Interaction
“What happened to my family?!”
Su Yuning raised her voice sharply, gripping the phone tightly.
“Don’t worry, I locked him up as soon as I noticed he was up to something. He might be causing some trouble right now,” Madam Quan took a deep breath, her voice tinged with exhaustion. “But rest assured, your family is safe. I won’t let him disturb them. As long as you don’t come back, everything is still under control.”
After finishing her evening work, Su Yuning returned to school, exhausted. The security guard yawned as he let her in.
She parked her electric scooter to charge and didn’t go upstairs. After careful consideration downstairs, she made this call to Madam Quan.
Her heart was filled with relief at the thought of returning to her normal life, mixed with a tinge of regret about leaving this place.
Yet after hanging up, she felt an unprecedented sense of confusion.
Why did Quan Jianqian do that?
Su Yuning slumped onto a bench, staring blankly at the tips of her shoes.
Time passed slowly, and her phone began to ring. The name “Zuo Xingyan” flashed on the screen, vibrating incessantly.
Su Yuning didn’t want to answer, but the caller showed no intention of hanging up.
Until someone followed the ringing sound and found her.
“Su Yuning, is that you?”
A flashlight beam shone on her. Su Yuning looked up and met a somewhat unfamiliar face.
She shielded her eyes from the light, squinting to see the person in a security guard uniform.
Another security guard, but she had no recollection of him—it wasn’t the BMW uncle.
“It really is you! I thought it looked like you earlier.”
The guard appeared to be around 40 years old. He shifted the flashlight beam slightly away from her eyes, but his gaze remained fixed on her.
“I’ve seen you before. I was the one who opened the gate for you a few days ago. Do you remember?”
Su Yuning tightened her grip on her phone and leaned back, shaking her head. “What do you want? If there’s nothing else, I need to go back to my dorm.”
She stood up to leave.
But the guard suddenly grew anxious. “Don’t go!” He grabbed her hand, speaking urgently. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since I saw you last time. Today, I finally got the chance to patrol and ran into you. Stay and talk with me.”
Su Yuning backed away repeatedly. “Stay away from me! I’ll scream if you come any closer.”
“Don’t scream, don’t scream,” he soothed. “I don’t mean any harm. I just want to sit with you alone for a while. Actually… my wife and I are planning to divorce. I heard you’re not from around here. What do you think about me? I have a house here, and I’m well-off. I promise I’ll treat you well. I’ll give you my monthly salary, and I’ll leave my wife and kids behind. Come with me.”
As he grabbed her wrist, Su Yuning kicked at him wildly and shouted, “Hel—”
Her mouth was covered by his other hand. The flashlight fell into the grass, attracting swarming insects.
“Don’t scream, or I might hurt you. I really don’t mean any harm…”
Amid the struggle, he didn’t hear any other sounds, nor did he notice the figure approaching from behind.
Su Yuning widened her eyes. Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw Zuo Xingyan rush over and punch the guard in the back of the head.
The man’s entire body stiffened.
Pulling the hand away from her face and ignoring the man now lying on the ground, Zuo Xingyan gripped her shoulders, looking her over. “Are you okay?”
Fear still lingered in Su Yuning’s eyes, and her body trembled slightly.
Zuo Xingyan glanced at the person on the ground, taking a deep breath to suppress the urge to deliver a few more blows. Carefully, he pulled her into his arms. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I’m here.”
It took a while before Su Yuning finally calmed down.
Slowly, she pulled away from his embrace.
“He—”
Zuo Xingyan shot a glance. “Not dead. I’ll have someone take care of it.” As he spoke, he made a call, and soon a few people jogged over. Zuo Xingyan pressed Su Yuning’s head against his chest, watching as they carried the man away.
“Don’t let him off easy.”
That was all he said.
After everyone had left, he patted her back soothingly. “What kind of lousy school is this? It’s full of all sorts of people. It’s too dangerous for a girl like you.”
Su Yuning remained silent.
He changed the subject to distract her, his hand brushing against something hard on her wrist.
Zuo Xingyan lifted her arm to take a look. “Did you buy something? It looks nice on you.”
Of course it looked nice—it cost 980.
Feeling down, Su Yuning pushed him away and stood up. “I want to go back to the dorm.”
“I’ll walk you.”
This time, she didn’t refuse.
Zuo Xingyan slowed his pace and walked beside her.
“Why bother working part-time? Don’t you have enough money? I can transfer some to you.”
“No need.”
Zuo Xingyan scratched his head, a little displeased. “Then from now on, I’ll pick you up every night. Don’t wander around on your own.”
Su Yuning didn’t agree either.
But Zuo Xingyan stubbornly insisted, accompanying her back and forth for several days in a row.
Once again, after seeing her off to the dormitory building, Zuo Xingyan watched her go upstairs, hands in his pockets, and said:
“See you tomorrow.”
But Su Yuning suddenly turned around and stared at him. “Zuo Xingyan, don’t you think this is strange? What exactly do you like about me?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Everything. I can’t even sleep at night when I think of you.”
Su Yuning’s mind was a mess. She even wondered if she could use Zuo Xingyan to get back at Quan Jianqian.
She had heard that his family had a lot of influence. If he was by her side, maybe she wouldn’t have so many troubles.
In a moment of impulse, she blurted out, “If you really like me… maybe we could give it a try.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Turning to leave, she added, “You didn’t hear anything.”
But Zuo Xingyan’s eyes suddenly lit up. He rushed over in two large strides, picked Su Yuning up, and planted a firm kiss on her cheek. “Sweetheart, you finally agreed!”
Neither of them noticed the figure standing not far away.
“Young Master…”
The driver looked worriedly at Lu Ji,
who stood motionless, his eyes fixed on the scene of the two embracing.
Every night, he had followed Su Yuning, silently escorting her back to school.
Today, he had also seen the secretly recorded video from the restaurant. Their actions had caused trouble for Su Yuning. He wanted to apologize to her but hadn’t found the right opportunity.
Thinking of Su Yuning, he decided to come by and take a glance at the light in her dorm room.
Instead, he saw Zuo Xingyan lifting her into his arms, and she didn’t struggle.
In an instant, it felt as if the sky had collapsed and the earth had split open. An unfamiliar pain surged in his chest, leaving Lu Ji even forgetting how to breathe.
Only when the driver reminded him did he gasp sharply, choking and coughing a few times, his chest aching. It felt as if all the blood in his body had drained away, leaving him cold all over.
The driver was startled by his suddenly pale face and hurriedly took him back to the dormitory, calling the school doctor. However, that night, Lu Ji still developed a high fever, burning so fiercely that he became delirious, continuously murmuring someone’s name in his mouth.
The high fever persisted, and neither the driver nor the school dared to keep this young master there any longer, quickly sending him back to Lu Xu.
Upon hearing that his precious younger brother was ill, Lu Xu immediately set aside his work and rushed over. After learning the reason, he found it utterly unbelievable.
“Just because that girl is with someone else? And he ended up in this state?”
Lu Xu’s voice trembled with anger, frustrated at his brother’s lack of resilience. Yet, seeing Lu Ji still lying in bed receiving an IV drip, he couldn’t bring himself to scold him further for being weak. Instead, he sneered repeatedly, “Fine, I want to see what kind of girl this is, who could have my brother so utterly bewitched!”