Chapter 2

  The woman slapped Ji Xiaowen in the face, then scolded her loudly for a few sentences. What she said, they didn't hear. After hitting her, the woman snatched the money from Ji Xiaowen's hand and turned to leave.

  Ji Xiaowan was slapped, robbed of her money, but she didn't shed a single tear, nor did she show any signs of anger. Instead, she stood on the street as usual, stunned for a moment before walking away in the opposite direction of the woman.

  Ye Haiyi was the first to move, crossing the road and chasing after her. Yi Ling also followed, speeding up and catching up with Ye Haiyi's pace, and the two of them blocked Qi Xiaowan from both sides.

  Ye Haiwei thought he would see tears on Ji Xiaowan's face, but he found himself wrong. This girl had a very deep palm print on her face, and it was clear that the woman had hit her hard, but there were no signs of crying on her face.

  "Xiao Wan?" Ye Haiyu called out.

  Ji Xiaowan was surprised to see them suddenly appear in front of her, "How did you end up here?"

  "Xiao Jie is buying jewelry on the street opposite us, we came with her." answered Yi Ling.

  After several contacts with Yi Ling and his friends, Ji Xiaowan found that Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei were extremely fond of Luo Mei Yue, to the point where they treated her like a treasure, afraid of hurting her. Luo Mei Yue also talked about her stories with her two brothers in school, especially in front of girls, and the topic always revolved around how much her two brothers loved her.

  The girls in the class were not very willing to listen to Luo Mei Yue's words, but they were willing to listen to her talk about her two older brothers. However, when Luo Mei Yue talked about how much her brothers doted on her, many of the girls in the class would belittle her behind her back. One time, a girl out of jealousy said that Luo Mei Yue was not worthy of her two brothers. When Luo Mei Yue found out, she immediately slapped that girl in front of the whole class. From then on, Ji Xiao Wan started to avoid Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei, and ignored their invitations.

  "Xiao Jie is so bored at home alone, so we came out to accompany her shopping. We happened to run into you, why don't we shop together?" Ye Haiwei invited again.

  Ji Xiaowan shook her head and refused, "I still have a tutoring session at home, the student is waiting for me."

  "Missing one class won't kill you, and you'll still get paid!" Yi Ling said with some anger.

  "Haven't seen you and Xiao Jiao walking together lately, is there a conflict between you two?" Ye Haiwei asked carefully, observing Ji Xiaowan's expression at the same time.

  Ji Xiaowan shook her head, "Nothing happened."

  She didn't have a close relationship with Luo Mei Yue in the first place, let alone having conflicts.

  "No conflict is the best, our Xiao Qi has always had a hard time making good friends, we're all worried about Xiao Qi. It's not easy to meet someone Xiao Qi likes, I hope you two can get along well from now on." Ye Haiwei said with a smile.

  "I've said it before, Xiaowen is a considerate and nice girl, let's go! We'll go eat something delicious together." Yi Ling directly put his arm around Xiaowen's shoulder.

  As soon as Yi Ling touched Ji Xiaowan's body, his hand was severely numbed, and he was stunned to the point of being petrified. The numbness even reached his brain, affecting his heart.

  Ji Xiaowan was startled for the first time when a boy touched her shoulder, she quickly shook off his hand and took two steps back. Her eyebrows were tightly locked together.

  Ye Hai's expression changed, and he scolded Ling Feng severely, "How can you be so rude? Xiao Wan is a girl after all!"

  Yi Ling was dumped by her, and inexplicably felt a little angry in her heart. She pouted and didn't speak anymore.

  Lu Mei Yue chose a butterfly hair clip and left the store, only to find that Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei were nowhere to be found. She was taken aback, as this had never happened since she was a child. Even if Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei had something urgent to attend to, at least one of them would have stayed behind to wait for her, then instructed her to go home before leaving themselves. But what about today? Why were they both gone?

  Lu Mei Yue searched around and saw Yi Ling holding onto Ji Xiao Wan's shoulder across the street. Lu Mei Yue's perfect doll face cracked, and she felt something shatter in her heart as well.

  The butterfly hair clip was pinched broken by her, and her hand also had several deep red marks printed on it because of the sharp corners of the butterfly hair clip.

  After Luo Mei Yue threw away the butterfly hair clip, she crossed the street and walked towards Ji Xiao Wan. As soon as she reached Ji Xiao Wan's side, she directly took Ji Xiao Wan's hand and smiled sweetly, "Xiao Wan, what are you doing here?"

  Ji Xiaowan was already used to Luo Meiyue taking the initiative to hold her, and she also knew that once Luo Meiyue wanted to catch her, she couldn't shake her off no matter what. So Ji Xiaowan let Luo Meiyue hold onto her, then replied, "I'm going to give my students extra lessons. I just happened to be passing by."

  Lu Mei Yue saw the obvious signs of being hit on Ji Xiao Wan's face, as well as some bruising around her mouth. Lu Mei Yue asked, "Were you beaten by someone? Was it your mom? Your mom seems to always beat you! Your parents have been divorced for so long, and your mom doesn't even go out to work. She just takes the money from your tutoring job to gamble. Xiao Wan, how could you have a mother like that?"

  The woman who beat Xiaowen was actually Xiaowen's mother. Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei exchanged a glance, but didn't express any opinion, however, they were still shocked in their hearts.

  Ji Xiaowan felt a surge of anger in her heart after hearing Luo Mei Yue's words.

  Her mother is indeed the way Luo Mei Yue described, but even if her mother did something excessive, she is still her mother. As a daughter, she has never blamed her mother in the slightest, so it's not up to others to blame her mother.

  Ji Xiaowan knew that Luo Mei Yue was saying this on purpose, intentionally saying it in front of her two brothers, so that they would know how miserable her life had been and that her status was absolutely not worthy of theirs.

  Ji Xiaowan was young in years, but not in mind. She had experienced many things that girls of her age hadn't, such as domestic violence, quarrels and beatings, which were a normal part of life for Ji Xiaowan. Everyone knew that Ji Xiaowan never smiled, and it must be because of family reasons. Ji Xiaowan was also aware that although she didn't feel inferior, she just couldn't smile, because she hadn't found anything worth being happy about yet. Since the day he left her life...

  "I have to go to class." After saying that, Ji Xiaowen opened Luo Mei's hand.

  Lu Mei Yue was unhappy, "Don't you have any time to play? Except for going to school, it's all about giving students extra lessons, you're almost becoming a bookworm. Why don't you stop giving extra lessons and play with me for a while?"

  Miss Qianjin doesn't need to run around for a mouthful of food, so when she says that kind of thing, it's no big deal. But she's different, her mom took away all the money she made from tutoring this week, and next month's living expenses are still up in the air. She also needs to buy several reference books, so she has to go tutor.

  "You guys play on, I really have to go."

  "Not allowed! Just not allowed!" Princess Romi Yue's temper flared up.

  Ye Haiyue pulled Lu Mei Yue over and comforted her in a gentle tone, "Little darling, don't be upset. Your brother Ye and I have been with you all day, isn't that enough? Don't make things difficult for others."

  Lu Mei Yue saw the situation, her mind turned quickly, and she suddenly leaned against Ye Hai Wei with a sweet smile. "Brother Ye, Xiao Wan has classes every Saturday and Sunday of the week, and also has night classes. From Monday to Friday, only Wednesday is off, and the rest of the time is also spent on supplementary classes. She's working so hard! Why don't we do this? Let Xiao Wan skip all her classes and let me take them instead. I'll have her follow me home, and my parents will pay her salary. That way, Xiao Wan won't have to work so hard."

  Ji Xiaowan felt a twinge of helplessness after hearing this. If someone else were standing here today, they would probably have turned against Luo Mei Yue on the spot. Ji Xiaowan was not stupid and could tell that Luo Mei Yue was showing off her family's wealth, implying that her parents should pay to support her as a poor person.

  Lu Mei Yue never stopped flaunting her princess status at any moment, no wonder this woman had not made a single friend from childhood to adulthood.

  However, Luo Mei Yue's words sounded very reasonable and sensible in Ye Hai Wei and Yi Ling's ears. They had not stood in Ji Xiao Wan's position to consider for her, and even in their way of thinking, they were more inclined towards Luo Mei Yue's opinion.

  At least this way, she won't have to work so hard, they can take the opportunity to spend more time with her, and Xiao Jie will also have more playmates, a win-win situation.

  "What Xiao Qi said is right! You study hard in the morning and at night, sooner or later you'll become a bookworm. Why not spend more time playing with Xiao Qi instead?" Yi Ling's mouth split open as she laughed and said.

  Ye Haiwei also nodded, "You and Xiaowen can be together, have supplementary lessons or play, there's no need to work so hard."

  Ji Xiaowan refused, "It's better for you to find her a real home tutor. No need to insist on me..."

  Ji Xiaowan's cold and indifferent attitude, repeatedly refusing them, made the two men feel very uncomfortable. Both of their faces were filled with intense displeasure.

  Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei's expressions fell into Luo Mei Yue's eyes, Luo Mei Yue suddenly changed her mind. She followed Ji Xiao Wan's words and said, "Since Xiao Wan doesn't agree, let's just forget it! Xiao Wan, you're going to be late for your family class, hurry up and go!"

  Lu Mei Yue said so, Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei also didn't make another sound to keep people.

  The matter ended in a cold manner, and afterwards, Ji Xiaowan never saw the two of them again. In school, Luo Mei Yue also stopped going in and out with Ji Xiaowan, and although there was no apparent conflict between them, others thought they had quarreled.

  After passing the winter vacation and the New Year, Ji Xiaowan's life was as dull as usual.

  The second semester of high school started, and Class B welcomed a strange thing.

  Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei transferred from High School A to High School B, which not only shook the entire High School A but also caused a stir in High School B. It is said that after Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei transferred to High School B at the same time, several top female students from High School A also transferred to High School B, and for a while, High School B's reputation was even more impressive than High School A's.

  Ji Xiaowan's class also transferred a girl named Taili, who actively said she wanted to sit next to Lu Mei Yue, and Lu Mei Yue did not refuse.

  In the following days, everyone found out that Tai Li kept sending delicious, fun and beautiful things to Luo Mei Yue. Luo Mei Yue accepted the gifts from Tai Li with a big smile, occasionally she would pick on the things Tai Li sent over, then scold her for a few sentences saying don't send things that are not good looking or fun.

  Tai Li didn't get angry, she just took back the gift that Luo Mei Yue didn't want and continued to send things over the next day.

  Tai Li's grades are not bad, and she is also very beautiful, with a large bust. She is one of the most popular girls among the boys in the class. Whenever Tai Li and Luo Mei Yue walk together, one is tall and elegant, the other is cute and lovely, each has her own charm, and for a moment, men's eyes don't know who to focus on.

  Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei appear at the door of Ji Xiaowan's classroom every day after school, naturally, they are waiting for their little darling.

  Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei, every time they appear at the classroom door, Luo Mei Yue jumps to their side, then regardless of everyone's gaze, gives them a deep hug. Tai Li also follows closely behind Luo Mei Yue. In just a few days, Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei have memorized Tai Li's name.

  As for Ji Xiaowan, every time school was dismissed, she would put on her MP3 earbuds and slowly pack up her bag, but always leave one book behind to hold in her arms. Ji Xiaowan always left through the back door because Yi Ling and Ye Haiyuan were blocking the front door.

  Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei's gaze remained on Luo Mei Yue, but they couldn't help but catch a glimpse of that cold figure out of the corner of their eyes.

  One day, Ji Xiaowan's physical education class was moved to the second period in the afternoon by the physical education teacher, coincidentally colliding with Yi Ling and their classmates.

  Lu Mei Yue dislikes physical education class and never participates in any sports activities. Every time there is a PE outdoor lesson, she has thousands of excuses to get out of it and sits on the stone steps of the circular viewing platform next to the playground.

  Today, on those stone steps, it wasn't just Luo Mei Yue sitting there, but also Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei sat beside her.

  Tai Li's athletic performance was pretty good, when she saw Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei sitting next to Luo Mei Yue, she didn't go up to greet them, but instead exerted herself even more in the competition.

  As for Ji Xiaowan, her height is average in the class, but her athletic ability is the worst in the whole class.

  Jumping rope won't exceed ten times, high jump will touch the pole every time, long jump will always land on butt, dumbbell lifting will hit toe, shot put can only be thrown to own heel. There was a free activity kicking shuttlecock, classmates found out that only Ji Xiaowen's shuttlecock wasn't kicked by people, but was being kicked by the shuttlecock itself.

  Today at school, the teacher had them learn to jump horses. The horseback riding was set up according to high school standards, which were a bit higher than those for junior high school students. But this difference was a huge gap for Ji Xiaowan.

  Ji Xiaowan is not good at sports, but she never avoids them. In fact, she studies even harder than her classmates, it's just that her learning ability is slightly weaker.

  Lu Mei Yue sat on the stone steps and began to complain, "I'm going to get sunburned, I should have brought a parasol."

  "Will that do, Brother Yi?" As he spoke, Yi Ling took off his school uniform jacket and held it over Luo Mei Yue's head, maintaining the pose of holding it up for her, although it was a bit of a strain. Despite this, Yi Ling had a satisfied smile on his face.

  Lu Mei Yue started complaining again, "After being exposed to the sun for so long, I'm parched."

  Ye Hai smiled and stood up, "Alright, I'll buy you a drink. Don't rush."

  "Brother Ye is so nice." Lu Mei Yue smiled sweetly and then leaned against her head waiting for him to come back.

  Ye Haiyi bought drinks and came back, holding two bottles in one hand. He had bought four bottles and let Luo Mei Yue choose her favorite to drink first. Then he and Yi Ling each took a bottle, and the remaining one was placed aside without mentioning who it was for.

  In the past, Ye Haiyi or Yi Ling would only buy three bottles of drinks at a time and never four.

  Lu Mei Yue just glanced at the unopened drink on the side, which was a bit dazzling, but she didn't say anything.

  It was Ji Xiaowen's turn to jump over the horse. Under the physical education teacher's command, Ji Xiaowen started her run-up. She thought her speed was not bad, but it was far from meeting the standard. Before she could even touch the saddle, the physical education teacher stopped her three times and made her start again. The last time, Ji Xiaowen's face was red with exhaustion, so the teacher took pity on her and didn't make her start again. Then she jumped...

  Ji Xiaowan's leg was blocked by the saddle for a moment, and she fell to the ground instantly. The physical education teacher was right next to her, although he held onto her falling body, but she still fell heavily, and it's unclear how exactly she fell. As a result of this fall, she actually fell out of the thick cushion, with her entire arm pressed against the not-so-soft rubber floor, even the physical education teacher was knocked over by her, his leg just happened to be pressed on top of her bare foot.

  Ji Xiaowan let out a cry of surprise and was immediately surrounded by many classmates who helped them up.

  In the distance, Yi Ling helped Luo Mei Yue block the sun, but his gaze remained on Ji Xiao Wan's rosy face. Then he saw this girl trip and fall, and his heart also skipped a beat, as if it had fallen too.

  The next second, Yi Ling threw away his coat and hastily walked towards the crowd, shouting "Make way, make way."

  The high school sophomores surprisingly squeezed into the crowd of freshmen, but when they saw that it was Yi Ling, they all made way for her.

  Yi Ling pulled Ji Xiao Wan over, took her injured hand, and saw that the edge of her little finger was scraped off a bit of skin. Although there was no blood at the wound, it was stained with a lot of mud. Yi Ling didn't think twice, directly put her little finger into his mouth and sucked a few times, spat out the dirty things, and scolded, "You stupid girl, how can you be so clumsy? You can't even jump over a saddle?"

  Ji Xiaowan didn't expect Yi Ling to suddenly rush over, and even more so, she didn't expect him to actually put her finger into his mouth. Ji Xiaowan clearly felt his tongue stirring up her wound.

  All around, many people were staring at them in surprise.

  Ji Xiaowan's face suddenly turned red. She didn't even hear Yi Ling scolding her, only a buzzing sound in her ears.

  Yi Ling saw her dazed and didn't say anything else. He turned around, pulled her along, and walked away. Ji Xiaowan stumbled and followed unsteadily.

  Lu Mei Yue was originally drinking a beverage just fine, when suddenly her older brother Yi threw away the jacket that was covering her head from the sun. The jacket directly covered her head, and when she took it off to look at Yi Ling, she saw his hand pulling Ji Xiao Wan over.

  Lu Mei Yue jumped out from the stone steps, grabbed the arm that Yi Ling was holding, and naturally separated him from Ji Xiao Wan. Then she asked with concern, "Xiao Wan? What's wrong?"

  "Jumping horse got hurt." Yi Ling simply replied on behalf of Ji Xiaowan.

  Lu Mei Yue muttered a few words, "It seems like I twisted my foot, this won't do, I have to go to the infirmary! Xiao Wan, I'll take you there."

  Without waiting for Ji Xiaowan to refuse, Luo Meiyue directly supported her and walked towards the infirmary. Yi Ling and Ye Haiwei sat back on the stone steps, not following them, but watching them leave.

  Yi Ling looked at their backs and smiled slightly, saying, "Our little darling has grown up and learned to take care of others."

  Ji Xiaowan and Luo Meiyue walked a few steps before Luo Meiyue's foot landed on Ji Xiaowan's heel.

  She just stepped on her heel, it's actually nothing serious, but Ji Xiaowen clearly felt that behind her, Luo Mei Yue pushed her hard, Ji Xiaowen fell forward heavily, and behind her, Luo Mei Yue also sat down on the ground with a thud, then burst into loud wailing.

  "It hurts! It really hurts!"

  Lu Mei Yue burst into tears, and Yi Ling and Ye Hai Wei were both startled. The two of them rushed over at the same time. Yi Ling pressed Lu Mei Yue's head against her chest and kissed her head, gently comforting her, "Don't cry! Don't hurt!"

  Lu Mei Yue cried and said, "I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to!"

  "Hey, don't cry! It's okay, nothing's wrong, you just fell down!"

  Ji Xiaowan originally didn't fall too heavily, just a slight sprain on her foot. However, this time being pushed to the ground by Luo Meiyue, Ji Xiaowan's knee skin was scraped off by the concrete floor, and the ankle that was already sprained twisted again. The palms of both hands were also scraped off, although not bleeding, but those hard pebbles deeply embedded in her palm.

  Ji Xiaowan fell heavily, but she didn't cry. However, the woman behind her sat on the ground with a thud and cried loudly, as if it was Ji Xiaowan who had fallen instead.

  Lu Mei Yue had already been helped up by Yi Ling, but Ji Xiao Wan found herself unable to get up, because her bare feet hurt terribly.

  Ye Hai only saw Luo Mei Yue being coaxed by Yi Ling, so he didn't join in the fun. He walked to Ji Xiao Wan's side and picked her up in his arms. Without saying anything, he carried her towards the infirmary.

  Luo Mei Yue, hiding in Yi Ling's arms and crying, secretly watched as Ye Hai Wei carried Qi Xiao Wan away, the tears in her eyes flowing out again, her sobs growing louder, her mouth constantly shouting, "Xiao Wan will definitely hate me to death, I hurt her, she'll definitely hate me to death."

  "Silly girl, what are you talking about? It's just a fall, it's not that serious."

  "No! I know, Xiaowan must hate me to death. She said so many times before that she doesn't like me and told me not to get close to her. I don't know what to do? Yige, I really don't know what to do..."

  Yi Ling was taken aback and somewhat disbelieving, "Did she really say that?"

  Lu Mei Yue responded with an even more mournful cry.

  Yi Ling's eyebrows furrowed, recalling Ji Xiao Wan's cold and distant attitude towards them before. Indeed, it seemed like something she would say. For a moment, Yi Ling felt a knot in his heart. This feeling was as if he had been wronged, as if Little Qiao had been wronged, and Yi Ling could empathize with the feeling.