Then he simply reached out and returned the favor to the girl.
The girl didn't expect Pei Xi to fight back, and she stumbled. The boy next to her quickly helped her up.
"You just stood by and watched me get bullied?!" The girl slapped the boy's arm hard, her eyes filled with anger and frustration. Seeing this, the boy had no choice but to step forward and stand up for her, questioning Pei Xi, "Why did you push my girlfriend?!"
Pei Xi's words left him speechless: "The school doesn't allow early relationships, don't you two know that?"
The boy suddenly shut his mouth.
A hint of embarrassment flashed across his face.
People around him were glancing at him. He didn't want to make a big fuss; if the dean of students came, he'd be dead.
Seeing his pathetic state, the girl became even angrier. She glared at him, stomped her foot, and turned to leave.
The boy exclaimed "Hey!" and quickly chased after him.
Pei Xi withdrew his gaze from them, his expression indifferent.
Although she has sweet features, she can still be somewhat intimidating when she has a cold expression.
She banished the two men from her mind, and as she turned around, she was met with a pair of dark eyes.
Jiang Cheng had appeared behind her without her noticing, silently watching her.
Pei Xi was taken aback.
The next second, Jiang Cheng walked over, took her wrist through her clothes, looked down at her, and said in a soft voice, "Pei Xi, come with me for a moment."
Pei Xi did not resist and let him lead her to a deserted corner of the cafeteria.
There were only the two of them there. Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating the windowsill and the floor in a bright rectangular shape.
They were standing inside this rectangle.
"Why did you argue with them?" Jiang Cheng looked down at her and asked gently.
Pei Xi remained silent, only looking up at him with a stubborn expression in her eyes.
A few seconds later, Jiang Cheng naturally lost the confrontation.
“Pei Xi, you don’t need to be angry.” He shook his head slightly and said softly, “I don’t care.”
“But I do care,” Pei Xi finally said.
She looked at Jiang Cheng, her stubbornness even stronger, and spoke clearly, as if it were a powerful declaration, "I don't like others saying bad things about you."
Jiang Cheng was taken aback.
After a few seconds, he repeated, "I don't care."
He even laughed, his tone showing patience and comfort. The person who was being criticized and ridiculed behind her back was instead advising her: "When others talk badly about you, don't you just ignore it?"
That's different.
Pei Xi thought to himself.
She pursed her lips, remained silent, and simply shook her head gently.
Jiang Cheng seemed helpless against her stubbornness. He sighed and said, "Pei Xi, you shouldn't..." Don't defend me in front of so many people in the future.
He choked up halfway through his sentence.
He wanted Pei Xi to stay away from him, not to protect him, and not even to speak to him in public.
He didn't want people to talk about her behind her back.
But I just can't get these simple words out; it feels like something is blocking my throat.
It was his selfish motive.
Jiang Cheng thought to himself, "So he really is such a selfish person."
He was so selfish that he couldn't bring himself to push her away.
His tongue seemed to freeze, and after a long pause, he finally spoke: "Pei Xi, they didn't wrong me, I really..."
Pei Xi suddenly interrupted him, "Jiang Cheng."
She didn't want him to say anything more, so she stared at him intently.
Jiang Cheng, however, had already made up his mind.
He didn't want to lie to her anymore.
Since he couldn't push her away, he might as well face it honestly and accept whatever decision she made.
He then pointed to his left ear and said, "It's true that I can't hear with this ear."
He was prepared to face Pei Xi's surprise, disdain, or anger at being deceived.
The voice grew deeper and deeper.
It was as if they were making a confession of some crime, rattling it all out in one breath, with a sense of resignation and acceptance of death awaiting sentencing.
"I lied to you at the movie theater before too."
"You gave me the earphones, but I didn't hear anything that day."
He repeated himself in a calm voice: "I lied to you."
After he finished speaking, he relaxed his shoulders, as if relieved of a great burden.
But no one knew that beneath his clothes, his entire back was incredibly hard.
Jiang Cheng's eyes grew even darker and deeper, his gaze towards Pei Xi as unfathomable as the night.
Pei Xi remained silent.
Every second of her silence felt like a slow, agonizing torture to him.
Jiang Cheng lowered his eyes and his arm at his side was as stiff as iron.
After a few seconds, Pei Xi suddenly spoke up: "I still owe you something, do you remember?"
Jiang Cheng didn't know why she suddenly brought this up, but he still instinctively nodded in agreement, "Mm."
Pei Xi said, "I told him at the time, 'You can make me do anything, I will do it without hesitation.'"
She paused for a moment, then smiled gently, "You can use it now."
Jiang Cheng was completely stunned.
Pei Xi's gentle voice came from beside her ear: "Whatever you say, I will agree."
Jiang Cheng felt his heart pounding wildly, as if it were about to burst out of his chest.
She said she would agree to whatever he said.
This was the opportunity she gave him.
She would agree as long as he told her to stay away from him in the future.
And vice versa.
He remained silent for a moment, his hands clenched into fists at his sides.
Pei Xi waited patiently for him.
She didn't seem to be in a hurry at all, as if she could have as much time as she wanted to think.
Until he gave the answer he most wanted to say.
Jiang Cheng's Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he asked her softly, "Can you forgive me?"
Pei Xi smiled, his amber pupils sparkling in the sunlight.
She nodded and said, "Of course."
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