Green Plum, Green Plum (11)
Carved into the bone
Xu Jiao saw the blush on her face up close, a faint trace on her cheeks, as if the clouds from the horizon had descended and hung there on her cheeks.
Her eyes were also covered with a layer of mist.
She looked like she had been bullied badly.
Only then did she realize their current position, she let go of her hand, took a step back, giving Shen Yelan enough space to recover. Her tone was light, but it sounded extremely polite.
“Sorry,” she said.
Shen Yelan didn’t dare to look at her, her gaze panicked, staring at the ground near her toes, stammering, “No, no problem…”
She could barely hear Xu Jiao’s voice, her ears were filled with the sound of her own erratic heartbeat and rushing blood, her rational world collapsing in an instant, like the ancient world when the sky pillar was broken, floods raging, and all she could see was the surging river.
All the barriers of rationality, calmness, and thought were submerged by this flood.
Just as she was trying to regain her composure, Xu Jiao glanced sideways, seeing the bustling street with no one paying attention to them, a trace of contemplation in her calm eyes.
From Shen Yelan’s previous behavior, she indeed didn’t seem to truly dislike her, but…
The system clearly said the favorability was -50.
What’s going on?
She asked in her mind, “Is it because you’ve downloaded too many junk text packages lately, and there’s a virus in the program?” Actually, that favorability isn’t negative, it’s positive, right?
The system flatly denied, “Impossible, I am technology beyond the current plane, with the most advanced antivirus software built-in, nothing here can affect me.”
Xu Jiao raised an eyebrow with a half-smile, “Oh? Then tell me, what’s up with Shen Yelan?”
She calmly concluded, “I’m sure she didn’t lie.”
Between Shen Yelan and the system, one must be off.
The system stalled for a few seconds, also involuntarily expressing confusion, “It should be a problem with the detection principle, let me think.”
Xu Jiao gave it plenty of time, temporarily putting this matter aside, then looked at Shen Yelan. The blush on her face had faded a lot, although she still didn’t dare to look at Xu Jiao directly, it was much better than before.
She didn’t give much thought to what “like” meant, just thinking that Shen Yelan was pressured by her, and in a hurry, didn’t pay attention to her wording. After all, throwing out such a question could easily give the impression of either dislike or like.
Knowing that Shen Yelan had no malice towards her, Xu Jiao put one hand in her school uniform pants pocket, smiled slightly, and said to Shen Yelan:
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“This is the second time you’ve helped me.”
“This time, haven’t you thought about what kind of reward you want?”
Xu Jiao was ready for Shen Yelan to once again display the qualities of Lei Feng.
For example, saying things like “No need,” “I didn’t think much about it at the time,” given Shen Yelan’s character, it shouldn’t be—
“I…” Shen Yelan mustered up her courage, softly made a sound, her gaze flickering as she met Xu Jiao’s eyes, unsure if it was her gaze moving or the light playfully jumping in her eyes.
At the moment she saw her expression clearly, Xu Jiao’s thoughts abruptly stopped.
Like this, she really does have a request for herself.
Immediately, an interest appeared in her eyes, suddenly curious about what Shen Yelan was going to say. She raised her chin slightly, encouraging, “Hmm? Tell me, if I can help, I definitely will.”
She knew Shen Yelan wasn’t seeking favor in return, and since she could bring it up, it meant it had troubled her for a long time.
What could it be?
Shen Yelan looked at her particularly friendly expression, words were at her throat but she still pressed them down, turning to say, “…Nothing, nothing, as long as you’re okay.”
She really didn’t seem to plan on mentioning those unpleasant things.
But Xu Jiao’s curiosity had been completely piqued, even if she didn’t continue, she had no intention of letting this topic go, “Then let me guess, if I guess right, I’ll help you solve it, how about that?”
Shen Yelan stared at her blankly, somewhat unable to react.
It was strange, Xu Jiao’s gaze wasn’t very aggressive, nor was it the fierce look a school bully should have. Most of the time, people couldn’t discern anything from those eyes, as if this person was always in a state of tranquility.
Like a windless, waveless lake, clear enough to only let people see their own reflection.
But just such a pair of eyes—
Made Shen Yelan feel seen through.
Even her soul had nowhere to hide.
Xu Jiao’s voice rang out unhurriedly, “The girl who came to trouble you last time, she goes home with you, right? If she bullies you like this at school, it shouldn’t be any better at home. Living in such a family must feel terrible, right?”
“Of course, this is just my guess. If I’m wrong, I apologize first.”
Perhaps it was the overly gentle tone, even though it was touching someone’s scar, Shen Yelan didn’t feel any resentment listening to it.
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Probably because this person left too strong an impression, so as long as she was polite, the other party would feel flattered, not caring about anything extra.
Shen Yelan bit her lip, shook her head, and said softly, “You… you’re right.”
But with such a problem, could she really expect Xu Jiao to help?
Xu Jiao stared at her for a while, then suddenly pulled the corners of her lips into a faint smile, tilted her head, and asked, “Do you want to hear the solution I’ve prepared for you?”
Shen Yelan didn’t expect happiness to come so suddenly, she forgot to speak, just widened her eyes looking at Xu Jiao.
Xu Jiao took it as her wanting to listen:
“What you’re worried about should be tuition and accommodation, this is very simple, I will lend you money. When you graduate from college, or when you can take a part-time job, pay me back. What do you think?”
Shen Yelan instinctively felt that this would be very troublesome.
But…
She couldn’t resist the temptation to get closer to Xu Jiao.
In the end, she asked a question that even she felt was weak: “Wouldn’t it… wouldn’t it be a lot of trouble for you? And my relatives always use me as a free babysitter. If I just leave like this, they’ll make a fuss…”
Xu Jiao straightforwardly interrupted her hesitation: “My proposal, you just need to answer whether you accept or not. If you accept, I’ll handle the rest. If you don’t, I’ll pretend I never said anything.”
It’s rare that she wanted to actively change the storyline—
Shen Yelan, don’t disappoint me.
Sensing the seriousness in Xu Jiao’s words, Shen Yelan wavered for a moment, and finally, like Eve in the Garden of Eden who couldn’t resist the serpent’s temptation and willingly tasted the forbidden fruit, she heard herself softly say:
“Accept.”
She would never forget this afternoon.
She had once thought that she would have to go through countless hardships and pay a huge price to climb out of this pit, but the gods and buddhas who had always ignored her fate seemed to finally open their eyes at this moment—
Bestowing her a bit of mercy.
No.
Not the gods and buddhas, but Xu Jiao.
It was Xu Jiao who saved her and changed her fate.
Shen Yelan repeated this person’s name over and over in her mind, as if she wanted to carve it into her bones.
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At the same time—
Xu Jiao heard the system’s slightly surprised voice: “Detected a change in the protagonist’s favorability towards you! Current favorability: -80!”
Apparently, the system was also puzzled by this value now.
Xu Jiao wasn’t too surprised, her usually indifferent tone showing a bit of change, she replied: “Oh? Looks like this strong dose is working well, should I keep it up?”
She planned to call her family later. Although the original owner’s parents were like background props, tools used well could be very useful. After thinking about it for a moment, she headed towards home, not forgetting to turn her head and say to Shen Yelan:
“By the way, if you can’t find a place to stay temporarily, my family has an extra room you can rent. I’ll give you a 20% discount on the rent. Think about it.”
“Also, if you have trouble communicating with your relatives, you can go back and talk to the homeroom teacher of Class 1 about your situation. They surely wouldn’t want to see a student as excellent as you being hindered by a bad family.”
Shen Yelan watched her back, listened to her relaxed tone, and how she had casually come up with solutions for her. She dazedly followed, took a couple of steps, and when Xu Jiao looked at her in confusion, she softly said:
“Can I… can I start renting today?”