5 Rebirth at Eighteen (2)

The force she exerted caused the man to scream in pain, but the woman stepping on his hand remained unperturbed. Su Xiaofei wasn't that strong to crush his hand with a mere step. Because of this particular memory in the past, Xi Qian has had a trauma since then.

Because she was the one accompanying Xi Qian, that night on her special day, ditching the bodyguards in the process. If she hadn't been so arrogant that night and put their safety in mind, none of this would have happened.

She had been afraid that it would happen again, so she asked Xi Qian if she wanted to learn martial arts to protect themselves in the future. It was for that reason she was able to beat this old pervert who dared to harass her best friend in the past.

His hand had been previously injured when he was scavenging the trash to find something he could sell when he was cut by a broken glass. Now, being stepped on by Su Xiaofei, his face blanched as he realized that his wound had reopened.

"Okay, okay." The man agreed and Su Xiaofei stepped back, allowing him some time to dig the money from his pocket and hand it to her.

Su Xiaofei scoffed and placed the money inside the pocket of her jacket and glanced at her terrified friend. She needed to take Xi Qian away as soon as possible to lessen the damage this encounter would leave on her.

"Hey, old man. You better make sure I don't see your face around me anymore or else…"

The man crawled away from Su Xiaofei and ran away in fear. He wasn't sure what had just happened and how that young woman managed to beat him so easily, but he would rather not meet her again in the future.

Earning money only to be beaten into a pulp wasn't expected when he accepted that errand!

Su Xiaofei then strode toward Xi Qian and helped her get up. She still wondered if this was a dream, but how was it possible that she could touch Xi Qian like this and could feel the warmth of her hand against hers?

Was this just a figment of her mind, a memory she wanted to correct and regretted? Was this why she was seeing her dead best friend for the first time since her death?

"Feifei, what did that man say? Someone asked him to assault me?" Xi Qian was sober now. She clung Su Xiaofei's hand as the latter sent messages to her bodyguards to come and pick them up.

"Hn. It seems like your stepmother really hates you, Qian." She replied then patted her friend's head. "But don't worry, with me by your side, I won't let anyone bully you." Su Xiaofei promised.

"But why would she do that?" Xi Qian frowned. Her parents had long divorced and never bothered looking after her. If it wasn't for her grandmother, she wouldn't be able to grow up decently. "I know she doesn't like me because I'm not her child, but for her to pay someone to assault me…"

Su Xiaofei remained silent for a moment. The reason why Xi Qian's stepmother had done this was to destroy Xi Qian's reputation, painting her as a wild and unfilial child. Since Xi Qian was already eighteen years old, they couldn't claim the custodian rights she and her husband had against her. Forcing Xi Qian to make mistakes and to encounter misfortunes would allow them to gain control over her again.

In her past life, because Xi Qian had repeatedly fallen under her stepmother's schemes, she had lost the inheritance and the house she received from her deceased grandmother. A year from now, the place where the house stood would be purchased by a development company and Xi Qian's father, as well as her step mother, managed to snatch the fortune from her hands.

Seeing Xi Qian's eyes turned misty, Su Xiaofei couldn't help but feel pity for her friend. Xi Qian had lost her life before Su Xiaofei succumbed to her illness. Before her twenty eighth birthday, Xi Qian was accidentally killed when the iron bars at the construction site near her new home collapsed and fell over her.

Su Xiaofei didn't believe that it was merely an accident that took her best friend's life. Perhaps, it was another ploy of Xi Qian's stepmother to get rid of her. Just when Xi Qian's relationship was about to bloom, she had lost her life.

"Qian, are you sure you don't want to move into my place? I won't mind sharing it with a housemate." She offered Xi Qian's once again.

Su Xiaofei obviously had more money than Xi Qian, because she was raised as an heiress by the Su family. However, they may be best friends, but Xi Qian never took advantage of their friendship. For others it was surprising that the innocent and kind Xi Qian had a good friendship with Su Xiaofei, who was known for her arrogance and viciousness within the social circle.

"But Feifei, I don't want to be a burden to you." Xi Qian frowned. "I appreciate your offer, but I don't want people to think that I'm only befriending you because you have money."

"The hell to them and what they think." Su Xiaofei scoffed in annoyance.

She had learned that what people think or say shouldn't matter too much the hard way. If she wasn't so superficial in the past, she wouldn't foolishly flaunt her money around and bully Ye Mingyu.

"I'm fine, Feifei. Don't worry too much about me, but I guess we should stop sneaking out." Xi Qian's lips curled up as she smiled at Su Xiaofei.

A black car had pulled into a stop near the alley they were in and Su Xiaofei nudged her friend to follow her. However, even before they reached it, Su Xiaofei felt like everything around her was fading into darkness with Xi Qian's voice calling out her name.

avataravatar
Next chapter