Small changes

  Tian Tian's face was pale, Xu Yi Tian seemed to know what she wanted to do, but didn't stop her. Since he loved her, then all he needed to do was be her rock, and support whatever she did.

  Xu Yitian stood up, looked at her heavily, but didn't say anything else, pulled her hand and walked towards the door.

  In school. It's recess time, a cacophony of noise.

  Tian Tian dragged Song Xiao Wei back into the classroom, grabbing her wrist and ignoring her struggles, and rushed towards the girls' bathroom.

  Xu Yitian let a girl follow him too, if something happened to Ryo Tian, she must come back and tell him immediately.

  Arriving at the toilet, Tian Tian slammed the door shut and stared tightly at Song Xiaowei.

  "What's wrong with you? Have you gone mad?" Song Xiaowei said angrily.

  "What's wrong with me?" Tian Tian sneered, "That cup of water has medicine in it. What are you pretending to be stupid about?"

  Song Xiaowei snorted and sneered, "You didn't drink either, did you?"

  Tian Tian flung Song Xiaowei aside and said coldly, "Yes, I didn't drink. But Du Xiao Mo did, what's it to you?"

  "What's your relationship with that little fatty? Do you need to treat her like this?" Song Xiaowei smiled.

  Tian Tian's expression turned gentle, and she took a deep breath before saying, "She is my friend. Hurting my friend is worse than hurting me, the consequences will be more severe."

  "What can you do?" Song Xiaowei said disdainfully.

  "Get out!" Tian Tian said word by word.

  "Alright," Song Xiaowei hastily said, "you don't have to be with Xu Yitian, and I won't try to scheme against you again, how about that?"

  "You're talking terms with me? What makes you think you can talk terms with me?"

  "Here you go!" Song Xiaowei said, pulling out a stack of 100-yuan bills from her pocket and handing them to Tian Tian. "This is for you, how's that? Not enough? I have more."

  Tian Tian took the money from Song Xiao Wei's hand, nodded slightly. Raised her eyes, before Song Xiao Wei could react, she suddenly bumped Song Xiao Wei against the door with her shoulder.

  Song Xiaowei let out a pained hum.

  Then, Tian Tian grasped her chin with one hand, forcing her to open her mouth, and stuffed the stack of money into her mouth one bill at a time. Her eyes were bloodshot, her voice as cold as ice, "Don't measure everything with money, it's not just you who has it."

  Song Xiaowei coughed awkwardly, trying to refuse the fishy-smelling banknotes from entering her throat, but no matter what she did, she couldn't. Her lower jaw was so sore and her throat was parched to death.

  Tears streaming down her face, she sobbed and said, "Don't... wu wu... don't..."

  Tian Tian didn't stop there, she said, "I'll teach you a lesson, don't be too arrogant, or you'll suffer the consequences." Until Song Xiaowei swallowed all that money, she let go of Song Xiaowei.

  The girl sat on the ground, digging at her throat, trying to spit out those things, making a series of dry heaving sounds.

  Tian Tian stood up straight, looking down at Song Xiaowei with a cold expression. "Remember to drink some water, it helps with digestion." She opened the door and walked out, slamming it shut behind her.

  Xu Yitian leaned against the wall by the toilet, smoking a cigarette, with a faint mist of smoke rising from his mouth. He gazed at Tian Tian, who walked out of the toilet with a calm expression, his eyes somewhat dazed.

  Tian Tian walked over and took the cigarette out of his mouth, saying lightly, "Don't smoke, it's bad for your health."

  Xu Yitian smiled softly and held her in his arms, saying, "If you want to cry, go ahead. I know it's hard for you."

  Tian Tian wrapped her arms around his waist, tears pattering against his clean khaki jacket, her voice a little muffled, "With you here, it's warm."

  After that day, Du Xiaomo became silent, sometimes lost in thought, his eyes staring at nowhere. Once, Tian Tian accidentally glanced back and saw Du Xiaomo hunched over, writing and drawing on his notebook, two tears suddenly falling onto the paper, smudging a small patch of text.

  Tian Tian's heart skipped a beat, she turned her head forward, feeling a sense of guilt and discomfort. But it was also not good to say anything more, that chubby girl was so kind-hearted, she calmly accepted the jokes they made about her. When they were hungry, although very reluctant, she still took out her favorite snack from her backpack.

  During class, he would sleep soundly and drool a lot. He often made trouble with his deskmate Cheng Yi, bullying the smaller boy mercilessly. However, he would unhesitatingly help him clean up, under the pretext of "losing weight".

  Girls like her, so simple and innocent, without any pretence, who used to laugh out loud, have also become silent. Tian Tian never saw her laugh heartily again, only when the three of them were playing together, her small eyes would slightly narrow, but she never joined in with them again.

  They also tried to get her to join in, taking her along to play and have fun, but just as they were playing a small game, Xu Yitian laughed so hard that he held his stomach, his eyes shining like sapphires, when he fell onto Tian Tian's body. At this moment, Du Xiao Mei's tears flowed down rapidly, she quickly covered her face and ran out, leaving the three people staring at each other in confusion.

  The exam is coming at this time, which is the first exam to enter high school. In Tian Tian's eyes, it seems especially important. During the exam, she also did her homework more carefully until she was satisfied with herself.

  After finishing the exam, she put her stationery into her backpack and happened to see Xǔ Yìtiān walking towards her. "How was the exam?" she asked casually.

  Xu Yitian rubbed his head, "The sight is unbearable."

  "Let's go out for dinner tonight," said Tian Tian.

  "Is this a celebration?" asked Xi Yitian.

  "Uh-huh."

  "Because I didn't do well on the exam, so celebrating..." Xǔ Yìtiān muttered to himself.

  "That's how it is," Tian Tian walked out of the classroom and gazed at the silver-gray sky, sighing.

  Xu Yitian rolled his eyes and walked away with a swagger.

  "Are you done yet, Xu Yitian?" Tian Tian glanced at Xu Yitian, who was busy styling his hair into a dashing look.

  "I'm more handsome than you, if you take me out, you'll have face too, right?"

  "I'm leaving, you can be handsome by yourself from now on."

  "Alright, forget it. Seriously!" Xǔ Yìtiān said, running over to link arms with Tián Tián, flashing a sweet smile, "Let's go, dear."

  At the moment she stepped out, seeing that finely made-up woman, Tian Tian's heart seemed to have been struck by something, a dull ache. Her body immediately stiffened on the spot, and even the smile on Xu Yi Tian's face disappeared completely.

  "How did you come back?" Tian Tian asked coldly.

  "I'm back, but I didn't come looking for you." Lü Yanlan smiled lightly. "Besides, this isn't even your home, is it?"

  Tian Tian clenched her fists, Lü Yanlan slowly walked over to them and stood firmly in front of Xu Yitian, staring at his sapphire blue eyes, a hint of a smile on the corner of her lips. "Take off those beautiful contacts, Tian Cheng."

  Xu Yitian bit his lip, a hint of annoyance flashing in his eyes. Unconsciously, he touched the tip of Tian Tian's finger, which was icy cold.

  Tian Tian gazed into his eyes, and suddenly her expression also turned cold. She pulled her hand out of his palm, as if to say, "Don't touch me."

  "What do you want?" Xǔ Yìtiān's voice was no longer awkward, speaking in standard Mandarin with a hint of N City dialect.

  "Come back with me to France."

  "No!" he said resolutely, "I won't go back. Two years of imprisonment aren't enough?"

  Lü Yanlan's smile froze on her face, looking extremely terrifying. She said coldly, "Not enough, do you think I'm just imprisoning you? I've found the best teachers to teach you business skills, and what about you? What have you been doing every day? Practicing Taekwondo, fighting with people, playing the piano, dancing in the streets, and at night, holding her photo and crying!"

  Lü Yanlan pointed at Tian Tian, then turned to Xu Yitian, "Are you still a man? Can you stand up straight? You even... even made that face that looks so much like mine into this androgynous look! What is this!"

  "Yes! I'm worthless, but I like her. I practice Taekwondo to protect her, street dance and play the piano to please her. The most meaningful thing I've done in my life is loving her, protecting her. I'm not the successor you idealized, nor do I have the talent for it. I just want to live the life I want with her."

  Xu Yitian paused, pointing to his face, his eyes bloodshot as he said, "This face, this very face, before I could complete the task you assigned me, your long fingernails ruthlessly scratched a gash on it! So deep, so much blood flowed, and yet you didn't even ask me a single question, nor did you show any concern for me! If it were Tian Tian, she would have taken me to the hospital long ago. But you? You locked me up at home for seven days! A wound that could have healed left a scar instead! What can I do? This disfigured face makes me sick just looking at it. Why must I bear this shame on my face for all to see?"

  After listening to Tian Cheng's heart-wrenching words, she suddenly felt her body go soft and her mind went blank, as if she had lost all consciousness. She thought that he was indeed Tian Cheng, after all, the two of them had such similar personalities, even some living habits were identical. But that face, that completely different face, made her immediately dismiss this idea.

  How can she love him! He is her brother!

  "You..." Tian Tian numbly touched Tian Cheng's face, wanting to say something, but couldn't open her mouth.

  "I'm not your brother, you're not Lü Yanlan's daughter, and I'm not Dad's son!"

  Just like a thunderbolt on a clear day, it struck Tian Tian's head, like a wooden puppet being pulled by someone, she was still in the dark, and she asked softly, "What did you say?"

  "I said, 'I'm not your brother, you're not Lü Yanlan's daughter, and I'm not Dad's son! So, Tian Tian, I can love you, we don't have a blood relationship!'"

  "Tian Cheng, I won't let you two be together!" Lü Yanlan coldly reminded.

  "This is none of your business." Tian Tian's voice was extremely soft, but she enunciated each word clearly, "You have no right to interfere with my life."

  "Really?" Lü Yanlan mysteriously smiled lightly, "Want me to tell you another astonishing piece of news?"

  "What?"

  "Your real father, Tian Junfeng, got into a car accident and died." Lü Yanlan burst out laughing, "He's dead, he's dead, do you know? Hehe..."

  Tian Tian had been holding back her tears for half a day, but in an instant, they fell down with a plop. Her voice trembling, she said, "What...what did you say? How could he be dead? Are you lying to me?" Why was it that every time this woman appeared, nothing good ever happened, and instead brought unforeseen disaster.

  "Am I cheating you? Haha! Why would I cheat you? Thirty percent of his company's shares are in my hands, what do you have left? Not a single thing was left for you, he didn't even get to write a will!" Lü Yanlan laughed so hard that her veins bulged out, she covered her stomach as if she couldn't extricate herself from the crazy laughter.