Chapter 11

When she came out of the library, the sky outside was dim and dark.

Xi Panpan was waiting for her again and handed over a thermos. “Boss, remember to drink this.”

Su Linye’s eyes were full of confusion.

Xi Panpan said, “It’s tea for treating your throat, clearing heat, and reducing internal fire. I went home at noon today and brewed it.”

Su Linye’s eyes widened slightly. She took out her phone and typed: You brewed it yourself?

Xi Panpan nodded. “I specially looked up what should be used to treat it. Boss, don’t worry and drink it.”

Su Linye was moved: Thank you, Little Potato Chip.

Then she remembered something else: Are you free tomorrow?

Xi Panpan blinked and did not ask why. “I’m free.”

Su Linye lowered her head and typed a very long paragraph before showing it to her:

I signed up for a martial arts class. Let’s go learn fighting together. That way, you won’t have to be afraid of your dad hitting you anymore.

Xi Panpan froze.

She had told Su Linye before about being abused at home. Afterward, Su Linye had never brought it up again. So she had actually been thinking about a solution this whole time?

She stared blankly at Su Linye, at the expectant, encouraging smile on that face whose baby fat had not yet fully disappeared. Her eyes were clear, bright, and spirited. Her gaze was as gentle as tonight’s moonlight.

Different.

Su Linye saw that she had not spoken for a long time and tapped her: Are you going?

Xi Panpan did not answer the question. Instead, she suddenly jumped topics. “Boss, have you gotten closer with Lu Jiang?”

Su Linye did not understand why she had suddenly jumped to this, but she still answered along with her words: It’s all right. I wouldn’t say we’re close.

Xi Panpan asked, “Then Boss, you want to keep improving your relationship with her, right?”

Su Linye thought about it: What I did before keeps making my conscience uneasy. I want to do my best to make it up to her. Once I pay back the money, I’ll probably keep my distance.

After all, Lu Jiang was the protagonist. It would be enough for Su Linye to avoid the original ending, watch from afar as Lu Jiang fell in love, and ship the couple on the side.

Xi Panpan said, “You’ll keep your distance after paying it back?”

Su Linye nodded.

A gust of wind came from nowhere, cool and clear. It lifted their hair and hid their faces.

The silence lasted a little long. Su Linye poked her again:

Are you going?

Xi Panpan brushed her hair aside and tucked it behind her ear, pressing out a smile at her lips. “I won’t go, Boss. You don’t have much money to begin with. Once you learn, you can help me fight back.”

Su Linye’s attitude was firm: Money isn’t a problem. Go. Once you learn, you can protect yourself.

In her previous life, she had always wanted to learn, but even if she worked five jobs a day, she still had not had the money to do it. Now she could finally fulfill that dream.

Su Linye had already begun imagining the super cool scene where, after learning, someone surrounded her. She would calmly toss down her backpack, curl a finger, and say, “Come.” Then in two or three moves, she would knock them all down until they knelt and called her ancestor. She would ignore them, only picking her bag up from the ground, patting the dust off it, and striding away.

Ah. So satisfying.

Xi Panpan did not know what was going on in her mind.

She shook her head firmly. “There’s really no need, Boss. Actually, after being hit so many times, I have experience now. I can usually avoid it. He doesn’t dare hit me casually anymore.”

Su Linye still wanted to persuade her, but Xi Panpan refused to look at her phone no matter what. Su Linye was so anxious she almost opened her mouth to speak.

That night at the hotpot restaurant, she righteously and repeatedly refused the boss and her coworkers’ proposal to stay and eat hotpot together to celebrate the weekend. After successfully adding the contact information she should have added long ago, Su Linye went home under a ground full of clear moonlight.

Then she was blocked again.

Su Linye: “…………”

In her heart, she raised her middle finger. Next week, she really should apply to stay on campus during weekends too.

Forcing her noodle-soft legs to hold her up, she kept her face calm and began gesturing: What do you want?

The people across from her could not understand and impatiently interrupted, “What the hell are you waving your hands around for? Someone told us to beat you up.”

Su Linye’s legs went even softer. She stayed calm and looked for an opening. These people had surrounded her tightly without leaving even the slightest gap. All she could do was try to delay for time and see whether she could find a chance to escape.

She took out the paper and pen Gu Feng had contributed and began writing quickly.

As for why she did not use her phone, it was because the phone was too expensive. She was afraid that if these people saw it, they would snatch it away. She did not currently have extra money to buy a new one.

One second before those people swung their arms, cracked their joints, and prepared to show off their fists and feet, Su Linye thrust the paper forward:

Why are you beating me? Who sent you? Can I pay you not to hit me?

The burly man leading them, his face full of harsh flesh, had a cigarette between his lips. Through the gray-white smoke, he narrowed his eyes and sized Su Linye up. Then he tilted his head, spat out the cigarette, and punched her.

Su Linye had no time to dodge. She was struck hard in the stomach, unable to breathe for a moment as her vision went black in waves. Then came a twisting pain that surged up like a tide, as if someone were holding a hard object and stirring it back and forth inside her. She bent over, clutching her stomach and dry-heaving.

The man was not done. He grabbed her hair, yanked her up, and punched her in the face again.

Su Linye saw stars from the blow. The taste of blood spread through her mouth, but her hand gripped his hand tightly, her nails wishing they could wedge into him and tear off a chunk of flesh.

The man was hurt by her grip and started cursing. While pressing her head downward, he raised his knee and slammed it hard into her face.

Pain shot through Su Linye’s nose, and two bean-sized tears rolled from her eyes.

She clenched her teeth tightly and did not make a sound. Letting go of his hand, she blindly clawed around in the air. The instant she touched his face, her nails ruthlessly dug into his flesh and raked upward, then she used all her strength to gouge toward his eye.

The man screamed hoarsely in pain and released her.

Su Linye straightened up, raised a hand to wipe the blood from her face, and stared viciously at the three people opposite her.

The man covered his bleeding eye with one hand while glaring at her fiercely. Covered in blood, he looked even more sinister.

Although Su Linye hurt all over and her body was trembling slightly from fear, she controlled it. She looked straight at him and pulled out a smile at the corner of her lips.

Seeing their boss clawed like that, the lackeys were suddenly enraged and charged at her with shouts.

Su Linye knew she could not beat them, and she did not want to clash with them head-on.

She grabbed her backpack and swung it wildly twice, but her strength was no match for two people. When the backpack was grabbed, she made a prompt decision and smashed it toward them.

Then she turned and ran for her life.

The wind blew straight into her face, making her bloodshot eyes blur. Her nose burned with sharp pain, and her stomach hurt so badly it was difficult to breathe.

She had not run far before Su Linye’s steps grew heavy. She forced herself to keep running a few more steps, only daring to stop once she reached the busy commercial area. Holding onto a pillar, she bent over and vomited.

But because she had not eaten much that night, she could not throw anything up.

Su Linye did not have time to recover. She took out her phone and called the police.

Those people were probably habitual offenders and ran very quickly. By the time the police arrived, they were already gone. There were no surveillance cameras in that place either, so the police could only comfort her with a few words and promise they would continue investigating.

A female police officer wanted to take her to the hospital. Su Linye did not want to trouble her, so she politely refused the kindness and walked out of the station alone.

The night was very dark. The starry sky had vanished without a trace. The night wind blew recklessly, with no concern for life or death. The roadside was lively. Groups of people passed by her, laughing, joking, or scolding fondly.

A stray dog by the road tucked its tail and dodged the passing cars. Occasionally, someone in a bad mood by the roadside would kick it, and it would whimper as it left.

Su Linye’s hair fell messily, covering the injuries on her face.

She took a while to recover, then took out her phone and found the nearest hospital on the map.

A hospital was always a place that never stopped. Nighttime was no different, and there were many people.

Su Linye registered for emergency care, tilted her head, and leaned against the chair, Read on BaiLianTaleswaiting for the doctor to call her name.

She had already been tired from the whole day, and after going through something like this, Su Linye’s energy was almost completely drained.

She closed her eyes and was about to drift off in a daze.

Vaguely, she seemed to hear someone calling her name.

Su Linye’s lashes trembled, and she struggled to open her eyes.

Once again, she saw someone familiar.

Suddenly, she really wanted to laugh. What kind of fate was this? How did they keep running into each other every time? Was it really this much of a coincidence?

Lu Jiang asked, “You were beaten?”

Su Linye rested her forehead against the wall and nodded up and down, waiting for the other girl’s sarcasm.

But Lu Jiang only asked, “Who?”

Su Linye opened her mouth, but her throat could no longer make any sound at all. She did not have the strength to take out her phone and type, so she could only shake her head.

Lu Jiang turned her head and looked at the queue ahead, then let her gaze fall on the miserable person in front of her. The fingers hanging at her side lightly rubbed together, as if she were hesitating over something. But when she touched upon Su Linye’s utterly wretched appearance, her hand suddenly loosened. “Come with me.”

Su Linye did not know what she wanted to do, but she truly had no strength left. She [stolen content]moved a little and only let out several urgent, low coughs from her throat.

Lu Jiang rubbed her brow, stepped forward, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up.

Her movements could not really be called gentle. Su Linye stumbled along behind her and still had the mood to think that if the protagonist took her away and sold her, she could only obediently surrender right now.

But clearly, the eldest daughter of the illustrious Qinglu Group did not need the little bit of money she would get from selling her.

In her grogginess, Su Linye was brought into a private hospital room. A doctor came in and spoke with Lu Jiang. After that, she only knew that she had been examined, and then she completely passed out.

When she opened her eyes again, what she saw was not the mottled ceiling of the school infirmary or the hanging lamp full of tiny insect corpses, but the carefully decorated wall of a high-end hospital room.

Su Linye’s mouth was dry and her throat was parched. She tried to move her body, but a dull pain swept through her whole body. Looking again, she saw an IV needle inserted into the back of her hand.

She could only stare at the water cup by the bed and imagine that she had already drunk from it.

A slender, fair hand reached over and picked up the cup.

Lu Jiang handed the water to her. “Quenching thirst by staring at a cup?”

Su Linye had recovered a little strength. She struggled to sit up and took it, then defended herself weakly in a voice like a broken gong. “I just woke up. I hadn’t recovered my strength yet.”

Her rough voice was like sandpaper grinding against metal.

Hearing it made Lu Jiang’s eardrums throb. She raised a hand and pressed her temple. unauthorized copy “Stop talking. Drink.”

Su Linye tipped her head back and gulped down the entire cup.

Lu Jiang asked, “Want more?”

Su Linye shook her head and opened her mouth to express herself.

Lu Jiang pointed at the table. “Phone.”

Su Linye: “…………”

I get it. You really dislike my voice.

Grumbling inwardly, she groped for her phone, typed, and showed it to Lu Jiang: Thank you. How much was it? I’ll transfer it to you.

Lu Jiang said, “No need.”

Su Linye held it up firmly, her face solemn as she even nodded heavily.

Need to. Need to.

Lu Jiang looked at the time and did not argue much, giving an answer. “Two thousand.”

Su Linye froze.

This cost had truly exceeded her expectations.

Lu Jiang still had something to do, so she opened her payment code and handed it over.

Holding onto a what-if hope, Su Linye cracked one eye open and tapped her balance.

In an instant, her heart turned cold.

She had used the money to pay the registration fee, and there was only a little over one thousand left.

She looked up and met Lu Jiang’s gaze, then smiled awkwardly.

She frantically tapped on the keyboard, but before she could finish typing, Lu Jiang received a message. After reading it, her brows furrowed. “Next time.”

Leaving those words behind, she did not even have time to wait for Su Linye’s answer before quickly leaving.

Su Linye let out a breath of relief and awkwardly took the pillow to cover her face.

She had said she would keep her distance after paying back the money, but in the end, she owed more and more. Not only did she owe money, she also owed favors.

She sighed gloomily.

How many years would it take to pay all this back?

Right.

Su Linye suddenly remembered that she had not had time to ask why Lu Jiang was at the hospital. Was she sick? Judging by how anxious she looked, she was probably here to visit someone?

After only getting examined at the hospital and confirming that nothing was wrong, Su Linye was discharged that afternoon.

Lu Jiang really was a good person. She had even helped pick up Su Linye’s bag.

Su Linye slung the bag over her shoulder and headed straight to the fighting class.

She swore she would wash away her shame.

Only after arriving at the martial arts class did Su Linye realize she had thought too simply.

First, she warmed up every part of her body for fifteen minutes. Then she learned stance and footwork. For someone who did not exercise, completing the tasks above had already left her panting, let alone the fact that she was also injured.

After the coach taught several escape methods, she let them practice freely.

Su Linye could not knock others down. Instead, she was knocked down by others several times, falling in all kinds of bizarre ways and beginning to doubt her life.

After finally waiting until it ended, she lay on the ground and did not want to move at all.

The girl partnered with her was naturally friendly. [stolen content]After chatting for a bit and learning how the injury on her face came about, she pulled Su Linye away without another word to watch an underground boxing match, grandly calling it observation and study.

Su Linye, who was dizzy and confused as she was dragged into a dim venue: ??

She stood in the stands and looked around with the mindset of, well, since she was already here.

The entire space was fairly large, but there were also too many people. The ceiling was very high, around three or four stories tall. The clamor echoed several times, making it even noisier, almost enough to blow the roof off. All natural light was blocked inside, replaced with spotlights. At this moment, the match had not yet begun. The lights flickered and shifted, oppressive and surreal.

Su Linye had just finished looking around when her partner excitedly patted her arm. “It’s starting, it’s starting.”

Inside the small “beast cage” stood two people, making final preparations and tightening the half-finger gloves on their hands.

Su Linye felt that one of them looked a little familiar.

She could not help narrowing her eyes and leaning forward. The instant she remembered, her eyes widened.

Pale skin, delicate features, short hair reaching her neck. If she closed those gloomy, bloodthirsty eyes, wasn’t this Meng Tao, the one Qin Yu had praised as much cuter when she was asleep?!

Wasn’t she injured and in the hospital? How could she be here?

And how could she be here to fight this kind of illegal underground match with a life-or-death waiver?!

Wait. Wasn’t Meng Tao a poor little thing bullied by street thugs?!

Su Linye suddenly felt dizzy again.