Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Wen Jiuzhe didn’t care about anyone, nor did he like to join in on those boring gatherings.

By chance, he stumbled upon the scene where Xue Ling was being confessed to. Because he realized that the protagonist of this farce was a girl his annoying cousin had a crush on, he stopped with a bit of interest, lazily standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching the spectacle for a while.

Embarrassment and awkwardness were clearly written on Xue Ling’s face. She seemed desperate to interrupt and reject, but she didn’t say a word, wearing an awkward smile as she waited for the boy to finish his ridiculous speech.

Her patience was unbelievable.

Suddenly, her eyes met his among the crowd, and a flicker of light appeared in her eyes.

Wen Jiuzhe was actually quite pleased to see her embarrassed and unable to get off the stage, feeling a sense of schadenfreude.

Maliciously, he thought, “Serves her right.” At a time like this, if she didn’t stand up for herself, who would come to her rescue?

In his nineteen years of life, Wen Jiuzhe had learned one clear truth: no one would save you, and no one could save you. You could only save yourself.

There was a barely noticeable plea in her eyes, and she unconsciously looked around, but it seemed no one had picked up on her faint distress signal.

Finally, her eyes met Wen Jiuzhe’s.

Thinking it was perhaps repayment for the bread she had treated him to last time, Wen Jiuzhe stepped forward and kicked away a cup of milk tea, forcibly ending the confession scene.

After watching the spectacle, he had intended to leave with the crowd, but as Xue Ling cleaned up the area with her tools, she kept glancing at him from time to time, as if she wanted to say something.

Curious about what she might say, Wen Jiuzhe waited idly.

What he got was a boring thank you. Wen Jiuzhe smiled on the outside but felt a little impatient inside.

He had said, “Be my girlfriend,” with malicious intent, wanting to embarrass her. But after a moment of stunned silence, she actually nodded in agreement.

Wen Jiuzhe looked at her for a moment and thought she looked rather silly, as if her brain had stopped working.

It was a casual remark, not meant to be taken seriously. But looking at Xue Ling’s clueless face at that moment, a dark thought arose in Wen Jiuzhe’s mind.

Wen Xuan liked her, didn’t he?

If Wen Xuan found out that Xue Ling was with him, he would surely be furious.

So he smiled and thought to himself, “You agreed, so you’ll just have to take your chances.”

Be my girlfriend, and you’ll have your share of trouble.

He wasn’t serious about being her boyfriend. At first, it was just because he found her temper unpleasant and deliberately tried to provoke her.

Xue Ling wasn’t the kind who couldn’t get angry, as people said. She just didn’t dare to show it, pretended not to be angry, and held it in instead.

Wen Jiuzhe was curious about what she would look like if she really lost her temper and got angry.

It might be somewhat interesting.

He couldn’t find interest in anything, but gradually, provoking Xue Ling to anger became a great source of amusement for him.

His persistence paid off, though he hadn’t expected that the first time he would see Xue Ling angry would be because of him.

When Wen Xuan found out that Xue Ling was with him, he flew into a rage, berating him again in impotent fury.

The injuries on his face were seen by Xue Ling. She didn’t say anything at the time but later came to their school to speak to Wen Xuan.

“You hit Wen Jiuzhe again, didn’t you? If you hit him because of his status as an illegitimate child, I don’t think your reason holds up.”

“Shouldn’t you blame your immoral uncle instead? Why don’t you hit your uncle? Is it because you don’t dare? Besides, you’re just his cousin, not even a brother. What does it have to do with you?”

“Why am I with Wen Jiuzhe?”

“I heard you talking about me with others. You think I’m virtuous and sensible, right? Is that your standard for women? My standard for men is to be a real man. Wen Jiuzhe fits my criteria better, so I chose him.”

“You’d better not bully Wen Jiuzhe again. I filmed the last time you hit him in the woods.”

“If I find out you’ve hit him again, I’ll post the video on the forums of the nearby schools and send it to your classmates, friends, and members of the student council. Everyone will see how ugly you look when you hit someone.”

……

They were standing next to the large tree by the library. Coincidentally, Wen Jiuzhe was sitting in the stairwell window above them, smoking, listening to the entire conversation.

He watched his usually fierce and aggressive cousin, who was now exposed and speechless, his face turning beet red, then darkening, and finally a sickly shade of green. It was a spectacular sight.

Wen Jiuzhe could hardly hold back his laughter, while at the same time feeling a bit absurd. He had thought Xue Ling wouldn’t dare say a harsh word to anyone, but she turned out to be quite good at sarcasm.

Standing by the window, he saw Wen Xuan trembling with anger below, and Xue Ling, after walking a short distance away, suddenly couldn’t hold it in anymore. She hit her chest with her hand, looking as if she was still frightened, and glanced back, as if afraid that Wen Xuan might chase after her to hit her.

So scared, yet daring to come over and throw out threats?

Xue Ling kept breaking his initial impression of her.

Not long after they had started dating, Xue Ling brought up the idea of living together.

Wen Jiuzhe hadn’t expected her to make such a suggestion, as they hadn’t even held hands more than twice by then.

She seemed like someone who was reserved and conservative, absolutely unable to accept a rapid progression in their relationship.

But she had come to him and said, “I’m renting a place nearby, and there’s an empty room. Would you like to move in?”

“Why?” Wen Jiuzhe didn’t understand why she would suddenly make such a request.

“Because… I don’t feel safe living there alone. Lately, there have been strangers loitering around my door, and I’m a bit scared.”

It wasn’t until Wen Jiuzhe returned to his dormitory that his roommate, Fang Xianwen, came over, looking pleased with himself, and said,

"A girl came looking for you yesterday, the one my cousin Wen Xuan likes. She even asked about your situation. I bet she was sent by my cousin to check things out."

"So I told her that you live a pretty miserable life, Brother Ze. Everyone in the dorm isolates you, they throw away your stuff and don't even let you sleep in the dorm, so you often end up sleeping on the streets. That way, when she talks to my cousin, we won't be found out."

Wen Jiuzhe: “……”

He understood why Xue Ling invited him to live together.

"You did well, but don't say it again next time. Just pretend you're mute."

Wen Jiuzhe patted Fang Xianwen on the shoulder, "Also, she's my girlfriend now."

Fang Xianwen froze: “Ah? What?”

Although it was a misunderstanding, Wen Jiuzhe still moved in with Xue Ling.

He didn't see the stranger she mentioned loitering at the door, but he did deal with a middle-aged man who had been hitting on her in the elevator.

The guys in Wen Jiuzhe's dorm were terrified of him. Whenever he was around, they wouldn't dare to speak loudly, especially when he returned to the dorm with injuries. The others wouldn't even stay in the school; they preferred to stay outside and leave the dorm to him.

Unlike these timid boys, Xue Ling was strange. She wasn't afraid of him, even though he was tall and didn't look like a good person.

It was as if she thought he was someone who needed to be taken care of and protected.

Even though she wasn't as tall as his shoulder, she had an inexplicable desire to protect him.

At the same time, she was getting more and more skilled at losing her temper with him.

The time she yelled at him the loudest was because, on his birthday, he ate an eight-inch cake she brought back, and his arm broke out in a red rash.

She shouted in exasperation: “You're allergic to eggs, why didn't you say so earlier? How could you eat so much knowing you're allergic?!”

"Didn't you tell me to finish it?" Wen Jiuzhe countered from the couch.

"I didn't know you were allergic to eggs! Why didn't you say anything! Are you an idiot?"

"What's there to say? It's just a mild allergic reaction; it'll be fine soon." Wen Jiuzhe couldn't understand why she was so angry, more angry than if she'd been chased by a dog.

He had been allergic to eggs since he was a child. Back then, his family was poor, and his mother would always give him the eggs.

The allergic reactions were more severe when he was younger; eating eggs would make it hard for him to breathe, but his mother, like many parents, didn't know what caused it. She thought eggs were nutritious and good for him, so how could they be bad to eat?

As he grew older, the allergic reactions became much milder; he would just get a rash if he ate something with eggs in it.

For Wen Jiuzhe, who often had injuries, this kind of allergic rash was too minor to bother with.

He had never paid attention to it growing up, continuing to eat eggs without issue. He was fine, so why should anyone else care? Bread and eggs, he ate whatever was available.

But the day Xue Ling discovered his egg allergy, she scolded him and then went to buy him allergy medication, urging him to take it.

She held his arm, frowning as she examined the rash.

"Does it still itch?"

It hadn't itched before, but as her cool fingers touched his skin, it started to itch again.

Her fingers were cool, her fingertips soft, the sensation distinct, awakening feelings he hadn't noticed before.

That night, he found himself unconsciously scratching his arm, leaving long red marks before the itch subsided.

After that, Xue Ling never brought bread or cakes home again. She even checked the ingredients of noodles at the supermarket to make sure they weren't made with eggs.

"Is it really necessary to be so careful?"

She checked the ingredient list without looking up. "Of course, it is."

He silently followed behind her, carrying a heavy shopping basket in one hand, a strange feeling in his heart.

"Xue Ling."

"Hmm?"

"Pitying a man leads to a miserable life." Just like his mother.

Xue Ling turned and glared at him. "Are you starting again? Do you feel uncomfortable if you don't see me angry?"

"Xue Ling."

"What again?"

"Promise me you won't become a traditional good wife and mother."

Wen Jiuzhe thought that if she ever took care of someone like that, turning a man into a spoiled, useless person, she would have a hard time.

Just thinking about it made him feel upset.

Xue Ling rolled her eyes at the seasoning shelf, numbly dismissive: "Fine, I won't be a good wife and mother. You can be that, and you can take on the role in the future."

Every day, he didn't know what she was barking about.

Wen Jiuzhe didn't know when his feelings for Xue Ling changed from dislike to affection. By the time he realized it, he found himself hating Wen Xuan even more.

Because Wen Xuan liked Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe found it even harder to tolerate Wen Xuan's existence.

What gave Wen Xuan the right to like Xue Ling?

On the first day of being officially together with Xue Ling, Wen Jiuzhe thought: I don't like that she's soft, weak, and lets people take advantage of her.

On the hundredth day of being together, Wen Jiuzhe thought: I don't like that she's like this, she should become bad-tempered and uncaring so no one would try to take advantage of her or attract trashy men anymore.

He himself also fell into the category of trash men.

…………

The cigarette burned to its end, and the sun began to outline itself, illuminating the wilderness.

Wen Jiuzhe snapped back from his memories.

He finally got back on the bike and returned to the courtyard where he had parked the car.

The gate was still securely locked. He unlocked it and, as he approached the car, felt his heartbeat gradually quicken, pounding heavily in his chest.

It was as if, at this moment, he was truly about to reunite with someone he hadn't seen in a long time.

He paused for a moment by the car door, then reached for the back seat door.

Xue Ling's figure was curled up in the corner, motionless.

Wen Jiuzhe looked at her, unsure of how to start the conversation.

Suddenly, his eyes fell on a small box on the seat, a box of anti-allergy medication.

He remembered clearly that it hadn't been there before.