“Why aren’t you talking? I’ll change. Please don’t go to Liu Yinuo’s home anymore, okay? I’ll convince my parents to stop hitting you. Also, they won’t swindle your mom out of money anymore. Will you talk to me?”
After saying all that, Lin Ziyan actually seemed pitiful.
Perhaps moved by Lin Ziyan’s sincerity, Ye Xingmian pursed her lips.
“I didn’t go to Liu Yinuo’s home.”
Her words reached Lin Ziyan’s ears, but they made Lin Ziyan lose control of her emotions.
By now, Ye Xingmian had already taken off all her clothes, leaving only a layer of underwear.
Lin Ziyan turned over under the covers and pressed down on Ye Xingmian’s body. Between them was only a thin layer of pajamas.
Lin Ziyan’s gaze trembled as she looked at the girl beneath her with those moving pink eyes. The emotion in her heart was indescribable—anger or something else.
“You’re lying to me again!”
Like her gaze, her voice also trembled, as if she was angry.
“Can you get off me? It hurts.”
“I’m not lying.”
Ye Xingmian turned her head to the side.
“Hurts? Where? What’s wrong? Let me see.”
Lin Ziyan’s expression instantly filled with worry. She used the nightlight to look over Ye Xingmian’s condition.
But not looking was one thing—when she saw, she was stunned.
It had been a while since then. Even if the marks hadn’t faded, they should have become shallow and almost invisible.
In her memory, she had choked Ye Xingmian a few days ago, but the condition of Ye Xingmian’s neck… was shocking.
Red-purple ligature marks stood out starkly against the fair skin. The marks looked like those left by a tight leather collar.
Besides that, there were choke marks, irregular red finger marks scattered across the skin.
“Your neck… how did that happen?”
Ye Xingmian didn’t want to answer that question.
“Can you get off me? You’re pressing on me and it hurts.”
Hearing this, Lin Ziyan climbed off Ye Xingmian’s body, but she didn’t give up investigating.
Instead, she turned on her phone’s flashlight and lifted the top half of the blanket. Under the light, the bruises covering the girl’s body came into view.
‘So it was because of these injuries that she said it hurt?’
‘But would Liu Yinuo hit her? She’s such a gentle person, and the two had a good relationship. How could Liu Yinuo hit her?’
Her mind in chaos, Lin Ziyan became incoherent.
“Your body… this… what happened?”
“I was hit.”
Ye Xingmian’s eyes darkened as she snatched the blanket from under Lin Ziyan’s hand, trying to cover herself.
Lin Ziyan let her do as she pleased.
“Hit? But how could Liu Yinuo hit you…”
“Hit by Qin Haiyue.”
“How could that be? But didn’t you… didn’t you go to Liu Yinuo’s home…?”
Ye Xingmian didn’t speak.
Although she said nothing, it was as if she had said everything.
Looking at those calm, cold pink eyes that even seemed to carry a hint of mockery, Lin Ziyan felt at a loss.
‘Wrong again, and terribly so. Once again, the fact she had believed was wrong.’
‘And everything the other had experienced was completely different from what she had imagined. She hadn’t hidden at Liu Yinuo’s home to avoid her, but had been taken away by Qin Haiyue to endure endless violence.’
‘No… I…’
‘Should I apologize? Definitely need to apologize. After all, she was the one in the wrong first, misunderstanding Ye Xingmian and even deepening the harm she suffered.’
“I… I can help you call the police! Let the police give you justice!”
She thought of something, took out her phone, and wanted to dial. But halfway through, her movement stopped abruptly.
‘If she really called the police, would they face retaliation, causing her parents to lose their jobs? Her parents still worked at the Qin family’s factory.’
‘…No.’
‘The risk was too great…’
***
In the end, she put down her phone like a clown. Lifting her head to look, Ye Xingmian had already closed her eyes.
From beginning to end, she didn’t glance at her, as if she had no hope at all for what she said.
She couldn’t help Ye Xingmian. At least when it came to facing Qin Haiyue, she was even weaker than Ye Xingmian.
Ye Xingmian had no one to rely on, but she had to consider whether offending Qin Haiyue would cost her family their source of income.
Full of conflict, she lay back down on the bed and tentatively placed her arm around the girl’s slender waist.
Fortunately, there was no resistance.
Her movements grew bolder, moving much closer until their bodies were almost touching, and she could smell the clear scent of shampoo from her hair.
“I’m sorry… I misunderstood you. Can you forgive me? Give me a chance, okay?”
“I’ll change. I won’t treat you like before. Really.”
Still no answer.
She shamelessly pressed closer. She had done this many times before, but this time was different. She felt nervous, her heart beating faster. She was actually a little afraid that Ye Xingmian would reject her.
“Don’t go to Liu Yinuo’s home anymore. Also, regarding Qin Haiyue… I’ll try to protect you. Just stay at home, okay? I’m serious. My parents definitely won’t bully you anymore. If they hit you again, tell me, and I’ll stick up for you…”
Silence, endless silence.
Lin Ziyan had many more words she wanted to say—pleading, comforting, humble—but in the end, they were all swallowed back down along with the girl’s soft breathing.
She pursed her lips, her expression somewhat bitter.
“Are you asleep? Well… good night. You’re so badly injured. How about we skip class tomorrow? I’ll take a leave and stay home to take care of you, okay?”
Probably, she really was asleep.
In a daze, she thought of the toy bear she had sewn up herself.
‘If she took that out, maybe Ye Xingmian would talk to her? Maybe even forgive her directly.’
‘Too bad, she had forgotten about it. If only she had thought of it sooner…’
‘There is no “if only.”‘
The dim light was finally swallowed by the darkness in her sight. The quiet bedroom echoed with the girls’ soft breathing.
In the empty night, the cold wind raged, howling and beating against the window, disturbing who knows whose dreams.
***
The next morning.
The twilight of dawn lit up the horizon. Light pierced through thin eyelids, waking those still asleep.
Lin Ziyan opened her eyes wearily. Before her was emptiness. She reached out and patted the sheet in front of her—it still had residual warmth.
Her mind cleared significantly.
From downstairs came the sound of cooking. Her heart finally settled a little. She quickly sat up, changed out of her pajamas, and walked out the door.
After washing up in the bathroom and tidying her appearance, she went downstairs.
Ye Xingmian had already made breakfast and was eating silently at the table.
She swept her gaze over the table—there was no portion for herself.
She was tactful enough to go to the kitchen and serve her own portion, then brought it to the seat opposite Ye Xingmian and ate quietly.
“Um… are your injuries better?”
She looked up and asked cautiously.
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