Hu Yuying looked at the meat in her bag, unable to suppress the smile on her face.
She glanced back at the market. Although she could no longer see Long Aotian's stall, she still wanted to take a look.
On her way home, Hu Yuying's heart was filled with joy.
It turned out that she could also receive so much kindness.
As she entered her alley, she heard a knocking sound.
She looked up, and the joy in her eyes was instantly replaced by panic.
She quickly hid behind someone else's door, peeking out with her small head to take another look.
This time, she wasn’t mistaken. Someone was knocking on her door, and she recognized this person.
It was Ye Liangchen, the guy who had insisted on making her drink his milk tea at the mall earlier!
In an instant, fear and worry flooded her heart.
She didn’t know how Ye Liangchen had found out where she lived.
Nor did she understand why he was knocking on her door.
“Yuying, it’s me, Liangchen, Ye Liangchen! I went to the restroom, and when I came out, you were gone. I was so worried about you. Are you home?”
Ye Liangchen was extremely anxious.
He had only gone to the restroom, but when he came out, Hu Yuying was nowhere to be seen. He asked the restaurant owner, who said that Hu Yuying seemed to have something urgent and had left her part-time job early.
Based on what Ye Liangchen knew about Hu Yuying from his dreams, she wouldn’t leave her post unless something truly urgent had happened.
Ye Liangchen had no idea what kind of emergency Hu Yuying was facing.
That’s why he was so worried and had come to her place without her permission.
But he had been knocking for a long time now. If Hu Yuying were home, she would have opened the door already.
She wasn’t at work, and she wasn’t at home.
Where could she be?
In his dreams, Hu Yuying was often bullied and had few friends.
Her life was monotonous.
She either went to school or stayed at home. Aside from her part-time job on Saturdays, she never went anywhere else!
The more Ye Liangchen thought about it, the more anxious he became.
In his dreams, around this time, the only thing that happened to her was being bullied by Long Aotian. Nothing urgent had occurred at her home!
“Bullied by Long Aotian?” Ye Liangchen suddenly thought of this.
An idea gradually formed in his mind.
Could it be that Long Aotian had discovered Hu Yuying was working part-time at Nanfeng Plaza, forced her to leave, and taken her away to bully her?
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. There was no other explanation.
How despicable!
Right under his nose, Long Aotian was acting so lawlessly, completely disregarding him!
Hu Yuying watched as Ye Liangchen muttered to himself, knocked on her door, rubbed his hair in frustration, and even peered through the crack in the door.
She was terrified and had no idea what to do.
She took two steps back.
In her panic, she thought of Long Aotian.
Clenching her fists, she turned and ran toward the market, glancing back occasionally to see if Ye Liangchen had noticed her.
Finally, she arrived at the market. Whether it was luck or not, she saw Long Aotian coming out just as she got there.
It was mealtime, and the market was almost empty, so Long Aotian was preparing to go home under the old man’s urging.
When she saw Long Aotian, Hu Yuying’s steps slowed, and her anxious heart gradually calmed down.
Long Aotian was puzzled. Hadn’t Hu Yuying already gone home?
“Didn’t you go home already?”
Seeing her slightly out of breath, with her bangs damp from sweat after running, he couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
Hu Yuying looked at Long Aotian, her eyes filled with the gentleness in his expression as he asked her, “Someone… someone is knocking on my door.”
“Take me there to see!” Long Aotian frowned, thinking it might be someone from Hu Yuying’s time at Second High School.
In the original novel, that group of people was supposed to gang up on Hu Yuying on Friday.
He had made her stay behind to tutor him, cleverly avoiding the situation.
But now, they had actually found her home.
This was going too far.
He had originally thought that a bunch of kids weren’t worth his time, and he could just avoid them.
But now, it seemed that wouldn’t work. Fortunately, he knew a bit of martial arts.
Since he couldn’t avoid it, he’d just have to settle things with his fists.
There had to be a way to resolve this.
Hu Yuying was stunned. She hadn’t expected Long Aotian to agree so readily just from her brief explanation.
Looking at his back, she suddenly felt a pang of regret.
She had been too scared earlier.
She had never told anyone where she lived.
How had that person found her?
The most likely explanation was that he had been following her.
But she had only transferred to First High School two days ago.
That meant she had been targeted and followed within those two days.
Now that she had calmed down, she remembered that on her first day at the new school, even though she didn’t know Ye Liangchen, he had insisted on getting to know her and acted as if they were already close.
Could it have been that day when he started following her?
Had she brought trouble to Long Aotian by coming to him?
In that moment, Hu Yuying’s heart was filled with conflict and regret.
“What are you standing there for? Lead the way!” Long Aotian had taken a few steps but noticed Hu Yuying was still rooted in place, so he called out to her.
Hearing his voice, Hu Yuying looked at him with a conflicted expression.
The next second, she felt her hand being grasped, and she looked in surprise as Long Aotian took her hand.
“Scared out of your wits? Don’t worry, big bro’s got your back.”
Feeling the warmth from Long Aotian’s hand, Hu Yuying instinctively followed his lead.
By the time she came to her senses, they were already nearing the village where she rented her place.
“Where’s your house?”
Hu Yuying stared at Long Aotian in a daze. “Big bro, why are you so nice to me?”
“Aside from my family, no one has ever treated me this well before.”
This question caught Long Aotian off guard.
The fact that he had transmigrated into this world was something most people would find hard to accept.
He couldn’t just tell Hu Yuying that this world was a fictional one and that he was being nice to her because he was originally a villain trying to change his tragic fate.
If he said that, she’d probably think he was crazy.
But looking into Hu Yuying’s clear, innocent eyes, Long Aotian coughed lightly and said seriously, “Of course, it’s because I’m your big bro. Since you’re my little sidekick, as your big bro, I’ll always make sure you’re safe!”
“Besides, I need your help too, little tutor. I want to go to college and experience a completely different life.”
“With my current grades, my future seems like a dead end.”
At this point, Long Aotian looked at Hu Yuying earnestly. “Everyone in this world has their own purpose, you and me included.”
“And right now, helping a classmate overcome her troubles is something very meaningful to me.”
Hu Yuying’s eyes shimmered. “My existence has meaning too.”