So Crude It Hurts

Her voice was filled with confusion, pain, and self-doubt.

Listening to her, Jiang Bai felt a complicated emotion stir within him as well.

He knew that the root of Qian Renxue's tragedy lay in what Qian Xunji had done and the twisted hatred Bibi Dong had developed afterward, but those were secrets he could never speak aloud.

He could only try to guide her in another way.

"Uh... well..."

Jiang Bai carefully chose his words, trying to sound like a peer awkwardly offering comfort.

"Maybe... the reason isn't you. Maybe it's... other people?"

He cautiously avoided any specific implications, trying to keep Qian Renxue from placing all the blame on herself.

However, Qian Renxue did not seem to take it in. Or rather, she was drowning in overwhelming grief at the moment and could not think rationally.

She kept her head lowered as she cried, occasionally using the handkerchief Jiang Bai had given her to wipe away the tears that continued to spill out. Her cheeks and the tip of her nose had turned bright red from crying.

But whether because she had cried for too long and become emotionally overwhelmed, or because she felt embarrassed about exposing such a vulnerable side of herself before an unfamiliar boy...

Jiang Bai noticed that Qian Renxue's originally fair earlobes and the exposed half of her profile had somehow taken on a faint blush.

Time slowly passed amid sorrowful tears and silent companionship.

After quite a while, the shattered gold on the lake's surface gradually gave way to the deep blue of dusk, and Qian Renxue's sobs finally began to subside.

Jiang Bai did not hurry away, nor did he say anything else. He simply sat quietly on a rock some distance away, gazing at the now-calm lake as though he were merely a silent part of the background.

Qian Renxue finally lifted her head and looked at Jiang Bai with eyes that were already somewhat swollen and red.

She carefully studied this unfamiliar boy who had stayed with her while she cried for so long.

There was no impatience on his face, nor excessive sympathy or curiosity. There was only a calm, almost absentminded indifference.

That gave Qian Renxue a strange sense of relief.

Her voice was still slightly hoarse, thick with a nasal tone.

"Sorry you had to see that..."

"No, no." Jiang Bai hurriedly waved his hands, his tone sincere. "Just don't do anything foolish..."

"Something foolish?"

At his words, a trace of suspicion flashed through Qian Renxue's violet eyes.

Following Jiang Bai's gaze, she instinctively looked at the dark, deep lake water by her feet and immediately understood.

So he thought she was going to take her own life?

A mixture of irritation and amusement washed away some of her sorrow. She could not help letting out a soft snort and retorted with the spirited stubbornness of someone her age.

"Hmph, I'm not that stupid!"

Hmph... that might not be true...

Jiang Bai silently mocked her in his heart, recalling Qian Renxue's series of foolish moves in the original story.

But outwardly, he merely smiled awkwardly and did not reply.

Qian Renxue seemed to feel a little uncomfortable at Jiang Bai's rather strange smile.

She cleared her throat and spoke again, her tone this time recovering a little of its usual manner.

"By the way, classmate, what's your name?"

Jiang Bai blurted out, "I didn't call out!"

"???"

Qian Renxue's beautiful violet eyes instantly widened, filled with utter disbelief.

She even wondered whether she had cried for so long that she was hearing things.

Her fair little hand involuntarily clenched the handkerchief, already half damp, in her grasp.

She drew a deep breath, assuming he had not heard clearly, and repeated herself more forcefully, enunciating every word. "I'm asking you, what-is-your-name?"

"Classmate, I really didn't call out just now!"

Jiang Bai spread his hands with an innocent expression.

"!!!"

Qian Renxue felt her cheeks growing hot again, and this time it was definitely from anger!

The poor handkerchief in her hand had already been unconsciously twisted into a knot.

Why was talking to this guy so exhausting? And why did he make her so inexplicably angry?!

Almost gritting her teeth, she used every last bit of patience to speak for the third time. "I'm-asking-what-your-name-is!"

Seeing that Qian Renxue was truly about to bristle, Jiang Bai stopped while he was ahead and immediately put on an expression of sudden realization. "Oh! That!"

"My name is Jiang Bai. What about you, classmate?"

"My name is Qian Renxue."

Qian Renxue gave her name almost irritably, her chest still rising and falling slightly from their earlier "exchange."

Classmate?

She looked Jiang Bai over once more, seemingly trying to regain some ground from this boy who looked refined but was actually rather infuriating.

Then she raised her chin and asked, "How old are you?"

"Six. I just enrolled a few days ago. Why?"

Jiang Bai answered with some confusion, unable to understand why she had suddenly asked.

At that, Qian Renxue's eyes lit up slightly. She immediately stood, planted her hands on her hips, and declared,

"Then I'm three years older than you! You have to call me Senior!"

There was a trace of satisfaction in her tone at finally having won back a round, as though the person who had just buried her head in tears, fragile and helpless, had never been her at all.

"..."

Jiang Bai looked at the blonde girl before him, who had switched moods in an instant and was trying to establish "authority" through their age difference, and found himself briefly speechless.

That speed of emotional transition... no wonder she would become a master of infiltration in the future...

He silently grumbled, but outwardly went along with it and obediently called out, "Senior Qian."

"That's more like it."

Qian Renxue nodded in satisfaction, feeling that she had regained control of the rhythm.

She handed the handkerchief, now crumpled from being clenched in her hand and stained with tear marks, back to Jiang Bai. At the same time, she instinctively muttered an assessment.

"...It's so rough!"

It was unclear whether she was referring to the handkerchief's texture or complaining about Jiang Bai's infuriating remarks earlier.

Then she turned around, preparing to leave the lakeside that had sent her emotions soaring and crashing.

After taking a few steps, she suddenly stopped and looked back.

In the dusk, her violet eyes looked seriously at Jiang Bai, her tone carrying an unquestionable meaning.

"By the way, about what happened just now... you'd better not tell anyone!"

Jiang Bai looked at her, raised a hand, and made a zipping motion over his mouth.

Seeing this, genuine relief and satisfaction flashed through Qian Renxue's eyes. She nodded again before finally turning around and slowly leaving the lakeside with steps that were somewhat lighter than when she had arrived.

Only after her figure had completely vanished did Jiang Bai slowly let out a breath.

He looked down at the handkerchief in his hand, crumpled into a ball and still damp, then helplessly shook his head and put it back into his Storage Bracelet.

He turned again and headed toward the dining hall. It was long past mealtime, but perhaps he could still find something to eat.

Was this... a good start?

He shook his head, casting aside his tangled thoughts. What mattered most right now was cultivation.

Night had fully fallen, and the lights of Spirit Academy dotted the massive complex of buildings like stars.

Jiang Bai's figure soon disappeared at the end of the path leading to the dining hall.

After leaving the lakeside, Qian Renxue followed a relatively secluded path through the academy toward the deeper parts of the back mountain.

Passing through a carefully maintained grove of pines and cypresses, she saw an exquisite little two-story villa ahead.

This was not an ordinary student dormitory area, but an independent residence prepared by the academy for the very few advanced students or teachers of special status, or those who required an absolutely quiet environment.

An antique-styled lamp glowed before the villa's door, casting a soft, warm white light that dispelled some of the darkness.

Qian Renxue was just about to reach out and push open the door when she paused slightly.

A figure was standing silently in the shadows of the porch, though she had no idea when he had appeared.

He wore simple white casual robes, his posture as straight as a pine. Merely standing there quietly, he seemed to have merged with the surrounding night, trees, and even the air itself.

"Grandpa!" Qian Renxue froze for a moment, then delight instantly lit up her violet eyes. Like a little bird returning to its nest, she gave a happy cry and ran toward him.

"Oh... slow down."

Qian Daoliu opened his arms and steadily caught his granddaughter as she rushed into them. His stern and imposing face was now filled with boundless affection and gentleness.

With one hand, he gently touched her fair cheek, still slightly red and marked with lingering tear stains. His fingertips caressed it with extreme tenderness, as if wiping a fragile treasure.

His gaze carefully swept over his granddaughter's swollen, reddened eyes. Pretending not to know what had happened, he spoke with just the right amount of concern and puzzlement.

"What's wrong? Why are our little Angel's eyes so red? Did you cry? Tell Grandpa, who bullied you?"

Hearing her grandfather's question, her eyes flickered. In the end, she merely shook her head, her voice muffled and carrying a hint of coquettishness.

"No... no... It's just... some sand got in my eyes."

She chose to hide it.

Ah...

Qian Daoliu sighed silently to himself, the sigh heavy and helpless.

More than anyone, he knew where his granddaughter's pain came from, yet he was powerless to change that cold reality that had already been set in stone.

Bibi Dong's hatred and neglect of Qian Renxue stemmed from that unbearable past. It was an abyss between mother and daughter that could never be erased.

All he could do was shower his granddaughter with even more love and protection, doing his best to fill the absence of a mother's love.

He did not press further, instead changing the subject in a light tone. "All right, if our Xue'er says nothing happened, then nothing happened. Are you hungry? Grandpa had someone prepare some pastries for you. It's your favorite Honey Date Cake."

Qian Renxue's eyes brightened at that, but she quickly seemed to remember something important. She raised her head from her grandfather's embrace, her violet eyes carrying a trace of seriousness and a few hints of barely noticeable curiosity.

"By the way, Grandpa,"

She tugged on Qian Daoliu's sleeve. "Can you help me look into someone?"

"Oh?"

Qian Daoliu raised an eyebrow, wearing an interested expression, though inwardly he understood perfectly. Here it comes.

"Who does Xue'er want to investigate? Did someone at the academy provoke you?"

He followed his granddaughter's words, deliberately adding the natural protectiveness of an elder to his tone, as though he would immediately go "deal with" that fool who did not know his place if she only nodded.

In truth, he rather approved of his granddaughter's actions.

Knowing to use the resources and channels at her disposal to learn an unfamiliar person's background after coming into contact with them was necessary caution, as well as an awareness she had to cultivate in her position.

It seemed that the lessons he had imparted over the years had not entirely gone unheard by Xue'er.

"He's a student who enrolled just a few days ago. His name is Jiang Bai."

Qian Renxue did not notice the deeper meaning in her grandfather's words as she spoke.