The little boy had strong bones.

When Zhao Ming bandaged him, some of the wounds were already a bit old, and the new and old wounds overlapped, making a distressing sight.

Zhao Ming felt a bit sour in his teeth as he worked, but the boy remained silent.

When dealing with the wounds on his face, Zhao Ming applied the band-aids and half-jokingly said, “Fortunately, your face is fine and won’t leave a scar, otherwise the little girls won’t like you in the future.”

The little boy had a very handsome face, with well-defined features.

When he grew up a bit more, he would probably charm a lot of girls.

However, the boy showed no sign of taking Zhao Ming’s joke.

There was none of the childishness typical of his age.

Zhao Ming didn’t get a response to his playful words, so he could only awkwardly continue in silence and apply the ointment to his hands.

After everything was taken care of, Zhao Ming picked up his medical kit to leave, but Qin Si stood up and said, “Thank you.”

The boy was only up to Zhao Ming’s shoulder.

Zhao Ming saw his jet-black hair and his serious gaze. “I will repay you in the future.”

Zhao Ming was a little surprised.

From what he had seen of Qin Si’s prickly attitude towards Lu Nian earlier, he thought he was just a rebellious kid.

But now, it seemed that compared to being rebellious, he was surprisingly mature.

Waving his hand, Zhao Ming said, “There’s no need to repay anything. I was just doing a favor for someone else. If you want to thank someone, you should thank the person who called me.”

At these words, the boy’s eyelashes trembled slightly.

He pursed his lips tightly and in the end, didn’t say anything.

Outside, the wind howled.

Lu Nian caught a cold during the day.

After entering the house, she sneezed several times in a row.

After taking the medicine at night, she soon fell asleep.

Her body was not in good condition, and she slept straight through to the next day.

The next day, after washing up, she leaned over the mirror to look at herself.

The little girl had no trace of color in her face, looking even younger than her actual age.

She had slender arms and legs, with a pair of beautiful large eyes, a delicate nose, and small, upturned lips.

Her features were somewhat similar to Lu Nian’s own childhood, but more refined and paler, a definite beauty in the making.

However, there was an unmistakable illness lingering around her.

The Lu family naturally lacked neither doctors nor tonics.

Lu Nian’s diet was also extremely rich.

However, after taking these precious tonics, there was still no effect.

The young lady was still pale and sickly, like a flower that had wilted from the frost.

It seemed that children of this age needed to be healthy.

First and foremost, they needed to run around outside and exercise. Eating tonics at home all year round would only have the opposite effect.

Today, the sun was out, a rare sunny winter day.

Lu Nian thought about going outside for a walk.

She wanted to quietly go see Qin Si as well, to see if he would be as uncooperative with Dr. Zhao as he was that day.

Unexpectedly, before she could finish preparing to leave, she heard footsteps outside and Zhang Qiuping walked up the stairs, her face full of smiles. “Miss, Mr. Lu is here to see you.”

Lu Nian’s heart skipped a beat and she quickly went back to her room and sat down.

Lu Zhihong soon came in, dressed smartly, no different from when she saw him in the hospital. He looked her up and down, “You’re recovering well.”

Lu Nian smiled at him, but then noticed that there was a woman standing beside Lu Zhihong.

The woman looked to be around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, quite beautiful, dressed extravagantly, with perfect makeup.

However, her features were sharp, giving off a somewhat cold aura.

She glanced at Lu Nian from head to toe, and after Lu Zhihong finished speaking, she smirked, “It’s good that you’re feeling better. However, you’ve been at home for so long this time. How many times have you gone to school this year?”

Lu Nian was taken aback.

Who was this person?

Zhang Qiuping quickly explained, “Madam is back from her vacation.”

Madam?

Lu Nian recalled and realized that the woman in front of her was most likely He Tian, the stepmother of Lu Nian.

He Tian had married into the Lu family several years ago, and at first, she was very favored at home.

Everyone thought she would quickly give birth to another child for Lu Zhihong.

However, up to now, Lu Zhihong still only had Lu Nian as his only child.

There were rumors outside, and He Tian’s attitude towards Lu Nian became increasingly hostile.

She seemed to dislike children very much.

In the original book, she not only didn’t like Lu Nian, but was also one of the instigators of Qin Si’s abuse.

Lu Nian just felt a headache coming on. Why was her family so complicated?

“If you recover well, you should go back to school earlier,” Lu Zhihong said, looking at He Tian.

He cleared his throat, “It’s just in time for the end of the term.”

Lu Zhihong had always had high hopes for Lu Nian’s studies.

Unfortunately, Lu Nian didn’t listen, and often complained of pain here and there.

Lu Zhihong also couldn’t be too harsh with her.

“This won’t do for Nian Nian in the long run,” Lu Zhihong said after leaving the room. “I can’t entrust the entire Lu family to her in the future.”

“It’s okay,” He Tian played with her nails, casually saying, “That child you adopted is quite smart. In the future, just have Nian Nian marry him as the door-to-door son-in-law. Then Nian Nian won’t have to worry about the Lu family.”

“What are you talking about?” Lu Zhihong stopped in his tracks.

He Tian retorted, “You brought him back from the orphanage back then, wasn’t that the idea?”

Otherwise, why choose a child who was so close in age, handsome, and smart? Wasn’t it for him to serve their daughter in the future, since there was no one in the family to take care of her?

Lu Zhihong paused, “I only have Nian Nian as my daughter now. Am I crazy? How could I marry my only daughter to a child picked up from an orphanage with no parents? You’re bored at home, so you go out for beauty treatments and shopping with your sisters. Don’t meddle with Nian Nian.”

Seeing that he was really angry, He Tian pursed her lips and stopped talking.

Affiliated Middle School was the best school in Ancheng.

Most of the students were either rich or noble. Otherwise, they were ordinary families whose children got in through their own merits.

Lu Nian was currently in Ancheng Affiliated Elementary School, in the fourth grade.

However, because she had missed too many classes, her grades were terrible.

Lu Nian, the young miss of the Lu family, usually only spent less than two months in school in a year.

Basically, if she didn’t want to go, she wouldn’t go.

Her mental state was very poor, she had a strange temper, and she had even attempted suicide several times.

Everyone knew about her family background, so the teachers didn’t dare to discipline her and let her do as she pleased.

This time, Lu Nian actually wanted to go to school, which delighted everyone in the family.

The day for returning to school finally arrived. Lu Nian was afraid of the cold, so when she left in the morning, Zhang Qiuping wrapped her up into a small ball of fur.

Lu Nian used to love looking beautiful and would firmly refuse such things, but now she just wanted to stay healthy.

As long as she was warm enough, she would wear extra layers.

She rolled out the door, and the Lu family’s car took her to the school gate.

There were a bunch of drivers and maids, and they even wanted to follow her in.

Lu Nian looked at the elementary school students coming and going around her.

Some were much younger than her and were alone, which made her feel embarrassed.

After some persuasion, she finally managed to convince the maids to go back.

She walked alone with her backpack, following her vague memories towards her own classroom.

Because the elementary and middle schools were merged, and it was the most famous private school in Ancheng.

The campus of Ancheng Affiliated Middle School was very large.

Lu Nian had a poor sense of direction, and combined with her vague memories of the school, she would walk a few steps and then stop.

She could already hear the bell for the morning self-study ringing in the distance, but the nearest teaching building to her was still far away.

Lu Nian thought to herself, she was starting to regret sending those people away.

Otherwise, at least they would have escorted her to the classroom today.

She didn’t want to be late, so she quickened her pace.

However, in her haste to find her way, she didn’t pay attention to the ground and ended up stepping into a ditch at the side of the road.

Fortunately, there was no water in the ditch, but it was hard, and she fell on her bottom, which hurt a lot.

Lu Nian tried several times but failed to climb out.

The main reason was that she was wearing too many layers, which made it difficult to move.

Also, her arms and legs were so thin that she had no strength.

Class had already started, and there were hardly any people on the way to school now.

Lu Nian cupped her face, sat in the ditch, and stared blankly at the sky, seriously considering whether she should start taking off her clothes layer by layer to save herself, or wait in the ditch for a class to end and everyone to leave.

Qin Si saw the white fluffy mass at the end of his line of sight suddenly disappear.

How could there be such a fool?

She didn’t know how to walk properly. It was such a shallow ditch, yet she couldn’t climb out of it.

Qin Si, who was half a head taller than her, stood by the road.

Despite the winter cold, he was still dressed lightly.

He looked at her with cold, indifferent eyes.

It was Lu Nian.

How did he end up here? Lu Nian was a little surprised and suddenly remembered that Qin Si seemed to be studying here too.

She looked him up and down, and after blinking her long eyelashes, her bright eyes curved up, full of joy.

Qin Si thought indifferently, her happiness was useless to him.

He wouldn’t help her. He just came to see her embarrassing appearance.

Lu Nian blinked her big eyes and smiled, her eyebrows curved.

Qin Si saw her sitting comfortably in the ditch, smiling, looking no different from sitting in her own living room.

“You’re all healed.” She saw that his wounds on his hands and face had been carefully treated, and she felt relieved, even squatting in the ditch.

Qin Si, “…”

The early winter wind was bitterly cold, but Lu Nian showed no intention of asking him for help.

Qin Si turned to leave, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, unable to move.

He felt unusually irritable.

Lu Nian watched him disappear and was not surprised at all.

She continued to look up at the sky, and suddenly, his shadow reappeared.

Qin Si pursed his lips tightly, pulled her out of the ditch with a simple and rough movement.

Lu Nian only then realized how strong he was.

He didn’t touch her, just pulled her up through her clothes.

As soon as she stood firm, Qin Si let go immediately, as if dealing with a flood or a fierce beast, not willing to get close, quickly stepping back several steps away from her.

But Lu Nian was still surprised. He actually helped her.

She thought Qin Si would not only not help her but also throw a few stones into the ditch.

“Thank you.” The little girl’s voice was sweet and soft, like a cotton puff in the wind.

Qin Si remained silent, walking ahead of her.

The boy’s back was slender, but he stood very straight.

He was still wearing only a thin hoodie inside his school uniform, looking very cold.

His exposed pointed ears were probably reddened by the wind, particularly conspicuous against his fair skin.

Lu Nian hesitated.

She knew that Qin Si didn’t like talking to her, that he was annoyed by her very presence.

But she really wanted to ask him if he knew which way to go to get to her classroom.

The two walked one after the other. Suddenly, a figure ran towards them at the end of the tree-lined path.

When Lu Yang saw Lu Nian, he immediately stopped in his tracks. “Nian Nian!”

He ran over, relieved to see that Lu Nian was unharmed, and sighed in relief.

Lu Yang pulled her up and noticed the mud on the hem of her clothes. “Nian Nian, what are you doing here? We’ve been looking for you like crazy.”

The nanny had clearly seen her enter the school, but there was no one in the classroom.

Lu Nian whispered, “I accidentally fell.”

She glanced at Qin Si, feeling that he probably didn’t want to have any relationship with her.

Lu Yang asked, “Does it hurt? Should I carry you to the classroom, or should I call Uncle to take you home?”

Lu Yang is now in the second year of junior high school and also at Ancheng Secondary School.

Usually, the family had repeatedly instructed him to keep an eye on Lu Nian at school.

Lu Yang’s grandfather and Lu Nian’s grandfather are brothers.

In fact, in their generation, the blood relationship is considered distant, but the Lu family, led by Lu Zhihong, is currently the most successful branch, so they are considered relatively close.

As soon as he heard that Lu Nian hadn’t reached the classroom, he immediately ran out to look for her.

Because of what happened with Qin Si before, Lu Nian really couldn’t muster any good feelings for Lu Yang.

She broke free from his hand and shook her head. “No need, I can walk by myself.”

Lu Yang then saw Qin Si ahead.

Since the “jumping off the building incident” that day, Lu Yang had not seen Qin Si again.

That day, he had tried to frame Qin Si, but Lu Nian’s words ruined it all. Naturally, Lu Yang didn’t think it was Lu Nian’s fault.

So, he blamed Qin Si for embarrassing him in front of Uncle Lu.

Now he found Qin Si even more displeasing.

Lu Yang forcefully pulled Lu Nian closer. “Big brother will take you to the classroom.”

Lu Yang is fourteen years old, several years older than Lu Nian, and she is physically weak, unable to break free, so she could only let him pull her.

Lu Nian was pulled away from Qin Si.

As she glanced back at him, she saw his cold gaze, not even bothering to look at her, seeming completely indifferent.

Qin Si really did still dislike her. In his mind, she and Lu Yang were probably the same.

As Lu Yang led Lu Nian away, his back felt chilly.

He turned around and saw Qin Si standing far away, staring at their backs.

He noticed that the kid had jet-black eyelashes and his eyes looked frightening, even more so than before, staring quietly at him, thinking who knows what.

He looked like a young wolf whose prey had been snatched away.

Clearly, he was just a poor wildling. What could he do to him? Lu Yang thought disdainfully.