CHAPTER 31 (EXTRA)

The Same World, the Same High School.

Yesterday, Wen Yang was provoked by the woman her father had brought home.

“A wild child that even your parents didn’t want.”

That was what the woman had said, standing there with a protruding belly, her expression haughty, like an indignant hen.

Wen Yang looked at her coldly, neither responding nor retaliating. Because what she said was true. And besides, Wen Yang didn’t feel angry.

She spread her hands, gesturing toward the woman’s bulging belly. “What number are you now?”

---

Tonight, the wind was chilly. The sky was dark and starless. Wen Yang turned into an alley.

Her mother had called earlier, complaining about having no money again.

As soon as she stepped inside, she saw the exhaustion and bruises on her mother’s face, making her look like a skeleton barely held together by skin, dried up by the wind. Wen Yang ignored it and walked further in.

She remembered that this time, her mother was pregnant with her third child. The house was filled with the sounds of her stepbrother and stepsister quarreling.

“Junjun, Xiaoxiao, your sister’s here!” Hu Huiai called out loudly from behind her.

“Sis!”

“Sis!”

Two small, dirt-covered children ran out, stopping in front of her, looking up with naive yet greedy eyes. Wen Yang handed them the fried chicken she had brought.

Her sister, Xiaoxiao, had a sweet mouth and obediently said, “Thank you, Sis.”

Her younger brother, Junjun, couldn’t take his eyes off the food. He immediately ran back inside and started eating.

“They look forward to you coming every day,” Hu Huiai said, rubbing her pregnant belly. “They always say they love their big sister the most. This little one will probably be attached to you too when they grow up.”

Wen Yang remained expressionless. Of course, all thanks to your excellent parenting.

---

The moment she stepped inside, an indescribable stench assaulted her senses, overwhelming her nerves.

She saw her mother’s alcoholic husband lying shirtless on the couch, flies with tiny green eyes buzzing around him.

“Junjun, let Dad have a bite too.”

Junjun clutched his food tightly, running off to a corner to eat in peace.

Wen Yang stood at the door and didn’t step further in. Instead, she lowered her head, tapped a few times on her phone, and soon, a notification sounded from the phone lying at the man’s feet.

Hearing the sound, he sat up, picked up his phone, glanced at the screen, then hastily threw on some clothes and left excitedly. Before stepping out, he even gave his wife—his personal cash machine—a ‘rewarding’ kiss.

Hu Huiai was momentarily stunned. A few seconds later, she asked, “Wen Yang, did you transfer money?”

Wen Yang gave her a condescending glance. “Ms. Hu, your life has become so boring that I don’t even find it amusing anymore. I think it’s time we say goodbye.”

---

Stepping out of the house that reeked like a garbage dump, Wen Yang wandered aimlessly down the road. Under the streetlights, her shadow stretched long behind her.

She thought to herself—there must be cold-blooded genes in her. Otherwise, why would she feel nothing hearing Hu Huiai’s suppressed sobs? They say there’s a special bond between a mother and child. Perhaps it didn’t apply when a mother had too many children.

A deafening roar approached from a distance. A motorcycle sped past her with a loud whoosh, causing her long hair to lift and whip forward.

“Idiot.”

Wen Yang took out a hair tie and gathered her hair into a ponytail.

---

The Monday morning flag-raising ceremony was canceled due to rain.

Wen Yang stepped into the classroom just as the bell rang. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet, and students were nervously scrambling to finish their homework.

The window beside her seat had been left open, and the rain had blown in through the mesh screen, dampening the test papers on her desk. Just as she withdrew her gaze, a shadow darker than the overcast sky loomed over her.

“Move.”

Xu Yi pressed a hand against the desk, struggling to keep his heavy eyelids open. Last night, after a reckless motorcycle race, he got caught by his grandfather and ended up sending the old man to the hospital out of sheer anger. He hadn’t slept all night and had been dragged to school early in the morning as punishment.

Before Wen Yang could fully get up, Xu Yi brushed past her and collapsed onto the desk. The damp test papers clung to his arm, but he absentmindedly swiped them onto the floor.

Xu Yi slept through the whole morning, while Wen Yang had no intention of studying either. For the first time in her life, she had a secret, one that had awakened her long-hidden girlish heart, which had been precisely targeted at one specific person from the start.

This feeling might have been slowly accumulated over time, or it could have been triggered by one of his unintentional moments. In any case, she wanted him.

Xu Yi skipped lunch and went to the school’s convenience store with four minutes left before the first afternoon class. When he came out, he had already run several laps around the playground without realizing it.

In the alley between the convenience store and the teaching building.

“Are you going to help or not? Don’t force us to curse you out.”

“I’m not helping.” Wen Yang replied decisively, her eyes filled with disdain as they fell on the girl at the front. The girl’s face flushed red in anger.

She pointed at Wen Yang and said, “What’s so great about you, a rich little miss?”

A short girl beside her pulled her hand back and spoke sarcastically, “She rejects so many girls who confess, maybe she likes Xu Yi herself but doesn’t dare to confess. Look at how bold she is writing love letters. She must be furious inside.”

“Bold?”

Wen Yang took a step forward, holding the love letter that had been shoved into her hand. She slapped it lightly against the girl’s face with a mocking motion. “If it’s bold…he’s right there.”

The girl followed Wen Yang’s gaze and was stunned.

“Go confess then,” Wen Yang said softly.

Seeing her crush witness her ungraceful and agitated side, the girl’s tears quickly filled her eyes. She shoved Wen Yang aside, panickedly glancing around, then ran out through another alley, followed closely by several other girls.

In the narrow alley, dead tree branches and decayed leaves piled together, and a layer of rainwater coated the debris. Although Wen Yang didn’t fall to the filthy ground, when she supported herself on the ground with her palm, glass shards pierced into her hand.

She squatted down, looking at the blood quickly seeping from her palm. She brought her mouth close and blew the dirty water off her hand.

“Get up, I’ll take you to the hospital.” Xu Yi walked over with his hands in his pockets and stretched out a hand.

Wen Yang didn’t take his hand but stood up on her own. Besides, she couldn’t even grip anything with both hands now.

Xu Yi followed behind her. Wen Yang didn’t say a word, and blood dripped from her fingertips as they silently walked through the rain-soaked campus.

Xu Yi followed her, his thoughts drifting to the previous night. He remembered how every time she walked ahead of him, she carried herself with such pride and poise.

Xu Yi called their homeroom teacher directly, and the school gatekeeper let him out.

Wen Yang held the tissues the kind gatekeeper had given her in her hand as they got into a taxi.

They entered the hospital one after the other. Xu Yi went to register. He knew that his desk mate was a cold, aloof genius, and figured she probably looked down on him, an aimless, careless student, and would never waste a word on him.

“You wait here.”

Wen Yang’s fingers twitched as she watched him leave, surprised that even with such a small injury, she had gained something so significant.

The doctor took out the glass and then cleaned and bandaged the wound. One of the shards was deeply embedded, and when the doctor cleaned it, it stung a little. Wen Yang instinctively recoiled, and her back touched Xu Yi’s chest, stopping her retreat.

It was that uncontrollable feeling again, the one her heart couldn’t suppress.

The doctor told her, “Don’t move, we’re sterilizing the wound. The pain will pass soon.”

After leaving the hospital, both of Wen Yang’s palms were tightly bandaged.

Xu Yi was still holding his bottle of Sprite. “Want some?” he asked, for reasons he couldn’t explain.

Wen Yang lowered her head. The way his hand held the Sprite made his fingers look especially handsome. She stared too long, missing the best time to respond. Xu Yi opened the bottle and drank it in a few gulps before tossing it into a nearby trash bin. Then, he flagged down a taxi.

After that, nothing changed between them. They remained the coldest desk mates in their second-year class.

Xu Yi’s grandfather’s 80th birthday party invited many prominent families from City A. Xu Yi was forced to stick by his grandfather’s side, witnessing the tedious and fake pleasantries exchanged with “old friends.”

Finally, when a real friend of his grandfather appeared, Xu Yi took the chance to sneak away.

The banquet was held at the family’s old mansion, with winding paths through the private garden. It was hard for strangers to find their way out.

The wind in November was sharp, waking people from their stupor. Xu Yi, dressed in a custom suit, stood tall with broad shoulders and long legs, already starting to look like an adult. He unbuttoned his jacket and stood against the wind.

“I’m not your sister.”

The child over there didn’t know what to say, and after thinking for a while, finally blurted out, “I miss you.”

“You miss me, or do you miss all the benefits I bring you? Is your mother around?”

“She’s not.” The child hesitated for a second.

“Ms. Hu, this money should be enough for the child you’re having. This is the last time I’m laughing at you. Don’t bother me again.” Although Wen Yang didn’t raise her voice, the sarcasm in her tone was enough to make the other person ashamed.

She hung up the phone and walked out from behind a rockery. She was only wearing a green dress that reached her ankles. Her bare arms, exposed to the cold wind, made her teeth chatter.

She lowered her head and looked at the shadow cast on the ground, then slowly raised her head to see Xu Yi.

Xu Yi wanted to say something, but Wen Yang didn’t give him a chance. She walked right past him, and Xu Yi turned around to catch up. His mind was a mess, and at that moment, staying silent seemed like the best choice.

“Do you still have something to say?” Wen Yang stopped.

Xu Yi didn’t say anything but took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

Wen Yang held the corner of the suit and said, “It won’t keep me warm, but I like you.”

It was like the joy of a beggar being knocked out by 10 billion dollars as it fell from the sky. Xu Yi stammered, “Shall we start a relationship?”

“We won’t talk about anything other than studies until we’re of age.” Wen Yang wrapped herself tightly in his still-warm jacket.

“You just said you liked me,” Xu Yi stepped forward to shield her from the wind, his mood swinging wildly.

“Let me know in advance.”

“What do I need to prepare?”

“Yourself.”

---

The author has something to say:

It’s finished, really not sweet at all.