Chapter 1820 - 0149: The Shadows of Childhood 1

"Your boyfriend?" Wang Yue asked with a smile.

"No, no, he’s from our school’s student council. These past few days, for some reason, the student council has been trying to recruit me. They send people to talk to me every day," Li Yingying hurriedly explained, waving her hands.

At her age, it’s only natural for a young girl to feel attracted to the opposite sex. After all, sixteen is the age of blossoming—not only a time of great beauty but also a time when one can easily fall in love.

Wang Yue was not only good-looking and strong but had also done so much to help the Li family. Naturally, Li Yingying, a young girl in the prime of her youth, found herself drawn to him.

However, she was well aware of the gap between her and Wang Yue, so she kept these innocent feelings buried deep in her heart. Maybe over time, they would fade away on their own.

But today, Wang Yue appeared before her so unexpectedly, and it seemed he had some misunderstanding.

This made her want to clarify things for him instinctively.

"I was just asking casually; you don’t need to explain so much," Wang Yue said with a smile, then looked at the restaurant where she had come out. "Did you just finish eating?"

"No, I’m here helping out," Li Yingying shook her head.

So this was what they called work-study programs!

Wang Yue felt a sense of admiration in his heart. What an independent and self-reliant girl!

"Actually, your mom and your brother both have good jobs now. You don’t have to work so hard anymore," Wang Yue said.

"It’s not hard at all. I just help out for a while during lunch breaks; it doesn’t interfere with anything else," Li Yingying replied.

Wang Yue nodded and didn’t insist any further. After all, everyone has their own way of living. How can one understand the joys of another unless they have lived that life themselves?

"Then you go ahead and continue with your work. I was just passing by," Wang Yue said, ready to bid her farewell.

But Li Yingying quickly replied, "It’s okay. Since the meal time has passed, I’ll just go tell the boss."

With that, she turned and ran back into the restaurant so quickly that even Wang Yue, a master at the Gui Zhen realm, was taken aback.

In less than a minute, Li Yingying came running back out. But because she had run so fast and was just an ordinary person, she was a bit out of breath.

Wang Yue couldn’t help but laugh and say, "There’s no need to rush. I’m not going anywhere fast anyway."

Li Yingying’s pretty face suddenly turned red, and she felt a pang of regret. She knew she shouldn’t have acted that way, but she just couldn’t help wanting to spend more time with him. Even if nothing happened and they just stayed together in silence, it would bring her an indescribable sense of happiness.

"Do your schools allow outsiders to enter?" Since Li Yingying had said that, Wang Yue naturally didn’t want to leave right away. Moreover, he was curious about a school that ordinary people attended, so he asked.

Li Yingying replied, "During the lunch break, it’s okay. There’s still more than half an hour before class starts in the afternoon. Would you like to come in and take a look, Wang Shao?"

"Of course. I’ve never been to a school like this before," Wang Yue said with a smile, then added, "From now on, please don’t call me ’Wang Shao’. Just call me by my name, as you did just now."

"That’s not quite right..." Li Yingying hesitated.

"There’s nothing wrong with it. Didn’t I say that you’re Lan Jie’s sister, which means you’re also my... sister?" Wang Yue had originally planned to say "my sister", but then he remembered that he was actually one year younger than Li Yingying, so he changed his wording at the last moment.

Actually, he would have preferred if Li Yingying called him "brother-in-law", but since his relationship with Li Menglan wasn’t publicly known yet, saying that might have scared her.

Li Yingying couldn’t help but burst into laughter. "Sister?"

Wang Yue looked a bit embarrassed and said with a dry laugh, "Okay, then Sister Yingying."

Although children from poor families often take on responsibilities early on, Li Yingying was still a student and hadn’t experienced the hardships of life. Her sense of class was not as strong as that of an adult. Now that Wang Yue was acting this way in front of her, she suddenly felt that he was no longer the lofty young master of the Wang family, but a peer of her own age. The sense of distance between them disappeared considerably.

However, she still didn’t dare to be too familiar and asked Wang Yue to call her "Sister". In a low voice, she said, "Wang... Wang Yue, please just call me Yingying."

"Okay, Yingying," Wang Yue agreed readily. "Let me take a look around your school."

"Sure," Li Yingying said, and led the way towards the school gate.

Wang Yue followed her and entered the campus without any obstacles.

Once inside, Wang Yue looked around curiously and found that the environment seemed quite suitable for him. There weren’t many students wearing school uniforms like Li Yingying; most of them were dressed in casual clothes. So, at his age, being there didn’t feel out of place at all.

Although the clothes he was wearing were clearly not cheap, and the ring on his little finger on the left hand seemed even more ostentatious, creating a sharp contrast with Li Yingying beside him, there were still quite a number of students in this school who wore such obvious signs of wealth.

"This is school life, really, I envy you guys," Wang Yue said, looking at the carefree students, some gathered in small groups and others sweating profusely on the playground.

Li Yingying smiled slightly and said, "I think there are even more people who envy you."

"Then you... do you envy me too?" Wang Yue teased her.

"Yes, if I were born into a family like yours, my mom wouldn’t have to work so hard every day, my brother wouldn’t have to drop out of school so early to work, and my sister wouldn’t have to..." At this point, Li Yingying suddenly realized what she had said and hurriedly explained, "Mr. Wang, I’m sorry, that’s not what I meant."

"I understand. If it were me in your place, I wouldn’t want my sister to become a servant in someone else’s home," Wang Yue said.

"Meeting you, Mr. Wang, is really my sister’s luck," Li Yingying said sincerely. She had also heard about such situations where people were forced into slavery. Once they signed the contract, they became the property of someone else and lost all their human rights; even if they were killed by their masters, no one would hold them accountable.

And since Li Menglan was so beautiful, if she had met someone despicable instead of Wang Yue, she would probably have become someone else’s plaything long ago.

In fact, even if she had known that her sister had already been completely exploited by this so-called "good man" before her eyes—not through coercion, but willingly, and even becoming addicted to it—she would still have said nothing.

"Don’t worry, as long as I’m around, your sister will never suffer the slightest harm," Wang Yue said. "But since you’ve been calling me by my name... why have you changed back again?"

Li Yingying smiled at Wang Yue without saying a word. Before, they had been walking one behind the other, but now they were walking side by side.

Since she had started to have feelings for Wang Yue, this kind of interaction had been her greatest wish, something that only appeared in her dreams.

And now, her dream had come true. For a moment, she felt completely overwhelmed.

The two of them strolled around the campus for a while. Wang Yue noticed many girls, but the one who stood out the most was still Li Yingying beside him.

Many boys watched her from a distance, their eyes filled with admiration.

This reminded Wang Yue of that young master from the Crocodile Gang, so he asked, "Yingying, do you encounter any problems at school? Like being harassed by boys, for example?"