A Young Woman's Heart

Light footsteps echoed in the corridor, followed by the classroom door creaking open.

A boy who was about 1.7 meters tall and looked sunny and handsome walked in with a puzzled look in his eyes, muttering to himself, "Huh...didn't the class monitor lock the door today?"

As he said this, he casually turned on the classroom lights.

"Clap."

The light switch was turned on, and the entire classroom was instantly illuminated.

The light was so bright that Li Wanyan instinctively covered her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Huh! Class monitor?" The boy's voice was full of surprise. This was An Ruosu, a boarding student in Class 2 of the first year of high school.

“…Hmm.” The class monitor answered softly, looking down at his desk with some embarrassment.

"Why aren't you home yet? And why aren't the lights on inside...?" An Ruosu asked疑惑地问道, "What's wrong?"

"fine……"

"Then why aren't you going home? Aren't you planning to go home?" An Ruosu asked as she walked to her seat and took out her notebook from the drawer.

"Ah."

"Eh? Won't your parents be worried?" An Ruosu looked at Li Wanyan with her clear eyes, seemingly somewhat surprised.

In his opinion, the class monitor should be the kind of well-behaved and sensible student who would not be likely to run away from home.

"I don't want to go back..."

"why?"

“That’s not my home.” Li Wanyan’s voice trembled slightly, as if she had remembered something terrible.

"What exactly happened? You should at least talk to your family about it." An Ruosu walked up to Li Wanyan, holding her homework. "...Should we call the teacher?"

"No." Li Wanyan shook her head vigorously. "Just let me have some peace and quiet."

"Alright then..." An Ruosu scratched his head. After all, he wasn't very familiar with the class monitor; they were just classmates he knew.

The unfamiliarity prevented him from getting too involved, and after simple words of comfort proved ineffective, he had no choice but to leave.

Li Wanyan, however, was experiencing conflicting emotions.

She both wanted others to ignore her and wanted someone to comfort her.

However, because of the aura of resistance and rejection she always exuded, she ultimately couldn't get others to get close.

To comfort her, you have to be pricked by the invisible thorns on her body.

Everyone is afraid of pain, and if the relationship is not very close, they don't want to endure the pain to get close to others.

After all, this is something that has absolutely nothing to do with An Ruosu.

"...Could you turn off the light for me?" the class monitor said as An Ruosu was about to leave the classroom.

"Okay, okay." An Ruosu nodded, turned off the light, and gently closed the classroom door. The classroom fell into silence once again.

In the darkness, Li Wanyan, sitting in the chair, felt as if she were asleep, yet also as if she were awake.

It's like being trapped at the boundary between the illusory and the real worlds, unable to leave.

"Squad leader, squad leader?" When the squad leader returned to reality from this world, he found himself slumped over a table, with a large men's coat draped over him, and the coat had a faint scent of a young boy.

It's hard to say whether it smells good or bad, but at least it makes people feel at ease.

"Squad leader, you'll catch a cold sleeping here." At this moment, An Ruosu's voice sounded incredibly gentle to Li Wanyan.

"Why are you here again..." Li Wanyan said softly, squinting her eyes. "Did you forget something again?"

“No, I guessed you hadn’t had dinner yet, so I went to the dorm and got a cup of instant noodles… uh, it’s already ready, with two sausages and a braised egg.” An Ruosu pushed a cup of braised beef noodles on the table in front of Li Wanyan. “Eat it while it’s hot.”

Li Wanyan stared blankly at the bucket of braised beef noodles in front of her, her gaze slowly moving upwards until it landed on An Ruosu's eyes.

She stared at him intently until he coughed awkwardly and looked away.

Although the classroom lights were off, she felt that An Ruosu's eyes were incredibly bright.

Then I noticed the lit candle on the table.

This is a candle in a glass, its flame flickering slightly, as if it might go out at any moment.

Li Wanyan couldn't help but place her hand above the candle, feeling the warmth brought by the small flame.

"Ah, well, I was worried that if I turned on the light, the teacher on duty or the security guard would notice and come to see what was going on in this classroom. You didn't want the teacher to come over, so I drew the curtains on this side of the corridor and lit this candle."

"Where did this come from?" Li Wanyan looked at the strange candle. The glass seemed to be the kind used for drinking water. If you looked closely, you could see that it had threads on it, so it should have a lid.

"I made this myself. I had a new glass, so I bought some candles, melted the oil in a pot, poured it in here, stuffed a cotton wick inside, and that was it. In case of a power outage, these candles will come in handy." An Ruosu said this with a hint of pride.

"I didn't realize you were so good at handicrafts."

"Cough... It's alright, it's alright." An Ruosu scratched her head a little embarrassedly, then brought the topic back, "Eat quickly, instant noodles won't taste good if they're left to soak for too long."

"Hmm...um..." Li Wanyan took a deep breath and forced a not-so-good smile. "Thank you."

"It's nothing, it's just what classmates should do. Besides, the class monitor doesn't seem like his usual self today."

What am I like normally?

"He seemed quite...serious and dignified, especially with those black-rimmed glasses; he looked very composed."

"Is that so?" Li Wanyan nodded, lifted the lid of the instant noodles, and steam immediately wafted out, carrying an enticing aroma.

For Li Wanyan, who had been eating a meat floss bun all day, this was the most delicious food.

But then she remembered the sumptuous dinners she used to have at home, the handmade noodles her mother made herself, and suddenly her eyes felt a little sore, as if tears were about to fall again.

"So, what exactly happened at home?" An Ruosu finally couldn't help but ask.

"..." Li Wanyan took a bite of the slightly hot instant noodles, chewed them, and then answered softly, "My father is a gambler and an alcoholic."

"Hmm..." An Ruosu listened very patiently.

“He owed a lot of money outside for various reasons. When people came to collect the debts, he had no money and they beat him up badly.”

"Such a thing is happening, and it's illegal, isn't it?"

"But... it's only right to pay back debts..."

“If it’s usury, then you don’t have to pay it back.” An Ruosu seemed to have some knowledge of the law.

“I don’t know… My mother called the police, but when the police came, they just took a statement and left. There was no response for many days. Later, my father was beaten up. He drank a lot of alcohol that day and started beating my mother when he came back.”

"So... he took out all the frustration he had outside on your mother?"

"Yes... he took it out on me. He even hit me. Actually, he's never liked me since we were little, and now I feel like he hates me more and more."

"No way...it might just be...an accident."

"I think he's serious. My eye hurt all night that day, and I felt like I could barely open it." Li Wanyan sobbed as she touched her left eye. Although the bruise had faded a lot, some traces still remained.

An Ruosu had never experienced domestic violence before, so she didn't know what advice to give.

The best course of action is to call the police, but these days, calling the police for domestic violence often doesn't elicit any response.

"And those debt collectors are getting more and more arrogant. They even blocked my doorway, preventing my mom and me from leaving, and they beat my dad whenever they saw him..." Li Wanyan, who always appeared strong at school, lowered her voice, her voice trembling with tears, "I... my mom and I are so scared..."

"And what about your mother?"

"One day I woke up and she wasn't home anymore. I don't know where she went. She left me behind."

"Perhaps it wasn't abandoning you; maybe there's something else going on?"

“I don’t know… I thought my mom wouldn’t abandon me; she’s always been very good to me, but… that’s just how it is.”

"Okay, so now only your father is home?"

“He left the day after my mother left, so I don’t want to go back there anymore. There are debt collectors blocking the door every day; it’s not home at all…” Li Wanyan took a deep breath and forced a smile. “Thank you, but I hope you won’t tell anyone about this.”

“Okay…” An Ruosu nodded, but her answer wasn’t very confident.

……

Chapter 42 Gradually Adapting to High School Life

"Well, I'll head back to my dorm now. Lights out is coming up soon," An Ruosu said softly in a gentle voice, pinching her earlobe a little awkwardly.

“Wait… clothes…?” Li Wanyan pointed somewhat awkwardly to the thick coat draped over her shoulders.

"Ah, you can use this for now. I only have one quilt, so I can't get you one. This coat is something I brought in case the temperature suddenly drops. It's quite thick, but the weather isn't that cold yet, so you don't need it."

"Thank you."

"It's alright, it's nothing. It's only right for classmates to help each other." An Ruosu smiled. "Then I'll be going. Oh, by the way, here's a lighter. You can use it if you need to relight the candles if they go out tonight."

"it is good."

An Ruosu left, and the lights in the student dormitory were all turned off at 10 o'clock sharp.

Although the student dormitories at Yukong High School are much smaller than those of typical schools that require accommodation, the number of rooms is still more than sufficient for the relatively small number of students.

As a result, boarding students at Yukong High School can afford to share a room with two or three other people, or even have a room to themselves.

The students mostly lived in rooms on the fourth and fifth floors, with the girls living on the fifth floor and the boys on the fourth floor.

An Ruosu lived on the third floor; he was one of the few students who lived alone in a room.

It wasn't any special treatment; it was simply because the rooms on the fourth and fifth floors had been allocated in a very luxurious manner.

The boarding students at Yukong High School actually enjoy very good treatment. For example, An Ruosu's room is almost like a studio apartment, and it even has a separate bathroom with a shower and toilet.

The other people's rooms were similar, except that they shared rooms with two or three other people.

You can see the teaching building across the street from here.

An Ruosu glanced over there and saw only darkness; the faint candlelight had clearly been completely blocked by the curtains.

This reassured him somewhat, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Li Wanyan spent that night in a classroom at school.

……