Chapter 7

As Chenmian stared at Lin Langli's smile, she felt a surge of anger well up inside her.

Lin Langli is provoking him again! If he had known there was surveillance... why would he have wasted his time? He fell so badly, and his whole body is still aching. Thinking about this, Chen Mian felt extremely unwilling.

Lin Langli's smile just now was clearly a mockery that saw through everything, a smugness that was certain he would be exposed.

Such a despicable person, yet his parents still believe him.

Meeting her parents' gazes, Chenmian opened her mouth as if to refute, but in the end she vaguely turned her head away, tacitly agreeing to everything.

Seeing his stubbornness, Shen Mianjun was so angry that his liver hurt, and he pulled up the surveillance footage from the stairwell.

On the screen, the scene of him deliberately finding Lin Langli at the stairwell, stalling for time by talking nonsense, deliberately bumping into Lin Langli, and even pulling Lin Langli down with him as a cushion, was clear frame by frame.

After reading it, Su Yueqiu's heartache slowly turned into disappointment, her face gradually darkened, and she loosened her embrace of Chenmian.

She squeezed her eyes shut, still wanting to give Chenmian a chance: "Mianmian, tell Mommy, why did you do this?"

She remained silent, her face stubborn as she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks and soaking the soft carpet.

"Slumber!" Shen Mianjun's tone turned stern. "You still won't admit it?"

Shen Mian was clearly startled by his father's stern expression; his pink pearl-like eyelids trembled. Shen Mianjun turned him around to face Lin Langli and said, "Apologize to Xiao Li!"

"I won't apologize!" Chenmian refused, violently shaking off her father's hand and crying even harder, "Dad, you're biased! Why should I apologize? I did nothing wrong! He's the one who tried to take my home! He took my mom and dad away! I did nothing wrong!"

"How could you think like that!" Father Shen raised his voice. "What do you mean by 'steal'? I can forgive you for bullying Xiaoli before when you were just being childish, but how could you come up with such a scheme to frame Xiaoli today? Do you know how dangerous it is to fall down the stairs? What if you had been hurt even more badly if Xiaoli hadn't protected you?"

As Chenmian listened to her father's concern, her attitude softened slightly, but then she heard Shen Mianjun utter a resolute sentence:

"I must apologize to Xiao Li today!"

The whole story still revolves around him apologizing to Lin Langli. How could Lin Langli possibly deserve it?

He was the one who got hurt, so why did his parents only scold him? Didn't they see how scheming and treacherous Lin Langli was?

Shenmian cried until his eyelids hurt. He hated Lin Langli so much, but he still refused to face the truth. He wiped his tears with the back of his hand, but the more he wiped, the more tears he shed, until he even felt a little breathless.

Chenmian thought bitterly, "I might as well let him die today! Mom and Dad only favor Lin Langli and don't care about him! If he dies, Mom and Dad will definitely regret it like in novels and drive Lin Langli away!"

After crying for a long time, Shen Mianjun did not let him go. Su Yueqiu felt sorry for Shen Mian, who was trembling with tears. She wanted to pat the child's back to comfort him, but her husband stopped her.

"Crying won't help!"

Shen Mianjun was determined to teach Shen Mian a lesson, and for the first time, he spoke so sternly to his most beloved child: "Don't try to run away. Wrong is wrong! You not only have to apologize to Xiao Li, but also to me and your mother. Is this how we usually raise you?"

Startled, Chenmian shuddered and dared not argue back, but she still stubbornly refused to speak, staring at Lin Langli with teary eyes.

Lin Langli stood aside, watching the farce with a blank expression, seemingly uninterested.

He overestimated Chenmian. Chenmian's methods were too low-level; she couldn't even fabricate a coherent lie. In the end, she would only embarrass herself and everyone else.

He didn't want to watch the Shen family's performance of educating their child any longer. The atmosphere was at a standstill, and if he didn't leave, he would seem tactless.

Seeing Shen Mian's unyielding attitude, Shen Mianjun was so angry that he couldn't speak. Su Yueqiu helped her husband up and gave Lin Langli a wink: "Xiaoli, go back to your room first. Mom will call the doctor to examine you and apply medicine later."

"No need," Lin Langli declined the offer. "I can do it myself. You should get some rest too."

After saying that, he didn't look at Chenmian again, turned around and went upstairs. His back was straight, but his steps were slower than usual, after all, he was injured.

Watching Lin Langli's retreating figure, Shen's father turned back and glared at Shen Mian: "You better reflect on your actions! You're grounded for a month. You won't get a single penny of pocket money this month, and you're not allowed to ask Shen Ci for any!"

Chenmian rubbed her eyes and looked at Su Yueqiu with a sob in her voice: "Mom, my body hurts so much."

Before his wife could speak, Shen Mianjun cut off Shen Mian's complaints: "Go apologize to Xiao Li and apply medicine. You made a stupid decision, so you have to deal with it yourself!" After saying that, he grabbed Su Yueqiu, who was still feeling sorry for Shen Mian, and stormed off.

Only Chenmian remained in the hall, his body aching, his heart filled with grievances and resentment, making his chest feel heavy.

Slumped down helplessly, hugging her arms and burying her head in her hands, unable to contain her resentment—it's all Lin Langli's fault! If he hadn't come back, she would still be the pampered young master of the Shen family, and she wouldn't have to suffer like this.

—

In the middle of the night, Lin Langli had just finished showering and fallen asleep when he felt a warm hand gently scratching his face, like a kitten's paw rubbing against him.

He suddenly woke up, opened his eyes from his sleep, and saw Chenmian squatting by his bedside, her little face wrinkled, her eyes red like a rabbit's, and a first-aid kit beside her.

"Chenmian, what are you doing?" Lin Langli's voice was cold and hoarse from just waking up. He couldn't believe that Chenmian would dare to break into his room in the middle of the night.

Startled by his tone, Chenmian shrank back, tears welling up in her eyes again. Her voice slurred, "Dad told me to apologize to you, and to help you apply the medicine..."

Lin Langli stared coldly at the person by the bedside. Seeing that Chenmian remained motionless, still immersed in his self-pity about the injustice and grievance he had suffered, he could barely confirm that he was probably not here to cause trouble again.

"Get out." Lin Langli coldly sized up Chen Mian. She was still acting like she couldn't hold back her tears in front of him. Wasn't she too arrogant?

Chenmian stared at him blankly: "...But, but that's what Daddy said."

Lin Langli got up from the bed, grabbed the wrist of the sleeping man, and tried to kick him out.

Chenmian, unwilling to leave, revealed her true feelings: "Don't make me leave, my arm hurts so much, don't grab me, Daddy said, Daddy said we have to apply medicine to each other, I feel so bad, boohoo..."

Chenmian clung to Lin Langli, refusing to let go. This time, she no longer put on airs like she had in the evening, pitifully pleading for mercy.

Holding the sleeping man's wrist, Lin Langli felt for a moment that his palm was as smooth and warm as the finest jade, yet much softer than jade, like silk. He was momentarily stunned by the smooth and delicate skin, but quickly recovered and said in a harsh tone, "Why should you get whatever you want? Apply medicine? Get out and find Shen Ci."

Chenmian bit her lip and turned her head away from him.

Lin Langli understood Chenmian's meaning and couldn't help but sneer, "What? Now you know it's shameful and don't dare to tell him? What about before?"

Lin Langli was incredibly strong, and when he spoke to him, he couldn't help but exert force. Shen Mian kept frowning in pain, but he still didn't want to be kicked out. After returning to his room, he belatedly realized that the pain was even more unbearable, and even lying on the bed did not relieve the pain in the slightest.

Left with no other choice, Chenmian had to sneak into Lin Langli's room and plead with the culprit: "Lin Langli, I was wrong. Can you forgive me? It's okay if you don't forgive me. Can you help me apply the medicine... I'll help you apply the medicine, okay?"

Chen Mian was too adept at playing the victim. After being stared at by Lin Langli's icy gaze for a while, Chen Mian heard him say, "Come here."

He was dragged to sit on the edge of the bed. Lin Langli stood to the side, but in the moonlight, he couldn't see Lin Langli's face clearly. He only heard the other man say, "Come on, apologize to me."

She hesitated for a moment, still very reluctant, before finally saying, "I'm sorry."

Lin Langli chuckled, then changed his tone and said, "Aren't you the best at playing the victim or coaxing others to do things for you? How come your apology is just a simple 'I'm sorry'?"

Chenmian was in a difficult position because of Lin Langli. She wanted to yell at him loudly, but she was clearly at a disadvantage in the current situation. So after sobbing for a couple of times, she racked her brains and said, "Lin Langli, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have picked a fight with you. I shouldn't have dragged you downstairs. I shouldn't have... framed you. It's all my fault. I'm so bad. I'm a big bad guy."

Lin Langli stared at him for a few seconds. Seeing Chen Mian's humiliated expression, he softened his tone and said calmly, "I won't forgive you, and you don't need to administer the medicine."

Chenmian wasn't there to do this in the first place. She looked up at him expectantly and said, "But I'm in so much pain. I want some medicine."

After saying that, she stood up again, held her injured elbow up to Lin Langli, and said aggrievedly, "Look, it's all scraped up. I'm so pitiful."

After sleeping there, he insisted on taking a shower in his room that night, and there were already signs of redness and inflammation. It certainly didn't look like the kind of miserable condition that a pampered young master would have.

Who are you being affectionate with?

Lin Langli's mood worsened. He thought about his instinctive reaction at that time and his lips tightened.

Why did I instinctively protect that idiot Chenmian? If Chenmian doesn't learn a lesson, he'll never learn to avoid provoking me.

He only had a minor scratch, yet he acted as if no one in the world was more unlucky or pitiful than him.

Seeing that Lin Langli didn't react, Chenmian started crying again, feeling that she had lost all her dignity by apologizing to him and saying such shameless things, which was a complete waste of her efforts.

But after a few seconds of silence, Lin Langli suddenly spoke, coldly saying, "Lie down on the bed, I'll apply the medicine for you."

So fierce.

Shen Ci had never been so fierce to him before, but Shen Mian was now isolated and helpless. The only person who could help him apply the medicine was this bastard in front of him. He was really desperate and had no other choice.

As for Lin Langli's bed, Chenmian turned on the bedside lamp and looked at Lin Langli's dark sheets, which were as old-fashioned and indifferent as the man himself, making her feel particularly uncomfortable.

She had to ask for help from someone she used to look down on, and even had to apologize to that person in a humble voice. Unable to hold back her tears, she soaked a small patch of Lin Langli's bed sheet again.

Lin Langli's cold voice came from above: "It's so dirty, you go wash my sheets."

A note from the author: