Then I'll trouble you with it.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Looking for a fight?"

Tao Yaoyao glared at the group, an air of authority that clashed with her gentle, beautiful appearance emanating from her.

For a moment, they were intimidated and didn't dare step forward. However, someone among them clearly recognized her and spoke up:

"Tao Yaoyao, this has nothing to do with you. Stay out of it!"

Hearing this, Tao Yaoyao's beautiful eyes widened as she turned to the speaker and retorted:

"What did you say?"

"Which department are you from?"

"Who's your counselor?"

"Who's your teacher?"

"Fighting on campus, do you want to get expelled?"

Tao Yaoyao's smooth series of questions instantly rendered the person speechless, and he lowered his head.

The troublemaker who had jumped out was silenced by Tao Yaoyao's words, and the rest didn't dare to show off anymore. They could only look at each other before finally gathering around the buzz-cut guy to check on his injury.

With the crisis averted, Tao Yaoyao's tense expression softened. She turned around to look at Lin Yu behind her, then crouched down. Her worried gaze fell on his injured ankle. After a moment, she looked up at Lin Yu, her delicate brows slightly furrowed as she asked with concern:

"Can you still stand up?"

Lin Yu grimaced and gingerly moved his injured leg. The pain from his ankle wasn't too intense. He nodded and said:

"Should be okay."

As he spoke, Lin Yu shifted his body, trying to adjust his posture to stand up from the ground.

With one foot out of commission, trying to stand up using only the other leg was very difficult, especially since that foot was also injured, preventing him from moving it too vigorously.

Lin Yu struggled for a long time but couldn't manage to stand up, always lacking that final bit of support.

Just then, a fair, clean hand appeared in front of Lin Yu.

Following the hand, Lin Yu saw it was Tao Yaoyao offering her hand. The faint smile on her face somehow carried an encouraging quality, as if urging him to take a certain step.

Lin Yu was stunned for a moment.

For some reason, his heart became tangled and conflicted.

Logically, he did need help right now due to his injury. It was just a hand to lean on, and Tao Yaoyao wasn't one of those people trying to hit on him. Accepting a little help, holding her hand to stand up, was perfectly normal. It wasn't some shamefully intimate contact, and it had absolutely nothing to do with betraying Xia Muzhu.

But for some reason...

Looking at this small hand that looked so soft, smooth, and pleasant to hold, Lin Yu felt a strong sense of resistance.

It was as if his hand had become his leg, and taking this step forward would lead him down a path of no return.

Lin Yu furrowed his brow, trying hard to ignore that unreasonable, strange feeling.

It was just holding her hand to stand up under the circumstances.

There was no problem with that.

Besides...

Lin Yu glanced over at the noisy group, knowing he needed to leave this troublesome spot quickly.

Turning back to look at the hand before him, Lin Yu hesitated slightly before reaching out to grasp it, using it to pull himself up.

After standing, Lin Yu released Tao Yaoyao's hand. In the next moment, however, her hand naturally looped through the crook of his arm. Supporting him, she pointed to a bench outside the basketball court, along the gravel path, and said softly to Lin Yu:

"Let's go sit over there."

Lin Yu frowned, a sense of resistance rising in his heart, yet his body instinctively followed where Tao Yaoyao pointed.

The place she pointed to was the gravel path she had walked on earlier. On both sides of the path, under the lush green trees, benches were placed at intervals for people to rest.

It was indeed a good place to rest, just a bit far.

Lin Yu roughly estimated that the nearest bench was about two hundred meters away.

In his current state, hopping there on one leg would be too difficult; he really did need someone's help.

But...

...

Lin Yu glanced slightly sideways at Tao Yaoyao beside him.

The angle wasn't enough to see her face. He only saw her lower body, the hem of her skirt dusted from crouching, and a pair of clean white sneakers.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yu decided to follow the resistance in his heart and refuse Tao Yaoyao's help.

Although she probably wasn't a character from one of those adult comics, Lin Yu felt it was better to maintain some distance from her.

Whether for Xia Muzhu's sake or to guard against that vague "destiny."

Just as Lin Yu was about to look away and break free from her support, his moving gaze was suddenly captured by a pair of eyes.

What kind of eyes were they?

Wide with fury, bloodshot, almost dyeing the whites red.

Those wide-open eyes were crammed full of negative emotions—rage, jealousy, hatred, disgust—so much that they couldn't be contained, spilling over onto his face.

He clenched his jaw, his body trembling with furious agitation, veins bulging on his forehead. He looked fierce and terrifying, like a rabid wolf, wishing he could tear the Lin Yu in his sight to pieces.

Seeing the buzz-cut guy's utterly broken expression, Lin Yu was momentarily taken aback. Then, the corner of his mouth lifted into a gentle smile. He looked up at Tao Yaoyao beside him and thanked her softly:

"Then I'll trouble you."

Tao Yaoyao smiled habitually and said:

"It's nothing."

Supported by Tao Yaoyao, Lin Yu left. He had no mind to look back at the buzz-cut guy's broken state again. Instead, the way Tao Yaoyao was supporting him caught his attention.

Tao Yaoyao had one arm looped through his, while her other hand was placed between her chest and his arm.

It was clear she didn't want him taking any liberties either.

Realizing this, Lin Yu felt relieved. His suspicion about Tao Yaoyao's identity lessened a bit further, and he also felt somewhat ashamed.

Wasn't this judging a gentleman with a petty man's heart?

Thinking this, Lin Yu couldn't help but chuckle wryly to himself.

With Tao Yaoyao's support, Lin Yu hopped his way to the bench and slowly sat down with her help.

Once seated, Lin Yu's first move was to lift his leg onto the bench. Carefully, he took off his shoe to check the injury on his ankle.

As expected, the ankle was swollen, and quite severely at that. In just this short while, Lin Yu could barely make out the shape of his ankle bone. He wasn't sure if the bone was injured.

"It's so swollen!"

Tao Yaoyao stood to the side, frowning as she looked at it.