Except for Zhiyuan being beaten, Yansheng never took the initiative to find Lichen.
They used to see each other often in school, but in the last two days Yansheng had paid attention, she did not see Lichen that much.
She saw him twice only during exercises. At other times, he didn’t seem to appear outside their classroom as often as before.
Yansheng did not look for him again.
After getting the affirmation from Huan, she felt more at ease.
Everyone was an independent individual, even the husband and wife would have time to be separated from each other, let alone just friends from the previous life.
She could only do so much to help him.
Because of her scheduled make-up lessons with the two teachers, she had no time at noon and after school, so she was busy from morning until night at school.
It was already Saturday afternoon when she saw Lichen again.
When her phone rang, Yansheng answered, “Hello?”
Lichen’s voice sounded. “I am outside the gate of your house.”
Lichen pursed his lips, thinking about what tone he should use to say ‘Can you come out and meet me?’, when Yansheng had already said, “Okay, just wait there.”
She ended the call, changed her clothes, grabbed a coat, and went out.
She ran into Heling while walking down the stairs. “Sister, are you going out?”
“A classmate came over to talk to me about something.” Things had gone smoothly recently and Yansheng was in a more relaxed mood, so she slightly messed up Heling’s hair. “I’ll be back in a while.”
It was quite cold outside so Yansheng wrapped her coat tightly. She passed through the courtyard upfront and opened the small door.
There was a motorcycle that Yansheng was familiar with which was parked outside. Speaking of it, it was Lichen who introduced her to riding a motorcycle.
But when she turned eighteen and got a driver’s license, she abandoned her motorcycle.
The motorcycle was propped on the ground and Lichen leaned against it. One of his legs was in a straight position and the other was bent. He bit the cigarette in his mouth and moved his lips slightly, letting out a white breath of smoke.
With his angular handsome face and gloomy eyes, he was even stronger than many young idols on TV, but Yansheng thought he was so stupid.
She walked over and asked, “You’re driving a motorcycle on such a cold day, is your brain damaged?”
Lichen froze and forcibly defended himself, “I don’t want my family to know where I’m going, so I didn’t call the driver…”
He made it sound as if his parents cared about his whereabouts.
In fact, he often couldn’t see them for several days and didn’t know what they were doing or where they were, and vice versa, unless the school called his parents to invite them, they often didn’t know where he was or what he was doing.
“Then, why didn’t you call for a car service?” Yansheng asked. “Don’t tell me you don’t even have a ride-hailing app? Are you an old man who doesn’t know how to use a cell phone?”
Yansheng snorted. How could she not know him? He only paid attention to being elegant and stylish, a narcissist.
Lichen couldn’t argue.
He was the only child in the family. He had a dedicated driver and car that was exclusively for him. He could also ride a motorcycle by himself and he did not need to use a ride-hailing service.
He felt like he was a mentally retarded person in Yansheng’s eyes, which was disgusting.
Lichen was so angry that he pulled out a cigarette but found that he was already biting one on his mouth.
He raised his eyes and handed it to Yansheng. “Would you like a cigarette?” Then he sneered. “Forget it, how could a good girl like you smoke?”
He was just making a gesture to tease Yansheng, and when he said that, he was about to withdraw his hand.
However, Yansheng took the cigarette, put it in her hand, and with a slap from her other hand, the cigarette swirled and bounced up, then she opened her mouth and bit it.
She did that steadily.
“What did I just see?!” Lichen looked sideways. “You’re a regular smoker!”
He also knew this little trick. This was not something you could do with a cigarette, you had to practice, over and over again for a long time, and you had to be dexterous and agile enough to do it. He had a buddy who had been training for two years but still couldn’t bite the cigarette at the end.
Lichen wanted to light Yansheng’s cigarette, but she waved off the lighter with a cigarette in her hand.
“How many times do I have to say it? Don’t do this in front of me,” she said.
But Lichen genuinely didn’t understand. “Which one?”
“Smoking, drinking, riding a motorcycle, picking up girls, pretending to be cool…” Yansheng counted it up. “Do you think it’s unique and mature? Let me tell you, truly mature people will only laugh when they see it.”
Lichen found that he had become accustomed to Yansheng’s poisonous tongue. She was always very aggressive when talking to him and she was not polite at all, but the wonderful thing was that he could always hear an indescribable familiarity and intimacy from it.
He retorted, “You’re saying this as if you and I are not of the same age. Then tell me, what is true maturity?”
Yansheng actually gave this question some serious thought.
“It’s probably like this cigarette,” she said as she raised the cigarette in her hand.
“I can smoke—” Then, she pressed the cigarette into a ball on the seat of the motorcycle. “—but I don’t want to do it.”
Lichen was a little surprised by these words. He was startled and savored the meaning.
Yansheng raised her hand to snatch the cigarette from his mouth and pressed it on the seat of the motorcycle. The leather seat had a hole burnt out by the burning cigarette.
Lichen was neither distressed nor angry, then he raised his head. “Heh! So mature!”
When Yansheng was unhappy in her previous life, she would use cigarette butts to burn scars on her arms. When Lichen found this out later, he stopped her from burning herself again.
Then, he stretched out his arm to her. “Burn me instead.”
So, Yansheng burnt him and Lichen accepted it without grunting.
But it was only that one burn. Later, when Yansheng was unhappy, she would burn his clothes, his school bag, and even his motorcycle seat leather.
This made Qian angry. “Yansheng, don’t be a jerk!”
She stomped her feet and said to Lichen, “You should talk to her!”
But Lichen just bit his cigarette and looked at Yansheng with a smile.
Yansheng could do whatever she wanted and go crazy whenever she wanted. He would accompany her to the ends of the earth.
Yansheng looked at Lichen’s derisive expression and youthful face.
That was not companionship, nor mutual warmth. It was obviously two stupid kids pulling each other down together.
Yansheng flicked the cigarette to the ground. “Speak up if you have something to say.”
But Lichen, who was talking to her just now, didn’t say a word.
Yansheng understood what was going on. “Have you talked to your mother?”
Lichen continued to be silent. The way he rubbed his fingers seemed that he wanted to smoke to ease his emotions.
So, Yansheng kicked him. “What did your mother say?”
Lichen finally raised his head. “My mother knew it a long time ago.”
Yansheng sighed. “Your mother is very powerful.” Lichen’s mother remained calm despite knowing her husband’s affair, and then she silently transferred their assets, followed by a thunderbolt approach. Although it was not successful, Yansheng really admired his mother for her ruthless and unwavering style.
Lichen looked down for a long while before saying, “She cried.
“I’ve grown up so much and this is the first time I’ve seen my mother cry. I have never seen her like that before.” This stupid young man’s voice was full of confusion. “I really didn’t expect that someone as fierce as her would cry.”
“Stupid nonsense,” Yansheng said. “Don’t you cry when you feel uncomfortable? What did your mother say?”
“She told me not to alarm my father,” Lichen said this with a bit of bitterness.
Yansheng nodded. “So your mother… is she prepared?”
“Hmm… Their marriage is bound to end. My mother can’t continue in that relationship. The main thing is about their properties…”
Yansheng said without hesitation, “Don’t be soft-hearted, don’t be confused! You must stand with your mother! You and your mother have the same interests!”
As she said that, she put her hands in her pockets. Usually, there was a car to pick her up and there was a heater in the school. She had been wearing a thin coat. She would also go to the playground to do some exercise when she was not in the school building, so she would no longer feel cold.
After standing outside for a long time, the chill came up to her.
She should have come out in a thick coat, she thought.
Just as Lichen wanted to say something, he suddenly heard the creak of the small door, and a voice sounded, “Sister?”
The two looked at the door at the same time.
Heling poked out her small head and when she saw Yansheng really outside the gate, she jumped out happily. “Great, you are here!”
Her small arms were holding a big long coat. “I think you are wearing a thin one, so I brought you a thick one.”
This was exactly what Yansheng needed.
She took it and put it on, and heard Heling explain, “I didn’t enter your room, I asked Aunt Luo to help me get it.” Only Mrs. Luo in the whole house was allowed to enter and exit her room freely by Yansheng.
Yansheng paused and patted Heling’s head. “I see.”
Then she thought to herself that if Huan dared to love Shuocheng more than Heling in the future, then she would whack him.
She said, “Go back, I still have something to talk about with my classmate.”
Heling agreed obediently and then greeted Lichen, “Hello, Big Brother, see you again!”
Lichen’s expression was slightly strange and he replied, “Okay, bye.”
Heling turned around and ran back. She was also wearing thin clothes and felt that it was so cold outside.
Yansheng turned her head back, only to find that Lichen was still staring at the small door. She shouted, “Hey!”
Lichen glanced at her but hesitated to say something.
Yansheng said, “If you have something to say, just say it.”
Lichen asked, “Is that your sister?”
“Yes.”
“The one who does not have the same mother as you?”
When he asked this, Yansheng sneered. “Your family driver is capable enough to find out everything?”
“How can he have that ability?!” Lichen said with disdain. “Your driver’s mouth is also very tight and our driver only asked about the name of your father’s company.”
He added, “However, it is easy to check if you know the company name. I asked my father’s secretary to inquire about it. They are quite capable and well-informed.”
Knowing the family name and company name, Yansheng riding in a car that was worth several million yuan, you would know that she was the daughter of a big boss. The secretaries had a wide range of contacts and could get a lot of information after making a round of phone calls.
So when Yansheng deceived Lichen that she had heard a rumor about their family, Lichen didn’t doubt it at all, because their parents were actually regarded as people in a circle.
“You can also find our address, your father’s secretary is really awesome, huh?” Yansheng asked.
She didn’t quite believe it. These secretaries were all particularly slick and sophisticated people. It was okay for Lichen to inquire about some rumors, but if he inquired about someone’s address, these secretaries would not give it to him even if they could find it, for fear that they would be held responsible in case of an accident.
All of them were human beings, no one was stupid.