Chapter Thirteen: The Cyber Attack on Campus

Su Yichen limped his way to the door of the hospital room. Through the glass, he saw Ye Mengxia sitting on the bed, lost in thought.

Perhaps alerted by movement outside, Ye Mengxia happened to look up and met his gaze. She hurried off the bed and ran to open the door. "Su Yichen..."

She fought the urge to embrace him, her eyes catching the bandages wrapped around his leg. Suddenly, she knelt down and lifted the cuff of his trousers. Blood had seeped through the gauze. Looking up, her voice trembled. "What happened to your leg?"

Su Yichen pulled her to her feet. "It's nothing, just a small cut when I fell. You don't need to worry."

"Injured from a fall," Ye Mengxia said slowly, though it seemed she didn’t quite believe it herself. She pressed on, "Why didn't you come for our tutoring session today?"

Su Yichen replied in his usual nonchalant manner, "I was going to, but something came up..."

Before he could finish explaining, Ye Mengxia tugged up his sleeve, revealing a series of bruises and scrapes of varying severity.

Her eyes reddened instantly. "These aren’t from falling, are they?"

"You were hit by a car on your way here, weren't you?"

Su Yichen stared at her in surprise, but said nothing.

His silence confirmed her suspicion. No matter what she did, she could not escape the life that had been prescribed for her.

Everything proceeded according to someone else's design, except for her own pathetic belief that she was making a difference—pathetic hope that she could change her fate.

Nothing could be changed. No one remembered.

"Things are as they always were," she murmured.

A trace of panic flickered in Su Yichen's eyes. He tried to move closer, but she stopped him sharply.

"Don't come any closer. Stay right there."

"Ye Mengxia... I never meant to deceive you. I just didn’t want you to worry," Su Yichen said, knowing things would end like this. Even with his injured leg, he would have come.

“That’s enough, Su Yichen. I’m fine. You can leave now.” Her voice was flat, carefully controlled. She had already stumbled twice down the wrong path; she would not try to change again.

He looked up at her, now cold and distant, and his heart was filled with a desolate sorrow. So this was how it was—he was always someone who could be abandoned at any moment.

The room was soon left with only her. Not long after, Ji Siya came upstairs carrying a food container. To Ye Mengxia, Ji Siya had always been a stranger.

She felt no trace of love from them.

That was why she was so starved for affection. Even after falling for Su Yichen, she still felt utterly alone.

---

Ji Siya opened the food container, her smile graceful and poised as she handed over a bowl. "This is bone broth made by Aunt Yu, with lots of medicinal herbs. It’s good for your health. Have some."

Ye Mengxia leaned back, coldly refusing. "I don’t like the taste of medicine, nor do I like anything so greasy."

Ji Siya said nothing, simply set the soup down and wiped her hands with a tissue she always carried.

Watching this, Ye Mengxia frowned imperceptibly. She disliked this manner, as if she were looking at herself.

She had the same habit—severe, even—never wanting others to touch her. Growing up, she had learned to control herself, so she no longer screamed or smashed things like she did as a child.

Every time Ji Siya made this gesture, it was enough to show she was unhappy.

"Your mother is here to take you abroad for school. What do you think?"

"I don’t want to go. I’m fine studying here."

Ji Siya’s expression grew more serious. "Your father and I are both abroad. We worry about you being here alone. Besides, you like the violin, don’t you? We could hire the most famous violinist to teach you."

Ye Mengxia looked up, a cold smile twisting her lips. "Now you want me to learn? I’m not a prodigy. You can’t just decide I’ll learn and expect me to master it. I’m not a puppet, to be left here when you wish, taken away when you wish."

"When have you ever cared what I thought?"

Ji Siya frowned, her icy precision unchanging as she stood and moved to the window. After a long silence, she spoke softly. "If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. Do as you please. But this time, your mother may be gone for a long while... I’m pregnant... Your father also has a new family now."

"Since you’re grown, you’ll have to learn to take care of yourself. Every month, I’ll send you money. The house here is in your name..."

Ye Mengxia wasn’t sure how she had survived these years. Only when all sounds faded did she feel her eyes sting.

She looked up, but no tears fell.

After two days in the hospital, she returned home. Ji Siya had prepared dinner. Ye Mengxia wasn’t sure whether to be glad to finally eat her mother’s cooking or laugh at herself for soon becoming someone completely abandoned.

"Some seasonal vegetables, and lobster. Aunt Yu said you love spicy food, but I didn’t use much chili. Too much is bad for a girl’s health."

Perhaps this was what home tasted like. She deceived herself, eating what her ‘mother’ had made.

"Is he good to you?"

Ji Siya knew what she meant and nodded. "He’s very good. He’s an artist."

"Violin?"

Ji Siya nodded again.

Ye Mengxia smiled, taking a bottle of red wine from the cupboard. "This... I once bought it on a street by chance. I’ll give it to you, as a blessing for you both. I hope your family will be happy."

---

Pain flickered across Ji Siya’s face. "Mengxia... don’t say that. No matter what, your mother will always be here... If you wish, I can..."

Ye Mengxia cut her off, unwilling to hear more. "Let’s eat..."

When she was alone in her room, after all sounds outside had faded, she finally cried.

From now on, she would be alone.

---

Returning to school life, she found many interesting things happening.

This Friday was the basketball tournament. Since it was scheduled on a Friday, lots of students could attend, and the campus forum was ablaze with chatter.

Someone had even started a poll: who was the most attractive member of the basketball team?

Ye Mengxia clicked in, intending to vote for Su Yichen, but his name wasn’t an option. The top choices were Ye Xingchen and Lu Chengze.

There were countless posts praising Lu Chengze.

Countless posts mocking Ye Xingchen, along with a pile of rumors.

‘Lu Chengze is so handsome, I want him.’

‘Of course the campus heartthrob is good-looking.’

‘Why does Ye Xingchen’s photo look so bad? He’s good-looking in person.’ One reply seemed relatively normal.

Soon, a flood of hostile comments followed. ‘What? Clearly he wears makeup all the time. Doesn’t look good on camera, doubt he’s good-looking in person.’

‘He’s the campus bully, be careful or you’ll get kicked out.’

‘Ugly bully, haha.’

The comments grew increasingly absurd, and Ye Mengxia couldn’t be bothered to scroll further. Though she often mocked him herself, when it came to looks, no one could compare to Ye Xingchen.

After all, it was in the family genes.

She entered the thread and posted: "When did misshapen fruit that never looked in a mirror start showing off? Some people have undeniable looks—you might be blind and not know it."