Hard to Escape

Chapter 12

My injuries weren't really that bad, but I didn't want to cause further alarm to my classmates so I just claimed that I had tripped and fallen. Although my injuries had just about healed, sadly Yin Li did not permit me to participate in any activity that was even a little strenuous.

During our class's volleyball tournament, I could only cheer from the sidelines. Under the blazing sunlight, I eventually grew bored and went off to wander around on my own.

I had only walked halfway through our campus's flowering wisteria archway before I felt that something was off. Someone was following me. Discovering this, I felt a lingering fear. Because H University was an open campus, all sorts of people mixed in with the students, coming and going as they pleased. Though I was frightened, I maintained an outwards appearance of calm and smoothly strolled down the path, keeping my original pace. I headed towards the library, where there would be more people. The person behind me kept at a steady distance and didn't make a move. When the amount of people around us finally increased, I dropped my pretenses and ran into the crowd.

The person behind me also ran out of their patience and chased after me, yelling, "Miss! Wait! Wait! Miss please wait! WAIT!1 I'm a good guy! I'm a good guy! Don't run!" Unexpectedly, his Chinese had a bit of a Westerner's accent. Out of curiosity, I turned my head around. To my surprise, a foreigner with a big, bushy beard was currently gasping for breath as he ran after me.

1 This "wait" was spoken in English, not Chinese.

Then when he saw my face, he said in surprise, "My god! It's exactly the same!" Subsequently he continued to shout after me in a louder voice, pleading, "I have something really important to discuss with you! Miss! Stop! Don't run!"

By then I had arrived at a densely populated area, and my fear of him also disappeared. Thus, I actually stopped running this time. Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I looked at him suspiciously.

The foreigner smiled as he came up to me and stretched out his arm to offer a handshake. "I'm Frank. Miss, please excuse my boldness, but you really do resemble my idol!"

I snorted. "Bro, this kind of pick-up line is already old."

The so-called Frank smiled. "No, Miss! Hear me out! I never had the slightest intention of hitting on you! It's true! You truly do look exactly like my idol! Practically identical!"

"You foreigners also look practically identical to me. It's the common problem of being face-blind to other races. You probably think all Asians look the same, that's all."

But he actually defended himself, "No, miss, it's true! At the moment I don't have a photo of her on me! But! If you could just let me see your ankle... And if you could let me touch it that'd be even better!"

I was currently wearing jeans. This foreigner son of a bitch wanted to see my ankle, and on top of that, feel it up?! Wasn't he clearly taking liberties with me?! At this thought, the swells of the Chinese national anthem2 burst in my heart as I had a sudden desire to vanquish Imperialism. Yet the foreigner continuously inched closer with crazed eyes, seemingly wanting to get a glimpse of my ankle. In a moment of desperation, I drove my foot into the crotch of his pants.

2 Yan Xiao actually directly refers to the song 义勇军进行曲, "The March of the Volunteer Army", aka the national anthem of the People's Republic of China.

"Goddamned pervert, see how you like that, huh!?"

He made a sound of acknowledgement, seeming not to mind the pain. Rather, he stared at me as if he had encountered something unbelievable, muttering, "It seems that you really aren't her. She would never do something so crass, or conduct herself in such a vulgar manner. Ai, seems like she really did die. Nothing in the world can replace my star of hope. She has already fallen." Then he plopped onto the ground and, disregarding appearances, burst into tears.