Chapter 95: "Ji Xian, Qiao Zhen Is My Girlfriend"

After Qiao Zhen quickly stole a kiss on Qin Yichi’s cheek, her ears turned faintly red and she at once covered her face and ran off.

Qin Yichi, however, still stood there grinning like an idiot.

Everything turned into icy, bone-deep spears, crashing viciously into Ji Xian’s most vulnerable heart and shattering at once the confidence and certainty he had drilled into himself over all these days.

He knew that look on Qiao Zhen all too well.

The girl’s smile was bright and sweet, her deerlike eyes as clear as glass, luminous and translucent, like melting snow beneath a blazing sun, pure without the slightest impurity, scattering tiny shards of light.

It was vivid, pure, and sincere.

In the past, Qiao Zhen had always smiled at him like that.

When a person likes someone, the little stars glittering in their eyes cannot be hidden.

But how could she show that expression to someone else?

She had even taken the initiative to kiss another person...

Ji Xian unconsciously stepped back, his legs heavy as if filled with lead.

Inside his chest, it felt as though a sharp saw-blade were slowly dragging back and forth through his lungs; with every pull came searing pain, so intense that even breathing felt like being ripped apart.

It hurt. It hurt so much...

The night was very quiet, and footsteps gradually swelled in his ears. Qin Yichi walked toward him step by step, his voice cool and flat.

"I don’t know how much longer some people plan to keep spying on someone else’s girlfriend."

Qiao Zhen had not noticed him, but Qin Yichi had already seen his figure.

At the words "spying on someone else’s girlfriend," Ji Xian nearly went mad with rage. The twisting pain in his heart tore apart what little reason remained, forcing him to lunge forward abruptly, glaring at Qin Yichi.

"It was you! What tricks did you use to lure her to your side? Stay away from her."

Qiao Zhen was supposed to be his. Qiao Zhen was supposed to like only him.

It had to be this green-tea pretender Qin Yichi, meddling in the middle and sowing discord.

At those words, Qin Yichi also stared back at him, the black depths of his eyes turning dangerous.

He suddenly recalled their confrontation in the snow.

Back then, Ji Xian had stood above him in lofty superiority, sneering coldly:

"You like her, you’re secretly in love with her, but to her you’ve always only ever been a brother. She will never like you."

That day, Ji Xian had even worn a look of pity. "Qin Yichi, you’re pathetic."

And now, the positions had been completely reversed.

Who had the upper hand, and who was madly losing his mind, was obvious at a glance.

Qin Yichi kept one hand lazily in his pocket, a smile still playing at the corner of his mouth, and mocked him with a soft laugh.

"You want me to stay away from her?"

As though hearing a joke, he scrutinized Ji Xian.

"Qiao Zhen is my girlfriend. Are you... rushing to recommend yourself as the mistress in front of the rightful wife?"

Streetlights washed one side of his face in half-shadow, making him look even more wicked and unrestrained.

"Girlfriend," "rightful wife," "mistress."

Each word sank crazily into Ji Xian’s heart, cutting mercilessly at the tip of it and spraying out bright red blood.

He could barely breathe, his eyes bloodshot, all strength drained from his body. Like an ancient castle collapsing with a thunderous crash, he forced himself to hold on.

"Qiao Zhen only got together with you to make me angry, to provoke me. As long as I’m willing to lower myself and go find her, you think you can still be her boyfriend?"

The more he spoke, the more agitated he became; even the fingers at his side trembled faintly. Grinding his teeth, he said coldly, word by word:

"The one she likes is clearly me. Me! She’s been chasing after me for all these years, Qin Yichi, and you know that better than anyone."

No sooner had he finished than Qin Yichi suddenly surged forward and grabbed him by the collar, his face terrifyingly fierce, his voice savage.

"So you do know. You know she’s chased after you for all these years."

"Then how did you treat her?!"

After saying that, Qin Yichi’s eyes turned faintly red.

How had Ji Xian treated Qiao Zhen? How had he treated that girl who had waited for him with all her heart and all her eyes?

He had let the boys around him mock her, belittle her, and bully her;

He had deliberately kept her at a distance, ignored her, and yet still dangled hope before her again and again.

Qin Yichi’s mind grew a little dazed, and he suddenly thought of scenes from high school.

Back then, Qiao Zhen wore the blue-and-white school uniform and tied her hair in a high ponytail, pure and sweet.

The heart of a young girl can never truly hide its secrets, and her liking for Ji Xian was written plainly all over her face.

That time was a basketball game. Ji Xian was in his final year of high school, while he and Qiao Zhen were both in their second year.

He had not faced Ji Xian directly, but he was still there beside the court, watching the game and getting ready to play.

It was then that Qiao Zhen appeared, laboriously carrying water for Ji Xian and the others, smiling sweetly as she did so.

Ji Xian took the water expressionlessly, and the few buddies beside him also picked up theirs and drank, not saying a single word of thanks.

As if this were only natural for Qiao Zhen to do.

And at the time, he had been sitting silently in a secluded spot, seeing it all with his own eyes.

Until Qiao Zhen left in disappointment, he even heard those boys speak with utter contempt:

"Didn’t expect this free labor to be so useful. She looks so small and skinny, yet she hauled over so much water."

"Does she think doing all this means we’ll be willing to play with her?"

"Ridiculous. Does she even look at herself? Who does she think she is, that she’d deserve it?"

Ji Xian had clearly been sitting right there, clearly heard every word, and yet he said nothing, stopped nothing, letting the others mock her as they pleased.

He had been sitting in the back, listening until he was almost mad with rage, wanting nothing more than to slaughter them all.

Later, after his basketball game, he finally found Qiao Zhen in a corner of the field.

Beneath the blazing sun, the girl sat on the ground hugging her knees, forlorn and lonely, too tired even to catch her breath.

He took a deep breath, turned and ran to buy her a cup of her favorite milk tea, then hurried back and casually held it out to shield her from the sun.

"Qiao Zhen, are you stupid or what?"

Stupid or not—everyone had been bullying you.

...

Thinking of this, the rim of Qin Yichi’s eyes turned even redder. He clutched Ji Xian’s collar tightly, his tone dark and venomous.

"If you had just taken one tiny step toward her, I wouldn’t have had a chance."

"But you were the one who gave me that chance!"

Ji Xian’s whole body lost its strength, his mind nearly collapsing, his face turning deathly pale in an instant.

Qin Yichi dealt the final blow.

"You’re not good enough for Qiao Zhen."

"She stopped liking you long ago."

After saying this, Qin Yichi abruptly let him go and walked away step by step, his eyes frighteningly red.

He kept telling himself it didn’t matter.

Since all those good things, no one else could give Qiao Zhen...

Then he would give them to her twice over, again and again, in abundance!