“What’s wrong?”
Ye Xingmian’s sudden outburst made Lin Ziyan a bit annoyed. She looked up and saw Qin Haiyue approaching.
Her body stiffened.
Qin Haiyue didn’t even look at her and walked straight toward Ye Xingmian.
“Huh? Why aren’t you hiding from me with that Liu Yinuo today? Did she finally abandon you?”
“No… no… over there…”
Ye Xingmian nervously pointed toward the main group.
“Heh, I already observed that. She didn’t come today, did she?”
The lie was seen through directly. Ye Xingmian was at a loss.
She subconsciously wanted to continue stepping back, but behind her was a flower bed—no way out.
“Let’s go. We need to talk.” Qin Haiyue grabbed her arm.
“No… I don’t want to go…” Fear welled up in her heart. Ye Xingmian struggled violently.
Qin Haiyue frowned and was about to say something when a timid voice reached her ears.
“Qin… Qin Haiyue… let go of my brother…”
Qin Haiyue turned her head oddly. With her height advantage, she could easily look down at the tall girl before her.
“You’re… her younger sister?”
She raised an eyebrow, as if she had found something amusing.
“Did she become a girl? Why are you still calling her brother? Shouldn’t you call her sister now?”
She didn’t let go of Ye Xingmian; instead, she gripped her wrist even tighter, even as the other struggled more violently from the pain.
“Didn’t she tell me before that you knew about her becoming a girl?”
Seeing Ye Xingmian wince in pain, Lin Ziyan wanted to go help, but that timidity still made her hesitate. She remembered that her parents both worked under Qin Haiyue.
“You… let her go…”
Seeing that Qin Haiyue was still ignoring her, she dared not say another word, afraid of offending her. Remembering her parents’ earlier instructions to curry favor with Qin Haiyue and not offend her.
‘She suddenly realized that she was this afraid of Qin Haiyue.’
‘Not only because the family’s financial lifeline was in the other’s hands, but also because she saw the designer clothes on Qin Haiyue that she had heard of and known about but dared not even glance at, and that arrogant, fearless demeanor.’
—They simply weren’t on the same level.
‘Even though she had boasted earlier about protecting Ye Xingmian, at this moment, she could not take a single step.’
Her feet felt as heavy as lead.
And Qin Haiyue, from the start, hadn’t even given her a second glance.
Even now, asking her a question was out of a desire for amusement.
A mocking smile appeared on Qin Haiyue’s face.
“What, your sister didn’t introduce me to you? Your sister and I are lovers now. In other words, your sister is my girlfriend.”
“Of course, I also hope you don’t spread the news about your sister being a girl. After all, that would inevitably cause me some trouble. The way it is now is perfect—your sister is still nominally my boyfriend. Let’s keep this between us.”
With a slight force from her arm, she pulled Ye Xingmian to her side, completely disregarding the other’s cry of pain and fear of nearly falling, and put her arm around Ye Xingmian.
“Then, what identity and position do you have to interfere in matters between us? As her younger sister? Oh, as far as I know, you two are not blood-related.”
“She’s just a guest living in your house. Not to mention that your relationship isn’t good—you often bully her, don’t you?”
Lin Ziyan was rendered speechless.
‘She knew that not everything Qin Haiyue said was right. At the very least, the claim that Qin Haiyue and Ye Xingmian were lovers was definitely false—this was absolutely forced by Qin Haiyue.’
‘But, so what?’
‘Should she expose it? Would exposing it save Ye Xingmian? No.’
A deep sense of powerlessness made her feel suffocated.
‘She couldn’t do anything, could only watch helplessly as Qin Haiyue took Ye Xingmian away.’
‘She couldn’t even put up a decent resistance like Ye Xingmian did, let alone confront her head-on like Liu Yinuo.’
‘Like a completely useless person.’
‘But she didn’t even have that qualification. Ye Xingmian hated her—she knew that.’
‘From the very beginning, her goodwill toward Ye Xingmian was one-sided, a wishful thinking.’
‘As Qin Haiyue said, she used to bully Ye Xingmian often. From that perspective, she and Qin Haiyue were essentially no different.’
‘So why would she feel pain, like a loser?’
Seeing that she remained silent for a long time, Qin Haiyue let out a cold laugh.
“We’re leaving. I advise you not to follow, unless you want your parents to lose their jobs.”
With that, Qin Haiyue left.
Lin Ziyan lowered her head, able to hear the footsteps of the two walking away.
‘She had thought Ye Xingmian would look back at her, looking at her with pleading eyes.’
‘Although she knew in her heart that if she really saw such a scene, she would only feel more guilty and powerless, she couldn’t help but look up.’
But reality was not as she expected.
Ye Xingmian did not look back, just followed Qin Haiyue forward, still making some futile struggles in between, but they were meaningless against the difference in body size.
So, from beginning to end, Ye Xingmian had no expectations for Lin Ziyan’s “protection.”
‘She never thought Lin Ziyan could protect her from Qin Haiyue like Liu Yinuo did. So until the very end, even if it was just making meaningless struggles, she didn’t want to look back at her even once.’
And even more upsetting was that Ye Xingmian’s judgment was correct.
Lin Ziyan indeed couldn’t do anything.
Gritting her teeth, Lin Ziyan couldn’t help but clench her fists tightly.
‘At this moment, what was she thinking? Was she hating her own powerlessness, or feeling guilty for failing her promise to Ye Xingmian?’
‘Maybe both.’
‘She regretted it—regretted that she shouldn’t have taken it upon herself to insist on bringing Ye Xingmian out for PE class.’
‘Only now did she realize belatedly that Ye Xingmian’s stomach ache was probably fake, the purpose from start to finish being to avoid Qin Haiyue.’
‘Sadly, even though Ye Xingmian had already expressed her fear, she still presumptuously insisted on bringing her out.’
‘This led to such a result.’
‘It was all her fault.’
‘Now, what should she do?’
‘It seemed only waiting was left.’
‘Waiting for Ye Xingmian to be released, waiting for her to apologize to herself?’
‘What a cowardly thought. In the past, Lin Ziyan couldn’t have imagined it.’
Ye Xingmian was taken by Qin Haiyue all the way to a secluded corner.
This place was near the dormitory building, with obstructions around, and no one was around.
As soon as Qin Haiyue stopped, she turned around with a cold face.
“Hey, are you done making a scene? Do you think I have a good temper, or do you think I don’t dare hit you at school?”
She had tolerated Ye Xingmian the whole way, and throughout the journey Ye Xingmian had been resisting her, which annoyed her to no end.
Seeing that Ye Xingmian didn’t dare to speak, she pursed her lips, pulled the person close, and forcefully pressed her against the wall.
“Talk. How do you plan to make up for yesterday’s incident?”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.