Chapter 912: Heartache

"What should we do then?" Zhao Xuefei squatted on the ground, holding his head.

Cursing his own inability, why couldn’t he even protect those he wanted to protect?

"Don’t be like this." Loli squatted down, patting his shoulder, and said, "I think Sister Lingling makes a lot of sense. We can ask Sister Jingmiao when we get back and see what she decides."

If Zhao Jingmiao doesn’t want to continue, they’ll just find something else to do.

Anyway, no matter what, they’ll find something suitable for her to do.

As for Zhao Jingmiao, she originally didn’t want to take the bus, but she couldn’t refuse when that semi-stranger named Qian Bao appeared, reluctantly taking her bag from him. "Thank you."

She was genuinely grateful.

She was thankful he didn’t force her earlier when she couldn’t help the one called Lin Hong.

"I already have someone I like, so..." she told him, "you don’t need to spend any more time on me."

Lei Xingjun, her heart still ached whenever she thought of him.

She thought, maybe she would never fall in love with anyone else again; after that incident, she certainly wouldn’t marry.

"Why does it make one feel so heartbroken?" Qian Bao mused, touching his side-part as he sent her onto the bus. "It’s been a long time since I felt this way."

Since Gu Lingling and the others took the later bus, they would get home later than Zhao Jingmiao.

When they got home, Zhao Jingmiao had already made dinner, "You’re back? Hurry up and eat."

"So sumptuous!" Loli said with a smile, "It smells so good, I’m really hungry."

"I decided to improve our meals today." She had bought some ingredients from the market after getting off the bus.

"Business good?" Zhao Xuefei asked, his head down.

"Of course, I made even more than at the transformer factory." Zhao Jingmiao replied with a smile, "You’ll never guess how much I made today, but I also don’t know, just waiting for you to help count the money together."

She spoke while smiling, not mentioning what happened at the train station at all.

"How are things? Did anyone bully you? If anyone bullied you, we shouldn’t work there; it’s okay to make a little less elsewhere." Zhao Xuefei said.

"No, everything’s fine." Zhao Jingmiao said while picking up some food, "There’s a sister next to me who takes good care of me, and my clothes sold especially well today. Customers loved them."

"I estimate that I’ll earn more tomorrow than I did today."

Standard way of reporting good news while concealing worries.

Zhao Xuefei looked up at her, "No one bullied you?"

"How come? It sounds like you wish someone bullied me," Zhao Jingmiao joked, serving her brother food, "Don’t worry, I’m not so easy to bully."

"There was a woman who was really annoying, claiming I stole her spot, but I dealt with her. It’s fine now." She said with a smile, "So don’t worry about me. School’s starting soon, just focus on your studies, leave the rest to your sister."

Zhao Xuefei kept his head down, then a tear dropped into his bowl.

Holding the bowl tightly, he didn’t say a word for a while. Finally, lifting his head again, "Sis, from now on, after school, I’ll pick you up. I don’t feel safe with you being out on your own."

"Okay." Zhao Jingmiao smiled, "But don’t tire yourself out, focus on studies first."

Zhao Xuefei really wanted to say: he’d rather not go to school.

But seeing his sister’s hopeful gaze, he just couldn’t get the words out.