Chapter Eight: Jia Baoyu

At the same moment, the bouquet of snow-white Snow Tower camellias he held fell to the ground. As I regained my balance, I suddenly realized I was standing on the hem of his trench coat.

It was reckless of me to rub salt in my parents’ wounds, and now, seeing Yihua Yang’s expression, I regretted it. Why couldn't I have stayed quietly in the hospital instead of coming out to court disaster?

Still, fate had not treated me unkindly—after all, it had been a long time since I’d seen a man so strikingly handsome.

I recalled the third chapter of "Dream of the Red Chamber," where Lin Daiyu first meets Jia Baoyu: "His face was like the full autumn moon, his complexion like the flowers at dawn, his sideburns as if sculpted by a blade, his brows as if painted with ink, his cheeks like peach petals, his eyes deep as autumn waters."

Ah, truly, he was breathtaking.

The driver hurried over, glanced at the ruined cake on the ground, and sucked in a sharp breath. In a low voice, he said, "Sir..."

The man cut him off, his cold gaze fixed on me. I shivered. "I'm so sorry, sir. Whatever it costs, I’ll pay you back." As I spoke, I reached for my wallet. But the wallet that I could always retrieve with a single motion seemed to have vanished today, as if deliberately hiding from me.

I emptied the contents of my bag, but the wallet was nowhere to be found. Helpless, I looked at the man. "Give me your phone number, please. I’ll pay you tomorrow."

"Miss, do you know how expensive this cake is? There’s not another like it in the world. How will you possibly compensate me?"

My father stepped forward, pulled out his wallet, took out a thick wad of cash, stuffed it into the driver’s hands, and then pulled me to my feet. His voice had lost its earlier harshness. “Let’s go home.”

I knew what awaited me at home. Things had escalated to this point; it was almost impossible to escape unscathed.

In this moment of both internal and external crisis, I had no faith in the saying that one must secure the home front before facing outside threats. In this world, the only person you can always rely on is yourself.

Seeing Xia Qi and Li Wanqiu running toward us from the convenience store, I didn’t hesitate. I pushed my father aside and ran.

A hand grabbed me. I thought it was my father, so I instinctively took a step forward.

"Trying to run after breaking my things?" The man—my own Jia Baoyu—pressed down on my shoulder. I spun nimbly, but he was faster, twisting my arm behind my back.

My father tried to help, but a few police officers jogged over, snapped to attention, and saluted him. One of them leaned in to whisper something in his ear.

At that crucial moment, I stomped hard on the man’s polished leather shoe.

Was he made of steel? Even with all my strength, he didn’t let go.

I yelled, "You’ve already been paid! Let me go!"

He sneered, "A cake that’s one of a kind in the world—do you think money can make up for it?"

What a cliché. "Hey, what do you want then?"

He leaned in, his breath grazing my ear, his tone flippant. "Why don’t you keep me company instead?"

You bastard—wearing Jia Baoyu’s face but a lecher at heart.

I sneered right back. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Xia Qi and Li Wanqiu rushing over, each grabbing one of the man’s shoulders. Xia Qi shouted, “If you’re going to take advantage of someone, at least pick the right target!”

I seized the opportunity, broke free, and without thinking, kicked him hard between the legs.

He doubled over, clutching himself, while the driver shouted in alarm.

Nearby, the police were talking to Yihua Yang, who cowered fearfully in my mother’s arms, and my father was on the phone.

I shouted, “Run!” and the three of us took off at a sprint. Luckily, Xia Qi had driven here, or we really wouldn’t have gotten away.

All the way, we laughed ourselves silly. Xia Qi shot me a wicked grin. "That kick of yours was ruthless—think he’ll end up with ED?"

Li Wanqiu rolled her eyes. "That would be perfect. People like that are beasts. We just saved a lot of girls."

After a while, I sighed and told Xia Qi to take a detour to the police station—I was worried about Du Fanchuan.

He had hurt me, but after so many years together, that bond doesn’t just vanish with a few harsh words and some tears.

Xia Qi and Li Wanqiu both knew about my family’s situation; it had been years. When Yihua Yang was in college, she spent her spare time working as a piano teacher at a training center. She was talented, and a wealthy businessman noticed her, hiring her to teach his daughter piano at home every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.