The Brooding Guy's Wife Is Everyone's Crush - Chapter 2

Word spread that He Nanxing had picked on me.

I sat by the window as whispers drifted into my ears.

“I heard Chen Wu came from the countryside. Think he has fleas?”

“His hair’s so thick and long. It’s hideous.”

“Someone in Class Two said he acted like a total coward yesterday.”

As the story passed from mouth to mouth, I became timid and easy to bully in everyone’s eyes. More and more people began asking me to run errands.

“Chen Wu, take my homework to the teachers’ office.”

“Hey, buy me a drink while you’re at it.”

“Chen Wu, go hold the basketball court for me later.”

I rehearsed refusals countless times, but the words never made it out. I would sigh at myself and climb through the window yet again.

At school, Chi Jin acted nothing like he did at home. He had good grades, rarely spoke, and loved sleeping in class. Add in his reputation as the school heartthrob, and everyone thought he was mysterious.

In truth, it was all an act.

At first, I politely asked him to let me out whenever I needed to leave our row. He replied in an indifferent voice, “Having to move for you every break wastes my time.”

He might not have meant anything by it, but everyone else took the hint. If even Chi Jin treated me that way, the others felt free to bully me without restraint.

So whenever someone gave me a task, I climbed out the window.

Then the class representative told me to deliver the USB drive for a teacher’s open lesson to the laboratory building. The lesson files weren’t on it, and the teacher gave me a thorough scolding.

With nowhere else for my frustration to go, I stopped caring and blurted, “The class representative was responsible for this. I was only sent to run the errand.”

The teacher had grown up in the countryside herself. She understood at once and summoned the class representative. He received a brutal dressing-down for shirking his duty and bullying a classmate.

After school, he and several others cornered me.

“What would’ve been so bad about taking the blame, you little shit?”

For teenagers, the most direct form of bullying was a shove or a blow.

I lowered my head and tightened my grip on my backpack straps. That only made the class representative angrier. He ground his teeth and swung a palm toward my face.

I shut my eyes instinctively.

The expected pain never came.

A cold voice sounded beside me.

“Even a dog has an owner. Shouldn’t you check who it belongs to before you hit it?”

The class representative and his friends immediately turned polite. They laughed awkwardly and hurried away.

Chi Jin broke the silence first.

“Did a donkey kick you in the head? You don’t know how to fight back when someone bullies you?”

There was the real Chi Jin.

I pressed my lips together and thanked him softly.

He gave me a cold look. “Are you coming or not?”

I blinked, then hurried after him.

From that day on, fewer people asked me to run errands. Chi Jin claimed autumn had arrived and forbade me from opening the window. Once everyone figured out what he meant, nobody sent me anywhere again.

During evening study one night, I thought for a long time before sliding him a note I had written.

*Thank you for helping me…*

*I know I’ve said this already, but I want to make it completely clear. I don’t have any feelings for you, and I won’t pester you now or in the future. You don’t have to worry.*

In the corner of my eye, I saw Chi Jin pick up his pen and scribble something. The note came back.

I opened it nervously. To my surprise, there was no sarcastic remark—only one baffling question.

*It smells like flowers on your side. Are you wearing face powder?*

For some reason, my ears grew warm.

I slowly wrote back. Although it was already late autumn, a few mosquitoes remained. I had always attracted them, so while Grandpa was alive, he taught me to make soap from mosquito-repelling herbs. It masked my scent and helped keep me from being bitten.

*There are quite a few herbs in it. Maybe one of them smells floral.*

Chi Jin nodded thoughtfully.

*Can you give me a bar?*

I froze.

*All right.*