Chapter 473 It all started because of me. He was about ten years old that year and was already known as the "little ice cube" in the compound. He didn't like to talk or laugh and spent all his time engrossed in a thick book on military theory.
That day, he took a shortcut home and passed by the entrance of an abandoned air-raid shelter. He heard several older children laughing and a girl sobbing inside.
"Hand over your candy!"
"And the Hero brand fountain pen your mom bought you! Hurry up!"
"You little dwarf, if I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know how many eyes the Horse King has!"
He frowned and walked over.
He saw three boys, each a head taller than him, surrounding a small, thin girl. The girl had two braids, her face was dirty, and her eyes were brimming with tears, yet she stubbornly bit her lip, tightly protecting her little schoolbag.
That girl was Bai Wei.
Back then, she was thin and small, like a bean sprout. Because her father had died early, her mother raised her alone. Her family was poor and she was often bullied by the unruly children in the compound.
"What are you doing?" Jiang Yan's voice was soft, cold, and devoid of emotion.
When the boys turned around and saw it was him, their arrogance immediately subsided. Although Jiang Yan was young, he was known for his ruthlessness in fights, and he never complained; he would just silently beat you down, making you afraid to leave the house for half a month.
"Jiang Yan, this is none of your business! We're just playing with her!" the chubby boy in the lead shouted, sounding fierce but actually weak.
Jiang Yan didn't speak, but just looked at him calmly.
The chubby boy felt uneasy under his gaze, swallowed hard, and finally cursed in frustration, "Bad luck!" Then he and his two henchmen slunk away.
Only the two of them remained in the alley.
The girl was still squatting on the ground, hugging her schoolbag, her shoulders trembling.
Jiang Yan looked at her, unsure what to say; he was never good at comforting people. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a White Rabbit milk candy, which his sister had insisted on giving him.
He reached out his hand and offered it to her.
The girl looked up blankly at him, her eyes brimming with tears, then glanced at the candy in his hand and asked softly, "For me?"
"Um."
The girl hesitated for a moment, but still took it, carefully unwrapped the candy, and put it in her mouth.
The sweetness melted in her mouth, and the sadness on her face seemed to fade a little.
She stood up, patted the dirt off her pants, bowed to him, and said in a soft, weak voice, "Thank you, Brother Jiang Yan."
From that day on, Bai Wei became his little shadow.
Wherever he went, she followed.
He would get up early to go for a run, and she would huff and puff as she chased after him, almost getting a stitch of air from exhaustion several times.
He went to the library to read, and she would move a small stool and sit next to him, pretending to hold a comic book.
He joined the army, and less than two years later, she also cried and begged to join the army, saying that she wanted to follow in Jiang Yan's footsteps.
In the eyes of everyone in the compound, Bai Wei was Jiang Yan's little fangirl, even a bit silly.
Although Jiang Yan always treated her indifferently, everyone tacitly agreed that he was, to some extent, protecting this "little sister".
But now...
Before Jiang Yan's eyes, the face of the little girl with pigtails and eyes full of admiration and gratitude overlapped with the face of the madman in the fighting arena who had a ferocious expression and was roaring "I want her to die".
Then, it shattered with a deafening roar.
If that's all there is to it, it's just shock and anger at people who misjudge others.
What truly broke him was another memory he had deliberately forgotten.
That was a year before he enlisted in the army. His sister, Jiang Yue, found him one day, looking very serious.
"Brother, stay away from Bai Wei."
"What's wrong?" He was wiping a model gun at the time, without even looking up.
"Something's wrong with her!" Jiang Yue said. "She secretly cut a piece off your pillowcase and hid it! She also took your water cup and wouldn't let the housekeeper wash it! Last time I saw her notebook filled with your name! Brother, the way she looks at you is... like a wolf seeing meat, it's terrifying! Everyone in the compound is saying that she won't marry anyone but you!"
What was his response at the time?
He frowned.
"She's young and doesn't know any better. Don't join in the commotion."
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