The passionate embrace between the two of them did not escape Xia Chen's eyes. He instinctively assumed that Shi Jing must have made a mess of himself purely out of extreme worry for Shi Yao.
"Hello. Yaoyao tells me you're the one who saved her. In that case, you're a benefactor to the Shi family. Name your price—how much do I owe you?" Shi Jing noticed Xia Chen standing nearby and asked in a raspy voice.
"No, no, please don't say that."
Xia Chen quickly waved his hands and explained, "It was just a small favor. I'm sure anyone who ran into a situation like that wouldn't have just stood by and watched."
He had good reason to think so; the world might have its broken and tattered corners, but there were always people willing to do some mending.
"Is that so? Well, you really are a good guy." Shi Jing's lips twitched into a forced smile. His earlier remark had just been a polite pleasantry anyway; even if Xia Chen actually wanted money, he wouldn't have given him a dime.
"You flatter me. But next time, you really shouldn't let this girl go out selling skewers. She's a young woman, after all. She could be doing something else."
Xia Chen decided to speak his mind after all. For an eighteen-year-old girl to be selling barbecue at a night market felt somewhat inappropriate, to say the least.
"Right, you're spot on about that. It's just that this girl didn't make it into university, otherwise I wouldn't have made her do this sort of work."
Standing beside them, Shi Yao's expression grew increasingly dark as she listened to Shi Jing. She pressed her tongue hard against her teeth, suppressing the resentment and fury burning inside her.
In truth, her college entrance examination scores were more than enough to get her into the top universities in the country. Unfortunately, right after Shi Yao finished her exams and returned home full of joy, she discovered that the tuition fees she had spent six years saving up had all been gambled away by Shi Jing. That left her with no choice but to take a forced six-month leave of absence from school.
She had once tried telling Shi Monan about this, but his decision to turn a blind eye completely shattered the girl's hope for her own future.
"Brother, Xia Chen is very busy. Let's not disturb him any longer." Seeing that the two men were still exchanging pleasantries, Shi Yao forced a smile onto her face. Right now, all she wanted was to get Shi Jing as far away from Xia Chen as possible.
Noticing Shi Yao's awkward distress, Shi Jing let out a drunken hiccup and smiled. "Now how can we do that? He saved your life, after all. The least we can do is invite him over for a proper meal."
"No, absolutely not!"
The young girl's expression froze, and a flash of panic darted through her dark pupils. Even when beaten black and blue by Shi Jing, she had always remained composed, but at this moment she looked genuinely panicked and desperate.
Fortunately, Xia Chen shook his head and refused. "No thank you. It really is getting late, and I should be heading back. I won't intrude on your family reunion any longer."
A company had scheduled an interview with him for this evening, so he genuinely had no time to spare.
"Ah," Shi Jing said, putting on a show of regret. "That's a real shame. Brother Xia Chen, you must come over and sit for a while whenever you have free time. You know, I haven't even had the chance to properly thank you yet."
"There's no need for thanks. I'll definitely come by if I have the time." Xia Chen smiled and nodded, and before leaving, he didn't forget to wave at Shi Yao. "Goodbye, little Yaoyao. Be a good girl and listen to your brother at home, okay?"
He had sensed just moments ago that the young girl seemed intentionally trying to chase him away, though he couldn't be entirely sure.
"Okay, goodbye, Xia Chen."
The young girl stood on tiptoe and smiled back at Xia Chen. The lingering rays of the setting sun spilled across her face, making her look for all the world like an elf from a fairy tale—clean and pure.
"Xia Chen, please don't ever forget me," Shi Yao murmured, clasping her hands together and praying silently in her heart.
As soon as Xia Chen's figure faded into the distance, Shi Jing's true colors immediately resurfaced.
"Get inside," Shi Jing muttered, rubbing his temples as the expression on his face grew increasingly impatient.
Shi Yao didn't turn to look at him; her gaze remained fixed on the direction where Xia Chen had departed.
Seeing that Shi Yao was ignoring him, veins suddenly popped on Shi Jing's forehead. He grabbed the girl's long hair and dragged her roughly into the house.
"Damn it, do you think you can just ignore me now? I was talking to you just now—are you deaf?"
With that, he ruthlessly hurled the girl onto the hard floor.
The heavy impact forced a muffled grunt out of Shi Yao. She raised her gaze to look at Shi Jing, her calm eyes completely devoid of emotional color, as if she had long anticipated that he would resort to violence against her.
Seeing that the girl wasn't the least bit frightened and actually dared to meet his gaze, Shi Jing felt the sense of pride he usually derived from bullying Shi Yao take a hit.
With a roar of fury, he raised his right hand and slammed a slap across Shi Yao's face.
"Slap."
The sheer force left the girl's mind blank for a split second, followed immediately by a burning sensation spreading across her stinging red cheek.
Shi Yao reached up to clutch her swollen, crimson cheek, staring blankly at him with dull eyes.
"Fine, you've grown quite bold, haven't you? As it happens, I just lost a big bet today and was looking for somewhere to vent. Let's see today whether my fists are harder, or your bones."
Shi Jing sneered, drawing back his foot to kick the young girl unceremoniously in the abdomen.
Shi Yao was sent flying several feet away like a ragdoll, vomiting up the soup she had drunk earlier. Her head tipped downward as she collided with the floor, trying to escape further beating by pretending to pass out.
"Playing dead again, are you?" Shi Jing picked up a wine bottle, took a heavy swig from it, and then marched right over to the young girl, spitting a mouthful of alcohol directly into her face.
Feling the foreign liquid on her skin, Shi Yao could hold back no longer. She struggled to push herself up from the floor, low, choked sobs tearing from her throat.
"Brother, please don't hit me anymore. Just let me go, won't you? Can't you just let me fend for myself?"
The young girl wept bitterly, tears streaming down her face in a heartbreaking display. It wasn't as though she had never tried running away before, but every single time, Shi Jing had tracked her down and dragged her back.
Seeing Shi Yao actively surrender and submit, Shi Jing's irritable mood improved slightly. He grabbed the girl by the throat and slurred drunkenly, "That's out of the question. Unless you're dead, you'll just have to keep being my punching bag. That's your fate—who told you to be such a weak, useless little girl?"
"My fate?" Hearing those words felt as though the very life had been sucked out of the girl.
Of course. Her very existence was a mistake. The girl's gaze grew hollow, and right now, she desperately wished Shi Jing would just strangle her to death so she could find release at last.
"What, can't even handle this much?" Seeing the utter lack of vitality in the girl's face only intensified the excitement burning in Shi Jing's eyes; he thoroughly relished this state of affairs.
"Goodbye, little Yaoyao."
"Goodbye?" Just as the girl's consciousness was slipping away, Xia Chen's voice suddenly reignited her will to survive.
"I don't want to die. I want to see him again."
With that thought burning in her mind, Shi Yao let her hands drop limply as if in surrender, while desperately rolling her eyes upward.
"Passed out already?"
Seeing Shi Yao's eyes roll back from his grip, Shi Jing instinctively eased up on the pressure in his hand.
Seizing this split-second opening, Shi Yao lunged at her tormentor with the ferocious energy of a cornered kitten.
"Damn it, you damned little wretch!"
Shi Jing was knocked flat to the floor, and a neat row of deep teeth marks instantly appeared on his arm—undeniable handiwork of the young girl.
Breaking free from his grasp, Shi Yao spun around and bolted toward the door, though she was still a fraction too slow. Just as her fingers brushed against the door handle, Shi Jing grabbed her hair from behind and jerked her violently backward.
Shi Yao refused to let him win. She twisted her head around and clamped her teeth down hard onto Shi Jing's arm once more.
"Damn it, let go of me!"
Shi Jing roared in agony, his face twisted in a ferocious grimace. But when his furious shouts reached Shi Yao's ears, she only bit down harder, the heavy taste of blood bringing a fleeting sense of savage relief to the despairing girl.
"Fine then. Go to hell."
Seeing that the girl still refused to let go, Shi Jing snatched up a jagged shard of the broken wine bottle from the floor and drove it viciously toward her head.