Papa's Princess | 时代少年团 TNT ✓

•CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE•

Yaowen had been able to retrieve my cellphone from the secretary. Fortunately for us, she hadn’t even deleted the video. I guess she didn’t think of it, so now we at least had the evidence we thought we lost.

There were flashing lights in the area, two police cars and an ambulance. I was surprised I was actually breathing okay, because I thought my trachea could have been broken by the force Mr. Ma had used on my neck.

Mr. Ma had been assaulted by my dad, so he was quite weak when the police came to cuff him. Of course no one was still sure if he would be arrested, but we were all hoping he would.

Of all of us, it was Hui who had been hurt the most. She was still unconscious as the paramedics took her and put her in the back of the ambulance. There was so many cuts on her skin and she was bleeding. That’s when I remembered what she had said: sister. This time, I was surely going to ask my dad.
We didn’t have much time to talk; we had to go to the police station.

…

I sat with the young men at the reception with a blanket around me. I didn’t understand why people were always wrapped in blankets in movies after being a victim, but I now understood that shock and fear could make someone feel cold. I was almost shaking like a leaf at the beginning of the night. My dad was still talking with the police at that moment.

We had all been screened for injuries, and while we were all okay, the police had taken note of the scars on the boys. I didn’t know that each one of them had at least one scar caused by Hui, I had only known two. I guessed this stuff had been going on for a long time.

‘That was so brave,’ Chengxin commented next to me. ‘Sorry I didn’t help you. I didn’t really know what to do.’

‘It’s okay. At least now it’s over…or at least I hope so.’ I answered.

‘Yeah,’ Yaxuan replied. ‘I mean…the police have the video and the photos. And now he’s even made things worse for himself with what he did to Hui.’

‘Why did Hui help me anyway?’ I looked at the boys, trying to see if anyone had an answer. It seemed no one did, they all just shrugged.

‘Chengxin!’ a woman’s voice rang through the police station. I looked in her direction, and I was met by a beautiful lady.

‘Mom!’ Chengxin got up from next to me and hugged her tightly. It was strange seeing Chengxin being a mama’s boy. He always acted so tough when he was at school.

‘Aww,’ I cooed as I saw him start to cry on her.

‘He hasn’t seen her in a long time.’ Yaowen said to me, smiling at the scene as well.

‘Aww Chengxin, why didn’t you tell me it was that bad?’ she pulled away from him and rolled up his sleeve, looking at the scars on his arm.

‘I just didn’t want to make you sad.’ he admitted, looking at the floor.

‘No, you’re much more important than money okay?’ she patted his head.  ‘Let’s take you home, I’m never letting you out of my sight again.’

‘Ma’am, is this your son?’ a police officer asked her.

‘Yes.’ she answered.

‘Alright then, I need to talk to you for a moment.’
At that, the two of them walked away and Chengxin watched them leave. Seeing that we were all looking at him, he quickly wiped his tears and put on his tough persona again.

‘Oh come on, there’s no need to pretend.’ Junlin teased. ‘You haven’t seen her in like 3 years.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Chengxin nodded. ‘I can’t believe it’s over. I can’t believe we’re really leaving that place.’

‘I won’t miss it, but I’m kinda gonna miss you guys.’ Zhenyuan said as he put his hands behind his head.

‘Me too,’ the rest agreed with him.

‘I wonder which school I’m gonna go to next.’ Yaxuan rubbed his chin in thought.

‘Maybe overseas.’ Yaowen also commented.

I stood up and leaned on the wall. ‘Well, I’m probably gonna go back to my old public school. I missed it!’

‘Right, we’re gonna miss you Lina. If you never came to school, this would have never ended.’ Haoxiang got up from the seat as well.

‘That’s true.’ Yaxuan commented next. ‘We really appreciate you.’

‘Aww thanks, come here.’ I opened my arms for them. They had all somehow became my family because I had learned to care about them. Not only those I was close to, but each one of them. All of them joined me for a group hug, except Chengxin who remained leaning against the wall. But it was Chengxin, I was used to him being kind of jerky sometimes.

After the hug, most of them returned to sitting down and waiting for their parents.

‘So you’re sure you’re not dating Jiaqi?’ Chengxin asked after the former conversation had died down. He was standing next to me, both of us now leaning on the wall.

‘Yes, why?’

Without responding, Chengxin leaned in and placed a peck on my lips. I almost froze in my spot. It was my first kiss, and the fact that it was unexpected made it worse.

‘Nice,’ Yaowen commented and clapped.

I stared at Chengxin, left completely speechless by his action.

‘I’m gonna miss you.’ he finally said.

‘Me…me…’

‘Chengxin honey, let’s go.’ Mrs. Ding said the moment she reentered the reception.

‘Okay. Bye guys.’ Chengxin waved at each one of them, then finally smiled at me. He walked out with his mother happily.

‘You and Chengxin huh? I could have sworn I saw that coming.’ Zhenyuan commented.

The other boys joined in, but I stayed quiet. It was making me feel embarrassed when they talked about Chengxin.

One by one, more parents showed up and picked up their children. Each one was dressed in expensive clothes and I bet they left in expensive cars. It’s funny how we all believed that the rich were happy, but being at this school really taught me that it’s not always as it appears.

Pretty soon, I was the only one remaining at the reception waiting for my father. He showed up a while later and gave me a tight hug which I didn’t quite expect.

He didn’t explain anything, he simply led me into the car. I was waiting for an explanation once he started driving, but nothing came. I wasn’t taking any of that at this point.

‘Dad…’ I started.

‘I know, I know. I’m going to explain everything.’

'Fine, but one tiny question. How did you know I'm at school?' I widened my eyes. 

'Well I had to ask Maggie's parents if you were there. And after finding out you're not, and with the last issue you complained about, I figured you would be at school...in trouble.'