Lucy Lu put down her phone and hurried over to Lynn Chen, pulling her into a gentle hug.
Lynn Chen kept sniffling, crying her eyes out, and every so often wiped her tears on the throw pillow.
"What happened to you? Tell Mom—who bullied you?"
Lucy Lu sat with Lynn Chen on the sofa, her face full of worry. Lynn curled up in her mother’s arms like an abandoned stray cat, just sobbing nonstop.
"Don’t just cry, honey! You have to tell me what happened. Ever since you came home today, something’s been off. Who bullied you—was it Ryan Ren, or someone else? Could it be Evan?" Lucy Lu guessed, voicing her suspicions.
"Mom, stop asking."
Lynn shook her head, and after a bout of crying, her emotions finally calmed down a little.
"Fine, if you won’t let me call Evan, then I’ll call Aunt Zheng and ask her myself." Lucy Lu threatened, putting on a stern face.
"Mom!"
Hearing this, Lynn panicked instantly.
She absolutely didn’t want Evan to know she’d been so upset about today that she cried. That was something she would never have done before.
"Fine, I won’t call. But at least tell me what happened. What went down today? Why did you come home like this?"
Lucy Lu held her phone, tilting her head as she looked at Lynn. Lynn’s eyes were red as she glared at her mom—it was rare to see Lucy so serious.
Neither of them would budge. Lynn pouted, refusing to talk—she felt way too embarrassed to say it out loud.
Lucy knew her daughter’s temper. She put her finger on the dial button: "If you still won’t talk, I really will call. I’ll get Aunt Zheng to ring up Evan, give him a good scolding, ask him what he did to make you cry, and then have her cut off his allowance so he can’t afford food, goes hungry every day, and ends up all miserable..."
"Mom!"
Before Lucy could finish, Lynn burst out laughing at how pathetic Lucy made Evan sound. But then she remembered she was supposed to be arguing and quickly straightened her face again.
"He’d never end up as miserable as you say..."
Lynn snorted.
Lucy’s expression softened a bit. She shot Lynn a look and said, "Evan’s been living with us these past few years. I’ve basically watched him grow up, so I know what kind of kid he is."
"If you’re saying he bullied you, I’m not buying it. Wasn’t he the one always getting bullied by you? You’d never give him a key, never let him in the door."
Lucy put down her phone and tapped Lynn on the head. "Do you know how much my heart ached for him back then? But Evan was always afraid I’d worry, so he’d comfort me and say he was fine."
"That was ages ago... I was just a kid..." Hearing her mom bring up all those embarrassing old stories, Lynn’s eyes reddened again, realizing how outrageous she’d been back then.
Girls all have some vanity, and Lynn was always the center of attention. Out of nowhere, she had to live under the same roof with a boy—especially one known as the worst student at Brightsea No. 2 High. If word got out, people would gossip for sure.
"Lynn, back then I never scolded you because I was worried Evan would feel awkward. He’s a kind kid, not the scheming type. Since it’s just us here today, why don’t you tell me what you really think?"
Lucy looked at Lynn seriously. "Even though Evan never said anything about it, you know it must have hurt him inside. He never blamed you, not even now when he’s so different from before. He’s never said anything harsh to you. That’s the difference between a guy’s tolerance and a girl’s."
"But you can’t take that for granted. Everyone only gets one life, and no one’s obligated to put up with everything. Kindness is a favor, not a duty—do you get what I mean?"
Lucy looked at Lynn’s tear-streaked face, grabbed a tissue from the table, and gently wiped her eyes.
"So now, Mom wants to know what you really think. Just tell me whatever’s on your mind."
After Lucy finished, Lynn opened her mouth, but the words got stuck in her throat and wouldn’t come out.
"Do you like Evan?"
Lucy suddenly blurted out the question.
"No way!"
Lynn instinctively yelled, then craned her neck and stared wide-eyed at Lucy, who stared right back.
After barely a second, Lynn shrank back, her eyes darting away, looking all shy and weak. Her cheeks flushed as she mumbled, "Maybe... sort of a little bit."
Afraid Lucy wouldn’t believe her, she even stuck out her hand and gestured, "About half a thumb’s worth! Not much!"
Lucy rolled her eyes but couldn’t help laughing. "Wow, I’ve never seen you blush before."
"I’m not blushing... You have no idea how much of a jerk Evan is! He’s only been at the new school for a few days and already knows Wendy Wen, the literary club president and broadcasting station chief! He’s met a girl from Peiying High, and now there’s some girl with a killer figure too!"
Lynn rambled on, totally flustered, her tone full of grumpy jealousy, like she wanted to bite Evan.
But after she finished, she curled up again, hugging her pillow like a little shrimp, chin pressed to the cushion, sighing gloomily.
"The reason so many girls like Evan is because he’s not just outstanding—he’s genuinely kind. He’s not like those spoiled kids who throw their weight around just because they’ve got money or connections. That’s why he’s actually worth liking."
"Honestly, Aunt Zheng was kind of hoping for this too, she just never said it out loud. If you and Evan really ended up together, both she and I would totally support you."
Lucy finished and looked at Lynn.
"He’d never like me back... He probably still hates me. I was so awful to him before..." The more Lynn talked, the sadder she got.
Lucy hugged her and thought for a moment. "Here’s what we’ll do. National Day is in a few days. When your dad gets home, I’ll have him set up a dinner and we’ll invite Evan too."
"This time, you have to apologize to him first. Own up to what you did and make it right. Can you do that?"