Shu Nian stared at his slightly cracked lip corner, not fooled by his calm and composed appearance this time. She remained silent, took a tissue from in front of her, unbuckled her seatbelt, and leaned over to wipe the blood from the corner of his lip.
This silence made Xie Ru He somewhat uncomfortable.
Like someone who had done something wrong, he didn’t dare move, sitting rigidly in place.
The confined space of the car seemed isolated from the outside world, so quiet that one could almost hear the flow of air.
There was no medicine in the car, so she could only roughly treat the wound. Shu Nian thought for a moment, moistened the tissue with some water, cleaned his wound, then grabbed his hand and stared at his scraped knuckles.
Shu Nian seemed lost in thought.
She suddenly remembered the past.
At that time when her mind hadn’t fully matured, at that age when she believed the world around her was completely beautiful, she never believed in the dark side of human nature, only fearing those intangible things.
Shu Nian remembered that after receiving the female ghost link sent by Chen Han Zheng, she had been afraid for a long time. She always felt that in the shadows, in places she couldn’t see, there was a blood-covered, fierce ghost watching her.
She also remembered seeing Chen Han Zheng at school with his bruised face, claiming he had “tripped.”
And Xie Ru He’s hands with injuries just like the ones before her now.
After wiping the dirt from his wound, Shu Nian glanced over his body: “Are you hurt anywhere else?”
Xie Ru He was silent for a few seconds, then shook his head.
Shu Nian took a fresh tissue and asked softly: “Did you go fight with Xu Ze Yuan?”
Xie Ru He licked the corner of his lip, forgetting there was a wound there, and immediately frowned. He touched his neck, unsure of her attitude, and hesitantly gave an affirmative sound.
Compared to before, he seemed unchanged.
At least in front of her, he remained the same.
Indifferent to anyone’s difficulties or malice toward him, as if he didn’t care. But if the subject changed to her, everything seemed different. He was always like a protector standing in front of her, seeking justice when she was wronged.
He would always protect her.
Shu Nian’s lips formed a straight line: “Did he hit you back?”
“Didn’t notice,” Xie Ru He said. “He just hit me once.”
Hearing this, Shu Nian’s displeasure became more apparent: “What about him?”
“Forgot.”
“Forgot what?”
Xie Ru He’s face showed no emotion: “Didn’t count. Don’t know how many times I hit him.”
“…”
Originally, Xie Ru He had intended to keep this from Shu Nian and handle it privately.
After all, just moments before, he had promised her he wouldn’t go looking for Xu Ze Yuan.
But he happened to see Xu Ze Yuan nearby and discovered he hadn’t left the area. The reason didn’t require much thought—it was obviously for Shu Nian.
Xie Ru He couldn’t be bothered to waste energy looking for him again, so he simply resolved half the matter directly today.
When Xu Ze Yuan first saw Xie Ru He, he greeted him with fake politeness. But after Xie Ru He’s direct punch to his face, he immediately dropped his pretense.
Because of his leg condition, Xie Ru He had been consistently training every day until now, and his physical condition was still decent. But also because he hadn’t fought in a long time, his movements appeared rusty.
It was purely an outlet for his anger toward Xu Ze Yuan.
So he was also injured, with wounds on his lip corner and leg.
Probably knowing that Xie Ru He’s legs had been previously injured, toward the end, every one of Xu Ze Yuan’s blows targeted his legs.
Finally, Xu Ze Yuan was grabbed by the collar by Xie Ru He and stopped resisting. He lay on the ground, his entire body in pain, and suddenly laughed. His teeth had cut into the flesh inside his mouth, filling it with blood.
Disheveled and ugly.
A loser, yet desperately trying to pretend to be a winner.
Looking even more defeated.
“She’s yours,” Xu Ze Yuan spat out bloody saliva and clicked his tongue. “Anyway, I find her disgusting.”
Hearing this, as if remembering something, Xie Ru He immediately released his hand and also laughed.
“Who’s disgusting?”
He drove back home.
Passing the entrance of the community, Xie Ru He suddenly stopped the car.
Shu Nian looked up: “What’s wrong?”
Xie Ru He paused, his voice very low, as if somewhat guilty: “Didn’t you want to eat soy milk box cake?”
“Oh.” Shu Nian shook her head. “Not anymore.”
Xie Ru He found an empty parking spot and unbuckled his seatbelt. Noticing Shu Nian’s gaze, he turned his head and took his wallet: “I’ll buy it first. If you don’t eat it, I’ll finish it.”
Shu Nian immediately grabbed the edge of his clothes and also unbuckled her seatbelt.
“I’ll go buy it.”