Chapter 28: Punishment Part 1

Xu Yinian hadn’t mentioned her past grievances with those seniors, yet Ji Yan and Bai Ran had sensed it anyway.

As Bai Ran had said, Ji Yan was never one to take such an insult lying down. Her cold warning was, upon closer reflection, a way of making amends for the time she had roughly grabbed Xu Yinian’s wrist and wouldn’t let go.

Bai Ran, however, was far more blunt. She made no effort to hide her favoritism or her stance, shielding Xu Yinian completely.

This was the second time Xu Yinian had seen the sharpness beneath Bai Ran’s gentle exterior, and it was even more chilling than her confrontation with Ji Yan. Both times, it had been to protect her.

Sister Ran… If only she really had an older sister like that. Someone who wouldn’t press her when she saw she was hiding her grievances, but would instead step forward to shelter her without a word.

Xu Yinian was not accustomed to asking for help or venting her frustrations to others. She was used to retreating and avoiding conflict. Even though she knew Bai Ran’s nature was one of universal kindness—the type to protect the weak out of a sense of grand compassion—those unconditional words of support still struck a chord deep in her heart, leaving her unable to settle for a long time.

The seniors, who had just begun to relax, felt their hearts leap into their throats again. They suddenly remembered that Bai Ran hadn’t even acknowledged them earlier; she had gone straight to Xu Yinian, using an affectionate nickname.

Clearly, their relationship was even closer than the one between Xu Yinian and Ji Yan.

School had barely started. How could Xu Yinian have become so close with these heavy hitters in such a short time? Had they known each other before?

Whether it was Ji Yan or Bai Ran, neither was someone they could afford to provoke. And Xu Yinian—the seemingly plain, transparent girl who looked like she didn’t belong in this room—appeared to be the one “untouchable line” in Room 503.

They had kicked a steel plate.

The realization finally dawned on them. After being hit with terrifying threats from both Ji Yan and Bai Ran, any reluctance they felt about Qin Jiashu’s forced apology from the day before vanished. Now, they were truly afraid. They scrambled over one another, desperate to apologize to Xu Yinian.

“An overdue apology is meaningless.”

For some reason, when Bai Ran spoke, she seemed to be implying something else. Ji Yan’s cold gaze flickered toward her.

“If anything from today or the past leaks out, you know the consequences,” Ji Yan added.

No one noticed Bai Ran’s hands folding in front of her, her fingers habitually turning the smooth jade bracelet on her wrist. She hadn’t mentioned any specific punishment, and her dismissal of their apology made it seem like she was letting them off the hook. But anyone familiar with this “gentle” heiress’s methods knew that every slight would be repaid tenfold behind the scenes.

Not long after the group scurried away, Shen Ruoshuang returned.

She had been gone for a while. In one hand, she carried the old-fashioned thermos; in the other, she held a plastic bag.

As soon as she entered, she saw Xu Yinian slumped over her desk, her head resting on her folded arms. Her eyes were half-closed, and beads of sweat dotted her forehead and the tip of her nose.

Shen Ruoshuang remembered the last time she had bought brown sugar ginger tea for her. Xu Yinian had been the same then—sleeping quietly and alone in a corner of an empty classroom. Even in pain, her sleeping face was incredibly docile.

Shen Ruoshuang set the items down but didn’t leave. For some reason, she wanted to see the girl’s reaction when she discovered them.

Back then, Xu Yinian hadn’t actually drunk the tea. It wasn’t until Shen Ruoshuang started paying close attention to everything about her that she realized Xu Yinian didn’t like ginger.

Xu Yinian wasn’t actually asleep. She just wanted to lie still for a moment until her things were ready so she could go up to bed. Suddenly, she felt something warm being placed gently on her desk.

That oddly familiar sensation made her snap her eyes open. She caught a glimpse of Shen Ruoshuang’s slender, pale fingers as they retracted.

The scene triggered a blurred, half-real memory.

In the dead of winter in Yuanwu, on the day she received that cup of brown sugar ginger tea, she seemed to have caught a fleeting glimpse of a fingertip just like that. But she had been submerged in a groggy sleep, and by the time she fully woke up, the tea was just… there.

But… didn’t the Class Monitor send that?

Why did the sudden memory feature the distinct, delicate hand of a girl?

Xu Yinian wondered if the current scene was so similar that her mind was playing tricks on her, transplanting the image of the fingers from the present into the past.

Sensing Xu Yinian’s gaze, Shen Ruoshuang’s fingertips twitched slightly, but her voice remained steady. “I bought you a cup from the milk tea shop downstairs. It’s piping hot, so be careful when you drink it.”

“There’s no need…” Xu Yinian shook off her daze, her first instinct being to refuse.

Shen Ruoshuang was already used to this. She didn’t say another word, simply picking up the hot water bottle Xu Yinian had prepared on the desk.

It was an old-fashioned model, the kind that required manual filling with hot water. The plush cover was pilling and fading. Whenever her cramps got bad, Xu Yinian would press it against her abdomen over her clothes, refilling it in the middle of the night when the pain woke her. Although it was old, it was clean and neat, carrying a faint scent of soap.

Shen Ruoshuang stared at the hot water bottle. The texture was soft beneath her fingers, but a dark, unreadable emotion flickered in her eyes. She knew they both came from single-parent homes, but their lives weren’t equally comfortable.

Xu Yinian was like the tip of an iceberg submerged in the sea. The more Shen Ruoshuang learned about her, the more she was drawn in, and the more her heart ached for her. Without realizing it, she had already begun to sink.

Seeing Shen Ruoshuang take the hot water bottle, Xu Yinian finally gave up her resistance. She knew the other girl was determined to see this through.

She looked at the drink. Regardless, I need to see how much it cost so I can pay her back.

Since she hadn’t found a long-term part-time job yet, she had been taking on article translations online. The pay was low, but it was settled daily, which helped a little with expenses.

She needed to find a job quickly. Beijing’s cost of living was notoriously high; even campus expenses were far greater than in a small town like Yuanwu. She had to pay back the borrowed money and figure out her future living expenses. She knew how stubborn her mother was; in all the time since school started, she hadn’t received a single phone call.

She opened the bag. The familiar scent of brown sugar wafted out, accompanied by a wave of heat. It seemed even hotter than a standard drink from a milk tea shop, perfectly recreating the aroma and temperature from her memory.

From the way it was placed on her desk while she huddled there in pain, to the drink itself… it was all too similar.

Unpleasant memories surrounding that tea inevitably surfaced, and Xu Yinian took a deep breath. After a moment of calm, she finally looked at the label on the cup. Her eyes froze.

[Brown Sugar Longan Tea; Full Sugar / Hot / No Ginger Juice; 19 Yuan]

Why would Shen Ruoshuang specifically choose the version without ginger juice?

She looked up immediately, only to find Shen Ruoshuang in the bathroom, filling the hot water bottle.