Chapter 69: You Frightened Me

All the heat accumulated during the day gathered into rain at night.

As the sky darkened, Tang Yu curled up beneath the narrow air conditioner unit, hidden in utter darkness where no one would notice her. The rain began as a fine drizzle, growing heavier and faster, each drop pelting her legs as the wind swept it in, chilling her to the bone as if she’d been cast into an icy cellar. Even her tears were cold.

Her face was pale, devoid of color, her clothes tattered. She stared unfocused into the pitch-black night before her, like a discarded doll thrown atop a garbage heap, unmoving and empty, gazing into the desolation of her own future.

A future with not a glimmer of light.

Confusion, pain, darkness.

She didn’t know how much longer she could endure. She used to tell herself, just hang on a little longer, the college entrance exams were coming, these days without light would soon pass.

But now, she was so tired.

She lifted her head to wipe her tears, only for them to sting her wounds, burning with pain.

It hurt to move; it hurt not to move. Eyes open, darkness; eyes closed, darkness. This kind of darkness, no matter how hard the rain fell, could never wash it away.

Bian Yang had said, the Tsinghua campus was especially beautiful at this time of year.

The most beautiful red carp swam in Weiming Lake, hydrangeas bloomed along Xinmin Road in April. Peonies competed in elegance at the Peony Garden, and there was Lovers’ Slope...

But she was so tired, so hurt—she’d never reach Tsinghua, would she...

Suddenly, she thought that dying quietly like this might not be so bad.

The thought that death would mean no more pain, no more sadness, brought an unexpected sense of relief.

“Tang Yu! Where are you?!”

“Tang Yu!”

She thought she was hallucinating, hearing Bian Yang’s voice just before death.

So anxious, so desperate, calling her name.

Tang Yu’s numb head lifted from her knees, the stormy wind and rain thrashing the trees into chaos.

In the thunder and lightning, the figure running toward her through the pouring rain gradually became clear.

She was swept into a searing embrace, so fierce, as if he wanted to merge her into himself.

“Tang Xiaoyu, do you know you...!” His angry voice faltered, trembling, finally becoming a hoarse murmur as he knelt, burying his forehead in the crook of her neck, “You scared me.”

He held her as if he’d lost her and found her again, his entire body shaking.

Hot tears flooded her eyes, and she instinctively clung tightly to his waist, desperately seeking every trace of warmth from his body, crying helplessly like a child.

Bian Yang, it hurts so much...

I almost died...

But she couldn’t speak, her tears falling uncontrollably, her sobs mingling with the sound of the rain.

Bian Yang took off his jacket and draped it over her, buttoning it one by one, then wrapped a raincoat around the outside, holding her tightly within. Her hands remained clasped around his neck, unwilling to let go, crying without restraint in front of him, letting the tears flow endlessly like the rain, completely releasing herself.

Until her eyes were swollen from tears, until Bian Yang carefully lifted her and placed her in the car, taking her to the hospital, where she eventually lost consciousness.

Even in her dreams, her fingers clung tightly to his clothes, refusing to let go.

“Qin Mingyu, drive faster!”

Bian Yang’s voice was sharp, bloodshot eyes rimmed with red.

He thought he’d lose his mind when he saw Tang Yu covered in blood.

“I know, I know. Calm down. It’s raining hard, the roads are crowded, I’m already driving fast.”

He turned the heater up to the highest setting and told Bian Yang there was a spare blanket in the rear storage compartment.

Bian Yang wiped the tears and rain from the girl’s face with tissues, then wrapped her in the blanket. When he touched her somewhere, Tang Yu winced in pain, letting out a weak moan.

Something was wrong—her hands and feet were growing colder, her bleeding heavier.

Bian Yang’s expression suddenly became tense.

“Tang Yu? Xiaoyu, can you hear me?”

Tang Yu tiredly moved her eyes, barely opening a slit. She tried to speak.

Bian Yang leaned in close to her lips, hearing her whisper, “Don’t call... my grandparents. They’ll worry...”

Bian Yang’s heart felt as if it had been squeezed brutally, so much that he could barely breathe.

“Don’t tell them…”

She clutched the hem of his shirt, crumpling it in her grip.

Bian Yang pressed his face to her cold, pale cheek, softly wiping away her tears, comforting her in a low voice, “I understand. Rest for a while. Leave the rest to me.”

He wrapped her cold hands tightly in his own.

Feeling the warmth from his palm, she slowly closed her eyes, unaware of the terrifying darkness that flashed in his eyes.

“Qin Mingyu, drive even faster!”

The rainy season in Liangcheng was damp and endless, the rain outside pouring like a deluge, drumming on the car as if to pound it into the earth.

Qin Mingyu floored the accelerator, “Alright, alright, calm down, Yang. Don’t be nervous—if you’re nervous, I’ll be nervous…”

Finally, at the hospital, he carried her in for examination.

Qin Mingyu saw the blood on Bian Yang and gasped.

All that blood belonged to Tang Yu—just how much suffering had the girl endured?

Along the way, Qin Mingyu answered a call from Uncle Chen. While Bian Yang was searching for Tang Yu, he’d asked Uncle Chen to use his connections to investigate who was behind the attack.

After hanging up, Qin Mingyu approached Bian Yang. “Yang, Uncle Chen found those street punks. I had him send them to the police station for custody.”

Bian Yang leaned against the wall, eyes downcast and expressionless, staring dazedly at the blood on his hands, wet strands of hair falling over his brow.

“Yang?”

Qin Mingyu, seeing no response, patted his shoulder.

Bian Yang came to, his dark eyes deep as the abyss as he looked at Qin Mingyu, who was startled—he’d never seen Bian Yang like this before.

The boy who was born rebellious, always unruffled and carefree, now had a murderous darkness in his gaze. If Qin Mingyu told him where those men were, he’d probably rush out and kill them for hurting Tang Yu.

Better wait until he calms down.

Tang Yu was inside for over an hour before being wheeled out.

The doctor, hands stained with blood, removed his gloves as he exited the examination room.

Bian Yang immediately went up to ask, “Doctor, how is she?”

“The abdomen sustained a forceful blow, causing rupture of the corpus luteum and internal abdominal bleeding. There are signs of beating on the chest, waist, and legs, with obvious bruising… She’s not yet an adult, is she? Who did this?”

The doctor’s brow furrowed deeply.

Such a young girl, beaten like this—it was heartbreaking to see.

Bian Yang’s fingers trembled at his side.

He exhaled deeply, regaining composure. “Doctor, how should she be treated?”

“What’s your relation to the patient? Are her parents here?”

The doctor looked at him—he was so young, hardly seemed like a parent.

Bian Yang glanced toward the examination room, throat tight, then spoke, “I’m her family. I’m her… brother. If there’s anything, just tell me.”

“First, we’ll start an IV. While she’s on the drip, I’ll have the nurse apply medication. We’ll observe for half an hour. If her hemoglobin drops, we’ll have to operate.”

As the doctor spoke, the boy’s eyes grew darker and more threatening.

The girl he’d cherished, barely a month under his care, had been bullied right under his nose, left with so many wounds, and now might need surgery. There was no way he could let this go.