The Beloved One Is Always Coveted - Chapter 6

Chapter 6

◎The Boss of Twelfth High◎

It was the young lady from the family where her mother worked. She had seen her; the girl had even taken her hand and called her Jiejie.

And only this morning, she had almost been strangled by her.

“Miss Xi.”

There was no probing in her tone, just a quiet statement of fact. At this moment, she was merely being held down.

“Mmm… a bookworm’s brain can actually recognize me. So smart.”

Tang Xi tilted her head, pressing her cheek against Yu Li’s, smiling with extraordinary kindness, yet the words she spoke were laced with ice, testing Yu Li’s psychological defenses one by one.

“Jiejie, I told you, didn’t I, not to tell anyone.”

Like a venomous bamboo viper climbing onto her ankle, winding its way up her slender leg.

A sudden icy touch pressed against her waist, pulling at the loose fabric and exploring her skin.

“I didn’t!” Yu Li’s voice was startled a few decibels louder. She tried to push the hand away from her waist but was pinned back and seized.

Tang Xi’s hand slowly moved under the hem of her shirt, gripping her waist and stroking upward.

“You wanted to run away, didn’t you? Why did you come back? Mmm, you were planning to run back and tattle on me to my mom, weren’t you? Jiejie, disobedient people must be punished.”

“I didn’t! I… I just got lost. I didn’t mean to run, really. I won’t say anything.”

Yu Li struggled harder, creating a noticeable commotion, but Tang Xi easily suppressed her.

“I’ve been thinking, I should give you some punishment, otherwise, what if you run away again next time?”

One hand loosely grasped her neck. She instantly became motionless, even holding her breath, terrified that Tang Xi would actually strangle her right there in the equipment room.

She regretted it again. She shouldn’t have run. Tang Xi must know everything; she must have known about her attempt to escape, known that she was disobedient.

“Does it have to be like this, Jiejie? Didn’t you say you’d be obedient in the car?”

Tang Xi spoke coolly, the hand holding her neck moving inch by inch upward, pinching her earlobe.

“Don’t… don’t do this, please…”

She trembled for a moment, arching her back and trying to move away, but the young lady seized her and pulled her back.

The punishment was not what she had expected. Compared to death, this method filled her with a strange fear.

The feeling was awful. The intimate places that only she had ever touched were suddenly being traced inch by inch by someone else. Shame transformed into a rope, suspending her high above.

Moreover, the person treating her this way was Tang Xi, the high and mighty young lady, the one at the apex of the pyramid.

She absolutely could not afford to offend her.

She pleaded, a sob welling up and being quickly suppressed. She remembered that Tang Xi didn’t like to see people cry it made her change completely.

“Miss Xi… please let me go… I really won’t tell anyone…”

Tang Xi completely ignored her. That cold hand, devoid of any warmth, gradually slid further up. There was nothing to it, really; what Yu Li had, Tang Xi had too. This was just to teach her a lesson.

Yu Li’s face instantly flushed crimson. She no longer cared that Tang Xi disliked seeing tears. Tears flowed freely, sliding down her temples into her hairline, yet they earned no pity.

Instead, they only made Tang Xi more excited. Life without bloodshed was boring and tedious; thankfully, she had found a new source of amusement.

“Don’t cry, Jiejie. This is just my punishment.”

The young lady smiled faintly. Compared to Yu Li’s distress, she seemed especially relaxed, effortlessly increasing the pressure.

Pain radiated, making her ears turn red. Tears filled her eyes, making her look fragile and pathetic.

Yet, anger rose within her. She tried desperately to push the person on top of her away, using every ounce of strength she had, but it was useless.

The young lady’s etiquette lessons included more than just painting and drawing; horsemanship and golf were also part of it.

And Yu Li had never passed her 800-meter run. How could she possibly push her away?

So, she could only let the young lady clamp her chin. The moment their eyes met, she didn’t dare to cry anymore.

The young lady didn’t even lower her head. Her eyes were a deep spring that reflected none of Yu Li’s shadow.

She had clearly touched her so intimately, yet it felt as if she were looking at an insignificant bug that could provide entertainment.

She was humiliating her, in this way.

Tang Xi increased the force again, pinching the remaining part in her palm. The pain felt like it was about to be torn off.

Yu Li’s tears flowed even more fiercely, wetting the mat beneath her, but she no longer struggled. Like a dead person, she allowed Tang Xi to do as she pleased.

She finally understood that in the young lady’s eyes, she had never been treated as an equal. Tang Xi was taking out her frustration over the incident where Yu Li had played the good girl in front of her mother.

All those times she’d called her Jiejie were just a mocking formality.

Yu Li should have realized this sooner.

“Tsk.” Seeing her like this, Tang Xi found it boring, yet she was unwilling to let Yu Li off. She took out her phone, turned on the flashlight, and took a picture.

It didn’t capture everything, only the fabric piled up on the collarbone. The girl’s neck was slender and pale, stained with a patch of red—it was the kind of picture that would make anyone wonder.

Jian Mingyue, looking at the photo her friend sent, saved it without changing her expression, and then replied: “You went too far this time.”

Tang Xi pouted and shook her phone, signaling Yu Li to look at it, her eyes full of warning: “Jiejie, only the two of us know about this. You can’t tell anyone else.”

Yu Li shook her head, her gaze vacant. Before leaving, Tang Xi “kindly” pulled her clothes back down and wiped away her tears, as if this would make her return to the Yu Li she was before.

Could she really go back? Yu Li didn’t know.

This equipment room probably hadn’t been used in a long time. The moment Tang Xi and her tuberose scent disappeared, the smell of rotting mildew rushed out, damp and dark, threatening to plant spores in her body, even causing blue fungus to grow on her neck.

Those red, swollen, tearful eyes could no longer cry.

She didn’t move until the dismissal bell rang, then she walked out of the equipment room woodenly.

P.E. was the last class. She walked out like a lost soul without even getting her backpack.

It was strange. The school gate she couldn’t find her way out of this morning was suddenly accessible. She stood outside the gate, her eyes even more bewildered.

Where should she go? Where could she go?

The afternoon sun wasn’t as scorching, and the heat had slightly reduced, but she felt icy cold inside.

Traffic flowed relentlessly outside the school gate, and there were many people, yet no one was willing to pause for her, and no one noticed the girl passing by who had lost her soul.

After a long time, she finally heard someone call her name.

A familiar cold face peered out of a car window it was Yang Zhuo.

Yu Li was slow to react now. It wasn’t until Yang Zhuo got out of the car that she remembered what they had said this morning.

Yang Zhuo had come to take her home to pack her things.

“Miss Yu, what’s wrong?” Yang Zhuo noticed her low spirits, her pale face, and her dazed look, and easily guessed what had happened.

“Nothing.” Yu Li didn’t want to say anything, and Yang Zhuo didn’t ask further.

Her responsibility was merely to monitor, to truthfully report Yu Li’s abnormal behavior upward.

Resolving trivial conflicts between young girls was not within her job description.

Yu Li got into the car, dazed, and sat in the passenger seat.

The car started. Yang Zhuo focused on driving, strictly adhering to traffic rules, following the predetermined route toward Yu Li’s neighborhood.

“Yang Zhuo-jiejie…”

At a traffic light, the car stopped. Yu Li blinked. Her blank mind finally came alive.

Yang Zhuo watched the countdown on the traffic light, listening for Yu Li’s next words.

“I want to stay at home for a few days. Is that possible?”

As Yu Li spoke, she almost laughed at herself.

That was originally her home, yet now she had to cautiously beg someone for this opportunity.

Please let me stay home for a few days, I beg you.

“I apologize.”

With only one second left on the countdown, Yang Zhuo coldly withdrew her gaze and stepped on the gas.

Knowing she had been rejected, Yu Li felt upset, but there was nothing else she could do. She simply clutched the seatbelt, thinking she would have to stall later. She didn’t want to go to the Tang family home at all; Tang Xi triggered a physical fear in her.

The Cayenne parked in a public parking space outside the neighborhood gate. Just as Yu Li was about to get out, Yang Zhuo stopped her and gave her a string of numbers.

“The Family Head’s private number. Miss Yu can call this. The Family Head won’t mind.”

It was practically an open invitation. Yu Li clutched the note with Tang Nianyi’s number, finally feeling the first ray of light that afternoon.

She stood outside the car. The window was half-open, revealing Yang Zhuo’s still cold face.

“I’ll wait for you here.”

She paused, then added: “If things don’t go smoothly.”

Yu Li nodded, bowing to Yang Zhuo outside the car. She was grateful to Yang Zhuo, but she also knew that action was up to the individual, and ultimately, she had to rely on herself.

The community was an old one, mostly populated by elderly people, but its advantage was cheap housing, and many young people fresh out of school also lived there.

Yu Li entered the community. There was no elevator, and her home was on the sixth floor. Turning a corner on the way up, she wasn’t prepared and ran straight into someone.

She collided with the person’s shoulder. Whoever it was, their shoulder was surprisingly hard. She clutched her head, stumbled back, and was about to fall down the stairs when a hand grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?”

The person apologized first, their attitude very friendly, and their hand was properly released.

Yu Li’s favorable impression instantly shot up. She stepped back, her head bowed, and her voice soft, “It’s okay. I wasn’t watching where I was going. I’m sorry.”

A pleasant laugh came from above her head. Yu Li subconsciously looked up and her eyes widened instantly.

The girl wore a simple black T-shirt. Her long, fiery red hair was untamed and messy, with strands covering her indifferent eyes. The silver ear cuff on her helix was particularly eye-catching.

The person who had bumped into her was none other than Qi Xue.

“I’m sorry!”

Yu Li abruptly took a large step back, burying her head again. Her apology was so loud it could be considered resounding, startling the sparrows briefly resting outside the window to fly away.

“Huh?”

Qi Xue looked confusedly at the girl who had been quite cute but had suddenly changed, shrinking her neck like a quail, practically writing “I’m afraid of you” on her forehead.

“It’s fine. I’m perfectly okay. You don’t have to apologize like that, really,” she said softly, trying to calm the startled girl.

Yu Li took another step back. She had long heard of the notorious reputation of the boss of Twelfth High. Even though Qi Xue appeared harmless and friendly, it couldn’t erase the bad impression she had of Qi Xue.

This person, during that P.E. class in her second year of high school, had kicked someone away.

She held onto the old iron banister of the staircase, struggling to control the fear that involuntarily surged within her, but she was still trembling from Qi Xue’s proximity.

It felt as though, in the next moment, Qi Xue would tear off her mask of calmness and kick her down the stairs.

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