Yin Kuang pushed open the door and entered. The first thing he saw was an exquisitely flawless face, tear-streaked like pear blossoms after rain, looking so pitiable that his heart ached involuntarily. The moment Yin Kuang opened the door, Diao Chan had jerked her head around as if startled to look at him. Heaven bear witness, Yin Kuang was no stranger to beautiful women. The death carnival of the academy had long ensured that he would not be undone by female charms. Yet when he saw Diao Chan—especially Diao Chan now, her eyes misty with tears—a surge of tenderness and heartache welled up within him. He actually froze for a second.
Diao Chan abruptly rose to her feet. A flash of joy appeared on her tear-streaked face, only for panic to follow as she hurriedly turned away and wiped the tears from her face and eyes with a silk handkerchief, seemingly unwilling to let Yin Kuang see her ugly crying face. Then, with soft, graceful steps, she came before him. "Y-you're back? Did something urgent call you away? I thought you'd left without saying goodbye." Yin Kuang thought, Did she cry because I disappeared? Surely not. Am I really that charming? He nodded and said, "Something trivial came up. It wasn't important. I spent the whole morning taking care of it, and only just finished. Why are you crying, Sister Ren? Did someone bully you? Tell me, and I'll teach him a lesson."
At Yin Kuang's words, the joy that had just appeared on her face vanished like smoke. Her bright, misty eyes filled with pain and sorrow, and tears began gathering again. Diao Chan quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and murmured weakly, "N-no, it's nothing. I just thought of my dead family... I'm much better now. Oh,