This outfit, paired with her exquisite features, truly stirred Yang Haoran’s heart. But as he recalled the scenes from noon, his enthusiasm cooled. He furrowed his brows slightly. “You asked to meet me?”
“Yes!” Xiao Shaowan nodded lightly, her clear eyes fixed intently on the young man before her, as if afraid he might vanish from her sight. Her voice carried a hint of chill, laced with indescribable complexity. “You hid yourself so well. I never imagined it would be you.”
“Xie!”
At those words, Yang Haoran fell silent. After a moment, he slowly walked over to stand beside her. Together, they gazed down at the scenery below. Shadows of people moved about indistinctly, their faces unclear, their genders indistinguishable. A gentle breeze brushed across the young man’s cheek like a lover’s caress, soft as water.
After a long pause, Yang Haoran seemed to let go of his reservations. He spoke slowly. “Whether it is or isn’t, what difference does it make now? The bird in the cage has spread its wings and is ready to fly.”
Xiao Shaowan ignored his words.
“Still, I’m a bit curious,” Yang Haoran said, turning his head slightly to gaze at the girl’s cool, beautiful profile. “How did you figure it out?”
“You told me yourself.” Xiao Shaowan’s cool voice was calm and unhurried. “From the scraps of conversation in our past chats with Xie, I long ago concluded you were a student at Jade Forest High School. But the pool was too vast; I still couldn’t find you.”
“I’ve saved every chat log. I analyzed them over and over, narrowing the range bit by bit until it shrank down to our class. Even then, I suspected plenty of boys in the class, but never you.”
Xiao Shaowan turned her head slightly, her deep, star-like eyes fixing on Yang Haoran. Her gaze held an inscrutable mix of emotions, as if she were reassessing the boy before her.
The boy in their class who had fawned over her so many times stood in stark contrast to the Xie from online—like two different people.
Xie was domineering, cold, mysterious, with perverse tastes. Yang Haoran was a poor student, a slacker, playful and thick-skinned, but overall more like an innocent boy.
Anyone looking at Yang Haoran’s attitude toward her before would think the boy before her was clearly smitten, dreaming of winning her over.
That very misdirection had led her astray early on, ruling him out. For Xie, she was a pet he kept caged; he could claim her effortlessly. He would never act like this boy.
“And then?” Yang Haoran asked. He felt he’d hidden himself well and looked at her curiously.
“Xie was always so commanding in our chats—domineering, with a suffocating possessiveness.” Xiao Shaowan spoke flatly, as if it had nothing to do with her. “He wouldn’t tolerate his caged pet getting intimate with someone else. So I sought out Han Hongfei and asked him to stroll with me on the sports field, making sure all our classmates saw.”
“I figured once the news reached Xie’s ears, no matter how well he hid, he’d be unable to sit still.”
“A few boys who were pursuing me even came to question me during that time. I tested them, but they didn’t understand what I meant.”
“I thought I’d have to wait another three or five days for Xie to show up—or for his punishment to come. But your possessiveness exceeded my expectations.” Xiao Shaowan gave the boy before her a deep look.
“At noon, from the moment you appeared, I watched your every word and action, including probing you with my words. I was certain you understood, but even then, I didn’t dare believe it was you. That’s why I left that note. And just now, you confirmed it for me.” As she spoke, Xiao Shaowan suddenly let out a puff of laughter, as if she hadn’t expected Xie to be so “foolish.”
Hearing this, Yang Haoran was momentarily stunned. So that was it.
She had tricked him into revealing himself!
“Why go to all this trouble to find me? I don’t owe you anything, do I?” Now that his identity was exposed—unexpected as it was—Yang Haoran remained calm. In this unequal relationship, he held absolute dominance.
“You’re right; you don’t owe me anything. If anything, I owe you.” Xiao Shaowan’s expression was complicated.
“I’m grateful to you. At the same time, it doesn’t stop me from hating you.” Her words hung in the air like mist. Her cool voice took on a gritted-teeth edge, and as some memory resurfaced, her gaze toward the boy filled with hatred.
As her tormentor, Yang Haoran understood her meaning perfectly. He felt no shame, responding calmly. “From the start, I told you: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You get something, you pay for it.”
“Don’t forget, who saved your mother? Who provides your comfortable life now?”
His actions might be sordid, but he felt no guilt toward her.
“Yes, I’m grateful to you. I said it online, but now, face-to-face, let me say a belated thank you.” Even as she spoke the words, not a trace of gratitude showed on Xiao Shaowan’s beautiful face.
She could never forget what this boy had done to her—what had changed her life and herself.
After that, the two fell into a momentary silence, each understanding the other’s stance. After a long while, Xiao Shaowan slowly began to recount her story.
“I was born in a remote village. The day my mother gave birth to me, my father was working far away. He rushed back upon hearing the news and was killed by a passing car. The village gossips called me a jinx, saying I’d brought doom on my father.”
Gazing at the fading sunset in the distance, Xiao Shaowan murmured, “My grandparents shunned me from childhood, convinced I’d killed their son. And because I was a girl, I couldn’t carry on their family line.”
“Luckily, I had my mother. She ignored the village talk and, against my grandparents’ opposition, sent me to school when I was seven. As a widow raising me alone, she struggled enough without having to fund my education. My so-called grandparents not only refused to help but beat and cursed both her and me.”
“I don’t know how she endured those days. In my memories, she left early for work and often didn’t return until evening. Sometimes, I’d wake in the dead of night to the sounds of her coming home.”
“My mother was a simple farmwoman, but she had strong convictions. From a young age, she told me that only studying could free me from that home, from that life. She urged me to work hard, and I didn’t disappoint her—I got into this school.”
“Thanks to that, my mother and I left that place behind, with no intention of ever going back. She took temporary jobs in the city to cover our daily needs. During breaks, I’d help her out. Life was simple like that, and I thought it was fine.”
“Until that day came. She was bringing me her meager wages from her boss to cover my living expenses.”
Recalling that memory, Xiao Shaowan looked into the distance. The sunset’s glow painted the horizon in vibrant splendor, while her crystalline eyes shimmered, gradually welling with tears. “On her way, she was hit by a car that ran a red light. The hospital bills were astronomical, and the driver fled. How could a high school girl like me possibly have that kind of money?”
“I was utterly despairing then. I even thought of the village talk—that I was a jinx who’d killed my father and now my mother. I considered ending it all, but I couldn’t abandon the mother who’d given everything for me. She was a woman with a tragic fate, lying in that bed waiting for me to save her. How could I be so cowardly as to take the easy way out?”
