Shen Yujing pursed his lips and replied without hesitation, "No, I don't want to."
Song Yi wasn't really interested in playing games with Shen Yujing either, so she got straight to the point: "They both admitted they were acting on Zhang Yong's orders, and Zhang Yong has always obeyed you. Are you surprised to see me standing here unharmed?"
Shen Yujing neither confirmed nor denied it. He simply walked forward and untied the ropes binding the two girls, saying, "You two can go now."
The two girls, already terrified by Song Yi's threats, quickly fled the scene.
Song Yi didn't try to stop them. Instead, she smiled even more gently at Shen Yujing and asked, "You bullied me, so I defended myself. No problem with that, right?"
As she spoke, Song Yi raised the hammer in her hand and took a few steps towards Shen Yujing, looking as if she might smash his head in at any moment.
There was less than half a meter between them now.
Shen Yujing lowered his gaze and said softly, "I didn't order it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have needed to rush over here to stop it."
Shen Yujing wasn't afraid of fighting Song Yi, but it was in his nature to not tolerate any false accusations.
Song Yi narrowed her eyes slightly, scanning Shen Yujing from head to toe, trying to determine if he was lying.
Given this troublemaker's family background, he had always been bold enough to take responsibility for his actions. There seemed to be no reason for him to deceive her.
"Alright," Song Yi nodded, choosing to believe Shen Yujing. She handed him the hammer she was holding, "Then I'll be going now. Consider this a gift for you."
This hammer wasn't really a gift; it was a threat.
If Shen Yujing dared to cause any trouble, she would eventually smash his head in.
Song Yi didn't want to have much interaction with Shen Yujing. Making him understand today that she wasn't some delicate flower was enough, so she prepared to leave.
However, just as she reached the door, someone grabbed her wrist from behind.
Song Yi shook off Shen Yujing's hand and asked, "I'm not holding anything against you anymore. What else do you want?"
Shen Yujing laughed bitterly, pointing at the bruise under his eye, "You're not holding anything against me? Did I say I was going to let the incident from this afternoon slide so easily?"
The reason he hadn't let Zhang Yong "take care of it" for him was that he wanted to settle the score with Song Yi personally.
Song Yi was getting impatient: "So what do you want?"
Shen Yujing slowly raised the hammer Song Yi had just given him, his face expressionless as he said word by word: "You should pay some price, shouldn't you?"
Price?
Song Yi looked up at the words "Saint Yu Boys' High School" and fell into deep thought. What price did Shen Yujing want her to pay by bringing her here?
Transfer her to the boys' high school? Although she didn't mind, it didn't seem appropriate.
Shen Yujing looked at Song Yi and asked, "Can you fight?"
Song Yi replied, "Of course."
Shen Yujing wasn't annoyed and continued, "I want to teach someone a lesson. If you win against him, we'll call it even between us."
Song Yi became interested, "Call it even? You mean if we meet at school in the future, we'll act like we don't know each other at all?"
Shen Yujing tilted his chin up arrogantly and nodded.
The person Shen Yujing was waiting for was his arch-nemesis, Xu Che from the boys' high school.
They had been neighbors as children. According to their parents, both had equally volatile tempers, so they had been at odds since they could walk. This continued as they grew up, with fights breaking out every few days.
It wasn't until they separated for high school that the conflicts decreased slightly, but the two high schools were so close that they still couldn't completely avoid each other.
If Song Yi could beat Xu Che, or even just fight him to a draw, it would be enough to humiliate him.
Soon, a provocative voice sounded from behind—
"Well, well, the young master Shen finally showed up. I thought you had chickened out. I even went to buy a drink nearby and was about to head back."
Laughter followed, obviously from this person's lackeys trying to please him.
Song Yi turned around to see a tall, thin boy with a buzz cut approaching. Unlike the aristocratic uniforms of Saint Slee Academy, the traditional blue and white school uniform draped over his shoulders didn't look the least bit rustic.
There was a scar about three centimeters long at the outer end of the boy's left eyebrow. Rather than marring his appearance, it added a touch of ferocity. His high, straight nose was above lips that were slightly chapped, and he wore a very simple silver earring.
Xu Che was holding a milk tea he had just bought in his left hand, looking nonchalant. When he saw Song Yi, he extinguished the cigarette in his right hand.
"Don't speak too soon. Don't cry if you lose later," Shen Yujing said, then looked at Song Yi beside him, signaling her to step up.
Song Yi cooperated by taking a step forward and even formally cupped her fist at Xu Che in greeting.
Everyone burst into laughter, while Xu Che raised his eyebrows in surprise, "You want a little girl to fight me?"
Shen Yujing nodded, and Xu Che's lackeys laughed again.
"Boss Xu, this little girl is as thin as paper. Don't knock her out with one punch."
"What's this new strategy? That's not how you use the honey trap tactic. Or is this some kind of scam?"
"I don't think so. Shen Yujing is obviously showing off that he has a girlfriend and our Boss Xu doesn't. This is a blatant psychological attack! Boss Xu, you've definitely lost this round!"
This comment successfully earned an eye roll from Xu Che, "Get lost."
Song Yi found standing around boring and just wanted to finish quickly and go home. So she took the initiative to step towards Xu Che, "Don't look down on me. Let's get started."
Xu Che's lackeys continued to make a fuss.
"That's right, Boss Xu. Such a pretty little beauty is inviting you, you should at least give her face!"
"Just don't hit her face, and go easy on her!"
Xu Che looked down at her, his expression lazy but with a hint of helplessness, "Little girl, do you like Shen Yujing so much that you have to stand up for him?"
Xu Che had seen this kind of situation before. Once when he had hit Shen Yujing a bit too hard, a girl who admired Shen Yujing felt sorry for him and tried to bribe Xu Che with money to deliberately lose to Shen Yujing in the future.
Xu Che didn't need money, so of course he didn't agree. But after fighting with Shen Yujing for so many years, he suddenly felt a bit envious of Shen Yujing, because someone cared about him so much.
Song Yi didn't understand Xu Che's strange logic and simply said, "I'd rather die than like him."
According to the original plot, if she liked Shen Yujing, she would die. If Shen Yujing liked her, she would also die. How unlucky!
Although there didn't seem to be anything wrong with these words, Shen Yujing suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.
Xu Che didn't respond to Song Yi's statement. Instead, he lowered his head and placed the milk tea he was holding into her hand, "Here, hold this. It's hot."
Song Yi looked at him, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes.
What was he doing?
"Consider it my loss," Xu Che said as he turned around, leaving only one sentence behind, "Shen Yujing, don't embarrass yourself like this next time."
With Xu Che gone, his lackeys stood there, staring at each other in bewilderment.
"I get it! Shen Yujing was showing off his girlfriend, right? So our Boss Xu used the gentle approach to make Shen Yujing's girlfriend fall for him!"
"Brilliant! Putting such a big green hat on Shen Yujing's head, our Boss Xu will always have the upper hand over him!"
"I see! As expected, Boss Xu is clever!"
The lackeys blindly worshipped and praised Xu Che, then gradually followed after him.
Song Yi flexed her hand joints and, staring at Xu Che's retreating figure, asked only two words, "Chase him?"
Shen Yujing didn't answer, but turned and walked in the opposite direction.
Song Yi looked at one side, then the other, and finally in front of her.
Quite conveniently, the bus stop was right there.
Shen Yujing walked alone for a long time, with footsteps always following not too far behind him.
Finally, he stopped impatiently, "Why are you still following me? Can't you understand..."
When he saw the unfamiliar face of an old woman behind him, the irritated words suddenly got stuck in Shen Yujing's throat.
The old lady reached out to him, "Young man, can you give me the water bottle in your hand?"
Shen Yujing: "..."
Damn it, where did Song Yi go? Did she really just leave him like that?
Could it be, as Xu Che's lackeys said, that she was so easily seduced by Xu Che and wanted to put a green hat on his head to make him forever inferior to Xu Che?
Bah! What nonsense.
Is Song Yi still considered a girl? On the surface, she looks delicate and fragile, as if a breeze could knock her over. But in reality? She doesn't have a single trait that a girl should have!
If it weren't for... if it weren't for the fact that her grades could surpass Jiang Yiheng's, he wouldn't have let her off so easily.
*
The original owner's family lived in an old residential area, all single-story houses, so each household had its own small courtyard.
As soon as Song Yi entered, she saw Song's Father stooped over, one hand leaning on a cane, the other holding a plastic water bottle, watering the flowers in the yard.
Song Yi hurried forward to support him, "Didn't the doctor say you should rest? Go back to your room and relax."
The man was actually only in his forties, but the pressures of life had given him more grey hair than others his age. Having just had surgery, he looked particularly frail at the moment.
Yet upon seeing Song Yi enter, he still managed a smile, "Yiyi, you're home. Dinner's ready, all your favorites."
Three dishes were laid out on the table: stir-fried cucumber with eggs, tofu with cabbage, and tomato seaweed soup.
Song Yi: "..."
In fact, the original owner didn't really like these dishes either, but because she was understanding, she always chose the cheaper options.
For Song Yi, who only loved meat, this was undoubtedly a painful ordeal.
But faced with Song's Father's loving gaze, she could only force herself to eat.
Song's Father asked about Song Yi's adjustment to the new school, talking a lot and asking many questions.
This was the first time Song Yi had felt the care of family, and there was a subtle, strange feeling in her chest. She listened attentively to Song's Father's chatter and answered each question seriously.
After finishing the meal, she took the initiative to carry the dishes to the kitchen, "Dad, you rest. I'll wash these. Also, didn't Saint Slee Academy give us a living allowance? You should think about your health too. Buy more meat to eat, so you can recover faster."
Song's Father looked at his always-sensible daughter, his eyes slightly reddened. He then agreed and changed the subject, "Oh, Yiyi, have you seen the hammer in the kitchen? The screw on the chair is loose, I need to hammer it back in."
Song Yi's hand froze in mid-air as she was washing the dishes, her expression also freezing.
Haha, hammer, hammer... She had casually given it to Shen Yujing.
Never mind, she'd buy a new one tomorrow. It wasn't a big deal.
Song's Father continued: "That hammer has been with Dad for over a decade, almost as old as you. Where did it go? I can't find it..."
Song Yi: "..."
It seemed quite important. What the hell was she going to do now?
*
At 11:30 PM.
Shen Yujing had just finished showering and was lying in bed playing with his phone when he noticed a new friend request on WeChat.
[I'm Song Yi, I need to talk to you about something]
Shen Yujing sat up in bed like a carp flipping out of water, accepting the request without hesitation.
Song Yi: Can you return my hammer to me?
Shen Yujing: Who asks for a gift back after giving it?
Song Yi: I'll give you a bigger and newer one in exchange, guaranteed to be more convenient for hitting people.
Shen Yujing: No way, and what kind of talk is that? Girls should act more like girls.
Song Yi: So you're saying you won't return it to me?
Shen Yujing didn't answer directly, instead saying [You'll see tomorrow]
After replying to this WeChat message, Shen Yujing tossed his phone aside and looked at the desk with an expression of admiring a work of art. On it sat a—
Pink hammer.
It was still the same hammer from earlier that day, only now it had been dyed pink and adorned with a huge bow.
Shen Yujing's lips curved slightly upward, his eyes filled with satisfaction at his handiwork.
Not bad, this was barely starting to look like something a girl should have.
