Staring at that long, waist-length hair, Qi Yuanwen momentarily forgot what he had originally intended to say.
It wasn’t surprising that he was so stunned—after all, those lustrous locks were utterly mesmerizing.
The soft, dark tresses cascaded naturally, smooth as satin and reflective as a mirror, like ink-soaked silk or a waterfall of poetry. That pure, raven-black hair, flowing down to the waist, was the very image of every boy’s dream first love.
Because he had been so fixated on Ye Qianying’s hair, when she turned around, Qi Yuanwen even felt a flicker of discomfort.
He cleared his throat before finally regaining his voice. "Ye... Ye Qianying."
Taking two steps forward, Qi Yuanwen placed the gift bag he was carrying onto the table, finally settling back into his usual demeanor.
"I brought you a cheesecake. How have you been? You haven’t texted me in three days, so I came to check on you."
As he spoke, his gaze kept drifting toward Ye Qianying’s face.
Even though it was wrapped in bandages, he couldn’t help but recall what lay beneath—Ye Qianying’s disfigurement was severe. He had seen her face once before and had been so nauseated afterward that he couldn’t eat.
How could someone with her current appearance possibly deserve such beautiful hair?
At that thought, the corner of Qi Yuanwen’s mouth twitched downward.
The moment his eyes left her back, he realized the truth. After all, when he had visited Ye Qianying the previous week, she had been completely bald. There was no way her hair could have grown this long in such a short time.
It must be a wig—and a high-quality one at that. What a waste on her.
With that in mind, Qi Yuanwen couldn’t resist casting a mocking glance at the top of Ye Qianying’s head. Both of them knew exactly what lay beneath those bandages. So who was she trying to fool by dressing up like this?
Ye Qianying had always been frivolous and unstudious—she probably didn’t even know how to write the phrases "deceiving oneself" or "protesting too much."
If it hadn’t been for Yu Wei’s pity toward Ye Qianying, and if he himself hadn’t felt a momentary surge of sympathy for the once-powerful young mistress now reduced to such a pitiable state, he would never have impulsively agreed to her advances back then.
Who could have guessed that Ye Qianying would turn out to be like sticky glue—impossible to shake off once attached?
A few times, he had overheard her breaking down in hysterical sobs outside her room, surrounded by at least seven or eight people trying to console her. It was the epitome of a spoiled, entitled brat—exactly the kind of person Qi Yuanwen despised most.
His every expression and gesture was silently observed by Ye Qianying. From the moment Qi Yuanwen had stepped into the room, she had been watching him closely.
Her learning system, concerned about her emotional state, gently prompted her: "Host, are you alright?"
"I’m fine," Ye Qianying replied inwardly. "I’m just trying to remember… what was this guy’s name again?"
The system: "..."
Ye Qianying wasn’t joking.
As she scrutinized the boy before her, she realized that while the shock and pain of his betrayal still lingered, she could barely recall the name of the person who had caused it.
So why hadn’t her fifteen-year-old self seen through him?
Human limits expand gradually—just like how even the most flexible ligaments can’t stretch to their full length in one go.
Even when it comes to cursing, the starting point should be something like "you bastard," not immediately wishing for their entire family tree to explode in fireworks.
Qi Yuanwen couldn’t have gone straight to calling her a "pus-oozing cripple"—a phrase so cruel it lacked even a shred of empathy. Before Ye Qianying had overheard him, he must have complained about her in private countless times, conditioning himself to insult her without a hint of remorse.
Even now, his expression carried an undercurrent of condescending disdain. Her fifteen-year-old self might have missed it, but at twenty-five, Ye Qianying saw it clearly.
What had she even liked about him back then?
Well, he was undeniably good-looking. During their first-year military training, he had been instantly voted the school heartthrob, with hordes of girls crushing on him. His aloof personality only made him more desirable—many girls fell harder precisely because he ignored them.
Academically, he was a top performer, consistently ranking among the highest in their grade. His family background was impressive too, and his generous, easygoing nature made him wildly popular among the boys. Even their homeroom teacher adored him, praising him endlessly.
Handsome, talented, and from a privileged family—those three qualities alone would have made him stand out in any setting. In the microcosm of school life, they made him practically irresistible.
So the girls had fawned over him obsessively, and Ye Qianying had been no exception. Looking back now, she realized she hadn’t actually liked Qi Yuanwen himself—she had just been swept up in the collective frenzy.
If another boy had occupied that same position, she probably would have fallen for him instead.
At his core, Qi Yuanwen was nothing more than a placeholder.
Oblivious to Ye Qianying’s thoughts, Qi Yuanwen didn’t even bother unwrapping the cake. He simply shoved the entire box and bag toward her before plopping down in a chair like a lord granting an audience.
"Eat. I’ll leave once you’re done."
Ye Qianying: "..."
She shot him another glance and noticed that not only had he deliberately chosen the seat farthest from her in the room, but he was also sitting with his arms crossed. The moment her eyes landed on him, he tensed up defensively, as if worried she might try to assault him.
The system couldn’t help but interject: "Pfft—host, did you borrow money from him or something?"
The whole scene was absurdly comical, dripping with the energy of a reluctant male lead being forced into a compromising situation.
The irony? The so-called "virtuous gentleman" was a tall, athletic guy standing at 180 cm, a member of the school basketball team.
Meanwhile, the "predatory villain" was a slender girl in a wheelchair, armed with nothing more menacing than a plastic cake fork.
Ye Qianying stared blankly at the cake box in front of her. "No idea. Maybe he’s just mentally ill."
She had pursued Qi Yuanwen even before her disfigurement, but her feelings back then had been shallow—just infatuation fueled by the atmosphere around him.
So his consistent rejection had been fair and expected.
But after news spread that Ye Qianying had survived the plane crash, it was Qi Yuanwen who had sought her out, sending her messages saying he wanted to be with her.
Those words had come from his own fingertips. No one had forced him to visit her.
His intentions had been false—perhaps just a fleeting impulse of pity—but Ye Qianying had taken them to heart.
For her at that time, amidst the bleakness of her recovery, he had been the only glimmer of hope.
How could she have treated it as a joke? He was the last lifeline a desperate girl could cling to.
Yet in the end, it was that very lifeline that had pushed her into the abyss.
Ye Qianying casually pushed the cake bag aside and glanced at Qi Yuanwen sitting in the farthest corner. She motioned for him to come closer.
Qi Yuanwen walked over with an impatient expression, standing boldly in front of her and looking down at her. If Ye Qianying wanted to face him directly, she’d have to tilt her head up.
With practiced patience, Ye Qianying pressed her palm downward in a slow, deliberate gesture.
"Lower yourself a bit."
Qi Yuanwen’s already resistant expression visibly stiffened.
He thought: Damn it… Is she expecting me to kiss her? She’s so ugly—how am I supposed to bring myself to do that?
But Ye Qianying’s sharp phoenix eyes were intimidating, exuding an aura that made people instinctively shrink back, even through the bandages. When those cold eyes swept over his face, Qi Yuanwen found himself reluctantly bending down without thinking.
Staring at her face wrapped in layers of gauze, a surge of malice rose in his heart. As he lowered his gaze, he stealthily reached behind her head and grabbed her hair.
The young miss deliberately wore a wig just to impress me, didn’t she? Well, I’ll yank it off right when she asks for a kiss. Let’s see if she still has the nerve to show her face after that, or dare to make such shameless demands again!
Qi Yuanwen had just begun to revel in his brilliant idea—
The next second, his face was violently jerked to the side by a sharp crack that echoed in his ears.
The stinging pain on his cheek flared belatedly, and he turned back to Ye Qianying in disbelief.
"Let go," Ye Qianying commanded coolly, her chin slightly raised.
Dazed by the slap, Qi Yuanwen numbly released her hair.
"You—" It took him a moment to regain his senses, but he still couldn’t believe Ye Qianying had just hit him. His voice was thick with shock. "Why did you hit me out of nowhere…?"
"Because you’re despicable." Ye Qianying sneered. "Do I need to pick a special day to slap you?"
Did he really think she hadn’t noticed his scheme the moment he grabbed her hair?
He’d recklessly pursued her after her accident out of pity, then grown bored and impatient, wanting to walk away just as thoughtlessly.
From start to finish, had Qi Yuanwen ever used his brain when making these decisions?
Did he think he was doing her a favor? The only one moved by his actions was himself.
Unable to break up with her outright because of her condition, he instead acted disdainful in public, playing the martyr to soothe his own conscience.
If he lacked the courage to take responsibility for his own choices, wasn’t that the very definition of despicable?
The observing system was stunned. Its host was as hardcore as ever.
"Host, you just hit him directly."
"Mm," Ye Qianying replied indifferently in her mind. "I’m studying."
The system was baffled. "Huh?" What did that have to do with anything?
"Idiots deserve a physical beating. So I’m studying physics."
The system: "…" It wasn’t physics her host was studying—it was philosophical logic.
Qi Yuanwen’s cheek gradually reddened with the imprint of her fingers. Clenching his fists in fury, he glared at Ye Qianying.
"You—!"
But before he could unleash his anger, the girl across from him delivered a calm, final blow.
"Enough. You know exactly why you were hit. We’re breaking up."
"…What?"
For a moment, Qi Yuanwen doubted his own ears.
Had he heard correctly? Was his hearing failing, or had Ye Qianying—the one who’d clung to him like glue—just dumped him?
Even though he’d gotten the outcome he wanted, an inexplicable frustration churned in his chest, growing more suffocating the longer he dwelled on it.
Shouldn’t I be the one doing the dumping? How did it end up with Ye Qianying breaking up with me?!
Fresh from the slap and barely containing his rage, Qi Yuanwen was now choked by the abruptness of the breakup. The whiplash left him gasping for air, stuck in limbo, his pride thoroughly trampled.
His chest heaved violently. "Fine. You said it. Don’t you dare regret this, Ye Qianying."
Let’s see who would ever want her in her current state!
"She won’t regret it. Now get out."
A cold male voice suddenly spoke up behind Qi Yuanwen, startling him with its unexpectedness.
Ye Qianying’s gaze slid past Qi Yuanwen to the visitor who had pushed open the door.
"Big Brother."
Hearing the address, Qi Yuanwen spun around.
Though he doubted this man would interfere, being caught in an early romance by a family member still made him uneasy.
Ye Tiao walked to Ye Qianying’s side, his eyes subtly assessing the situation between the two.
Resting a hand on the back of her wheelchair, he tilted his head slightly, looking down at Qi Yuanwen with the natural authority of a seasoned elite.
"Why are you still here? Harassing my sister?"
Qi Yuanwen choked. The Ye family was clearly cut from the same cloth—none of them had any sense of reason.
Forget Ye Qianying’s ghastly appearance—who’d even want to harass her? And if this was harassment, was he supposed to believe he’d voluntarily smacked his own face into her hand?
Just as Qi Yuanwen opened his mouth to retort, the man gave him no chance.
Ye Tiao strode to the room’s telephone, dialing a number with swift, practiced movements.
"Security? Send two guards up. There’s a troublemaker in my sister’s room."
"You two—"
Ye Tiao lifted his chin slightly, the motion eerily reminiscent of Ye Qianying’s earlier command for Qi Yuanwen to let go.
"You can leave on your own, or be escorted out."
If security dragged him out, Qi Yuanwen would lose all face.
"…Ye Qianying, don’t you dare come crawling back to me." With that parting shot, he stormed out of the room.
Even as Qi Yuanwen slammed the door behind him, Ye Tiao didn’t spare him a single glance.
Instead, he pulled up a low stool and sat beside Ye Qianying. The tall man folded his long legs, making himself slightly shorter than the frail girl in the wheelchair.
Ever since Ye Qianying’s legs were injured in the plane crash, he’d always used this stool to avoid forcing her to look up—a painful reminder of her condition.
Ye Tiao made no mention of what had just happened, his tone patient and gentle, a stark contrast to when he’d dismissed Qi Yuanwen.
"Are you feeling bored, little sister? Should I call someone to keep you company?"
In his eyes, Ye Qianying must have been feeling stifled and upset, provoked by that boy earlier—otherwise, why would she have lashed out?
His sister was always so gentle and understanding, even comforting them after the incident.
If even someone as patient as her had been pushed to her limit, that boy must have done something truly outrageous.
If he weren’t still a student, Ye Tiao wouldn’t have let him off so easily today.
Ye Qianying: "It’s fine, big brother. Right now, I just want to..."
Ye Tiao: "Whatever you want, just name it! I’ll get it for you!"
"I just want to study. Brother, where are my textbooks and workbooks?"
"Oh, studying? No problem at all. I’ll have someone—have someone—"
"Wait... you want to study?"
