Chapter 847: Her Shadow Everywhere
Zhan Jingrui didn’t know what had happened. He only saw He Yao fall to the ground, a tall boy snatching something from her before running off.
It looked like she fell hard. Passersby kept glancing at her.
Some even went to help, and she finally got up.
After standing, she stared in the direction the boy had fled for a few seconds. In the end, she didn’t chase after him. Instead, she turned her bicycle around, seemingly heading back home.
Zhan Jingrui wasn’t interested in such messy affairs, especially with a girl who seemed to attract trouble like this. To him, she was just a hassle.
He glanced at her, pulled his cap lower, pedaled his bike, and headed home.
Tang’s mom was still in the hospital, with Tang’s dad staying overnight to care for her. On his way home, Zhan Jingrui swung by the elementary school to pick up his younger cousin, and the two ordered takeout for dinner.
Zhan Jingrui had considered hiring a nanny for the family. He had enough allowance to cover the cost.
But after a past incident, Tang’s dad and mom were wary of outsiders and insisted on handling everything themselves, declining his offer.
Plus, Tang’s mom’s condition wasn’t serious, and her hospital stay wouldn’t be long. They could manage minor hardships.
Perhaps because Tang’s parents were refined and cultured, their son—Zhan Jingrui’s cousin—was quiet, studious, and mature beyond his years.
Unlike most kids his age who chattered endlessly, he’d finish his homework, read books, build LEGO sets, or ask Zhan Jingrui academic questions. Zhan Jingrui genuinely liked him.
While his cousin did homework, Zhan Jingrui prepared water and fruit for him before stepping out to grab the takeout.
As he took the food from the delivery guy and was about to close the villa gate, his gaze flickered. Under a sycamore tree across the street, a slender figure sat.
He Yao.
Though they weren’t close—barely acquaintances, really—Zhan Jingrui’s photographic memory recognized her from her straight posture and hair.
She sat with her back to him, lost in thought, her arms hanging loosely at her sides.
Her elbow, grazed from the earlier fall, was visibly scraped, a large patch of red even from this distance.
Zhan Jingrui didn’t know why she was here, nor did he care to find out.
He quickly shut the gate, locked it, and returned inside.
The next day, he made sure his cousin ate bread and drank milk, then rode him to school on the back of his bike.
Just one block after turning out from the street near the elementary school, with his wheels spinning fast, a figure suddenly stumbled from the sidewalk, nearly crashing into him.
Zhan Jingrui instinctively swerved the bike and hit the brakes, narrowly avoiding a collision.
He Chuan, pushed off the sidewalk by He Yao, initially felt guilty for almost hitting someone but quickly turned defiant.
“Are you trying to kill me? Was it worth it? Just for a hundred bucks, you’re out to get me?”
“Good thing it’s just a bike. What if it was a car or something? If I died, could you even compensate me?”
What the hell, Zhan Jingrui thought.
Why was this girl’s shadow everywhere?
What was she up to so early in the morning?
He Yao had been waiting on this street to confront He Chuan. When he saw her, he bolted, forcing her to get physical.
Chasing him down from the sidewalk, she grabbed his collar, demanding her phone.
“Give me back my phone! Just a hundred bucks? That was all I had in there, and I told you I needed it for books. Now it’s gone—what am I supposed to buy them with?”
“Why was it just a bike? Why not a car or a truck? I wish I could slam into a scum like you and make sure you’re done for!”
Though tall for a girl at 1.68 meters, He Yao was still noticeably smaller than He Chuan in height and build.
He easily brushed her hand off.
“Give it a rest. You’re no model student, so drop the act in front of others—and especially with me.”
“Books? Are you kidding? Just because your mom got you into a better school, you think you’re some goody-two-shoes aiming for college?”
“Besides, if you need money for something as ‘noble’ as books, why not ask your mom? Isn’t your stepdad loaded? Why bicker with me over a hundred bucks?”
He Yao gritted her teeth and lunged for his clothes again.
“His money has nothing to do with me. And even if he’s rich, does that mean you get to steal from me? Cut the crap—give me my phone and my money, or neither of us is going to school today!”
As He Chuan fended her off, he pulled the phone from his pocket and tossed it carelessly to the ground, ready to walk away.
“It’s gone, alright? No money, just my life—take it if you want. Stop yanking at me! Keep this up, and I won’t hold back!”
“Anyway, I wasn’t planning on going to school today. Go cry to my mom if you want—ask her for money and snitch on me while you’re at it!”
The phone hit the pavement with a sharp clatter. He Yao hurriedly bent to pick it up as He Chuan made his escape.
It was rush hour, with streams of people on scooters, bikes, and cars passing by. No one noticed the small drama except an elderly woman waiting for a bus across the street—and Zhan Jingrui.
Still, Zhan Jingrui had no intention of getting involved.
Sure, a hundred bucks wasn’t much to him, but he didn’t know He Yao.
What if he helped her out of kindness, only for her to cling to him later? That’d be endless trouble.
He didn’t want his peaceful life disrupted.
So, after He Chuan left, Zhan Jingrui hunched over his bike, pedaled, and prepared to leave.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the elderly woman crossing through traffic toward He Yao, waving as she approached.
“Little girl, are you okay?”
Finally, he heard a hint of warmth in He Yao’s voice, soft and fitting for a girl her age as she spoke to the woman.
“Grandma, I’m fine. Please walk slowly.”
“What happened? It looked like that boy took something from you. Was he bullying you?”
“He’s my brother. He took my allowance, my bus fare, and the money I saved for books. Grandma, could you help me with something?”
Zhan Jingrui didn’t catch the rest of their conversation.
Soon, the first class began.
A few minutes into the English lesson, the teacher noticed an empty seat in the corner and asked the class monitor.
“Whose seat is that in the back? Why aren’t they here today?”
The monitor glanced back. “That’s the new transfer student, He Yao. She took leave today.”
The English teacher recalled He Yao.
“She just transferred here. Why’s she already taking leave?”
“I heard her grandma’s sick.”
For some reason, Zhan Jingrui’s mind flashed to the kind-faced old woman crossing the crowd toward He Yao.
Heh, she really was a good person.