There were more than three hundred people in the group. As soon as Song Tingwan joined, people began posting memes made from Lin You’s photos.
The memes were vicious, with Lin You’s face photoshopped onto all kinds of disgusting images.
Song Tingwan felt anger surge through her chest, rising until she could barely contain it.
But reason told her that if she wanted to find Lin You, she had to stay calm.
Just then, someone tagged her and asked: 【Newbie, you’ve read the group rules, right? To make sure you’re not a spy, you have to prove yourself before joining.】
Prove herself?
Song Tingwan stared at her phone for a moment, then typed quickly: 【I went to high school with her.】
As soon as she sent the message, the others in the group started chiming in.
【Seriously?】
【A high school classmate? Then you must know plenty of dirt on her. Come on, spill!】
【Lin Jian must never have imagined she was so annoying that even her high school classmates couldn’t stand her.】
【Hahaha, she’s been hiding so well lately that we haven’t been able to find out anything about her.】
【Hey, newbie, say something.】
Song Tingwan took a deep breath, struggling to calm her anger, then quickly typed out a few words.
【When she was in her second year of high school, she wouldn’t let me copy her homework, so the teacher made me stand as punishment.】
【…】
【Seriously? That’s dirt?】
【Newbie, are you here to make us laugh?】
【You’re not actually a spy, are you…?】
【Could this be Lin You checking up on us with an alt?】
Song Tingwan clenched her phone. Just as her anger was about to reach its limit, someone suddenly posted a photo of an apartment complex and its location.
【I found where Lin You is hiding. It’s this complex. Anyone nearby, come help me corner her!】
【She dared to offend our Xixi. We have to make sure she learns the consequences!】
【Hurry over! Everyone gets two hundred yuan for their trouble, plus an autographed photo of Xixi~】
The whole group erupted, everyone cheering and shouting.
Song Tingwan quickly tapped the location. Once she confirmed the address, she ignored the group.
She hurried to the side of the road and anxiously waved down a taxi.
“Sixth Master, should we keep following her?”
In a black Maybach parked by the roadside, the bodyguard glanced in the rearview mirror at Fu Shiyan, seated in the back.
“Follow her.”
His cool voice rang out. The bodyguard didn’t dare delay and immediately started the car, following the taxi.
Before long, the two cars arrived one after the other outside an old residential complex.
Song Tingwan paid the fare, got out, and hurried inside.
Fu Shiyan lowered the window and watched her disappear into the complex. He had no idea what she was doing there, but seeing ride-hailing cars constantly stopping and pulling away at the entrance still made him uneasy.
He took a mask and put it on, then got out and followed her.
Inside the complex, Song Tingwan didn’t even need to ask for directions. She could see a number of young people wearing masks running in the same direction.
She followed the crowd further in. Before long, she saw a residential building surrounded by people.
Almost all of them wore masks and hats, bundled up so thoroughly that they were hard to recognize. Some clutched their phones; others carried leafy vegetables and eggs.
As soon as Song Tingwan got close, she heard them hurling vile abuse, with Lin You’s name in nearly every sentence.
The complex’s security guards had formed a human barrier at the entrance, while the property-management staff, sweating profusely, tried to persuade the crowd to leave.
But it was hardly working.
Song Tingwan had never seen anything like this. It upended everything she had thought she knew, both in this life and her previous one.
Though Song Tingwan had never encountered antis like these before, the moment she imagined Lin You hiding under her blanket and crying, her heart clenched.
She pushed into the crowd, shutting out the abuse as she fought her way toward the entrance.
Following behind her, Fu Shiyan saw the scene and immediately felt a headache coming on.
When he saw her swallowed up by the crowd, he forgot everything else and went straight after her.
“I live here. Please let me through.”
Song Tingwan tried to make up an excuse to get inside, but the situation was too chaotic. The security guards and property-management staff could no longer afford to check whether she was a resident; they could only keep urging her to leave.
If they let her in alone, the irrational antis would surge in after her.
Song Tingwan stamped her foot in frustration. Just as she was about to say something else, the crowd suddenly surged.
A police car drove toward them. The people around her began shouting and shoving, forcing her to stumble helplessly to one side.
Suddenly, a strong arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her into someone’s embrace just as she was about to be knocked over.
Song Tingwan instinctively thought it was some creep. She was just about to hit him when a familiar voice sounded by her ear.
“It’s me. Let’s get out of here first.”
Song Tingwan froze and quickly turned to look behind her.
Even with Fu Shiyan wearing a mask, Song Tingwan recognized his eyes.
It was strange: as he led her away from the crush of bodies, she felt remarkably calm. For a moment, she forgot that she should struggle, that she should keep her distance from him.
By the time Fu Shiyan led her away from the crowd to a quiet spot, Song Tingwan still hadn’t figured out why he was there.
Fu Shiyan said nothing, keeping his arm around her.
Warmth seeped through the fabric into his palm, along with a woman’s distinctive softness and fragrance. He couldn’t bring himself to pull his hand away.
His deep-set eyes lowered slowly, his gaze settling over Song Tingwan in his arms.
A sheen of sweat glistened at the girl’s temples. In the sunlight, the fine down on her skin was clearly visible, and her fair, luminous complexion looked delicate enough to break with a touch.
Song Tingwan breathed softly, her small nostrils flaring with each breath. Every detail was clear in Fu Shiyan’s eyes.
The longing he had buried deep in his heart for ten years broke through the walls he had built around it. Unable to control himself, he tightened his arms and held her close.
Caught off guard, Song Tingwan found herself wrapped tightly in his arms. Dappled sunlight fell beneath the trees, and warm gusts of wind carried the crisp scent of his cologne into her nose.
For a moment, she froze, utterly bewildered.
In her memories, Fu Shiyan had never liked being touched. Even during the three years Song Tingwan pursued him, she had only held his hand once.
Back then, she had thought it was simply the result of Fu Shiyan’s upbringing and personality.
She had even found that side of Fu Shiyan more interesting, and would tease him from time to time.
She had never realized it was because he didn’t like her that he wouldn’t let her touch him.
The memory cut off abruptly. A wave of bitterness and hurt welled up in Song Tingwan’s chest, and she shoved him away.
“Who said you could hug me?”
She glared at him like a cat bristling in alarm, every hair on end.
Her pale eyes, as clear as if steeped in ice and snow, were full of an anger Fu Shiyan couldn’t understand. It felt like countless sharp points stabbing into his flesh.
He parted his lips, about to speak, but her cold voice cut him off.
“If you’ve forgotten what I said that day, I can repeat it.”
“I was shallow. I liked your decent-looking face, then foolishly clung to you for three years.”
“But I, Song Tingwan, am not so shameless that I can’t let go. I know when to walk away.”
“You’re nothing special. Apart from that face, there’s nothing to like about you.”
“And I don’t want you anymore.”