Chapter 14: Xiangxiang

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Cen Yi scanned the parterre from afar. There was no one fighting inside or outside the parterre. He looked in the direction of the junior high section. In a small field filled with rubbish, he found a pool of blood.

Cen Yi’s heart sank when he saw the pool of blood. He looked in front. There was a path filled with drops of blood. It led all the way to a washroom used by janitors behind the junior high section.

Cen Yi frowned as he went forward. He heard the sound of water gushing out of the tap from the washroom.

At this time, there was already a severe shortage of purified water. The water supply for many families living in residential estates was cut off if they couldn’t fork over water coupons. However, for schools, hospitals, security systems, and other authoritative departments… there was still clean water flowing out of the taps.

You couldn’t drink the water but you could still use it to clean, water plants, bathe, and wash up.

When Cen Yi walked over, he saw Qiao Lingxiang standing in front of the sink outside the washroom with dirt all over her body. Her back was facing him and she was bending down to wash her face.

He heaved a sigh of relief. He raised his hand and wanted to call her. But he didn’t know her full name. He hesitated before he opened his mouth.

“… Xiangxiang?”

Inside, Qiao Lingxiang had just finished washing off the blood from her face. She carefully pushed aside the thick blood stuck to her hair and touched the wound on her head that was hurting. However, all she felt was a blood clot. There was nothing there.

Where did her wound go? Was she hurt?

When she heard “Xiangxiang”, the frantic Qiao Lingxiang turned around hurriedly in fright. She saw Cen Yi standing outside the washroom looking at her with an awkward expression.

The first time was always awkward but the second time was easier. When Cen Yi shouted “Xiangxiang” again, he seemed more used to it.

He saw Qiao Lingxiang turning around and looking at him with water all over her face. Her skin was quite fair. He cleared his throat and raised his hand. He scratched his head self-consciously and asked awkwardly, “Are you alright? Xiangxiang… I heard that Qiu Chen came to make trouble. Don’t worry. I was the cause of this so I’ll take care of it. I’ll take revenge for you. No, I will deal with the aftermath of my actions…”

Qiao Lingxiang hurriedly waved her hand. She turned her fat body that was covered with dirt and said to Cen Yi, “There’s no need for that. If they come back, I’ll hit them back.”

She didn’t have any experience in dealing with something like this. In the past, when she was bullied, everyone would laugh at her or ignore her entirely. No one had lent her a helping hand.

Qiao Lingxiang had never had someone looking for her after getting beaten up or telling her that they would take care of the situation. He also told her to not worry.

Her impression of Cen Yi immediately improved. She unconsciously smiled kindly at Cen Yi. Then, she remembered that her smile was very ugly. Her cheeks were like two soup dumplings. Her smile receded and she lowered her head.

She said, “I’m leaving, senior brother.”

When she was young, she remembered hugging a bag of potato chips and laughing non-stop while watching cartoons at home. She might’ve disturbed Hou Manrong at that time so Hou Manrong rushed out of the bedroom and started scolding her while pointing at her.

Hou Manrong didn’t like Qiao Lingxiang’s smile. Hou Manrong thought that if she was a lady with a smile like this, she would jump off a building and commit suicide. Why was Qiao Lingxiang still so happy? She should be crying. Why didn’t she just die laughing?

Hence, Qiao Lingxiang always felt that her smile was ugly. When she saw something funny, she often didn’t dare to laugh. As time went by and she got older, she got fatter and received more and more of Hou Manrong’s snarky comments. Gradually, Qiao Lingxiang thought that nothing in this world could make her smile.

“Are you alright? There’s a lot of blood on your neck.”

Cen Yi stopped Qiao Lingxiang. He was half a head taller than her. He lowered his head and pointed at Qiao Lingxiang’s blood-red collar.

He asked angrily, “Did Qiu Chen beat you up till this point? Do you need to see a doctor?”

“I’m fine. I’m alright.”

The fat Qiao Lingxiang used her carrot-like fingers to pull her collar. She sounded a little indifferent as she lowered her head and said, “My head was hurting earlier but now, it doesn’t hurt anymore. I’m not hurt. Maybe…”

She thought for a moment but didn’t know how to explain. She knew Xiong Yangbo hit her head with a brick and she even fainted from the hit. After she woke up, she realized her face was covered with blood and was quite shocked. However, there were no wounds on her body.

Maybe the blood came from Qiu Chen?

What happened?

“It might be Qiu Chen’s blood. I beat him up.”

As Qiao Lingxiang continued speaking, she thought of a slightly more credible explanation to convince herself and Cen Yi. She was afraid that Cen Yi wouldn’t believe her so she pulled the collar around her neck and showed him.

She said, “Look, there’s no wound.”

Her skin is really fair. Cen Yi didn’t notice any wounds on Qiao Lingxiang’s neck.

Actually, besides the dirt all over her body, Qiao Lingxiang didn’t even have any scratches on her body.

Cen Yi nodded. He didn’t say anything else and let Qiao Lingxiang pass.

The moment she left, Lu Zhengqing and his other friends finally found him. He shouted from afar as he asked Cen Yi, “Ah Yi, where is that brat, Qiu Chen? I searched the entire parterre but I couldn’t find him.”

As he spoke, he stopped beside Cen Yi along with the others.

Cen Yi acknowledged his question.

Then he said, “He probably left. He seems to have sustained serious injuries after fighting with Xiangxiang.”

“Xiangxiang? Who’s that?”

Lu Zhengqing tilted his head and pondered for a moment. He squinted his beautiful, attractive eyes. He suddenly had a realization.

“Oh, are you talking about Dinosaur?”

This nickname caused Cen Yi to frown. He knew this was Xiangxiang’s nickname. In fact, the entire school called her by this nickname. He heard it multiple times in the past but felt it wasn’t right to call a young girl this.

Hence, after contemplating for some time, he decided to ask Xiangxiang’s sister for her full name later.

It wasn’t appropriate for him to call her Xiangxiang either. It seemed a little too close.

He heard Lu Zhengqing exclaiming over a small little thing.

“She knows how to fight? I saw a lot of blood on the field. Is it Qiu Chen’s?”

“Probably.”

Cen Yi walked towards the senior high section. He seemed a little absent-minded. He stretched out and hooked Lu Zhengqing’s neck.

“Go and find Qiu Chen. I want to talk to him. If he wants to fight, he can come find me. Why was he bullying a lady?”

Cen Yi grew up in the north so he had a straightforward personality. He felt that people should directly confront the person who offended them. Instead, Qiu Chen had bullied the weak and feared the strong. In the north, he would’ve been beaten up badly.

Similarly, Cen Yi would take care of the aftermath of his actions. Since he provoked Qiao Lingxiang, he would take responsibility and resolve this matter for Qiao Lingxiang. He hadn’t been lying to her.

Lu Zhengqing became Cen Yi’s friend because he liked Cen Yi’s personality. Hence, he immediately called his friends and started hunting down Qiu Chen at the school.