Sang Yu shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “Is my future important, though? I’ve lost the person I want to take care of, so what’s the point of finishing my studies or finding a good job? Would that really make me happy?”
Shen Peichuan turned to Sang Yu. She was still standing by the door and had her back to the sun. The light engulfed her and made her look like a lonesome entity.
Shen Peichuan couldn’t see her expression under those circumstances, but he could tell that she had gotten thinner and weaker.
Shen Peichuan clenched his fists in frustration and asked, “Are you really planning on spending the rest of your life here?”
Sang Yu turned around and had her back to him then. She sat by the door and looked into the distance before confessing, “I don’t know. Maybe I’ll leave this place after I get married…”
“Who are you marrying?” interrupted Shen Peichuan at lightning speed before Sang Yu could finish her sentence.
She’s getting married? To whom? Who is she marrying?
“Don’t get married,” blurted Shen Peichuan. He only realized that he had crossed the line after he had already said his piece. Ah, I have no right to stop her from marrying anyone.
“Uh, I mean…” said Shen Peichuan slowly while thinking of an excuse, “Ah! I mean that you’re still young, so you don’t need to be in a hurry to get married.”
“I understand. Thank you for your concern. But don’t worry, I will plan for that myself,” replied Sang Yu as she rested her chin on her hand, “Actually, now that I think about it, this is a pretty decent place. The people here are honest, and they don’t scheme against one another. Living in this environment will be very relaxing.”
Shen Peichuan couldn’t say anything.
Everyone had the right to choose their own lifestyle, and Shen Peichuan had no right to interfere with Sang Yu’s choices.
“Are you planning on getting married in the future?” asked Sang Yu suddenly.
Shen Peichuan couldn’t see her expression at the time. All he saw was her back, but he wasn’t the kind of man who would lie anyway, so he answered, “Yeah.”
Sang Yu knew that Shen Peichuan wouldn’t remain single for the rest of his life. Plus, he is so wonderful, and someone else is already in love with him. The only downside is that he is a little slow when it comes to the matter of the heart. If he wasn’t, he would’ve already gotten married and have kids by now. thought Sang Yu. She knew all that, but her heart still stung at the thought of him being with another woman and them having kids together.
She pretended to comb her hair with her fingers so she could secretly wipe her tears off. After that, she commented in an even tone, “That’s nice. Are you marrying Ms. Song?”
Shen Peichuan fixed his gaze downwards and murmured an affirmative reply.
Hearing that, Sang Yu dug her fingers into her palm to suppress the bitterness welling up in her tongue. She took some time to gather herself and only spoke when she was certain that her tone would remain nonchalant. “That’s great. She comes from a great family, is beautiful, and is around your age. She can help boost your career, and the two of you look great together. You’ll lead a happy life after the two of you get married.”
Happy?
Shen Peichuan thought that adjective was something that was way out of his reach. Or rather, it was something he would never experience.
“Do you think I’ll be happy?” asked Shen Peichuan in a daze.
Sang Yu turned to him and complained, “Are you bragging?”
Why is he asking for my opinion when I’ve already shared my thoughts?
Shen Peichuan grinned sadly. “You really think I’m bragging?” asked Shen Peichuan before he put his false grin away and explained, “Sang Yu, I…”
Shen Peichuan wanted to say that he wasn’t happy at all. He wasn’t with Song Yaxin because he loved her.
Unfortunately, a boy interrupted their conversation before Shen Peichuan got to do so.
“Ms. Sang, Ms. Sang…” the boy called out.
“What’s wrong, Keke?”
Lu Keke was a Year Two student.
“Wang Haonan fell, and his knee is bleeding.”
Sang Yu sprang up and asked, “Where is he now?”
“In the classroom.”
Sang Yu hurried over immediately. Wang Haonan was sitting in the classroom with his knees still bleeding. Sang Yu hurried over and saw a deep cut on his knee. Blood was oozing endlessly out of it, and it looked terrifying.
“How did this happen?” asked Sang Yu as she crouched down.
“I fell in a cockfight game,” confessed Wang Haonan. He had good grades, but he was also extremely naughty. When he said cockfight, he didn’t mean actual cockfight where two chickens were put in a cage to fight one another. Instead, he meant the game he played with his friends.
The game’s rules were simple. All players were to lock one leg to their hand and have that leg’s knees touch their opponent’s knee. The one whose hand let go first would lose. Alternatively, the player will also lose if they fell.
The boys loved playing that game.
“Keke, go get the first aid kit from my place,” instructed Sang Yu. She knew that the kids were naughty, so she had prepared everything beforehand.
Lu Keke ran out immediately after. Shen Peichuan had followed Sang Yu over and was looking in from the window.
The classroom was in poor condition, with the paint on the tables almost chipped off entirely. The floor was made of bricks, and the teacher’s table was just as terrible as the students’. That being said, the chalk and duster were arranged nicely by the blackboard, and the children had modified some empty soda cans to make potted plants.
In short, the place wasn’t luxurious, but it was incredibly heartwarming.
Lu Keke soon returned with the first aid kit. Sang Yu opened the box and poured some disinfectants on the cotton swab. She was a little hesitant to apply it on the kid’s knee, though, because she worried about hurting him. Unfortunately, the weather was hot and the cut will probably get infected if it is not treated in time.
“Hold on. It might sting.”
“Ms. Sang, will you leave the school? We don’t want you to go,” said Wang Haonan as his eyes reddened with tears.
Sang Yu frowned. “Who told you that I’m leaving?”
“Mr. Wang did. He said that you are a student from a prestigious university and are smarter than he is. It’s a waste of your talent if you stay here with us,” answered Wang Haonan. His tears welled up in his eyes, and he asked again, “Ms. Sang, will you really leave us?”
“He was lying. I’m gonna start tending your cut, okay? Be a brave boy and hold on,” cooed Sang Yu before she started clearing the blood from the boy’s cut.
Wang Haonan shifted his gaze. He didn’t dare to keep his eyes on his knee, so he chatted with Sang Yu to distract himself. “Ms. Sang, who is the guy you rescued earlier?” asked Wang Haonan curiously, “Are the two of you close? You were so worried back then that your eyes reddened. That was also the first time you ever spoke so loudly to me.”
Shen Peichuan turned to Sang Yu. His dark brown eyes shone with complex emotion, and he felt himself getting excited as he waited for Sang Yu to answer that question.
“We… know each other and are friends. Sorry, I will try to control my emotions and speak nicely from now on,” replied Sang Yu. She had her eyes fixed on the boy’s knee as she cleaned the area surrounding his cut.
Shen Peichuan was suddenly disappointed. She actually regarded our connection as ‘friends’? What the hell does she take me for?
Shen Peichuan was depressed.
“Ms. Sang, why do you care so much about him if the two of you aren’t close?” asked Wang Haonan.
Sang Yu frowned and complained, “Why is a kid like you being such a busybody and asking so many questions?”
“Awh, come on. Tell me. I’m hurt,” said Wang Haonan coquettishly with a cute grin on.
Sang Yu hesitated, but she ultimately answered, “I don’t have a choice, okay?”
Sang Yu thought that she wasn’t good enough for Shen Peichuan.
Her father was a gambler, whereas her mother was a murderer. Shen Peichuan, on the other hand, was a high-ranking police officer.
I will just disrupt his career if I stay close to him.
There was a time when Sang Yu thought that she could help him if she worked hard enough, but she later found that she was being too naïve.
He was already a successful man, whereas she would need to struggle for another decade or so to reach his level of success. Even after that, there was no saying if she could reach his level.
Hence, there was no way she could help him.
Only someone as powerful as he was, and whose family weren’t criminals, was worthy of him.
“Ms. Sang, what do you mean?” asked Wang Haonan curiously.
He couldn’t make heads or tails of what his teacher was talking about.
Sang Yu tilted her head up and explained, “I meant that my mind can’t control my heart.”
It was just like how she couldn’t choose which family she was born into.
“Huh? But it’s your heart. If you don’t control it, who does?” asked the confused Wang Haonan.
“You’ll understand when you’re older,” replied Sang Yu as she stroked his tiny head.
“Ms. Sang, I just realize that talking can really distract a person. I didn’t feel any stinging pain at all.”
“Uh… That’s because I haven’t gotten to your cut yet.”
“What?”
After that, Sang Yu quickly cleaned the cut before putting some band-aids on it.
“Don’t run around too much for the time being,” instructed Sang Yu.
Wang Haonan nodded obediently.
Sang Yu later went home with her first-aid kit. That’s when she saw Wang Wen standing outside her door. “You brought the clothes over?” asked Sang Yu.
Wang Wen nodded before adding, “He’s having a shower, so let’s wait out here.”
Sang Yu replied, “Okay.”
A tree stood beside the window, and it was so big that two adults would have to stretch their arms fully to circle around its trunk. A few chairs were placed under the tree so that people can relax under its shade.
Sang Yu and Wang Wen sat side-by-side.
Soon after that, Shen Peichuan changed into clean clothes. He saw the two youngsters from the window, so he walked over, but he then saw that they were sitting right next to each other. That got Shen Peichuan to frown a little. He was uncomfortable because he thought that the two of them seemed rather close.
He walked over and was about to call out to Sang Yu when he heard Wang Wen asking a shocking question.
