"S-s-someone! Come help!" Xiong Jiayi screamed, looking around to find a servant to stop them. "Hurry! Someone come and stop them!"
"Stop! Have you gone crazy!" Xiong Changchang cried and begged Xiong Jingfei to stop hitting her. This wasn't even a two-way hit because she couldn't even land a blow on Xiong Jingfei's face. "Anyone, help me!"
Xiong Changchang cried, but she wasn't the only crying. Xiong Jingfei cried as she hit Xiong Changchang. Her sorrow and hits weren't for her, but for her mother. They can insult and call her whatever they want, but there is only so much patience she has for them. Especially when they dare bring up someone dear to her, and someone who can't get up from the dead to defend herself.
"Stop! Stop!" Li Roulan screamed, running out from the house and pulled Xiong Jingfei off Xiong Changchang. "What are the two of you doing for others to see out here!"
"Mother! She hit me! Look!" Xiong Changchang cried and showed her mother her bruised face. "I didn't even do anything! See, I didn't even hit her at all!"
"You!" Li Roulan stormed up to Xiong Jingfei and slapped her. "You ungrateful brat! Look at what you did to my daughter's face!"
"Mother-" Xiong Jiayi opened her mouth but was pinched in the waist by Xiong Changchang. "Ouch!"
"What do you think you're doing? If you don't shut it, I'll teach you a lesson later!" Xiong Changchang took her anger out on Xiong Jiayi and pinched her harder.
"Let's go inside and put some ice on your face, mmm?" Li Roulan held Xiong Changchang's face in her hands and blew on the bruise like a caring mother. The anger in her burned when she saw how swollen her daughter's face became. "Close the gate! Leave Jingfei out here as punishment for hitting her younger sister."
Xiong Jingfei stood outside as the steel gate closed and locked. Forbidding her from entering her own home. The home her father and mother bought together.
She leaned against the wall and sat next to the abandoned puppy. It was getting dark, and she had nowhere else to go. She didn't want to intrude on Xu Suying's family. They did enough for her already.
It was the fall season, so the wind was beginning to pick themselves up at night. Blowing leaves and chilly wind at her. She continuously rubbed her legs to keep them warm and shivered each time the wind blew past her body. Her uniform barely kept her warm, as it was an indoor outfit more than outdoor.
Xiong Jingfei almost forgot about the puppy's existence until his tiny cry was heard. The puppy was in no greater condition than her. You can tell it was shivering too.
Grabbing the puppy, she held him in her embrace with his small blanket. Human's temperature should keep the puppy warm until tomorrow morning. Gently, she stroked behind his ears and soothed him until his crying stopped.
She smiled at the happily asleep puppy. Then began mouthing her inner complaints without a voice to the puppy. It was gone, and she was starting to forget what her voice sounded like.
'You are very lucky, do you know that? I am keeping you warm, but no one is here to keep me warm. I guess being out here with you is better than being in there with those demons.'
She sighed and continued, ''Maybe Changchang is right? I might get abandoned soon by my father. I am useless to him. What is probably holding him back from kicking me to the curb is this marriage agreement. I should probably be thankful for that?'
Xiong Jingfei laughed a little at her sad joke, then continued, 'Thankful only until the other side finds out about my voice. Then marriage will be annulled too, and I will become just like you,'
Xiong Jingfei rambled on and on to the puppy, who was fast asleep.
'Bad puppy, how can you be asleep while I'm voicing my bad day to you?' Xiong Jingfei shook her head. She was really doing this comfort herself to forget about being cold and express without having to tell no one.
Xiong Jingfei doesn't know when she fell asleep. When she heard footsteps approaching her, she was having a hard time opening her eyes.
A faint sighed was heard, "She finally fell asleep. I was starting to wonder how long I was going to have to wait."
The voice definitely belongs to a man? Who? Even with her eyes closed, she can feel how close the man was approaching them.
"I came to check on the puppy but did not expect to find you sleeping out here. How cruel your stepmother and sisters must be to do this to you. Do they not know who you are?"
Xiong Jingfei tried to open her eyes, but it wouldn't budge. Then she felt the back of a hand touch her cheeks then her forehead. She winced when the hand touched her swollen cheek.
"O-oh, sorry! They dare hurt you too!" The man exclaimed. "Ah, what should I do? You're burning up too... Mr. Zheng, call my family doctor to be at my house as soon as possible."
"Yes, young master." Mr. Zheng, Xiong Jingfei assumed, replied.
Young master? Xiong Jingfei felt someone lifting her body. He carried her, meanwhile walking lightly as if he was trying not to disturb her sleep. Though she wouldn't call this sleep. She was conscious but unable to open her stubborn eyes.
The puppy still in her arms, let out a dainty low growl at the person.
He laughed, "You little thing. How can you growl at me when I was the person who gave you to this cute owner?"
Seriously, who is this person? He seems to know her! Xiong Jingfei struggled one more time to open her eyes. She did not realize the more she tried, the more harm she was putting on her body. It was so tired that it was shutting down from the fever.
"It's okay. You're safe now."
Then she felt something warm wrapped around her body, and light patting at her back. Just like how she did it to the puppy earlier. Comforting and a sense of warmth.
The water in Xiong Jingfei's eyes welled up and came running down at the corner of her eyes. The person wiped her tears away, "Go to sleep, I'll make sure you're good as new."
Another person replied, the voice belonging to Mr. Zheng. "This is too much! What did she do to deserve this treatment? Not only did they hit the young Miss but locked her outside the house in the cold too."
Xiong Jingfei's tears flowed out even more at what Mr. Zheng said. She was also questioning this herself, what did she do to get this much bad luck?
She obeyed every order from Li Roulan and gave Xiong Changchang everything she demanded, but it was still not good enough. She only wanted to live a quiet and peaceful life.
The person holding her gently touched her swollen cheek. He spoke as if he heard her inner thoughts, "Everything will come to an end soon. You just have to endure it a little more. When the time comes, I will come for you again."
Soon? Xiong Jingfei felt like she heard this word repeatedly used. How fast is soon? Tomorrow? A year or five years from now? Must she wait until she is on the verge of being unable to hold on anymore?
"Please don't do anything stupid until I come for you, promise me?"
Xiong Jingfei wasn't sure if she nodded or shook her head. It was the last thing she heard spoken from the man. She could no longer fight back her fever, so she fell into a deep slumber.
By the time she woke up, she was in a private hospital room. When inquired the nurses and doctors about the person who saved her. None of them could give her an answer. They told her that the person dropped her off and wished to remain anonymous.
The person also didn't leave any clue for Xiong Jingfei, so her search for him was fruitless. Surprisingly, the hospital let the puppy stay with her in the private room the whole time. They said it never left her side and wouldn't stray far from her too.
Xiong Jingfei held the puppy in her arms. I'll name you Pompom.
He was so small, white, and looked like one of those furry pom-poms for crafting. Nonetheless, Xiong Jingfei promised to care for the puppy.
She will protect him just like that person wanted. Take him away from Li Roulan and Xiong Changchang's grasp. Who knows what they'll do to Pompom secretly behind her back. She can't afford to take that risk.
This is how she came to the resolution of moving out of her father's home. Pompom and that person was her savior and made her brave enough to move out of the house once she turned eighteen.
Xiong Jingfei will remain forever grateful. Because of Pompom, there was that person who saved her that night. To this day, that person never came back for her. She still wonders who her savior was that night.
It seemed like the person knew her, but she didn't know who he was.