Chapter 21
The following day, a new student transferred to Jiang Minghua's elite class.
The noise during the break subsided slightly when the homeroom teacher walked in.
"Quiet down, I have an announcement to make. We have a new student transferring to our class today, Xie Yan. Please get along well with him."
All eyes turned to the doorway.
The boy who walked in was unusually thin, and the oversized new school uniform looked loose on him. He kept his head down, his long, pink, tousled hair almost completely obscuring his face, revealing only a taut jawline. He clutched his schoolbag tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
"Hello... everyone." His voice was hoarse and weak, with a barely perceptible tremor.
Jiang Minghua looked up at the person on the podium. She had saved him back then, but after school, she received news that Xie Yan and his younger brother had run away. She was worried about how the two brothers would live, but now that she saw Xie Yan had transferred to this school, he must have gone back to the Xie family.
She had never seen such a stupid person, rushing to their death.
Perhaps it was because her gaze was too focused and intense, Xie Yan raised her head slightly, and her eyes met those of a pair of light-colored eyes hidden among her stray hairs. They were extremely beautiful eyes, with slightly upturned corners and rare light brown pupils, but at this moment they were filled with unease and fear.
The homeroom teacher suddenly asked, "We have quite a few empty seats in our class. Does anyone want Xie to sit next to them?"
As soon as the homeroom teacher finished asking the question, the students with empty seats next to Xie Yan all looked at Xie Yan with disdain. Everyone in the upper-class circle knew that the Xie family had a third-rate adopted son, and it was worthless to befriend him.
Xie Yan ignored those gazes, stubbornly staring at Jiang Minghua. Noticing his gaze, Jiang Minghua was slightly startled, then nonchalantly turned her face away.
This subtle movement caused a flicker of sadness to cross Xie Yan's eyes. He recalled the instructions given by the head of the Xie family before his departure: he must become friends with Jiang Minghua.
He took a deep breath, mustered all his courage, and walked to Jiang Minghua's side, his voice hoarse:
May I sit here?
Jiang Minghua turned her head, her gaze falling on his distinctive long pink hair, and nodded almost imperceptibly.
With permission granted, Xie Yan visibly relaxed. He carefully sat down beside her, took out a book and pen from his bag, and clumsily imitated the way others held a pen, carefully tracing the words on the whiteboard stroke by stroke. His focused and devout expression was like that of a child just beginning his education.
During class, Jiang Minghua glanced at his notes and frowned slightly. The crooked handwriting was completely illegible, but seeing the gleam of joy in Xie Yan's eyes, she ultimately remained silent.
As soon as get out of class ended, Jiang Minghua forcefully grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the school rooftop, asking him bluntly:
"Didn't you go to school before?"
Xie Yan hesitated and nodded. To the Xie family, he was just an experimental subject. As long as his younger brother could go to school, he, as the older brother, could bear all the suffering and pain.
However, he didn't expect the Xie family to let him go to school. Although he couldn't understand what the teacher was saying, he still thought going to school was great. At school, he didn't have to do experiments, he didn't have to feel pain, and he could see Jiang Minghua.
He just didn't understand why Jiang Minghua was so angry after learning that he had never been to school.
"Why are you angry?" Xie Yan didn't understand.
Jiang Minghua, however, noticed a new scar on his neck:
"Is the Xie family using you as an experiment again?"
Xie Yan subconsciously tugged at his collar and nodded, saying, "It's just a test of the medicine, it won't hurt. The injury on my neck... I scratched myself because I couldn't stand it, it has nothing to do with the Xie family."
He was the purest blank slate Jiang Minghua had ever seen, tragic yet innocent, oblivious to the darkness and malice of the world, yet forced to bear everything.
Jiang Minghua initially offered Xie Yan help simply because of his distinctive long pink hair. But now, despite her intention to stop meddling, she was moved by compassion.
"Did the Xie family send you here so you could be friends with me?"
Xie Yan's eyes suddenly lit up. Jiang Minghua is so smart.
"Yes. Thank you for saving me last time. And thank you again for enabling me to go to school this time."
This once insecure and sensitive boy, who was prone to self-harm, felt the warmth of the world for the first time because of Jiang Minghua.
Seeing the faint smile beneath his long hair, Jiang Minghua sighed softly. In front of him, she dialed the principal's number: "Transfer Xie Yan from our school. He's not suited for this place."
After hanging up the phone, she turned around and saw that Xie Yan's smile had vanished, replaced by a sorrowful look that seemed to be on the verge of tears. He stood alone in the shadows, his eyes red-rimmed, with tiny droplets of water clinging to his long eyelashes, like a vine that never sees the sun, fragile and gloomy.
His voice was hoarse, with a slight tremor:
"Is it because I sat next to you and made you unhappy that you made me drop out of school?"
Jiang Minghua paused, turned around and walked back to him, grabbing his cold wrist without saying a word.
"Come with me."
Instead of sending him back to the cannibalistic Xie family, she took him directly to the Jiang family villa. Pointing to the bright and spacious guest room, she said to the uneasy boy behind her:
“You’ll live here from now on. You won’t be going to school for a while, and I’ll bring your younger brother here too. I’ll talk to the Xie family. I’ll hire a tutor for you, starting with literacy and arithmetic.”
Finally, she deliberately softened her voice:
"It's not about making you drop out of school, it's about making you start learning from scratch."
Xie Yan suddenly raised her head, and for the first time, a faint but unbelievable light appeared in her eyes, which were always filled with fear and inferiority behind her wispy hair.
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