Chapter 13: No one else did anything wrong.

Shi Kezhen walked down the corridor and pushed open the door to a study room.
Inside, there were only three students, sitting far apart from each other.

Hearing the noise, someone instinctively looked up at her but quickly lowered their head again to focus on their work.

Shi Kezhen also found a corner to sit in, making sure not to disturb anyone.

In fact, she quite enjoyed spending the night here.
The study room late at night possessed a peculiar quietness—not a dead silence, but a living quiet.
There was the rustle of pen tips gliding over paper and the occasional sound of pages turning.

No one would disturb her, and no one would pay attention to her.

Shi Kezhen didn’t intend to study.
She took out her phone, put it on silent, and checked WeChat.
Shi Yanzhou still hadn’t replied to her messages.

She switched to her Privacy Space.
Given how late it was, she didn’t send another message to Cheng either.

She looked up at the other people in the study room.
They were all far away from her, and sitting in this corner, no one would notice what she was doing unless they deliberately walked over.

So, she opened her game, planning to play until she got tired, then sleep with her head on the desk.

The next day, just as the sun rose, Shi Kezhen—who had only slept for a little over two hours—came out of the study room.

When she stood downstairs at the boys’ dormitory again, the time was 5:48 AM.
The sky was just getting light, and the dormitory building was still quiet.
She chose a spot where she wouldn’t block the way and stood still.

By six o’clock, students who got up early for breakfast or exercise began to emerge from the building one after another.

Seeing Shi Kezhen standing downstairs, many people paused to look at her before turning their heads to whisper to the people next to them.

“Isn’t that Shi Yanzhou’s sister? Waiting for him again?”

“She couldn’t have been standing downstairs all night, could she?”

“Probably. I saw her standing there around ten o’clock last night.”

“My god, that’s just too…”

Shi Kezhen automatically ignored the strange looks.
Her expression remained completely unchanged—neither embarrassed, nor awkward, nor even feeling wronged.

She waited all the way until past seven o’clock before she finally saw Shi Yanzhou returning to school.

Her gaze locked onto him.
She stood motionless, watching him quietly.

The moment Shi Yanzhou approached the dormitory building, he saw the person he expected to see.
That familiar face, that familiar stance, those familiar, quiet eyes watching him…

Here she went again.
The frustration he had suppressed all night instantly exploded.

He strode up to her, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her forcefully toward a less crowded area.

Shi Kezhen stumbled slightly from his pulling, almost falling.
“Yanzhou, slow down.”

Shi Yanzhou kept pulling her until they reached a deserted corner before forcefully throwing her hand away.

“How many times have I told you?”

“Don’t concern yourself with me, and don’t come looking for me at my dorm.”

“Who are you putting on this show for?”

He kept his voice low, but every word felt as though it was squeezed through his teeth, carrying intense anger.

Shi Kezhen lowered her eyes, pursed her lips, and stayed silent.
She let him vent his anger, offering no resistance or explanation, putting on an appearance of submissive endurance.

Seeing her like this made Shi Yanzhou even angrier.
“You stand outside my dorm all night at the drop of a hat. Do you know how ugly the rumors are getting?”

“Do you have any idea how annoying you are?”

“It was one thing in the past, but now I have a girlfriend, yet you still keep running to my dorm to wait for me. What will other people think?”

“People are going to misunderstand our relationship.”

At this, Shi Kezhen slowly raised her head and glanced at him.
Her mouth moved as if she wanted to say something, but she held back and swallowed the words.

Shi Yanzhou glared at her.
“If you have something to say, say it!”

Shi Kezhen hesitated for a moment before saying in a low voice: “People… wouldn’t be misunderstanding, though.”

The voice wasn’t loud, but it almost made Shi Yanzhou jump.

“You!”

He pointed at her nose, glaring at her fiercely, and warned her: “Shut your mouth!”

Shi Kezhen obediently shut her mouth and stopped talking.

Feeling a guilty conscience, Shi Yanzhou quickly glanced around.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he lowered his voice to warn her.

“Remember this: you are just an adopted daughter of our family. Aside from that, we have no other relationship, and we never will!”

He stared fixedly at her.
Seeing that she remained silent, he gritted his teeth and added another sentence.

“Put away your delusional thinking. Stop constantly longing for things that don’t belong to you.”

“If you really push me too far, I’ll have you thrown out of the Shi family, and you won’t even be able to keep your status as the adopted daughter.”

‘It seems I haven’t pushed you far enough then.’
‘It’s my fault for not doing enough.’
‘I’ll work harder.’

Shi Kezhen calmly recited these three sentences in her mind.

Then, she bit her lower lip, reaching out to grab the hem of Shi Yanzhou’s clothes, looking wronged.

“Yanzhou, please don’t be angry.”

“I saw that you missed class yesterday afternoon and didn’t return to the dorm at night.”

“You wouldn’t answer my calls or reply to my WeChat messages, so I was worried about you…”

Shi Yanzhou pulled her hand away from his clothes in disgust.

“Do I need you to worry about me? Just mind your own business.”

“Stay out of my affairs and stop worrying blindly!”

The corners of Shi Kezhen’s eyes reddened slightly, and her voice grew even softer.

“How can I not concern myself with you? Mother told me to take good care of you at school.”