Chapter 2

The school tyrant rescued me from Zhou Jiashu’s confession and pushed my pink bicycle down the road. One of his lackeys passed by and teased, “Brother Chi, since when did you stop riding your motorcycle?”

He kicked the boy. “Get lost.”

I walked beside him, every nerve prickling, and finally worked up the courage to speak. “Um… school tyrant?”

“Cheng Chi.”

It took me a moment to realize he was telling me his name.

He lowered his eyes. “You like me?” he asked softly.

I almost shook my head on instinct, but then I heard his sinister inner voice: *Everyone who’s used me as a shield ended up inside a concrete pillar.*

My head changed direction halfway, and I nodded several times as hard as I could.

Cheng Chi had a pair of beautiful, slightly upturned eyes. They curved with his smile as he stopped, freed one hand, and touched my face. His thumb brushed the mole beneath my eye.

“From now on, you’ll do my homework, watch me play ball, and take me to and from school. Whatever you used to do for Zhou Jiashu, you’ll do for me—only ten times better. Got it?”

I did not quite follow. “What do you mean?”

He condescended to pat my cheek. “It means I’ve agreed to let you pursue me.”

Cheng Chi had silver hair, an ear stud, and a face that practically announced he was impossible to please.

All of a sudden, going back to Zhou Jiashu and continuing our battle seemed like the easier option.

I followed my memories home.

The Song residence stood in a villa district. I had not been brought back from the countryside until I was seventeen, and at that age, there were many things I did not understand. For example, if my mother had been my father’s lawful wife, why did I have a paternal half sister, Song Zhi, who was several months older than me?

Everyone loved Song Zhi, including Zhou Jiashu. The two of them had grown up together.

Even the kindness he first showed me had only been meant to persuade me to donate a kidney to her. If Song Zhi had not fallen ill, the Song family would never have brought me back. To them, I was not a person. I was medicine.

But at this point in time, their intentions had not yet surfaced. Song Zhi, who was recuperating at home, was watering flowers in the garden. When she heard me enter, she looked up with a gentle smile.

“You’re back so late. We finished dinner ages ago.”

Whatever. It was not as though I was allowed at the table in the first place.

“Zhou Jiashu confessed to me today.”

The watering can slipped from her hand, splashing water across her face. She forced a smile. “Did he? Congratulations.”

I raised my brows in surprise. “Of course I turned him down. As if he’s good enough for me.”

In an instant, I was drowned beneath a flood of vicious, hateful thoughts, all coming from the supposedly sweet Song Zhi.

*That walking kidney bag should be groveling in gratitude. How dare she talk like that?*

*Jiashu only told me he’d get close to Song Zhiwei. He never said he’d confess to her. That slut must have seduced him!*

*Song Zhiwei should look in a mirror. She’s ugly and flat as a board.*

My lips curved. She wanted to survive on my kidney while thinking this way? Dream on.

I ran upstairs, hearing Song Zhi dissolve into a violent coughing fit behind me. On the way, the housekeeper who was usually kinder to me stopped me and whispered, “Madam ordered us not to save you any dinner.”

I nodded. It happened all the time.

As I turned away, I heard the housekeeper’s thoughts.

*Poor girl.*