Beauty and the Beasts

The young eagles’ adaptive abilities were quite good, and they had already gotten used to the busy lives of third-year high school students. When they were suddenly given a day of break, they were quite surprised and happy.

There shouldn’t be anyone who disliked breaks, but there were exceptions. An example was Shen Yin, who had her head lowered and was walking beside Mu Ya.

Shen Yin didn’t have friends and was a person of few words. She seemed to always be unhappy. However, Mu Ya could tell that she was really unhappy now.

All the classmates liked breaks. Why did Shen Yin not like them? Was it… because of him?

Mu Ya felt secretly glad. When they walked to the school gates, Mu Ya specially said, “See you the day after tomorrow.”

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“En.” Shen Yin nodded softly. Her properly trimmed fringe could no longer block her vision, but she still liked to lower her head, not daring to look up.

Only after Mu Ya turned and left did she raise her head to look at his back view. As the noise from the roads was very loud, she wasn’t scared that he would hear her. Thus, she said softly, “See you the day after tomorrow.”

Mu Ya’s lips pursed into a smiling arch as he raised his hand to touch his ear. That faint voice seemed to be echoing in his ears.

“Third! Hurry up!” Mu Tian shouted from the front.

Mu Ya immediately restrained his expression and walked quickly toward his brothers.

After the three brothers were out of sight, Shen Yin lowered her head once again and carried her old and battered school bag toward the bus stop.

After changing two buses, Shen Yin alighted on a secluded road.

This place wasn’t even considered a Tier 3 city. It was similar to a farming village. There was a pond next to the river and many reeds the height of two people by the banks. The faint smell of reeds could be smelled in the wind.

Shen Yin lowered her head and hurriedly walked into the fields, entering the road in the reed forest. She crossed the old stone bridge and then walked for another ten minutes before stopping in front of an old house.

Upon opening the door, the disgusting stench of alcohol gushed out. The house was in a mess and there was trash everywhere on the table, chairs, and floor. No empty spot could be seen.

A skinny and tall middle-aged drunken man lay on the sofa that was piled up with trash and dirty clothes. He was making loud snores from his throat.

The sound of the door opening might have disturbed him as the snoring stopped, and he started to mumble drunken words from his mouth, “Damn lass~ damn lass!”

Shivering, Shen Yin threw a quick glance at the man before dashing straight for her room. She was faster than outside.

Shen Yin only relaxed after locking herself in the narrow room. Then, she hugged herself with lingering fear.

After feeling the softness coming from the bag, her expression calmed down too. She pulled open her bag’s zipper and took out the stack of nicely folded new clothes.

Shen Yin lifted it to her nose and took a whiff, then her pale lips broke into a sweet smile.

The study workload for students in the third year of high school was heavy, but this didn’t include Shen Yin.

She had to go to a factory three kilometers away to do craftwork for a day.

Her speed was faster than the workers who had been working there for a very long time, and she could earn 50 to 60 yuan a day. It’d serve as her living expenses for the next week.

Shen Yin wore the new clothes Mu Ya gifted her and sneaked a look at the drunken man. After seeing that he was still sleeping, she took in a breath, held it, then quietly dashed for the door.

“Shen Yin?”

The man’s voice was like a bolt of lightning, causing Shen Yin’s body to tremble and her heart to palpitate furiously.

The drunken man rubbed his eyes and sat up, pointing to her and asking, “Why haven’t I seen you in this set of clothes before? Where did you get it from?”

“I… I bought it with the money from my part-time job.” Shen Yin didn’t look back as she replied, feeling uneasy.

The man instantly flew into a rage and walked over quickly, saying, “You have money to buy clothes but don’t give it to me to buy alcohol? You definitely still have money! Hurry up and give it to me!”