Alone, Beautifully – Chapter 12

Green Plum, Green Plum (4)

Her tattoo.

The paper-folded rose was very beautiful, delicate and vivid, exuding a sense of exquisite fragility.

It’s just hard to imagine that such a complex handmade piece was made by the school bully.

Shen Yelan was hesitant to accept this gift.

But she was also afraid that if she didn’t accept the gift from such a big shot, it might be seen as not giving face. After all, at their age, everyone, whether male or female, was especially concerned about their dignity.

Xu Jiao noticed her hesitation, and just as Shen Yelan was about to reach out her hand, she suddenly withdrew her hand and was about to say, “Forget it,” when the girl who had previously pushed Shen Yelan leaned over with eyes full of admiration and blind worship, carefully asking:

“Sister Jiaojiao, I like it. Can you give it to me?”

Xu Jiao then handed the flower to her.

This was Su Xi, the most loyal follower by the original owner’s side. Her grades weren’t good either, but she was exceptionally loyal. Whenever there was a fight, she would always be there when called.

Su Xi accepted the little rose and was about to ask Xu Jiao if she could teach her how to fold it when she looked up and saw Shen Yelan still standing there. Her tone turned vicious again:

“What are you still standing here for?”

Shen Yelan then turned and walked away. For some reason, she looked back before leaving and saw those girls surrounding Xu Jiao, who was sitting in the chair. Xu Jiao’s face still showed no emotion, and her voice was very faint.

……

“You… just came back like that?”

Lu Pei looked at the person handing her a can of coconut juice, sizing her up and seemingly unable to believe that the legend of Ten hadn’t manifested in Shen Yelan.

It shouldn’t be.

She thought, could it be that Shen Yelan had avoided the alley where Xu Jiao and her gang fought and took a long detour to buy her coconut juice?

Otherwise, how could she explain her current unharmed appearance?

After all, Xu Jiao’s fierce reputation was well-known.

Shen Yelan remained silent. She knew Lu Pei liked to tease her and make her look foolish. Living under someone else’s roof, she had no intention of satisfying Lu Pei’s curiosity.

Realizing that she wouldn’t say more, Lu Pei sat on the sofa, hugged a pillow, and waved her hand dismissively: “Forget it, you’re blocking my TV. Move.”

At this moment, the voice of Aunt Lu came from the kitchen: “Ah Lan, what are you doing out there? The dishes have been piling up for ages. Hurry up and help.”

Shen Yelan pressed her lips together, put the unopened coconut juice on the coffee table, and went to the kitchen.

No one in this house would wait for her to eat.

She silently washed the dishes, and in the gaps, she forced down some leftovers mixed like pig feed to fill her stomach. After washing the dishes, she went to her room to do her homework.

Oddly enough, as she opened her notebook, she kept thinking about the rose Xu Jiao had handed her.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t seen such handiwork before. Even in her class, there were girls who secretly knitted scarves for their crushes after class. Occasionally, the exquisite stitches would be revealed from their desk drawers.

It’s just…

Maybe it was because she had never received a gift before.

So even a casual “Do you like it? It’s yours” seemed special, making her vaguely feel that perhaps even in ten years, she would remember this person.

……

Perhaps because of the failed prank the day before, Lu Pei was particularly annoyed with Shen Yelan the next day.

It was Wednesday, and the PE class was in the fourth period of the morning. Shen Yelan, who hadn’t eaten breakfast, had little energy. However, the class scheduled was a swimming class. When she went to change into her swimsuit, she ran into Lu Pei and her close friends.

At that time, there were few people left in the girls’ communal changing room. Lu Pei sat on the bench, chatting with her two friends, showing no intention of leaving until the last minute before class.

Shen Yelan took her clothes and avoided them, walking to the innermost locker. Just as she took off her top, she heard footsteps approaching.

Lu Pei and her friends walked over, their eyes scanning her up and down. Lu Pei said to her friend, “See? I told you, she has a great figure.”

“Wow, you really can’t tell. Shen Yelan, you always wear such stuffy jackets, but you actually have such a nice body.” The other girl nodded, looking at her delicate figure with a bit of jealousy, and suddenly pulled out her phone from her school uniform jacket.

“Shen Yelan, let’s take a picture of you?” Another girl, who understood her intention, said with a smile.

Shen Yelan’s expression tightened. She pulled her school uniform zipper up, warily looking at them and sternly refusing: “No need.”

“We’re all classmates here, give us some face, okay?” The girl holding the phone walked over with a smile, raising her hand to help her pull down the zipper, but Shen Yelan slapped it away hard.

Lu Pei’s eyes were filled with mockery, deliberately saying: “I told you, she’s such an ungrateful person. It’s hard to even want to be friends with her.”

The girl who got her hand slapped looked at her red hand, anger rising. She glanced at Shen Yelan, then exchanged looks with Lu Pei and the other girl. A bad atmosphere spread in the secluded corner of the communal changing room.

Shen Yelan warily stepped back two steps, bumping into a locker that someone had left slightly open, making a loud “clang.”

Seeing the three of them approaching, Shen Yelan’s eyes turned cold. She stared at Lu Pei, not knowing what she had done to offend her to be treated like this.

If she fought and won, she would be punished by the teachers and beaten by her uncle and aunt at home.

But if she didn’t resist, who knew where her photos would end up?

Just as she was ready for a desperate fight, a voice came from behind the three girls.

The voice was cold and low, slow and deliberate, but with a clear warning—

“Don’t want your phones anymore?”

The three of them turned to look and saw a girl who had appeared silently at the corner, arms crossed, leaning against a locker.

Shen Yelan was taken aback when she saw the newcomer. Her first reaction was that the Hello Kitty band-aid on her forehead was gone.

Xu Jiao wore a dark red one-piece swimsuit, revealing her long legs, which were dazzlingly white. Her figure, more mature than that of her peers, made her seem to glow wherever she stood. Even other girls found it hard to decide where to rest their eyes.

Shen Yelan inexplicably felt her gaze burned by something and naturally lowered her eyes, only to notice that Xu Jiao was barefoot.

Her smooth, bare toes were not painted with nail polish. Those pink, tender nails looked adorably out of place with her imposing presence.

Shen Yelan looked away, then back, her gaze landing on Xu Jiao’s flawless, fair instep. She inadvertently noticed a black line winding around the protruding part of her ankle. From this angle, it was impossible to see clearly, leading to wild guesses:

Is it a tattoo?

Until someone’s voice pulled her attention back, Shen Yelan realized she had been distracted:

“Xu Jiao…”

The girl holding the phone, seemingly realizing something, hastily tucked it behind her back, a stiff smile appearing on her face. She explained, “We didn’t mean to target you.”

Xu Jiao’s indifferent gaze met hers, then she asked, “Do I need to remind you what happened to the last person who took out their phone in the changing room?”

Lu Pei’s expression changed, and she kept nudging her friend with her elbow, laughing dryly, “Sorry, we didn’t mean it. We were just joking. Let’s go, let’s go.”

The three girls exchanged glances, then pushed past Shen Yelan, hurriedly taking another route to leave.

Shen Yelan lowered her eyes and head, mumbling a somewhat awkward, “Thank you,” to Xu Jiao.

“I didn’t do it for you,” Xu Jiao threw out the words and walked away, her figure quickly disappearing behind the lockers.

Shen Yelan’s peripheral vision only caught her foot movement, noticing the black tattoo flash past her line of sight before she could make out the design.

……

“Today Class 20 has PE with us. Damn, did you see Xu Jiao’s figure?”

“Look again, and she’ll gouge your eyes out…”

“F*ck, don’t pretend you don’t like it.”

“Of course I like it, but so what? Before, a guy from Class 6 paid a girl from Class 20 to find out what Xu Jiao’s figure was like. Guess what happened? That girl got blocked in the bathroom by Xu Jiao and her gang. Blood seeped out from under the door, and even the dean couldn’t get them to open it. You still dare to think about it?”

“Not thinking about it, not thinking about it.”

During the PE class assembly, Shen Yelan heard the whispering of the boys in the back row, finally understanding why Lu Pei and her friends were so scared when they saw Xu Jiao with the phone earlier.

She recalled a saying: Evil people will be dealt with by more evil ones.

But strangely, subconsciously linking to her recent encounters with Xu Jiao, Shen Yelan always felt that this girl, who was rumored to be unreasonable and vicious, had an elusive side.

And…

What did the tattoo on her ankle look like?

Even though Shen Yelan disliked bad habits like smoking, drinking, and tattoos, she found herself uncharacteristically intrigued by this, with an unprecedented desire to explore.

More than her interest in solving problems.

Listening to the PE teacher’s commands of “Stand at attention” and “Look to the right,” Shen Yelan glanced towards Class 20, seeing Xu Jiao bending over the starting block, preparing to dive. From this angle, she could only see her un-tattooed ankle and her clear, smooth back.

“Beep—” The whistle of the Class 20 PE teacher sounded.

“Plop,” “Plop,” the sound of people diving into the water echoed.

Someone’s vigorous freestyle strokes caused splashes that landed on the girls in the front row of Class 1, making some of them raise their hands to wipe their faces.

Shen Yelan, from her position, remained dry.

But as she stared at the rippling blue water of the pool, she inexplicably licked her lips.

Her throat moved as well.