Redemption from the Abyss: The School Beauty Insists on Pulling Me Out of the Mire

The room was dark, with no lights on.

The narrow entryway was so cramped it was suffocating. Su Qinghe leaned against the cold security door, panting heavily. The breath he had been holding on to finally loosened halfway, and his legs almost gave way, so he could only barely hold on by grabbing the doorknob with his back to steady himself.

"Don't make a sound."

Xie Wang's voice rang out in the darkness, very close by.

With a faint scent of mint and tobacco mixed with the dampness of rain: "If we find out, I'll throw you out."

Su Qinghe immediately held his breath, not daring to make a sound.

The two were standing too close.

Darkness amplifies all the senses.

Xie Wang could smell the faint scent of jasmine shampoo on her, which seemed out of place in this musty old building.

Su Qinghe could also feel the boy's warm body temperature, which was surprisingly hot even through the air.

Outside the door, a series of chaotic footsteps stopped on the fifth floor.

"Why is there no light?"

"This dilapidated building looks like no one lives here; it's all covered in dust."

"Damn, I think I heard some noise on the top floor?" a man's voice asked suspiciously.

Su Qinghe's heart skipped a beat.

When people are extremely nervous, they subconsciously seek something to lean on. She reached out and grabbed randomly in the darkness, her fingertips touching the hem of Xie Wang's clothes.

Xie Wang's body visibly stiffened for a moment.

He looked down, and although his expression was not visible, he could feel the hand gripping his clothes trembling violently.

So delicate.

He chuckled inwardly, but surprisingly, he didn't shake her off.

"Let's go, let's go check the next unit, don't let that girl get away."

Another voice urged impatiently.

The group lingered at the door for about ten seconds before finally leaving, cursing and swearing. Their footsteps faded into the distance until they disappeared into the sound of rain outside the window.

After confirming that it was safe, Xie Wang unceremoniously slapped away the hand that was grabbing his clothes, took a step back, and created some distance.

"Smack."

He casually touched the light switch on the wall.

The glaring incandescent light bulb turned on, accompanied by a buzzing sound from unstable current, making people dizzy.

The sudden light made Su Qinghe instinctively raise her hand to shield her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted, she squinted at the boy in front of her.

She paused for a moment, then froze.

At school, Xie Wang was always the background figure sleeping in Class 8, a frequent visitor to the teachers' office, his hair always covering half his face, and he exuded a gloomy and decadent aura.

But Xie Wang, who was caught in the rain, casually grabbed his stray hairs and revealed his extremely aggressive brow bone.

He was staring at Su Qinghe, his deep-set eyes and high, thin nose revealing a wildness.

Staring at Xie Wang, the image of that muddy mess in his mind didn't match the boy in front of him at all.

Su Qinghe looked away and, upon seeing the scene before him, was speechless for a long time.

This place... is even worse than she imagined.

The living room, which is only a dozen square meters, is tidy, but it also has a strong sense of age.

The air was filled with the minty scent emanating from the boy.

On the rickety wooden table in the center of the living room, there was only an old laptop with a scratched casing and a shiny keyboard.

It looks like trash salvaged from a junkyard, but the screen is lit up with dense green code scrolling so fast it's dizzying.

Is this Xie Wang's home?

Xie Wang, who slept, fought, and ignored everyone at school and was called "social scum" by his teachers, lives here.

Xie Wang ignored her, kicked aside a box at his feet, and plopped down on the worn-out gaming chair.

He pulled out a cheap cigarette that cost a few dollars, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it, and looked at her with a gloomy expression.

"Have you seen enough?"

Xie Wang sneered, "If you've seen enough, then leave."

Su Qinghe did not move.

She looked at the old, worn-out floor, then at her muddy shoes, and finally her gaze swept around the room.

Then, this young lady did something that Xie Wang never expected.

She pulled a piece of paper from Xie Wang's pile of books, glanced at it, and saw it was some complex code. A barely perceptible glint flashed in her eyes.

Holding the paper as a mat on the empty cardboard box, Su Qinghe sat down without hesitation.

Xie Wang's eye twitched violently.

He peeked out briefly.

"Su Qinghe," Xie Wang couldn't help but speak, his tone strange, "What are you still doing here? Are you clinging to me now?"

"Thank you, Wang." Su Qinghe settled down, tucked her wet hair behind her ear, and resumed her usual aloof demeanor. "Can I borrow a charger?"

Xie Wang took the cigarette down, held it between his fingers, and pointed to the door:

"Su Qinghe, get your facts straight. This isn't your five-star hotel, and I'm not your waiter. The crisis's over, understand? Get out of here."

"My phone is dead, and I have no cash on me."

Su Qinghe calmly stated the facts, "It's still raining outside, and I'm not sure if those people have left or not. It's too risky for me to go out now."

Xie Wang stared at her, his eyes playful: "So you're going to stay here? A lone man and woman, don't you care about your reputation if word gets out?"

"As long as you don't tell, no one will know."

Su Qinghe glanced at the old computer, his words carrying a hidden meaning, "Besides, I think it's safer here than outside. After all, even the worst student in the whole school lives here; no ghost would dare to come here."

Xie Wang was momentarily speechless.

His brain circuitry is quite unique.

Is this a compliment or an insult?

"One thousand," Su Qinghe suddenly said.

Xie Wang was taken aback: "What?"

"Charger, borrow it for ten minutes, 1000 yuan." Su Qinghe said calmly, "Or if you think that's not enough, name your price."

Xie Wang stood up and walked up to her.

He was much taller than her, exuding an imposing aura. He deliberately moved closer, a hint of fierceness in his eyes, and bent down to look into her gaze:

"Young lady, do you believe I can tie you up right now, take a few photos, and demand a million from your father? That's much faster than your thousand dollars, isn't it?"

Su Qinghe looked up at him, her gaze unwavering, only more resolute:

"You won't."

"How do you know I can't? I'm a terrible person."

"Because when you opened the door just now, you had to confirm whether they were debt collectors first," Su Qinghe pointed to the doorway, hitting the nail on the head.

"A person who is already burdened with troubles and lives cautiously has no time to cause more trouble; you just want to avoid getting into more problems."

Xie Wang cursed under his breath.

Hold.

This woman has a really sharp eye; it's really annoying.

Just as the two were staring at each other, the atmosphere tense and deadlocked—

"Gurgle—"

The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally clear in the quiet room, and even had a slight echo.

It came from Su Qinghe's stomach.

Xie Wang lowered his gaze to her flat stomach.

Su Qinghe still maintained that aloof expression, but the tips of her ears turned bright red at a visible speed, and her fingers gripping her knees tightened subtly, her knuckles turning white.

It turns out that even the aloof school beauty needs to eat and gets hungry too.

awkward.

An incredibly awkward situation.

Xie Wang stared at her for three seconds, then suddenly chuckled.

He turned and walked to the corner of the room, rummaging through the things.

"There's no charger included. I modified my own cable, so you won't be able to use it."

He spoke to her with his back to her, his voice languid.

Just as Su Qinghe was about to speak, a red object flew towards him.

She instinctively reached out and caught it.

It was an unopened bucket of braised beef noodles, with a sausage thoughtfully stuck on top.

Immediately afterwards, Xie Wang carried over an old water bottle and slammed it down on the cardboard box in front of her with a loud "thud".

"This is all we have."

Xie Wang sat back down in his chair, propped his legs up on the table without any regard for appearances, typed a few keystrokes on the broken computer, and said without looking up, "Finish your food and get out of here. Don't starve to death in my house, I can't afford to pay for it."

Su Qinghe held the noodles in his hands; the heat emanating from the plastic bucket was a bit too much for his hands, but it brought back a bit of feeling to his already frozen fingers.

"How much?" she asked.

"Ten thousand." Xie Wang casually made up a story, wanting to see her give up.

"it is good."

Su Qinghe actually nodded, quite seriously, "I'll put it in the books and transfer it to you later."

Xie Wang paused in typing, staring at her as if she were an idiot: "Are you sick?"

Su Qinghe ignored him, tore open the packaging, opened the instant noodles, and pressed the lid.

A few minutes later, the noodles were ready.

Su Qinghe picked up the plastic fork and took a bite.

"Cough cough..."

She was immediately choked by the chili oil in the cheap seasoning packet, covered her mouth and coughed softly, her whole face turned red, and tears were almost coming out of her mouth.

Xie Wang glanced at her sideways, a smug smirk playing on his lips: "What, Miss, you can't stand junk food? Then don't eat it."

After Su Qinghe finished coughing, she glared at him, then continued eating with her head down.

That pampered young lady who usually only eats organic vegetables and drinks Evian water is now sitting on a dusty cardboard box, sucking in breaths from the spiciness while holding a few dollars' worth of instant noodles, eating more earnestly than anyone else.

The rising steam reddened her face, finally making her usually aloof and ethereal eyes appear more human.

A few minutes later, the room was filled with the cheap yet overpowering smell of instant noodles.

Xie Wang secretly glanced at her through the reflection of the computer screen.

"Feed." He suddenly spoke, without turning around, "You said you can't go home, that you had a fight with your family?"

Su Qinghe paused, then turned to look at the dark, rainy night outside the window.

"It wasn't an argument, I just sneaked out."

Her voice was soft, tinged with deep weariness. "It's too noisy. Everyone is talking and making demands. You have to get first place, you have to learn the piano, you have to be good... Nobody is listening to me. I want to find a quiet place to be alone for a while."

"Coming here looking for peace and quiet?" Xie Wang scoffed. "Are you out of your mind?"

"It's very quiet here."

Su Qinghe looked away, glancing at Xie Wang's impatient profile. "It's quieter than my house."

Xie Wang frowned.

He couldn't understand this young lady's affected manner.

But he could tell that she really didn't want to go back.

That kind of loneliness can't be faked.

She's even more like a homeless bastard than him.

"Then shut up and eat your noodles." Xie Wang turned his head irritably, typing away on his keyboard. "Drink all the soup, don't waste my water."

The rain was still falling, showing no sign of stopping.

Before I knew it, the old alarm clock had already struck one in the morning.

Xie Wang turned around and saw that Su Qinghe was asleep against the wall.

She was still clutching the empty noodle bucket in her hand, curled up into a small ball, her brows slightly furrowed. In her sleep, she had shed all her pretenses and looked incredibly vulnerable.

Xie Wang cursed under his breath, scratched his head, and deleted the line of code he had just written.

What a huge problem! Miss Su is really carefree.

He got up, went into the inner room, grabbed a thin blanket, and roughly threw it on her, but he moved very quietly, afraid of waking her up and having her get up again to negotiate the price with him.

"Just for this one night."

He said fiercely to the air, "If you dare to stay here tomorrow morning, I'll sell you to some remote mountain village to buy a computer."

The only response he received was the girl's gradually steady breathing and the incessant sound of rain outside the window.