The last bus had already left.
Lu Yinghan sat in the bus shelter, watching the distant sunset gradually fade from blood-red to dark gray...
The streetlights slowly flickered on. Lu Yinghan leaned back against the board behind her, staring blankly up at the sky.
Her hands rested limp on her thighs as the throbbing pain across her body made her consciousness drift.
Stars slowly appeared in the night sky, and the streetlights burned ever brighter.
Lu Yinghan didn't want to go home.
She could already guess the kind of condemnation awaiting her if she did.
“Sigh...”
The phone in her pocket suddenly vibrated.
Lu Yinghan knew without looking that it was Butler Liu calling.
Just as she was about to pull it out to answer, the vibration abruptly stopped.
“Ah, out of battery.”
She hadn't bothered checking her phone since placing her order on the Peach app, so it probably hadn't been charged in three or four days.
Running out of battery was only natural.
Looking at the pitch-black phone screen, Lu Yinghan set the phone down.
She looked up at the dark sky with a faint sense of trouble.
Hmm...
Autumn was approaching, and the nights were getting quite cold.
It seemed she would have to find a place to spend the night.
Sleeping outside was nothing new to Lu Yinghan; in fact, she was practically a veteran at it.
In her past life, after being kicked out of the Lu family, she had nowhere to live and could only wander into parks, looking for shelter to keep out the elements.
To shield herself from the wind and rain...
She had slept outdoors for nearly half a month before finding an orphanage...
Lu Yinghan clicked her tongue in annoyance at the throbbing ache all over her body, choosing to remain seated on the bench for a little longer.
Drowsiness gradually washed over her eyes.
Lu Yinghan forced her eyelids open, trying not to fall asleep...
She would just make do for tonight...
Suddenly, a deep male voice rang out nearby. “Lu Yinghan! ... You...”
Groggily, Lu Yinghan forced her eyes open to see who was beside her. She blinked hard, and Lu Jiansen’s furious face came into view.
“Big Brother...”
The moment those two words left her mouth, even Lu Yinghan herself was shocked.
Was that harsh, rasping sound—like wood being sawed—really her own voice?
Lu Jiansen slammed the car door shut. It was a clear sign of his anger.
He looked at Lu Yinghan sitting in the bus shelter in the distance, his heart blazing with rage.
However, as he approached under the streetlight and caught a clear look at her, Lu Jiansen’s anger was instantly doused.
Her lifeless eyes seemed to look toward him, yet there was no reflection of him in them at all.
Her entire body was a miserable sight, with a swollen handprint clearly visible on her cheek.
Every patch of exposed skin was covered in bruises.
Lu Jiansen froze on the spot, utterly stunned by her condition...
“Ying... Yingying?! Who beat you like this?! Are you okay?!”
Recovering his senses, Lu Jiansen took several quick strides over to Lu Yinghan, staring down at her with a tight, serious scowl.
He carefully lifted Lu Yinghan’s hand and rolled up her sleeve.
Underneath were fresh bruises and scrape marks...
Lu Jiansen’s anger exploded once again, but this time, it wasn't directed at Lu Yinghan.
His heaving chest betrayed the intense storm inside him.
Lu Yinghan quietly observed his expression with an unreadable face.
Yet it was precisely this completely emotionless expression that made Lu Jiansen feel even more terrified...
She was beaten so badly, yet she has no reaction at all?
Seeming to read what was on Lu Jiansen’s mind, Lu Yinghan sneered inwardly.
In her past life, she had been beaten even worse than this.
Had any of them ever cared back then?
Feeling annoyed, Lu Yinghan pulled her hand back and tugged her sleeve down, unwilling to let Lu Jiansen touch her.
“Yingying... come on, I’ll take you to the hospital first.”
Lu Yinghan’s distant demeanor brought another faint pang of heartache to Lu Jiansen.
But the current situation gave him no time for sentimentality.
He stepped forward again, gently taking Lu Yinghan’s hand to lead her toward the car.
“Does it hurt? Do you want Big Brother to carry you?”
Lu Jiansen asked carefully, his tone softening despite himself.
In Lu Yinghan’s mind, a memory suddenly surfaced—when she was three or four years old, Lu Jiansen had spoken to her in this exact same tone.
But things had long since changed...
Facing Lu Jiansen now, Lu Yinghan felt a swirl of intensely complex emotions.
Yet the one thing she knew for certain was that when faced with Lu Xuanyao, this same Lu Jiansen would still choose Lu Xuanyao every single time.
Even if her own situation was far worse than Lu Xuanyao’s.
Her heart twinged slightly.
Lu Yinghan turned her head to look at Lu Jiansen.
“Big Brother, I want to go home.”
Her tone was calm and devoid of tears, as if she were simply stating a mundane fact.
Lu Jiansen’s hands grew cold, his fingers going numb.
His lips twitched slightly, and all he could do was softly agree.
“Alright, Big Brother will take you home.”
Besides, there was a family doctor at home.
Lu Jiansen led Lu Yinghan into the car, carefully buckled her seatbelt, and slowly drove home.
On the way, Lu Jiansen called the family to report the situation, but Lu Yinghan could no longer hear any of it.
She was simply far too tired...
Seeing Lu Yinghan fall asleep, Lu Jiansen slowed the car down even more.
Earlier that evening, Butler Liu had suddenly come to him, reporting that she hadn't returned home yet and that her phone had turned off mid-call, likely due to a dead battery.
“Where is the family driver?!”
“Eldest Young Master... since the start of the school term, Miss has been taking the bus to and from school all by herself.”
That news had completely ruined Lu Jiansen's focus, stripping him of any desire to work.
“She takes the bus, and you didn't think to report this to me?”
“Eldest Young Master, Miss said herself that there were no spare drivers for her, and that she was fine going to school alone. She specifically asked me not to tell you... I...”
Butler Liu had been panicking as well.
If anything were to happen to Miss, he wouldn't have the face to look anyone in the eye!
In hindsight, Lu Jiansen’s heart sank.
It was his fault; after dropping her off at school last time, he had never arranged a driver for her...
Swiftly putting on his coat, Lu Jiansen grabbed his car keys.
“Butler Liu, I'm going to pick her up now. If anything comes up, I'll call you.”
“Understood, Eldest Young Master!”
His hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
In his mind, the image of Lu Yinghan as he first saw her kept replaying.
Her disheveled clothes and messy hair.
The clear handprint on her face.
But what chilled him to the bone was her eyes.
Staring hollowly into the horizon, filled with a deep, suffocating darkness...
Even when he called out to her, there was no sign of him in her eyes.
Even though those eyes were usually so clear and bright.
They didn't hold a single spark of life...
This memory overlapped with the feeling he had when he drove her to school before—as if she were about to fade away...
“Yingying...”
Lu Jiansen muttered under his breath.
The car soon arrived home.
Lu Yinghan was gently picked up by Lu Jiansen.
“Hmm? Are we home?”
“Mm. It's alright, I'll carry you in.”
Lu Yinghan was woken up by Lu Jiansen's movements.
Rubbing her eyes as they entered the house...
Lu Xiong’s harsh, booming voice burst into Lu Yinghan’s ears:
“Why bother coming home?! A member of the Lu family getting bullied like this outside?! How pathetic! What kind of home is she coming back to!”
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