressed her lips together. At the dorm entrance, she looked around. There weren’t many people about, so she planned to thank them and leave.
But the car door wouldn’t open.
Qin An was leaning his head back, resting without expression. The car was as silent as a tomb. After a long while, he told the driver to open her door.
The car brushed past Xu Tao and quickly disappeared from sight. She patted her cheeks and hurried toward the dorm with her head down.
Only when she was inside and saw her roommates did she finally relax.
Yang Can was there too. She had plans to go out with her boyfriend the next day, so she’d decided not to go home.
The three of them noticed something was wrong with Xu Tao as soon as they saw her.
“Hey, Peach, what happened to your face?” Yang Can hurried over. “Oh my God, who hit you?”
Lu Yang and Lin Rui noticed it too. Peach had definitely been crying; her eyes were swollen like walnuts.
“Damn it, don’t tell me Shi Jin hit you!” Lu Yang touched Xu Tao’s cheek, worried. Who could bring themselves to lay a hand on such a pretty girl?
Xu Tao quickly shook her head and said quietly, “Somebody tried to take advantage of me. Shi Jin got badly hurt because of me. Something terrible almost happened tonight.”
After hearing what had happened, the three of them were so angry they didn’t know what to say. Right under the emperor’s nose, and people still got away with this kind of vile behavior.
Lin Rui had a fiery temper. She slapped the table and was about to call the police, but Lu Yang and Yang Can held her back.
They weren’t naive. In corners untouched by the light, injustice was always happening.
Yang Can was local and had heard a thing or two. She took Xu Tao’s hand. “Peach, we can’t afford to mess with people like that. We’ll just have to swallow this one. Tell Shi Jin to keep his distance, and don’t hang around with people like that again.”
Xu Tao nodded. She understood.
“Thank goodness for that Mr. Qin who hired you as a tutor, Peach. You really should thank him properly,” Lu Yang said, unaware of what had happened between Qin An and Xu Tao.
Xu Tao gave a vague nod, not wanting to say more. She checked the time, then hurriedly borrowed a roommate’s phone to call Shi Jin.
He was awake, as expected, and even complained that Xu Tao had left him there alone. When Shi Jin opened his eyes and saw several burly men, he’d been so frightened he thought Zhao Qingyan was going to bury him alive.
“I’m sorry. Are you all right now? Does it still hurt?” Xu Tao soothed him gently.
Shi Jin’s head and face were wrapped in gauze, and they throbbed faintly. Even over the phone, he sounded pitiful and wanted Xu Tao to say a few sweet things to him.
Xu Tao wasn’t in the mood, and she couldn’t bring herself to say them anyway. She just urged Shi Jin to get some rest, then hung up.
Shi Jin was a little disappointed, but just then the door opened.
He turned and saw Sun Dong and Wu Xiaochuan coming back. Hu Hang wasn’t with them.
Hu Hang was a local, and it was his birthday. After what had happened, he surely wouldn’t be returning to the dorm.
Shi Jin was still thinking about how Sun Dong had tipped him off. He thanked him sincerely, but Sun Dong waved it away. There hadn’t been much he could do.
“Are you all right? We wanted to help, but there were too many of them.” Wu Xiaochuan came over and put an arm around Shi Jin’s shoulders.
At the time, Shi Jin hadn’t been able to think about anything else. They’d pinned him down and beaten him, and he couldn’t even lift his head. He had no idea how his roommates had acted.
He waved it off generously. “It’s fine. If you’d gotten hurt because of me, I’d feel terrible.”
“Hangzi asked me to apologize to you,” Wu Xiaochuan said. “He had no idea something like this would happen. He said Brother Yan had too much to drink and mistook Peach for someone else. He feels awful about the whole mess and promises he’ll make it up to you another time.”
Shi Jin’s expression darkened. “As long as they don’t come after us again. I don’t need an apology.”
If it weren’t for Hu Hang, he definitely would have called the police.
“Brother Yan has a lot of influence in Wancheng, Jinzi. Don’t do anything stupid. We’re just first-year students. Better to let it go,” Wu Xiaochuan urged.
Sun Dong agreed. “Brother Yan told Hangzi he’d pay the medical bills, compensation for emotional distress, and a high price for the phone Peach broke.”
Shi Jin said nothing. The truth was, he still didn’t know why Zhao Qingyan had suddenly backed down.
What had happened after he passed out?
He grabbed Sun Dong. “After I blacked out, did anything happen to Peach? Did she have to put up with anything?”
Shi Jin worried that Xu Tao might have swallowed her pride and humiliated herself to persuade Zhao Qingyan’s men to go easy on him.
At first, Sun Dong had felt awful. Seeing a girl surrounded and bullied by a group of people had been a blow to his pride as a man.
But later, after hearing Zhao Qingyan’s words, he’d started to sense there was more to it.
He teased, “Peach hasn’t been in Wancheng long, and she’s already met someone even more powerful than Brother Yan. If that person hadn’t stepped in, who knows how things would’ve ended tonight!”
Shi Jin froze. “What powerful person? I don’t know anyone like that.”
Sun Dong scratched his head. “Brother Yan said he was his cousin—a young master from one of Wancheng’s top wealthy families, someone who can decide whether you live or die with a single word. So you didn’t know Peach knew him?”
Xu Tao’s circle of friends was small. Shi Jin knew that. How could she know some rich young master?
Seeing the knowing looks on his roommates’ faces, Shi Jin felt uneasy.
Who had Peach met?
Why hadn’t she told him?