Chapter 14
As Lin Langli approached the entrance of the school's swimming pool, his steps faltered as if nailed to the spot.
A surge of regret welled up inside him, and he turned to leave with a stiff face. He wasn't going to waste any effort on someone like Chen Mian, let alone someone he already disliked.
However, he actually rushed over to verify the ambiguous, prank-like text message.
That's so despicable.
He gritted his teeth and cursed himself harshly and arrogantly in his heart, but inexplicably, he turned back the step he had taken.
Lin Langli's eyes flashed with anger. If this was another trick by Chenmian to deceive him, he would definitely teach him a lesson tonight.
The pool was empty, with no sign of sleep. He coldly scanned the changing rooms and showers on both sides, his pace quickening unconsciously, his ears intently listening to the sounds around him.
It wasn't until I reached the door of the innermost shower room that a very faint, intermittent sobbing sound drifted into my ears. The sound was somewhat familiar, and at the same time, it was mixed with another heavy breathing.
There was a pair of wild mandarin ducks inside.
Can't afford a hotel room?
Lin Langli frowned involuntarily, feeling genuine disgust, but the next second, he heard a short "No."
The air was broken by those timid words. Lin Langli's expression turned serious, his steps faltered, and the pressure around him intensified. He reached out to lift the curtain.
Suddenly, someone inside spoke, their voice soft and coaxing, as if trying to coax someone: "Mianmian, don't be afraid of me. I didn't do anything to you. The kicks you gave me and the slap you gave me just now still hurt. Mianmian, you're such a bad baby."
"Bad baby, I just want you to apologize to me. What's the harm in kissing me? Right? If you kiss me... I'll let you go."
Lin Langli heard Chen Mian mutter "pervert" under his breath.
But his tone was weak, and even though it was mixed with overwhelming anger, it seemed that he didn't need to be taken seriously. Instead, it made his words seem even more pitiful, as if he wanted to hold his owner in the palm of his hand and play with him.
Then, with a muffled groan, the person spoke again, sounding helpless: "Mianmian, look, you kicked me again. You're so mean, you little rascal."
A tone of reproach, resentment, or flirtation.
Unable to bear the strange conversation and atmosphere any longer, Lin Langli, his face ashen, was about to take action when he heard the person say, "Mianmian, didn't you ask me what I had to tell you?"
"You posted that message about Lin Langli, didn't you? I knew it. Only a little rascal like you would do something like that."
Chenmian vehemently denied it, raising her voice slightly: "Get out! Let me out! What post? I don't know anything about it!"
"Sleep!" The air froze for a moment.
A low, angry roar came from the corridor behind him. Lin Langli turned his head and saw that Shen Ci was standing not far behind him at some point. Judging from the expression on his face, he must have heard these words as well.
Silence fell within the curtain, but soon, a cry for help rang out from the depths of sleep, tinged with tears: "Chen Ci! I'm here!"
Shen Ci strode over and yanked open the curtain.
Chenmian was shoved into a small corner of the cubicle, clutching her schoolbag, her eyes red, and her shirt askew, looking like she had been bullied terribly.
"Chen Ci, sob sob, why did you take so long to come?" Finally having help, Chen Mian, who had been holding back her tears, suddenly burst into tears. Lin Langli watched from the side and felt that perhaps because Chen Mian's eyes were much bigger than others, the tears that fell were round and large, rolling down her cheeks, making her look so pitiful.
He seemed to feel sorry for her too.
How pitiful, in a deep slumber.
Upon seeing the other two members of the Shen family arrive, Cui Quan's expression changed drastically, but he still forced a smile, pretending to be nonchalant: "What..."
Before he could finish speaking, Shen Ci's fist slammed down hard. Shen Ci was already cold and hard, but now he was like a demon god, his punches landing squarely without mercy. Cui Quan was knocked back and staggered, his back slamming heavily against the tiled wall. He slid down to the ground, blood seeping from his forehead.
Lin Langli smirked, looking expressionlessly at Chen Mian, who had come out from the corner and was wiping away tears while resting her hand on his shoulder.
He frowned slightly, wanting to reach out and brush away the touch of slumber, but in the end, he instead wiped away slumber's tears.
So pitiful, so pitiful, it breaks my heart.
But who told him to be so frivolous? He smiles at everyone.
Pity, contempt, and disgust were intertwined, making it difficult to separate them.
Crying so pitifully and putting on such a wronged expression, don't you know that it will only make others feel more embarrassed?
Such a foolish and malicious person...
Lin Langli's gaze swept over the crying young man inch by inch, then he withdrew his finger, took out a tissue from his pocket, and handed it to him.
With a scream, Cui Quan covered his head and curled up into a ball, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "Stop hitting me! I was wrong! I'll never do it again!"
Seeing that Shen Ci showed no sign of stopping, he took two more steps to the side, grabbing Shen Ci's trouser leg and pleading, "Young Master Shen, please have mercy..."
Seeing this, Lin Langli advised, "Alright, if you keep fighting, things will get out of hand."
"He should be beaten to death! He's a scoundrel!!" Chen Mian glared at him with red eyes, her tone full of resentment.
Lin Langli chuckled lightly: "If you really kill him, even with the Shen family backing him up, Shen Ci will still face imprisonment. Shen Mian, don't be so impulsive."
Sowing discord!
Chenmian lowered her head sheepishly, stammered, avoided Chen Ci's gaze as he looked over, and rubbed her eyes.
Shen Ci said in a deep voice, "I know what I'm doing."
After leaving the swimming pool and getting into Shen Ci's car, Chen Mian finally broke down, trembling and sobbing in Shen Ci's arms, "He's such a pervert, he wanted to kiss me, and he wanted me to see his private parts..."
He was genuinely terrified. He had been pampered and loved since childhood, and as he grew older, even those who were fascinated by him still had to fear the power of the Shen family. Shen Mian had never had such a reckless, frivolous, and terrifying experience.
For the first time, he realized so clearly that after losing his status as the young master of the Shen family, even though his family did not officially kick him out, in the eyes of others, he had long lost his lofty position and become cheap and easy to bully!
He hated Lin Langli so much! It was all his fault! If it weren't for his return, he wouldn't have ended up in this situation!
I hate him so much! I hate him so much! I hate him so much! Why doesn't Lin Langli just die?
After a moment's thought, he felt very sad and cried even more bitterly until he could hardly catch his breath. Only then did the young man open his mouth slightly to exhale and let out a few sobs.
Shen Ci looked down at him quietly.
He knew that Chenmian was afraid, as afraid as she was of surgery when she was a child. She didn't even dare to cry out loud, her body trembling and occasionally shaking. It was truly heartbreaking.
He felt an anger and resentment in his heart that were greater than slumber, a hatred that gnawed at his flesh like a knife, as if scraping only a thin layer of skin.
Heartache, disapproval of Shen Mian's frivolous behavior... all these emotions overwhelmed Shen Ci as he swallowed the blood in his mouth and said, "Shen Mian, don't cry, you're going to have trouble breathing."
Chenmian looked up at him, revealing a beautiful face, glistening with tears, her eyelashes forming dark streaks, yet she did not appear disheveled, but rather even more beautiful.
Shen Ci touched the tear that had seeped out with his fingertip; it melted coolly on his fingertip and flowed down his cheek.
The anger in my heart instantly turned into tenderness, turning over and over again.
Snap—
A heavy slap.
Chenmian raised her hand and waved it at him, unable to help but scold, "It's all your fault!! Where were you? Why didn't you come sooner?"
Recalling that humiliating moment, Chenmian felt utterly disgusted. "Do you know what he was going to do? If you had been any later, would I have been raped?"
Lin Langli sat in the passenger seat, his brow twitching as he looked at the scene before him, feeling somewhat dizzy.
They're acting like a young couple, so you can't blame anyone else for it.
Seeing that Chenmian was about to hit him again, Shen Ci reached out and grabbed Chenmian's hand, pulling the boy into his arms. He used his other hand to gently pat the back of the person in his arms, soothing Chenmian's emotions.
After a while, Shen Mian finally calmed down and came to her senses. She rubbed her eyes, looked up at Shen Ci, touched the side of his face where he had just hit him, and apologized softly, "Shen Ci, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hit you. Does it hurt?"
"..."
"Are you really angry with me? I'm sorry, Shen Ci."
Shen Ci was naturally angry after being hit, but Shen Mian had already apologized, and given what had happened, how could Shen Ci blame him?
Seeing his expression, Shenmian coaxed him a couple of times and reached out to touch the spot where he had just hit her. Shenci grabbed her outstretched hand expressionlessly and said stiffly, "Alright, who is that person? Didn't I tell you not to go around flirting with other women?"
He wanted to blame Shenmian for her promiscuity, but he felt that it was not Shenmian's fault. Those people were the ones who were eager to offer themselves to her, even offering themselves up and forcing Shenmian to accept them. They were really despicable!
“I’ve barely spoken a few words to him. I only asked him to do me a small favor before,” Chenmian said, glancing furtively at Lin Langli’s expression. “You know I definitely wouldn’t be interested in him.”
Lin Langli watched coldly from the side.
So, Chenmian can genuinely apologize? He knows his actions were wrong?
To say that Cui Quan only "helped with a small favor" is quite an understatement.
How could you be so hypocritical and awful towards him?
Shen Mian stroked Shen Ci's hair, and seeing that the other party was going to take the blame and support him, she broke free from the young man's embrace and started picking a fight with Lin Langli: "Lin Langli! Did you come with Shen Ci?"
Why not help him? You must feel smug seeing him humiliated.
Having been noticed, Lin Langli remained calm and silent.
Shen Ci recalled another sentence she heard when she arrived and asked, "I heard that person say that you posted Lin Langli's post, Shen Mian, what's going on?"
Chenmian's head was spinning; he was too nervous and had completely forgotten about it—he hadn't deleted the post yet. He still tried to argue, "How would I know what it is?"
Shen Ci opened the school forum page, and the top post was none other than "Lin Langli's post".
Clicking through, the text is densely packed and unreadable. Although there are many questions and supporting evidence below, there are always a few discordant voices.
He flipped through two pages to reply, recalling Cui Quan's unwavering confidence—a confidence he even dared to use to threaten Shen Mian—and Shen Mian's now clearly panicked expression, her eyes darting around. His heart gradually began to lean in one direction.
She looked up at Lin Langli, their eyes met, and then looked away. Shen Ci asked, "I haven't asked you all this time. During the holiday, Shen Mian was covered in injuries, and after only two days, she went to hide at my elder brother's house. What happened then?"
Chenmian bit her lower lip and remained silent.
Lin Langli said casually, "He called me to the stairwell and fell down the stairs himself, pulling me down with him. He told my parents that I pushed him. But you know, there are security cameras in that area."
"I didn't mean to!" Seeing the anger reappear on Shen Ci's face, Shen Mian quickly explained, "I just, I just didn't mean to."
Lin Langli chuckled but did not refute.
Shen Ci's knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, and the veins on his arms stretched taut. His chest felt like it was burning with fire, both stifling and scalding, making his thoughts chaotic.
He was both angry that Chenmian acted without thinking, using self-harm and spreading rumors about others as a means of retaliation, and disappointed that Chenmian still hadn't recognized his place and kept provoking Lin Langli.
A note from the author:
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