Let's Do Some Questions - Chapter 26

That gaze was sharp and burning. When Chu Fengqiu looked back, Ailan had already averted her eyes.

Their eyes met briefly in the air, and Ailan was the first to look away.

Chu Fengqiu was a little confused about where this girl’s hostility came from. She remembered they hadn’t known each other before, and this was only the second time they’d met. She shouldn’t have done anything to provoke this girl.

Song Man was completely unaware of the silent exchange between the two people behind her. She just felt a bit bad towards Chu Fengqiu.

“We still have exams this afternoon. We were supposed to have lunch together, but now we should go take care of your injuries first. I’m really sorry.” Song Man hailed a taxi and looked at Chu Fengqiu with a very apologetic expression.

“It’s fine,” Chu Fengqiu shook her head.

“Tsk, Chu Fengqiu, are you always this calm? You only say two words when you could say three?” Song Man helped Chu Fengqiu into the car and pointed to the front seat for Ailan. “Get in.”

“It’s a habit,” Chu Fengqiu mainly felt there wasn’t much to say.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

“Man Jie, let’s go to my place. We can have lunch there before heading back. Don’t you have an exam this afternoon?” Ailan spoke up, turning to look at Song Man. The side of her face that was turned was a bit red and swollen, making her look quite pitiful.

“Okay,” Song Man had originally planned to go home, but this worked too.

Ailan gave the address and touched her face. Song Man, meanwhile, looked at Chu Fengqiu’s hand. Her originally fair and slender wrist now looked a bit bruised. That man’s grip was really strong.

Song Man felt a little embarrassed. In her eyes, Chu Fengqiu was a good student who never fought, a campus goddess, and she had suffered this unexpected misfortune. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s okay.” It really was okay. Her wrist had hurt a lot at the time, but now it was just a slight stinging pain. As long as she didn’t touch it, it was fine.

“It’s good that it was your wrist and not your fingers.” The man had grabbed Chu Fengqiu’s right hand. If her fingers had been injured, it would have been bad. How would she take the exam this afternoon?

Chu Fengqiu looked at her red and swollen, almost bruised, wrist and touched it with her fingers.

Song Man was typing on her phone, asking her Uncle Kang if the people had been caught. Uncle Kang was a good friend of her mother’s and the Police Bureau Chief.

This wasn’t just a superficial friendship. According to her mother and her uncle, they grew up together in the same compound since they were kids running around naked. Her mother, Ms. Song Zici, firmly denied this, saying she never wore split pants. Whether she wore split pants was secondary; the main point was that they grew up playing together, truly childhood sweethearts. Uncle Kang even told her once that he had a crush on her mother, but with the way the eldest daughter of the Song family was raised, her mother successfully became a straight-laced, strong-willed woman with a very strong desire for control. Uncle Kang looked like a big, burly man with a fiery temper like her mother. They naturally didn’t become a couple, but their friendship became even deeper.

Because of this, Uncle Kang was especially fond of her and Song Qinglan, and she had the best relationship with him.

That’s why Song Man bothered him like this.

Uncle Kang messaged back saying they had caught them and were holding them for investigation. Song Man briefly explained the situation. Although they couldn’t charge those few people with kidnapping, they could definitely be detained for a few days for fighting and disturbing the peace. To dare to grab someone in broad daylight was simply a disregard for the law. They should be taken in for political and legal education.

They quickly arrived at Ailan’s place. When Ailan was about to pay, Song Man stopped her and paid first.

“Man Jie,” Ailan looked a little helpless.

“Small stuff,” Song Man closed the car door and watched the taxi drive away.

“You don’t have to be so polite with me,” Ailan said softly.

“You don’t have to be so polite with me either! Let’s go, to your place. Do you have ice?” Song Man put her arm around Ailan’s shoulder and casually ruffled her hair.

“Yes,” Ailan smiled, but the smile pulled at the injury on her face, and she couldn’t help but cover it with her hand, though the smile on her face didn’t fade.

Chu Fengqiu followed behind them, watching Song Man’s arm around Ailan, and looked away.

Ailan’s home was in an old neighborhood. The apartment wasn’t big, and the furniture had an old feel, but it looked very clean and tidy.

“The ice is in the fridge, Man Jie. You sit down, I’ll get it.”

“Hey, you’re injured! Go sit down. Chu Fengqiu, you sit too. Want some water?”

“No need, I’m not thirsty,” Chu Fengqiu replied.

“I’ll pour her a cup. She’s a guest after all. We only have plain boiled water at home, is that okay?” Ailan went to get paper cups and looked at Chu Fengqiu.

“That’s fine, thank you.” Chu Fengqiu felt Ailan’s subtle rejection but didn’t mind.

Song Man took out the ice tray from the fridge, poured the ice into a bag, went to the bathroom to get a towel to wrap it, gave one to Chu Fengqiu, and kept one for herself. For bruises from external injuries, cold compresses are best within 24 hours to reduce swelling and pain.

Chu Fengqiu held the ice pack wrapped in a dry towel and circled it around her right wrist, watching Song Man. Song Man stood in front of Ailan with the ice pack. It was normal for Song Man to do it since Ailan’s face was swollen and inconvenient for her to do it herself.

But… Chu Fengqiu shook off the strange feeling that was rising in her heart, looked at her wrist, and continued to apply the cold compress.

Seeing that Chu Fengqiu was taking care of her own injury, Song Man started lecturing her follower.

“Why didn’t you tell me? If I hadn’t found you today, do you know what would have happened?” Song Man spoke sternly and criticized her without reservation.

“Man Jie, I was wrong,” Ailan looked at Song Man pleadingly, tugging at her clothes, asking her not to be angry.

Song Man pressed the ice pack to her face, watching Ailan wince in pain. “Does it hurt? You know it hurts, huh? You should have told me about this a couple of days ago, otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the guts to just grab you today.”

Ailan didn’t talk back, silently taking the lecture. If it happened again, she probably still wouldn’t tell Song Man. That was a world she didn’t want to show Song Man—dirty, ugly, and lowly—making her feel like even her breath carried a dirty smell, even though she didn’t want it to be that way. Song Man was so good. She already felt humble enough in front of her and didn’t want to reveal more differences between them that Song Man might notice.

Ailan had always clearly understood that they lived in two different worlds. Even at this moment, with Song Man standing in front of her and talking to her, she felt an undeniable rift separating them. And Song Man hadn’t noticed.

Song Man looked at Ailan’s submissive expression and couldn’t continue lecturing. She could only sigh. “Anywhere else injured?” Song Man asked with a harsh tone, but her hands were gently rubbing the slap marks on Ailan’s face with care.

“No.”

“Next time… forget it… If you have something, remember to tell me. I’ll help if I can.” Song Man wasn’t just being overly enthusiastic. She was her follower, and she should protect her. She would help if she could, within her ability and without crossing her bottom line, but it depended on how the other person wanted her to help.

“Okay, I understand,” Ailan agreed. Song Man then fell silent, quietly rubbing Ailan’s face.

Ailan secretly watched Song Man, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

Song Man hadn’t even rubbed Ailan’s face for two minutes when Chu Fengqiu, watching them, felt a bit breathless. She thought it might be because the air was stuffy and she was sitting down, so she stood up and took a few deep breaths, feeling much better. There was a clock on the wall in Ailan’s home. Song Man saw Chu Fengqiu stand up and thought she was looking at the clock, so she also checked the time. She realized it was already 12:50, and they needed to be back at school before 2:10.

“It’s almost one o’clock. Ailan, you keep rubbing your face in front of the mirror. Chu Fengqiu and I are going out to eat and then head back to school. We have an exam this afternoon.” Song Man handed the ice pack to Ailan and gave her a mirror.

“Wait, I’ll cook for you now, it’ll be quick,” Ailan stood up, trying to stop Song Man from leaving.

“No need to go to the trouble,” Chu Fengqiu spoke up. She truly felt refreshed now, no longer feeling chest tightness or shortness of breath. The air instantly became very fresh.

Ailan glanced at her and swallowed the words that were almost out of her mouth. It wasn’t for this person, why was she chiming in?

But Ailan knew that if she spoke like that, Song Man would find it very strange and would be a little unhappy.

“Man Jie, I can quickly stir-fry two dishes,” Ailan looked at Song Man.

“No trouble, no trouble at all. Let me borrow your towel for now, I’ll buy you a new one later. Chu Fengqiu, take this, let’s go.” Song Man waved her hand and put on her shoes. For such a small matter, Song Man felt there was no need to cause trouble. If it was something they could solve themselves by going out, why make someone with a red and swollen face cook for her? People who didn’t know might think she was mistreating her follower.

“Goodbye,” Chu Fengqiu said politely and closed the door.

Inside, Ailan stomped her foot, feeling a bit deflated.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Anything is fine.”

“You’re injured, pick one.”

“Does this count as injured?” Chu Fengqiu found it a little funny. It really wasn’t that serious.

If this had happened to Song Man, it really wouldn’t be serious at all, just a minor thing that wouldn’t even need ice to reduce swelling. She’d be bouncing around after spraying some pain relief. But it was different for Chu Fengqiu. Song Man felt that Chu Fengqiu was a delicate, soft girl who studied well and never fought, and she had gone through this for no reason. She should be comforted so she wouldn’t be scared, although Chu Fengqiu didn’t really look scared.

“Uh… anyway, just pick one,” Song Man said.

Chu Fengqiu casually pointed to a place that sold wooden bucket rice. Song Man and Chu Fengqiu walked in.

Chu Fengqiu ordered eggplant, green beans, and minced meat. Song Man ordered sweet and sour pork, specifically asking for extra ketchup.

While eating, Chu Fengqiu watched Song Man eat heartily, and her own appetite increased. Then she noticed something.

“You seem to really like sweet food?” Chu Fengqiu recalled that during dinner, there was always one or two sweet or sweet and sour dishes on the table, placed right in front of Song Man. Whether it was sweet and sour pork, sweet and sour ribs, sweet and sour fish, Coke chicken wings, cherry pork, or sweet and sour pork balls, they were all sweet or sweet and sour, and Song Man always picked those dishes.

And the brown sugar water she drank last time was really sweet, but Song Man finished it and said it was fine.

Hearing this, Song Man looked at Chu Fengqiu in surprise. “How is that possible? How could I possibly like sweets?” Song Man said this while putting another piece of sweet and sour pork into her mouth. “This is clearly sour,” Song Man insisted stubbornly. She, the school’s top dog, was emotionless, cool, didn’t use magic wands, and didn’t eat sweets.