She Adopted Me After My Biological Mother Passed Away - Chapter 16

“Why are you back so early today?”

Deep in the alleyway, the air was thick with a damp, moldy stench. Shi Shuxue wrinkled her nose in disgust, her brows knitting slightly as she asked in confusion, “What exactly did I do to her?”

“You don’t know? Ci Cheng is squatting in the hallway crying. Are you feeling particularly proud of yourself?” Qiao Zina took a step forward. Her meticulously styled curls brushed against Shi Shuxue’s neck as she pressed a lit cigarette into the left shoulder of Shi Shuxue’s school uniform, burning a hole through the fabric.

Shi Shuxue swiped her hand away and asked coldly, “I really didn’t know. So what? From what position are you standing to play the hero for her?”

“Stop acting so pure and noble!” Qiao Zina shoved her hard. Shi Shuxue’s back slammed against the cold concrete wall. “She gave you such an expensive watch, and you gave it back in front of the whole class just to humiliate her?”

A girl nearby in a black jacket sneered, “No wonder they say on the internet you weren’t raised by a father. You really don’t have any manners.”

The atmosphere turned icy. Shi Shuxue slowly lifted her head, her gaze locking onto the girl in the jacket. She adjusted her collar, rolled up her sleeves, and spoke without a hint of emotion: “You were raised by a father, and you still turned out like this?”

Before the words had fully landed, her fist flew out. The girl lost her balance and tripped over a trash can, the metallic clang echoing through the alley.

“You dare hit me?!” the girl shrieked, clutching her face as she lunged forward.

Shi Shuxue sidestepped the attack, simultaneously driving her knee into the girl’s abdomen. She wasn’t particularly strong, but she had a strange, innate talent for fighting.

Seeing this, the other two girls joined the fray. A tall girl with yellow hair swung a hand to slap Shi Shuxue’s face. Anticipating the move, Shi Shuxue ducked and stuck out a foot, tripping the girl and sending her stumbling into the wall.

A heavy punch from the girl in the black coat grazed Shi Shuxue’s cheekbone, leaving a stinging pain. Seeing an opening, the girl in the jacket grabbed Shi Shuxue’s hair from behind, pinning her neck down with one hand. Her long nails scraped across Shi Shuxue’s cheek, leaving a deep red mark. Shi Shuxue let out a muffled grunt and drove her elbow backward with full force.

“Still fighting back?” The jacketed girl gritted her teeth, pulling Shi Shuxue’s hair ruthlessly. Shi Shuxue tried to swing her backpack to clear some space, but a third girl caught her arm and slammed her against the wall. Her back hit the bricks again, a dull ache radiating down her spine. She didn’t let up, slamming her knee upward into the stomach of the girl holding her arm.

Qiao Zina watched coldly from the sidelines until Shi Shuxue was pinned firmly against the wall. Only then did she pull a torn gift box from her bag, the very watch Ci Cheng had tried to give Shi Shuxue yesterday.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t want it? Then I’ll help you take it.”

Pinned by three people, Shi Shuxue’s jaw was forced open. The sharp-edged gift box was shoved brutally into her mouth, scraping the corners of her lips until they bled.

“Spit it out if you’re so tough. Why are you swallowing? Do you love acting noble that much?” Qiao Zina pinched her cheeks hard, forcing the box deeper with a sweet, poisonous smile.

The taste of blood mixed with the rough texture of cardboard filled her mouth. Shi Shuxue struggled desperately. Saliva dripped down her chin and physiological tears blurred her vision, but she could still see the triumphant look on Qiao Zina’s face.

Just then, hurried footsteps echoed from the mouth of the alley.

“What are you doing?!” Ci Cheng appeared, out of breath, having clearly run all the way there.

Qiao Zina’s eyes lit up. She hurried over to Ci Cheng and grabbed her arm affectionately. “Look, I told you I had a surprise for you. Weren’t you disgusted by her fake ‘noble’ act? I couldn’t believe you even wanted to give her a gift.”

Ci Cheng’s face turned from shock to a ghostly pale. She saw Shi Shuxue pinned against the wall, her pale face marked with scratches, her mouth bleeding, but her eyes as cold as shards of ice.

“See clearly now?” Qiao Zina said, as if seeking praise. “She’s not the kind of person worth your sincerity.”

Ci Cheng violently shook off Qiao Zina’s hand, her voice trembling. “Qiao Zina, who told you to do this? Everyone, let her go!”

She strode forward, pushing aside the girls holding Shi Shuxue. Panicked, she reached out to wipe the blood from the corner of Shi Shuxue’s mouth. Shi Shuxue pushed her hand away without looking at her. She stared straight at Qiao Zina, leaning against the wall as she slowly stood upright. After a few coughs, she spat out the bloody residue.

The smile on Qiao Zina’s face froze. Apparently not expecting this reaction from Ci Cheng, she stuttered, “I… I did it for you. You said before…”

“For me?” Ci Cheng interrupted. “When did I ever tell you to corner and bully her? Doing it yourself wasn’t enough, you had to bring people from outside school?! Do you want to be expelled?!”

The other three girls, sensing the shift in momentum, began to retreat. The yellow-haired girl muttered defiantly, “We were just helping you scare her. She didn’t know what was good for her, and she’s the one who hit us first…”

“Get out.” Ci Cheng’s head throbbed with anger. She repeated, “Qiao Zina, make them leave, or I’m calling a teacher.”

Qiao Zina stood there, her face flushing between green and white. She looked at Ci Cheng, then waved the other three away. The girls exchanged looks, said nothing more, and headed out of the alley.

Ci Cheng knelt down to pick up Shi Shuxue’s backpack. “I’m sorry. Qiao Zina said she had a surprise to show me. I didn’t think…”

Shi Shuxue took the bag and wiped her mouth with her sleeve. Ci Cheng immediately pulled a pack of tissues from her pocket and offered them. Shi Shuxue took one, wiped herself cursorily, and tossed it into the trash can in the corner.

Realizing she had messed up, Qiao Zina hesitated. “Ci Cheng, I…”

“Go buy some Band-Aids!” Ci Cheng snapped.

She turned around, thinking Shi Shuxue was about to leave, and called out, “Shi Shuxue, wait, I’ll get you some medicine.”

Shi Shuxue ignored her. She stepped right over the mangled gift box and walked slowly toward Qiao Zina. Though she was half a head shorter, her gaze made the other girl instinctively back away.

“Did you think it would end this easily?” Shi Shuxue asked softly.

Qiao Zina froze. “What do you want?”

Shi Shuxue didn’t answer. She only let out a faint, imperceptible smile. The curve of her lips was icy and didn’t reach her eyes. Her dark, narrow eyes were like an unfathomable sea, sending a wave of inexplicable dread through Qiao Zina.

She pushed past the girl, slung her bag over one shoulder, and walked away calmly.

On the street, Sister Li was looking around anxiously. When she saw the injuries on the girl’s face, she gasped. Shi Shuxue waved her off, signaling she was fine.

“Heavens, what happened?” Sister Li asked hurriedly. On closer inspection, the injuries weren’t just on her face, there were scratches on her neck and bruises on her wrists.

Shi Shuxue knew she couldn’t brush this off as a simple trip. She shook her head and whispered, “The school nurse’s cat escaped. I helped her catch it and fell out of a tree. Sister Li, can you keep this a secret? Don’t tell Chi Yeyu. It’s too embarrassing; she’ll definitely make fun of me.”

Sister Li didn’t quite buy it. As she looked for medicine, she asked, “Miss Shi, how did you get scratches on your face and neck from falling out of a tree?”

“The cat scratched me. It wasn’t very cooperative,” Shi Shuxue said distractedly. “But it’s fine, I checked, it’s vaccinated.”

Skeptical and unable to judge the severity of the wounds in the dim light, Sister Li suggested, “How about I drive you to the hospital?”

“No need, it’s just minor,” Shi Shuxue insisted.

Sister Li opened the car door. “We still need to treat it. There’s no medicine in the car. I’ll go buy some ointment and Band-Aids. Miss Shi, please wait here.”

Shi Shuxue looked down at the marks on her hands. She felt these injuries weren’t worth the fuss. She had been in worse fights with boys in middle school. Born naturally small and developing later than her peers, the boys never held back, and she often ended up black and blue while protecting bullied classmates.

The bruises on her wrists would take a while to fade, and the cut on her lip might hurt while eating, but everything else was fine. A night’s sleep would probably be enough for the scratches to scab over.

The priority now was the recording on her phone. She pulled it out and backed up the audio file she had started recording just before the fight began to the cloud.

Chi Yeyu was already stressed enough lately, there was no need to add this trouble to her plate.

Back home, she went into her bedroom and stripped off her clothes. Looking at the hole burned into her school jacket, she sighed and folded it into the closet, planning to sew it later.

In the bathroom, she looked in the mirror. Band-Aids covered parts of her face, scratches lined her neck, and her wrists and forearms were bruised purple.

When the warm shower water hit her, she winced as it stung her back. Turning around, she saw a large bruise there too likely from being slammed against the wall.

This was going to be hard to explain. She couldn’t use the same lie with Chi Yeyu. That woman’s mind worked too fast, she wouldn’t be fooled for a second.

What should I do? Tell her I want to visit my grandmother and won’t be back this weekend?

As she washed, she decided this was a viable plan. Chi Yeyu had been busy with work lately and usually didn’t get home until late on Friday nights. She could just take a taxi to her grandmother’s.

Turning off the shower, she dried herself quickly and pulled her clothes back on. Clutching her pajamas, she walked out while typing a message to Chi Yeyu. But the moment she pulled the bathroom door open, she locked eyes with a pair of calm, scrutinizing, and beautiful eyes.

“I heard you were injured?”

Chi Yeyu was sitting backward on Shi Shuxue’s chair, her arms draped over the backrest and her chin resting on her hand. Her gaze was locked onto Shi Shuxue as she exited the bathroom, her 20/20 vision scanning the girl from head to toe.

“Why are you back so early today?” Shi Shuxue asked in shock.

Chi Yeyu was still in her work clothes, a dark gray oversized blazer over a shirt with the top buttons undone, revealing a sharp collarbone. She looked cold yet effortlessly sophisticated.

It seemed she had come straight to Shi Shuxue’s bedroom the moment she arrived home.