Chapter 39: Heartache

Fu Tingyan was just about to take a nap when he saw Jiang Yu toss the note back at him. He gave his friend the side-eye.

Jiang Yu mouthed, “Tingyan, it’s about your brother.”

“My brother?” Fu Tingyan asked quietly.

Jiang Yu nodded.

Fu Tingyan opened the note curiously. When he saw the questions inside the note, he turned his head to glance at Qin Shu.

Qin Shu stared at him expectantly as she awaited his response.

Fu Tingyan crushed the note into a ball and tossed it into the trash behind him before he sprawled across his desk and went to sleep.

“…”

“What was the meaning of this?” Qin Shu wondered if Fu Tingyan was unaware of what had happened or simply did not wish to tell her.

…

In the cafeteria, at lunch, Qin Shu glanced at the corner table where Fu Tingyan and Jian Yu were with a tray in her hands. That table had become their exclusive area.

She walked straight to their table and placed her tray down on the table before she took a seat.

Initially, she wanted to act like she was unrelated to Fu Tingyan as she had always done in the past. However, she also really wanted to know how Fu Tingyu got injured and who did that to him.

Fu Tingyan saw Qin Shu sit down before him. His eyes darkened at the reminder that his older brother had gotten hurt because of her.

Jiang Yu’s heart was filled with hatred and disgust at the sight of Qin Shu. He knocked on the table using his chopsticks, “Your presence here will affect our appetites.”

Qin Shu glanced at Jiang Yu and reminded him, “If you have a poor appetite, I suggest you go and buy some pills at the pharmacy to help with that. They’re easily found.”

“… You” Jiang Yu muttered.

Fu Tingyan lifted his gaze and looked at Jiang Yu. He only said two words, “Let’s eat.”

Jiang Yu stared incredulously at Fu Tingyan. “Do you even have any appetite looking at her?” he asked.

“I’ve finished my meal.” Fu Tingyan dropped his chopsticks and left.

Jiang Yu glanced at Fu Tingyan’s plate. He had only eaten a few mouthfuls of his food. That was enough indication that Fu Tingyan had no appetite while around Qin Shu.

Jiang Yu dropped his chopsticks as well and chased after Fu Tingyan.

Qin Shu noticed how both boys had barely touched their meals. “What a waste of food,” she murmured.

…

During class, Qin Shu wrote another note with the same questions, but this time, she added an extra sentence at the end before she tossed it to Fu Tingyan.

Fu Tingyan saw the note as it was tossed to his desk. He did not have to look to know it was from Qin Shu.

He immediately crumpled the paper into a ball and glanced sideways at Qin Shu, as he intended to toss the paper into the trash behind her desk.

However, Qin Shu mouthed with a threatening smile, “You’ll regret it if you don’t read it!”

Fu Tingyan halted his movement. He mulled it over for a moment and decided to unfurl his fist. The note inside was crushed and wrinkled.

He opened the note and read the last line, ‘If you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll post on the school forum and tell everyone that I’m your sister-in-law.”

The lines were filled with threats.

Enraged, Fu Tingyan shred the note into pieces and tossed them in the trash.

The king of Linxi was not afraid of anything except if his classmates found out about his relationship with Qin Shu.

Afterward, Qin Shu started to pay attention to the teacher while she waited for Fu Tingyan to tell her the truth of the matter after class.

…

They waited until everyone had left after school.

Fu Tingyan grabbed his bag and slung it around his shoulder. He gazed coldly at Qin Shu and enunciated each word, “You want to know how my brother got hurt? Fine, I will tell you. My brother got hurt trying to save you. The wound stretches from his shoulder to his lower back, and his arm was almost crippled.”

Qin Shu was stunned. Fu Tingyu had gotten injured because of her.

Why did she have no recollection of this at all?

“You were unconscious the entire day. The moment you woke up, you embarked on your hunger strike to rebel against my brother. At that time, my brother was still at home nursing his injury.” Fu Tingyan’s voice was cold and his eyes turned red from anger.