Lin Tiao felt a bit breathless, almost unable to catch her breath. Her fingers quickly tapped on the screen, “Defense!? Are you sure it’s not someone else justifiably defending themselves against you??”
With the way Jiang Yan had struck, it seemed likely that before Tang Yushi could even approach, he would have already pinned her to the ground.
It took Jiang Yan half a minute to reply, “I didn’t. I didn’t do anything, don’t say nonsense!”
“…”
It was hard to tell if things were truly as he said, or if Jiang Yan was just unwilling to share. No matter how much Lin Tiao questioned him, he remained adamant that he was acting in self-defense.
After a rather unproductive chat, Lin Tiao got up to refill her water. As she glanced at the clock on the wall, she realized it was nearly eleven.
Considering that she had an early math class with Old Yu the next day, she tried to think of a way to end the topic harmoniously with Jiang Yan while making her way back to her room. However, by the time she sat back down at her computer, Jiang Yan’s QQ avatar had already gone dark, leaving her with a message he sent just a minute ago.
“Going to sleep, see you tomorrow”
Lin Tiao held her water cup and looked at his dimmed avatar, letting out a slight click of her tongue. Just as she was about to log off, a small avatar in the bottom right corner flashed.
It was a message from Meng Xin.
Beautiful Girl Xin Xin: “OMG!!! Do you know?! Jiang Yan hit Tang Yushi!!!! Right at our school basketball court, a lot of people saw it!”
Lin Tiao immediately sent her the chat history between her and Jiang Yan.
Meng Xin, who had just heard the gossip from her class, hesitated to reply as she read Lin Tiao’s first-hand account while glancing at the heated discussion in their class group. “That can’t be true… Does Tang Yushi have that high of a fighting ability??”
Honestly, Lin Tiao didn’t quite believe Jiang Yan’s claims either. The situation was so chaotic that there were various versions floating around; even within Class 18, there were several accounts, let alone what other classes were saying.
Lin Tiao yawned, her fingers resting on the keyboard as she typed, “To be honest, I’m starting to doubt whether Jiang Yan turned Tang Yushi into a vegetable…”
Meng Xin “…”
Early Monday morning, Lin Tiao didn’t bother with breakfast at home. In a hurry, she rushed out and hailed a taxi at the entrance of her community to get to school.
A little over ten minutes later, the taxi stopped at the gate of the tenth middle school. As Lin Tiao pushed the door open and stepped out, she suddenly remembered she hadn’t paid yet. She quickly leaned back into the car, tapping on the driver’s seat, “How much?”
The driver glanced at the meter and cheerfully replied, “Eleven thirty. Just give me eleven.”
Lin Tiao fished out a ten-yuan bill and two fifty-cent coins from her bag and handed them over, “Thank you, driver!”
As her words fell, she had already pushed the door open and dashed away.
When Lin Tiao rushed into the classroom, Jiang Yan’s seat was still empty, along with the seats behind him.
She didn’t pay it much mind, and after putting down her bag, she tapped on the shoulder of Xu Huanhuan, who sat in front of her. “Huanhuan, is it true that Jiang Yan hit Tang Yushi yesterday, as everyone said in the class group?”
Xu Huanhuan, clearly bursting with gossip, lit up at Lin Tiao's question, “Of course it’s true! I have a classmate who was there and saw Tang Yushi with blood all over her face!”
“…”
Lin Tiao felt as if her heart was about to fail.
Xu Huanhuan was animatedly recounting the gossip, her whole demeanor lively and her speech rapid. “You have no idea how serious it was; an ambulance even came.”
“…”
As Xu Huanhuan continued to speak, Lin Tiao could no longer handle it. The breath hitched in her throat, and she raised her hand to grip Xu Huanhuan’s arm, resting her head on the desk. “Wait, wait, give me a moment; I’m about to pass out.”
Just then, as the two girls were chatting, Jiang Yan walked in with breakfast in hand, casually overhearing Lin Tiao's last comment. He asked without thinking, “Who’s about to pass out?”
Hearing Jiang Yan’s voice, Xu Huanhuan’s smile froze. Though her body stiffened, she quickly turned back with lightning speed.
“…” Jiang Yan didn’t pay much attention and turned his gaze to his deskmate, asking softly, “What’s wrong with you?”
Lin Tiao lifted her head to meet Jiang Yan’s questioning gaze. Taking a deep breath, she spoke with utmost seriousness, “Jiang Yan.”
“Hmm?”
He replied, and as he casually placed a cup of soybean milk on her desk and sat down at his seat, he heard his deskmate heavily say, “You should turn yourself in.”
Jiang Yan “…”
“You beat Tang Yushi up so badly, and her family is particularly wealthy and influential. If you turn yourself in now, you might receive some leniency.” Lin Tiao sighed, “I know you did it to avenge me, and I can have my dad help find a lawyer to say some good things on your behalf in front of the judge.”
Jiang Yan didn’t respond. Lin Tiao continued, “I really didn’t expect our short-lived friendship as deskmates to be so important to you.”
“Classmate, I’m sorry. If I had known you valued it this much—ah!” Before Lin Tiao could finish, she suddenly received a hard smack on her forehead.
Jiang Yan used a bit of force, and the spot he hit quickly turned red. Lin Tiao instinctively rubbed it and asked, “Why did you hit me?”
“Because you’re not using your brain when you go out.” Jiang Yan retracted his hand, unwrapped the straw, and stuck it into the cup of soybean milk, explaining patiently, “Didn’t I tell you that I didn’t hit her?”
“Do you think your words are credible?” Lin Tiao shot him a glance, recounting the scenes Meng Xin described last night and Xu Huanhuan’s recount this morning.
Jiang Yan listened to her, biting down on the straw, his lips pressed tight. He sucked in a mouthful, and the milky white liquid flowed up the clear straw until it vanished between his lips.
He rolled his throat and, when he released the straw, a few specks of soybean milk remained on his crimson lips, shining subtly as he spoke to her. That slight sheen, combined with the gentle movement of his lips, made them appear particularly enticing.
Lin Tiao was momentarily stunned, staring at his lips, unable to speak.
When she came back to her senses, the tightly wound nerve in her head snapped, releasing a rush of adrenaline that surged through her entire body, making her feel as if she had just been steamed, her blood boiling.
Jiang Yan stared at her for a few seconds, seemingly thinking of something. He reached out to tap her head lightly, a playful expression on his face. “Classmate, what are you thinking about?”
His warm, soft fingertip touched her head, and though it felt nothing special, Lin Tiao felt the spot he touched became even hotter.
“…” Lin Tiao quickly snapped back, leaning back a little. Shaking her head, she recited, “The Book of Songs says food and love are human nature; a gentleman is elegant, and a lady is virtuous…”
After reciting a few lines, Lin Tiao felt something was off and switched to chanting the Heart Sutra. “The Buddha says when the heart moves, things move; when the heart is calm, things are calm. The Buddha says humans aren’t grass or trees; who can be heartless…”
Jiang Yan “…”
Lin Tiao learned the details of the incident after the morning self-study from Hu Hanghang.
It turned out that last Sunday, just yesterday evening, the four of them had been playing basketball at the school’s court when Tang Yushi learned about it from somewhere. She brought her friends along, buying drinks and waiting on the sidelines.
When the game ended, Tang Yushi walked over to Jiang Yan with a bottle of water, trying to explain that she hadn’t meant to hit Lin Tiao with the ball and hoped he wouldn’t mind.
By that time, dusk was approaching, and the sky was darkening. The weekend court had only one large lamp lit, casting a dim light.
Jiang Yan stood over Tang Yushi, his expression indifferent. “You hit me with the ball?”
Tang Yushi was taken aback, instinctively shaking her head, “...No.”
“Then what’s the point of you apologizing to me?” Jiang Yan averted his gaze, walking past her to grab his jacket from the bench, taking out his phone from his pocket.
After hesitating for a few seconds, Tang Yushi stepped up beside Jiang Yan, her voice tinged with a sob, “I really didn’t mean it.”
Her delicate, aggrieved tone would have softened anyone’s heart, but Jiang Yan was not just anyone.
He was a school bully, having seen more girls like Tang Yushi than tears she had shed.
Jiang Yan stuffed his phone into his pocket, looking at Tang Yushi with an expressionless face. “You didn’t mean it?”
He looked up and smiled mockingly, “You didn’t mean it? Was that ball supposed to have eyes? There were so many people on the court, and out of everyone, it just happened to hit my deskmate?”
Tang Yushi was frightened to tears by his tone.
Seeing her cry, Jiang Yan felt a bit impatient. “Don’t cry in front of me. My deskmate got seriously hurt and didn’t cry; why are you crying?”
He bent down to pick up the backpack on the ground. “You apologizing to me doesn’t help the situation.”
“…” Just as Tang Yushi was about to speak, a basketball suddenly flew in from nowhere and landed right at her feet.
Startled, she nearly fell into his arms. Jiang Yan, caught off guard, instinctively pushed her to the side into a pile of clothes.
Tang Yushi’s friends saw him push her down and rushed over angrily. “Jiang Yan, how can you hit a girl?”
There were quite a few people playing basketball around, and many were accompanied by their girlfriends. Just that one sentence spread rapidly, with each person adding their own twist, and by the time it reached different classes, there were all sorts of embellished versions of the story.
Hu Hanghang felt rather proud. “That’s how it happened; for the sake of his own reputation, our brother didn’t let that Tang Shiyu forget it even for a second.”
Lin Tiao pursed her lips. “Well… her name is Tang Yushi, not Tang Shiyu.”
Meanwhile, Song Yuan, who had been listening to the story, looked up in confusion. “Isn’t her name Song Ciyu?”
Lin Tiao “…”
“Hmm?” Jiang Yan was caught up in his show, not even glancing their way.
Lin Tiao hesitated for a long time, unsure how to begin, and only realized after a while that Jiang Yan hadn’t moved. She turned to look at him. “What’s wrong?”
---
“Just…” Lin Tiao looked up at him and then lowered her head, saying softly, “At first, when I heard them say you hurt Tang Yushi, I was really worried about you.”
She paused, biting her lip for a moment, then spoke again. “But still, thank you. Otherwise, I’ll treat you to lunch at noon.”
The sunlight streamed in through the window, and a breeze carried the familiar scent.
Jiang Yan turned to look at her, momentarily at a loss for words.
Lin Tiao nudged his arm again. “What are you thinking? I’ll treat you at noon—”
Before she could finish, another voice suddenly rang out in the classroom, “Two in the back row, what are you whispering about so close together?”
As soon as Old Yu spoke, everyone in the classroom turned to look at them with curious eyes.
Lin Tiao “…”
Jiang Yan “…”
Old Yu stood by the lectern, still holding a broken piece of chalk. “Lin Tiao, tell me, what were you and Jiang Yan just discussing?”
Lin Tiao fought the urge to curse under her breath, stood up slowly, and with her fingers gripping the edge of the desk, she made a decision in her heart. She looked up at Old Yu and cleared her throat, speaking loudly.
“Jiang Yan was playing on his phone during class, and I was just reminding him that studying should be the priority during class and that he shouldn’t waste such valuable time.”
Jiang Yan “…?”
All the romantic notions he had just vanished.
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