The Paranoid Brother Relies On My Love to Live

Qiao Zhenzhens’ heart sank, and she frantically ran towards the school grounds.

Classes were still ongoing and the corridors vacant. She sped all the way down, and on the first floor found an old lady whose movements were so shaky that she could to fall at any moment.

Qiao Zhenzhen subconsciously went to help her, but rather also slipped and fell. She was only wearing a short sleeved shirt, so her elbow got injured. The old lady, at least, was safe and sound.

After helping the woman up, the lady thanked her.

Ding—

[Favorability value +0.02, Balance: 0.03]

Qiao Zhenzhen glanced at her bruising elbow, and then at the pitifully low favorability value gained. She felt speechless again…

She had yet to find Chi Shen and didn’t have too much time at hand, so she helped the woman to a shaded area and continued running towards the school ground.  After reaching the ground, she could not spot Chi Shens’ figure amongst the big crowd of students. Just when she was about to change her direction, she heard the snarky laughter of a group of male pupil from the alley between the two teaching buildings-

“Eww, you reek of stinky fish! When was the last time you took a shower?”

“It’s useless to bathe now, the stench is embedded into his bones, what’s the use studying well? Even his brain has musty fumes coming out!”

Qiao Zhenzhen inhaled, and walked into the alley without a second thought.

There, Chi Shens’ body was dirty, and he was pushed into the dead corner in the deepest part of the alley.

With his back against the wall, the teenaged boy had no way out, but there was no panic on his face, just a pair of dark eyes starring coldly through the fringe of black hair.

It was cold and menacing, like a silent poisonous snake. His stare could make the victims back go cold.

Everyone was shocked by his stare, and the leader among them got even more agitated by it. Gritting his teeth, and twisting the water bottle in his hand, he spat out, “I don’t believe it can ever be washed out that easily, why not I help you today…”

“If you dare to splash water on him, I will get you suspended!” When Qiao Zhenzhen moved in the alley, she could see him trying to splash water on Chi Shen, making her blood boil.

Her voice echoed in the alley, Chi Shens’ fingers lightly trembled and his eyes dropped. The people who bullied him froze for a second, then turned to look at and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Isn’t this Qiao Zhenzhen, don’t worry, I’ll help you teach this pervert a good lesson and make sure he won’t ever dare to follow you again.” The person who was at the front said with a grin, his voice lofty.

“No need.” Qiao Zhenzhen recognized the he was her classmate Qian You and Zhao Lianqiaos’ minion.

“…Did you take the wrong meds? We are helping you!” Qian You did not expect her to rudely block his goodwill, even her tone had changed.

The atmosphere went bleak, no one noticed that why Qian You was talking to Qiao Zhenzhen, Chi Shens’ eyes darkened in the corner.

Qiao Zhenzhens’ face was expressionless, “I would want your help?”

“You!”

Qian You reddened in anger and rushed forward, but was immediately blocked by one his friend, “Calm down, her dad is one of the schools’ donor!”

Qian You heard the words, grit his teeth and walked out with the rest of his group. When he passed Qiao Zhenzhen, he was stopped by her: “Hey.”

“What?” Qian You said in an irritated tone.

Qiao Zhenzhen turned her head to look at him and said, “I advise you to keep low and not be so arrogant in the future.”

If she had remembered correctly, this person offended someone and was splashed with water and locked in an abandoned toilet for a one day and night. When he was found, he had a high fever and a broken leg, so had to drop out to recuperate. The original novel did not really have much info about these small characters, so she doesn’t know who did it.

Though she had only said those words lightly for his own good, to Qian You it was as if she had tried to one up him. And so, with a bored look on his face he breezed out of the alley.

Qiao Zhenzhen originally just wanted to give him a fair warning, seeing he was unbothered and ignored her, she also let it be and looked up.

The footsteps of the troublemakers gradually faded away, and the alley suddenly fell silent.

Standing at the corner, she glanced at Chi Shen. She suddenly felt a little afraid to go forward. I her world, Chi Shen had been dead for the past decade. In those ten years, she had dreamed about him countless times. Him standing in front of her just now, his skin so pale that he looked unreal, his inky hair that covered his eyes with only the straight bridge of his nose peeking through. And those tin bloodless lips, making him look even more frail and delicate.

Every time she dreamt of him, he was as real now, so much that she suddenly felt that all of this was also part of a dream.

She stood still for a long time, the man with one hand behind his back, motionless in the corner, looking at her calmly. Ultimately, Qiao Zhenzhen took a deep breath and hesitantly walked forward, getting closer to him with every step she took, the reality of this situation becoming clearer and clearer.

When she was roughly three steps from him, Qiao Zhenzhen smelled the unique and strange smell and came to a sudden halt. The scent was so similar to a mix of flowers and fish, which was very strange and awfully unpleasant, but to her this scent was the confirmation that Chi Shen was alive once again and it was not a tragic dream.

While she was lost in the familiarity of that scent, he raised his head to meet her gaze. Qiao Zhenzhen was bewildered by the pair of eyes he had hidden behind his curtain like bangs.

Black and white, clear and clean like glass, still and calm as if mirroring a lake, but also lofty and pure. They were artistically beautiful, and held unstoppable power, as if everything else was meaningless.

Faced with such a pair of majestic eyes, Qiao Zhenzhen felt a little shy.

She had been afraid of Chi Shen, not only because he followed her around like an earth bound spirit, but also because he made her feel like he was a mad, homeless wild dog.

Vulnerable and pitiful, but also fearsome and cold, and also quite disgusting, he was very weird. And whenever she tried to talk to him, she would be stared at by his cold eyes, as if he would attack her at any given time. No one would like such a freak, including the former Qiao Zhenzhen.

But after he died for her, everything changed.

Qiao Zhenzhen looked at the person in front of her, took a shallow breathe, “Are you…uhm… are you okay?”

Chi Shen looked at her quietly, as if he were a statue.

When Qiao Zhenzhen saw him ignoring her, she felt a little embarrassed, but quickly forgot about her own predicament when she noticed his right hand was still behind him.

“Is your hand hurt?” Reaching into the air, Chi Shen suddenly took a step back, and then rushed out of the alley without looking back, as fast as if a vicious dog was chasing him.

Qian Zhenzhen: “…”

She didn’t know he could run so fast.

She stared at the hand that she stretched out into the air, and after a short silence she retracted her hand and was about to leave when suddenly the message box popped up in her mind-

Ding—

[Favorability value +10, Balance: 10.03]

“Congratulations host! You’re truly amazing! This is the first time I have met some who has just been reborn and can collect so many favor points!” a cheerful robotic voice echoed in her head.

Qiao Zhenzhen, who was used to seeing the favorability value starting at 0.00, was a little surprised, “Chi Shen?”

“Yes!”

Qiao Zhenzhen wondered, “Is it because I saved him that it appeared so much, or does he like me?”

Compared with the previous two times, she only moved her mouth this time. Even if she did save him, ten points is just too much.

“The favorability value shows up instantly, even if it delays, it is never more than one minute.” Xiaoba said. “You saved him five minutes ago, so it’s not because of this.”

Qiao Zhenzhen was stunned for a moment, “It’s not because of that, then what?”

“Uhm… According to the data, it should be because you talked to him.”

Qiao Zhenzhen: “…”

That’s it?

T/N: if you see Xiaobas' name as anything else its that silly grammarly smh