Xia Hua held Lin An’s hand and ran a long, long way before finally stopping, panting for breath.
It wasn’t because she was afraid those delinquent kids would get up and fight again— Xia Hua had hit them pretty hard.
If the school found out, she’d be in serious trouble.
What’s that saying again?
Whoever gets hurt is the one in the right…
Huff~
Huff, huff~~ Xia Hua rested her hands on her hips.
She was gasping for air, her chest heaving like a mountain— majestic and awe-inspiring.
When a girl’s weight hovers just around the standard mark— or maybe just a teeny bit over— it’s only natural that things wouldn’t stay… still.
It’s perfectly normal that she’d outshine most girls in that department, right??
Lin An found himself staring, almost in a daze.
“L-Lin An.” Xia Hua still hadn’t caught her breath, but she turned to ask, “You…”
Huff~~~ After one long exhale, Xia Hua continued, “Are you okay? I mean, what’s wrong with you? Chen Kailun was clearly up to no good, and you just blindly followed him?”
“Use your brain a little!”
“You won’t always be this lucky next time.”
“If you actually got hurt, wouldn’t that be awful?”
She began to examine him carefully, front, back, and side to side— and sure enough, she spotted several problems.
There was a faint white shoe print between Lin An’s butt and lower back.
Because Lin An had decent core strength, he hadn’t seemed affected while running, but now that they’d stopped, his body naturally leaned forward a bit.
To be more precise, he was slightly hunched.
Xia Hua pointed at Lin An’s stomach and asked, “You got hit here too?”
“Haha, it’s nothing. Really, I’m fine,” Lin An waved it off like it was no big deal.
It probably happened when Xia Hua was secretly following them—out of sight, in some blind spot—those two troublemakers from No. 8 High couldn’t help themselves and took a swing at him first.
A classic case of: itchy hands—they just couldn’t resist getting physical halfway through.
“Sigh, I swear…” Xia Hua suddenly got a little mad—maybe at Lin An’s nonchalant attitude.
“Can’t you take things seriously for once?” she said unhappily.
“Ah? Uh, yeah…” Lin An was actually at a loss for words.
That’s just how Lin An was— like a golden retriever, always warm and dependable. Of course he was in pain!
He only said he was fine so Xia Hua wouldn’t worry. And as a guy, there’s no way he’d admit to being in pain in front of her.
Which is why Xia Hua still didn’t know the real reason he went with them.
“Why did you go with them, anyway?” she asked.
“It’s nothing.”
“You’re not even close with Chen Kailun, so there’s no reason you’d go for no reason.”
“…”
“…He said you were in serious trouble.” Unable to dodge her questioning, Lin An finally said this.
So it was for her… Lin An had gone because of something to do with Xia Hua.
Xia Hua wanted to get mad, but somehow, she just couldn’t.
She wanted to say: My problems are none of your business!
But the words stuck in her throat. In a softer voice, she said, “Come with me.”
“Where to?” Lin An asked.
“The small clinic down by the neighborhood office.”
“It’s really fine, just a scratch. Not worth the trouble.”
“What are you thinking!” Xia Hua rolled her eyes and said, “You think I’ve got enough money to treat serious injuries? I’m just getting you some sanqi powder so you can make some soup at home.”
Sanqi powder comes in two kinds— processed and raw.
Processed sanqi replenishes blood, raw sanqi improves circulation and reduces bruising.
So Xia Hua bought the raw kind.
Five yuan per gram.
Her heart clenched— it was so expensive~~
After leaving the clinic, Xia Hua stuffed a whole 10-gram packet of sanqi powder into Lin An’s hand and said, “Before bed every night, make yourself an oily egg soup and dissolve this in it.”
“Mm, thanks.” Even though Lin An really felt like he didn’t need it at all.
“No problem. I’m heading off then.”
“…”
Xia Hua walked away, her figure looking rather lonely. Seriously, even a hero could be brought down by a lack of money.
It’s just fifty yuan— four days’ worth of her food budget.
Why would I feel heartbroken? No way I’d feel heartbroken… Just fifty yuan, a drop in the bucket!
So yeah, not feeling heartbroken was totally impossible.
But what could she do? Lin An was her best friend.
And usually, if you spend more in one place…
You just have to save from somewhere else.
Originally, Xia Hua had planned to use that huge amount of money to follow Teacher Ye Ling’s advice—
And buy a bottle of conditioner. Her hair really was on the verge of dying.
Even the halfway decent conditioners start at thirty or fifty yuan!
She didn’t dare go to a big supermarket— wouldn’t that just be asking to be humiliated?
In a small department store, Xia Hua squatted in front of a dusty shelf of hair care products, muttering to herself, “Which conditioner should I pick? I used to use Clear…”
Her hand hovered over a bottle of “Rejoice” brand conditioner.
It cost 23 yuan.
Just as she was about to make up her mind and buy it—
Her hand, somehow, just wouldn’t listen to her.
It mysteriously shifted to another bottle— a certain X-brand conditioner, 13.5 yuan a bottle, and it was ginseng-scented! Xia Hua wasn’t too concerned with fragrance anyway.
“Say no more, it’s got ginseng essence.”
“It must be really nourishing.”
“It has to be good for my hair,” Xia Hua declared with confidence.
And she even came up with a solid reason for why this conditioner was so cheap: “Because ginseng-scented stuff probably doesn’t sell well, so with fewer buyers, the price naturally drops.”
“I just scored an amazing conditioner!”
“Truly a great deal for the price.”
“Hahaha…”
“No wonder I’m me!!”
There was a hint of helplessness in that laughter, as if to say: If I had money, would I really be living like this?
To prove to herself that she really had found a hidden gem—
Having taken the day off from her part-time job, the moment she got home, she jumped into a fat-burning workout routine.
Drenched in fragrant sweat, she dashed into the shower, even using extra conditioner for the occasion.
And she had to admit— the ginseng scent was really strong!!
Humming a tune, Xia Hua sat in front of her floor fan.
“Teacher Ye Ling was right. After using conditioner, my hair really does feel better.” Xia Hua happily combed through her hair.
Before, just one swipe of the comb would pull out a whole handful of broken strands.
Now it was much smoother— she could basically comb it straight through.
And with her hair feeling better—
Xia Hua’s mood improved a lot too.
But there was still a shadow in her eyes.
“Chen Kailun?”
“And those two thugs from No. 8 High.”
“Whatever, I’ll deal with them all at once…” Xia Hua said calmly.
Even though it looked like she and Lin An hadn’t really lost anything today— in fact, they’d even turned the tables— Xia Hua didn’t see it as over. At least, she wasn’t about to just let it go.
It’s all about reciprocity, after all!
Those two punks were probably hurt pretty bad. Xia Hua guessed they’d show up at school to cause a scene…
But she didn’t care. Why should she?
“You dared to lay a hand on Lin An?” she sneered.
Then it’s only right we settle this, tit for tat—
Until the bitter end.