Chapter Fourteen: Multiple Promises

  It's not enough to kill someone with just resentment, otherwise Situ Xuan would have cut off Yao Qiyun's legs countless times. She said that if Yao Qiyun reported her, she would hate him to death, but in fact, it was just a matter of knowing she couldn't do anything to him, so she just vented her anger.

  Yao Qiyun is not afraid of anything, he is not affected by knives and guns, water and fire, softness and hardness, nor is he afraid of violence or tempted by beauty (here, both violence and beauty refer to Situ Yue himself). He belongs to the kind of "drawing a knife to cut off the flow of water" evil spirit. Except for being careful not to make mistakes in front of Situ Jiu'an and his wife, he has no other weaknesses. But it's not easy to catch him off guard in front of his parents, as he is the epitome of a good child in their hearts, a reference point that reflects all of Situ Yue's small flaws. Even if Situ Yue is not convinced, he still has to admit that he doesn't have any good ways to deal with Yao Qiyun.

  She waited for her mother to settle accounts with her about Lianquan, even if her father knew and scolded her severely, she would still accept it. What she was worried about was implicating Lianquan. With Si Tu Jiu An's temper, it wasn't impossible that he would rush to the school, grab the "seducer" of his daughter, and teach him a lesson.

  Situ Xuan waited for several days, but didn't feel even a hint of wind. She began to suspect that Yao Qiyun, who was notorious for reporting on others, had closed his mouth this time. However, no matter how hard she thought, she couldn't come up with any reason why Yao Qiyun would let her off the hook. Was it because her aura had intimidated him that day? It seemed that normal people could never guess the twisted thoughts of a pervert.

  In short, although Yao Qiyun temporarily kept silent about the incident with Situ Xuan, she had made up her mind to haunt her relentlessly. Situ Xuan could finally steal 45 minutes alone with Lian Quan after evening self-study, but please note that the word "alone" must be heavily quoted. Because in the quiet space, besides her and Lian Quan, there were also mosquitoes, cockroaches...and Yao Qiyun.

  Lian Quan was initially unable to adapt and felt extremely absurd, but who made him like Situ Xuan? Wanting to get close to Situ Xuan meant having to accept this uniquely Situ family-style dating arrangement. Yao Qiyun had to follow Situ Xuan home every day; otherwise, Xue Shaoping would also ask what was going on. So whether Situ Xuan was in the classroom for the last evening self-study session or discussing questions with the teacher after class or playing basketball with classmates after school or hanging out with Lian Quan, he waited for her with his unbelievable patience.

  When Situ Xuan and Lian Quan, a young couple, were whispering sweet nothings to each other under the cover of night, Yao Qiyun was doing his own thing at a certain distance away, most of the time reciting his vocabulary words. Fortunately, he was extremely quiet, if one deliberately ignored him, he would be like a silent fake hill. Situ Xuan was just about to do so.

  People are absolutely adaptable to the environment, because after a few times, under the influence of Sutu Yuanda's fearlessness, even Lianquan, who was not very open under the illumination of Yao Qiyun's super bright light bulb, accepted this reality due to the silent burning of that light bulb. Moreover, as he gradually realized that Yao Qiyun was just waiting purely for the sake of waiting and wouldn't do anything out of line, Lianquan, who was immersed in sweetness, would sometimes forget about Yao Qiyun's existence.

  Situ Xuan continued to follow the momentum of "not giving up until he gets what he wants". He wanted to follow, so let him follow. The more Yao Qiyun was in the scene, the more she stuck to Lian Quan, laughing even more happily, secretly cursing him to grow long eyes for seeing things he shouldn't see. Their first beautiful kiss was interrupted by Yao Qiyun's untimely intervention, but could he prevent such a thing from happening forever just by blocking it once?

  When Situ Xin first touched Lian Quan's trembling lips, he couldn't help but steal a glance in the direction where Yao Qiyun was. His profile, bent over reading, was cast with a faint yellow glow from the streetlight, and it seemed that compared to the gloomy boy in his impression, there was a bit more gentleness. For a very long time, he hadn't turned the pages of his English-Chinese dictionary, not even moving his fingertips, until Lian Quan gasped and tightly held Situ Xin in her arms.

  Situ Xuan was so regretful about that glance she gave him back then. The first kiss should have been the most heart-wrenching and tender memory, but as she grew up and tried to recall the scene of that kiss, all she could remember was Yao Qiyun under the streetlight.

  Such days continued until the eve of Lianquan's college entrance examination, which was the most reluctant and inseparable period for Situ Xuan and Lianquan. They seemed to have endless topics to discuss between them. Putting aside the awkward dating scenes, Situ Xuan really liked Lianquan sincerely, and he couldn't bear to part with him as he faced his upcoming college entrance examination and departure. At this time, Yao Qiyun didn't disturb them much, except when they were in a romantic conversation, she quietly put on earplugs to strengthen her English listening practice. When it was getting late, she stood up and reminded Situ Xuan, "If you don't go back now, you'll have to explain to your mom yourself."

  On the night the college entrance exam ended, Lianquan, who was usually sunny and optimistic, looked like he had a lot on his mind. His gaze at Situ Jing also contained some complex emotions. Situ Jing noticed it and asked him if he had something on his mind. Lianquan stroked her face and said: "I want to stay here with you forever, but my family wants me to go to university in Beijing. If nothing unexpected happens, once the admission letter arrives, I'll be leaving soon and won't see you for a long time. I'm afraid that by the time I come back, you won't be mine anymore."

  "Situ Xingyun smiled and said, 'You have so little faith in me?'"

  "I have no confidence in myself."

  "That doesn't sound like something you'd say."

  Indeed, being overly anxious and worried is really not the usual style of Lian Quan who is normally spirited and lively.

  Lian Quan also scratched his short hair awkwardly, "With so many people wanting to be with you, all of them lurking behind me, I'd naturally feel a sense of crisis."

  "Is there?" Situ Jin asked casually.

  "Of course, didn't you know?" Lianquan wanted to continue speaking but stopped abruptly.

  "Situ, I really like you, I'm so regretful now for listening to my family and filling out the application. If I went to school in another place, would you miss me...I really want to hear you say that you like me too." Lianquan whispered against Situ's face.

  Situ Xuan's face turned red as she struggled, "It feels so strange and numb."

  "Will you or won't you?" Lianquan punished her lips with a light peck, turning it into a sweet entreaty, "Say yes, let me be happy for once."

  "But I like you, or else why would I risk being discovered by my parents to be with you?"

  Lianquan finally smiled, a beautiful pair of eyes shining brightly.

  "Situ, I'm really afraid your liking isn't the kind of liking I was talking about."

  He grasped Situ Xuan's hand tightly, and Situ Xuan immediately became aware that there was a small, cold, hard object in the palm of his hand. He took a look and found it to be a small platinum ring.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Believe me and wait for me. When we both graduate, we'll get married. I'm serious, Situ. By then, nothing can stop us from being together."

  They all seemed to have heard a faint, distant cold laugh, but the voice was very light and didn't know if it was an illusion. Especially Lianquan, except for Situ Xuan who stared blankly at the ring in his arms, he couldn't care about anything else.

  Xī Tù Jìn was really scared, she and most girls of her age are the same, yearning for romance, but marriage is a billion light-years away. It's too far, can't even imagine. That exquisite icy ring also becomes unbearably hot to hold.

  She hastily stuffed the ring into Lianquan's arms, "I can't accept this, the gift is too valuable." In fact, what was heavy was not just the gift, but also the boy's deep emotions.

  Lian Quan's face revealed a hint of disappointment under Si Tu Xie's reaction, but he still hid it well. He chuckled self-deprecatingly, "This ring cost me most of my lucky money and some extra spending money, but I thought our relationship was good enough to not care about these worldly things. The ring is just a token, it's my intention to keep you by my side... actually, I also guessed that you wouldn't accept it."

  Situ Xuan reached out to smooth out the wrinkles between Lian Quan's eyebrows, a boy like him shouldn't have worries.

  If it were someone else doing this, she would probably burst out laughing, but if it were Lian Quan, she couldn't laugh because every breath he took was so sincere, and she could feel the boy's genuine affection for her.

  Situ Xin also felt a few points of guilt in her heart, and she leaned even more tightly into Lianquan's arms.

  "It's not a refusal, but let's talk about it later, okay? Keep this ring for now, and if the day you mentioned comes when we've both grown up, and you still don't have anyone else in your heart, I might be very happy to accept it."

  "I hope so."

  Lian Quan no longer insisted, her arms wrapped tightly around Sutu Xuan, almost making it hard for him to breathe. She lowered her head and kissed him wildly, her every move more passionate than before, as if she wanted to embed him in her embrace, so that they wouldn't have to suffer the pain of separation again, and nothing could tear them apart.

  Situ Xin was also somewhat flustered under his offensive, but she was also infected by the sorrow of parting on Lianquan's body. Such a good boy, with the most sincere emotions presented in front of her, she didn't know how to repay him, and could only respond to his kiss.

  It was hard to part with each other, and Lianquan whispered in Situ Xuan's ear: "Can't Yao Qiyun disappear for a while?"

  "Situ Xuan's body stiffened, 'This... I have no way of controlling him, what can you do about it?'"

  "Can you really ignore it?" Lianquan's kiss was so passionate that he forgot himself, his lips tracing a path down Situ Xuan's neck.

  "No, I'm afraid of itching." Si Tu Xuan gently pushed him away.

  This small resistance was automatically ignored under the passionate flames of Lianquan, until Situ Xuan felt his hand quietly entering her blouse. Situ Xuan's heart skipped a beat, and she immediately turned around to grab his wrist, "Don't do that."

  The young boy who was infatuated with passion would not be reasonable. Lianquan's other hand also wrapped around him one after another.

  Just then, Lianquan didn't even understand Situ well enough. She never played hard to get, and when she said no, it really meant no. In the dim light, Situ's expression had already changed, but before she kicked Lianquan away, her ears picked up a strange object whizzing towards them with the wind.

  It's not accurate to say "they", because specifically, that thing was heading straight for Lianquan and hit the back of the target object squarely. The unidentified flying object completed its mission, landed with a thud, and Sutong Yu saw at a glance that it was an old English-Chinese dictionary she had used before, which now belonged to Yao Qiyun.

  Yao Qiyun's throw of the dictionary was not light, and Lianquan's face showed a pained expression the moment he was hit. However, before he could react, the perpetrator had already rushed over, grabbing him by the back of his collar and dragging him away from Situ Xinyue.

  "Despicable." He heard Yao Qiyun's voice as cold as frost.

  What Yao Qiyun said and the action in his hand was an absolute insult to anyone, let alone Lian Quan. He forced open Yao Qiyun's hand, took two steps back, and glared at him angrily. But he found that the person who started the trouble had a more intense hatred in his eyes than he did.

  "Who are you calling obscene? Watch your mouth." Lianquan raised his chin, about to move forward, but was stunned by the situation in front of him and was pulled back by Situ Yuan.

  Yao Qiyun lowered his head and patted his own hand, as if he felt dirty even touching him. "Is there anyone more despicable than you here? You not only need to clean up your mouth, but also your entire body and brain, otherwise it's not just being despicable, but rather being no better than a beast."

  Regarding the poisonous tongue, Lianquan is far from being as reserved as Yao Qiyun. Moreover, he is often a kind and well-behaved young man who gets along with others. For a long time, Yao Qiyun's lingering resentment has caused him much distress, but he has endured it all without ever speaking ill of him. However, over time, his heart has not been entirely free of resentment towards Yao Qiyun. Furthermore, Yao Qiyun happened to touch on Lianquan's sore spot at a most sensitive moment, causing words that would normally never be spoken to slip out.

  "Yao Qiyun, I think the one who is even more shameless is you. Don't think I don't know what kind of idea you have by following us. You pretend to be a righteous Taoist, but in fact, you are just jealous. You're jealous that the person beside her is me. And isn't what I'm doing exactly what you want but can't get?"

  "Nonsense!"

  Lian Quan's words were countered by two people at the same time with the exact same sentence.

  Not only did Yao Qiyun's face turn red, but even Situ Ke's face couldn't hold up. To be honest, from kindergarten onwards, boys fighting over her wasn't the first time, yet it had never been as awkward as this before. She didn't feel any satisfaction of vanity, instead she felt like the thorn in her back was herself.

  She gently pulled Lianquan over and stroked his back, "Are you okay from that earlier? Don't spout nonsense, let's go."

  Unexpectedly, Lianquan, who had always been obedient to her, struggled free from her grasp. "I'm not talking nonsense, Situ. You're certainly being kept in the dark, but I'm a man too, and I won't be mistaken. Someone is pretending to follow the elder's instructions, but actually has their heart set on becoming the son-in-law of the Situ family."

  His words were directly aimed at Yao Qiyun, and Yao Qiyun was so angry that he calmed down, "I forgive you for talking nonsense, because people like you only think that everyone is as mediocre as you are. When they're full and have nothing to do, they think about how to use flowery language to deceive girls. Originally, I didn't want to bother with you guys, but the nauseating things you said and did really made me feel sick."

  Even Situ Xin couldn't stop it in time, Lian Quan, who was always agile, had already punched Yao Qiyun's face. Yao Qiyun stumbled, bent over, and spat out a bloody mouthful of saliva to the side.

  Situ Xuan suddenly pushed him heavily, "What are you doing?" She couldn't care about that much anymore, and went forward to examine the wound on Yao Qiyun's face. However, Yao Qiyun didn't appreciate it, and avoided her with a gesture of disgust.

  Lian Quan was even more furious, pointing at Yao Qi Yun's nose and saying: "This punch is to tell you that you are just a dog raised by the Situ family. Even if you are a dog, you can't bark randomly."

  "Shut up, Lianquan!"

  Yao Qiyun coldly laughed and didn't react much. The one who was infuriated by this sentence was Situ Xuan.

  What Lianquan said, she had said before, but how she scolded Yao Qiyun and humiliated Yao Qiyun was her own business, it was a war between her and Yao Qiyun. She couldn't bear to hear such words from someone else's mouth, even if that person was Lianquan, it still made her extremely angry.

  Lianquan was also stunned for a few seconds.

  "Are you still protecting him?"

  "He is one of our family members, you have no right to scold him, let alone hit him!"

  "Are you willing for him to continue following you around like a dog?"

  Situ Xuan's warning hand almost poked into Lian Quan's handsome face, which was mixed with anger, discomfort, unwillingness, and jealousy.

  "Say that word 'dog' again and see what happens!"

  Sai Tung Yuen's face was still as beautiful as ever, but it made Lin Quan feel completely alienated.

  "He's following me, not you, if you don't like it, then keep a distance from me."

  "Is that your attitude?" Lian Quan suppressed it, and his eyes actually flashed with water light, but he absolutely could not tolerate it falling down.

  Situ Xuan was heartbroken beyond measure, she and her crush had become like this.

  "Never mind, Lianquan, you go first, okay? If we both calm down, let's talk on the phone again."

  Lianquan walked away from them without saying a word.

  "Wait." Yao Qiyun's low voice stopped him. Lianquan stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn around.

  "That's enough..." Si Tu Xin feared that Yao Qi Yun would not let up, and dragged him away, squeezing out these two words from between his teeth.

  Yao Qiyun squatted down and picked up the ring that everyone had forgotten on the ground, gently tossing it to Lian Quan.

  "Take your things away."

  The ring fell on the grass, rolled a few times, and made no sound. Lianquan's hand quietly clenched into a fist, and he stepped right over the ring, striding away quickly. Only Si Tu Yue, who was somewhat dazed, and Yao Qi Yun, who continued to remain silent, were left behind.

  After a brief stalemate, Situ Xuan ruthlessly reached out to grab Yao Qiyun's face.

  "What's wrong with you, stop being so nosy." He still resisted and couldn't say anything nice.

  Situ Xuan didn't care about him, and forcibly turned his face over, examining the injured area.

  "You think I want to reason with you? Just want to see what kind of pig head you've been beaten into."

  "You're the one who's been taken advantage of and doesn't even know it." This punch from Lian Quan was just as ruthless as when Yao Qiyun slammed the book, and Yao Qiyun's cheek was swollen, her mouth twitching in pain as she spoke, her voice somewhat muffled.

  Situ Xuan pressed down on his wound again under the pretext of examining it.

  "You..." Yao Qiyun's face turned red with anger, and she gritted her teeth as she glared at her.

  It doesn't matter, Situ Xuan threw open the door and still held his hand.

  "You deserve it."

  "It's none of your business, just follow him and get out."

  "I love walking, it's none of your business whether I go or not. You're such a worthless guy, you don't even know how to fight back when someone hits you."

  "I don't want to bother with him." Yao Qiyun picked up his dictionary and gently patted off the dirt on it. "Do you think I couldn't beat him? Only fools use violence to solve problems."

  "A mediocre person would only throw books." retorted Situ Xin. However, she didn't suspect Yao Qiyun's words, he was someone who wouldn't speak nonsense, although he wasn't one to brag. Being thin didn't mean being weak. Someone like him, who had lost his mother at a young age and later his father too, growing up in the countryside, would often get into fights just to avoid being bullied.

  "It's too late now." Yao Qiyun pushed Situ Xuan's shoulder with a bit of annoyance.

  Xīng thought of what had just happened, shook his head and let out a loud cry, then sat down on the grass, anxiously trampling the grass. "What to do, what to do... Lianquan will definitely ignore me now, it was all going so well, how did it end up like this...... You want to leave? Then just leave! Leave, leave, leave! I'll just tell my mom that I was taken away by a wolf."

  Yao Qiyun hated that she was being unreasonable, and she thought he would definitely not be able to take it and leave. But after a while, she felt him sit down beside her.

  "You were almost taken away by wolves, he took advantage of you so much, I've never seen anyone dumber than you." He said with a sarcastic tone.

  Xīng thought of Lián Quán's restless hands and felt a bit displeased, her face flushing red. "You're not wearing earplugs while watching English videos, yet you eavesdropped. Besides, I like him, who knows who's taking advantage of whom? You wouldn't understand even if I told you."

  He responded with a sarcastic laugh.

  Situ Xuan knelt down, her hands supporting her cheeks, gazing at the few dim stars in the sky, murmuring to herself: "Actually, Lianquan isn't bad, I know he really likes me, sigh..."

  "Men are all visual animals, what does he like?" Yao Qiyun said disdainfully.

  Situ Xuan narrowed her eyes and looked at him, "Yao Qiyun, are you indirectly complimenting me on my beauty?"

  "You're good at amusing yourself." He turned his face away, "I mean you're superficial, but this point is quite matched with that guy from earlier, only knowing how to look at appearances."

  "Are you again in love with my soul?" Situ Jin angrily said.

  "You... you're simply shameless." Yao Qiyun stood up, unable to bear it. "But I'll remind you of one thing, when he wants to take advantage of you, he can say all sorts of nice things, like marriage, a lifetime, it's laughable. If you believe him, you'd be even more foolish."

  "Everything good becomes distorted in your mouth. That's called a promise, a promise! Do you understand?"

  "People who don't understand the meaning of commitment are the ones who make promises easily, while those who truly value commitments are afraid to take oaths." Yao Qiyun said, urging impatiently, "Get up, let's go back."

  "Yao Qiyun, it's weird that you're the one saying something so profound." Situ Xuan looked up at him, "Then tell me, if you love someone, won't you make a promise to her?"

  She reached out a hand to help Yao Qiyun up, but Yao Qiyun rolled her eyes and reluctantly let herself be pulled up.

  "That must be when I can afford it, I won't promise unknown things. Promises are heavy."

  "How much?"

  "You're so fat, Situ Xuan! Your meat has grown onto your bones!"