Chapter 8

Xie Qingyan looked at him, suppressing all the questions in his heart. He knew that at this moment, those questions were like sharp blades pointing at the other's wounds.

Xie Qingyan simply raised the notebook in her hand, her eyes clear and focused, filled with an unquestionable trust and reliance, and said softly:

"I have many questions that I don't understand, and I can't find anyone else to ask for advice besides you."

There were no strange looks, no questions, only complete trust and my straightforward need for you.

Jiang Ci's empty eyes flickered almost imperceptibly. He looked at Xie Qingyan, at the pale, disheveled reflection of himself in the other's eyes. The rumors and gossip of the outside world, the storms on the internet, the cold disgust at home—at this moment, all seemed to be shut out by this simple sentence.

So, he was needed by others too.

It turns out he wasn't entirely useless.

He was silent for a few seconds, then finally said in a hoarse voice, "Wait."

He turned and went back into the room, closing the door behind him.

The room behind the door was a mess, with barely any room to step. On his arm, there were still clear teeth marks from when he had bitten himself during his emotional breakdown the night before.

He quickly changed out of his pajamas and into his winter school uniform, using long sleeves to cover the bite marks on his arms. The way he packed his schoolbag carried an almost resolute air, as if he were trying to escape this glamorous cage.

When he stepped out of the villa again, he saw Xie Qingyan standing quietly under a tree not far away, his posture upright and his gaze fixed on the direction he had come from.

The setting sun cast a long shadow over him, softening the overly cold lines on his face.

Jiang Ci walked over quickly, not looking at Xie Qingyan, but said in a low voice, "Let's go."

Where we go is not important. What matters is leaving this place and being with this person beside me.

Jiang Ci and Xie Qingyan hailed a taxi and left the villa area.

Jiang Ci remained silent throughout the journey.

Xie Qingyan wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

The taxi stopped at the library.

The two entered the library and had just sat down when Jiang Ci said in a calm tone, "Didn't you have a lot of questions to ask me? Bring them out."

Jiang Ci calmly sealed away his earlier panic and vulnerability, and put his calm and composed mask back on his face.

Xie Qingyan carefully observed Jiang Ci's expression, and readily took out his question notebook, which was filled with dense notes of the results of his hard work.

Jiang Ci glanced at it and let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief. Xie Qingyan's question had finally touched on the core knowledge points and was no longer a basic cognitive obstacle, proving that Saturday's tutoring had been very effective.

The library lights shone softly as Jiang Ci sketched out a force analysis for a physics problem on a draft paper. His explanation was concise and clear, and Xie Qingyan listened attentively, nodding occasionally in realization.

Just as Jiang Ci was about to write down his final answer, his voice abruptly stopped, and the tip of his pen left a single ink dot on the paper. He subconsciously pressed his palm against his lower abdomen, his brow furrowed almost imperceptibly, and his face quickly lost its color under the lamplight, turning an unnatural pale.

“The forces are balanced here, so we can conclude…” He tried to finish speaking, but a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Jiang Ci?" Xie Qingyan immediately noticed his unusual behavior, put down her pen, leaned forward slightly, and asked with obvious concern, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing, just a stomachache." Jiang Ci tried to remain calm, but the sharp cramps in his stomach made it difficult for him to breathe. He habitually reached for the medicine bottle in the side pocket of his backpack, opened the cap, and swallowed the pills in one swift motion.

Several minutes passed before the stomach pain subsided.

Looking at his pale face and restrained expression, Xie Qingyan's mind raced through the scattered information about stomach problems from the original owner's memories, and she immediately understood. This must be caused by long-term irregular eating habits.

"Let's go out to eat first, I'll tell you later."

Having been hungry all day, Jiang Ci couldn't take it anymore; he had never longed for a hearty meal as much as he did at that moment.

"Your stomach isn't very good, so let's not eat out. If you don't mind, please come home with me for a simple meal, okay?"

Hsieh Ching-yen's invitation was so natural, without any condescending pity, only the simplest care between friends.

Jiang Ci tightened his grip on the medicine bottle, as if the hardest layer of ice in his heart had been scalded by this sudden warmth. He lowered his eyes, avoiding those overly sincere gazes; his long-standing loneliness made him instinctively reject them.

“No need to trouble yourself…” his voice was hoarse.

“No trouble at all!” Xie Qingyan’s tone was firm, with a kind of naive persistence that belonged to him. “My mother always says that I’m still growing, so she always cooks extra food. If you don’t come, there will be leftovers, which would be a waste.” He found a reason that would be easier for the other person to accept.

Jiang Ci was stunned. The warm yellow light fell on Xie Qingyan's clear eyes, where only pure worry remained. A surge of emotion welled up in her nose. Why was he so kind to her? If he knew about her sordid past, would those eyes also be filled with disgust?

"No need." He turned his face away, his voice stiff.

At that moment, whispers began to circulate around them.

Several girls diagonally opposite them kept glancing in their direction, whispering to each other, their faces filled with excitement and curiosity. The faint light from their phone screens occasionally flickered on, seemingly aimed directly at them.

Jiang Ci's pen paused. He didn't need to look up to feel those gazes, like fine needles piercing the sense of security he had painstakingly built up beside Xie Qingyan. His back tensed slightly, and his aura unconsciously turned cold.

Xie Qingyan was still pondering how to persuade Jiang Ci to have dinner at the Xie family's house, completely unaware of the changes around him, until a sweet-looking girl with exquisite makeup mustered up her courage and walked straight to their table.

She completely ignored Jiang Ci, who exuded a cold aura, and looked directly at Xie Qingyan, her voice sweet: "Excuse me, classmate, are you... are you the Xie Qingyan from the video?"

Xie Qingyan raised her head blankly, her eyes clear, filled with pure confusion as her thoughts were interrupted: "A video?"

The girl was taken aback by his reaction, but then found his unexpected charm even more endearing. She quickly nodded and took out her phone: "It's that video at the library entrance! The one where you talked about classical Chinese, we've all seen it! You explained it so well! Um... can we add each other on WeChat? I'm also a classical Chinese enthusiast and I'd like to exchange ideas with you!"

Xie Qingyan was even more confused. WeChat? Although he had the original owner's memories and knew it was a communication tool similar to a carrier pigeon, he himself didn't have a mobile phone. He was about to explain that he didn't use it when a shadow suddenly fell beside him.

Jiang Ci had already stood up.

He was more than half a head taller than the girl, his face expressionless, his cold gaze sweeping over her. The chill in his eyes made the girl instinctively take a half step back. He didn't say anything to the girl, but simply raised his hand and grabbed Xie Qingyan's wrist.

The force was considerable, carrying an undeniable dominance.

"Let's go." He spoke in a low voice, so low that only the two of them could hear him, leaving no room for negotiation.

Xie Qingyan's wrist tightened, and before he could react, Jiang Ci pulled him up from the chair. Jiang Ci haphazardly gathered his books and draft papers with his other hand and stuffed them into his bag.

"Hey, classmate..." the girl wanted to say something more.

Jiang Ci swept a cold glance over them, filled with utter rejection and warning. He didn't linger, grabbing the still somewhat bewildered Xie Qingyan, and quickly left the reading area, passing through rows of bookshelves, their figures soon disappearing in the direction of the library's exit.

It wasn't until they were pulled outside the library into the cool evening breeze that Xie Qingyan found her voice: "Jiang Ci, just now..."

"Noisy." Jiang Ci interrupted him, releasing his hand, but his brow remained furrowed. He gazed at the brightly lit windows of the library, as if he could see the prying eyes inside through the glass. It wasn't a pursuit of knowledge, but rather an observation of Xie Qingyan, a curiosity about Xie Qingyan's untainted nature, and a scrutiny of Jiang Ci, the background figure.

He loathed this feeling. He loathed Xie Qingyan being exposed to the public eye like this, and he loathed being scrutinized as a result, as if his past shameful secrets could be dug up at any moment.

“They meant no harm…” Xie Qingyan tried to understand, and he felt that it was not a bad thing for people to come and exchange knowledge with him.

"What do you know?" Jiang Ci's tone was sharp, tinged with a lingering, agitated fear. He knew how cyberbullying could kill silently; it was a secret he couldn't touch. "They all have malicious intentions."

Looking at his tense profile and the lingering gloom in his eyes, Xie Qingyan suddenly understood. Jiang Ci's resistance wasn't directed at that girl, but at all external forces that could disrupt their peaceful life and drag them into an uncontrollable vortex of public opinion.

He didn't argue further, but simply stood quietly beside him, watching the streetlights come on with him. After a while, he whispered, "Then how did they know my name?"

"Didn't you watch the video online?" Jiang Ci interrupted him.

"The video of you arguing with Li Ming at the library entrance on Saturday was uploaded online. Those girls just now learned your name from the video," Jiang Ci added.

Xie Qingyan suddenly realized what had happened and immediately recounted what had occurred in the classroom that morning.

Jiang Ci remained silent for a moment, the night breeze ruffling the stray hairs on his forehead. He turned to look at Xie Qingyan, whose eyes held only complete trust, showing no resentment whatsoever for his earlier lapse in composure.

"You go home first, I have something to take care of." Jiang Ci turned and walked into the vast night.

Li Ming is right, those videos must be deleted as soon as possible.

He didn't want to hide forever; he just needed time, and the little bit of light Xie Qingyan brought by his side, enough to illuminate him and give him the courage to face the world outside that had hurt him so deeply.

At this moment, all he wanted was to take his light and temporarily escape from those blinding spotlights.

"Wait for me."