DF Chapter 28

Chapter 28 “No one has ever treated me like this.”

The sun overhead made people’s eyes dizzy, but no one wanted to leave, not even Sheng Jia.

The cold sweat she broke out in the principal’s office just now made her feel for the first time how close she was to death, and she needed to take a breather.

“What are your opinions?” Seeing that no one responded after she finished speaking, Song Ji’an couldn’t help but continue, “Actually, whether it’s Principal Lu, Teacher Fang, or Teacher Liu, they will respect our opinions. If we go and say we accept this matter, they shouldn’t object.”

“So, you’re actually willing?” Xia Qingzhao heard this and looked at her intently, probably not expecting that Song Ji’an, who seemed to think everything through carefully and was quite steady, actually had such strong opinions in her heart.

The principal and the others hadn’t even discussed it yet, but she already had a plan in mind.

“I don’t care, but if we’re willing to help Officer Liu, maybe this matter can be resolved sooner, right?” Song Ji’an said slowly, “As long as the culprit isn’t caught, we’ll be worried every day.”

But in fact, Song Ji’an wasn’t afraid of these things.

After something like this happened, Song Ji’an’s family would definitely take strict precautions. Auntie Liu and the others might even come out to pick her up and drop her off every day. No matter how much they tried to retaliate, they wouldn’t be able to hurt her.

Sheng Jia knew her background well and turned her head to look at her. She could only see a profile, her eyes turned into honey-like amber by the sunlight.

“Besides, high school students participating in the capture of a murderer sounds pretty exciting.”

Song Ji’an didn’t turn to look at her and didn’t even know if she felt her gaze. She just smiled and said, “I’ve had a pretty peaceful life since I was little. This is the first time I’ve encountered something like this, and I’m more curious than afraid.”

Song Ji’an’s eyes curved slightly when she smiled, like crescent moons.

Even if she said a lot, Sheng Jia suddenly understood why she had made this decision so suddenly to persuade Xia Qingzhao and the others to cooperate with Officer Liu.

Xia Qingzhao’s feeling about Song Ji’an was right. Even though Song Ji’an was enthusiastic, gentle, considerate, and thoughtful to everyone, she herself possessed the arrogance belonging to her class, but she never showed it.

She never made friends casually and had high standards for the quality of her friends.

In Song Ji’an’s eyes, perhaps Sheng Jia was the only one in the class who could truly confide in her, but unfortunately, Sheng Jia was unwilling to open her heart to her.

Whether it was Zhang Mingyue, Zhou Yin, or even Su Zhaolin, whom she met later, Song Ji’an could do everything impeccably, but she wouldn’t treat them as close friends, let alone confide in them.

She made friends like an ordinary high school student, occasionally going out to play with her girlfriends, living a healthy high school life.

But this was before she became completely close to Sheng Jia.

After she started running to the Greenery Cafe with Sheng Jia every day, although she still maintained good relations with Zhang Mingyue and Zhou Yin, she basically no longer made plans to go out with them.

She only truly recognized two friends at Jingjiang No. 1 High School: Sheng Jia and Xu Lijing. But she wouldn’t talk to Xu Lijing about her family matters, her joys, sorrows, and happiness. Most of the time, she was the one listening to other people’s joys, sorrows, and happiness, tolerating others like water.

Perhaps this was the pickiness of the rich. Even with close friends, they had to distinguish between distance and intimacy. Only the closest one could receive her true consideration; she would rather have too many than too few.

Song Ji’an’s perfect surface made her rarely make decisions for others proactively. She seemed to be meticulous to everyone, but in reality, she only managed her own little plot of land. Unless it was something that intrigued her or interested her greatly, she would take the initiative.

Like Sheng Jia, and like Xu Lijing, whose contrast before and after greatly impressed her.

And this time, Sheng Jia felt it.

She was doing it for Sheng Jia.

Because she knew that Sheng Jia couldn’t give up her part-time job, she was worried that Sheng Jia might be retaliated against by the criminal suspect at school, and she couldn’t be by Sheng Jia’s side at all times.

She also knew that Sheng Jia wouldn’t proactively mention these things to others. She was used to being a lone wolf, and it would be too difficult for her to persuade Xia Qingzhao and the others to cooperate with Officer Liu.

And even if Sheng Jia herself agreed to the principal, the principal and the others wouldn’t agree. Only if they all agreed to this matter would the principal have the possibility of agreeing.

This was the first time she had silently revealed her assertive side. From the principal’s office to the playground, she had made this decision.

Although this decision was also harmless to Xia Qingzhao and the others, her purpose was only to say the words that Sheng Jia found difficult to say.

Sheng Jia thought wildly, confirming that she wasn’t being presumptuous.

Because from the moment she met Song Ji’an, her analysis of her had never ended. Every day, she gained a new understanding of Song Ji’an.

It was she and R who had proactively taken the initiative, step by step, to make Song Ji’an go from admiring her to confiding in her. She never doubted whether her goal would be achieved. The things she had experienced in her youth gave her her own arrogance. She didn’t believe she would fail.

Even now, her understanding of Song Ji’an had gone from her family background to her family, while Song Ji’an still didn’t know her family situation.

When facing other people, Song Ji’an would actually learn about the other person’s family background silently. Perhaps it was through certain conversations, perhaps it was through a certain topic. As long as she guided them a little, she could always learn what she wanted. This didn’t contain any malice; it was more like a habit she had developed in her past life.

But this habit was deliberately restrained by Song Ji’an when facing Sheng Jia.

Because she valued Sheng Jia and knew her intelligence and sharpness, she never used this tactic on Sheng Jia. She only offered her most sincere heart.

In fact, Sheng Jia’s plan didn’t really include becoming close to Song Ji’an, but sometimes, when she looked at the other person’s defenseless face, she would unintentionally lower her guard.

Even though she would always be alarmed every time she discovered this strange thing happening to her, she still couldn’t stop Song Ji’an from occasionally shaking her with her words and actions.

Like now.

She had never been treated so gently and thoughtfully before.

No one had ever helped her plan ahead, cared about her personality, cared about her habits, or worried about her safety.

Even if Song Ji’an didn’t explain, the tacit understanding that the two had developed over a long time allowed her to easily understand the other person’s motives.

Perhaps it was because she had been alone for too long.

Sheng Jia stroked her heart, which was beating wildly, and a rare look of confusion appeared in her eyes.

She thought that perhaps she had been supporting herself for too long, so that now, when someone treated her so considerately, even if it was just a few words, she would be like a moth, drawn to this scorching temperature that might burn her.

She couldn’t imagine what she would become if she didn’t have those complicated and resistant feelings towards Song Ji’an and received such treatment from Song Ji’an.

Sheng Jia raised her hand and placed her arm over her eyes, and everything in front of her went dark. The sunlight was blocked, and she didn’t want to continue thinking about it.

And next to her, in the process of her thinking wildly, Song Ji’an had already discussed with Xia Qingzhao and the others which of the three groups was the real murderer.

Sheng Jia listened to their excited discussion and suddenly sat up.

“Hey? Sheng Jia, where are you going?” Xia Qingzhao was the first to notice and quickly stopped her.

Sheng Jia patted the dust off her back, turned her head, and said seriously to them, “If you want to know who the murderer is sooner, why don’t we participate ourselves? As firsthand witnesses, and with Officer Liu’s request, isn’t it natural for us to participate?”

The others subconsciously sat up. Sheng Jia was backlit, and no one could see her expression.

“Whether you want to or not, I want to cooperate for my own safety,” Sheng Jia smiled rarely. “And this may be a rare opportunity for us to gain the initiative to participate in something we’re interested in. Officer Liu didn’t treat us like minors. When she asked the principal to consider it, her eyes swept over us. She was letting us consider it too. My conclusion is that I want to cooperate with her.”

Perhaps this was the most convincing reason for Xia Qingzhao and the others.

Their sense of danger wasn’t that strong, but they liked adventure and excitement, liked being respected as adults, and liked having the right to choose.

“Okay, I’ll go too,” Xia Qingzhao suddenly stood up from the ground. She also patted off the dust, put her hands in her pockets, and raised her chin. “Let’s go, let’s find the principal. High school life is so boring and monotonous. We should always find something new to do for ourselves.”

A smile appeared on her face, infecting the remaining people. The fear and doubt they felt in the face of the heinous crime disappeared at this moment, replaced by the infinite courage and excitement of young people.

The last to get up was Song Ji’an.

She stood in place and looked at Sheng Jia. It was still backlit, making her eyes sting. She finally tilted her head and joked, “Sheng Jia, you’re so dazzling right now. You’ve taken all my limelight today.”

In fact, there was still some surprise in her eyes.

Before this, she felt that, based on her understanding of Sheng Jia, Sheng Jia shouldn’t care whether Xia Qingzhao and the others would participate in this matter.

Even if the best option left for Sheng Jia was to facilitate this matter, she might choose another method instead of personally persuading them. Sheng Jia didn’t like interacting with people. If there was another method, even if it was more time-consuming and laborious, she would rather choose another method. This was Song Ji’an’s understanding of her over this period of time.

That was why Song Ji’an wanted to help her persuade Xia Qingzhao and the others, to save her trouble. This was nothing at all to Song Ji’an.

But this time, Sheng Jia took the initiative to speak.

This was inconsistent with Song Ji’an’s understanding of her.

In the end, she could only guess that the only reason for Sheng Jia’s anomaly was that she had seen through her purpose and didn’t want to owe her a favor.

That’s what she thought, and that’s what she asked.

Sheng Jia praised her quick wit in her heart, but there was no change on her face. She only took two steps towards Song Ji’an, and the distance between the two suddenly became very close. Song Ji’an could almost feel her breath.

“You think you’ve seen through me, so you want to help me?” Sheng Jia said slowly, “But how do you know that, when it comes to my safety and my part-time job, I won’t open my mouth to unite the people in Class Two?”

Song Ji’an opened her eyes wide when she heard this.

She saw her reflection in Sheng Jia’s eyes.

–You haven’t seen through me yet, and you can’t predict my behavior.

This was the meaning of Sheng Jia’s words.

She was breaking the image that Song Ji’an had built for her in her heart, and she was also denying Song Ji’an’s understanding of her behavior.

Song Ji’an even saw a hint of provocation in her eyes.

She felt a breath stuck in her throat, neither up nor down, and she felt a little aggrieved in her heart.

Wasn’t she trying to figure out Sheng Jia’s thoughts for her sake?

But in the next second, Sheng Jia’s eyebrows and eyes softened rarely. She said very, very softly, “But Song Ji’an, I’m still very grateful to you.”

“No one has ever treated me like this.”