Chapter 3

Si Chun was furious!

Who the hell was bullying her girlfriend?!

After bringing Ling Yan to the school infirmary, Si Chun’s entire attention remained fixed on her.

“Nothing serious. They’re all minor injuries.” The school nurse on duty applied red antiseptic to Ling Yan’s wounds, gave her some povidone-iodine and adhesive bandages, and reminded her not to let the wounds get wet for the next two days before allowing them to leave.

“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat something in my mom’s office first?” The instant they stepped out of the infirmary, Si Chun eagerly asked, “My mom is a music teacher. Her office is upstairs—it’s really close!”

“…Okay.” The girl tightly gripped the plastic bag containing the medicine, her head still lowered, perhaps because she was looking at the injuries on her legs.

Si Chun’s heart ached terribly for her. As soon as they reached her mother’s office, she immediately unfolded the reclining chair and pushed it over, letting Ling Yan sit there while she ate.

Watching her ravenously devour the little bread rolls, Si Chun waited patiently for a while before taking a comb from the drawer. “Can I comb your hair for you?”

The young Ling Yan did not like to speak, but she was very obedient. After hesitating for a few seconds, she leaned her head toward Si Chun.

“Do you usually tie your hair up, or do you prefer wearing it down like this?”

“Either is fine.”

Si Chun merely smoothed out her hair. She knew perfectly well that her girlfriend did not like tying it up.

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

The well-behaved girl set down both the bread rolls and her drink, then turned to face her.

Ling Yan was of mixed heritage, with a pair of deep blue eyes. Her smooth, long black hair partially concealed the small, beautiful black mole beneath her left eye, while the cool, aloof air surrounding her made her look remarkably like an aristocratic cat—this had been Si Chun’s first impression of Ling Yan when they met at a university club activity during their freshman year.

Later, after they moved in together and officially became a couple, whenever Si Chun leaned close, she did not need to say a word. Ling Yan would turn and raise her face, allowing Si Chun to kiss the black mole beneath her eye before making her way downward and doing as she pleased.

After staring blankly into the young Ling Yan’s eyes for several seconds, Si Chun hurriedly came back to her senses. Suppressing the subtle thoughts stirring within her, she carefully combed the hair around the girl’s face.

What an adorable adolescent kitty!

The person sitting before her was clearly only the young Si Chun, yet Ling Yan felt the same familiar care and concern from her.

For a moment, she did not know where to put her hands. She could not even properly control her thoughts and could only helplessly “watch” as they wandered.

Could she and Si Chun…really become connected so early in life?

But what would happen in the future?

Si Chun was such a wonderful person. She deserved a peaceful, tranquil life. Ling Yan would only devour all her strength and energy, whether intentionally or not, forcing Si Chun to endure alongside her an endless cycle of suffering with no escape!

“…I have to go home.” At that thought, Ling Yan rose to her feet. “My family is waiting for me to eat dinner.”

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

To her uncle and aunt’s family, she was a troublesome burden. With her around, they had to cook an extra person’s share of food.

And she truly had already lost her real family.

If Si Chun had not seen her locked inside the classroom today, she might have let her leave.

But when she thought about that silent dark horse who had endured for three years before bursting onto the scene when the high school entrance examination results were announced, Si Chun could not help wondering whether Ling Yan’s family and guardians might also have been among those who harmed her.

It was embarrassing to admit, but despite dating Ling Yan for three years, Si Chun knew nothing about her family situation. She only knew that Ling Yan felt uncomfortable at home and would rather rent a place elsewhere for years than return home during the Lunar New Year.

Some people, after entering a relationship, naturally took the initiative to talk about their families and how they normally interacted with them.

Si Chun was one of those people. Once she decided that this was the person she wanted to be with and confirmed that her partner’s character and morals were worthy of trust, she would take every part of herself apart and lay it completely bare for her to see.

But she did not care whether her partner could do the same. After realizing that Ling Yan did Read on BaiLianTalesnot want to discuss her family of origin, Si Chun simply erased the topic from their relationship.

The suffering caused by one’s family of origin was like a mire. Merely gathering up those experiences and ceasing to care or concern oneself with them was already difficult enough. She did not want their warm and peaceful life together to be transformed, through her relentless questioning, into another sharp thorn stabbing Ling Yan.

From beginning to end, the person she accepted was the one who spent every day by her side. She cared only about Ling Yan’s own thoughts, feelings, and attitude.

Pressing her lips together, Si Chun gathered her courage and asked, “How are you going to explain what happened today to them?”

“I couldn’t solve a few questions, so I stayed behind for a while.” The young Ling Yan clearly had no intention of telling her family anything.

“But you were bullied!” Si Chun could not help raising her voice. “You can’t hide something like this from your family! Even if they came to the school and caused a scene, I wouldn’t think they were overreacting!”

“It doesn’t matter,” Ling Yan replied casually. When she raised her eyes and met Si Chun’s nearly fire-spitting gaze, she froze.

In the twelve-year-old Si Chun’s eyes, she probably looked like a helpless child who had been horribly bullied and had nowhere to turn or even cry.

After staring into those bright, clear eyes for several seconds, a thought suddenly flashed through Ling Yan’s mind: Then tell her.

She was inside a dream anyway, or perhaps watching her life flash before her eyes as she died. There was no reason to hide anything.

Most importantly, no matter how much she revealed here, the real Si Chun would never know.

“No one would take it seriously.” And so she changed her answer. “‘It takes two hands to clap.’ ‘Flies don’t land on uncracked eggs.’ ‘If [bailiantales.com]they only bully you, you must have done something wrong first.’”

—“If a good student gets bullied, it must be because you act and speak too arrogantly.”

—“What could they possibly gain from bullying you? There’s no benefit, and they’ll even be reprimanded if a teacher catches them. If they still insist on targeting you despite that, Yanyan, you need to reflect carefully on whether you’ve offended someone recently.”

—“You were forced to transfer here from an elite school. You need to understand your current place.”

—“If you devoted all your attention to studying, you wouldn’t cry whenever something like this happened. You’re already this old, yet you’re still crying over something so trivial.”

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

By the time she finally grew old enough to muster the courage to look back, the scars had already formed. They had been permanently branded into her as part of who she was and could no longer truly heal.

“Who said that?!”

Ling Yan heard Si Chun’s voice rise instantly. “How shallow and narrow-minded can they be?! Have they never heard of people banding together to frame someone? The people who attack the victim know better than anyone how innocent the victim is!”

Everyone understood the principle. Yet perhaps because Si Chun was the one saying it, Ling Yan lost herself for a moment. When she came back to her senses, she discovered that the corners of her lips had curved upward and seemed impossible to suppress.

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

“I’ll help you!”

Si Chun responded without hesitation. “But we have to do this according to what you want. If you think my idea won’t work, we’ll find another way! There’s always a solution!”

Ling Yan froze, blinked, and silently waited with curiosity for her to continue.

“Transfer into my class. I’ll protect you!” Si Chun had already been dissatisfied with Ling Yan’s current environment. Now that she had discovered there was even worthless scum bullying her there, she was more displeased than ever. “We can eat lunch together, and we can even go to the restroom together during breaks. No one will get a chance to bully you! Besides, everyone in my class is really nice, and all the subject teachers take good care of us!”

If the environment was terrible, then they would simply replace it.

It was not as though Ling Yan could not produce convincing grades. Si Chun had also spoken to Teacher Yu in advance. Zhiting No. 3 Middle School had limited educational resources, and all the teachers understood that they needed to pull together and focus their efforts. As long as Teacher Yu wanted to recruit Ling Yan and discussed it with her family, changing classes would require nothing more than a few words.

Even so, after saying all that, Si Chun felt extremely nervous.

After all, Class Five had been chosen by Ling Yan’s family. Whatever their reason—whether they had pulled strings or merely found it more convenient—leaving Class Five would undoubtedly be a slap in the face to certain people who cared deeply about appearances.

She still did not know what kind of personality Ling Yan had at twelve, but the problem had to be resolved, and quickly. That was why she had offered Ling Yan another option before proposing her solution, and she would adjust her plans later according to Ling Yan’s wishes.

Ling Yan truly had not expected such an option. After hearing it, she could not help smiling bitterly to herself.

Exactly the same.

Si Chun could always decisively cut away the rotten flesh and ​bailiantales.com​apply the finest medicine to her wounds.

But some scars, once the most effective period for healing had passed, could never be restored to their original state. Any further attempt would only waste the healer’s effort and energy.

It was such a simple truth. Ling Yan knew that Si Chun understood it too. Si Chun had simply never once considered the possibility of “giving up on Ling Yan.”

Originally, she had truly intended to remain in Class Five until she escalated the matter, leaving every participant and bystander embarrassed and humiliated.

Yet the moment Si Chun waved that faint glimmer of light before her, Ling Yan followed it like a moth flying toward a flame.

At the very least, she could not disappoint the young Si Chun inside her dream.

–

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

The man, dressed in an immaculate formal suit, bowed and scraped before the teacher. He introduced himself as Ling Yan’s uncle, Ling Decai, and explained that he still had another child at home to care for. He was very sorry, but their discussion would need to be kept as brief as possible.

“I also have two children, three years apart—one older and one younger.” Teacher Yu pushed up her glasses, her aged, wrinkled eyes sharp. “No matter how busy I am, I would never forget the older child just because I was caring for the younger one.”

“Your child was bullied immediately after transferring here. She was slapped, had her hands twisted and her legs kicked, and was locked inside the classroom. This did not happen only once, yet before today, none of her subject teachers received any report about it. If a kindhearted student had not happened to pass by and discover her, she would have remained locked in that classroom until security made their rounds at six or seven tonight!”

Ling Decai hurriedly replied, “Yes, yes, you’re right to criticize me! This child has been introverted since she was little. When something happens, she read the original at bailiantales.com doesn’t like communicating with adults…”

“Are the adults not at fault, then?” Si Chun, who had been listening from the side, immediately interjected. “Have you never wondered why other children can go home and openly tell their families when they’re bullied, while your child has to bottle everything up and endure it alone? Was she born enjoying being bullied?”

Teacher Yu was also a straightforward person. Upon hearing this, she merely gave Si Chun a look without contradicting a single word she had said, then silently scrutinized the embarrassed man before her.

After a long while, she told Si Chun to take Ling Yan to dinner first. Once both girls had left, she asked gravely, “Where are Ling Yan’s parents? Why are her uncle and aunt raising her?”

Si Chun could roughly guess what Teacher Yu intended to ask. A painful subject involving old wounds was indeed unsuitable for Ling Yan to hear, so she decisively pulled her away.

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

They happened to be serving crispy chicken bites and chicken-and-cartilage skewers that evening. Si Chun remembered that Ling Yan liked them, so she asked the cafeteria worker for an extra serving, arranged them on a plate, and pushed it toward her. “Do you want to try some? I really like these.”

The taciturn girl murmured an acknowledgment, picked up a chicken-and-cartilage skewer, and silently ate half of it. Then she suddenly looked at Si Chun and opened her mouth, only to hesitate.

Of course Si Chun noticed. She hurriedly asked, “What do you want to say? I’m listening!”

Then she saw tears instantly well within those deep blue eyes.

“Take me away,” she heard the young Ling Yan choke out. “I’ve saved some money. I’ll pay you for letting me stay temporarily, and I won’t cause you any trouble. I…I don’t want to return to that home filled with exploitation and hypocrisy!”