Chapter 9

A fight broke out in one class, something never before seen.

The troublemakers, urged on by the English teacher, gradually left the classroom.

This battle immediately attracted attention from upstairs and downstairs, and the students who were chasing and playing around instantly switched to spectator mode.

"Making trouble so early in the morning, you think you're in charge now that the cat's away!" The English teacher scolded them mercilessly, and seeing that some people hadn't come out yet, she pointed at them and said, "Jiang Li, you come out here too!"

Jiang Li was unfairly called out: "What does this have to do with me?"

"Why did you go up there if it's none of your business?" The English teacher clearly didn't believe him.

"I'll break up the fight," Jiang Li said.

Finally, under the watchful eye of his English teacher, he frowned but obediently followed her out.

They had barely left when someone else came and called the remaining people away as well.

A group of people were crammed into the office, making it completely full.

Old Jiang had an unfriendly appearance and a bad temper. He said fiercely, "What's going on? During the ten-minute break between classes, are you planning to stage World War III for me?"

"You guys are really something, fighting each other in your own class! Should we give you an award?"

"No need for the prize," a classmate joked.

Old Jiang glared at him and said irritably, "Speak up, who started it!"

Upon hearing this, everyone lowered their heads and no one spoke.

Old Jiang looked at Jiang Li: "Was it you?!"

Jiang Li leaned back in his chair, not giving a direct answer, but his attitude in asking the question was quite sincere: "Do I look like someone who's going to fight, teacher?"

“We don’t know either, teacher,” Yu Shu, standing next to us, looked more wronged than Dou E, wishing she could clear her name immediately. “It was like this when we went there, and we were just trying to break up the fight.”

"You didn't fight?" Old Jiang glanced at him.

Yu Shu replied confidently, "No."

Chiang Kai-shek was even angrier: "Then what are you doing here!"

As if oblivious to others' expressions, Yu Shu said with a grin, "Come and be a witness."

Chiang Kai-shek did not believe his one-sided account. He picked two honest men from the group and questioned them about the whole story.

But after everyone confessed, they all came out innocent, except for Guan Nan, who was inexplicably singled out.

"Teacher, you should ask Guan Nan."

"What's it to her?"

Are you sick?

Jiang Li and Luo Haoyu spoke almost simultaneously, and the man's expression immediately changed.

"What's it to you!" The English teacher slammed her hand on the table, shutting the two up, and said with exasperation, "Aren't you ashamed enough already?!"

Within two minutes, the student who ran the errand came back for a second time, drawing the attention of the entire class.

He stood at the window and said, "Guan Nan, Old Jiang wants you to come over."

Guan Nan put down the Sprite; the marks on her forehead were still there, but the pain had lessened considerably with the help of the ice.

She responded and followed him to the office.

Looking inside, the men and women were clearly separated, like a long river.

Guan Nan shouted "Report!" and prepared to stand in a corner of the crowded area.

However, after being granted permission to enter, Old Jiang lowered his voice a bit, but his expression did not soften.

Old Jiang pointed to the English teacher's side: "You stand here."

Guan Nan had to pass Jiang Li's position to get through, so it was clear that he had no intention of stepping aside to let him pass.

After a pause, Guan Nan lowered her eyes, carefully brushed past him, and slowly walked to the English teacher's side.

She stood there obediently.

"Tell me," Old Jiang pointed to the male and female students standing there and asked directly, "why were they fighting? Who started it?"

After listening, Guan Nan was stunned for a moment.

Perhaps she had already thought about how to apologize on the way here, or perhaps she was worried that she had caused trouble for everyone and didn't know what to do.

At this moment, with apology stuck in her throat, Guan Nan could only shake her head.

"Think it over before you speak. They've all told me everything. I called you here now so you'd know what's going on." Old Jiang knew she had a good personality and thought she was trying to protect everyone, so he tried to bluff her.

Luo Haoyu: "Teacher, she didn't do anything."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li lifted her eyelids and glanced at him casually.

Old Jiang raised his voice: "I'm asking her!"

Based on the context, Guan Nan could roughly guess what information everyone was hiding.

For some inexplicable reason, she opened her eyes to Jiang Li.

His expression was indifferent, revealing no emotion.

With just one glance, Guan Nan looked away, avoiding the exchange of glances.

She said slowly, "I didn't tighten the cap on my water cup this morning. When they asked me questions, I accidentally knocked it over and spilled the water."

Guan Nan is mild-mannered, has never argued with anyone and has no criminal record; she is a typical model student.

Old Jiang still had some doubts about what she said, but because Guan Nan was so trustworthy, he had no room for distrust.

"You start fighting just because you spilled water?" Old Jiang asked suspiciously, then raised his voice to scold them, "If you keep acting like this, what are you going to do if something happens in the future, kill someone instead!"

"·····"

Chiang Kai-shek's reprimands were somewhat frightening, employing exaggerated language and dramatic consequences. Someone unfamiliar with the situation might mistake them for intimidating students.

Before she could finish explaining, Guan Nan was also a little confused.

Everyone was listening attentively to the instruction, but there was one slacker who, with a thick skin, said, "Teacher, you're right."

"Yu! Shu!"

"Don't you have any sense of decency anymore?!"

Yu Shu nodded obediently, her tightly pursed lips still smiling.

Old Jiang glared at him, then turned to the English teacher and asked, "Where is the sanitation area that Class One is responsible for?"

Class One is full of high achievers. They are good individuals and come from good families. They are generally the kind of people who don't cause trouble, but aren't afraid of trouble when it comes.

Even Chiang Kai-shek had a lot of trouble dealing with them.

"I'll ask the class teacher later." The English teacher was unaware of this.

“Report,” Yu Shu raised his hand, smiling obediently, “It’s the playground, and Huangjue Road.”

“Alright,” Old Jiang decided, “You guys are in charge of cleaning this month. Aren’t you just bored and have nothing better to do? You’re responsible for cleaning the office too.”

Perhaps out of concern for their large numbers, or perhaps because they were all good students, Old Jiang didn't give them any demerits. He just verbally threatened them and assigned them a month's worth of cleaning duties.

A few typical cases were selected, and on Monday, during the flag-raising ceremony, they read out their self-criticisms while the others followed suit and received their own criticism.

As for Guan Nan, each grade needs a representative to go on stage at the start of the new semester, and this time the spot undoubtedly fell to her.

After speaking, Jiang Li raised his eyebrows and volunteered, "Teacher, I'll write too."

"What are you writing?" Old Jiang was bewildered by his unexpected initiative.

"I failed to stop them, I was wrong." Jiang Li's attitude in admitting his mistake was particularly proactive.

Guan Nan was very surprised by this.

The English teacher couldn't stand it anymore and looked at him expressionlessly, asking, "Jiang Li, are you very free? If you're so free, go run two laps."

An invisible act of bullying was turned into a simple accident by Guan Nan's few words.

As they left the office, Chen Aimei linked arms with Guan Nan, and the two walked slowly at the back.

Chen Aimei, still shaken, said, "I was so scared! Why did you lie to the teacher? They were the ones bullying you, are you stupid?"

Guan Nan shook her head: "We're all classmates. Besides, they didn't do it on purpose."

The group, making a grand entrance, passed by Class 2 and 3, attracting a lot of curious glances.

“They were all like that,” Chen Aimei said, frowning and indignant. “How could it not have been intentional? You’re just naive. If it were me, I would have told the teacher and wouldn’t care about them.”

Thinking that Chen Aimei was just being resentful, Guan Nan smiled at her and said softly, "It's alright."

As they neared the door, Chen Aimei tugged at her sleeve, looking left and right, then around. They had completely separated themselves from the main group.

At this moment, Chen Aimei covered her mouth with her hand and tentatively said in her ear, "You and Jiang Li, really don't know each other? I feel like you two are quite familiar with each other."

“We,” Guan Nan hesitated for a moment, “we’re acquaintances.”

Chen Aimei grasped the key point: "So what?"

"Yes." Guan Nan nodded. "I only met you because we were deskmates. I didn't know you before we were deskmates."

Chen Aimei clenched her fist and lightly tapped her arm twice, saying coquettishly, "...Okay. I thought you two had known each other for a long time. I was thinking, if you dared to lie to me, hmph~"

Guan Nan smiled and nodded.

In the classroom, the geography teacher was giving a lesson, and the usual quiet had returned.

Guan Nan listened quietly to the lesson, then reached for her notebook and slowly wrote something in the blank space.

—Will you still buy it?

The draft notebook was handed over, and Guan Nan listened intently to the sound of the pen tip touching the paper.

The sound was very brief.

She guessed.

It is a refusal.

There was a moment of helplessness, but after realizing it, I felt that I deserved it.

Yesterday's escape left him in such a sorry state. Today he repents and wants to make amends, but can he really do that? How can everything go as you wish?

Guan Nan gripped the pen tightly, her head bowed, looking dejected.

The next second, the draft notebook was pushed over.

With a vague idea of ​​what was going on in her mind, Guan Nan had no heart to look at it anymore. But the moment she closed the notebook, she couldn't help but glance at it.

Indeed, it's two characters, and the font is better than before.

However, the content is ambiguous.

It wasn't a refusal, nor was it a promise.

Only the words "attending a lecture" occupied the blank space on the manuscript paper.

As the barriers were broken down, the Chu-Han divide, like the Milky Way, was somehow filled in. And that returned bottle of Sprite was replaced with a new one during break, misty and cool, icy cold.

Also, the pink strawberry band-aid in the desk was a little damp.

Guan Nan glanced to the side; the seat next to her was empty. She then silently glanced outside the classroom.

He, Yu Shu, and Lin Rui were standing in the corridor talking about something.

Fortunately, today's class did not run overtime.

Guan Nan dawdled as she slowly slung her backpack over her shoulder, glancing at Jiang Li as she stood up.

He was forced to copy a self-criticism this morning, and only now did he pick up his pen, unfold a blank sheet of paper, and lazily begin to write.

Before she could speak, Chen Aimei called her name.

Chen Aimei jogged over, hugged me with a hopeful look on her face, and said in a coquettish tone, "Last time the English teacher wouldn't let us change seats, can I sit in your seat today?"

Her intentions were clear, and she made no attempt to conceal them.

Guan Nan glanced at her face and asked, "Do you want an English test paper?"

“No,” Chen Aimei shook her head and said quietly, “I want to sit with Jiang Li.”

"I won't touch your things without permission."

Chen Aimei was still making some kind of promise.

Guan Nan was in a hurry and agreed without thinking before turning around and leaving the classroom.

Tonight, Guan Weimin's workplace has a dinner party, so the task of picking up Lin Zhaozhao from school naturally fell to her.

Lin Zhaozhao is bold and loves to play. Whenever she has the chance, she likes to go out and play with her girlfriends.

Fuzhong is only three stops away from Fushi, where Lin Zhaozhao is located.

When she arrived, the gates of Fushi High School were open, and students were sitting in twos and threes at the milk tea shops along the way.

It was during this process that she accurately detected Lin Zhaozhao's figure.

Several boys not wearing school uniforms were squatting or standing, while Lin Zhaozhao was holding hands with a few of her girlfriends. One of the girls laughed coquettishly, reached out and patted a boy's head, then tugged at his ear.

Their behavior and its ambiguity.

A boy took a drag of his cigarette and blew smoke into Lin Zhaozhao's face. Lin Zhaozhao frowned but held back her anger.

Guan Nan called out to her from a distance, but received no response. She initially thought the person was Lin Zhaozhao's classmate, but upon seeing their face clearly, she realized they were a member of the "underworld."

In that instant, Guan Nan realized something was wrong, "Zhao Zhao."

"Lin Zhaozhao." Guan Nan ran over quickly, afraid that she would have too much contact with those people.

Lin Zhaozhao recognized the voice immediately and turned around, her tone impatient: "What?"

"Let's go home." Guan Nan walked over and took her hand.

However, leaving is not so easy.

The girl who had touched him earlier was wearing exaggerated makeup. She grabbed Lin Zhaozhao with one hand, preventing her from leaving, and looked Guan Nan up and down before asking rudely, "Lin Zhaozhao, who is this?"

Lin Zhaozhao replied reluctantly, "I'm... the neighbor's older sister."

"How come I didn't know you had an older sister?" The girl grabbed Lin Zhaozhao, not wanting her to leave like that.

Guan Nan ignored what she said, simply pulling Lin Zhaozhao behind her. Facing the disdainful girl in front of her, she said expressionlessly, "Does she need to report to you whether she has a sister or not?"

The squatting man laughed when he heard this, and clapped his hands as if to give him face, "Wow, that's awesome."

Guan Nan ignored them.

But the girl holding onto Lin Zhaozhao hadn't let go yet, and her provocative attitude was obvious. The girl raised her face, looking arrogant: "Ask her if she'll go with you."

After she finished speaking, her gaze fixed on Lin Zhaozhao's face, her eyes filled with threat.

"Whether she comes with me or not is not up to you." Guan Nan's attitude was unusually firm.

The girl shoved Lin Zhaozhao, "Say something, are you dead?"

"Please have some self-respect." Guan Nan pulled her hand away and used her body to shield Lin Zhaozhao.

It was at that moment that Lin Zhaozhao felt the trembling hand tightly gripping hers.

Not only those bold and assertive words, but also the way she acted as an older sister, standing in front of me and carrying things that even I was afraid of.

"I told you to speak, are you deaf?" Seeing that Lin Zhaozhao ignored her, the girl tried to push Guan Nan away, but found that she couldn't move him. She became angry and said, "Are you fucking sick? What are you trying to get attention from here?"

Seeing this, the men next to them got even more excited, waiting to see them make a fool of themselves.

Guan Nan glanced at them without backing down: "She can speak if she wants to, or not if she doesn't want to. It's none of your business. Whether she's deaf or not is none of your concern."

The girl was furious: "Did I fucking talk to you?"

Guan Nan didn't say anything more, turned around and pulled Lin Zhaozhao towards the bus stop, but the girl was unhappy with their attitude. She immediately raised the milk tea in her hand and threw it at them.

Half a meter away, the bottle burst open and smashed at Guan Nan's feet, staining her school trousers with milk.

"Did I tell you to leave?" Seeing that no one was listening to her, the girl snapped at the two men beside her, "What are you two doing here? Why are you dragging me around?"

The man glanced at her dismissively, his tone sleazy: "Corn, can't you control your wife?"

The man named Corn was the one who had been patted on the head. He ignored what the other man said, rushed up and grabbed Lin Zhaozhao, preventing her from leaving.

In this situation, the students who had just left the school all lowered their heads, not daring to look any further for fear of getting into trouble.

Just as Guan Nan was running away with Lin Zhaozhao, she glanced at the guardhouse out of the corner of her eye, wanting to ask for help, but there was no one inside.

At this moment, all she could do was hold Lin Zhaozhao's hand tightly and pray that the security guards would appear soon.

"My wife won't let you leave." Yumi held onto them tightly, raising her chin at Lin Zhaozhao, "Have you thought it through?"

The disparity in strength between men and women was too great, so Guan Nan dared not act rashly. Furthermore, she didn't know what they had discussed before, so she could only turn to look at Lin Zhaozhao.

"I--"

Almost simultaneously, a roar came from the side, followed by a sharp, piercing screech of brakes from a motorcycle.

--"What are you doing!"

He rammed the car into the corn, then jumped out and stood in front of Guan Nan, providing her with a sense of security.

The next second, he turned around and asked coldly, "What did he do to you?"

Guan Nan looked up at Jiang Li.

"Did he bully you?" Seeing that she didn't speak, Jiang Li, a habitual fighter, tugged at her sleeve, checked her clothes and arms, looking for the most vulnerable spots, and almost instinctively asked, "Did he slap you in the face?"

Jiang Li immediately cursed, pulled down his backpack, and was about to throw it at Yumi.

“Jiang Li.” Guan Nan grabbed his hand.

His arms were icy cold, like the Sprite bottle on the desk, radiating coldness.

Jiang Li paused, lowered his eyes to stare at her, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Guan Nan said, "He didn't hit me."

"I never hit women." Yumi threw down his bicycle, his legs bearing tire marks. The other two followed him. "Jiang Li, we're not playing with you, and don't cause trouble for us."

Unexpectedly, they knew each other, and Guan Nan silently let go of his hand.

"Heh," Jiang Li sneered, "I don't have the nerve to play with you guys."

Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of those men turned somewhat unpleasant.

The girl stormed over, pointed at Jiang Li, and asked, "Who is he? Why are you afraid of him? Just beat him up!"

"If you want to do it so badly, why don't you do it yourself?" The man, who already disliked her, immediately added insult to injury.

Yumi ignored her and asked Jiang Li with a smile, "Saying things like that. Girlfriend?"

Jiang Li took the car from Yumi and, stepping on the pedal, asked casually, "What do you need?"

"It's nothing, just asking." Yumi smiled, her tone casual, as if chatting with a close friend. "If we had known she was your girlfriend, we would have let her go."

Jiang Li adjusted his bag, slung it over his shoulder, and didn't reply.

Seeing this, Yu Mi didn't want to make a fool of herself, so she let them go.

He stopped riding his bike and walked side by side with Guan Nan on the road, with Lin Zhaozhao walking on the innermost side.

...

"Are we just going to let them go like that?" The girl felt ashamed, pulled hard on the corn, and asked the man next to her, "Aren't you going to talk to her?"

The man glanced at her, then lit another cigarette. "Talk my ass. You should find out who Jiang Li, the one who's invincible in Fuling, is first."

The girl said, "Are all of you afraid of just one guy?"

"This guy is crazy, okay? He's rich and fearless. He's been practicing Sanda since elementary school and has never been inferior to anyone in a fight. During his three years of junior high at Fuyang Foreign Language School, he was even more reckless." The man gave advice without much sincerity: "If you want to fight, you do it yourself. He has a principle: he doesn't hit women. If you hit him, he probably won't fight back."

Yumi said, "Do you know Xin Jia? She came from Fuyang Normal University and was a big shot at Fuyang Vocational High School."

“Xin Jia has never laid a hand on him, how dare we? What are you thinking?” the man sneered.

······

On the way, Lin Zhaozhao would steal a glance from time to time; he was very handsome.

This guy named Jiang Li is very handsome.

He's more handsome than the pretentious guy at their school who thinks he's incredibly handsome. The key is, he's not just pretentious; he's genuinely cool.

Those people just now seemed to be very afraid of him.

Also, that car worth tens of thousands of yuan was stolen without a second thought.

Lin Zhaozhao sighed inwardly, thinking how handsome, awesome, and rich he was.

It would be a source of pride for her to be able to have this person as her boyfriend.

Just as Lin Zhaozhao was about to speak, she heard him accuse, "You didn't call me when you needed something?"

"·····"

Jiang Li's tone was not good: "Is this the kind of thing you're planning to handle yourself?"

"·····"

"Why are you trying to be tough with this kind of trash?"

"·····"

This happened completely unexpectedly. On the way here, Guan Nan kept praying that Lin Zhaozhao's teacher would extend the class time so that she wouldn't run away and be impossible to find.

I never imagined that things would turn out like this when I arrived at the scene.

Guan Nan was frustrated: "I didn't know it would turn out like this."

"Who is this person?" It didn't seem to be her fault. Jiang Li turned her head and glanced at Lin Zhaozhao, asking her.

Guan Nan honestly replied, "My sister."

"Your sister?" Jiang Li glanced at her again, asking suspiciously, "Sister, are those all your classmates?"

Lin Zhaozhao shook her head: "Those two girls are the ones."

"These people are all from vocational high schools, how come you're hanging out with them?" Jiang Li nodded and asked lazily.

“My classmate said…” Lin Zhaozhao said, “She said that’s her boyfriend. She brought him to show us.”

Upon hearing this, Guan Nan turned her head to look, her face expressionless.

At the time, I was only focused on hoping that Lin Zhaozhao hadn't run away.

Thinking back to the scene just now, Guan Nan felt dizzy and weak in the knees, and thought it would be better to run away.

"What?" Lin Zhaozhao said angrily, feeling uncomfortable under her gaze. "They said they would introduce me to someone, but how was I supposed to know it was this kind of person?"

"I thought they were older students."

Guan Nan found it strange and asked, not understanding, "Why would you know older students when you're in school?"

"Everyone's into having a brother these days, aren't you so out of touch?" Lin Zhaozhao looked down on her, saying she couldn't keep up with anything and was like a country bumpkin.

Jiang Li heard their conversation, silently twitched his lips, and said nothing.

Lin Zhaozhao, who was oblivious to social cues, still had the leisure to chat: "Jiang Li, your name is Jiang Li, right? I heard Guan Nan call you Jiang Li."

Jiang Li didn't want to give her sister a cold shoulder, so she simply said, "Mm."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Lin Zhaozhao pressed.

Lin Zhaozhao's question was too presumptuous and inappropriate for her age.

Boys and girls of this age seem to dislike being looked down upon; they all wish others would treat them like little adults.

Lin Zhaozhao's reaction was extremely strong.

These words made Guan Nan's face turn cold. He frowned and glanced at her, but no matter how angry he was, he couldn't say anything.

After all, she had neither the right nor the standing to do so.

Jiang Li's expression also softened: "Is there something you need?"

"No," Lin Zhaozhao said frankly, "I just wanted to say, if she weren't like that, could I pursue you?"

Her remarks were truly bold.

Be proactive, bold, and act mature.

If several of these traits coexist in an extroverted child, and he continues to associate with these people for an extended period, the consequences could be dire.

Jiang Li didn't answer her: "Aren't you going to do anything about it?"

"Hey, are you telling me to go after her or not? Why are you interfering with me?" Before Guan Nan could speak, Lin Zhaozhao immediately became unhappy, her arrogance quite evident. "Let me tell you, she can't control me."

Jiang Li raised an eyebrow slightly: "Even your sister can't control you?"

"She's not my biological sister." Lin Zhaozhao didn't care at all. At this moment, she was also annoyed with Jiang Li, saying angrily, "You guys go by yourselves, I'll take a taxi."

After saying that, he didn't care what they thought, he hailed a car and drove off without even glancing at them.

"..." Jiang Li was silent for two seconds: "Your relative's daughter?"

Guan Nan thought for a moment, then, without hiding anything, told the truth: "She is my stepmother's daughter."