The wavy-haired girl’s face instantly drained of color.
Her guilty eyes darted around, dodging eye contact.
Lu Yinghan sneered inwardly.
Just then, Jiang Yibai came trotting over from a distance.
“Yinghan! Good morning!”
The moment she heard his voice, all of the wavy-haired girl’s guilt and tension vanished into thin air.
She stared intently at Jiang Yibai without blinking, the affection in her eyes practically off the charts.
Running over, Jiang Yibai saw Lu Yinghan surrounded by the crowd, and his expression at once darkened.
This setup was just like when Squinty-Eyes had bullied him.
His legs were trembling, yet he still bravely stepped forward, squeezed into the circle, and shielded Lu Yinghan behind him.
“Yinghan... who are they? Do you know them?”
“Nope, I don't know them at all.”
Yibai’s cold hand tightly held Lu Yinghan’s, staring vigilantly at the wavy-haired girl, who was currently swooning over him.
“Um, Yi—Yibai! I just have something I wanted to talk to her about!”
Seeing how unyielding Lu Yinghan was—showing none of the fear she had expected—and completely cutting ties with her right away, the wavy-haired girl panicked slightly.
Why isn't she playing by the script?
Jiang Yibai looked at the wavy-haired girl suspiciously.
In the end, he turned back to Lu Yinghan to seek the truth.
“I don't know them, but they really did just come up to ask me a few things.”
Lu Yinghan looked amusedly at the wavy-haired girl, taking in her nervous gaze.
Ultimately, Lu Yinghan decided to spare her some face.
Setting his suspicions aside, Jiang Yibai took Lu Yinghan’s hand and hurriedly led her toward the classroom.
As they passed the wavy-haired girl, Lu Yinghan threw her a mockingly contemptuous glare.
It sent the girl's anger soaring through the roof.
But with Jiang Yibai present, she couldn't rush up to confront Lu Yinghan.
“Let's go back to class first and think this through properly.”
Gritting her teeth in frustration, she led her group of lackeys back toward their own classroom.
Only then did the matter temporarily come to an end.
Jiang Yibai was still a bit puzzled. He kept turning his head to glance at Lu Yinghan.
His constant glances made Lu Yinghan feel a prickle of discomfort.
“If you have something to say, just say it.”
Jiang Yibai smiled sheepishly.
“It's nothing. I just wanted to ask... were those people this morning really only asking you questions? They really didn't bully you?”
Lu Yinghan shook her head.
“Really, they didn't. Don't worry, nobody can bully me.”
Jiang Yibai pursed his lips, accepting her answer for now.
As he turned back around, his adorable face was overcome by a stern, chilly darkness...
The day's classes quickly came to an end. After saying goodbye to Jiang Yibai, Lu Yinghan stepped onto the bus, only to pull her foot right back off.
Someone grabbed her from behind by the back of her collar, roughly dragging her toward the very alley where Jiang Yibai had been cornered before.
“Let go!”
Lu Yinghan resisted with all her strength, reaching back and violently twisting the hand gripping her collar.
“Hiss!!”
The hand grabbing her immediately let go.
Sensing that she had freed herself, she instantly sprinted away to create distance between herself and the group.
However, the alley entrance was blocked tight.
It seemed she wasn't getting out.
A ruthless glint flared in the depths of Lu Yinghan’s eyes.
“What are you doing?”
The group blocking her was none other than the same crowd from this morning—except there were even more of them now.
The wavy-haired girl glared at Lu Yinghan in annoyance.
“I'll ask you one more time. What is your relationship with Jiang Yibai?”
“I already told you, we're just classmates! What other relationship could we possibly have?”
This was the exact kind of thing Lu Yinghan despised most. She found it repulsive even when adults pulled these antics, let alone kids this young.
Pulling a stunt like this?
One could only imagine how terrible their upbringing was.
The wavy-haired girl had been infuriated by Lu Yinghan’s attitude for a long time. Having held it in all day, and seeing that she was surrounded entirely by her own people, she stopped pretending.
She stepped right up, grabbed Lu Yinghan’s ponytail, and yanked it viciously upward.
“What's with the attitude? Keep talking to me like that and see if I don't beat you up!”
Lu Yinghan merely rolled her eyes at them once again.
Tsk.
The wavy-haired girl clicked her tongue in irritation.
“Stay away from Jiang Yibai!”
“Why should I listen to you? He and I are in the same class. How am I supposed to stay far away?”
Lu Yinghan didn't hold back, shooting back without hesitation.
Getting cornered was the worst-case scenario she had anticipated, and things were currently playing out just as she had expected.
She showed none of it on her face, but she was sneering coldly in her heart.
Before the wavy-haired girl could speak, Lu Yinghan gave her no chance and pressed her attack.
“You like him, but you don't dare confess, so you threaten others instead? When the boy you liked was getting beaten up by your admirer, you didn't dare step up because you were afraid he'd blame you! Serves you right that Yibai doesn't like you! You're nothing but a cowardly bully who picks on the weak!!”
These words struck right at the wavy-haired girl’s sore spot, blowing her lid completely.
She slapped Lu Yinghan right across the face.
The others swarmed in as well, shoving, hitting, and shouting insults.
The smirks on their faces grew increasingly arrogant and cruel.
But the wavy-haired girl alone wore a dark, foul expression throughout the entire ordeal.
She was furious.
But she was also afraid.
Lu Yinghan was different from the targets she usually bullied; she didn't play by the rules.
If Lu Yinghan turned around and actually tattled to Jiang Yibai, her chances with him would be completely ruined.
Biting her nails in anxiety, she watched her lackeys beating Lu Yinghan, while some stood by laughing and recording with their phones.
She stepped forward and called a stop to it.
Lu Yinghan lay curled on the ground, waves of throbbing pain swelling across her body.
Her reborn body was far too frail.
On top of such a violent beating, her head was buzzing continuously.
Messy hair, swollen cheeks, dusty clothes.
Anyone could tell at a glance that she had been brutally bullied.
Lu Yinghan reached her hand into her pocket, waiting for the wavy-haired girl to approach.
The moment the girl drew near, Lu Yinghan abruptly pulled out the Swiss Army knife from her pocket.
The gleaming, sharp blade frightened the girls out of their wits, sending them stumbling back several steps.
“Y-You stay back! Don't do anything crazy!”
Now the wavy-haired girl truly panicked.
This girl is a fucking lunatic!
“If any of you dare step forward again, I'll use this knife on you!”
Some girls were still hiding at the back, recording everything.
Seeing this, the wavy-haired girl found her footing again.
“You dare? I have people recording right now! If you actually dare, do you have any idea what will happen to you?”
Lu Yinghan spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
“Record all you want. I haven't actually harmed any of you—I'm just holding it like this. If you force yourselves onto me, whatever happens will be on you.”
Though Lu Yinghan’s tone was calm, it possessed an imposing presence that commanded belief...
The wavy-haired girl swallowed hard, not daring to take another step forward.
“I'm warning you one last time! If you tell Yibai about what happened today, I'll make sure you get bullied every single day until you graduate!”
This was the direst threat she could manage.
She had only dared to come after looking into Lu Yinghan’s background and confirming she came from an ordinary family.
That was where her confidence came from.
Having said her piece, she swaggered off with her lackeys.
Leaving Lu Yinghan all alone in the dark alley.
Seeing that everyone had left, the hand clutching the Swiss Army knife trembled as she lowered it.
It really hurts.
Rate on N.U.
