On the fifth day, the squinty-eyed boy came to Lu Yinghan's classroom once again.
He walked straight up to Jiang Yibai.
The last time they had sought out Jiang Yibai, it had already caused the whole class to talk about him.
He barely had any friends to begin with, and now, no one was willing to approach or speak to him.
With his small frame, Yibai shrank into his seat even more, tears brimming in his eyes behind his glasses.
He had been sent to study here by his grandfather. Before this, he had always attended a regular kindergarten, and the only extra knowledge his family taught him was basic Traditional Chinese and Western medicine.
His grandfather held high hopes for him, which was why he was sent here.
Yet after just a few days in this school, he realized it was completely different from what he had known before.
Why did Grandpa want to send me here?
Our family doesn't have any powerful background...
Jiang Yibai blocked his face with a textbook, whimpering quietly.
His shoulders trembled with sobs, and every bit of it fell into Lu Yinghan's eyes.
She fell into deep thought...
This was the fourth day that more bruises had appeared on Yibai's body.
He had become even more introverted and shy than before, and the expression on his face had grown gloomy.
On the morning of the fifth day, as Lu Yinghan got off the bus, she saw Jiang Yibai coming out of an alley, his clothes in disarray.
The life had completely vanished from his eyes.
Shortly after, that squinty-eyed boy came out with his lackeys, shoving something into his pockets.
With a smug look on his face, he strolled toward his classroom, laughing and chatting...
Tsk.
Scum.
Lu Yinghan walked toward her classroom and subconsciously looked at Jiang Yibai. Sure enough, the spirit he ought to have had had completely faded...
Lu Yinghan's heart sank.
After the first period ended, that group came back as expected.
They surveyed the classroom and saw that Xie Chengsheng was at the restroom and not in the room. Only then did they swagger in.
They walked right up to Jiang Yibai.
“Hey! Do you still have money on you?”
The squinty-eyed boy flexed his school bully demeanor to the max, making the first-graders tremble with fear, none daring to draw near.
Jiang Yibai lowered his head, his body tense, pulling his arms tight to hug his backpack.
It was a defensive posture to protect himself from their blows.
Now that the class's pillar, Xie Chengsheng, wasn't around, the rest of the students had family backgrounds similar to the squinty-eyed boy's.
After all, the squinty-eyed boy belonged to the third-grade VIP class.
His family background wasn't bad either. If a real conflict broke out, it would just turn into a drawn-out struggle.
Jiang Yibai didn't answer the squinty-eyed boy's question; he simply hugged his backpack tighter.
Inside was the rest of his allowance. If he gave it all to them, he wouldn't have anything left to use...
Purseing his lips, Jiang Yibai lowered his head, guarding his backpack.
“Huh? What's that supposed to mean? Disobeying us now?”
The squinty-eyed boy narrowed his eyes even further and exchanged glances with his lackeys behind him.
Catching his drift, the lackeys stepped forward and tried to pry Yibai's backpack away with brute force.
“N-No! You can't have this!”
Yibai clung to the bag for dear life. Some of the other kids in the classroom were already crying from fright.
Once someone laid hands on him, their actions grew larger and increasingly brutal.
The situation was spiraling out of control.
In the pushing and shoving, Jiang Yibai's bruises throbbed with pain.
Yet he gritted his teeth and endured it, the warmth in his heart slowly chilling...
The bright spark in his eyes gradually went dark.
Whatever... No one is going to help me anyway.
He just let them push him around...
“Have you had enough? Have you no shame? A bunch of older kids picking on a first-grader? If your parents knew they sent you here just to bully a first-grader, wouldn't they die of embarrassment? After all, you can't even pick on anyone in your own grade.”
A crisp, clear girl's voice rang loudly through the classroom.
The sudden outburst gave several people a start, making them look toward the source of the sound.
Lu Yinghan had already stood up and swiftly made her way to Jiang Yibai.
Shielding him behind her, she held her small head high, glaring steadfastly at the group of boys who were several heads taller than her.
“Who the hell are you? Mind your own business! Do you even know who I am?”
“Who cares who you are? All I know is that you're a coward who picks on the weak! You only dare to bully first-graders? What's wrong? Why don't you go mess with the third-, fourth-, or fifth-graders?”
Lu Yinghan didn't care about this kind of childhood intimidation at all.
At worst, she would throw an even bigger tantrum than them—she'd scare them off if she had to!
The squinty-eyed boy's anger instantly flared, though he had to admit that Lu Yinghan's words struck right at his sore spot.
“Mind your own damn business! Are you trying to mess with me?”
“What? You're allowed to bully us, but we can't fight back?! If you dare lay a finger on Jiang Yibai in our classroom today, I'll make sure this becomes a huge deal! I'll make the whole school feel ashamed of you and laugh at you!”
Lu Yinghan stood in front of Jiang Yibai, speaking in a resounding voice before the group of boys.
Even though she was the smallest in the class, in the eyes of her classmates right now, she looked so tall and so cool!
Lu Yinghan had a tender voice, but that didn't mean she lacked presence.
In her past life, she had argued face-to-face with unreasonable shrews.
Let alone these brats.
She took hold of Jiang Yibai's arm, signaling him to rest assured.
The moment Lu Yinghan stepped in front of him, Jiang Yibai's pupils contracted.
He was stunned for a long moment! What filled him most was the urge to cry.
The grievance built up for so long caused his eyes to turn red in an instant. His mouth trembled uncontrollably, and his nose burned with a sharp ache.
Even though he had treated her like that before, not only did she not expose him, but now she was stepping forward to help him...
Lu Yinghan's slender back was deeply etched into Jiang Yibai's mind.
It wouldn't fade for a long time.
The squinty-eyed boy was completely speechless from her retort because he truly had no argument.
Besides, if this really blew up, they would be the ones at a disadvantage...
“Jiang Yibai, are you even a man? Hiding behind a girl, you...”
“Shut up! Who told you to speak? He's my classmate, so I'm helping him. What about you? Why couldn't you come alone? Why did you bring so many lackeys with you? Are you scared on your own? Scared of a first-grader?? Are you even a man?”
Lu Yinghan's brow twitched slightly. Without giving him a chance to speak, she spat out another long barrage.
Throughout it all, she showed no huge emotional swings or vivid facial expressions.
Only her eyes grew increasingly dark.
So dark that those boys began to shiver...
Lu Yinghan's tone was firm and her voice loud. Her arguments were logical and clear.
She left that group of boys so furious they didn't know what to say.
Each of them breathed heavily, their chests heaving.
From their expressions, they looked ready to punch Lu Yinghan.
Lu Yinghan wasn't afraid at all. With one hand holding Jiang Yibai's arm, her other hand already rested on a nearby chair.
She looked entirely ready to throw down with them.
The atmosphere grew extremely tense.
“What are you all doing?”
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