He gently patted her shoulder, and Jian Yixue’s sobbing gradually stopped.

A notification dinged—it was the sound of a text message arriving on a phone.

Jian Yixue’s phone was on the bedside table. Yan Yichen glanced over and saw a message from Jian Shengbao:

[Damn! Why haven’t you got the money yet? You worthless woman! Having a sister like you is a curse! Enjoying being used, aren’t you? Want me to find more people for you to enjoy?]

Perhaps because Jian Yixue didn’t reply, Jian Shengbao sent a few more messages, each more vulgar than the last, making even a man like Yan Yichen find it unbearable to read.

His eyes turned frosty. He picked up the phone and deleted all the messages, then blocked Jian Shengbao’s number.

Out of sight, out of mind. It’s better not to taint Xiaoxue’s eyes with this kind of trash.

He retrieved his own phone and made a call, his voice steady and cool: "It’s time to take action. No need to hold back. I want them to feel the transition from Heaven to Hell!"

After hanging up, he saw the little woman’s face on the bed, still streaked with tears. Yan Yichen raised a hand to wipe away those tears.

"Xiaoxue, I will protect you. Even if it’s your family, I won’t let them bully you!"

...

Meanwhile, at the hospital.

Jian Shengbao irritably hung up the call and complained tearfully to his parents, "Dad, Mom, sister still won’t talk to me!"

His mother lovingly stroked his head, "Isn’t five million enough? Shengbao, this five million is enough for your surgery!"

"Five million! Does she think I’m a beggar? A house costs four million! I still need money for treatment and living expenses. Mom, I don’t care, my sister has to give me another five million!"

Jian’s mother glanced at Jian’s father. Ever since they got the five million, they both had stopped working.

It’s easy to go from frugal to luxurious, hard to go back. Once you’ve had good days, who wants to do hard labor again?

Jian’s father crushed a cigarette box, saying viciously, "Yes, we can’t let it end like this! She’s my daughter, selling for only five million is too cheap for that guy!"

Their greed was insatiable; this family quickly brushed off Yan Yichen’s threat from the other day.

-

When Jian Yixue woke up, she looked at the time and was shocked to find it was already past ten in the morning!

Startled, she jumped out of bed just as Yan Yichen came in with a tray. Seeing her flustered state, he chuckled, "I’ve already called in for you. Missing half a day is fine."

"Sorry for troubling you again..."

Jian Yixue lightly hit her head. How could she oversleep!

"Why didn’t you wake me?" Her misty, watery eyes looked at Yan Yichen.

Yan Yichen paused, then said, "I wanted you to sleep more. You haven’t seemed well these past days. Did something happen? Would you like to talk about it?"

Upon asking, he saw Jian Yixue lower her head.

It was her habitual action when avoiding—head down, neck tucked, silent—a skill she’d honed unknowably many times.

Was it a conditioned reflex from being bullied in her own home? At that thought, Yan Yichen felt a pang of sorrow for her.

He set the tray down and gently held Jian Yixue’s shoulders, his gaze calm and distant like mountains, yet filled with warmth and tenderness.

"Look up, Xiaoxue. In front of me, you can hold your head high. No one can hurt you anymore."