Chapter 17

Translator: Larbre Studio

Editor: Larbre Studio

After getting up the next day, the redness and swelling on Shen Qinglan’s face had faded considerably, but light red marks were still visible. She looked at herself in the mirror and picked up the cosmetics on the table. In an instant, the marks on her face were covered without any trace. 

If someone had been there, they would have been amazed at her ability and skill in makeup. She, however, had never worn any.

The sprain on her feet could not recover right away. The previous night, before leaving, Fu Hengyi had found one bottle of medicinal oil and massaged her ankle with it for a long time. That morning it actually didn’t hurt so much.

While other people may have had problems walking in those conditions, for Shen Qinglan that little pain could be ignored. When she arrived at school, no one even noticed that anything was wrong with her.

“Qinglan, after the exam in the afternoon, let’s go to the bar I told you last time, shall we?” Holding Shen Qinglan’s arm, Yu Xiaoxuan blinked like a cute little girl.

Yu Xiaoxuan’s eyes were curved and twinkling. She looked very cute with her slightly chubby cheeks—when she showed off her cuteness, few people could reject her.

That day, they were going to sit the last exam of the term. After that, they were indeed going to be free. Therefore, after thinking about it for a while, Shen Qinglan nodded in agreement.

“Bravo! I know you are the best, Qinglan!” Yu Xiaoxuan cheered.

“Wu Qian, would you like to go with us?” Yu Xiaoxuan asked Wu Qian, who was studying hard beside them.

Wu Qian looked at Yu Xiaoxuan and replied with indifference, “No.”

Yu Xiaoxuan said nothing, pursing her mouth. She knew that she would react like that. For the three years they had spent in the same dormitory, Wu Qian hadn’t really been involved in their group and didn’t interact with any of them. Every day, she was either in class or working part-time. She was only seen in the dormitory when the final examination happened to be around the corner.

She never participated in any activities in the dormitory. Even if asked, she would refuse all the same.

Yu Xiaoxuan was lively and had good communication abilities. Cold as Shen Qinglan was, who didn’t like contact with others, she actually liked Yu Xiaoxuan. Wu Qian, however, was an exception.

“Fang Tong, what about you? Are you going with us?”

Fang Tong was putting makeup on and did not stop when hearing Yu Xiaoxuan’s invitation, “I’m going to the cinema with my boyfriend tonight, so I won’t join you singles.”

“Again with your boyfriend, Fang Tong. Don’t you have any ambition?” Yu Xiaoxuan said.

“I am just not ambitious. What? Wanna argue with me?” Fang Tong sneered, squinting at Yu Xiaoxuan.

They were happy friends. If they didn’t cross each other for one day, they would feel uncomfortable.

Shen Qinglan watched them quietly, a smile deep in her eyes. That kind of life was nice after all.

At night, however, Shen Qinglan and Yu Xiaoxuan did not manage to get to the bar.

Shen Qinglan stared at the man standing in front of her doubtfully.

Yu Xiaoxuan opened her eyes widely. It was… That was the…

Fu Hengyi didn’t explain why he had appeared at the school gate. Instead, he looked at Yu Xiaoxuan and said, “I have something to do with Qinglan. Can I have her for a while?”

His voice was deep and pleasant. It made her swoon—she was quite big on nice voices.

She nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, walking out of the school while waving to Shen Qinglan, “Well, Qinglan, I’m going to head back then. Have fun with the handsome guy.”

At a glance, she had recognized that that handsome guy was the same one who had helped them out at the restaurant. How could Qinglan say that she didn’t know him? If they were unacquainted, how come he had gone to the school looking for her? Well, well… Qinglan had not been honest.

As Yu Xiaoxuan thought angrily, she kept turning around to look at their backs.

Ah, how eye-catching they were together…

With the irrelevant person away, Fu Hengyi did not look that gentle. Instead, he slightly frowned, looking at Shen Qinglan’s feet.

“Your foot is injured. Why are you hanging around outside?”

In his stern tone, he spoke more like a brother teaching a lesson to a disobedient sister.

“I’m fine.” Shen Qinglan felt a little ill with Fu Hengyi’s eyes fixed on her.

Fu Hengyi had just watched Shen Qinglan come out of the campus. Since he had dealt with her foot injury in person, he certainly knew that even an iron man could not recover so quickly from such injuries. However, one could not have guessed that she was injured at all judging by the way she walked.

“Why do you push yourself so hard?” Fu Hengyi sighed, in a gentle voice.

Shen Qinglan felt uncomfortable being reprimanded. She wasn’t forcing herself, she was simply used to that. Compared with what she had experienced in the past, in her eyes such a wound was not an injury at all.

Witnessing Shen Qinglan’s silence, Fu Hengyi felt even more helpless. He could not help wondering what it was she had experienced in the past few years that had made her tough and indifferent.

“I’m going back soon. I just came here to tell you about it.” Fu Hengyi returned to his original intention.

Since the customer was not satisfied with the person he had sent over, he needed to hurry over and deal with it himself.

So, he was there to say goodbye to her? It occurred to Shen Qinglan suddenly. But did they know each other very well? Did he really need to come over and say goodbye to her?

Shen Qinglan looked as calm as usual, but Fu Hengyi still noticed the inexplicable doubts in her eyes. He was somewhat baffling—he himself was confused about whether he should worry about her when about to leave. He had not seen her at the Shen’s, so he had hurried there for her.

Fu Hengyi rubbed his forehead and wiped away the slight irritation between his eyes, “If anything is wrong, you can call me. And I need your help with one thing.”

So he was there to ask her for help.

“Say it then.”

“My grandfather is usually at home alone. I can see that he likes you very much, so I hope you can keep him company more when it is convenient for you.”

Fu Hengyi’s tone was solemn and serious, from which Shen Qinglan could hear his concern for Grandpa Fu.

“No problem,” Shen Qinglan promised without hesitation at all. She also liked that old man—he was a Peter Pan.

“Thank you very much.”

After saying that, he turned around and left. It was not that he didn’t want to send Shen Qinglan back, but there was indeed no time left: he had to rush to the airport right away. Even the time to say goodbye to Shen Qinglan was by all means limited .

He could have actually given her a call. That day, however, Shen Qinglan had turned off her cell phone before the examination and had then forgotten to turn it back on. Therefore, Fu Hengyi had not been able to get through.

After a few steps, Fu Hengyi turned back again and squeezed something into her arms, “Don’t ignore your health because you are young. Take good care of your feet. This medical oil has a good effect on promoting blood circulation and removing blood stasis. Remember to apply it.”

This time, Fu Hengyi left for real.

Shen Qinglan watched Fu Hengyi walk to an SUV waiting at the street corner, get in the car, and close the door. She stared until the SUV disappeared. 

Then she hailed a taxi.