Chasing You Like a Tenacious Falcon

"I don't want to go to school anymore," Wei Shixu suddenly said.

Quan Zhisui jumped up in alarm. "How can you not go to school? Didn’t you love going to school? You even donated money to renovate the dormitory just so you could live on campus and started studying university courses early. And now you’re saying you don’t want to go anymore???"

Wei Shixu lowered his head and remained silent.

Quan Zhisui frowned and asked, "What did they say to you this time?"

What on earth could they have said to push Wei Shixu to this point?

A nearby store employee thought for a moment and chimed in, "When they were hitting him, they said something about him being a sickly weakling, that he couldn’t even get up? And that they wouldn’t face any consequences for beating him..."

Wei Shixu glanced up at the two employees.

Both of them were surprised because this was the first time he had looked up and shown his face. They hadn’t been able to see what he looked like before, but now that they saw him, they grew even angrier.

"Miss! Are the students at your school jealous of how handsome your boyfriend is?"

"Being too good-looking can make people feel distant and even provoke hostility. They might even try to isolate him."

Wei Shisxu lowered his head again.

"He’s not my boyfriend," Quan Zhisui corrected them, then turned to Wei Shixu. "Come on, can you walk? Let’s go to the infirmary."

But when she tried to pull him up, she couldn’t budge him!

Wei Shixu remained seated, gripping her hand tightly and just staring at her.

"What’s wrong?" Quan Zhisui asked.

At the same time, she was surprised by the strength in Wei Shixu’s grip.

Had he been training these past few months?

His tall frame and broad build gave him a natural advantage, but it still couldn’t compare to her years of martial arts training.

Quan Zhisui instinctively scanned Wei Shixu’s elbows, forearms, and lower body strength, her mind automatically analyzing how much force she would need to forcibly pull him up with one hand.

But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts. Wei Shixu wasn’t in the right state of mind.

Suddenly, he let go of her hand, letting it drop limply to the ground. His head hung low, as if all the energy had drained out of him.

He looked dark and sorrowful.

"I’m not your boyfriend," he sighed, repeating the words.

Quan Zhisui: "..."

Time seemed to stand still as he sat there motionless, despondent and heartbroken.

The two employees exchanged a glance and eventually retreated back into the store, giving the two some privacy.

After a long silence.

"Wei Shixu."

Quan Zhisui called his name, reaching out to lift his face, forcing him to look at her. "This is a separate matter..."

But before she could finish her sentence, a tear fell onto the back of her hand.

It was scalding hot!

Quan Zhisui: "..."

Wait, why are you crying again?!

Wei Shixu didn’t resist, letting Quan Zhisui’s hand hold his chin as tears streamed down his face like pearls, leaving trails on his pale cheeks.

He ​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‍was so fair-skinned, and with his flawless features, he looked like a work of art.

But now, this masterpiece was marred by injuries, red wounds oozing blood, making him look broken.

His dark eyes, usually deep and mysterious, now looked hollow, as if his soul had been drained away.

Tears and blood mixed together, trickling down his thin, crimson lips...

It was a sight that made it hard for anyone not to feel pity for him.

Quan Zhisui frowned, averting her gaze as she pressed his head down.

"Stop crying!" she said sharply.

Her inner strength was formidable, and at the first sign of discomfort, she forcefully broke through the melancholic atmosphere.

A short while later, faint sounds could be heard.

Wei Shixu wiped his tears with his sleeve and slowly got up from the ground.

Quan Zhisui pulled a tissue from her pocket and handed it to him, her tone still not particularly gentle. "Using your sleeve? That’s so unsanitary."

Wei Shixu’s hand, which had been reaching for the tissue, froze as he looked at her in surprise.

Quan Zhisui glanced at him, shoved the tissue into his hand, and said nothing more.

The two walked back in silence, Quan Zhisui leading the way and Wei Shixu trailing behind.

They didn’t hold hands today.

After a while, Wei Shixu spoke up from behind her, sounding almost petulant. "Why do you keep going to the student council? It’s not like they’re doing nothing. Can’t you see there’s something fishy going on?"

Quan Zhisui didn’t turn around. "I can see it."

Wei Shixu suddenly made a firm demand. "Then stop hanging out with him."

Quan Zhisui paused for a moment before replying, "Alright."

Wei Shixu stared at her back, puzzled by how easily she had agreed.

He quickened his pace to catch up with her.

Wei Shixu: "Who sent him to get close to you? Is it because of your mom’s news?"

Quan Zhisui: "At first, I thought so, but now it doesn’t seem like it. And honestly, he’s kind of annoying."

Wei Shixu: "...I think he’s annoying too."

...

That night.

Wei Shixu returned home as usual to change his bandages and tend to his wounds.

As he climbed the stairs, his entire demeanor was dangerously intense, his aura sharp enough to pierce through anyone who dared to cross him.

He nearly scared Qian Cheng to death!

Qian Cheng shivered, not daring to meet the young master’s gaze, and stood aside as usual, waiting.

Wei Shixu’s emotions were in turmoil, constantly shifting back and forth in a tug-of-war.

It was hard to tell whether he was in a good or bad mood, as his expression gave nothing away.

"Uncle Qian, find me two martial arts instructors," Wei Shixu said flatly.

Qian Cheng immediately noted it down. "Yes, young master."

Wei Shixu tugged at his injury, his eyes flashing with a dangerous glint. "Tell them to go hard on me. They really tried to beat me to death this time."

Qian Cheng: "..."

So that’s what he was upset about. What a relief.

Wei Shixu had been badly beaten this time, and his whole body ached.

Quan Zhisui still refused to acknowledge their relationship, and even after all his crying, it hadn’t worked. He hadn’t even managed to hold her hand, which left Wei Shixu in a foul mood.

What was going on? Was she immune to his tactics now?

The only good news today was that he had finally kicked that guy Lu to the curb!

...

Quan Zhisui didn’t attend evening self-study. Instead, after dinner, she left the school and headed to the dessert shop she had visited earlier in the day.

The surveillance camera at the alley entrance had been reinstalled.

She walked into the shop. "Hello."

Only one employee was on duty, not the two from the afternoon but the night shift worker.

Quan Zhisui browsed the desserts and casually asked, "Why was the surveillance camera in this alley missing earlier today?"

The employee replied, "Oh, that. It was under maintenance. Something about a damaged wire that took time to fix."

Quan Zhisui smiled. "That’s strange. Why not do the repairs during off-hours instead of in the middle of the day?"

Her tone was casual, as if she were just making small talk.

The employee chatted along. "Probably because there’s a lot of them. All the old alleys around here are being repaired. It’s a big job, so the timing’s hard to coordinate."

"I see," Quan Zhisui nodded, pointing at a strawberry cake. "I’ll take this one. How much is it?"

The employee: "Fifty. You can scan the code here."

"Alright," Quan Zhisui replied, not showing any outward reaction as she took out her phone, though inwardly she winced at the price.

Fifty yuan for a cake the size of her palm.

She had been saving her money, reluctant to spend it. Part of it was for her living expenses until high school graduation, and now that she wasn’t eating at the Zuo family’s home anymore, she had to pay for all three meals at the school cafeteria. She needed to save every penny.

The money she saved was for her university tuition.

Quan Zhisui knew full well that Zuo Zhiyu wouldn’t give her a single cent and would definitely try to stop her from attending college.

She regretted coming to this shop to ask questions. She had overthought things.

She didn’t know what had come over her, but she had started to doubt Wei Shixu.