The white rose I picked up cried and said she liked me.

Zhao Lin is very unhappy today.

Walking around the school, people were pointing and whispering about her everywhere.

"Have you heard? It was her. She was having an affair with the top student in the grade, which caused his grades to drop and he jumped off a building."

"I've heard about her, her name is Zhao Lin, right? Look at the clothes she's wearing, she's not exactly a good student."

"Shh, keep your voice down. Did you see that group of thugs following her? They're the ones who cause eight out of ten fights outside of school."

"My God, it's the mafia! Run, run! Stay away from these people!"

Zhao Lin stood in front of them with a cold look in her eyes.

"Try spouting another load of nonsense? Go ahead and say it to my face."

The two students quickly lowered their heads and ran away.

Even his own underlings seemed to be gossiping about him in secret.

"The guy that Sister Lin likes dropped out of school? Is that true?"

"Is he avoiding Sister Lin?"

"Who knows? Being liked by Sister Lin is really not a good thing. If I were him, I would carry a train overnight."

Zhao Lin clenched her fists, her veins bulging.

After school, she dismissed her followers and left the school alone.

When a person is down on their luck, even walking becomes difficult.

Zhao Lin stepped on something and tripped.

"Ouch!"

"Fuck you, are you blind?!"

Zhao Lin turned around angrily and saw an elderly man kneeling on the ground behind her, begging.

His clothes were tattered, and his hunched figure was clutching his hand, groaning in pain.

There was a worn-out cardboard box in front of me, with a few coins scattered inside.

After a long while, he tentatively reached out his hand, as if searching for the source of the sound.

"I'm sorry... little girl, I'm blind."

"I lost my sight several years ago, I didn't see you coming, I'm so sorry..."

"Did you fall? Does it hurt?"

After saying that, he shakily poured out the coins from the box and handed them to Zhao Lin.

"I'm sorry... young lady, this is the money I got today... I don't know if it's enough to compensate you."

Zhao Lin's eye twitched, and after cursing her bad luck, she left.

After a while, she came back and threw the wad of cash she had just exchanged at the convenience store into the old man's cardboard box.

"Thank you... kind person, you will be rewarded!"

The old man couldn't see Zhao Lin's location, nor did he know that she was the girl who had just fallen down by stepping on him; he simply kowtowed and bowed directly in front of him.

The First Affiliated Hospital of Yuncheng Medical University, abbreviated as Affiliated Hospital 1.

The ninth floor of the inpatient department is the orthopedic ward.

Song Jiayi had one foot dangling in the air, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.

He lay alone on the cold hospital bed, his face pale, looking utterly desolate.

"Jiayi, are you alright?"

Zhao Lin carried a bowl of eight-treasure porridge into the ward and sat down next to Song Jiayi.

Song Jiayi turned her head away, not daring to meet Zhao Lin's gaze.

Zhao Lin shook the bed board, took out a disposable spoon, scooped up a spoonful of eight-treasure porridge, and handed it to Song Jiayi's mouth.

"I'm sorry, Zhao Lin..."

After swallowing the hot eight-treasure porridge, Song Jiayi cried.

His former arrogance vanished, and in an instant he transformed into a helpless child.

Zhao Lin took out a tissue from her bag and wiped away the tears on Song Jiayi's face.

"Song Jiayi, I have only one question."

Did you ever like me?

Song Jiayi remained silent.

After a long while, he moved his lips with difficulty, as if uttering each word would take all his strength.

"Zhao Lin, I don't think I've ever told you about my family."

"My dad abandoned my mom and me when I was very young."

"My mother raised me all by herself, and she had to endure the neighbors' disdain. Over time... that's how I became what you see now."

"She had high hopes for me, hoping I would make something of myself, and she was willing to work two jobs a day to pay for my tutoring classes."

"I also lived up to expectations; from elementary school to my first year of high school, I was always the best."

"To be honest, when I first met you, I looked down on you."

After saying that, he gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"He swears constantly, ranks at the bottom of his class academically, smokes, drinks, and dyes his hair; he has an aura that... instills great fear in me."

"After a year, I can see that you've changed a lot. Your grades aren't at the bottom anymore, and you've dyed your hair back to black. As for smoking, drinking, and swearing... at least you don't do it in front of me."

"I tried to accept you, but... I failed."

"But I selfishly coveted the material things you provided for me... I comforted myself by saying that your family was very wealthy and wouldn't mind giving me this little bit of charity."

"I know this is wrong, but..."

"That's enough!"

Zhao Lin interrupted.

She gently stroked Song Jiayi's cheek, just as her mother used to stroke her.

"I have a bad memory, I've forgotten what happened before."

"Would you like to come with me? I can give you the life you want and help you leave this painful family."

"My family is very rich, we don't need your little bit."

Song Jiayi calmly shook her head.

"Feel sorry."

"I don't like you, and that's unfair to you."

"I'm sorry, I should have told you this sooner."

Zhao Lin smiled with relief.

She sat down on a chair and lit a cigarette.

"The person you like is Xu Xi, right?"

After a long silence, Song Jiayi nodded.

"But I will never like her again."

"I've become like this, how could I possibly have the right to like someone else?"

Zhao Lin suddenly stood up and punched the pillow next to Song Jiayi's face.

"Song Jiayi, I'm fucking not convinced!"

"I've been chasing you for a whole year! Why the hell is it that I couldn't compete with that girl spending a week with you?!"

She practically screamed those two sentences.

Song Jiayi lowered her head, not daring to meet Zhao Lin's gaze.

Zhao Lin shook the cigarette ash off her trousers, took off her headband, and casually threw it into the trash can.

At this moment, with her hair disheveled, she looked exactly like a dancer who had just had a hangover and was still dancing in a bar.

After a long while, she took out a bank card from her bag and threw it at Song Jiayi's feet.

It was like something I'd left at the beggar's feet on the way here.

"I have 100,000 in my account, consider it compensation for the trouble I've caused you this year."

"Never again."

After saying that, she left the ward without looking back.

Song Jiayi leaned against the hospital bed, feeling a sense of relief despite her distress.

It was as if some unresolved knot in my heart had been untied at this moment.

A dozen minutes later, the door to the ward was knocked on again.

Xu Bowen entered the ward, glanced behind him, and then quickly walked to Song Jiayi's side.

"I just saw Zhao Lin leave the hospital crying, is that...?"

He leaned close to Song Jiayi's ear and whispered something.

Song Jiayi nodded.

Xu Bowen breathed a sigh of relief and punched Song Jiayi in the arm.

"You should have done this a long time ago."

After saying that, he waved towards the door.

Wen Yao led Xu Xi into the ward.

"Song Jiayi, on behalf of all the students in Class 3 of Grade 11 and our homeroom teacher, Ms. Yang, we have come to visit you."