Chapter 19

“Kid, want to give it a try?”

When he asked this question, the boy leaned in very close—so close that Su Miao Miao could almost count every one of his fine, long eyelashes one by one.

Below them, his eyes were pitch black, the light seemingly suppressed deep within, shimmering now bright, now dim, suggesting profound meanings.

Su Miao Miao slowly blinked.

In her clasped hands, her fingertips nervously scratched.

Hesitating for a few seconds, she slightly leaned back, shrinking her slender, pale neck.

“…Are you going to scold me?”

Her expression seemed to say, “If you scold me, I’m going to run away.”

Shang Yan stared at her for two seconds, then suddenly burst into laughter.

He gently pressed on the top of Su Miao Miao’s head with his hand and then sat back down in his seat.

“I won’t scold you.”

So don’t run….

A beast’s nature is to enjoy the chase of fleeing prey. To pounce on the whimpering, panicked prey, to bite its neck, and to drag it back to its den to savor slowly…

That instinct, it’s irrepressible.

—So definitely don’t run.

In Shang Yan’s eyes, emotions stirred into a dense ink as his mind wandered beyond the textbook in his hand.

But it didn’t catch his eye at all.Beside him, Su Miao Miao watched cautiously.

—It seems the Master is a bit angry.

Otherwise, why would he stare at the physics book as if he wanted to devour it?

…Really fierce.

The girl furrowed her brow and turned back, thinking to herself.

The third period in the afternoon was physics.

Previously, at the sanatorium, Su Miao Miao had a private tutor hired by the Su family who came daily to teach her.

However, she had only completed the curriculum up to the first year of high school.

This term, having newly transferred to No. 3 Middle School and without continuing the private tutor sessions, plus missing the first two weeks of school, Su Miao Miao found the lessons somewhat challenging.

Thus, half a minute after the bell rang for the end of the class, the girl was still troubled, hunched over her brand-new physics book, deep in thought over a problem the teacher had discussed in class.

On the other side, after sleeping through most of the period, Shang Yan propped himself up from his seat and the first thing he saw was Su Miao Miao beside him, lightly biting on her pen.

The girl’s lips were a pale shade, close to the color of cherry blossom petals.

Her lips were delicate and pretty, lightly biting a pen cap between the glossy lips that slightly parted with each breath. Occasionally, one could glimpse her neat, pretty teeth and the pink tongue that brushed against them as she thought.

Shang Yan suddenly stopped in his tracks.

The weariness in his eyes was swiftly swept away by an ink-like flood of emotion.

“Brother Yan, are you going to the training group for the last self-study period?”

Li Zhe’s voice chased after him from the back row.

Stepping on the end of his words, a few of them walked to the front row—

“If you’re not going, shall we sneak out to somewhere outside the school?”

“…”

Shang Yan finally withdrew his gaze.

His cold, clear, and handsome face unexpectedly showed no emotion, as if covered with a thin layer of ice.

Especially forbidding.

“Training group.”

Beside him, Li Zhe and the others exchanged glances, silently mouthing words to each other, guessing who might have annoyed Shang Yan.

Shang Yan packed his already sparse backpack, picked it up with one hand, and walked out of his seat.

Seeing this, Li Zhe hesitated, then carefully looked towards the side—

The girl was still buried in her physics book, deep in thought.

Li Zhe cleared his throat.

“Little Su, we’re planning to go out during the next self-study period, do you want to come alo—ow…”

His sentence was cut short by a slap.

“Who hit…”

Li Zhe covered his head and straightened up, his questioning voice abruptly stopping—

Shang Yan had returned, now with a slight smile at the corner of his mouth and a chilling look in his eyes.

“Thinking of luring my little apprentice to skip school, are you itching for a beating?”

Li Zhe, holding his head in grievance, said, “I was just asking…”

“Even asking is not allowed.”

Shang Yan’s gaze swept over, then lifted to the girl who was completely confused about what was happening, staring up at them with a bewildered expression.

The pen was still in her hand, her lips glistening slightly with moisture.

Shang Yan’s eyes darkened, then he averted his gaze.

“Besides, with those little short legs, how is she supposed to climb over the wall? Toss her over from this side?”

Li Zhe: “…”

Su Miao Miao: “…………”

Although she didn’t fully understand, she could sense the “malice” in the words “little short legs.”

She glared at Shang Yan irritably.

Shang Yan, caught by those dark, wet pupils for a few seconds, chuckled helplessly.

“…Focus on your studies, no running around.”

He turned to leave, then paused.

Su Miao Miao was still stunned when suddenly she felt something taken from her hand.

—

Shang Yan turned around, twisted the pen between his knuckles half a circle, caught it smoothly, and shook it.

“Don’t chew on your pen… Isn’t that dirty?”

Su Miao Miao pursed her lips, feeling slightly embarrassed as her master publicly corrected one of her small habits.

“I won’t chew anymore…”

In a soft voice, she reached out to take back her pen from the boy.

Shang Yan narrowed his eyes slightly.

The next second, he pulled the pen back into his hand and walked away with his long strides—

“Confiscated.”

The slim, neutral pen was still held between his long, slender fingers as he shook it back at the girl.

Su Miao Miao: “…”

Cried in frustration.

Li Zhe and others followed, dejectedly walking away.

Once their figures disappeared outside the door, Su Miao Miao’s deskmate, Qi Wenyue, who had been holding back, propped herself up on the desk and leaned over—

“Wow, Miao Miao, Shang Yan is really something special to you, huh?”

Su Miao Miao was still mourning the likely permanent loss of her pen, but slowly turned back at these words.

“You’re new here, so you don’t know, but the nickname ‘Shang Yanluo’—people talk about it behind his back all the time, but to bring it up to Shang Yan’s face…”

Qi Wenyue made an exaggerated face with her tongue sticking out—

“They’d be dead.”

Su Miao Miao laughed at this, her eyes curving into a smile.

Qi Wenyue: “I was really scared during the last class. I was afraid he’d scold you, but he even smiled. —Tch, people with apprentice are really different.”

Su Miao Miao thought for a moment, “Doesn’t he often smile, though?”

“That’s different.” Qi Wen Yue said, “He rarely smiles in front of girls, he’s usually so cold… I’ve been in the same class with him for over a year, and I’ve never seen him treat any other girl like he treats you. And standing up for you too…”

As she spoke, she jokingly winked at the girl—

“How does it feel, clinging to Brother Yan’s coattails, being his little apprentice?”

A figure flashed through Su Miao Miao’s mind.

The girl hesitated, then driven by curiosity, she asked: “What about… Shu Wei?”

Qi Wenyue was caught off guard by the question.

Then she sheepishly scratched her head, “I’m not really sure about that, after all, Shu Wei is a senior… But…”

“But what?” Su Miao Miao asked curiously.

Leaning in conspiratorially, Qi Wenyue lowered her voice:”Shu Wei is pretty, has a great figure, dresses well, and I heard her family is quite well-off. Apparently, she’s even a contracted model for some magazine—you should be careful around her.”

Su Miao Miao paused, then looked down and thought for a few seconds, beginning to understand.

But Shu Wei’s hostility towards her…

It hadn’t just started recently, had it…

Qi Wenyue: “That’s why it’s frustrating that the online forum at our school is so unreliable, you can’t even log in anymore—believe it or not, if it were working, it would be full of discussions about you and her.”

“?!”

“Before you came along, the title of school beauty had been firmly held by her for over two years, with no one able to challenge her. Wen Susu is pretty popular, right? Still, she couldn’t compete with Shu Wei.”

Qi Wenyue spread her hands. “But now that you’re here, the situation has completely changed. It hasn’t been long, and it’s already spread throughout the school—I had a middle school classmate from another class come over last period just to ask about you—everyone is waiting to see, who will claim the title of ‘school beauty’ now.”

Su Miao Miao slowly frowned.

“So, do you think Shu Wei looks at you favorably now? In my opinion, she will definitely find ways to pick on you.”

Just as Qi Wenyue finished speaking, her deskmate, a girl wearing black-framed glasses, looked up.

“Yes, she will.”

After speaking, the girl adjusted her glasses.

Su Miao Miao looked up in surprise.

However, Qi Wenyue chuckled and introduced her, “This is my deskmate, Liao Lanxin—the perennial top scholar in our class known for her high IQ. If she says so, it must be true!”

After introducing her, Qi Wenyue curiously turned back, “But deskmate, why are you so sure about it?”

Liao Lanxin’s expression remained neutral.

“Didn’t they say that the rumor about Shang Yan’s little apprentice was spread by Shu Wei?”

Qi Wenyue: “And then?”

Liao Lanxin slightly frowned, glancing at Qi Wenyue with a bit of disdain, “Can’t you sense the emotion behind it?”

Qi Wenyue eagerly asked for guidance:”What emotion?”

Liao Lanxin: “…”

Liao Lanxin: “Impatience, like a bone stuck in the throat.”

After saying this, the scholar returned to studying at her desk.

Qi Wenyue thought about it and then nodded in sudden understanding, giving her deskmate a thumbs-up.

She then turned to the girl in front of her.

“Now you understand, right? Take care, Su Miao Miao.”

“…”

“But when the school beauty contest starts, I’ll definitely vote for you!”

“…”

The next day.

As expected, Qiao Xinyi and her group did not appear at school.

Someone specifically went to the administrative office to check, and it was confirmed that they had processed their transfer.

This stirred up the school, and those who had been eager to make a move on the “little beauty” of Grade 12 Class 1 restrained themselves—

After all, coveting a apprentice so fiercely protected by Shang Yan required a lot of courage.

However, on Tuesday, the computer team had to travel to a neighboring province for a competition. Su Miao Miao, not yet proficient in programming, stayed behind.

Shang Yan and his classmates Wu Hongbo, Luan Wenzhe, and others left school that afternoon to participate in the competition.

A week flew by in the blink of an eye.

Sunday morning.

At the Wen family home.

After breakfast, Wen Chengzhou and his wife took Wen Susu to a golf appointment.

Before leaving, Wen Chengzhou asked worriedly, “Miao Miao, are you sure you don’t want to come with us?”

The girl who had just walked out of the dining room slowed her pace and nodded lightly.

Standing in the entrance changing shoes, Wen Susu heard this and looked up at the girl standing by the dining room door.

After her true appearance was revealed at school, she still wore the oversized hoodie, but no longer hid her face under the hood.

Wen Susu couldn’t help but stare at that delicate, radiant face for hours every day.… and yet, surprisingly, she still wasn’t tired of it.

Wen Susu felt a surge of irritation but only lifted her chin slightly, glancing emotionlessly at the girl.

“Dad, we should be going.”

Wen Chengzhou agreed and instructed the housekeeper to take good care of Su Miao Miao before he and Wen Susu left.

After they departed, Su Miao Miao went upstairs to her room.

After hesitating in front of the creamy white wardrobe, she finally took out a set of black, fitted sportswear.

Dressed and back downstairs, Su Miao Miao tiptoed outside the dining room.

“Auntie, I’m going to a… classmate’s birthday party.”

Her voice was soft and tentative.

The aunt in the dining room was about to respond when she remembered something and quickly turned back—

“Are you going out? Should I take you there?”

Su Miao Miao shook her head, “No need to bother you, Auntie.”

“But can you make sure you’ll be safe on your own?”

“I’ll be with classmates, it’s fine.”

“…”

After a bit of persuasion, Su Miao Miao was finally “let out.”

The Wen family’s Filipino maid, still concerned, followed Su Miao Miao out to the front of the villa.

There was an impressive line of vehicles parked outside the door.

Four shiny… taxis.

The maid: “—?”

What kind of setup is this?

Just then.

From the first taxi, the back window rolled down, and Wu Hongbo excitedly leaned out most of his upper body, waving at Su Miao Miao—

“Here you come, little Su! Get in the second car; the last two are for Li Zhe and the others!”

“Okay.”

“We’ll lead in this one—ow, fuck! Wait! It’s stuck, it’s stuck, driver!… Wenzhe, Wenzhe, give me a hand—”

As Su Miao Miao walked over to the cars, she couldn’t help but turn around and chuckle lightly.

Before she could turn back, the rear door of the car in front of her suddenly opened from the inside.

—”You’re going to be late for the party, kid.”

With a low, teasing chuckle, the handsome profile of the person inside the car turned to look at her.

Su Miao Miao was startled, looking down.

The faint light beside her cast a delicate shadow across the high bridge of his nose, his skin cold and white, making him look like a noble young man stepped out from an ancient, classic film strip—an image one would want to outline and cherish.

“…”

Su Miao Miao’s eyelashes trembled, her heartbeat skipping a beat.

She somewhat frantically avoided his half-smiling gaze and ducked into the car.

Unconsciously, the girl pressed her hand against her chest.

…

Good thing she brought her medication.

Su Miao Miao frowned slightly, feeling uneasy.

But lately, her condition had been stable, so why did she suddenly feel like she was about to have an episode?

As Su Miao Miao settled in, the maid outside repeated a few times, “Be safe,” before finally letting the taxi fleet depart.

“Let’s go!!”

Laughter erupted from someone inside the first car.

“Be safe, Miao Miao!”

The maid’s voice energetically followed them.

Finally, the second car, where Su Miao Miao was sitting, drove off.

The driver chuckled and shook his head.

“You students sure know how to have fun.”

“…?”

Driver: “Aren’t you just going to a birthday party? Why make it seem like you’re kidnapping the bride back to the mountain?”

Su Miao Miao was bewildered.

Beside her, Shang Yan grinned.

He glanced sideways, observing the girl whose gaze was slightly dazed.

Unable to resist the urge to tease, he leaned over, stopping close to her ear.

“Kid.”

Shang Yan’s voice was playfully husky.

“I’ll treat you to good food and drink, provide for you, accompany you hunting in the mountains, fishing in the sea—just as long as you come back to my village and be my charming little captive…”

“

How about that?”