Stay away from her
Upon hearing the familiar name, Xu Jianing abruptly stopped in his tracks.
"Wen Sheng is the top student in the first year of high school, and she's a girl."
Xie Liming deliberately emphasized the word "girl" to observe Xu Jianing's reaction.
Xu Jianing clenched his fists at his sides, veins bulging on the back of his hands, his eyelashes casting shadows that concealed his anger.
When he looked up again, his expression had returned to calm, as if his earlier loss of composure was just an illusion.
He turned around, his eyes fixed on Xie Liming's face, and then suddenly smiled—or rather, smiled faintly. The smile was extremely faint, devoid of warmth, and instead sent chills down one's spine.
Xu Jianing approached step by step, and Xie Liming instinctively wanted to back away, but found that his shoulder was already pressed tightly against the pillar behind him, with nowhere to retreat.
Even though Xu Jianing was standing at the bottom of the steps, he was still more than half a head taller than him, and his shadow pressed down on him, forcing him to look up and meet his gaze.
Xu Jianing raised her hand and placed it on his abdomen, pressing lightly with her fingertips. The pressure was not heavy, but it directly pressed on the spot where the wound had been.
"Here..." he began in a low voice, then tightened his grip the next second, "Does it still hurt?"
Xie Liming's body trembled uncontrollably. Even though the wound had long since healed and there was no trace left on his skin, his body couldn't forget the feeling of fear he had felt at the time, and it betrayed his reason first.
I remember that day halfway up the mountain, when he punched me, my stomach was twisted so badly that I almost knelt down in front of everyone.
What's even more terrifying is Xu Jianing's gaze at that moment. There was no anger, no emotional fluctuation, just a cold stare at him.
“I don’t want to see you at all, Xie Liming.”
Xu Jianing continued to apply pressure, precisely grinding against the old wound through the thick fabric. The force wasn't enough to cause real damage, but it was enough to resurrect the fear buried deep in his bones.
A few seconds later, Xu Jianing let go and casually wiped her fingertips on Xie Liming's clothes, as if she had just touched something dirty.
“So…” He took a step back, creating distance again, “stay away from her.”
Only after Xu Jianing's figure completely disappeared from sight did Xie Liming gasp for breath. Cold sweat had already soaked his back, and he felt as if he had been pulled out of the water. He had just been too suffocating.
Who exactly is this Wen Sheng?
——
Saturday's work in the warehouse was much easier than usual.
Without the urging of evening self-study bells, without the presence of teachers patrolling the classrooms or the dean of students, and with the school having only recently started and the temporary absence of coursework and exam pressure, the entire campus was enveloped in a rare and leisurely atmosphere. For high school students in the prime of their youth, this was a rare and wonderful time.
The spring rain had just stopped, and the air was filled with the unique fresh scent of the rain. The playground and open space were still wet, but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the students in Cangzhong to come out and play.
On the basketball court, boys rolled up their trouser legs and dribbled and shot in relatively dry areas. Occasionally, someone would make a long-range three-pointer and immediately jump up excitedly, hugging their teammates and shouting.
On an open space not far away, girls were playing shuttlecock in a circle. Hearing the shouting from the basketball court, a girl with a ponytail couldn't help but mutter, "Those boys are shouting again."
The girls were amused and lost their rhythm. One girl lifted the shuttlecock high and almost dropped it into a puddle. Everyone gasped in surprise, but luckily someone was quick-witted and kicked it back into the circle with their toe, which made them laugh even harder.
Amidst the laughter, Xu Jianing walked in from the school gate with a canvas bag on his back. The surrounding noise was irrelevant to him, and he headed straight for the girls' dormitory.
The school path was a bit slippery after the rain, and Xu Jianing walked absentmindedly, occasionally stepping into puddles without even noticing.
He kept thinking about Xie Liming, and the thought that the man might cause trouble for Wen Sheng made him feel a little irritated, so he quickened his pace.
Just as he turned the corner of the teaching building, he almost bumped into Li Qingmiao, who was walking from the direction of the girls' dormitory. She was carrying a thermal box and was so startled that she almost dropped it. When she looked up and saw who it was, she was stunned for a moment.
"Xu Jianing?" Li Qingmiao steadied the insulated food container in her hands, looking at him with some surprise. "Why are you alone? Where's Wen Sheng?"
"Wasn't Wen Sheng with you?" Xu Jianing asked back, her unease growing stronger.
Li Qingmiao shook her head: "No, she went out early this morning." She paused, then added with some doubt, "Didn't she usually study with you every Saturday?"
"I had some things to do today, so I didn't come," Xu Jianing explained simply, without going into details, and eagerly pressed, "Was she not in the dorm all day?"
"Yes, she went out around 10 a.m. and hasn't come back. She said she went to her usual spot."
Li Qingmiao noticed the change in Xu Jianing's expression. "What's wrong? You look very anxious."
Xu Jianing lowered her eyes, quickly sorting through those so-called old places in her mind.
There are only three usual places: one is Xue Pingsheng's office, but he has to go out of the school gate to run errands today, and he had already told Wen Sheng in advance; the second is the old locust tree, but it rained yesterday and the ground is muddy, and Wen Sheng has always been afraid of getting dirty, so she will most likely not go there.
That leaves only the bookstalls near the school gate.
Xu Jianing's unease intensified. It had just rained, and the street with the bookstalls was relatively quiet. If Xie Liming really wanted to cause trouble for Wen Sheng, that was indeed not a safe place.
Having figured this out, he disregarded everything else and ran towards the school gate with his canvas bag on his back. The road was slippery, and he was running too fast, losing his balance and falling heavily to the ground.
A piercing pain shot through his knee. The canvas bag had fallen open, scattering its contents everywhere. Ignoring the pain, Xu Jianing scrambled to his feet and hastily gathered up the scattered items. His pants were covered in mud, and his left palm was scraped raw by the rough ground.
"Xu Jianing! Wait a minute!" Li Qingmiao shouted from behind, "What exactly happened? Say something!"
She had never seen Xu Jianing so out of control. This person, who was usually calm, composed, and quiet, was now so engrossed in his fall that he didn't even care about the pain. This made her realize that something serious must have happened.
Moreover, it's related to Wen Sheng.
Xu Jianing finally rushed to the bookstall, panting as he looked around, but couldn't find the person he was looking for.
Old Zhang, the owner of the bookstall, was humming a tuneless tune while sorting through the newly arrived books when he saw Old Zhang's disheveled appearance and was startled.
"Ah Ning, what happened to you?" The bookstall owner put down the book in his hand and looked Xu Jianing up and down. "Did you get into a fight or get hit by a car?"
Ignoring his own disheveled state, Xu Jianing asked anxiously, "Old Zhang, was Wen Sheng here just now?"
"She was just here a few minutes ago. The little girl was reading a book when she suddenly clutched her stomach and said she wanted to go to the supply and marketing cooperative."
Hearing that Wen Sheng had been at the bookstall, Xu Jianing breathed a sigh of relief, but he needed to see her with his own eyes before he would feel at ease.
"Thanks, Lao Zhang, I'm off now!"
Xu Jianing quickly thanked him and turned to walk towards the supply and marketing cooperative.
"Hey! Aning!" Old Zhang called out to him from behind, "Take care of your knee before you go, it's bleeding."
But Xu Jianing had already walked far away. He just waved his hand to indicate that he was fine. He was only thinking about Wen Sheng and couldn't care about anything else.
Inside the supply and marketing cooperative in Cangshui County, the light was abundant, and behind the wooden counter were neatly arranged daily necessities: face cream, soap, enamel mugs, matches, and soap powder. When Wen Sheng pushed open the door, the room was bustling with activity.
A group of children were gathered around the candy counter, staring longingly at the candies inside the glass case, their mouths practically watering. They pleaded with the salesperson, "I want the one-cent ones, not the five-cent ones!"
Several middle-aged women were gathered around the counter, selecting items. Some were looking at fabrics, some were weighing sugar, and two elderly women were haggling with the salesperson over the price of a bar of soap.
"Xiao Wang, why has the price of this soap gone up again? It was only 80 cents last month!"
"Auntie, the purchase price has gone up, there's nothing we can do about it."
At the other end of the counter, an older woman in a blue cotton shirt was carrying an empty oil bottle: "Give me two jin of sesame oil, don't give me too little!"
"I know, I know, it's accurate." The salesperson stood on the iron scale, clattering the ladle against the iron bucket, and the aroma of oil immediately filled the air.
Wen Sheng stood on the outskirts of the crowd, somewhat at a loss. She clutched her stomach, feeling a dull ache in her lower abdomen, but was too embarrassed to voice her needs in front of so many people.
She waited by the door for a long time, hoping the crowd would disperse. But as darkness fell, the number of customers at the supply and marketing cooperative increased rather than decreased, with more and more people pouring in.
"Little girl, what do you want to buy?"
A young sales clerk noticed her and greeted her warmly.
Wen Sheng walked to the counter, the sharp pain in her abdomen making it difficult for her to stand. She braced herself against the counter and said to the sales clerk, "Could you please give me a pack of Annie brand sanitary napkins?"
The sales clerk, a young man in his twenties, immediately turned around and took a pack from the shelf after hearing her request: "Annie brand, one yuan a pack."
Wen Sheng nodded, and as she took out her money from her pocket, she felt another sharp pain in her abdomen. The woman next to her, who was picking out soap, noticed and asked with concern, "Young lady, why are you so pale? Are you feeling unwell?"
"It's nothing, just a little stomachache."
"Oh dear, is this menstrual cramps? It's okay, there's no problem saying it." The kind woman said to the sales clerk, "Xiao Wang, get her a packet of brown sugar and make her a cup of hot brown sugar water first, I'll pay for it."
Xiao Wang immediately took action, took brown sugar from the shelf, found an enamel cup under the counter, and made a cup of brown sugar water with boiling water from the thermos.
"No need, it's too much trouble..." Wen Sheng quickly declined.
"It's alright, it's alright, how much does a packet of brown sugar cost?" The woman waved her hand. "I'm a girl too, and besides, I was young once, so I know how painful this kind of pain is. Here, drink it while it's hot, it'll make you feel better."
Wen Sheng took the still-steaming brown sugar water, feeling the warmth emanating from the cup, and a warm feeling welled up in her heart.
She carefully took a sip; the water was at the perfect temperature, and the sweet brown sugar water eased her abdominal pain slightly.
At that moment, the door of the supply and marketing cooperative was suddenly pushed open with a loud bang.
Everyone was startled by the sudden sound and turned around to look.
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