Read Novel Full Chapter 22
Chapter 22
The sky gradually darkened.
The streetlights nearby had yet to light up, making Duan Jiaxu’s gaze appear even deeper. He stared fixedly at Sang Zhi, his lips pressed into a straight line, revealing no clear emotion and making no other movement.
This kind of quiet was like the calm before the storm.
Nervous and anxious, Sang Zhi added, “My parents have never hit me.”
Duan Jiaxu responded ambiguously, “Me? Hit you?”
Sang Zhi glanced at him and let out a barely noticeable sigh of relief. “You won’t?”
Duan Jiaxu smiled. “Did I say I wouldn’t?”
“……”
His eyelids twitched, suddenly noticing an exceptionally noticeable mark on Sang Zhi’s clean school uniform, near the collar, clearly burnt by cigarette ash.
Duan Jiaxu’s gaze paused, thinking he had seen wrong. He slowly leaned in closer.
Sang Zhi thought he was truly going to reprimand her. Pressing her lips together tightly and looking apprehensive, she resignedly spread out the hand she had hidden behind her and timidly placed it in front of him.
Duan Jiaxu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he pointed to her collar. “How did that happen?”
Sang Zhi was startled and looked in the direction he pointed. She then noticed the burnt mark on her clothes. She instinctively rubbed it with her fingertip but couldn’t remove it.
“Kid.” Duan Jiaxu asked softly, “Did someone bully you?”
Sang Zhi hesitated and then nodded.
Duan Jiaxu’s expression instantly darkened. He subconsciously checked her for injuries and frowned. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want to trouble you. My brother also told me to behave and not cause you trouble.” Sang Zhi said softly. “I didn’t intend to hide it. I was going to tell my parents when I got home.”
Duan Jiaxu patiently asked, “Did they hit you?”
Sang Zhi thought for a moment and shook her head. “They just patted my face, took twenty yuan from me, and then told me to bring money for them tomorrow.”
“Why did you go over there?”
“My friend asked me to go.” Thinking of Yin Zhenru, Sang Zhi’s mood worsened and her voice lowered, “She was scared, so she asked me to go with her.”
Duan Jiaxu’s tone carried a hint of incredulity, “Why didn’t she tell her parents?”
“Because those people said if we told our parents, they’d come to our school every day to find us.” Sang Zhi answered every question he asked. “So she didn’t dare tell her parents.”
Hearing that, Duan Jiaxu squatted down to her eye level.
Then he suddenly said, “Hold out your hand.”
It didn’t look like he was giving her something. Sang Zhi looked at him suspiciously, not moving, and only after a while did she extend her hand.
Duan Jiaxu raised his hand and unexpectedly gave her palm a light smack.
The force was gentle, more like a high-five.
Sang Zhi immediately retracted her hand. “What are you doing?”
Duan Jiaxu lazily said, “Hitting you.”
“……”
“Kid, listen carefully. If someone ever tricks you into going to an unsafe place again, no matter how good a friend they are, you can’t go.” Duan Jiaxu stood up and rubbed the top of her head. “Got it?”
Sang Zhi said indignantly, “But you can’t hit people either.”
“Huh? Why can’t I?” Duan Jiaxu chuckled. “If you don’t behave……”
Sang Zhi looked wary.
He stretched his words, his tone playful, “Every time Brother sees you, I’ll hit you.”
“……”
Seeing that it was getting late, they didn’t stay in the same place any longer.
“You were pretty brave this time.” Duan Jiaxu supported her arm as they slowly walked out of the alley. “You didn’t cry even when you were bullied.”
Sang Zhi didn’t care. “It didn’t hurt me anyway.”
“Where did your friend run off to?”
“I don’t know.”
Duan Jiaxu said, “At your age, you probably understand some things. If a friend isn’t good to you, if they’re a bad friend, you shouldn’t hang out with them anymore.”
Sang Zhi nodded silently.
“Remember to tell your parents when you get home.” Duan Jiaxu continued, “In the future, if anything happens, don’t hide it from them. They will protect you.”
“Got it.”
Seeing that she seemed to listen, Duan Jiaxu didn’t bring it up anymore and asked, “When your brother picks you up, how do you usually go home?”
The words ‘take a taxi’ were on the tip of her tongue when Sang Zhi suddenly remembered something and swallowed the words, changing it to, “By bus.”
“By bus?” Duan Jiaxu raised an eyebrow. “Aren’t you afraid someone might accidentally step on your foot?”
Sang Zhi mumbled, “No.”
As they left the alley and walked toward the bus route, they passed by the gate of Nanwu University. The crowd had increased, mostly students going out for dinner.
Duan Jiaxu seemed to ignore her words and intended to hail a taxi by the roadside.
Soon, a young man Duan Jiaxu knew rode by on a bicycle, grinning and greeting him, “Hello, Senior.”
Duan Jiaxu suddenly called out to him, “Lin Hai.”
The boy stopped his bike. “Ah? “
“Can I borrow your bike for a bit? I’ll return it later.”
“Sure.” Lin Hai got off the bike cheerfully. Noticing Sang Zhi beside Duan Jiaxu, he curiously asked, “Senior, is this your sister?”
Duan Jiaxu hummed in acknowledgment.
“Hello, Little Sister.” Lin Hai waved at her and ran towards the university gate. “Senior, I’ll go first! My girlfriend is waiting for me!”
“Go on.” Duan Jiaxu casually patted the dust off the back seat and turned to Sang Zhi. “Kid, how about Brother drives you home?”
Sang Zhi didn’t hesitate and moved a step closer to him.
Duan Jiaxu’s lips curved slightly, teasing, “So happy?”
“……”
“Still secretly smiling.”
Sang Zhi instinctively touched the corners of her lips.
There was no smile.
Just as she was about to retort, Duan Jiaxu had already mounted the bike, urging her with a smile, “Come on up.”
“……”
Shameless.
Because of his words, Sang Zhi felt a bit uneasy, slowly getting on and holding the sides of the back seat with her hands.
She was seated properly but Duan Jiaxu’s legs were still on the ground, not making any move.
Sang Zhi reminded him, “Brother, I’m ready.”
Hearing her words, Duan Jiaxu turned his head and asked, “Kid, where are your hands?”
What kind of question was that?
Sang Zhi puzzledly lifted her hands. “Right here.”
“Then don’t you know to hold onto Brother?” Duan Jiaxu grabbed her wrists and placed them around his waist. “What are you hiding them for?”
Sang Zhi’s breath hitched. She immediately loosened her grip, changing to holding onto his clothes.
Duan Jiaxu started pedaling.
The bike moved slowly at first, then gradually picked up speed.
The night air was much cooler than during the day and the wind was strong. It whistled past Sang Zhi’s ears, filling it with its sound, and battering her eardrums.
Nightfall spread, and a sweet floral fragrance mixed with a scent from Duan Jiaxu, reminiscent of orange soda, wafted into her nose. It felt almost enchanting.
It made Sang Zhi a bit confused.
Was the sound around her the wind?
Or maybe, it was actually the sound of her heartbeat?
After a long stretch of silence, Sang Zhi’s heartbeat slowly calmed down. Feeling bored, she proactively started a conversation with Duan Jiaxu, “Brother, where did my brother go?”
Duan Jiaxu said, “Seems like he’s accompanying someone to an interview.”
“Huh?” Sang Zhi thought for a moment. “Is it for a job interview?”
“Yeah.”
“My brother is only a junior, isn’t he? Why is he looking for a job already?”
“Internship.” Duan Jiaxu explained, “As long as it doesn’t affect his courses, he can intern whenever he wants.”
Sang Zhi responded with an “Oh” and stared at Duan Jiaxu’s black T-shirt, which was being blown by the wind. She asked softly, “Brother, aren’t you going to intern?”
“Mm, I still have classes this semester.”
“Then when do you plan to?”
“Next semester, or maybe during my senior year.”
“Will you look for an internship near the school?”
“No.” Duan Jiaxu turned a corner and replied casually, “I’ll look for one back home.”
“……”
The wind, laced with a chill, slapped against her face. Sang Zhi was stunned for a long while, her heart feeling a bit hollow. She mumbled an acknowledgment and asked again, “Brother, are you not staying in Nanwu in the future?”
“Mm.” Duan Jiaxu smiled faintly. “Brother needs to go home.”
“Oh.”
After a while, Sang Zhi asked again, “Brother, when do you plan to go home?”
“Hmm? Why do you have so many questions today?” But he didn’t seem impatient and replied slowly, “It depends. I haven’t decided yet.”
Afraid of making him unhappy, Sang Zhi carefully asked one last question, “Will you go back before the end of the year?”
“No.”
“……”
Not even for the Spring Festival……?
Sang Zhi was puzzled but didn’t dare ask more.
Before she knew it, they had reached the bottom of Sang Zhi’s building. Duan Jiaxu stopped the bike, turned to her, and asked, “Can you go up by yourself?”
Sang Zhi nodded and thanked him before hobbling towards the entrance.
She had just taken a few steps when Duan Jiaxu called out, “Wait.”
Sang Zhi stopped and turned back.
She saw Duan Jiaxu walk up to her and bend down.
The nearby streetlight was mostly covered by lush leaves, making the view a bit dim. Sang Zhi felt him slip something into her pocket.
Just as she was about to take it out to look, Duan Jiaxu pinched her face, diverting her attention, and then reminded her again, “Remember to tell your parents when you get home.”
“……Oh.”
When she got home, it was just in time for dinner.
At the dinner table, Sang Zhi mentioned the matter to her parents, startling both of them.
Li Ping immediately contacted Sang Zhi’s teacher while Sang Rong asked her for some details and gently reassured her, telling her not to be afraid.
Sang Zhi wasn’t really scared and nodded frequently. After dinner, she went back to her room to do her homework. Just as she started on it, she suddenly remembered what had happened downstairs and instinctively touched her pocket.
It felt like a piece of paper?
Sang Zhi took it out.
It was a twenty-yuan bill.
It looked a bit old, with creased corners, obviously not hers. But having this bill in her pocket made it feel like she hadn’t been extorted and no one had robbed her of her money that day.
It felt like nothing bad had happened.
Like someone was comforting her in a pure and simple way.
Sang Zhi stared at it for a long while. Then she suddenly jumped onto her bed and wrapped herself in the blanket, feeling the air gradually being squeezed out. When her face turned red, she stuck her head out.
Staring at the ceiling, she inexplicably started to laugh.
Then, Sang Zhi got up, flattened the twenty-yuan bill, and tucked it into her sketchbook. She then took her phone out of her bag and looked for Duan Jiaxu’s number.
She noticed that his number was registered in Yihe City.
It seemed to be in another province.
Sang Zhi had heard of this place but had never been. She thought for a moment, then looked up the distance from Nanwu to this city. It took three hours by plane.
It seemed a bit far.
Sang Zhi hesitated for a moment, then searched for universities in Yihe City, flipping through the results for a while before getting frustrated and lying down on her desk. Noticing the paper stars beside her, she pulled one out, sat up straight, and absentmindedly wrote on the white side.
「I won’t play with Yin Zhenru anymore. 2009.11.05」
She quickly folded it into a star and tossed it into the milk bottle. Then, she pulled out another piece of paper, this time writing slowly and deliberately.
After a long time, the bottle that recorded her life contained the biggest secret of her adolescence.
「Although I don’t want to admit it, I think I’ve really fallen for someone. 2009.11.05」
She had fallen for her brother’s friend, a young man seven years older than her, at the age when she was just starting to have romantic feelings.
———pr
The next day after school.
Sang Zhi was doing her homework in the classroom, waiting for Sang Yan to pick her up. This time, she didn’t have to wait until 5:00 PM. At 4:30, she saw Sang Yan’s figure.
He had brought two of his roommates along.
One was Duan Jiaxu, the other was Chen Junwen.
It seemed like they were there to pick her up like they were gathering a group to play mahjong.
Sang Zhi quickly packed her things, moved to Sang Yan’s side, and sneakily glanced at Duan Jiaxu before quickly looking away. She asked softly, “Brother, why did you bring others today?”
Sang Yan glanced at her. “Didn’t those people who extorted you yesterday tell you to meet them today?”
Sang Zhi nodded. “So what?”
“Lead the way.”
“……”
Thinking about the three girls from yesterday and looking at the three tall guys in front of her, Sang Zhi felt speechless. “Let’s not go……”
“Little Brat.” Sang Yan pinched her cheek hard. “In my world, there’s no such thing as tolerating being bullied, got it?”
Chen Junwen chimed in, “Exactly, exactly!”
Duan Jiaxu just smiled.
“……” Sang Zhi glanced at the three of them. “Oh.”
She silently led them to the entrance of the alley.
Sang Yan asked, “Little Brat, what do those people look like? You don’t need to go in.”
Sang Zhi: “Three girls.”
“……” Sang Yan paused. “Girls?”
“Mm. The leader is half a head taller than me, with red hair.” Sang Zhi thought for a moment, “Her face looks like a color palette.”
Chen Junwen’s bravado diminished. “Girls…… Girls kind of hinder my performance.”
Sang Yan sneered. “It doesn’t matter if they’re male or female.”
It seemed to be losing on a challenge before even starting.
Chen Junwen felt that three guys going in to confront three girls was a bit embarrassing, so Sang Yan simply left Chen Junwen to watch over Sang Zhi and then went into the alley with Duan Jiaxu.
The dirty and messy alley was filled with the smell of the sewer.
In the middle, there was a stained sign that read ‘Internet Café’. Perhaps hearing some noise, it didn’t take long for three girls to come out from inside.
Duan Jiaxu took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, pulled one out, and lit it, looking indifferent. He held the cigarette in his mouth and squinted his eyes through the faint smoke, where he saw the girl standing at the front of the group that matched Sang Zhi’s description.
Half a head taller, red hair, color palette face.
Perhaps seeing that the people who came were different from whom she had imagined, the red-haired girl waved her hand in disappointment but couldn’t help looking a few more times because the two guys were both good-looking. Then she signaled the other two girls to follow her back inside.
Sang Yan toyed with the lighter in his hand and called out to them, his tone cold, “Students.”
The red-haired girl stopped, turned back, and asked puzzledly, “Are you calling us?”
Before Sang Yan could open his mouth again, Duan Jiaxu took the initiative to speak.
“I heard,” His peach blossom eyes curved as he gave a warm and ambiguous smile, “you asked my family’s kid for money?”