... 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

It was already late at night, and many people had turned off their lights and entered the realm of dreams. However, all the lights in Qin Shujian’s house were still on.

Xia Chen’an rang the doorbell, and after about half a minute, Qin Shujian’s assistant opened the door for him.

As soon as Xia Chen’an entered the house, he instinctively looked towards the balcony. Just as he expected, the girl was huddled in the corner of the balcony, just like yesterday, silent and wrapped around her knees.

"Has she eaten?" Xia Chen’an asked Qin Shujian’s assistant before he started to take off his shoes.

"No." The assistant had barely responded when Xia Chen’an was already striding towards the kitchen.

Looking at the untouched food on the table, a fire ignited deep within him. He rummaged around and finally retrieved a packet of instant noodles from a drawer. He boiled some water, poured it in, and then hand-carried the noodles to the balcony.

Sitting down across from Qin Shujian, he pushed the noodles in front of her, "Eat."

Qin Shujian didn’t move.

"Eat. Not even a drop of soup should be left!" Xia Chen’an tapped on the lid of the noodles, his tone was a warning.

Qin Shujian timidly glanced at Xia Chen’an, then hesitantly extended her hand to hold the box of noodles. Under Xia Chen’an’s intimidating presence, she began to eat, finishing every bit of the instant noodles with a fork.

Once she finished eating, Xia Chen’an glanced at the assistant who briskly stepped forward to take away the empty noodles box, and then tactfully left Qin Shujian’s house.

The closing of the door to Qin Shujian’s house left only Xia Chen’an and Qin Shujian in the large room.

Neither of them spoke to each other. After a silence of about five minutes, Xia Chen’an broke the silence, "Why did you not agree to the press conference your agent recommended?"

Qin Shujian remained silent.

Xia Chen’an didn’t wait for her to speak and went on, "Also, that day in your neighborhood, when they insulted you, why didn’t you fight back?"

Qin Shujian pursed her lips, still silent.

"After all these years, you haven’t changed at all!" Xia Chen’an chuckled bitterly, then turned to look out of the window.

She reminded him of the countless times in high school when he had witnessed her being bullied by classmates, whether people took advantage of her or made fun of her, she always remained silent, never defending herself or shedding a tear.

As he thought about this, the fury in Xia Chen’an’s chest surged violently, and his voice grew harsher, "Even a dog would bark when beaten. Why didn’t you utter a word when they insulted you so brutally? You are not mute!"

Shrinking from Xia Chen’an’s shouting, Qin Shujian lowered her head so much that it was nearly touching her toes, "I’m sorry."

"Sorry? What are you sorry to me for? Why are you apologizing? No matter whose fault it is, as long as someone gets mad, even if they’re bullying you, the only words you’ll say are ’I’m sorry’?!" Enraged, Xia Chen’an stood up from the ground. He paced around the balcony a few times and then stopped in front of Qin Shujian, speaking angrily again, "Qin Shujian, what you should be saying right now isn’t ’I’m sorry’. You should be getting ready to stand in a press conference, telling your side of the story to the world, instead of letting people insult you constantly!"