9 Caution

It has been a week since Ting Hua started coming to this school and she had been sticking to Yu Yan like glue for reasons that she couldn't understand. Perhaps the reason why was because of the toxic words being spread around like a plague. People liked to talk, and when there was nothing about themselves to talk about, they talk about everyone else. Whether or not it hurt people's feelings, they didn't think that it had anything to do with them.

"Why are they so mean?" Ting Hua asked, her eyes filled with tears. They were sitting under the stairs during lunch when Ting Hua suddenly broke down. She had never experienced bullying of this sort as she often got along very well with her peers. How does class change the attitudes of people? Ting Hua simply couldn't understand it and had tried her best to stay cheerful and not let it affect her, obviously it wasn't working.

"Here, drink some water," Yu Yan stiffly told her, quickly giving her a bottle of water, hoping to stop the tears before they fell. This girl was really a sensitive person and Yu Yan didn't know how to deal with tears. She never had to comfort anyone and had no

"What did I do to deserve this?" she whimpered, ignoring the water bottle, putting Yu Yan in an even more awkward situation. In the end, she drank from the bottle herself. Ting Hua must've been affect deeply by the rumors. Her schoolmates do have sharp tongues after all.

"Deserving something..." is up to perspective, Yu Yan wanted to say. But that's not what you should say to a teary eyed person, now is it? Hugging her would help her the most, though it would open up the floodgates and that scared Yu Yan the most.

"Why do you always stop in the middle of saying something?" she gave Yu Yan a resentful glance, creating a sense of guilt within Yu Yan who could only smile gently.

"It's nothing much, it isn't very important anyways." Ting Hua glared at her, "why? You think I'm stupid don't you?"

"There's a reason you got a scholarship to this school, right? Why would I doubt your intelligence?" Yu Yan shot back, agitated by the sudden accusation that rose from nowhere. She quickly calmed herself down by taking a few breaths of air, embarrassed by her outburst.

"Ah, I'm sorry I didn't mean to shout at you," Yu Yan fretted and Ting Hua giggled.

"It's okay, I was in the wrong. Thanks for making me feel better," she said, a small smile gracing her lips. She giggled again when she saw Yu Yan's confused face.

'How do girls work?' Yu Yan wondered to herself, their moods changed way too fast and without warning.

"Do you think we can hang out after school?" Ting Hua asked, surprising Yu Yan with that question.

"I-I have to focus on my studies...."

Ting Hua giggled, "why do you sound so uncertain when you say that. It's just today anyways, I'm sure it won't impact your grades."

"I'll go ask my parents first."

---------------------------

"Her name was Ting Hua?" Yu Nuan asked through the phone, giving off a deadly aura in contrast to her cute appearance.

"Yes," a soft voice answered back.

"Be careful," Yu Nuan said before hanging up. 'Our family has a history of betrayals.' Call it a curse, or perhaps they were just a bad judge of people.

She quickly dialed a number and said, "Run a background check on Ting Hua."

"Which Ting Hua?"

"The one that had just enrolled in my daughter's school."

"...when did you have a daughter?" Jiang Cong asked, only to hear the beeping of an ended call.

The next morning, a rumor spread about the Yu family having a daughter. Though the rumor quickly died as there was no evidence to back it up.