After the Real Young Miss Became My Canary - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: An Embrace

◎ Under Song Zhi’s puzzled gaze, Shen Ying turned and hugged her. ◎

Good thing Song Zhi had listened carefully when Shen Ying told her.

The nighttime streets were completely different from the daytime ones.

Incandescent lights rose in the darkness, casting a weak glow that, while not bright, dispelled some of the shadows.

But what surprised Song Zhi when she left the building was that there were lights in the stairwell. She was a bit stunned to see them.

It was only then that she saw the true face of this usually dim street, clearer than ever before.

The snow-white walls of the stairwell were covered with winding moss. Further up or down, there were patches of a yellow, unknown liquid.

She had never so clearly understood Shen Ying’s situation before. It was far more impactful than her verbal descriptions.

Song Zhi walked all the way, passing through several small alleys, and gradually reached the open road closer to the city center.

This place was a bit far from where they lived; about three kilometers, at least.

It was five in the morning. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and the sky was a hazy gray. With winter approaching, the air was damp and cold before the sun came up.

Shen Ying watched the clock hands hit five before taking off her apron. This was a 24-hour convenience store, and the owner was the one relieving her. As was the custom, the owner would arrive at the door just as she reached the exit.

She opened the glass door and met the owner. She gave the owner a small nod.

This place was far from the alley. The owner didn’t know about those things, so her attitude was relatively friendly toward her.

This was also one of the few times she felt like she could breathe.

The owner pushed the door and entered the store, and when she turned back, she saw Shen Ying walking in the direction of her home.

The owner pushed the glass door open again. “Xiao Shen.”

Shen Ying said, “What is it?”

The owner asked, “Is your home on Nongdong Road?”

Shen Ying’s body, hidden beneath her clothes, stiffened. She didn’t know how the owner knew or how much she knew. Countless thoughts flashed through her mind in that instant.

The clearest one was: even if she was going to be fired, she had to get this month’s pay first, or the two of them would go broke and starve to death.

The owner was a bit puzzled by the nervous Shen Ying. The two of them only saw each other during shift changes and were not at all familiar. She had only thought that Shen Ying was quite aloof and hard to approach. She hadn’t expected her to be so timid.

She looked at Shen Ying’s slender back and her clenched jaw and softened her tone.

She skipped the preamble and went straight to the point. “Be careful on your way home. It seems that a KTV you have to pass is having some kind of party. There are a lot of drunks today.”

Shen Ying relaxed. “Okay, thank you.”

The streets at night were quiet. The frogs in the suburban area croaked loudly, and a thin moonlight silently fell.

Except for one loud KTV. When Shen Ying passed it, she disliked the noise of the KTV, but at the same time, she was careful to stay as far away from the KTV’s front door as possible.

This area was close to the city, with open terrain and few houses. It was not a good place to be if something happened.

As she passed, a few people stumbled out of the front door.

Their steps were unsteady, and they looked like they had a lot to drink.

Shen Ying quickened her pace.

Keep away from drunks. Keep even further away from drunks at night.

This was Shen Ying’s thought, based on her 22 years of life experience.

The sky was still pitch black. The lights, which had been on for who knows how long, were dim, and many of the lampposts were broken.

It would be a while until dawn, so even though she was walking on a very familiar road, she didn’t dare to relax. She was very seriously watching her feet.

After walking for about four or five minutes, she suddenly felt that something was not right.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that mixed in with the sound of her steady footsteps was a chaotic set of footsteps and a faint, heavy breathing.

The moment she noticed it, her steps faltered. She stopped for a moment, and the sound immediately disappeared.

She immediately thought of the drunken people from the KTV.

No one understood this group better than she did.

Cold sweat beaded on her back, but her steps were steady, her breathing was even, and she walked forward with a determined stride.

What was needed now was calmness. She quickly thought about what kind of terrain would be good for her to get away.

He, or they, had been drinking, so they definitely couldn’t run fast. As soon as she got to the alley, she could slip inside, and those people would never be able to catch up.

She walked quickly forward.

As she walked faster, the sound behind her also sped up. This made Shen Ying’s heart sink. She had a bad feeling.

Anxiety filled her.

She was uneasy.

Her heart might have been jumping, beating very fast from the quick walking.

She slowed down a bit to prepare for a run, and the sound behind her also slowed down at the same time.

Bad news: the person was following her closely, very close, and they weren’t easy to shake off. And it seemed they weren’t drunk.

Good news: it was only one person.

She lowered her head and stepped over the uneven ground.

Was this the only good news tonight?

Thinking of the night made her think of a moment not too long ago, when she and Song Zhi were walking shoulder to shoulder.

Perhaps that was the only lucky thing that happened tonight.

“Shen Ying.”

A familiar voice came, seemingly from in front of her. It took Shen Ying two seconds to realize that it was indeed in front of her.

She suddenly looked up.

She saw Song Zhi, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and a knitted sweater, standing there.

The night wind was cool, but she seemed not to mind the cold, and her sweater was unbuttoned.

When Song Zhi saw Shen Ying look up, she couldn’t help but quicken her pace. She smiled and came to a stop beside Shen Ying.

Shen Ying looked at the girl with the shallow dimples. Her fast-beating heart gradually settled down.

At that moment, she noticed that the footsteps that had been clinging to her like a ghost had also disappeared.

Shen Ying let out a sigh of relief.

Song Zhi suddenly looked up at the person behind Shen Ying, and her expression instantly turned cold. Song Zhi was already taller than her. Standing in front of her with a cold face, she exuded an indescribable coldness.

Song Zhi’s voice was cold, colder than the night wind. “Do you know him?”

Shen Ying shook her head, then took her by the sleeve and led her forward without looking back.

But Song Zhi stopped.

Song Zhi placed her hand over Shen Ying’s hand on her sleeve and gently pried her fingers open.

Her volume was normal, no different from usual, but in the quiet of the night, every word was carried by the night wind, reaching the ears of the person behind them.

Song Zhi said, “When I first came here, I saw this person following you all the way. Since you don’t know him, he must be looking for trouble.”

Looking for trouble… her brother loved to do that. She had the most experience in dealing with it.

The man behind them, who looked to be in his thirties, laughed. He hummed a song, and his singing perfectly matched the tune coming from the KTV.

His prominent belly strained his clothes. When he laughed, his clothes and flesh shook together.

The man said, “I was going to let it go, but since you delivered yourselves to me, I won’t be polite. Besides, there’s no surveillance here.”

The three of them were not far from each other. The man smirked and moved forward.

Seeing him getting closer, in a moment of panic, Shen Ying grabbed Song Zhi’s hand. She said in a low voice, “Let’s go home.”

It wasn’t that she was being cowardly.

The man looked to be over 180 pounds. One of his hands was thicker than both of theirs combined. Shen Ying had no doubt that the two of them together would not be a match for him.

But this type of person couldn’t run fast, just like her father. She always outran him like a dog.

Song Zhi shook her head gently at Shen Ying, signaling for her not to worry.

Then she took a step forward and delivered a vicious kick to the man’s protruding belly as he reached out.

Song Zhi used a lot of force in that kick, and it landed squarely on the man’s midsection.

The man had just had a lot to drink and eat, and he immediately threw up from the kick.

Song Zhi didn’t wait for him to react. She took two quick steps, used the momentum to jump, and kicked him in the chest.

The man stumbled backward, and with a loud thud, he sat down by the wall. This seemed to be a small corner for garbage. The trash beside him scattered with his movement.

That kick was extremely heavy. He could only struggle to get up by holding onto the wall. At that moment, a cold object appeared in his palm. He looked at the person not far away and silently gripped the item tightly.

He roared and lunged at the person, faking the illusion of trying to use his size to pin her down. His face was flushed red from the intense movement. Just as he was about to reach her, he suddenly raised the hand he had been hiding behind his back.

Song Zhi was about to kick him again, but a whooshing sound appeared by her ear. It was too late to react. As she turned her body, she quickly backed away.

Hearing a muffled groan from under her hand, the man’s eyes flashed with excitement. He happily raised the iron bar high, wanting to teach this ignorant woman a lesson.

But what came before the excited sound of pain was a sharp pain on his own body. He turned his head abruptly from the intense pain coming from his head.

The woman holding a brick was looking at him coldly.

He struggled to open his eyes, trying to remember the woman’s face. He squeezed out words from between his teeth in pain. “I’ll… remember… you.”

Bang!

The man was kicked by a great force from the side.

He opened his mouth and threw up the alcohol he had just drunk. Blood slowly trickled down his forehead from the brick he had just been hit with.

Song Zhi, after delivering the kick, gave Shen Ying an innocent smile. Her eyes flashed guiltily, and she quietly asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen Ying didn’t look at her. The past humiliations and pain appeared on every inch of her skin. In front of her appeared her father’s face, which would always be flushed red. That face, contorted, lunged at her. The small her could only cover her face in fear, close her eyes tightly, and pray that the pain wouldn’t land on her face this time.

Because she didn’t know how to tell every single person she met how she got her injuries.

They would just ask questions out of curiosity. They wouldn’t offer help.

Finally, the fists and kicks aimed at her were kicked away by someone.

Her always-the-same expression changed slightly. Her clear eyes widened, and she saw a guilty face.

The fear and past events that had trapped her for so many years had all transformed into this drunk man lying on the ground, unable to get up.

She had a clear realization.

She had taught these drunks a lesson. She could beat a drunk person down. She now had the ability to fight back.

She was like a person who was drowning and suddenly grabbed onto a piece of driftwood, no longer having to struggle in the fear of sinking into a boundless sea.

The deep and vast sea now had an edge.

Clang.

Shen Ying threw the brick aside, turned, and walked away.

Song Zhi quickly followed behind Shen Ying. As for what was behind her, she didn’t care at all.

Shen Ying, with her long legs, walked very fast, as if she was deliberately trying to shake her off.

Song Zhi felt a sense of uneasiness from being about to be abandoned. She took two quick steps, grabbed the edge of Shen Ying’s clothes, widened her eyes, and asked softly, “What’s wrong?”

The person she had grabbed suddenly stopped walking.

Song Zhi couldn’t help but worry.

Was she angry?

Under her puzzled gaze, Shen Ying turned and hugged her.

Shen Ying looked like a very cold and sharp person, but she was soft when embraced. Song Zhi awkwardly raised her hands, not knowing what to do.

She was uncomfortably at a loss. She didn’t know how to interact with friends, didn’t know what to do at this moment. The usually clever her was now unable to guess Shen Ying’s feelings.

Finally, when she felt a scalding liquid fall onto the crook of her neck, she awkwardly hugged Shen Ying back.

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