Chapter 18

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

“What are you guys doing?”

Accompanied by this cold voice, a tall and exquisite girl slowly walked over from the corner.

She was wearing the school uniform of No.1 Middle School. The school uniform jacket was made of a well-made woolen coat. She had the noble aura of someone who had lived a pampered life since she was young. She was like the cold moon in the sky. Wherever her gaze swept past, a cold aura would grow.

Gao Jun, who was extremely angry, scolded unhappily, “None of your business…”

“Gao Jun!” The boy stopped him in horror. “She’s Xia Ling!”

Gao Jun instantly fell silent and looked at the girl named Xia Ling in fear.

Xia Ling glanced at them indifferently and only stopped at the ridiculous-looking Gao Jun for two seconds.

Without smiling, she walked to Ming Dai’s side indifferently.

However, her voice softened. “Are they bullying you?”

Ming Dai thought for a moment. “Sort of?”

Gao Jun hurriedly defended himself. “Don’t listen to her! It’s clearly me who’s in a worse state!”

Ming Dai glanced at him. “Didn’t you splash milk tea on me first?”

Gao Jun said angrily, “Didn’t you embarrass me in the classroom first?”

“Enough.” Xia Ling swept her gaze over coldly. “Get lost quickly. Don’t let me see you again.”

Gao Jun still wanted to say something, but the other boys couldn’t care less about the sour smell on him. They pulled him and quickly ran away.

When Ming Dai saw this, she was extremely curious. “They seem to be very afraid of you?”

Xia Ling did not mind. “Afraid of my family, I guess.”

As she spoke, she handed over a fragrant blue handkerchief. The exquisite embroidery in the lower right corner was obviously expensive.

However, the owner of the handkerchief did not care. Ming Dai did not hesitate and took it generously. She wiped the milk tea that had accidentally splashed on her face.

Xia Ling had her hands in her coat pockets. Her dark eyes did not reveal much emotion.

“These boys bully the weak and fear the strong. You counterattacked very well just now…”

Her voice stopped abruptly.

Ming Dai took off her glasses that were stained with a few drops of milk tea. As she wiped them, she raised her thick eyelashes.

The light butterfly gently flapped its wings, and its amber eyes shone with the afterglow of the setting sun, filling the lake with broken gold.

It was as if a goddess had inadvertently raised her eyes, not knowing how shocking her beauty was.

“Thank you.”

Ming Dai thanked her sincerely.

Xia Ling was the first person to reach out to her.

“No… You’re welcome.”

Xia Ling replied in a low voice as two lumps of redness appeared on her cheeks.

To Xia Ling, who was unapproachable, her blush was comparable to the sun rising from the west.

Xia Ling was embarrassed and vexed. How could she be so shy just because she had taken a glance at the girl?

… But she was really beautiful.

“You.” Xia Ling gritted her teeth and could not help but say, “You’re so pretty. Why are you wearing glasses to cover yourself?”

“Because Mom and Dad don’t like it?”

Ming Dai smiled as she spoke, the corners of her slightly upturned eyes looking like a mischievous cat.

Xia Ling did not quite understand.

However, out of respect for Ming Dai, she did not pursue the matter.

Ming Dai put on her glasses again and folded the handkerchief carefully before putting it away.

“I’ll return the handkerchief after I wash it.”

She bent down to pick up the trash can and was about to wave Xia Ling away.

“Wait.” Xia Ling stopped her. “I forgot to ask for your name!”

“Year 3 Class 20, Ming Dai.”

Ming Dai waved at her and turned to leave.

Xia Ling revealed a rare look of anxiety and shouted at her back,

“My name is Xia Ling, Year 3 Class 1!”

“I know!”

Ming Dai turned around with a smile and waved her hand slightly.

She jogged again and disappeared from Xia Ling’s sight.

Xia Ling was in a daze for a long time.

Suddenly, she raised her hand and touched her face. She remembered that those people had loved to praise her for being beautiful since she was young and she agreed.

It was only after meeting Ming Dai that she understood what it meant to be inferior.

“Hey! Xia Ling!”

The hoarse voice of a young man who was in the midst of voice breaking drifted over from the side.

Xia Ling’s expression quickly retracted and she returned to her previous indifferent and unreasonable attitude.

She looked sideways at the person. “I remember I’m two years older than you.”

The young man had one hand in his pocket and his posture was casual. His peach blossom eyes were slightly raised.

“So? You want me to call you sister?”

Xia Ling glanced at his face.

“Your voice is really ugly now, Ning Xu.”

Without waiting for the youth to fly into a rage out of humiliation, Xia Ling followed Ming Dai without looking back.

“Damn it! Xia Ling, stop right there!”

The young man leaped out like an agile cheetah.

The bright sunlight shone on his beautiful and dazzling side profile— he was in high spirits.

* * *

Ming Dai returned to the classroom to finish her final preparations and packed her bag.

The sky outside had turned gloomy at some point. Dark clouds covered the sky, and lightning was ready to strike.

It was going to rain heavily.

Ming Dai looked through the window and quickened her pace, trying to get home before the storm.

However, the sky changed too quickly. Before she could walk out of the school building, heavy rain had already poured down.

Rain threads weaved a huge curtain between heaven and earth, and the scenery became blurry.

Ming Dai was trapped.

She didn’t have an umbrella, and it takes her at least ten minutes to walk from the school building to the bus stop.

This level of rain was enough for her to be drenched.

As for calling Yu Ting to pick her up, she could forget about it.

… Should I wait for the rain to stop?

“I’ll take you to the bus stop!”

A hearty female voice sounded not far behind her.

Ming Dai turned around and realized that it was not directed at her, but another girl.

The two of them seemed to have a good relationship. They squeezed into a small umbrella and chatted and laughed as they left.

Ming Dai was the only one left at the entrance of the already deserted school building.

Even her down jacket could not hide her slender figure. Under the dark and heavy rain, she was as thin as a blade of grass.

“Do you need help?”

This time it was a man’s voice.

Of course, Ming Dai did not think that he was talking to her. She did not even turn around.

Then she was patted gently on the shoulder, and the voice repeated again:

“Do you need help?”

Ming Dai turned around in a daze.

The moment she saw the other party, she was stunned as if she had been struck by lightning!

“Here.” The man handed her a black umbrella and added, “You don’t have to return it.”

Ming Dai took the umbrella mechanically.

…

“Do you need help?”

“Here. You don’t have to return it.”

…

The exact same scene, the exact same words.

But at a different time.

‘Why?’

Ming Dai’s mind was in a mess. She could not help but stare at the man for a long time.

Perhaps the emotions in her eyes were too intense. It was so heavy that it was suffocating.

The man couldn’t help but ask, “Do you know me?”

Ming Dai quickly lowered her eyes. “Sorry, you look a little like someone I know.”

‘No, I know you. I’ve known you for years.’

‘My…’

“Brother!”

The clear and melodious voice of a young girl sounded from afar.

Ming Dai’s back stiffened. She gripped the umbrella in her hand tightly and forced herself not to turn around.

However, their voices still drifted into her ears uncontrollably—

“Why are you here to pick me up? Haven’t you been very busy recently?”

“No matter how busy you are, I have to make time for our little princess.”

“Brother, you’re the best!”

“Let’s go, Lingsi.”

Gu Changming.

Gu Lingsi.

‘Long time no see.’