Until the end of the second class, when she went out to get her homework book and returned to the classroom, she found a neatly tied white bag on her desk.

Gu Yayan said, “It was delivered by an unknown first-year boy. He said someone asked him to deliver medicine to his family.”

Lu Nian thought, Lu Yang was not around, Lu Zhihong was out on a business trip during this time, and He Tian could not have sent her medicine.

She said, “Did they deliver it to the wrong person?”

Gu Yayan said, “I don’t know about that… But it’s possible. The little boy was very vague in what he said, and he ran off as soon as he put it down here.”

In that small paper bag was the cough syrup she used to drink frequently when she caught a cold in winter.

She used to take medicine frequently and knew the taste of various medicines very well, especially not liking the sticky taste of cough syrup, so she had been not buying medicine for some time.

In addition to the bag of cough syrup, there were two other things in the bag.

Lu Nian took them out and saw that they were a bag of green apple-flavored jelly.

Gu Yayan leaned over and said, “The person who prepared this medicine is really thoughtful.”

Lu Nian coughed and her face turned pale. “It feels lucky to be remembered.”

It made her somewhat envious.

After all, money couldn’t buy warmth or care.

Although she was so wealthy, she didn’t feel happy at all.

So she couldn’t afford to let others’ kindness go unappreciated.

She and Gu Yayan took the bag of medicine to the school’s lost and found.

However, Lu Nian still ended up buying medicine for herself.

After all, no one was watching over her, and she could only watch over herself.

In all these years, Lu Nian felt so low-spirited for the first time, and she couldn’t explain why.

During this year, there had been constant minor incidents, and Lu Nian began to gradually get used to them.

She finally stumbled through the second half of the ninth grade.

That winter, a shocking robbery occurred in Ancheng, and the suspects fled in this area.

Although the murderer was still a seventeen-year-old minor, his methods were particularly cruel.

He even carried controlled knives on him, making this area particularly fearful.

Lu Nian is now particularly sensitive to these things, so she has someone from home pick her up and drop her off every day, and she dare not walk alone at all.

Until one day during break, Gu Yayan and others were all gathered around watching a news report.

The culprit had been caught, and the arrested youth confessed to all the crimes.

Lu Nian was doing her homework when she heard them discussing the captured culprit, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

She finally relaxed her guard a little, no longer feeling as if she were facing a great enemy.

That evening after school, the driver at home had something to attend to, and Lu Nian hadn’t walked home in a long time, so she decided to.

As she passed by the secondary school, a rough hand suddenly grabbed her backpack.

Lu Nian hadn’t even had a chance to make a sound before she was dragged into a narrow alley.

“Got any money?” The voice behind her was indistinct and harsh.

Lu Nian was so small and had no resistance at all.

Her heart was pounding fast, her face pale, and sweat was already beading on her forehead.

“I’m asking if you have money!” Lei Chi roared at her with widened eyes, his hand covering her mouth even tighter.

Lu Nian felt dizzy and had difficulty breathing.

After Tong Xi was captured, he was the only one left, and the search was still ongoing.

He had been living like a rat in a sewer during this time, and his pent-up frustration had reached its peak.

“Wu…” She made a weak sound.

In the last second before losing consciousness, she saw a flash of the knife in Lei Chi’s raised left hand.

Sure enough…

…was fate something that couldn’t be changed?

She vaguely thought that since coming here, she seemed to have not achieved anything.

…

The knife ultimately did not stab down.

A slender, cold hand intercepted the knife halfway.

Lei Chi didn’t notice when the ghost-like boy appeared beside him.

His hand hurt, the knife had already fallen to the ground, followed by a fierce kick.

Lei Chi knelt to the ground in pain, unable to speak.

Qin Si had rich experience in fighting since childhood.

He had been beaten and thrown around so much that he was used to it.

He had lived as a street urchin, and when he first came to the Lu family, the nearby kids bullied him because he was small and weak.

The adults in the Lu family never cared, and he never went to sleep without new wounds.

In recent years, in these street fights, few could gain any advantage against him.

He looked tall and thin, but in reality, the sturdy Lei Chi was pressed down by Qin Si’s knee, unable to move at all.

The slender fingers of the young man pressed against his head and slammed it forcefully onto the ground, each blow sounding duller than the last.

This should… make him behave.

“You still have a knife?” Qin Si looked at the knife, his expression seemingly smiling yet not, “Who were you planning to stab with it?”

The knife flashed like snow, reflecting the half-calm and indifferent face of the young man, his features cold and thin, with no smile in his black eyes.

Lei Chi’s ears oozed cold sweat, trembling as he said, “Brother, I never used that knife. I just wanted to scare her. Please don’t call the police, spare me this once.”

He sobbed uncontrollably, “Tong Xi was the one who robbed and killed. I just wanted some money.

I’m an orphan, without parents since childhood.

I can’t study peacefully like you guys, always being watched by others. I had no choice but to survive.

I’ve scavenged through trash cans, picked up garbage, froze to death at home in winter… I had no choice.”

“Brother, you’re handsome and go to a good school. Your family must be very happy. Pity us orphans like us. I’ll kowtow to you…” Lei Chi really wanted to kneel down before him.

Qin Si’s face grew colder.

The young man’s thin lips slowly curved up, his expression indiscernible, “Orphan? So, is this how it should be?”

Lei Chi nodded desperately, “Those of us born without parents and raised without parents are naturally lowly, with no way out. Wherever we go, we are looked down upon…”

The sharp blade slowly approached, the narrow pupils of the young man devoid of any emotion, chillingly unlike a real person.

Lei Chi’s heart went cold.

He felt that the young man in front of him was also abnormal, perhaps even more so than him.

Like a demon.

He could already feel the icy touch of the blade on his skin, his hair standing on end, trembling so much that he couldn’t even produce a sound.

…

Not far away, the girl suddenly let out a faint sob, but she still didn’t wake up.

The sound was very soft, in this quiet alley, like a drop of water falling onto a calm lake.

The chill gradually left his neck.

The boy slowly lowered his left hand and glanced at the limp Lei Chi before kicking him away. “So useless.”

When the police arrived, Lei Chi collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud, his lips still trembling, a strong stench emanating from him.

He had been so scared that he wet his pants.

After Lu Nian lost consciousness, she vaguely sensed that someone had picked her up horizontally.

In her ear, it seemed that someone whispered something softly.

The voice was very familiar, but the owner of that voice had never used such a tone with her before.

Then, she smelled a very pleasant smell, one she had never smelled before, the unfamiliar scent of a boy, lingering at the tip of her nose, very faint but also very refreshing.

Her cheek seemed to be resting against his collar, and Lu Nian smelled the faint scent of soap on his T-shirt, which was very reassuring for some reason.

So she continued to sleep peacefully.

…

The girl was pale, sleeping on the hospital bed, looking a bit haggard.

Her lips were slightly pale, her long eyelashes drooping in a helpless manner.

At least from the outside, she didn’t seem to be injured.

Qin Si stood beside her, silently watching her.

“Have you contacted the Lu family?” Ming Ge pushed the door open and entered.

The boy nodded, his face showing undisguised disgust. “You go tell them. I don’t want to see them.”

“But you’ll have to see them when they come, won’t you?” Ming Ge asked.

“I’ll leave right away,” Qin Si said.

At least he would leave before Lu Nian woke up, because he didn’t think their meeting would be pleasant.

After all, he didn’t want to see Lu Nian, and Lu Nian… didn’t want to see him either.

He also didn’t want Lu Nian to know that it was him just now.

For some reason, the boy’s ears turned slightly red, as if recalling something.

“Tsk, why did you do that? Isn’t it better to play the hero and let her open her eyes to see you?” Ming Ge teased.

Qin Si didn’t bother to respond, simply ignoring him.

However, after saying this, he didn’t leave immediately.

He just stood quietly by the bed, looking at the girl’s sleeping face from a distance.

Ming Ge, with his legs crossed, watched him like this.

He hated the Lu family so much, but wasn’t the girl lying on the bed also a daughter of the Lu family?

Ming Ge thought about it and asked, “If you hate the Lu family so much, why do you keep thinking about their daughter?”

He was afraid that she would get into trouble, so he had been secretly following her for such a long time, until she was picked up by her family.

Unexpectedly, he had actually run into her.

Qin Si replied, “Repaying a debt of kindness.”

Yes, repaying a debt of kindness.

Ming Ge chuckled, “Are you hoping for a future repayment of that kind?”

The boy stared at him coldly.