In the depths of the night, a dark figure soared over the rooftop of the Su family villa.
A window on the second floor quietly swung open and a cage was tossed into the room.
The rat inside the cage - as large as a cat - reflected red light in its eyes. Upon landing on the carpet, it stood up briefly, sniffed the air, then sped towards the large bed in the center of the bedroom.
"Ah!"
Su Junxin was sleeping soundly when a sudden scream echoed in her ears.
She frowned, just as she was about to open her eyes, a foreign scent drifted to her nostrils.
In an instant, her consciousness sank into darkness and her breathing quickly returned to its usual pace.
A chilly pale hand extended from the darkness, its cold fingertips pressing gently on the girl's forehead, meticulously smoothing out the slight wrinkle on her brows.
Qin You's sigh was like a whisper in the storm, gone before anyone noticed, instantly dissipating into the air.
*
The next day as she awoke, Su Junxin subconsciously reached to touch her forehead, puzzled she furrowed her brows.
… Strange, something feels off?
But she quickly brushed it aside, finished her morning routine swiftly and went to the kitchen to fry an egg, sat by the table and quietly contemplated her plans for the day.
Her starting capital dropped from three million to one million; although it seemed substantial, it was merely a drop in the bucket for the construction of a safe zone… she must find a way to secure more funds in the shortest time.
At this moment, the sound of slippers shuffling came from the stairs.
Lou Ya was gripping her phone, growling angrily at the person on the other end of the line.
"How was I supposed to know there would be a rat! Isn't this your department's responsibility? Fine, let me speak to your claims manager—"
She turned around, her gaze suddenly fell on Su Junxin's figure, her voice ceased abruptly.
Su Junxin swallowed the last mouthful of milk and tossed the cup into the dishwasher.
She picked up her backpack and headed out, as she passed by Lou Ya, she casually glanced at her left forearm wrapped in bandages, her expression emotionless.
As usual, she ran three kilometers to school. But just as she stepped into the school building, a female voice stopped her.
Tsk, here we go again.
Su Junxin couldn't help but roll her eyes and turned to look.
Her soon-to-be formal stepsister was standing a few steps away.
Su Yi was wearing a shortened school uniform, her posture as graceful as a little swan.
A quite tall young man was standing next to her, his hair dyed blonde, carrying both their school bags and acting carefree.
A faint smile was on her face, she took a step forward, and when she started speaking, her voice was so soft that it could wring out water.
"Su Junxin, there's something I need to ask you."
Su Junxin was caught off guard by her sugary tone, couldn't help but shiver, her lips parted, and coldly spit out a word: "Speak."
Seeing such a drastic change in her attitude towards her, Su Yi subtly furrowed her brows, feeling somewhat annoyed inside.
She glanced at the boy next to her, her hands interlaced in front of her loosened and she turned towards the interior of the school building.
"It's inconvenient here, follow me."
The three entered a semi-abandoned storage room, the boy following behind Su Junxin, once they entered, he stood by the door with crossed arms blocking their way out.
Raising her eyes to scan the ceiling, Su Junxin smiled satisfactorily.
No surveillance cameras, good.
Su Yi's eyebrows and eyes resembled Lou Ya very much, their eyes held the same pickiness and contempt when looking at people.
She gave Su Junxin an up-and-down glance, got straight to the point and said: "Did you deliberately call over the city's Women Federation that day?"
"Hmm," Su Junxin responded, leisurely looking at her.
She didn't expect her to admit it so readily. Su Yi almost couldn't maintain her expression.
"What have you done to my mom? Why won't she let me return home?"
Had Lou Ya not told her yet? An idea crossed Su Junxin's mind and she suddenly bent her lips into a smile.
"You really want to know?"
Su Yi was startled by her smile, an ominous premonition began to rise from the depths of her heart.
Before she could say something, she noticed Su Junxin suddenly walking towards her.
"Slap!"
A resounding slap landed on Su Yi's left face, rendering her stupefied.
Disbelievingly covering her face, she looked at Su Junxin, her voice turning shrill.
"You actually dared to hit me?!"
Su Junxin let out a cold laugh.
"What's wrong with hitting you? Does hitting you require an appointment?" She raised her hand again and landed another slap, this time on Su Yi's right cheek, "What, rendered speechless just because you got slapped twice? They say one has to learn to be hit before hitting others-if you want to bully others by your position, shouldn't you experience this feeling first?"
Su Yi covered her rapidly swelling face in disbelief, her eyes welled up, and tears started to roll down.
"Su Junxin! Have you gone mad!"
The boy, upon seeing this, was startled, cursed, and rushed towards her red-eyed.
Su Junxin didn't look back, her fist came first, landing preciously on his jaw and immediately followed by a kick.
The boy froze, gasping a painful grunt, clutching his lower body and curled up on the ground, as if boiled shrimp, his face twisted in agony.
Su Junxin shook her numb wrist, looked down at the boy, and scoffed disdainfully.
"A man butting in when women are fighting, how shameless are you."
She turned to Su Yi and said in a mysterious drawl, "Now you know what I did to your mother, don't you?"
This was the first time Su Yi had been slapped at this age. She was both angry and anxious, tears streaming down her face as she trembled.
She gritted her teeth, hissed, "Su Junxin, I'm going to tell the principal! You will no longer be able to study at this school!"
Hearing these words, Su Junxin didn't seem to care. Her lips twitched as a frosty smile formed on her face.
"Great, then I'll also hand over the evidence of you cheating during the class test, let's see who gets expelled first, shall we?"
When she finished speaking, she stepped over the still sobbing boy on the ground, opened the door, and walked straight out of the equipment room.
Su Yi's face turned pale, and she collapsed to the floor, panting.
"How does she know…No, I can't get expelled…"
*
Having dealt with the pest, Su Junxin finally felt a little relieved.
The first lesson after morning self-study was English. She took out her textbook and put it on the desk.
She lifted her head, and froze.
Qin You followed Jiang Rushi onto the podium, looking at the crowd with a friendly eye.
Whispers immediately filled the classroom.
"Oh my god! Why is the school's heartthrob in our class?"
"Ahh, it's Qin You! So handsome, so handsome!"
"Hey, isn't he in another class? What is he doing here?"
"He's carrying a school bag, don't tell me he's..."
Jiang Rushi knocked on the desk to signal everyone to be quiet.
"This is our new classmate, Qin You. He transferred to our class today. Would you mind introducing yourself, Qin You?"
Qin You nodded, "Hello everyone, my name is Qin You."
Before he had even finished speaking, the girls in the class couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
"How is his voice so gentle! I'm dying, I'm dying!"
"The heartthrob actually joined our class, what kind of luck is this!"
"Damn, he really transferred. Ahhhh, I hope his seat is close to mine..."
Qin You smiled and continued, "I am now a member of Senior Class 2 (12). I hope everyone will treat me well."
Jiang Rushi's gaze swept across the excited crowd and pointed to the only empty desk on the right-hand side of the class, "Qin You, you are tall. The seat there is vacant and perfect for you."
Hearing this, the crowd instantly turned their gaze to where she was pointing.
Feeling all the eyes in the room on her, Su Junxin glanced at the empty seat next to her, and the corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.
Under the attention of the entire class, Qin You quickly took his seat.
He tilted his head, smiled, and greeted her.
"Hi, Su, nice to meet you again."
Up close with a face identical to Cloud, Su Junxin's heart skipped a beat.
She found the situation a bit awkward and after responding, she turned her gaze away.
As if remembering something, she took a tube of scar removal cream from the drawer and placed it on the desk.
"This is yours, isn't it?"
Qin You nodded, "Yes, it is. This cream is very effective for scar removal."
"Thanks, but I don't need it."
She pushed the cream back onto his side of the desk. Her tone was noticeably frosty. After she finished speaking, she turned her attention back to the blackboard.
He didn't insist that she should accept it. He just smiled and stored the cream in his own drawer.
*
Halfway through the lesson, Jiang Rushi assigned some in-class exercises. The classroom was very quiet. After finishing her work, Su Junxin absent-mindedly twirled her pen while supporting her chin.
Suddenly, something gradually appeared in her line of sight.
She looked up.
It was a piece of chocolate wrapped in tin foil, shaped like a pyramid. A tiny golden ribbon was tied in a bow on the pointed top, with a light blue sticky note attached.
To her surprise, the handwriting in ink was beautiful, almost calligraphic.
[Are you in a sour mood? How about a piece of chocolate?]
She pursed her lips and used the tip of her pen to push back the chocolate and the sticky note.
She turned her head in a different direction, facing the wall.
After a while, she suddenly felt someone nudge her arm. She subconsciously turned her head and saw that a piece of chocolate had been placed on her desk again.
This time, there were two pieces.
Su Junxin looked at Qin You in astonishment, but he just blinked and pointed to a large bag of chocolate in his school bag.
He looked as if to say – "If you don't accept, I'll keep giving it to you."
Su Junxin was dumbfounded.
She stared at the two pieces of chocolate for a while, her fingertips sliding across the smooth surface of the desk. She picked up the ribbon on top of the chocolate, and pulled it towards herself.
The rich taste spread in her mouth, and she turned to look at him, revealing a genuinely warm smile for the first time since they had met.
"Thank you."