Chapter 8: Ning Lingyu

Through her blurred vision, Ning Lingyu witnessed the most touching and unforgettable scene of her life right before her eyes!

"Why are you so careless? If you tear your shirt, mom would have to stay up all night to sew it back!", said a handsome young boy about 7 or 8 years old with eyes that were filled with innocence. He used all his strength to drag up the little delicate Lingyu, who accidentally fell down and dusted off her pants.

"Here, take this milk candy, I don't like candy!" Their mother gave them a total of 2 candies. While mom was preparing lunch in the kitchen, Ling Yun licked his lips and gulped down a mouthful of saliva. This was when he offered his candy to a hopeful little Lingyu.

"If you guys dare to bully my little sister, I'll risk my life fighting you!" A stubborn 9-year-old Ling Yun stood before little Lingyu with his fists clenched as he scolded her little friends who wanted to bully her.

"No need to be afraid my little sister. Your older brother is here to protect you..." After fighting, Ling Yun, who had been badly bruised all over, forced a smile and patted little Lingyu's shoulder while comforting her.

As she looked at the slight dimple that appears on Ling Yun's left cheek every time he smiled, a sense of pride and security would wash over Ning Lingyu. Following which, she nodded fiercely with her tiny little head.

Heartwarming scenes kept coming up as if it was put on a loop before her eyes. Finally, it arrived at a time 6 years ago! That year, both Ling Yun and Ning Lingyu had just turned 12 years old.

A simple sentence from someone cruelly destroyed and shredded the defense line of the relationship between the sensible siblings!

"Her surname is Ning, your surname is Ling, you two aren't even biological siblings! You're a wild orphan that her mom picked up from the streets! An orphaned bastard!"

For the first time, Ling Yun did not stand before his sister; For the first time, he was completely silent; For the first time, he did not clench his fist and retaliate fiercely!

A young teen's purity, bravery, and kind heart were utterly destroyed by that evil and harsh sentence!

As it turned out, Ning Lingyu fell extremely ill when she was barely a month old. When her mother dragged her postpartum body uphill to a temple to pray, she found Ling Yun abandoned at the temple entrance and decided to bring him home.

A simple blanket with a note that said two words, "Ling Yun", nothing else was left there along with the baby. It was apparent that Ling Yun's biological parents wanted to leave him there to perish.

The siblings knew since they were very young that they were not biological siblings, however, they shared an even stronger bond that most biological siblings did! Ning Lingyu always saw Ling Yun as her biological brother and treated him as one.

Even after someone said that awful line, she still stayed by Ling Yun's side as per usual. She even secretly grumbled about the fact that her mom did not change Ling Yun's surname and named him Ning Lingyun instead.

She was naïve enough to believe that her brother would no longer be attacked by mean and harsh words from others if he changed his surname.

However, her mother just casually said, "His name is Ling Yun, so he will be called Ling Yun. Mommy is not going to change his surname. It'd be easier for his parents like this if they ever wanted to look for him in the future."

Even though little Lingyu complained about it, she ultimately accepted her mother's explanation.

However, what Lingyu did not expect was, ever since he heard that sentence from others, Ling Yun changed. He was a completely changed person!

He became quiet, self-destructive, withdrawn from society and had low self-esteem. He no longer sheltered her from the storm or stood before her bravely. Neither did he wave his fist at those bad students who bullied him anymore.

But Lingyu knew that Ling Yun was still secretly protecting her, he just switched to a different method.

Whenever he noticed that someone wanted to bully her, Ling Yun would always voluntarily let the person beat him up instead. The only condition was for him to not bully his younger sister!

Apart from her, who else would have known that the real reason Ling Yun became that obese? It was to reduce the pain whenever he was getting beaten up.

But what Ning Lingyu was unaware of was the true reason Ling Yun chose this method. It was because he realized even though he was taller and bulkier than his classmates, his body was terrifyingly weak!

He never told anyone this fact as he simply suffered in silence. A bad student's unintentional insult truly hit Ling Yun's deepest insecurity, which caused his temperament to change drastically.

No matter how hard Ning Lingyu tried to convince her own brother, it was pointless. She was completely disappointed by the end of it all but still had a glimmer of hope, hoping that someday her brother would stand up again, stand up before her to protect her again.

For that, she was willing to ignore and pretend to look down upon Ling Yun, just to awaken the passion of a man, the pride of a man within him!

This morning, Ning Lingyu naturally heard of the two big rumors about Ling Yun. She could not be bothered about what happened between her brother and Cao Shanshan because even idiots would know that it would be impossible for them to have any sort of connections.

However, when she found out that her brother exploded in his hostel and beat people up, her eyes brightened up!

Disbelief was what closely followed! It had been six years, was it possible? It would have been good enough if her brother was not beaten up by others, how could he possibly beat someone else up?

But now, she was finally convinced when she saw the big guy on the school field running for his life with the sandbag propped up on his shoulder. She felt excited and blessed so how could she not cry?

Her older brother, who was capable of protecting her, loving her, and sheltering her no matter the circumstances, was finally back!

A handsome, dashing, and elegant guy dressed in branded clothes stood not too far away from Ning Lingyu. With a wicked gaze filled with burning desire, he greedily looked at Ning Lingyu, who was leaning against the railings with tears streaming down her face.

He was Ning Lingyu's classmate, Xie Junyan, one of the four biggest spoiled brats in Qingshui High. However, what separated him from the three other spoiled brats, was that his results were absolutely outstanding.

Those who did not know him would always be mesmerized by his dashing good looks, elegant manner, gracefulness, and his confident smile, convinced that he was indeed a personable dandy.

Right then, another noble teenage girl who was dressed similarly, with branded apparels from head to toe and high heels stood by his side. She looked seductive, with her face covered in foundation and bright red lipstick on her lips, as she wrapped her arm tightly around his. Her gaze was also fixed on Ning Lingyu.

This girl seemed to be born with a sense of superiority as if she was better than everyone else. She looked at Ning Lingyu with pure spite and disdain as she did not even bother to hide the hatred and bitterness on her face.

This all proved one thing, she was jealous of Ning Lingyu.

She was the third campus belle of Qingshui High, her name was Zhuang Meina. She was the precious daughter of the richest man in Qingshui City - the CEO of Zhuang Medical Group. When it came to family background, hers was considered extremely powerful in Qingshui City, apart from Cao Shanshan's mysterious family background that could not be compared to anyone else's.

To summarize, Zhuang Meina was the standard fair, rich, and beautiful girl.

The greatest coincidence was when she was sorted into the same class as Ning Lingyu, Grade 12 Class 1. From then onwards, her nightmare began!

Even though she was ranked as one of the top three campus belles of Qingshui High, she was still topped by Cao Shanshan and Ning Lingyu. No matter how hard she tried to look prettier, either by makeup or attire, she was still regarded as the "third" prettiest campus belle by all the guys in school.

Zhuang Meina was also diligent with her studies. Even so, it didn't matter how hard she tried because she could never beat Ning Lingyu, who had secured the number one position in the whole cohort since Grade 10!

Cao Shanshan's mysterious family background was known by everyone. Admittedly, Zhuang Meina knew that she was unable to compete with her, but Ning Lingyu came from a poor family who could not even afford to buy any clothes. How was she always stealing her limelight?

These were all secondary, what truly drove Zhuang Meina crazily jealous was the fact that her crush that she had secretly liked all along since middle school, the son of a minister, Xie Junyan, had been openly courting Ning Lingyu. Even though she rejected him time and time again, he became even more determined with every rejection. He persevered and had been trying to court Ning Lingyu for as long as two and a half years!

Up till Grade 12, due to the stress from the college entrance examination, Xie Junyan personally believed that it was hopeless to continue courting Ning Lingyu. Thus, he gave up on that idea temporarily and accepted Zhuang Meina's love instead.

This famous love triangle that shocked the entire Qingshui High was one of the juiciest gossips that both teachers and students enjoyed the most in the past three years!

She looked at Xie Junyan, who took forever to accept her love and get into a relationship with, blatantly ignoring her feelings while staring longingly at her arch nemesis, Ning Lingyu, right in her face. One could imagine the kind of jealousy and rage that was boiling within Zhuang Meina!

Zhuang Meina could no longer suppress the bitterness within her. She rolled her eyes and glanced at the shadow that was running slowly on the school field before she flashed an evil smile. With a voice that was just enough for Ning Lingyu to hear, she mocked, "Junyan, look at that stupid pig on the school field trying to lose weight with such a stupid method. That's just hilarious!"

In Qingshui High, there was another huge gossip that entertained both teachers and students for the past three years. It was the fact that nearly the whole school knew the exceptional campus belle Ning Lingyu had a weird brother from completely different parents, the useless Ling Yun.

As the younger sister was consistently the top of the cohort, her brother had given up on his studies long ago. He was a completely useless piece of junk who was just waiting for his demise!

"I really don't understand how someone as useless as him can live such a meaningless life. He should just die already!"

Perhaps she briefly saw Ning Lingyu's slender body tremble at her words, Zhuang Meina flashed a satisfied smile as she continued to add fuel to the fire!

Of course, Xie Junyan was very clear on Zhuang Meina's intention of humiliating or angering Ning Lingyu by insulting Ling Yun. However, he merely furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her without taking any actions.

Ning Lingyu, who had always ignored Zhuang Meina's unscrupulous insults for the past two years could no longer take it after she heard the second sentence. She finally wiped the tears from her face and took one last look at Ling Yun who was on the field before slowly turning back.

Her brilliant eyes were slightly red, but her cold stare was directed at Zhuang Meina, who felt a hint of fear.

"I'm telling you, my brother is not useless!"

Her voice was a sweet as a Nightingale's. Even though it sounded cold as snow, it was filled with indisputable confidence!