Kaden turned to look at Zuri, "How are you?"
Zuri shook her head, indicating she was fine, but Kaden's sharp eyes noticed a cut on her cheek, with fresh blood seeping out.
Kaden's eyes narrowed dangerously as he walked toward Yu Jiaxi and stomped hard on his chest, causing Yu Jiaxi's face to turn pale with pain.
"Fuck!"
Yu Jiaxi cursed inwardly, feeling this was an unwarranted disaster.
Seeing Kaden lifting a chair, about to smash it down, Yu Jiaxi felt both terrified and shocked.
Suddenly, a pair of hands grasped Kaden's arm.
Kaden looked at Zuri in confusion, and she shook her head at him, "Let them go; I'm fine."
Yu Jiaxi felt as if he'd just escaped a calamity.
Thank heavens, if Kaden had come a moment later, his life might have ended here.
Kaden gave him a kick, "Get lost!"
Yu Jiaxi, along with his group of cronies, scrambled away. The crowd around them began to disperse, many looking at Kaden and Zuri with admiration.
Damian, filled with worry, stepped forward and, seeing the wound on Zuri's face, felt both guilty and concerned, "I'm sorry for dragging you into this and getting you hurt."
His words immediately drew Kaden's icy, knife-like gaze.
Damian shivered under Kaden's gaze.
This boy, clearly younger than him, somehow exuded a strong sense of pressure, making it hard to breathe.
Zuri calmly stepped forward, positioning herself between the two of them.
The pressure on Damian instantly lifted, and he met Zuri's gentle, smiling eyes.
"If anything, it's me who dragged you into this; I should be the one apologizing."
Damian felt a warm feeling inside, thinking the girl before him was kind and gentle. Remembering how she had effortlessly taken down the group earlier, he also thought she was quite cool and brave.
"You're injured; we should go to the hospital and get it treated," Damian noted the blood still oozing from her cheek.
Kaden gave him a disdainful glance, thinking that a man who needed a woman to protect him was useless. Such a waste of space didn't deserve to stand beside her, much less be protected by her.
Kaden felt a strong dislike for Damian.
He despised this man.
"Zuri, I'll take you there. You should head home; it's not safe for you to be out at night," Kaden sneered.
Damian's face flushed, unsure whether from shame or embarrassment.
Damian glanced at Zuri, then at Kaden's unfriendly eyes, "Zuri, I'll head back first then. If you need anything, let me know."
"Okay, take care."
Zuri watched him leave, her smile fading as his taxi disappeared from sight. All traces of gentleness and sweetness vanished.
Her quick change of expression left Kaden stunned.
As Zuri started walking away, Kaden hurried to catch up, "Where are you going? The nearest hospital is in the other direction."
"It's just a small cut," Zuri brushed it off.
In her past life, she hadn't cared about the long, gruesome scar on her face; how could she care about this small cut now?
After half a year back in this life, she had deliberately ignored him, deliberately avoided him.
But the pain on her cheek made her unable to suppress her longing any longer.
She wanted to see him.
The boy who died for her in the previous life.
Fu Siyuan!
A boy four years younger than her, who died shielding her from a knife.
He was the one she felt most guilty about in her past life.
Zuri ran all the way to the slums in the west. It was chaotic there, noisy, filthy, and also where her only emotional tie in this world resided.
Kaden followed her all the way to the rundown area, watching as she stood outside a shabby house, staring intently at a skinny boy of thirteen or fourteen inside.
What was so special about that boy?
To Kaden, he saw nothing remarkable.
Just as he was about to ask, he was shocked to see tears welling up in Zuri's eyes, a look of sorrow on her face.
He had seen her fierce, her cold, her sweet smiles, many sides of her, but never her tears.
This was the first time!
Kaden felt a wave of shock, but more so, he was puzzled.
His gaze shifted to the boy inside the house, wondering what could make the strong girl beside him cry.
Suddenly, the boy inside seemed to sense he was being watched. He turned and his eyes lit up with joy when he saw Zuri.
"Zuri, sister!" Fu Siyuan called out.
Fu Siyuan rushed out of the house and, as soon as he reached Zuri, she enveloped him in a tight hug, tears in her eyes turning into a smile.
In the past life, when Saira was forcibly taken by a gang leader, Zuri's parents had begged her to find a way. She had brought Fu Siyuan and the others to the gang leader. That night, Zuri was saved, but little Fu Siyuan died shielding her from a knife.
The horrible scar on her face was from that incident.
At that time, everyone had comforted Saira, ignoring the bloodied and battered Zuri, and nobody cared about the life lost to save their daughter.
Zuri held the warm body in her arms, memories of that cold corpse flashing through her mind. No matter how she tried to warm him, he had remained cold.
He was alive now. It was wonderful!
Aaron, Dalia, Saira, the life you owe, I, Zuri, will collect in this life.
Little Fu Siyuan felt the wetness on his shoulder, sensing her tears.
He felt a pang of panic.
Zuri had always been a strong, independent person. At eight, she had fought off several vicious dogs to save him, getting a chunk of her leg bitten off, bleeding profusely.
Even then, she had smiled and comforted him.
Back then, even with her lips pale from pain, she hadn't shed a tear or cried out.
What could have happened to make the strong Zuri cry?
"Sister."
Fu Siyuan stood still, letting her hug him tightly, even though it was hard to breathe with her arms so tight around him. He still didn't move.
He knew she needed him right now.
He didn't know what had happened, nor how to comfort her, but if this could make her feel better, then a bit of discomfort didn't matter.
After a while, Zuri released Fu Siyuan, a smile reappearing on her face, though her slightly red eyes betrayed the recent outburst.
He had heard his mother say that when someone who always smiles says they're sad, it means they've been hurt in ways you can't imagine.
"Sister, did this guy bully you? I'll help you get back at him," Fu Siyuan pointed at Kaden, his eyes fierce.
This is my new book "The Superstar Wants To Slack Off"
Please give me your strong support, everyone!