“Can you shut your mouth!?”
Lin Zhouyang liked Ye Ci, but he never said it out loud though almost everyone knew it.
Unlike Ding Xi, in his opinion, Ye Ci was perfect in every way, and since he liked her, he should not hold her back. He knew what a third-year high-schooler should focus on. Therefore, after some serious thought, he decided to sit further away.
Lin Zhouyang covered Ren Qian’s mouth and pinned him down with an elbow strike.
“I, Brother Lin, grace you with my presence. Know your place and be grateful, you jerk!”
Ren Qian reached out to a pen and paper on the table and scribbled something.
Lin Zhouyang moved closer to see what Ren Qian was writing. “What are you—”
A few big words were scrawled on the paper: ‘I’d rather die!’
Lin Zhouyang widened his eyes.
The two guys were fooling around for some time before Pei Song spoke, “There’s a recitation during English class tomorrow. Have you guys memorized all the selected text?”
Lin Zhouyang froze. He returned to his seat and opened his English textbook to stare at the words as if he was looking at his arch-nemesis.
Recitation? He could barely read the question!
The rest of the class trickled in one after another, and the last student marked the end of the seat arrangement session.
…
Sunday arrived in the blink of an eye.
Ning Li had no class today, but she had trouble sleeping at night because she had a long and chaotic nightmare.
The dream had started in darkness. She looked around but could not see a thing.
Then, soft light entered her sight, and before she knew it, she found herself in a room.
She wanted to leave, but when she turned around, she ran into someone.
When the refreshing and rich fragrance of alcohol entered her nose, she recognized the person right away.
“Lu Huaiyu?”
She looked up at the man.
The environment remained dark, but for some reason, his face was clear. She could see it all: his brows, his nose, his eyes…
He slightly leaned forward with a smile, staring into her eyes, and said, “Didn’t I tell you not to make me mad?!”
Ning Li shook her head. “I didn’t—”
Lu Huaiyu did not say a word. He stared at her with his abysmal gaze. It felt like a whirlpool sucking her soul in.
Before she knew it, he disappeared and the environment changed instantly.
She found herself in a white room with four walls. The refreshing fragrance faded and was replaced by a heavy smell of antiseptic.
Ning Li’s heart throbbed. It was the rehabilitation center!
Inside the room was a bed with a person on it.
The person looked thin, pale, and exhausted. It was herself, her old self!
The old Ning Li fought her exhaustion to get up. She had a phone with her and seemed to be talking to someone.
The phone did not belong to her. After she was locked up in the rehabilitation center, she was denied all means of contacting the outside world. Luckily, when she was released for some air, she managed to steal the phone from a janitor.
The phone rang three times before someone answered it.
A low and lazy voice of a man came through the speaker.
“Hello?”
It was Lu Huaiyu.
The old Ning Li’s body was weak and drained while her voice was so soft that it sounded like a whisper in the wind.
“Mr. Lu…”
All she got was a silent reply.
Hurried footsteps came from the corridor.
“She’s probably taken the phone!”
The old Ning Li gripped her phone tightly.
“Please! Please…”
Bang!
A loud bang sounded and pulled her back from the nightmare.
She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for quite a while before she separated her mind from the dream.
She realized that she was drenched in sweat.
Knock knock.
Her door shook violently as someone was thumping on it with a heavy object.
Frowning, frustration and ruthlessness appeared in her eyes as she got up and walked over.
Right after she opened the door, Ye Cheng’s foot came through, but he missed the door. The loss of balance almost made him fall to the floor.
Ning Li looked down at him and had a cold glance at his foot for a moment.
The cause of the loud bangs and violent shaking became self-explanatory.
Ye Cheng did not expect Ning Li to open the door, so it scared him when he lost his balance.
Her icy cold gaze made him feel guilty for some reason. An unknown reverence even rose from his heart.
“Is kicking my door down that interesting?” Ning Li said coldly.
Ye Cheng replied stiffly, “It’s none of your business! This is my house! I can do whatever I like!”
Ever since Lu Huaiyu taught him a lesson, Ye Cheng had the tendency to behave in front of Ning Li.
This time, however, he found out that his sister had gone to the hospital because of Ning Li.
Furious, he mustered up enough courage to kick down Ning Li’s door early in the morning.
He stuck his tongue out at Ning Li and smirked mischievously. “You don’t like it? Then, you can walk out of this house right away!”
Ye Cheng assumed that Ning Li would either lash out at him or put up with his insults.
If she lashed out at him or did anything to him, he would go to his parents because this was his house, not Ning Li’s.
If she chose to put up with it, he would come back with more!
Both ways were fine to him because he could put Ning Li in a miserable situation. He was waiting for a reaction, but she smiled at him instead.
She did not seem angry at all. Instead, she took a step back and leaned on the door frame, seeming frivolous.
“You’re right. This is your house, so of course, you can do whatever you like!” She raised her chin slightly.
“The door is just a small thing. The Purple Sand clay teapot and cups in the tea room, the Cuishan screens downstairs, the jade pearl in the study room…you can break whatever you like, and they’d all be better than a door. You can try and I’d like to see it.”
Ye Cheng was stunned, not expecting this reaction from her. His round face blushed. “What, do you think I’m stupid? Do you think I don’t know what you are trying to make me do?”
All the things Ning Li mentioned were priceless. Breaking any single one of them would result in his father skinning him alive.
Ning Li did it on purpose! She raised a brow at him. “Oh really?”
Ye Ming loved to mingle with men of knowledge and pose as an artsy person, hence his hobby of collecting art pieces and crafts. There was plenty of his collection around the house. Ye Cheng would not have smashed 10 million worth of his collection otherwise.
“I thought that you said this is your house and that you can do whatever you want.” Ning Li raised her chin at Ye Cheng again while showing an intrigued look.
Ye Cheng felt aggrieved. He glared at her but could not speak a word although the embarrassment made him furious.
“Lil Cheng?” Su Yuan’s voice came from downstairs.
She walked up the stairs as she called to Ye Cheng, and when she saw the confrontation between the boy and the girl, her smile froze.
“What is going on?”
“Nothing. He seemed to be interested in my door and…” Ning Li said lazily.
“Mom, don’t listen to her!” Ye Cheng interrupted Ning Li.
Su Yuan already had a hunch about what happened. She called Ye Cheng over with a wave of her hand.
“Okay, come on. Let’s put this aside first. We have to leave now, or else we will be late.”
