Throughout the entire exchange, Feng Xiaona didn’t say a single word. She stood apart like an outsider. After her older sister Feng Xiaohe exchanged a few words of small talk with the Dean of Students, she took Feng Xiaona’s small hand, intending to leave.
“Sis…”
“Xiaona, I know everything. I don’t blame you.”
Truthfully, in that moment, Feng Xiaona wished her sister would just slap her. It would have made her feel much better.
But Feng Xiaohe didn’t do that. She was still so gentle, and that gentleness filled Feng Xiaona with unease. She looked at the ordinary-looking young man. It was clearly the first time they had met, yet he felt strangely familiar.
Was his name Gao Sijin?
She felt certain she had heard that name before.
His hand was wrapped around her sister’s slender waist, which filled Feng Xiaona with unbearable guilt. It was her fault that her sister had to endure this humiliation.
“Get in the car, Xiaona.”
Feng Xiaona nodded and climbed inside.
Thinking about how her sister would now have to compromise herself with Gao Sijin filled her with overwhelming self-blame. She wanted her sister to find true love, not a love held hostage by money.
But after getting in the car, the young man who had moments before behaved exactly like a dissolute playboy immediately apologized to Feng Xiaohe with the utmost sincerity:
“I’m sorry, Xiaohe. I should never have put my arm around your waist like that earlier. It was terribly rude of me.”
Feng Xiaohe crossed her long, slender legs, sheathed in black stockings, and said with a beaming smile:
“Why are you apologizing? Didn’t I specifically tell you to act as convincingly as possible? I didn’t expect you’d have such a knack for acting, Little Ai. I’ve got to give you more credit from now on. Besides, I didn’t really mind the feeling of your arm around my waist.”
On the back seat lay a paper book. Its title was An Actor’s Self-Cultivation.
Trembling slightly and still shaken, Gao Sijin said:
“The way I was running my mouth back there… I honestly thought that scar-faced guy with the thick gold chain was going to kill me. Having me put on that act today really pushed me to my absolute limit.”
“What are you afraid of? I was right beside you. There’s no way he could have actually hurt you,” the maid at the wheel said. “Besides, you really were amazing. I can’t believe you pulled off that ‘spoiled rich kid’ act so well in such a short time. I’m giving you bonus points for that.”
“I am technically a writer.”
“What do you mean, ‘technically’? You are an amazing author,” Feng Xiaohe said seriously. “I genuinely love your work. You need to have more confidence in yourself.”
“Thank you, Xiaohe. But I have to correct you there—I’m not an author. I’m just a writer.”
Sitting off to the side, Feng Xiaona quietly watched everything unfold. She suddenly found that this big brother named Gao Sijin didn’t seem so detestable after all. At the very least, not once had she caught him staring lecherously at her sister’s legs.
Furthermore, from their conversation, it was clear that Gao Sijin wasn’t some wealthy young master. Everything earlier had been an act.
As for the Rolls-Royce Phantom they were riding in now, that belonged to the maid’s family. The maid’s name was Yu Qingxue. She seemed to have taken quite a liking to Brother Sijin, which was why she came to help.
“Switching cars really was a wise move, though. This world is full of petty people who bully the weak and fear the strong,” Yu Qingxue said to Feng Xiaona. “You did very well, little sister. Sometimes if you don’t fight back, people will just keep pushing you further. You have to show them you’re not someone to mess with.”
“But fighting back requires the means to back it up,” Feng Xiaohe murmured. “If you two hadn’t helped me today, there’s no way I could have resolved this properly. Thank you.”
In the end, everything turned out for the best. Even though Feng Xiaona’s actions were somewhat extreme, she had done it all to protect her sister.
From the moral standpoint of an adult, Feng Xiaona bore some responsibility for stabbing a classmate’s eye with a pen. But Gao Sijin was in no position to lecture her, because long ago, he had faced a similar situation himself.
Back when Gao Sijin was still a middle school student, he had gone through the darkest period of his life. The uncle-in-law and aunt who had raised him as their own both fell gravely ill—one with a brain tumor, the other with leukemia. His older cousin, who had been studying abroad in J-Country for eight years, abandoned his 9,000,000-yen annual salary at a Japanese company and returned home to care for his parents. A perfectly happy family had turned from fortune to misfortune, and to Gao Sijin, the entire world had lost its color, fading into shades of black and white.
In the end, one night, his uncle-in-law couldn’t hold on. He passed away.
“Your uncle’s already dead. Bet your aunt’s about to kick the bucket too!”
That voice, dripping with pure malice, echoed in Gao Sijin’s ears. It wasn’t that the student was just running his mouth carelessly. It was born from sheer, unadulterated spite. That sound nearly robbed Gao Sijin of his reason. He, who almost never lost his temper, made the exact same decision that Feng Xiaona made today. Back then, Gao Sijin had grabbed a chair leg and swung it right at the student’s face. He swung it recklessly, without holding anything back, and didn’t stop until the student was beaten unconscious.
Sometimes, malice truly has no reason.
“Xiaona, you are still just a child. But next time, try to act with a clearer head. If anything ever comes up that you can’t tell your sister, you can call me.” Gao Sijin took out his phone and had her memorize his number. Then he asked gently, “Xiaona, would you like to be my friend?”
Feng Xiaona saw the look in his eyes—a gaze that genuinely wished for her happiness. It was an ordinary look, but entirely sincere.
“Come to me with any worries from now on. I might not be anyone great, but I’ll help you.”
Eyes never lie. Feng Xiaona smiled, a little shyly.
This big brother really was nothing like those lecherous old men.
“I’d like to be friends with Brother Sijin.”
Her small hand clasped his larger one, like someone drowning grabbing onto driftwood.
Right now, Feng Xiaona smiled with an especially radiant openness.
“Lolicon,” Yu Qingxue quipped.
“I am not a lolicon!”
Afterward, Yu Qingxue drove the Feng Sisters back to their home. The house, practically a condemned building, left even Gao Sijin deeply shocked.
Feng Xiaohe hadn’t been lying. Her living conditions really were incredibly difficult. And yet, she and Xiaona lived happily and warmly within it.
Money truly couldn’t buy everything.
“But Qingxue, is it really okay for you to just spend so much money on your own like this?”
Gao Sijin knew the situation perfectly well. Originally, Feng Xiaohe and Yu Qingxue were complete strangers to one another. Yet, for Gao Sijin’s sake, Yu Qingxue had shelled out a significant sum to settle the matter.
This made Gao Sijin deeply uneasy.
“It’s a minor issue. It’s not like I’m short on cash. Didn’t I tell you? My father works for the Tsukiyuki Zaibatsu. To my family, money is just an insignificant number.”
That was likely true.
Earlier, when Yu Qingxue heard the plan was to use a BMW i8 to put on a show of force and intimidate the parents, she had scoffed dismissively. One phone call and less than ten minutes later, they’d swapped to a Rolls-Royce Phantom worth nearly ten million.
This was merely the tip of the iceberg that was her staggering financial power.
“Actually, you can consider this a kind of investment on my part. As long as I can obtain you in the end, any amount of money is worth it.”
“But I’m just a hack writer.”
“And I happen to like that hack writer.”
