"I never told Brother Qin..." Li Panpan's voice sounded somewhat confused, but Fu Yuan looked flustered and quickly cut her off: "Ah, Brother Qin, why did you hit Huanhuan?" A hint of schadenfreude leaked into her words as she deliberately spoke loudly, "Why would Brother Qin call her a bitch? I know her, she shouldn't be the sort of person Brother Qin described, right?"

This man was none other than Li Panpan's fiancé, Qin Yi, who would later harbor an unceasing secret crush on Gu Yingxi and join Xie Zhuoyin's group. The Qin family was a lineage of generals, holding considerable status within the military. As the eldest son of his generation, Qin Yi held the veiled title of 'Crown Prince Qin' in the capital. He had trained in the military since childhood, resulting in a robust and tall physique. Ning Yunhuan had just had her face slapped by him, and now her wrist was broken. At the moment, she hadn't felt it much, but once the adrenaline faded, her whole body began to ache.

"She deserved it for being cheap, shouldn't I hit her?" Qin Yi raised an eyebrow and asked Fu Yuan with a smile. Fu Yuan pursed her lips, a blush spreading across her cheeks, her eyes showing a flicker of yearning and adoration. Li Panpan, however, hadn't noticed the exchange between her friend and her fiancé. Instead, she walked towards Ning Yunhuan with a touch of pity: "Brother Qin showed restraint; otherwise, you wouldn't be able to sit right now. But why are you still acting like this?" Li Panpan said, frowning disapprovingly:

"Brother Qin wouldn't hit someone without reason, you..."

"Can I borrow your phone?" Ning Yunhuan suppressed the burning sensation on her cheek and asked Li Panpan. She paused, apparently not expecting Ning Yunhuan to ask for her phone. Just as she was about to speak, Fu Yuan quickly rushed over: "Panpan, be careful."

Seeing Ning Yunhuan in trouble now brought her a satisfaction as sharp and pleasant as eating an ice cream cone on the hottest day of summer. Hearing Ning Yunhuan ask for a phone, she was determined not to let her get her way; in fact, she wished people would surround her longer so she could make an even bigger fool of herself.

But Li Panpan was a Saint-level figure; her halo of sainthood shone brighter than even Gu Yingxi's now-shadowed heart. In her past life, even after Gu Yingxi stole her husband, she hadn't brought herself to truly punish her. With the power of the Li family, dealing with Gu Yingxi back then wouldn't have been impossible, but she chose to swallow her pride. Although this very action led to her avoiding misfortune until Ning Yunhuan's death, her nature dictated that when Ning Yunhuan made a request of her now, she would not refuse due to Fu Yuan's interference.

"Don't worry, Yuanyuan, it's fine!" She forced a smile at Fu Yuan before taking out her phone from her bag and handing it to Ning Yunhuan.

Receiving the phone, Ning Yunhuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, clutching it tightly as if it were a lifeline. Qin Yi did not stop his fiancée's well-intentioned gesture. He was fond of Li Panpan’s gentle and kind nature. Moreover, when Fu Yuan had complained to him, he had already looked into Ning Yunhuan and found she had no substantial background. He wasn't afraid of whom she might call; if she dared to make a call, he would wait right here: beat one, beat the pair, and then give this woman a lesson she would never forget!

Ning Yunhuan naturally saw the cold smirk on Qin Yi's face. She smirked back, took a deep breath, slid open the phone screen, and pressed the call button, dialing Lan Lingyan's number.

Only now did she realize how deeply ingrained Lan Lingyan's number was in her memory. The sound of connection came through. Fearing he wouldn't answer, Ning Yunhuan had specifically dialed his private line—a number only she knew. Thus, after only two rings, Lan Lingyan's cool voice answered:

"Huanhuan."

"Wuu..." Ning Yunhuan covered her mouth, but hearing Lan Lingyan’s voice, she instinctively felt wronged, and tears welled up. Lan Lingyan immediately sensed her crying, and his voice turned instantly grim: "Where are you?!"

He didn't even ask what happened before demanding her location. Ning Yunhuan glanced around, then whispered softly, "Just outside the Science and Technology Building, about three hundred meters from the basketball court. There are rose bushes here." Lan Lingyan hung up quickly. Ning Yunhuan wiped her nose, deleted the number, and handed the phone back to Li Panpan, finally managing a genuine smile for her, "Thank you."

Li Panpan nodded and took the phone back. Although Ning Yunhuan hadn't been polite to her before, she had long forgotten. Seeing Ning Yunhuan's drooping arm, she asked with concern:

"Are you alright? Does someone come to pick you up? If not, let me take you to the hospital."

"Panpan, you truly are kind-hearted." Fu Yuan's teeth were almost grinding together; she was mentally cursing the foolishness out of Li Panpan: "Huanhuan definitely has someone coming for her. If Brother Ning doesn't come, Uncle Ning surely will! Just leave her alone. Brother Qin came to school to pick you up, right? Let's go eat!"

She showed no embarrassment integrating herself into their supposed date; it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Li Panpan showed no surprise either, indicating this happened often. She just looked at Ning Yunhuan with lingering worry and said quietly:

"But, but she..."

"Oh, honestly!" Fu Yuan pulled her aside, and when she turned back to Ning Yunhuan, a sneer crossed her face, as if saying, 'Look at you now.' But when she turned to Li Panpan, her expression instantly became gentle and obedient again: "Stop overthinking, you know Brother Qin has a measure of control. Huanhuan should be fine, right?" After saying this, she turned to glance ingratiatingly at the young man leaning arrogantly against a nearby large tree, arms crossed, nodding carelessly, though a mocking look flickered in his eyes.

"But..."

"Enough with the 'buts'," Fu Yuan interrupted impatiently. She then walked over to Qin Yi, intimately linking her arm with his, and swayed it slightly, "That restaurant Brother Qin took us to last time was delicious. Shall we go there again today?"

Qin Yi nodded at her; there was an unspoken understanding in their eyes. Ning Yunhuan, mindful of Li Panpan lending her the phone, decided to remember the gesture, regardless of whether it was just her nature, and resolved to help her back if the chance arose in the future.

"Are you alright?" Li Panpan asked this one last time, then glanced at Gu Yingxi, who was standing stunned and flushed from Qin Yi’s recent chivalry, before biting her lip and quietly saying to Ning Yunhuan:

"We are friends, why did you have to hit her? I heard Brother Qin say it was because you..."

"You should worry more about your Brother Qin," Ning Yunhuan choked back the sharp pain in her wrist, lifting her chin to gesture behind her, "Your good friend might just steal your fiancé one day."

Li Panpan subconsciously turned to look, then her face paled slightly, shaking her head: "No, impossible..."

"You want to die!"

Upon hearing Ning Yunhuan's words, fierce rage immediately contorted Qin Yi's face. He clenched his hands, his knuckles cracking audibly, and started to step toward Ning Yunhuan.

Just as Li Panpan was about to stand up and mediate, a cold, low voice, laced with barely contained murderous intent, rang out: "I think, you are the one who wants to die."

As Lan Lingyan approached, he saw a crowd gathered. Four bodyguards finally managed to push an opening through the throng. He stepped through and saw Ning Yunhuan sitting on the ground, her hair slightly disheveled, her cheek swollen, her eyes still red. Her arm hung unnaturally by her side. Lan Lingyan instantly knew she had been touched; a dark bruise was starkly visible against her pale skin at the wrist!

He had always been stoic, his emotions so controlled that even his father once said he seemed less than human. But seeing Ning Yunhuan injured like this, waves of deep-seated malice surged within him, a killing impulse churning in his chest. Lan Lingyan's gaze was fixed solely on Ning Yunhuan's wrist, not moving away as he strode toward her.

When Gu Yingxi saw him walking towards her, the memory of Qin Yi's heroics vanished completely from her beautiful eyes, which now gazed at Lan Lingyan with heavy affection. But Lan Lingyan didn't spare her a glance, walking right past her, pulling the fallen Ning Yunhuan up and immediately enveloping her in his embrace. His tone was dark: "He did this?"

He had overheard Qin Yi threaten to beat Ning Yunhuan to death, so finding the culprit was immediate. Furthermore, the condition of Ning Yunhuan's wrist wasn't something an ordinary person could inflict; it required immense strength!

The closer he looked, the more his killing intent surged. He gently rubbed her slightly cold palm, feeling Ning Yunhuan tremble lightly. Then, he smoothed her hair and pressed his lips to her forehead: "Relax, Husband will take this breath for you!"

He whispered the words close to her ear. Ning Yunhuan's tightly wound heart instantly loosened. The tears she had held back so long finally spilled from her eyes. She hooked her uninjured arm around his neck and buried her face against his chest, weeping.

She hadn't expected that the man she had feared so much in her previous life would offer her such a sense of security in this one. Hearing him promise revenge made Ning Yunhuan's heart ache with a complex blend of emotions.

In moments of crisis, in moments of deepest grievance, he was the first person she thought of. She had always believed she feared him, always thought she was planning her escape, but unexpectedly, there might be a chance she could fall in love with him after all.

"What a bold statement." The moment Qin Yi saw Lan Lingyan, he felt a surge of irritation. Qin Yi was tall, but Lan Lingyan towered over him by a good half a head. What made him even more uncomfortable was the palpable sense of pressure and danger emanating from Lan Lingyan.