Fang Zhi remained motionless, trying to use time to alleviate the pain in his body, but he didn't know how much time had passed.

"Do you need any help?"

A melodious voice, as clear as a spring, came from above her, and she looked up, suddenly stunned.

At an age when her peers were always mischievous, climbing trees to touch birds, and fishing in the sea, getting all dirty, she had never seen such a handsome and clean boy before her.

She wore a white shirt and black pants, with a slender and tall figure, and delicate eyebrows and eyes with a gentle smile.

Backlit, the boy looked like an angel from a fairy tale, his whole body bathed in a light golden light, making anyone who looked at him feel ashamed of their own appearance.

She was a world apart from the disheveled woman lying on the ground; they were like two completely different worlds.

In the years that followed, she would always remember the scene of her first meeting with Qi Shen during her impoverished and miserable youth.

The boy's gentle and refined face was etched deep into her memory, unforgettable for years.

She was six years old that year, and he was thirteen.

What would have happened if I hadn't taken his hand?

Seeing that the girl remained silent, Qi Shen subtly raised an eyebrow.

The person who was showing him around had to leave for a while, so he wandered over here on his own.

The scorching sun made him somewhat irritable, so he sought refuge in the shade, where he happened to witness the scene before him.

He appears kind and gentle, but deep down he is cold-blooded and has no desire to meddle in other people's business.

But when he saw the girl trying to endure the pain, her shoulders trembling slightly, he walked over as if possessed.

"Your leg is probably scraped." Qi Shen reached out his hand, his voice gentle. "Let me help you up, okay?"

Fang Zhi looked at the boy's handsome features and the way his eyes made her feel relaxed and trusting, and slowly extended her hand to him.

A fair, slender hand grasped a hand covered in mud.

Qi Shen showed no sign of disgust and gently helped her up.

She didn't know his age, but he was very tall, taller than her mother, only reaching the waist of a teenager.

You have to tilt your head back to see his delicate jawline.

-

A crystal-clear stream flows gently, and two figures, one large and one small, stand beside it.

Qi Shen knelt down to gently clean the girl's leg wound, asking, "Doesn't it hurt?"

Fang Zhi looked at the top of the boy's head and said, "It hurts."

Qi Shen looked up at her, his expression gentle, "Why didn't you say it hurt?"

Fang Zhi's lips trembled slightly; she wanted to speak but then closed her mouth again.

Qi Shen watched the girl struggle quietly.

After a moment, Fang Zhi lowered her head under his unwavering gaze and whispered, "Because it's useless."

No one cares whether she's in pain or not.

The fat aunt would hit her harder, and her sister would not hesitate to pull her hair even when she cried out in pain.

Qi Shen's movements as he applied the medicine to her became even gentler. "Was it your mother who pushed you?"

"Brother..." Fang Zhi looked at his features, her voice still childish, "You...you saw it?"

In a child's mind, being disliked by their mother is something that is difficult to talk about.

Qi Shen lowered his head and said, "Mm."

Fang Zhi bit her lip, her face turning pale.

She had never been treated so gently in her memory, and her neighbors felt indignant about her plight.

But they wouldn't treat her wounds as gently as this handsome young man would treat a precious treasure, applying medicine with care.

The girl wanted to cherish the hard-won gentleness.

Afraid of being disliked by him, she felt a lump in her throat and murmured an explanation, "I didn't do anything wrong..."

Qi Shen's eyes flickered; with his natural keen observation skills, he easily noticed the girl's unease and embarrassment.

Judging from her behavior, it was clear that this wasn't the first time her mother had laid a hand on her. The girl before her was nothing more than a pitiful, defenseless lamb.

Qi Shen smiled reassuringly at her, "Yes, I know." But inwardly, he was thinking:

Is this really just human nature's worst trait?

In tragic situations, seeing others who are even more miserable than oneself provides resonance and solace for one's own suffering.

After treating the girl's knee wound, Qi Shen tidied up the used cotton swabs and disinfectant.

Fang Zhi glanced at the clean-cut and refined young man before her, then quickly lowered her eyes. Children are sensitive too; as the pain subsided, her senses began to return.

Her little hands tightened around the frayed edge of her clothes. "Thank you, brother... I should go home now."

Qi Shen stood up and looked down at her.

She had beautiful, clear, and bright eyes, and even after being pushed down and abandoned by her mother, there was no shadow in them.

It is touching, yet it makes one want to destroy its purity for no reason.

"You have a wound on your leg, it's inconvenient for you to walk." Qi Shen twirled his fingertips, suppressing his thoughts. He rarely did a good deed, so he might as well go all the way. "I'll take you home."

Just then, the person who was accompanying Qi Shen came running over, covered in sweat, and said, "Young Master Qi, you're here."

When he finished his business and discovered that the precious young master of the Qi family was missing, he was almost scared to death!

The rich young masters in the city are so willful, causing a nobody like him to live in constant fear.

As if seeing through the impatience and complaints of the person in front of him, Qi Shen raised an eyebrow and said, "I'm sorry to have worried you."

The person in charge, who was initially full of complaints, had them all dissipate under the young man's gentle and outstanding demeanor, and said awkwardly, "No, it was my mistake."

Upon noticing the disheveled little girl beside the boy, the person in charge exclaimed, "It's you!"

Qi Shen was somewhat surprised upon hearing this, but he didn't show it on his face. "You know him?"

The person in charge glanced at the girl, then leaned close to the boy and whispered about Fang Zhi's family situation.

Qingcheng Village is not large, and he often frequented the vicinity of the market area for his inspection work, so he also had some knowledge of what happened in the market.

He had seen and heard about some of the girl's experiences. The organization had also sent people to the girl's home several times to talk to her adoptive mother about her schooling.

However, her adoptive mother ultimately refused all of them.

After listening to the person in charge, Qi Shen understood.

So she was my adoptive mother. No wonder.

The person in charge was a little puzzled as to how two children from completely different backgrounds had come together.

"Young Master Qi, why are you..." he hesitated, choosing his words carefully.

“She fell down,” Qi Shen continued, picking up where the man left off. “I’ll treat her wound.”

The person in charge seemed to snap out of a daze, "Oh, oh."

Traffic around the stream was congested, so Qi Shen called Uncle Wang and instructed him to drive the car to the closest point to the stream.

The person in charge carried Fang Zhi, who had difficulty walking, from the stream to the car and put the girl in the back seat.