Next door to Qin Sheng’s room.
“Hey? Qin Ge, it’s so late, why are you looking for me?”
“Are you feeling better?” Qin Ge asked.
“Don’t mention it, it still hurts when I put any strength into it. That bastard really went all out… Hey hey hey! There’s someone behind the B-point box, shoot him!”
At their age, fights usually only got deadly when someone was truly blinded by rage. Usually, a whole crowd would swarm in, scaring the opponent into not daring to move.
So the few school violence videos that occasionally leaked all followed the same pattern: a group surrounding one person, while the one surrounded just took the beating and insults without fighting back.
“You’re all just trash, a whole group can’t even beat one guy. I should’ve called for backup.”
“It’s not like that… Qin Ge. He really can fight, and he hits dirty. There’s no way to block it.”
In normal middle school fights, people just wildly threw punches, it was all about who was stronger.
So the tall and bulky guys had a clear advantage, but Shen Xiyan used his feet—and with extremely tricky angles.
A simple example: Xiaomi Rifle vs. infantry-tank coordination—really tough to fight against.
“But if we fight again, we definitely won’t lose. Last time, we just didn’t expect it!”
“You got caught and you still want to fight?!” Qin Ge snapped. “What exactly happened that day? Weren’t you supposed to stir up trouble for Qin Sheng… how could you wait until it was empty?”
“We did wait until it was empty, didn’t I say before? Qin Sheng never left through there.”
“No way. She goes to school every day and always leaves by that path. The more I think about it, the more suspicious it feels. Nothing happened and she suddenly went to confess to that guy? And kissed him…” Qin Ge ground his teeth, “Are you guys slacking off and just messing with me here?”
Qin Sheng was cold by nature, impervious in many ways.
Though their sibling relationship was “average,” Qin Ge felt reassured.
Love in this world came in many forms: love at first sight, affection born from time…
Qin Sheng was none of those. She wouldn’t turn into a lovestruck fool just because someone was handsome, nor would she grow soft just because of persistent flattery. The one she liked had to be the only one.
That “only one” was hard to define, so all her life Qin Ge never worried that Qin Sheng would bring home some strange boyfriend.
But look at what she’s doing now?
Throwing herself at him!
Completely shameless.
After all those quiet years, as still as a dark pond, rarely smiling, never angry, never emotional—always calm and composed. And now, she’s a pure lovestruck fool.
No, crazier than a lovestruck fool—she’s a frustrated, obsessed woman.
“Qin Ge, seriously, I was just waiting inside. I even had them drink a little to make sure. If anyone saw it, it would be closer to your spot anyway.”
The classic hero saving the beauty routine, but it worked.
Qin Ge always believed boys had to take the initiative.
Of course, that only suited some simple girls—especially the type who’d get starry-eyed after a guy showed some face and spent a little money. Silly.
Qin Sheng was his half-sister, someone he’d admired since childhood.
He’d noticed her graceful figure and pretty face since middle school, watched her chest fill out with youthful charm, but their relationship remained lukewarm.
A black seed slowly bloomed a black flower, and unable to hold back, he had this idea.
When Qin Sheng ran into danger, he, the brother, just happened to pass by, then “stood up for her,” and ended up getting beaten up.
Even a heart of iron like Qin Sheng’s should feel some guilt, right?
“Should I try again?”
“Forget it… after all this, what’s the point?”
Qin Ge hung up and opened a short video app, scrolling to find the best basketball shooting style.
Only a few people played good basketball in high school; they often gathered for pickup games and knew each other.
Shen Xiyan was a nerd—if he could play basketball, that’d be a miracle.
Likes giving away sneakers? I’ll step on him!
Qin Ge had read novels before—usually the protagonist had a sister or stepsister unrelated by blood.
The sister was always a brother’s girl; the stepsister always a sister’s girl, no matter how many excellent guys chased them, they wouldn’t look twice.
If the male lead got dumped, they’d even take on the “flower vase” role, shouting they were the girlfriend and helping to get the lead back on track.
But here, none of that applied. If anything, they barely spoke.
Why?
Isn’t he the main character?
What do grown-up matters have to do with him?
Qin Sheng’s hostility was utterly baseless.
Was her sincere heart fed to the dogs? Not even a good face in return.
At six the next morning, Shen Xiyan woke up on time.
He twisted the trash bag, sealed it tight, so the scent of the photinia flowers inside wouldn’t escape, then took it downstairs to throw out, feeling ashamed of his own actions.
Occasionally releasing pressure was very good for health. His heart, which had been racing from excitement and stimulation, was now calming down.
Everything had to have a limit—best not to use the Five-finger Maiden too much.
Hmm, first he’d delete that damned audio clip of Qin Sheng, or else he’d keep using it.
It was too effective.
Actually, he should’ve deleted it long ago—his mind knew this—but his body honestly saved it, afraid that clearing chat history would make it impossible to find.
Damn it!
He opened his phone and saw a flood of friend requests.
All from Qin Sheng. How many accounts did she register overnight?
He found Qin Sheng’s main account among the many alts and accepted.
After a while, no message came from Qin Sheng. Probably still asleep—who would wait all night, right?
Just as Shen Xiyan thought this, his phone dinged.
Qin Sheng: [Building feelings, no time for nonsense today! Shen Xiyan, you’re done, I’m telling you, I’m super spiteful! I’m going to tell Auntie you toyed with me and won’t let me sleep tonight!]
What a fierce threat!
But… not exactly wrong?
Qin Sheng: [Hmph!]
That “hmph” was full of spirit—Shen Xiyan knew she was pretending.
Shen Xiyan: [Did you just wake up or haven’t slept yet?]
Qin Sheng: [… Sleeping now! Going to see Auntie at noon!]
Then silence.
Qin Sheng completely gave out and fell asleep.
Of course, not because she was waiting for Shen Xiyan to accept the friend request—that was just a little amusement.
She knew deleting a friend was only temporary; last night, she also carefully planned how to mess with Qin Ge, not afraid Shen Xiyan wouldn’t accept the gift.
As for that plastic cup—
She didn’t think it was wrong. She only made water sounds. Shen Xiyan just imagined things, how could she be blamed?!
If it weren’t for knowing deep down she was in the wrong, she’d have thrown a tantrum on the floor shouting “Unfair!”
On the other side of the screen, Shen Xiyan sighed deeply.
By rights, he should take responsibility and feel a bit guilty, but he didn’t.
Getting tricked by these tactics all the time wasn’t good either.
If he really acted rashly—whenever Qin Sheng made a noise, he’d go check—what if Qin Sheng was even crazier and stripped for love? That’d be even harder.
Deleting the friend was the safest option…
Shen Xiyan scratched his head and headed toward the bathroom.
Wait!
Didn’t he forget something?
Ah, whatever.