Childhood Sweetheart is No Match for the Heaven-Sent (18)

Hearing this, Kang Cheng laughed out of sheer anger. After a long while, he said coldly, "Then why are you taking your anger out on me? Am I your punching bag?"

Heaven knows how terrified he had been earlier when Xie An looked at him with that cold gaze. He had repeatedly replayed his actions to see where he had gone wrong, even lowering himself to apologize to her, swallowing so much grievance just to come find her. And yet, she had the nerve to try and wipe everything away with a simple "it's my problem"!

"Every debt has its debtor. If someone provokes you, go seek revenge on them! Or tell me, and I'll stand up for you. But instead, you only know how to bully your own family, getting angry at me for no reason!"

The more Kang Cheng thought about it, the angrier he got. He reached out to pinch her face. He pulled and twisted until her face was flushed red and her eyes were brimming with tears before he finally paused. But his hands still gently gripped the soft flesh of her cheeks, refusing to let go.

Xie An was pulled to the point where she almost flared up several times, but remembering she was the one in the wrong, she could only let him do as he pleased. Her fingers covered his wrist, secretly trying to pull them away when she couldn't take it anymore. Seeing that Kang Cheng was still lightly pinching her face, she immediately grew irritable.

She sobbed and shouted, "Because I'm jealous!"

As soon as she spoke, her tears fell like a broken string of pearls, one after another. The warm tears dripped from her small chin onto the back of Kang Cheng's hand, nearly scorching his heart.

Kang Cheng was momentarily flustered. He immediately let go of her pitiful face and hurriedly pulled two tissues from his pocket, clumsily wiping her tears. His movements were incredibly gentle.

Xie An was still angry. She snatched the tissues from him, sniffing as she wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. She had already felt aggrieved, and her face was both numb and painful from Kang Cheng's heavy-handed pinching. The more she thought about it, the more miserable she felt, and the tears kept falling. The tissue became a soggy, useless clump. Her eyes were red from crying, swollen like a rabbit's.

Xie An felt that crying loudly in front of Kang Cheng was very embarrassing. Filled with resentment, she couldn't help but kick him a few times. Kang Cheng took both kicks. Xie An didn't hold back, making him wince in pain. But seeing the person before him crying so pitifully, he could only take all the blame upon himself.

He hugged Xie An tightly, patting her back while whispering apologies. He said all the right things, and only after his clothes were soaked with her tears did he finally manage to coax her. Only then could he spare a thought for what she had said, asking softly, "What are you jealous of?"

The person in his arms suddenly stiffened. Kang Cheng noticed her earlobes turn red in an instant. She was gripping his arm very tightly, which hurt a bit, but he said nothing. Kang Cheng stroked Xie An's smooth black hair, using his actions to let her know his attitude. It was okay; he had enough patience to wait for her to speak.

A long while later, he heard her say, "I'm jealous of Luo Xiaoxi."

Her voice was choked with tears and a nasal tone, sounding very pitiful. A corner of his heart seemed to collapse. He couldn't help but chuckle, intending to reply, "What is there to be jealous of?" But then, suddenly remembering a distant event, he fell silent.

Xie An was not like him. She didn't like socializing, and her friends changed at every stage. The only person she maintained a long-term relationship with was him. Perhaps for this reason, in the beginning, Xie An had a very strong possessiveness toward him. She was always angry because he had too many friends and would always say he abandoned her for new ones.

That behavior made Kang Cheng feel suffocated. One day, he finally couldn't help but have a thunderous argument with her. He had completely forgotten the content of that day's argument, but he was certain the words were very hurtful. Because after he said those terrible things, Xie An's face instantly turned pale. She looked at him in disbelief, her eyes filled with pain and disappointment. She stopped arguing with him; her eyes were vacant, yet the tears still fell. She was clearly looking at him, but it made him feel like she was looking at someone else through him. That feeling made him both guilty and afraid. So, at that time, he had fled in a panic.

When he met Xie An again a few days later, she had returned to her normal self, as if no conflict had ever occurred between them. And he, too, weakly chose to hide that matter. Like a scar at the beginning, as long as one didn't peel it off, it would one day heal on its own.

Since then, Xie An never got angry because he had many friends. She didn't even take the initiative to cling to him. She became obedient, knowing when to advance and when to retreat. The feeling of being controlled that he had detested before completely vanished. Just like that, their relationship returned to how it was, even better than before. It was just that some things seemed like they could never go back.

For example, in middle school, Xie An always ate lunch with him. She didn't care about the whispers and gossip of others; she only knew she liked being with Kang Cheng. But Kang Cheng couldn't ignore those teases and jeers. So he had found Xie An, frowning as he said, "Let's not eat together at school anymore. It's weird; people are always talking."

How did Xie An react then? It seemed she had been dazed for a long time, then looked at him for a while. After looking until he felt unnatural, she smiled and nodded, obediently saying okay. From then on, they never ate together again. Although they were childhood sweethearts, neighbors, and best friends, because Kang Cheng didn't want to attract attention, they kept their distance at school, treating each other like ordinary friends.

Xie An didn't like socializing, so during that time, she always ate alone. At first, Kang Cheng didn't know, but after seeing it many times, he guessed. Yet he still didn't choose to go with her. Instead, he found her again and said with disappointment, "You should make some friends. Don't you feel lonely eating alone?"

Xie An's eyes brightened slightly, and she smiled at him: "I have friends. It's just that my friend doesn't want to eat with me." Her voice grew softer, her tone dropping. Kang Cheng knew she was talking about him, but those words only made the teenage version of himself feel a heavy pressure, so he pretended not to understand: "You should make more friends, don't always be alone like this."

The smile on Xie An's face gradually faded. She pursed her lips, lowering her head, not knowing what she was thinking. A long while later, he finally heard her say, "Okay."

After that, he never saw Xie An eat alone again. She either followed behind a small group or simply didn't eat. This situation only improved after the two entered high school and Xie An met Zhao Yan. Xie An seemed to really like Zhao Yan, even treating her better than him. This realization sometimes made Kang Cheng unhappy. Once, he couldn't help but complain, but Xie An only looked at him, her thick eyelashes casting shadows over her eyes, her voice calm: "I don't."

Xie An seemed to no longer know how to be jealous, while he began to have a strange possessiveness. Was he just too bored? But Kang Cheng's greatest strength was his strong ability to take action. So when he noticed Xie An intentionally distancing herself from him, he began to actively cling to her. Except for keeping a distance at school to avoid gossip, he always took the initiative to find her to play when at home or during holidays. He liked being with Xie An; it was a feeling no one else could provide.

In recent years, Xie An's temper seemed to have improved a lot; she rarely even got angry. Sometimes he would sigh, thinking how a person could grow up so quickly.

"Because I'm jealous of Luo Xiaoxi." This sentence kept replaying in his head. Kang Cheng lowered his eyes to look at Xie An with her red-rimmed eyes, suddenly feeling he had made a grave mistake. It turned out she wasn't without emotions; it was he who had forced her to learn how to hide them.