CHAPTER 13: Su Jiasui Can’t Stand That Puppy-Dog Look

Su Jiasui never intended to get into a physical fight with the six girls—at least not a direct one. After all, they really didn’t look like the type to play nice. They all had a tough, mean look, and the kind of fights they’d start were probably full of hair-pulling and dirty kicks.

Even if she could win, it wouldn’t exactly be… dignified.

She’d already made up her mind. Once they had enough evidence, she’d jump out, issue a few threats, maybe throw in a bit of bribery, and settle the whole mess without lifting a finger.

But she never expected “Xiaolu” to suddenly kiss Su Jiahe like that.

In Su Jiasui’s eyes, her little brother was still an innocent, wide-eyed kid who didn’t know the ways of the world. That kind of behavior—damn it, isn’t that basically sexual harassment?

So, Su Jiasui, completely irrational, grabbed the trash bag outside the unit door and hurled it with full force.

It must have been kitchen waste. The bag was loosely tied, and the moment it hit someone, it burst open like fireworks—greasy soup and watery scraps splashing everywhere.

For fashionably dressed girls, this was nothing short of a fatal blow.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the six girls screamed and charged at Su Jiasui together. A chaotic battle erupted.

Although Su Jiasui had received professional training, it was meant to improve physical fitness and better control her abilities, not for real combat. She was especially unskilled in hand-to-hand fighting—she could barely manage one-on-three, let alone one-on-six. All she could do was dodge. Luckily, Cheng Xiangxue’s leg cramp eased up quickly.

And Cheng Xiangxue was fierce.

She once said that girls from the Northeast start learning how to protect themselves the moment they learn to walk. In situations like this, the tougher you act, the better. Never be soft, or you’d be called a loser. And what’s a loser? Your dad’s a loser, your mom’s a loser, and eight generations of your ancestors were losers if they gave birth to a loser like you.

For the sake of her family’s honor, Cheng Xiangxue couldn’t care less about her genteel Taipei bloodline or her graceful “Oriental swan” image. She was in full “charge into ten thousand enemies alone” mode.

Everything happened so fast that Su Jiahe was left dazed. But it didn’t stop him from instinctively acting as a human shield for his sister, blocking many hair-pulls and kicks aimed below the belt.

Then, Jiang Yan—dragged there just to bolster courage—shouted in panic: “The police are coming!”

Those four words were like the signal for retreat on an ancient battlefield. The six girls, more afraid of the police than anyone else present, scattered in all directions, fleeing in a panic that made them look absolutely miserable.

Su Jiasui and Cheng Xiangxue looked slightly better off—thanks to their tied-up hair.

“Hey!” Cheng Xiangxue, her messy bun half undone, hands on her hips, turned to scold Jiang Yan. “What’s your problem? Just standing there watching?!”

Jiang Yan muttered, “…I helped pull them off you, really.”

On the other side, Su Jiasui was lecturing her brother.

“Are you stupid? Something like this happens and you didn’t think to tell us?!”

“None of your business…”

“Su Jiahe! Say that again if you dare! ‘None of my business,’ huh? What, you’re enjoying this now? You like it? Today she dragged you into an alley—what if tomorrow she drags you into a hotel? You want me to die young as an aunt? Do you even realize if that really happened, your life would be ruined?! Huh—?!”

Su Jiasui grew hysterical from the scene she’d conjured in her mind.

Cheng Xiangxue had known her for over two years and had never seen her this furious before. It was like she was about to pass out from rage, so Cheng quickly patted her on the back. “Okay, okay, you can’t really blame him for this. And come on, he’s a teenage boy. Got bullied by a few girls—he’d rather die than run home crying to mommy and daddy. It’s understandable he didn’t want to say anything.”

Su Jiasui managed to take the advice. She took a deep breath and calmed down a bit. “If something like this ever happens again, you must tell me immediately. Got it?”

Su Jiahe had taken several slaps from the six-girl gang in the scuffle, leaving two bloody marks on his face. He looked utterly pitiful and spoke like a sick lamb, “I just… didn’t want Dad to find out… He already thinks I’m useless.”

Old Su wasn’t the kind of father who washed his hands of everything. Given the country’s norms, he actually counted as a pretty good dad. No matter how busy work got, how tiring social obligations were, he still made sure to wake up early to drive the kids to school, take the family out on weekends—for meals, movies, fishing, park outings… Overall, the care and presence he gave already surpassed most fathers.

But when it came to raising a son, he lacked experience. And that inadvertently hurt Su Jiahe, who was in the midst of a sensitive and prideful adolescence.

Of course, Su Jiasui had to admit, she’d neglected her brother a bit over the past two years. In the past, forget being bullied—even if a dog barked at him on the street, he’d come running to her for backup.

“I won’t tell Mom and Dad about this. But promise me—if they come looking for you again, you must let me know immediately.”

“…Mm.” Su Jiahe nodded obediently.

Seeing the mood lighten up, Cheng Xiangxue beamed again. “Anyway, we won this fight! We’ve gotta celebrate! Su-sis is treating us!”

Su Jiasui held her brother’s hand and, after thinking for a moment, said, “Sure, I’ll treat. But… we all stink right now. Here’s the plan—Cheng Zi, you’re staying over at my place tonight. Do your homework there in the morning, then we’ll go out and have fun in the afternoon.”

“Yay!”

The four of them took a cab home. Jiang Yan sat in the front seat—he was the only one still clean.

Old Su had a business dinner that night, so only Ms. Sun and Aunt Jiang were home. Seeing the kids in such a mess, they were startled and bombarded them with questions: “What happened?! Did you get into a fight?” Judging by their tone, they thought it might’ve been an internal squabble.

Cheng Xiangxue, ever the queen of nonsense, delivered smoothly: “Auntie, we ran into some bullies after school. They were picking on some elementary school kids, so we couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. We gave those punks a good beating—sent them crying home to their moms!”

It wasn’t Cheng Xiangxue’s first time at Su Jiasui’s place. Her cheerful and likable personality won over Ms. Sun long ago. If too much time passed without a visit, Ms. Sun would even ask about her: “What’s Cheng Zi been busy with lately? Why hasn’t she come by to hang out?” So when Cheng said that, Ms. Sun believed it without a second thought.

“Well, even so, you shouldn’t be fighting. If you run into bad people, you should call the police first thing. Oh my, look at your faces—all dirty like little cats. Jiang-jie, go get some medicine. Jiahe needs his wounds disinfected.”

Though she said it wasn’t right to fight, Ms. Sun didn’t really think there was anything wrong with kids brawling—especially boys. If a boy didn’t get into a few fights growing up, was he even maturing? Her only real concern was that Su Jiahe might end up with scars.

Aunt Jiang fetched the medicine, then turned to her nephew. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

Jiang Yan shook his head.

Cheng Xiangxue’s crushes came and went like summer storms. Right now, she was back in fan mode, sugar-coating her words as she flattered Aunt Jiang: “Auntie, Jiang Yan was amazing—he scared those bad guys off like it was nothing!”

“Oh? Our little Jiang actually got into a fight?”

“Nope, he said the police showed up. What’s the word for it…? Outwitted them! We’re just a bunch of brutes.”

Cheng Xiangxue was a social butterfly, and by the time Su Jiasui came out of the shower in fresh clothes, she was already chatting with Aunt Jiang like they were family.

Standing up for what’s right was always commendable, never a fault. So Ms. Sun and Aunt Jiang made an especially lavish dinner to reward the kids. After they were full and satisfied, the four of them sat around the dining table to do homework.

Su Jiasui and Jiang Yan, both academic stars, were more than capable of tutoring the two underachievers. And the two underachievers, one feeling guilty and the other eager to impress, studied especially hard that night.

When Old Su came home and saw the scene before him, he couldn’t have been happier. He hurried to the bedroom to grab his camera and circled around the dining table, taking photos to mark the occasion.

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“Such a rare atmosphere for studying—I’ve got to capture this! When we throw your graduation banquet, I’ll make an album out of these pictures and have them loop on the big screen.”

“Aiya, don’t disturb us.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t. But you’d better study just like this again tomorrow!”

Su Jiasui tilted her head up and grinned. “We’re planning to go out and relax a bit tomorrow afternoon. Dad, could you sponsor us a little?”

Old Su had always been generous with his daughter. Add to that the slight buzz from the alcohol, and he didn’t hesitate at all—he pulled out a wad of red bills from his wallet. “Go! Have fun! Balanced work and play leads to the best results!”

By the time they finished their homework, it was already close to 9 p.m. Jiang Yan was used to waking up early and also went to bed early. By nine, he could barely keep his eyes open, so he went back to his room to rest. With him gone, Su Jiahe couldn’t keep hanging out with the two girls, so they all returned to their rooms.

Cheng Xiangxue changed into Su Jiasui’s pajamas and sat at the computer playing Plants vs. Zombies. “Sister Sui, I really envy you. Your parents are so good to you. Not like mine…”

Hearing that, Su Jiasui suddenly remembered, “Oh right, you haven’t called your parents yet.”

“No need. They’re both out of town on a business trip.”

“Uncle and Auntie are always away on business.”

“They’re running a business, you know. When school’s out, they just dump me off at my grandparents’. I can count the number of times I see them in a year. Hey, remember before summer break when I stayed at your house for three days? After I went home, they actually said they wanted to foster me at your place.”

Su Jiasui was heading to the balcony to hang her underwear. Passing behind Cheng Xiangxue, she ruffled her hair. “Sure, I’d love that.”

“Oooh, Bother Jing messaged you.”

“Check what he said for me.”

Cheng Xiangxue clicked open the pop-up from QQ. “He’s asking what you’re doing.”

Thinking Cheng Xiangxue would be using the computer for a while, Su Jiasui said, “Tell him to call me.”

Less than thirty seconds later, Ji Jing’s call came through.

“What’s up? Huh? You’re downstairs? Okay, I’m coming down.”

“Bother Jing’s here? What for?”

As she put on her jacket, Su Jiasui said, “Didn’t Chen Xu’s grandma plant a bunch of tomatoes in their yard? He just picked them. Super fresh and super sweet. He brought some over for me to try.”

Pfft. Tomatoes in early September—what’s so special about that? Cheng Xiangxue shook her head, full of regret over her past infatuation with Ji Jing. The teenage crush she once had on him had long since disintegrated under the weight of his endless dumb antics.

The living room was empty at this hour, so Su Jiasui quietly slipped out.

Ji Jing was waiting around the corner just outside the gate. A dim streetlight glowed above him in the darkness. The evening breeze carried a fragrant scent. His shadow stretched along the ground like a lifelike pencil sketch, down to every strand of hair.

“Why are you sweating?”

“I rode my bike here.”

Only then did Su Jiasui notice the bicycle behind him. A bamboo basket hung from the handlebars, filled with fresh, dewy tomatoes. “That’s a lot. Did you clear out Chen Xu’s entire garden?”

Ji Jing chuckled. “Didn’t you say you liked them? I washed them already.” With that, he handed her one.

Su Jiasui bent slightly and took a huge bite, juice spilling down her hand and dripping onto the ground.

“Good?”

“Mhm.”

With the tomato still in her mouth, her lips curved into a smile. Her eyes, bright and clear like stars, sparkled in the dim light. Ji Jing felt like he could die happy right there. It was totally worth the trip.

“This is the last batch of the season. If you want more later, they won’t be this good anymore. What’s it called? No pesticides.”

“Purely organic and pollution-free.”

“Yeah, that.”

Ji Jing waved away the mosquitoes buzzing around her and added, “I finished memorizing today’s vocab list.”

“So obedient. Want a reward?”

“I sent you some texts…” Ji Jing paused, looking a little wronged. “Why didn’t you reply?”

Su Jiasui couldn’t take that puppy-dog look. “You did? I didn’t see. I started doing homework right after dinner—didn’t stop until almost nine.”

“Oh, I see. That’s okay. I thought you were mad at me.” Once the misunderstanding was cleared, Ji Jing gave a sheepish smile and shoved the basket into her hands. “You should go back in. Lots of mosquitoes out here.”

“You too. Let me know when you get home.”

“Okay.”

As Su Jiasui reached the front door, she turned her head—Ji Jing was still standing under the streetlight. When he saw her look back, he quickly waved both hands. Honestly… kind of cute.

Not worried about Old Su catching her, Su Jiasui bounced upstairs. As she passed Su Jiahe’s room, she tossed him a tomato. “Just picked. Super sweet. Try it.”

The siblings had similar tastes, and of course Su Jiahe loved tomatoes too. He groaned, “I just brushed my teeth.”

“Sister Sui—” came Cheng Xiangxue’s wail from the end of the hall. “I want one too—”

Su Jiasui placed the bamboo basket on the computer desk, then turned to find her phone and read Ji Jing’s texts.

The first message, sent at 6:30 p.m., asked if she had gotten home yet.

The second, at 7:00, said he was heading to Chen Xu’s house to pick tomatoes for her.

The third, sent half an hour ago, simply said:
I’m downstairs.

How awful.

Su Jiasui realized a little too late—if it weren’t for Cheng Xiangxue’s habit of always staying logged into QQ while using the computer, that idiot Ji Jing would’ve been out there feeding mosquitoes all night.

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Author’s Note:

Hahahahahaha I’m dying of laughter. Why are you all calling Sister Sui “Hui-jie”? Collective goldfish memory much? Open the book—it’s Su Jiasui. Close the book—and suddenly it’s Hui??