Shen Fu wiped the sweet potato from the corner of her mouth, wrapped the remainder in a plastic bag, and tucked it into her luggage. Confused, she stood up and dragged her suitcase after him.
Jiang Shu pushed through the crowd and strode ahead. After several steps, he looked back. To his surprise, she had barely moved from where she started.
The young girl held a damaged umbrella with several broken ribs in one hand and pulled her suitcase with the other. The suitcase wobbled through the muddy road in the rain, splashing mud everywhere. Her figure was slender and frail. When the wind blew, she looked incredibly lonely, like a stray puppy about to be swept away by the rain.
Then he noticed her canvas shoes. They were covered in mud.
Shen Fu noticed the boy ahead stop and glare back at her. Their eyes met. Embarrassed, she immediately stopped as well and tugged nervously at the broken umbrella frame.
Couldn’t she speak?
Couldn’t she ask for help?
Jiang Shu frowned and walked over to take her suitcase. “Just get in the car.”
Shen Fu could tell he was unhappy. Keeping her eyes lowered, she didn’t dare say anything. After climbing into the car, she did her best to make herself as small as possible, curling into a corner so she wouldn’t take up too much space.
She looked out the window. After opening the trunk, the man in the black suit hurried over and lifted the suitcase from beside Jiang Shu into the back of the car.
The boy was still standing in the distance, frowning as he looked at her.
Shen Fu shrank back instinctively and quickly withdrew her gaze, trying to make her presence as unnoticeable as possible.
Jiang Shu: “…”
He had only been looking casually.
Why did she avoid him every single time their eyes met? Was he going to eat her or something?
As he drove, Assistant Zhou tried to ease the atmosphere. Smiling at Shen Fu, he said, “The old master isn’t home, but he already instructed me to handle your transfer paperwork. You won’t be able to wear that school uniform at your new school anymore. The new uniform, textbooks, and stationery have all been prepared for you. Once we get back, take a look and see if there’s anything else you need. Tomorrow I’ll take you shopping. Oh, right. My surname is Zhou. You can call me Little Zhou or Assistant Zhou, just like Young Master Jiang does.”
Knowing Shen Fu’s circumstances, Assistant Zhou deliberately avoided asking about her life before coming to Jincheng, worried that it might touch on painful memories.
After all, wasn’t the whole point of changing environments to start a new life?
Shen Fu nodded gratefully.
Looking at her through the rearview mirror, Assistant Zhou continued, “And there’s no need to rush back to school. I looked at your grades, they’re excellent. Missing a little time won’t matter. You can rest for a while first, read some books, go shopping, make some friends, and so on.”
Shen Fu nodded again.
“You don’t need to worry about getting to school, either,” Assistant Zhou said. “The old master arranged for you and the young master to attend the same school. You can just ride in his car.”
Shen Fu hesitated and glanced sideways at the impatient-looking boy beside her.
He seemed like he would strongly object.
Jiang Shu, who had been wearing earphones and staring out the window the entire time, frowned and immediately said, “No.”
Jiang Shu had many friends, but he also had plenty of enemies. If people outside found out she was living with the Jiangs, there would be no shortage of people trying to bully or harass her. With the way she looked, swaying in the wind, crying until her eyes were swollen like walnuts, could she really handle that?
Assistant Zhou had no choice but to change his suggestion. “Then I’ll arrange another car.”
Jiang Shu reluctantly accepted that solution, closed his eyes, and went back to listening to the race broadcast without another word.
Throughout the ride, Shen Fu sat stiffly, feeling uncomfortable.
Eventually, after driving through the rain, the car arrived at a villa.
Earlier that morning, Jiang Shu and Wang Xuanheng had been busy playing video games in Jiang Shu’s room and hadn’t noticed that Assistant Zhou had already prepared Shen Fu’s bedroom.
It was on the third floor.
Assistant Zhou occasionally stayed overnight on the first floor, where he had a private office for handling daily affairs assigned by the old master. Jiang Shu occupied the entire second floor by himself. His parents had moved overseas years ago and were extremely busy. The old master lived in another villa near the garden. As a result, only Jiang Shu and Assistant Zhou usually lived here, aside from the occasional driver stranded by bad weather or cleaning staff.
Although the third floor was spotless, it was practically filled with books. Jiang Shu rarely bothered to go up there.
Wouldn’t it be a little scary for her to live up there all alone?
Walking at the very back with his hands in his pockets, Jiang Shu couldn’t help glancing at Shen Fu ahead of him.
She wasn’t going to cry again, was she?
Then he immediately thought:
What does that have to do with me? Why am I worrying about such nonsense?
Still, Jiang Shu felt he ought to do something about his earlier behavior. He wanted to convey that although he wasn’t thrilled about a stranger moving into his house, he didn’t dislike her enough to throw her out. She could stay here without worrying.
In short, it was a form of “forced welcome.”
Assistant Zhou carried Shen Fu’s luggage upstairs.
Jiang Shu went into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, and casually took out his favorite lime-flavored sparkling water. He poured a glass, then flicked his wrist and tossed in two pieces of candy.
The candy dissolved in the sparkling water, swirling up and down. It looked stylish, almost like alcohol. Except it wasn’t.
And it tasted amazing.
This was one of Jiang Shu’s treasured creations. He had never even shared it with Wang Xuanheng or any of his other friends.
After putting away the luggage, Assistant Zhou brought Shen Fu downstairs and planned to show her around the rest of the house.
Leaning against the railing on the second floor, Young Master Jiang raised an eyebrow. With all the swagger in the world, he held out the glass. “This is for you.”
Assistant Zhou stared at the strange red-and-green concoction and frowned.
The girl had only just arrived, and he was already bullying her? His personality was usually terrible enough, but now that he knew her circumstances and was still acting like this, he was hopeless.
Assistant Zhou seriously considered calling the old master and suggesting that the girl move into another villa altogether.
He opened his mouth. “Young Master Jiang…”
Jiang Shu thought Assistant Zhou wanted some too. He shot him a cold look, walked over to the sofa, flopped down, leaned back, and started playing with his phone. “No chance.”
Assistant Zhou: “…”
Holding the glass, Shen Fu was so nervous her stomach was tying itself into knots.
When you were dependent on someone else, you had to bow your head. Although she suspected the boy was trying to intimidate her, she didn’t want the kind-hearted Assistant Zhou and the young master to get into an argument because of her. So she braced herself, held the glass with both hands, and gulped it down.
She likes it that much? Jiang Shu looked up from his phone, eyes bright. “Well?”
The taste was indescribable. Shen Fu’s expression became strange. She was genuinely worried she might get diarrhea later that night.
But she didn’t dare say so.
Forcing out a smile, she nodded.
Suddenly, Jiang Shu found the little girl much more pleasing to the eye.
Quiet. Didn’t cause trouble. And appreciated his tastes.
The only strange thing was…
Why didn’t she ever speak?
Watching Shen Fu head toward the bathroom, Jiang Shu suddenly realized something. “How come she’s been here this long, and I haven’t heard her say a single word?”
Assistant Zhou froze as well. Now that Jiang Shu mentioned it, it was true. Shen Fu had never verbally answered any of his questions. She only nodded or shook her head. At the roasted sweet potato stand, they had seen her open her mouth to buy sweet potatoes, but he and Jiang Shu had been sitting in the car far away. How could they know whether she had actually made any sound?
Jiang Shu looked at Assistant Zhou. “The profile said she has some post-accident trauma. Could she have aphasia?”
“Not sure,” Assistant Zhou replied. “The file was sent directly from Old Master Jiang’s people. I haven’t managed to contact them yet. I’ll call tonight and find out what’s going on…”
Seeing Shen Fu come out of the bathroom, he lowered his voice. “But, Young Master, please be merciful for once. If that’s really the case, you absolutely can’t make fun of the girl.”
“Are you crazy?” Jiang Shu snapped.
What kind of misunderstanding did these people have about him?
Sure, he wasn’t the sort of person who would help an old lady cross the street. But that didn’t mean he’d ever kicked the elderly, weak, sick, or disabled into a manhole. Why did everyone always assume he was hopelessly awful?
Shen Fu came out of the bathroom. After washing her face, the skin around her eyes, which was already delicate, had turned even redder.
When the tragedy struck Shen Fu’s family, the first period had indeed been difficult. But after three months, aside from occasionally hiding away to cry, her emotions had mostly stabilized.
However, in Jiang Shu’s eyes, she now looked like a homeless little puppy whose family had been destroyed. Who knew how she had survived after her parents’ car accident? When they first met, she had devoured two sweet potatoes as if she were starving. Had her relatives not even fed her properly? She had cried when they met… And now, after going into the bathroom, her eyes were red again. Was she unable to adjust to this unfamiliar place?
Little by little, Jiang Shu’s own imagination managed to stir up a trace of pity within him.
What she was having trouble adjusting to definitely wasn’t him. That meant it was probably Assistant Zhou.
Jiang Shu shot Assistant Zhou another glare.
Assistant Zhou: “…?”
Assistant Zhou took Shen Fu around the villa, inside and out. He explained the route from the villa to downtown, the schedules of the cleaners and drivers, and also went over the young master’s habits and temperament.
Shen Fu listened carefully and understood the underlying message perfectly:
Everything else is fine.
But when it comes to Young Master Jiang, avoid him whenever possible.
Don’t provoke him.
Shen Fu firmly committed those words to memory and nodded.
After talking with her for so long and never hearing her say a single word, Assistant Zhou became increasingly convinced that she might have aphasia.
But he was afraid asking would embarrass or upset her, so he held back.
After escorting Shen Fu back to her room, Assistant Zhou said to Jiang Shu, “I’m afraid it really might be…”
Young Master Jiang put down his mobile game. A layer of worry settled over his face. He felt like a parent fretting that their child would get bullied at school. It was making him anxious and troubled.
“The people at our school aren’t exactly easy to get along with. If they find out she’s a little mute, who’s going to want to be friends with her?”
As someone familiar with the realities of expensive private schools, Assistant Zhou understood. “Should we transfer her to another school?”
Jiang Shu felt that would be even worse. At his own school, he and Wang Xuanheng’s group could look out for her. At another school, if something happened, who would protect her?
“She’ll stay here.” Jiang Shu frowned. “I’ll have some of the younger students keep an eye on her.”
“By the way, she doesn’t know sign language, does she?” He hadn’t seen her make any signs. Well, except when she bought sweet potatoes and gestured a few times to the vendor.
Assistant Zhou said, “She could definitely speak before the accident. If she can’t speak now, it’s probably temporary and something that needs treatment.”
In other words, there was no way she would have had time to learn sign language.
“Arrange the hospital appointments,” Jiang Shu said.
Half an hour later.
Shen Fu was in the room Assistant Zhou had prepared for her, unpacking her luggage, when someone knocked twice on the door.
The tall, handsome boy stood outside looking down at her.
“Come with me,” Jiang Shu said.
Then he turned and headed downstairs with his hands in his pockets.
Shen Fu didn’t dare refuse and followed him.
A little mute couldn’t talk, but she could write, right?
Jiang Shu searched everywhere for paper and a pen. After a long time, he still couldn’t find any.
He wasn’t exactly a student who loved studying. He skipped exams whenever he could. His house was full of gaming consoles and model cars. Where would he get notebooks?
The search was starting to annoy him. Well, mostly because Shen Fu kept following him around, her gaze fixed on him the entire time.
Being watched by those misty eyes made Jiang Shu feel oddly nervous.
Finally, he simply dragged her into his room, picked up a discarded piece of homework from a corner, tore off a sheet, and casually handed it to her along with a pen.
Shen Fu had no idea what he wanted…
Was he asking her to do his homework the moment she arrived?
The boy in front of her was nearly a head taller than she was, making him incredibly intimidating.
After a moment of silence, Shen Fu accepted the paper and pen and walked over to a table holding a stack of CDs.
“Just write your…” Jiang Shu had intended to ask her to write down her clothing size, shoe size, and any dietary restrictions so Assistant Zhou could buy her some clothes.
But before he could finish, Shen Fu had already scribbled several answers onto the worksheet’s fill-in-the-blank questions.
Jiang Shu: “…”
After finishing, Shen Fu put down the pen and paper. She cautiously glanced at Jiang Shu, checked the answers one more time to make sure they were correct, then quietly left the room.
After she was gone, Young Master Jiang remained standing there, completely bewildered.
What kind of logic was that?
Following her out, he called, “Wait in your room for a bit.”
There was more?
It wasn’t that Shen Fu was unwilling to help. Since she was now living with the Jiangs, doing some things for the young master seemed reasonable. But if she completed all of his homework, what would happen to his grades?
Before she could figure out how to handle the situation, the boy had already dashed out the door like a whirlwind.
Half an hour later, on the third floor, Shen Fu’s door was knocked on again.
When she opened it, Jiang Shu immediately tossed a bank card into her arms. “This is the allowance card the old man prepared for you. The PIN is written on the back.”
Then he tossed her a brand-new phone. “Your old one’s broken, so replace it. If there are photos you need transferred, ask Assistant Zhou to have it repaired.”
Just as Shen Fu thought that was everything, Young Master Jiang suddenly produced a bag full of small notebooks and pens from behind his back.
He handed them all to her. “Carry these with you from now on.”
The heavy bag nearly knocked Shen Fu over. “…”
Why?
“And another thing.” Jiang Shu snatched the phone from her hands, rolled up his sleeves, and demonstrated. “When I call you in the future, if you mean ‘I’m here,’ tap the phone once. If you mean ‘I’m being bullied,’ tap it ten times…”
Isn’t ten times too many? What if whoever was bullying her snatched the phone away before she finished?
Jiang Shu immediately corrected himself. “No, just tap twice.”
As for any other secret codes, he hadn’t thought of them yet. He would come up with them when needed.
Having finished all these arrangements, Jiang Shu felt incredibly cool and heroic. Without waiting for Shen Fu to react, or be so moved that she burst into tears and threw herself at him, he turned around and headed downstairs to continue playing video games.
He absolutely did not want to witness girls crying.
She could secretly be touched in private.
Meanwhile, Shen Fu stood there completely confused, holding all the things he had given her. Returning to her room, she arranged them neatly on her desk.
She looked at the phone that supposedly only needed a certain number of taps. Then she looked at the heavy bag of notebooks and pens. The expression on fifteen-year-old Shen Fu’s face… was extremely complicated.
Why was someone only a year older than her still so embarrassingly obsessed with secret codes and spy signals?
And in the future, when talking to him on the phone, was she really not supposed to speak and only tap on the phone instead?
Beneath this young master’s overwhelmingly handsome appearance…there seemed to be something wrong with his brain.
