Keep My First Kiss Safe For Me - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

In the blink of an eye, the October 1st National Day holiday arrived. While the rest of the country was out traveling, poor high school students had only three days off. Fan Yue spent the first two days sleeping fitfully; Fan Shicheng tried to huff and puff her out of bed at first, but by the third day, he gave up.

Her phone buzzed with a video call notification. Fan Yue reached out from under the covers to answer. Cici, seeing only darkness on the screen, asked in surprise, “Yue-er, are you mining coal somewhere?”

“I’m sleeping,” Fan Yue’s voice muffled through the quilt.

Cici stopped joking and asked worriedly, “Yue-er, what has been going on with you lately? Tell your sister why you’re in such a bad mood.”

“It’s nothing.”

Fan Yue still wouldn’t talk. Cici felt it was her duty to pull her best friend out of this emotional slump. She tried various ways to coax her: “Come out today, I’ll treat you to something delicious?”

“Not eating, I’m on a diet.”

“How about a movie?”

“Not watching, no interest.”

“An amusement park?”

“Not going, too many people.”

“Fan Yue!” Cici sounded like she wanted to smash her phone. “I’m giving you one last choice: accompany me to the Book City to scavenge for merch! If you don’t come out, I’m coming to your house to kidnap you!”

“Fine, I’m coming,” Fan Yue finally compromised.

Satisfied, Cici reminded her, “See you at the Book City then.”

Fan Yue lazily crawled out of her blankets. In truth, she had already moved past the shadow of her “breakup”—after all, her crush had lasted less than three minutes, and the sting had worn off after three days. Her poor mood was actually because she had seen her mother yesterday.

When she first heard about the divorce as a child, Fan Yue couldn’t accept it and had said spiteful things to Yu Ya about disowning her, but the mother-daughter bond was deep, and they had reconciled soon after.

Post-divorce, Yu Ya had thrown herself entirely into her career, rising from a common lawyer to a law firm partner—a true elite woman. She once told Fan Yue she would never marry again and didn’t believe in love. This made Fan Yue feel even more that her mother was the victim and that Xie Rong’s appearance had stolen her father away.

Yesterday, Yu Ya had taken her out to buy a beautiful new dress. Every time they met, she bought Fan Yue many things. Since Fan Yue wore school uniforms most of the time and preferred simple, comfortable clothes, she rarely had a chance to wear them. However, providing material things was her mother’s way of compensating for love; if it made her mother feel better, Fan Yue accepted it.

But last night, there was an extra person. Yu Ya took Fan Yue to a high-end Western restaurant where an older foreign gentleman was already waiting. Yu Ya introduced him as her boyfriend, Charles, a Frenchman and a wine connoisseur living in China.

He greeted her like a gentleman, praising her beauty in broken Chinese. Fan Yue was completely unprepared for this man’s sudden appearance and could only nod awkwardly.

Yu Ya hadn’t seemed to age over the years; instead, her success made her appear more composed and elegant. Yet, Fan Yue could feel a distinct change. In the past, Fan Shicheng often urged her to relax and not push herself so hard, which would lead to explosive arguments over their differing values. Now, she was with a Frenchman—known for their leisurely and romantic nature—and she seemed entirely at ease.

While Yu Ya and her French boyfriend exchanged loving glances in a fancy restaurant, Fan Shicheng and Xie Rong lived in domestic harmony in the family quarters. Both her parents had moved on and found the “right” person for their lives. Only Fan Yue remained stuck in the past. She began to wonder if her years of resentment toward Xie Yanyan and Xie Rong had been a mistake. She felt lost.

After staring blankly for several minutes, Fan Yue finally got up to wash. When Xie Rong saw her, she immediately said, “Yue-er, you’re up! I’ll heat up some breakfast for you,” and busied herself in the kitchen.

Fan Shicheng was working on a puzzle with Fan Xinghang. The little nugget saw her and quipped, “Sister Yue, how can you sleep more than a pig?”

Fan Yue had a stomach full of frustration with nowhere to vent, and right on cue, a clueless target presented himself. She pointed at Fan Xinghang: “Say one more word, I dare you. Believe me, I’ll beat you until your head looks like a pig’s!”

Fan Xinghang pushed his nose up with his finger to make a pig snout and stuck his tongue out. “Eat then sleep, sleep then eat. You’re a pig!”

“Just you wait!” Fan Yue ducked into her room and emerged clutching a round, pink stuffed pig. Fan Xinghang jumped up and bolted. Fan Yue chased him with the pig. Fan Shicheng watched his children leaping over furniture, rubbed his temples, and sighed, “This isn’t a pigsty, it’s a chicken coop!”

After giving the brat a thorough “lesson,” Fan Yue felt refreshed. Her days of gloom vanished. Seeing Fan Xinghang rubbing his butt with a teary face, Fan Yue felt her vitality return as she headed out.

…

To prepare for the upcoming Provincial Games, Rong City was ramping up urban construction. Streets and alleys were being dug up everywhere, causing the already narrow roads to be hopelessly congested. Seeing the traffic moving at a snail’s pace, Fan Yue got off the bus early.

As she passed a commercial building, she suddenly froze. The voices coming from inside were too familiar. She looked up; it was a ten-story building covered in signs for “Photography Studios” and “Advertising Agencies.” There was a small courtyard below, and that’s where the sound was coming from.

Fan Yue stepped closer and peered in. It really was Xie Yanyan! You can’t find her when you stalk her, but you run right into her when you’re just passing by—talk about luck!

She peeked in curiously. In the courtyard, Xie Yanyan was arguing with two men. They were being aggressive and loud, and Xie Yanyan was clearly agitated.

Fan Yue heard Xie Yanyan’s question: “On what basis are you withholding half my pay!”

A man with dyed yellow hair pointed at her. “We wanted someone eighteen. Are you eighteen? You lied about your age and we haven’t even made trouble for you yet! Taking half is a bargain for you!”

“We agreed on 500 a day. I’ve been here for four days. You owe me 2,000!” Xie Yanyan stood her ground.

Yellow Hair was impatient. “Who said that? Do you have proof?”

Xie Yanyan held up her phone. “It’s in the chat logs.”

The two men exchanged a glance. The man behind him, with a buzz cut and a gold chain, suddenly lunged forward to grab her phone. Xie Yanyan dodged, making him stumble. He spat on the ground in anger: “Don’t be ungrateful. Believe me, I could give you zero!”

“You’re scammers! I’m going to the police!” Xie Yanyan threatened.

At this, the two men laughed. “Go ahead! Go to them! Let’s see what evidence you have.” Gold Chain tried to snatch her phone again. Xie Yanyan was no match for his strength; with one shove, he knocked her to the ground.

“What do you think you’re doing!”

Fan Yue’s body moved faster than her brain. She charged in and blocked Xie Yanyan.

“Why are you here?” Xie Yanyan saw her and immediately tried to push her away. “This has nothing to do with you. Get out of here!”

“Who are you?” Yellow Hair and Gold Chain surrounded them.

“I’m her sister! Why did you push my sister!” Fan Yue roared at them.

Seeing she was just another young girl, their attitude became even more arrogant. “I don’t care if you’re sisters or whatever. I’m warning you, don’t mind other people’s business, or I’ll beat you up too!”

“I don’t want the money anymore!” Xie Yanyan grabbed Fan Yue to leave, but Fan Yue shook off her hand and shouted, “How can we not want the money!”

The commotion attracted the attention of passersby. Someone poked their head in but was glared away by the men.

To deal with scoundrels, you have to use scoundrel tactics. Fan Yue stared at Yellow Hair and said, “I’m giving you one last chance. Are you giving her the money or not?”

The man laughed dismissively, crossing his arms. “And if we don’t?”

Fan Yue gave a mysterious smile. “Then don’t regret it.” With that, she ruffled her hair into a mess.

The men instantly became alert. “What… what are you doing?”

When they saw Fan Yue pull her jacket open, they finally realized what was happening, but it was too late. All they heard was a sky-shattering scream from the girl: “INDECENT ASSAULT!!!”

The roar was incredibly effective. People from the street came running over. Xie Yanyan and the two men watched in stunned silence as Fan Yue’s tears started flowing a second later. She proactively grabbed Gold Chain’s arm. The man scrambled to pull away, but Fan Yue kept lunging at him. In the eyes of the crowd, it looked exactly like two men were manhandling a young girl.

A righteous older man stepped forward and pinned down the hoodlum. Someone else called the police: “Hello, 110? There are men harrassing a young girl here!”

Fan Yue played the role to the end, lifting trembling hands toward the crowd while sobbing: “Uncles, Aunties, they tried to touch me! Waaaaah…”

A kind-hearted woman, seeing the girl crying so pitifully, tenderly straightened her clothes. The crowd formed a circle, pointing and cursing at the two men: “Animals!”

“Doing this to a young girl in broad daylight!”

“Don’t be afraid, honey. I called the police; they’ll be here any minute!” another woman comforted Fan Yue gently.

“She’s lying!” “Don’t listen to her!” Yellow Hair and Gold Chain were at a loss for words. “Who… who touched her?” But obviously, no one believed them.

“We all saw it! Still talking back? You two are going to jail!”

Before long, a police car arrived. Two officers got out. The older one asked, “What happened here?”

Fan Yue, appearing traumatized, did nothing but cry. Xie Yanyan roughly explained that they had scammed her out of money and tried to hit them. The surrounding crowd chimed in one after another to advocate for the girls: “Not only did they steal her money, they had bad intentions! You must bring these scumbags to justice!”

“Officer, hurry and arrest them!”

The younger officer scanned the area, spotted a security camera on the second floor, and went to check the footage. The older officer understood the situation and told the crowd, “Everyone, please disperse. I’m taking them to the station. We will investigate this thoroughly.”

“Thank you, everyone.”

Though it was just an act, the care and sense of justice from these strangers were moving. Fan Yue thanked them repeatedly. Suddenly, she noticed a young girl in the back of the crowd who looked familiar, but as soon as the girl saw Fan Yue looking, she lowered her head and walked away. Fan Yue didn’t think much of it.

Once they all followed the police into the car, the chaos finally settled.