Chapter 9.2|Do you believe in me?

When Yin entered the classroom, her demeanour seemed off, evident from the redness in her eyes indicating recent crying.

"What's wrong?" Zhiyi stopped her in her tracks, seeing her arm trembling.

Yin lifted her head, her stubborn eyes hiding a hint of fear and humiliation.

Zhiyi furrowed his brow, hanging Yin's bag by the desk, gently patting her back to reassure her, "Follow me."

As Xipei watched the two leave the classroom, she pondered: Xu Zhiyi, at least give me a chance to talk to Meng Yin!

With this thought in mind, she shifted her gaze to her gossip-loving friend, Nie Hai.

Zhiyi led Yin to the lab, feeling her hand through the uniform, unstable emotions and erratic breathing, and then he gripped Yin's hand tighter.

Seating Yin down, he squatted in front of her, "Follow my lead, inhale, exhale slowly; inhale, exhale; inhale, exhale..."

Zhiyi patiently guided Yin along with her breath until her breathing became steady.

"Can you tell me what happened this morning?" His tone, unlike before, now carried a warm breeze, akin to the autumn sunflower under the morning sun.

Meng Yin spoke, her voice hoarse, "Xu Zhiyi—"

Her eyes gradually welled up, the sour sting in her nostrils magnifying in her senses.

Zhiyi's lips formed a straight line, his gaze fixed on Yin's face, extending his arm to her, "I don't have any paper on me, you can use my school uniform sleeve to wipe your tears."

He didn't rush her, quietly and patiently waiting for Yin to continue.

The belated fear and panic were quietly soothed, yet tears couldn't be held back. Yin rested her head on Zhiyi's outstretched forearm, shoulders trembling, and said, "I encountered a pervert."

The subway station is approximately a ten-minute walk from the residential area, requiring passage through three intersections. The first intersection, near the commercial area with a newsstand, appeared deserted in the early morning time. As Yin passed the newsstand, a man approached, blocking her path. 

The man, with a neat appearance and attire, remained silent when Yin politely inquired about his identity. Instead, he remained silent, merely gesturing towards the ground. Following his indication, Yin lowered her head to find something seeping out. Simultaneously, the man's other hand suddenly grasped her hand, with a subtle hint of force. Throughout these actions, he emitted a somewhat eerie chuckle.

Caught off guard, she realized what was happening. 

Prior to this encounter, she had only seen abstract illustrations in her middle school science textbook. At that moment, a sense of humiliation surged from within, filling her throat with nausea. Despite Yin's immediate resistance and escape from the man's grasp, her wrist was left red from the ordeal. Failing to achieve his intentions, the man staggered towards Yin, who, fueled by anger, swung her bag at his head. The man stumbled back a few steps. Yin seizing the opportunity, gathered strength, raised her foot, aimed, and fiercely struck the man's abdomen several times.

Unable to withstand the sudden barrage, the man collapsed to the ground, curled up in pain before he could react. 

As Yin's actions unfolded with calm and swift precision, two passersby briefly witnessed the altercation but chose to ignore it. With the man incapacitated on the ground, Yin made her escape. Twenty steps away at the crossroads, a taxi happened to pass by at that moment. Without hesitation, she got on the back seat. As the vehicle started moving, she trembled with delayed shock, clutching her bag tightly.

Zhiyi's school uniform sleeves were soaked with her tears, while his gaze remained fixed on her.

"Xu Zhiyi," Meng Yin sniffled, composing himself, "Give me your clothes tonight, I'll take them home and wash them for you."

"Are you thinking about that now?" Zhiyi furrowed her brows.

Yin wiped away the remaining tears from his eyes with the back of his hand, "Are you a bit of a clean freak?"

Zhiyi finally looked at his sleeve cuff, not particularly concerned, feeling like he was probably about to burst out laughing.

Meeting Yin's gaze directly, Zhiyi remained calm and serious, "Do you trust me?"

Yin looked a bit bewildered, her body responding on its own, nodded blankly and said, "I do."

With the answer, Zhiyi stood up, ignoring the tingling sensation on the soles of his feet.

"Wait for me for a minute."

Before entering the laboratory building, Zhiyi sent a WeChat message to Hai, asking him to bring the paper bag from his desk to Room 306 in the laboratory building.

At that moment, Hai and Xipei were already eavesdropping outside the door for a while.

Zhiyi did not expose their behaviour.

"Bro, here you go." Hai handed over the paper bag, containing breakfast for Meng Yin.

It was the Cifantuan and a cup of black sesame walnut soy milk made by Nanny Dong in the morning.

"Xu Zhiyi, is Meng Yin okay?" Xipei peeked inside with a worried expression on her face.

Yin encountered something bizarre on the way, although they didn't hear it all, they got the gist of it.

"As long as I'm around, she'll be fine." Zhiyi said, "You two go back first, the exam will be soon, she'll go back after eating."

Today is the second day of the monthly exam.

"Alright." Hai glanced at his expression, directly answered for Xipei, and pulled her to leave.

Zhiyi pulled out a chair next to Yin, unwrapped Cifantuan and handed it to her, then inserted a straw into a soy milk cup and placed it before her. 

"Wasn't it said that you want to surpass me and believe in me?" With a glance at the clock on the wall, his words were few but each one was reassuring. "Have breakfast first, take your exam well, don't overthink it, leave the rest to me." 

Yin took a bite of the Cifantuan, looking at him with a puzzled expression. 

Zhiyi leaned slightly forward, maintaining a proper distance between them, his hands resting on the two ends of the chair, tapping the edge of the chair silently with his index finger pads, his gaze towards Yin warm and powerful.