Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

A hole-in-the-wall restaurant at the alley entrance, its plastic awning flapping loudly in the strong wind.

Xie Wang casually found a greasy corner to sit down, placed the heavy schoolbag on his lap, and protected it tightly.

"Boss, a bowl of vegetarian noodles, extra spicy, please."

After a fight, once the adrenaline subsided, I felt a piercing exhaustion.

He had just taken out his phone to check the transfer receipt for the creditor when someone suddenly sat down opposite him.

A pungent smell of cheap alcohol hit me.

Xie Wang paused, holding his phone, and slowly raised his head.

Sitting opposite him was a middle-aged man wearing a wrinkled Brazilian suit. His hair was half-white, his beard was unkempt, his eyes were sunken, and his cloudy eyes were filled with bloodshot veins.

That was his father, Xie Zhengyang.

Once a genius in the Computer Science Department of Jiangcheng University, he is now a hopeless gambler.

"Ah Wang."

Xie Zhengyang chuckled, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "Dad just received a text message from that creditor saying the money's been paid off? I knew it, my son's got guts! It must be that money your mother left behind..."

"That's a debt you incurred yourself."

Xie Wang interrupted him, his voice as cold as ice, "I've returned the money. Don't come looking for me at school again."

"Yes, yes, Dad had no choice."

Xie Zhengyang rubbed his hands together, his eyes greedily glancing at Xie Wang's bulging backpack. "Um... son, since you managed to get 40,000, you must have some left over, right? How about giving Dad another 2,000? No, just 1,000 will do! I have inside information; we're sure to turn things around tonight!"

Xie Wang's eyes darkened completely.

He stared intently at the man in front of him: "Going gambling again? Have you forgotten how your mother died?"

Mentioning his deceased wife, Xie Zhengyang became agitated, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, slamming his fist on the table and roaring:

"Don't mention her to me! If she hadn't insisted on showing off back then and messing with those big shots she shouldn't have, would we be in this situation today? Car accident? Hmph, it's only because the police believed it was an accident! That's karma! She brought it on herself!"

Xie Wang's pupils suddenly contracted.

This was the first time my father had revealed details of what happened back then while drunk.

Big man?

Wasn't the mother in a regular car accident?

"What did you say?" Xie Wang suddenly stood up, grabbing Xie Zhengyang by the collar. "What exactly does Mom know?"

"Snapped!"

A slap landed heavily on Xie Wang's face.

It was crisp and clear.

Xie Zhengyang seemed frightened by his own words, or perhaps enraged, and could only use violence to mask his fear: "You little brat, you dare grab my collar? Get lost! Mind your own business! Are you going to pay me or not? If not, get lost!"

Xie Wang turned his face to one side, and the wound at the corner of his mouth, which had just scabbed over, reopened, oozing blood.

He didn't hide.

The surrounding diners cast strange glances and pointed at each other.

Xie Wang slowly released his grip.

Looking at the hysterical man in front of him, he suddenly felt utterly absurd.

The secret that her mother risked her life to protect was described as "self-inflicted" in the mouth of this scoundrel.

He pulled a crumpled twenty-yuan note from his pocket and slapped it on the table.

"Take the money and drink yourself to death."

After saying that, he grabbed his schoolbag and rushed into the night without looking back.

……

Meanwhile, across the street.

The black Maybach didn't drive far; instead, it quietly stopped under the shade of the trees by the roadside.

The car window was half-rolled down.

Su Qinghe sat in the back seat, still holding the tablet in his hand, but his gaze was fixed across the street, coldly watching the farce unfolding in that hole-in-the-wall restaurant.

"Miss, we should go now."

In the front row, the old butler, Uncle Zhong, frowned, his tone clearly disapproving. "Those petty, scoundrel-like family squabbles will only offend your eyes. Your teacher is waiting for you to go back and practice the piano."

"Uncle Chung, turn off the car."

Su Qinghe said calmly, without turning his head, "Wait two more minutes."

"Miss……"

"That boy just chased away three thugs in the alley," Su Qinghe interrupted the butler, a hint of inquiry in his eyes. "But now, facing a drunkard's slap, he didn't even flinch. Don't you find that interesting?"

Uncle Zhong sighed and had no choice but to turn off the engine.

Su Qinghe watched as the boy rushed out of the noodle shop and stumbled towards the abandoned construction site by the river.

That figure, so solitary and aloof, was chilling.

"I'll go take a look." Su Qinghe put down the tablet and reached for the car door.

"Miss!" Uncle Zhong exclaimed in alarm, quickly getting out of the car and opening a black umbrella to block the door. "That kind of place is too chaotic, you can't go there! What if..."

"It's right by the roadside, I won't go over there." Su Qinghe pushed open the car door and got out.

……

The wind was strong by the river, carrying damp moisture.

Xie Wang sat on the stone steps by the river, surrounded by a pile of abandoned rubble.

His father's words, "Mother offended a big shot," lingered in his mind like a curse.

It turns out that my mother's death really wasn't an accident.

It turns out that his survival under the trust's "protection" all these years was actually a compromise his mother paid with her life for.

A tremendous sense of powerlessness instantly overwhelmed him.

He wanted to yell and smash things, but his throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and he couldn't make a sound.

"mom……"

Xie Wang buried his face in his arms, his shoulders trembling violently.

In this dark corner unseen by anyone, Xie Wang removed all his fangs.

A drop of scalding liquid hit my arm, then a second, then a third.

He cried.

Silently, repressively, like a child who can't find his home.

Just then.

A shadow fell, blocking the dim yellow light of the street lamp overhead.

Xie Wang looked up sharply, alert. The tear stains at the corners of his eyes were still wet, and the vulnerability in his eyes was completely exposed.

It was on the roadside, about five meters away from him.

Su Qinghe stood there.

She was wearing a clean school uniform skirt, followed by the meticulous old butler.

Uncle Zhong held up a huge black umbrella, completely enveloping her under its safe and clean shade, as if drawing an insurmountable boundary between them.

She looked down at him from her vantage point.

Looking at the blood at the corner of his mouth, looking at the tears in the corner of his eyes.

Tears are like pearls; don't let them fall for unworthy people.

Su Qinghe spoke, his voice carried by the river breeze, cold and devoid of any warmth, "When you were beating someone in the alley just now, I thought you didn't have any pain receptors."

Xie Wang froze, hastily wiping his face, his eyes instantly turning fierce: "Have you seen enough? Get out!"

Su Qinghe happened to see his most disheveled and least wanted-to-be-seen side.

"Miss, let's go." Uncle Zhong urged in a low voice, his eyes warily fixed on Xie Wang. "This man is emotionally unstable, let's stay away from him."

Su Qinghe did not move.

She stared at Xie Wang for a few seconds, then suddenly pulled a tissue from her pocket.

She walked over to Xie Wang, raised her hand, and placed the handkerchief in his hand.

"Let's wipe it."

Su Qinghe said calmly, "It's not worth it for that kind of scumbag."

"Su Qinghe, are you fucking bored?" Xie Wang gritted his teeth, ignoring the packet of tissues. "You want to see me make a fool of myself? You think I'm pathetic? Stop with your pity, I don't need it!"

"pity?"

Su Qinghe raised an eyebrow slightly, as if he had heard a joke.

She stood under the umbrella, arms crossed, her tone carrying an innate coolness and rationality:

"Compassion is usually reserved for those crushed by fate, and I can see that your eyes are still clear."

"A soul with choices needs no pity."

She turned around, her skirt tracing a graceful arc in the wind.

"Uncle Zhong, let's go, we'll be late if we don't go back to practice the piano soon."

The butler gave Xie Wang a deep look, then protected his young mistress and turned to get into the luxurious Maybach.

Xie Wang sat there, watching the car start and drive away until its red taillights disappeared into the night.

He looked down at the Suzhou embroidered handkerchief lying quietly in the pile of rubble at his feet.

It was so clean that it stood out starkly from the surrounding mud.

a long time.

Xie Wang reached out and picked up the handkerchief.

He murmured to himself, the vulnerability in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by an unprecedented determination.

"Mom, I will do it."