The sound resembled a kitten scratching the wall, and it made Ying Ni’s skin crawl. She knew Chen An meant well, probably from hearing somewhere that eating sweet things could improve one’s mood.

But his actions felt more like comforting a three-year-old, and her emotions weren’t eased in the slightest.

Ying Ni lowered her head and rummaged through her bag. The Bluetooth earphone case popped open with a click. Her peripheral vision caught the green candy, and she said against her will, “I won’t eat it.”

Chen An took a tissue, wrapped the candy, and placed it in the armrest box. As usual, he showed no irritation, as though it didn’t matter whether she ate it or not. He was just trying to reduce friction.

“Subway or bus?” he asked.

Ying Ni put in her earphones and glanced outside the window, “Subway.”

Chen An asked, “Which entrance?”

“A—wait.”

Ying Ni took off her earphones and looked through the car window.

Qiao Juan and a few others were just leaving the company entrance. She was surrounded in the middle, with a few people speaking animatedly.

From their expressions, it was clear they were gossiping about her.

And indeed, that was the case.

Qiao Juan noticed the big G car, and everyone around her turned to look. Ying Ni vaguely heard her name being mentioned.

Recalling the long-lasting discussions in the bathroom, the patience that had built up over time poured out after the argument.

She rolled down the car window, squinted, and looked out.

After confirming, the group of people who were sheltering under the eaves from the rain all had their expressions change, becoming awkward.

The thought process was probably: “Isn’t that Ying Ni?” — “Damn, it really is!” — “Sitting in a big G… what right does she have?!”

The more unpleasant their expressions became, the more satisfied Ying Ni felt. She even leaned out slightly, curling her lips and giving them a provocative smile.

But when she turned her head and met Chen An’s calm and slightly inquiring gaze, her heart and the road ahead felt empty.

Using a man’s influence to show off in front of women felt so low. Ying Ni ignored Chen An’s gaze, pressed the car window button, and looked ahead, feeling a little deflated.

Chen An glanced at her and then withdrew his gaze. “The one in the middle—is she the one you fought with?”

Ying Ni dug around in her pocket, as if she hadn’t heard.

Chen An, with mild interest, added, “Her face doesn’t have ten exclamation marks.”

“…”

Ying Ni had just taken out her cigarette case. Hearing this, her movement paused, leaving her hand and the cigarette case still in her pocket. She slowly lifted her eyelids and replied in a soft voice, “It’s about to transfer to your face.”

Chen An rested his arm on the steering wheel. Upon hearing this, his face didn’t show much expression.

But the slight upward curve at the corner of his eyes seemed to indicate that he found her threat amusing.

“Why did you fight?” he asked.

Ying Ni tilted her neck, continuing with her unfinished action. She felt there was no need to talk about it, since it was just workplace conflicts and petty matters.

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got.

But Chen An seemed interested, staring at the terrible scar on her neck. Slowly, he said, “Did you let her off?”

His tone didn’t rise or fall, not really a question, more like a statement.

Ying Ni’s teeth slowly ground over her lips. Letting her off or not didn’t matter; what mattered was that she had fought, and she had hit a key figure.

She thought about the difficult aftermath she would face tomorrow.

Qiao Juan’s spirited state probably meant she wouldn’t need to pay medical fees. But knowing her boss, a salary deduction was inevitable. If she could turn back time, she would rather have not used her hands at all.

The car’s interior wasn’t bright, and the atmosphere was a bit heavy.

Chen An’s silence made Ying Ni remain quiet. In the silence, his gaze lingered on her long eyelashes.

Memory flooded back.

…

In the second week of the second semester of high school, Chen An arrived at school from his hometown in Ji’an.

The delay in starting school was because he had to admit Wu Qingmei into the hospital and settle his younger sister at his aunt’s house. After arriving at the school, he first went to the academic office to complete his enrollment procedures and then followed the signs on campus to the general affairs office to collect textbooks and school uniforms.

The general affairs office was in a building next to the sports field. After crossing a long slope and turning right, he saw Ying Ni at the stairs, looking displeased.

She was leaning against the railing, her arms lazily hanging by her sides. She wore a light beige knitted dress, loose and baggy, revealing her slender shoulders in early spring, when a coat was still necessary.

Her lower half wasn’t cold, and the vintage bell-bottom jeans outlined her legs, which were slender and straight.

Chen An had never seen a girl wear jeans under a long skirt before. The combination was chaotic, but overall, it was harmoniously eye-catching. Seeing her tilted checkered hat, he thought it might be a fashion unique to city folk.

The two of them were still arguing.

“Is this it? Are you messing with me?”

“I’ll give it to you next week, along with this week’s.”

“Are you asking for death?”

“No… I really don’t have any money.”

The boy was of medium height, somewhat chubby. Though his size was bigger than Ying Ni’s, his presence seemed a lot smaller.

When the girl jumped off the stairs, he stepped back in fear.

At this point, Chen An probably understood what was happening. It was another school bullying incident, with the boy trying to extort money. In his former rural school, such scenes were common.

He initially thought that Mingde High School’s environment would be much better, but on the first day, he encountered such a situation.

Newly arrived, Chen An hesitated between intervening or walking away.

At that moment, the girl’s gaze fell on the boy’s wrist. “If you don’t have money, give me your watch.”

“No… This was a gift from my dad.”

She raised an eyebrow: “I’m your dad.”

The boy gritted his teeth, “Don’t go too far!”

She smirked, showing a mischievous tiger tooth, her tone arrogant: “What if I do?”

With that, the boy charged forward.

Chen An had never seen someone act so aggressively. The girl managed to dodge in time, but the boy’s head collided half with her arm, and half with the railing, making a loud noise.

“You’re dead!” The girl, infuriated, grabbed his collar from behind.

The boy, holding his head, pushed her away with brute force. “No, you’re the one who’s dead!” He clenched his fist and threw it at her face.

Chen An’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly turned back, running over, hoping to stop the punch from landing.

The distance was far, and by the time he reached them, the punch had already fallen. He felt sorry for the girl, thinking the force would misalign her face.

But the next second…

The boy collapsed to the ground, legs flailing in all directions, like a flipped turtle.

He cried out in pain.

Chen An: “…”

“Why are you staring? Keep staring and I’ll hit you!” The girl glared at him, kicked the boy’s butt, and stormed off.

That was the first time Chen An saw Ying Ni. Putting aside her behavior, she was so beautiful that he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

He had decided not to interfere, but still hesitated and lingered.

After Ying Ni left, Chen An helped the boy up and took him to the medical office.

After the boy thanked him, he looked at him with a scowl and said, “Don’t tell anyone about today, or you’ll regret it.”

Chen An silently nodded.

The opportunity to attend the prestigious high school with all fees waived was rare, and the homeroom teacher had also subtly reminded him that the students here were all capable. When dealing with troublemakers, it was better to avoid them.

The teacher’s advice was right, but not entirely. It wasn’t about staying away, it was about staying as far away as possible.

But soon, when he entered the classroom and the homeroom teacher called him to the front to introduce himself, he was shocked to find that the girl’s name was Ying Ni.

They were in the same class.

Chen An had an indescribable feeling. On one hand, he worried that she might hold a grudge against him, but on the other hand, he found it strangely coincidental. During the noisy breaks and bustling hallways, his eyes occasionally lingered in places where she couldn’t see.

After observing for a while, he realized that Ying Ni never bothered to look at people she deemed beneath her. In her eyes, most people were no different from the desks, chairs, and curtains in the classroom.

Just decorations.

Later, Chen An immersed himself in his books, cherishing the hard-won opportunity for an education. His dormmate, Luo Zan, was from another impoverished town and had earned his place at Mingde with the highest score in his county’s entrance exams.

People always liked to find like-minded individuals in unfamiliar environments, huddling together for warmth. He saw in Luo Zan the eagerness of a long-lost friend, and in just a few days, they started going to class together, eating in the cafeteria, going back to the dorm, and going to the library.

Chen An was used to being alone, but gradually, he began to get used to it. To outsiders, they seemed like inseparable best friends.

The first week passed quickly. On Friday afternoon, during the last class break, Chen An went to the office to collect his physics homework. It was just when Ying Ni, who had been caught reading a novel during class, was being reprimanded by the teacher.

Compared to the frantic yelling from his middle school teachers, the teachers at Mingde were much calmer. But the lecture dragged on so long that Chen An almost got tired of it.

He slowed down his actions, his eyes casually glancing over.

He remembered her from the stairway bullying incident. She was probably disdainful in front of the teacher, with a stern expression.

But she just lightly pursed her lips, nodded once after each of the teacher’s words.

She looked obedient.

After the teacher finished speaking, she raised a thin book with a colorful, flashy cover and glowing title:

“Someone Will Love You on My Behalf”

“But you can read it, just don’t let it disturb the class…” The teacher concluded.

At this, Chen An couldn’t help but smile.

It was somehow amusing.

He remembered the first math class that afternoon. Ten minutes before class ended, a sudden sob broke out in the front.

The teacher paused in his writing, walked over, and asked what was wrong. As soon as she was asked, Ying Ni’s sniffles turned into loud cries. The teacher asked if she was unwell. Ying Ni buried her face in her elbow and weakly replied, “Shangguan Beifeng… he’s dead… he’s dead…”

Her crying grew louder, unclear.

The teacher’s face turned stern. “Who died?!”

Her desk mate scoffed, “The male lead in her novel died.”

The whole class burst into laughter, so loud it nearly shook the roof.

Luo Zan, sitting next to her, also laughed, stretching his neck to see the commotion: “So silly.”

Was it silly?

Chen An didn’t think so.

At least it was better than the bullying incident.

…

“Who said I let her off?” Ying Ni finally spoke up after a long time, her voice flat, but with an undertone of frustration.

The sudden sound snapped Chen An’s memory back to the present. He still remembered the sight of Sun Chao, sprawled on the ground, his eyes unfocused. “It’s not your level.”

Ying Ni lowered her head to look at her fingers. “It was just like that.”

The rain was light, drizzling on the windshield, almost unnoticed, with the wipers occasionally sweeping across. She was really annoyed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it with a lighter.

As the car window lowered, she casually asked, “Do you mind?”

The sound of the lighter flicking echoed—

“I mind.”

The wind blew in. Ying Ni leaned forward slightly, using her left hand to shield the flame. When she realized the atmosphere had stiffened, and other people’s gazes were fixed on her, she belatedly understood what he meant.

She released her thumb, biting the cigarette, and muttered, “Just one.”

Chen An replied, “One doesn’t work either.”

Ying Ni instantly lost it: “Then drop me off!”

The car really slowed down and came to a stop.

“…” Ying Ni took a deep breath. He was the one who had convinced her to get in, and now he was the one kicking her out. Was he out of his mind?

She was about to throw the cigarette case when Chen An reminded—

“We’ve arrived.”

She looked up, and sure enough, they had arrived. The big G stopped at the curb closest to Exit A, and Chen An habitually turned on the hazard lights.

“Get out, you can only park for two minutes here.”

Ying Ni: “…”

She grabbed her bag, yanked open the car door, and slammed it shut.

Chen An’s gaze lingered far ahead. The rain was light, but dense and fine. She clutched her canvas bag, hunching her head forward as she ran ahead. She forgot to bring an umbrella, and the distance to Chang Le Street was still long. She wasn’t sure if the rain had stopped when she got off the subway.

When she reached the entrance, shaking the rain off her bag, Chen An finally withdrew his gaze. Just as he was about to turn into the main road, something white on the seat caught his eye.

He reached out with one hand to grab it.

It was a Bluetooth earphone.

…

The canvas bag was dirt-resistant and waterproof, so Ying Ni wiped it with her sleeve. People kept coming in and out of the subway entrance. She moved to the side, checking if the eyeshadow palette and lipstick cap had come loose.

After organizing everything, she adjusted the volume on her phone instinctively.

She took two steps, and then stopped suddenly.