Is It My Fault?

The last class of the morning was physical education. Xie Qizhi was on the field, learning aerobics from the teacher. They dismissed on the spot during the third period. The other classmates invited each other to play ball, while he had no friends, so he slipped away to the supermarket and scanned his phone watch to buy an ice cream. After eating, he walked back leisurely, hiding under the shade of a tree to wait for class to end.

Today was hot. He sat dozing off, and finally hearing a whistle, he threw away the small branch he had just picked up and ran across the track.

A soccer ball flew straight toward him. The girls standing on both sides of the track screamed in terror: "Watch out!"

Before Xie Qizhi could react, with a loud *thud*, a powerful force hit his back, and his body flew forward out of control.

His palms scraped against the rough track, tearing the skin. Drops of blood oozed from the wounds, stinging with the slightest movement.

Frowning, he stood up from the ground and pulled up his pant leg. Behind him, someone shouted gleefully:

"Chen Min, you kicked the snitch! He's going to find his brother. You're dead meat this time!"

Xie Qizhi turned his head and saw Chen Min and a group of boys standing on the soccer field. Chen Min was pushed forward by his friends. When their eyes met, Chen Min didn't glare back fiercely but looked a bit guilty, avoiding his gaze and running to pick up the ball.

*He didn't do it on purpose,* Xie Qizhi thought to himself.

But the fall hurt badly, and Chen Min didn't apologize, so Xie Qizhi didn't want to forgive him.

If they called him a snitch, so be it. It wasn't his fault that others didn't have an older brother.

The soccer field was very close to the high school section. Xie Qizhi ignored the PE teacher's assembly whistle and ran to Class 11 (11) to find his brother.

He walked over familiarly, but Xie Zhilan wasn't in the classroom. There was only an indifferent Ying Huai, who was doing a math test, spinning his pen and writing casually, looking like he was waiting for someone.

Xie Qizhi stood at the door, hesitated for a moment, and asked him, "Where is my brother?"

Ying Huai set his pen down and tilted his head to look at him: "He went to the office."

"What for?"

"To get scolded."

Xie Qizhi blinked and asked again, "How long will it take?"

"Don't know, depends."

Xie Qizhi had nothing else to ask.

He lowered his head, wanting to wait for his brother to return, but he was afraid Chen Min's group would run away. While he stood hesitantly at the door, he suddenly felt a gaze staring intently from inside the classroom—very direct, landing right on his palm, which was still pressed against his chest.

Xie Qizhi instinctively backed away, but he couldn't escape. Ying Huai moved very quickly, grabbing his wrist and firmly prying his left hand open.

His palm was scraped raw, the wound oozing blood and smeared with dirt and dust around the edges, looking pitiful.

Ying Huai took a look and let go, asking him, "Fell on the track?"

His tone was normal, true to his lack of empathy.

Xie Qizhi didn't expect others to care for him like his brother did, asking if it hurt or if he felt wronged. He accepted Ying Huai's somewhat cold attitude easily, retracting his hand and shaking his head.

"Then how did it happen?"

Xie Qizhi thought for a moment, turning his back to show him the ball print on his shirt: "They were playing soccer and hit me."

Ying Huai asked, "Who are they?"

*I was waiting for you to ask that,* Xie Qizhi thought.

Ying Huai had intended to take him to treat the wound and disinfect it, but Xie Qizhi was a narrow-minded child. He was eager for revenge, fearing Chen Min would run away and Ying Huai wouldn't be able to beat him up.

Ying Huai followed behind, his voice not harsh but merely reminding him: "Up to you, but don't cry when it hurts."

Xie Qizhi turned around, looked up, and said, "I can hold it in for a bit, until you finish dealing with him."

His small, delicate face and big eyes made him look like a kitten when looking up at others, carrying a sparkling cuteness. In his heart, he was calculating: *Ying Huai looks fiercer than my brother. His punches must hurt more, right? Will he make Chen Min cry? I really want to see.*

Ying Huai paused for half a second, his thin eyelashes drooping, his dark pupils clearly reflecting Xie Qizhi's soft, lovely face.

Few people could harden their hearts to reject him when facing this face.

But Ying Huai was indeed unmoved, his voice even carrying a hint of doubt: "Who told you I was going to help you deal with him?"

Xie Qizhi froze.

"The one with the grudge is you, not me," Ying Huai looked at him and said calmly. "Solve your own problems. Don't always wait for others to stand up for you."

Because of the soccer incident, the PE teacher was worried about Xie Qizhi's condition and sent someone to look for him. After waiting a few minutes and seeing no sign of him returning, and the other students being eager to eat, the teacher finally dismissed them.

The soccer field was empty, with the sports monitor and two students on duty staying behind to clean up the equipment. Chen Min didn't leave either, lingering around, not knowing what he was looking for.

*Probably looking for a beating,* Xie Qizhi thought.

But the words Ying Huai had just said were completely unexpected. Although he got his wish of seeing him grab Chen Min, Xie Qizhi wasn't happy at all.

Chen Min was very surprised. When grabbed by the collar and dragged over by Ying Huai, his face showed clear panic as he shouted, "Who is this to you again? White-haired monster, are you Elsa? How do you have so many brothers!"

"He's not my brother," Xie Qizhi said expressionlessly. "An unrelated person. I don't know him."

Chen Min: "Who are you kidding!"

Ying Huai let go, letting Xie Qizhi choose: "Apologize or fight back?"

What was there to choose? What use was an apology? Xie Qizhi said, "Fight back."

The soccer ball rolled to Xie Qizhi's feet. The sports monitor and the two students on duty stood behind Ying Huai, blocked by his tall figure like three messy wooden posts, none of them daring to make a sound.

He didn't know how Ying Huai had communicated, but when he bent down to pick up the ball, he didn't even speak to them.

Perhaps it was the natural intimidation of an older student over a younger one, or perhaps he carried an indescribable aura—manifested in how he usually had no opinion and went with the flow, but once he made a decision, almost everyone would comply.

"Almost" meant there were still exceptions, and Xie Qizhi was one of them. He didn't want to listen to him.

Chen Min stared at Xie Qizhi, while Xie Qizhi stared at the ball.

He didn't know how to play soccer, and from the bottom of his heart, he hated ball sports—more precisely, all sports that required two or more people.

Yet Chen Min was looking at him, Ying Huai was looking at him, and they were all staring at him, expecting him to do something great, like kicking the ball hard to knock Chen Min down? How could he...

The brilliant midday sun shone on the artificial turf of the soccer field, blurring Xie Qizhi's eyes. He bit his lip and kicked hard. The ball flew out, and as he retracted his leg, his knee suddenly shot with pain.

Looking down, spots of blood slowly seeped through his light blue uniform pants.

It seemed the knee injury from the fall was worse than his palm. He hadn't seen it, so he hadn't felt it; only now, seeing the blood, did he belatedly feel the pain.

The ball he kicked didn't hit Chen Min, not even touching his pant leg, only rolling weakly across the grass right next to his foot.

Others kicked the ball to get it into that large goal. Chen Min hadn't aimed at him when kicking either, so why did he have to use this method to retaliate?

The entire Yizhong had dismissed. After the bell, a noisy and bustling atmosphere enveloped the campus, but this corner of the soccer field was an exception.

Xie Qizhi heard someone laughing, but it wasn't Chen Min. Chen Min stood there silently, staring at the stopped ball, not knowing what he was thinking.

The laughter came from the three wooden posts behind. Ying Huai raised his hand to press on one person's shoulder. Meeting his deep, dark eyes, the smile on the person's face instantly vanished, and the space fell silent.

Ying Huai let go, seeing Xie Qizhi turn his head.

The rims of his eyes quickly turned red. The resentment and grievance in his pupils welled up, almost spilling over, taking immense effort to keep from falling.

"Want to find your brother, right?" Ying Huai asked.

Xie Qizhi glared at him, his eyes already red, refusing to speak.

"If the person standing here were him, no matter what happened before or after, he would have vented his anger for you." Ying Huai stepped in front of Xie Qizhi, looking down at him. "But, you causing a conflict with your classmate and him beating up a middle schooler for you are two different things, two different natures."

"You chose to fight back, so you must bear the consequences of being unable to do so. If you don't want to be laughed at, then consider your own ability instead of always wanting to make a big deal out of things and hiding behind your brother. He is willing to let you hide, but do you know what he has to bear after you do?"

Ying Huai noticed the change in Xie Qizhi's expression and reached out to pat his head, but his hand was slapped away with a sharp *smack*. It didn't hurt much, but his hand was slightly wet, stained with a bit of dark red blood from Xie Qizhi's palm.

Xie Qizhi looked small and weak, but he was surprisingly good at enduring pain. Even though he was bleeding, he didn't whine, clenching his fists and glaring fiercely at Ying Huai. Only because Ying Huai kept mentioning "brother" did his tears finally spill over, streaming down his pale face.

Ying Huai looked at him and asked, "Xie Qizhi, he doesn't even dare to get sick because of you. Do you think he's omnipotent?"

Xie Qizhi gritted his teeth, not wanting to show weakness in front of the cold Ying Huai, but when he opened his mouth, he still couldn't hold back a sob: "My brother getting scolded... is that my fault?"

Ying Huai paused for a moment, perhaps feeling a bit softened, but his words still left no room for retreat: "Yes, it's your fault."