Back To The Past To Cherish You - Chapter 3

Si Chun was furious!

Damn it! Who was bullying her girlfriend?!

After taking Ling Yan to the school nurse’s office, Si Chun could think of nothing else.

“Nothing serious. They’re all minor injuries.” The nurse dabbed red antiseptic on Ling Yan’s wounds, gave her some iodine solution and adhesive bandages, told her to keep the wounds dry for the next couple of days, and let them leave.

“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something in my mom’s office first?” Si Chun asked eagerly as soon as they stepped outside. “My mom’s a music teacher. Her office is just upstairs—it’s really close!”

“…Okay.” The girl gripped the plastic bag of medical supplies tightly and kept her head down, perhaps looking at the wounds on her legs.

Si Chun’s heart ached for her. As soon as they reached her mother’s office, she unfolded the reclining chair and brought it over so Ling Yan could sit in it while she ate.

She watched Ling Yan devour the little bread rolls and waited patiently for a while before taking a comb from a drawer. “Can I comb your hair?”

Young Ling Yan didn’t say much, but she was very good about it. After hesitating for a few seconds, she leaned her head toward Si Chun.

“Do you usually tie it up, or leave it down like this?”

“Either is fine.”

So Si Chun simply smoothed her hair. She knew very well that her girlfriend didn’t like tying it up.

“I’ve done the back. Can you turn around?”

The obliging girl set down both her bread roll and her drink, then turned to face her.

Ling Yan was of mixed heritage. She had deep blue eyes and long, smooth black hair that partly covered the small, beautiful mole beneath her left eye. Her cool, aloof air made her look like an elegant cat. That had been Si Chun’s first impression of Ling Yan when they met at a club event in their first year of university.

Later, after they moved in together and became a couple, all Si Chun had to do was lean toward her. Without a word, Ling Yan would turn and lift her face, letting Si Chun kiss the mole beneath her eye and then make her way down as she pleased.

Si Chun stared blankly at young Ling Yan for a few seconds before coming to her senses. She pushed down those strange thoughts and carefully combed the hair around Ling Yan’s face.

What an adorable adolescent kitty!

Although the Si Chun in front of her was only a girl, Ling Yan felt the familiar warmth of her care.

For a moment, she didn’t know where to put her hands. She couldn’t even keep her thoughts under control and could only helplessly “watch” them wander.

Could she and Si Chun… really meet this early?

But what would happen in the future?

Si Chun was so good. She deserved a peaceful, tranquil life. Ling Yan would only consume all her energy, deliberately or otherwise, and draw her into an endless cycle of pain with her!

“…I should go home.” At that thought, Ling Yan stood up. “My family is waiting for me for dinner.”

In reality, no one but Si Chun and Ms. Si Jiao would ever wait for her.

To her uncle and aunt’s family, she was an unwanted burden. As long as she lived with them, they had one more person to cook for.

And she truly had lost her real family.

If Si Chun hadn’t seen her locked in the classroom today, she might have let her go.

But when she thought of the silent dark horse who had endured three years before emerging when the high school entrance exam results came out, Si Chun couldn’t help wondering whether Ling Yan’s family had been among the people who hurt her.

She was ashamed to admit that, after three years together, she still didn’t know what Ling Yan’s family circumstances were like. All she knew was that Ling Yan had been unhappy at home. She would rather rent a place of her own long term and didn’t even want to go back for the New Year.

Some people made a habit of telling their partners about their families and how they got along after they started dating.

Si Chun was one of them. Once she had decided that this was the person she loved, and that the person’s character and principles were worthy of her trust, she laid every part of herself bare for her to see.

But she didn’t mind whether her partner could do the same. When she realized Ling Yan didn’t want to talk about the family she grew up in, Si Chun simply removed the subject from their conversations.

The pain caused by one’s family was like a mire. Even gathering those experiences up and reaching a point where they no longer mattered was difficult. She didn’t want her relentless questions to become thorns driven into Ling Yan, disrupting the warm, peaceful life they shared.

From beginning to end, the person Si Chun believed in was the one who spent every day beside her. It was Ling Yan’s own thoughts, feelings, and wishes that mattered to her.

Si Chun pressed her lips together, then gathered her courage and asked, “What are you going to tell them about what happened today?”

“That I stayed a while because I couldn’t solve a few problems.” Young Ling Yan clearly had no intention of telling her family.

“But you were bullied!” Si Chun couldn’t help raising her voice. “You can’t hide something like this from your family! I wouldn’t even blame them if they came to the school and made a fuss!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ling Yan replied casually. Then she looked up and met Si Chun’s blazing eyes, and for a moment, she froze.

To the twelve-year-old Si Chun, she must look like a helpless child who had been terribly bullied and had nowhere to turn.

Ling Yan gazed into those bright, clear eyes for a few seconds. Then a thought flashed through her mind: she might as well tell her.

After all, this was a dream, or her life flashing before her eyes as she died. There was no reason to hide anything.

Most of all, no matter how much she said here, the real Si Chun would never know.

“No one would take it seriously,” she said, changing her answer. “‘It takes two to make a quarrel.’ ‘Flies don’t land on uncracked eggs.’ ‘If you’re the only one they bully, you must have done something wrong first.’”

—“If a good student gets bullied, it must be because she acts too arrogant.”

—“What would they gain from bullying you? There’s nothing in it for them, and they’d get told off if a teacher caught them. Yet they keep picking on you anyway. Yanyan, you need to think carefully about whether you’ve offended someone lately.”

—“You were forced to transfer from an elite school. You need to understand where you stand now.”

—“If you put all your energy into studying, you wouldn’t cry over something like this. You’re old enough to know better than to weep over such a small thing.”

Whether it was her “family,” her rigid homeroom teacher, her subject teachers, or her classmates, she had never once seen anyone stand beside her.

She had finally grown old enough to find the courage to look back. But the scars left then had already become a permanent part of her, and healing them would be difficult.

“Who said that?!”

Si Chun’s voice rose sharply. “How narrow-minded can they be? Have they never heard of people ganging up to frame someone? The people doing the bullying know better than anyone that their victim is innocent!”

Anyone could have made that argument. Perhaps it was because Si Chun was the one saying it, but Ling Yan lost herself for a moment. When she came back to her senses, she found the corners of her mouth had lifted, and she could hardly make them come down.

“I think they’re framing me too, so… I have even less idea what to do.” Still, she lowered her eyes, curled her fingers inward, and spoke softly in a helpless voice.

“I’ll help you!”

Si Chun answered without hesitation. “But what we do is up to you. If you don’t like my idea, we’ll think of something else! There’s always a way!”

Ling Yan blinked in surprise and waited curiously for her to continue.

“Transfer into my class. I’ll look out for you!” Si Chun was already unhappy with Ling Yan’s surroundings. Discovering that there were bullies in that class made her angrier still. “We can eat lunch together and even go to the bathroom together between classes. No one will get a chance to bully you! Everyone in my class is nice, and the teachers really look after us!”

If the environment was bad, they could change it.

Ling Yan was perfectly capable of producing grades that would convince anyone. Si Chun had already spoken to Ms. Yu, too. Zhiting No. 3 Middle School had limited teaching resources, and the teachers knew they needed to pull together. If Ms. Yu wanted Ling Yan in her class, a conversation with Ling Yan’s family should be all it took to arrange the transfer.

Even so, Si Chun was extremely nervous after making the suggestion.

Class Five had been Ling Yan’s family’s choice, after all. Whatever their reason—connections or convenience—leaving it would undoubtedly embarrass people who cared about saving face.

She didn’t yet know what Ling Yan was like at twelve. But the problem had to be resolved, and quickly. That was why she had made it clear that Ling Yan had other choices before offering this solution. She would adjust her plans to what Ling Yan wanted.

Ling Yan truly hadn’t expected this to be an option. After hearing it, she couldn’t help smiling bitterly to herself.

Exactly the same.

Si Chun could always cut away the rotten flesh without hesitation and apply the best medicine to the wound.

But some scars, once the best time for treatment had passed, could no longer be restored to how they had been. Trying would only drain the person tending them.

It was such a simple truth. Ling Yan knew Si Chun understood it too. Si Chun had simply never considered giving up on Ling Yan.

She really had planned to stay in Class Five until she could make the situation blow up and leave everyone who took part, along with everyone who stood by and watched, ashamed.

But Si Chun had held up the faintest glimmer of light, and Ling Yan had followed it like a moth to a flame.

At the very least, she couldn’t disappoint the young Si Chun in her dream.

Half an hour later, Si Chun met Ling Yan’s family.

A man in a smart suit nodded and bowed to Ms. Yu. He introduced himself as Ling Yan’s uncle, Ling Decai, and apologized that, because he had another child to care for at home, he would have to keep their conversation as brief as possible.

“I have two children myself, three years apart,” Ms. Yu said, pushing up her glasses. Her aged eyes were sharp beneath the wrinkles around them. “No matter how busy I am, I would never forget the older one because I was attending to the younger.”

“Your child was bullied as soon as she transferred. She was slapped, had her fingers bent back and her legs kicked, and was locked in a classroom. It’s happened more than once, yet before today, none of her subject teachers had heard a word about it. If a kind student hadn’t happened to pass by and find her, she would have been shut in there until security made its rounds at six or seven!”

Ling Decai hurried to respond. “Yes, yes, you’re right to criticize me! She’s been introverted since she was little and doesn’t like telling adults when something’s wrong…”

“Don’t the adults bear any responsibility?” Si Chun, who was listening in, immediately cut in. “Have you ever wondered why other children can go home and openly tell their families when they’ve been bullied, while your child has to keep it all bottled up? Was she born liking being bullied?”

Ms. Yu was forthright herself. She merely glanced at Si Chun without disputing a word she’d said, then silently studied the embarrassed man in front of her.

After a long pause, she told Si Chun to take Ling Yan to dinner first. Only when both girls had left did she ask in a grave voice, “Where are Ling Yan’s parents? Why are her uncle and aunt raising her?”

Si Chun had a rough idea of what Ms. Yu intended to ask. Questions about the injuries really weren’t suitable for Ling Yan to hear, so she promptly took her away.

It was already late, and the student cafeteria had stopped serving food. Si Chun took Ling Yan to the nearby teachers’ cafeteria instead and handed over the meal card her mother had left for her. “Pick whatever you like. Have anything you want. It’s my treat.”

They happened to have crispy chicken pieces and chicken-and-cartilage skewers that evening. Si Chun remembered that Ling Yan liked them, so she asked the server for an extra helping, arranged them on a plate, and pushed it toward her. “Want to try some? I really like these.”

The quiet girl murmured an answer and picked up a skewer. After silently eating half of it, she suddenly looked at Si Chun and parted her lips, but stopped herself.

Si Chun noticed at once and hurried to ask, “What did you want to say? I’m listening!”

Tears immediately welled up in those deep blue eyes.

“Take me away,” Si Chun heard young Ling Yan say through a sob. “I’ve saved some money. I’ll pay you for letting me stay, and I won’t be a burden. I… I don’t want to go back to that house full of exploitation and lies!”