"I have already said, I didn't mean to stop you. Although, I do think it's better to call the police, it's just that you seemed reluctant..."
"Of course I'm reluctant," Lin Xingjie cut him off, "Not to mention that they are all minors, and whether they can be dealt with or not; even if that group of people were all locked up, what does that have to do with me? After suffering such a loss, I must get revenge on them. Besides—"
Her voice trailed off, growing fainter.
"If the police got involved and everyone at school knew I was... uh, what's that word again? Right, the victim of 'attempted rape.' Classmate Xu Xiangyang, what do you think my situation would become then?"
"This..."
"Don't get me wrong, I don't mind being looked at with weird eyes, I'm used to it," the girl nonchalantly spread her hands, "It's just that I think if this blows up, the school really will expel me. I can see the teachers are about to lose patience with me too."
Xu Xiangyang remained silent, offering no response.
Lin Xingjie's grades were of course poor, but that didn't mean she was dumb. On the contrary, she was very smart, with more social experience than him, and took more concerns into account than he did.
And precisely because of this... precisely because of this, he felt an even greater sense of suffocation in his chest, a feeling of not being able to breathe.
There were things she certainly understood, so why didn't she act, why didn't she change?
He wanted to stop her because he was worried that Lin Xingjie would get into trouble, lest the real troublemakers got off scot-free and she ended up in a juvenile detention center first. But on further thought, what right did he have to stop her? It's not like he was Lin Xingjie's parent to intervene in this and that.
Now Xu Xiangyang really didn't understand his own thoughts.
Although their relationship had been tense, he still saved her yesterday. He certainly didn't see a problem with that, on the contrary, he was glad. It was a great thing he could be proud of. But at that time, he sincerely believed it was enough to just save her, everything else was none of his business, that was what he preferred.
But what about now? In the end, he still couldn't help but want to interfere in her affairs, far from as carefree as he thought he was.
Every time he saw Lin Xingjie, complex emotions would surge in his heart. These feelings emerged not long after he met her and were the same at this moment. As soon as these emotions were expressed, there was irritation, an inexplicable irritation...
His face was taut. Lin Xingjie did not speak or leave, just quietly looking at him.
The sunlight above grew hotter, and the burning irritation in his chest was ablaze. When he heard the boys in the back of the class talking about Lin Xingjie having a boyfriend, and that guy wanted him to overhear, what surged inside him was this feeling.
Xu Xiangyang thought he hated being tied up with a 'bad girl' in the eyes of others, which is why he told people, "I'm not the same kind as Lin Xingjie," but now it seemed that wasn't quite it.
Xu Xiangyang exhaled deeply.
...It really is complicated. Let alone understanding what the girl in front of him was thinking, he couldn't even understand his own heart.
Following his mood, he spoke in a deep voice:
"So then? What are you going to do after that?"
"What do you mean?"
"Will you continue to be like before?"
"Strange question," Lin Xingjie blinked, her expression somewhat incredulous, "What else could I become?"
If Lin Xingjie continued to live her life as now, if there was no change at all, she would still be targeted. Even if she took revenge on those few people this time, there was still the possibility that they would seek revenge on her later...
And one day, she would encounter the same situation as yesterday.
Then, would he still have the chance to save her? Or rather, aside from him, who else would reach out to help her?
The thought brought his irritation to a peak, welling up from his heart to his throat. Xu Xiangyang opened his mouth, and the words he couldn't help but say finally came out:
"Have you... ever thought about changing?"
Lin Xingjie did not respond, her eyes watching him, deep and black as ink, impenetrable with emotion, and eerily calm.
Xu Xiangyang couldn't control what she was thinking; he was consumed with pouring out his own thoughts:
"Have you ever thought about what you will become in the future? If you encounter that kind of thing again... you're just one person, while there's more than one of them and as long as you don't try to get away from these people, they will keep bothering you. What will you do then? Continuing like this won't lead to a good result; something bad will happen sooner or later! What you should do is completely change yourself, get your life back on track, live like a normal student, reach out to your parents, elders, teachers, the police, adults when you encounter trouble, instead of always figuring things out alone. I don't know what difficulties you have, but I think the best way to escape your current situation is to study, even now it's not too late, to get into a good university, to win scholarships, and then, then..."
His speech faltered mid-sentence. Xu Xiangyang's emotions had become more intense the more he spoke, but when he stopped, he suddenly couldn't remember how to continue.
As the saying goes, it's 'out of place to offer advice where one's relationship is superficial.' Xu Xiangyang realized that what he impulsively said was something he had no standing to comment on. He spoke as if he were a superior dictating to someone about how to run their life, regardless of right or wrong, it would only make others think, "Is there something wrong with this person?"