The Black-Hearted Little White Flower

Even this violent debt collection by loan sharks is just a forced setup for the so-called "sweet romance" plot that follows.

According to the original timeline, Lin Xun would be beaten to the point of near death by this group of people. At the critical moment when her leg was about to be broken, F1 formidable attacker Xiao Chi would appear by chance in this dirty corner of the downtown area like a god descending from heaven, staging a hero-saves-the-damsel-in-distress scene, thus beginning the ill-fated romance between the two bickering lovers.

It's a typical trope of using extreme suffering to highlight the sweetness that follows.

It's sweet and romantic, but don't ask where the suffering comes from.

Yu Fuli felt a sense of absurdity when he thought about these things.

Who wrote this awful plot?

My family is dirt poor, yet loan sharks still come knocking on our door to lend money?

When debt collection fails, the first reaction is not to try to extract residual value, such as... well, some more efficient illegal means (like tearing kidneys), but rather to break the debtor's legs?

If we interrupt them, won't they be even less able to earn money to pay off their debts? They'll even have to pay for their own medical expenses!

This is not just a logical flaw, it's a complete logical fracture.

He supported Lin Xun as they walked along the dimly lit, secluded path, glancing at the silent boy beside him with mixed feelings.

The night wind was cool, causing Lin Xun's thin body to tremble slightly, whether from the cold, pain, or lingering fear, she didn't know.

"Let's find a place to treat your wound first." Yu Fuli pulled herself out of her thoughts, her gaze sweeping over a 24-hour convenience store on the side of the street. "There's a convenience store up ahead, I'll go buy some disinfectant. Can you... stand by yourself for a while?"

Lin Xun nodded, steadied himself against the mottled wall, and said softly, "Yes, teacher. Thank you."

Yu Fuli strode into the convenience store and quickly grabbed several bottles of mineral water, iodine swabs, sterile gauze, and tape.

As he paid the bill, he glanced through the glass window at Lin Xun, who was leaning against the wall outside. The boy had his head down, and his shadow stretched long under the streetlights, looking so lonely that he seemed about to blend into the dim background at any moment.

He paid and walked out carrying the bag.

The night wind swept up the scraps of paper on the ground, swirling past Lin Xun's feet.

He leaned against the cold brick wall, his eyes downcast, his gaze falling on his mud-covered, slightly trembling fingertips.

The redness and swelling on her cheeks and the burning pain from the wound at the corner of her mouth were still vivid in her mind's eye. But what was clearer was the lingering, pungent smell of the mud she had been trampled into, as if it were still clinging to her nostrils. And... when Teacher Yu appeared, her eyes shone with an astonishing brightness in the dimly lit alleyway.

Why is he here?

This lingering question was more unsettling than the physical pain itself.

Saint Laurent's teacher and his student, who was struggling in the mire, should have been from two different worlds.

The doorbell of the convenience store rang.

Lin Xun subconsciously looked up and saw Yu Fuli carrying a plastic bag and walking out quickly.

"Come on, it's a bit brighter over here." Yu Fuli pointed to a slightly brighter street lamp next to her, walked over first, and placed the plastic bag on the base of the street lamp.

He deftly unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, then took out iodine swabs and gauze. "The wounds on your hands and face need to be cleaned and disinfected first. Just bear with it."

Lin Xun moved over and silently stretched out his filthy hands.

The water flowed down, mixing with mud and blood, leaving dark marks on the rough cement floor.

Yu Fuli held his wrist, her fingertips steady, rinsing carefully.

The water was very cold, causing a sharp pain in the wound. Lin Xun bit her lower lip and remained silent.

"You have mud on your face too." Yu Fuli changed the water, moistened a clean gauze, and looked up at Lin Xun. "It might hurt a little, don't move."

His movements were very gentle; he carefully wiped the dirt off Lin Xun's cheeks and forehead with gauze, avoiding the wound.

The two were very close, and Lin Xun could see Yu Fuli's lowered eyelashes and the focused expression in his eyes.

This feeling of being treated seriously, even with tender care, was so unfamiliar that it made him stiff and almost wanted to back away.

"Don't be nervous." Yu Fuli seemed to sense his tension, and her voice softened. "It'll be over soon."

After cleaning away most of the dirt, the abrasions and redness underneath were more clearly visible. Yu Fuli opened the iodine swab, and the light brown liquid brought a sharp stinging pain when it touched the wound.

Lin Xun trembled and gasped.

"Bear with it, we need to disinfect it." Yu Fuli lowered her voice, but her hands moved faster, quickly and evenly treating the several obvious abrasions.

Finally, he tore open a piece of sterile gauze, cut it to the appropriate size, and gently applied it with medical tape next to the most noticeable wound on Lin Xun's cheek. "This is just a temporary treatment. If it still hurts tomorrow, it's best to go to the hospital."

He stepped back, glanced at the package, stuffed the remaining medicine and water into a plastic bag, and handed it to Lin Xun: "Take these. Tonight..."

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze passed over Lin Xun and fell into the depths of the alley.

There, the faint sounds of disordered footsteps and men's shouts could be heard, coming from the direction the tattooed man and his group had just left.

Yu Fuli frowned and made a quick decision: "We can't stay here. They might have called for backup, or they might have come back again."

He looked at Lin Xun, "Do you have a place nearby that's absolutely safe, a place they don't know about? A friend's house? Or...?"

Lin Xun slowly shook his head.

Where is there any "absolutely safe" place?

The so-called home is a place that both the father and the creditors know about.

Classmates? He didn't have any friends he was close enough to run to late at night.

Yu Fuli looked at his silent shaking of his head, and the sigh in her heart grew even heavier.

What a pitiful child.

He glanced at his phone, then at the approaching cacophony of voices in the distance.

"Come with me." Without further hesitation, he grabbed Lin Xun's uninjured arm. "Let's go to my house. At least it'll be safe there."

"Wait, teacher! I... I have to go home!"

Lin Xun suddenly stopped, his voice trembling with urgency, and grabbed Yu Fuli's arm.

Yu Fuli turned around, her brows furrowed: "Going back now would be like walking into a trap! Those people are likely lying in wait near your house, or on their way back!"

"But," Lin Xun looked up, the dim light of the streetlamp falling into his eyes, reflecting a clear layer of tears, his eyelashes wet, his voice choked, "my last bit of money... is hidden in the house. If they find it, then really... I'll have nothing left."

A deep despair clouded over Lin Xun's eyes.

Looking at his eyes, which had almost lost their luster, Yu Fuli gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

"Forget it!" he said decisively. "Tell me exactly where you live and where you hid the money. Describe it clearly. I'll go get it!"

Lin Xun looked up abruptly, staring at him in disbelief: "No, teacher! It's too dangerous, they might..."

"That's why I can't let you go!" Yu Fuli pressed down on his shoulder, her gaze sharp. "You stay here, hide behind that corner with the pile of cardboard boxes, and don't make a sound."

He pointed to a dark corner not far away, "If you hear any strange noises, or see those people coming this way, don't worry about me, run immediately to the main road, to a place with lots of people and bright lights, understand?"

He stared intently into Lin Xun's eyes, making sure he understood: "I'll come back for you. Tell me the address and where you hid the money, quick!"

Lin Xun's lips trembled, and under Yu Fuli's urging gaze, he finally gave a hoarse voice an address and the location where the money was hidden.

"Stay put and wait for me." Yu Fuli noted it down, gave one last instruction, stuffed the plastic bag containing the medicine into Lin Xun's hand, then pulled down the brim of her hat, turned around and nimbly disappeared into the shadows of the intricate alleyways in the direction Lin Xun pointed.

Lin Xun curled up in the corner filled with discarded cardboard boxes, the cold cardboard digging into his wounds, but he was completely unaware.

He clutched the plastic bag tightly, his ears straining to catch every sound in the distance, his heart pounding wildly in the deathly darkness, each heavy breath straining against the wounds on his face.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely.

The occasional faint barking of a dog or shouting of a drunkard in the distance made him tense and tremble.

The trembling in his body was uncontrollable, not from the cold or fear, but from a kind of excitement that surged from the depths of his bones and made his scalp tingle.

He bit down hard on the soft flesh inside his mouth to barely suppress the strange sob that was about to burst out of his throat.

On his face, the muscles were moving uncontrollably.

A cold, malicious smile quietly bloomed in the shadows.

He stared intently at the alleyway where Yu Fuli's figure had disappeared, as if trying to see through the darkness.

My palms were sticky and damp; I couldn't tell if it was cold sweat or something else.

teacher……

He silently uttered each word of the title in his mind, as if it were a kind of almost devout curse.

You absolutely must... get into trouble.