Su Qingyue got off the bus and headed home, but before he had gone far, he sensed someone following him.

He sighed and deliberately walked into the alley. Sure enough, those people quickly lost their temper.

Five thugs cornered him in the alley. The leader, a blond-haired guy, slung a wooden stick over his shoulder and said, "We were just wondering where to start our attack, and you walked right up to us. Kid, are you looking down on us?"

Purple Hair chuckled and said, "You don't really think you can take on five people by yourself, do you? Don't you even know who we are?"

Su Qingyue recognized them; they were notorious thugs in the area who frequently stopped students to demand protection money, occasionally committed petty theft, and were regulars at the police station.

With all five men holding wooden sticks, it was indeed not an advantage for someone unarmed.

Su Qingyue sighed again, "Stop talking nonsense, come on."

The blond-haired guy was furious. "You brat, you actually look down on us? Brothers, get him! Give him a good beating!"

Five people rushed at him with wooden sticks. Su Qingyue had not received any systematic training in fighting; all his experience came from real combat.

Getting injured is such a hassle, ugh.

The blond-haired man swung his stick and struck him hard in the stomach. Su Qingyue reacted quickly and punched him in the face. The blond-haired man's head tilted to the side and blood flowed from his nose. The other four rushed forward, but Su Qingyue was no match for them and inevitably took several blows to the back.

Su Qingyue held onto Zi Mao tightly, then kicked him hard in the groin. "Ouch—" With a loud cry, he released the wooden stick and fell to the ground, clutching his groin and struggling.

The others' attention was drawn to the purple-haired guy, and Su Qingyue took advantage of their inattention to turn around and deliver a flying kick. The green-haired guy was kicked to the ground and slid down the ground for several meters.

"You little brat, you're pretty strong." The blond-haired guy wiped the blood from his nose. "I don't believe that I can't beat you with my bare hands, even with a stick."

Huang Mao became furious, threw away the wooden stick, clenched his fists, and rammed into him hard. The others covered for Huang Mao, and Su Qingyue saw that he couldn't dodge and took the punch head-on.

He spat out the blood and foam from his mouth, estimating that the injury was enough, and no longer held back. He picked up the purple-haired stick and pressed the four men to the ground, beating them hard. He wielded the stick with great force, and with a whooshing sound, it slammed into the men with unstoppable force.

Within moments, five people lay sprawled on the ground. Su Qingyue leaned against the wall, took a wet wipe from her pocket, wiped the blood from her face, and then began to wipe her hands.

"I have to thank you guys. I was just wondering how to test her. I'll let it go today, but if I see her again, it won't end so easily." Su Qingyue casually tossed away the wet wipe, walked over to the blond-haired man, and poked his face with her toe.

"Tell me, who sent you here? I advise you to tell the truth or I don't know what the consequences will be."

"Stop...stop hitting me, I'll talk, I'll talk. They're students from Mingde No. 1 Middle School, their names are...Zhao something...something Lin. They gave us some money to beat you up." The blond-haired man gasped for breath and trembled as he confessed.

“I see…” Su Qingyue nodded.

He picked up his schoolbag, slung it over one shoulder, and left the alley.

Zhao Linlin...

——

Tuesday was a cloudy day, the sky was gloomy and there was a feeling that a storm was about to break. Ye Jiu grabbed her umbrella and set off for school.

Actually, the apartment is very close to the school. It was a waste of Uncle Wang's talents to pick her up last night. It's only a ten-minute walk for her.

During morning reading, Ye Jiu was overwhelmed by a pile of subjects she needed to memorize and didn't know where to start. Although she studied science, there was still a lot to memorize...

Ye Jiu's deskmate was a cute girl with a round face named Tian Tian. After hesitating for a moment, she gently poked Tian Tian's arm and asked, "Um, will the Chinese teacher be doing a recitation test today?"

Tian Tian was a little flattered that Ye Jiu had taken the initiative to talk to her. She nodded and replied to Ye Jiu, "She said yesterday that she would have a quiz on 'The Memorial to the Throne' before class today."

Ye Jiu frowned and continued to ask her, "Is there anything else that you absolutely have to review today?"

"The chemistry teacher said we have to take a dictation of equations."

"Oh my god, it hurts so much!" Ye Jiu couldn't help but wail. Help! I hate carrying things.

Tian Tian was surprised to find that Ye Jiu had this kind of personality, and couldn't help but laugh out loud, "I didn't expect you to be so different from the rumors."

"Hmm? What's different?"

“Everywhere is different. They all say you are very arrogant, don’t like to talk, and are a bit aloof.” Tian Tian transferred to this school in the second semester of last year and is not very familiar with the people in this class.

“That’s how it used to be, but I’ve come to terms with it. I think there’s no point in pretending like that.” Ye Jiu winked at her, which explained why her personality had changed so drastically.

"Hurry up and memorize it, otherwise the morning reading session will be wasted."

Ye Jiu immediately focused on tidying up her things and began reciting. She glanced at Su Qingyue's seat and realized he wasn't there.

Huh? You took the day off today?

After morning reading ended, Su Qingyue dragged her heavy body into the classroom, her face bearing several scratches and her left cheek swollen.

When Ye Jiu saw the injury on his face, she felt a wave of dizziness. Who?! Who touched my mission target?!

During the break between classes, Ye Jiu rushed downstairs to the infirmary to buy ice packs and bandages. Luckily, their class was on the second floor, otherwise Ye Jiu would have been exhausted on the stairs.

After buying the ice packs, there were still a few minutes before class started. As soon as he entered the classroom, he saw Xia Banmeng surrounding Su Qingyue, giving him ice packs.

Oh, someone gave it to me. Oh well, it's fine now, but I've already bought it, tsk. Ye Jiu deliberately walked past Su Qingyue's seat, threw the plastic bag on his desk, and left.

Xia Banmeng's attempt to deliver the items didn't go smoothly. Su Qingyue refused outright, ignoring her as if she didn't exist. Just then, Ye Jiu threw something at her, as if mocking her.

Xia Banmeng, unable to bear it any longer, shouted, "Ye Jiu!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" Ye Jiu stopped in her tracks.

"You did this on purpose, didn't you?"

"What do you mean by 'intentionally'?" Ye Jiu turned around and saw the ice pack still in Su Qingyue's hand and her indifferent expression. She understood. "You were rejected for giving me something, right? What does that have to do with me?"

Ye Jiu's words were like rubbing salt into a wound. "Ye Jiu! Are you pretending or doing this on purpose? How come you brought ice packs to Su Qingyue as well? Have you taken a liking to him?" Xia Banmeng's hand was almost deformed from being squeezed by her.

"What do you mean? Can't I care about my classmate? Besides, when I saw you giving it to him, I wasn't even planning to give it to him anymore, but since I've already bought it, I can't let the money go to waste," Ye Jiu explained sincerely. Although that was her original intention, it was also quite satisfying to get back at Xia Banmeng, who knew that Xia Banmeng often ruined Ye Jiu's reputation outside.

"Yes, it was my fault for speaking ill of you last time, but there's no need to humiliate me like this. Do you really have to compete with me for Su Qingyue?"

"What? When did Su Qingyue become yours? Then whose confession did Su Qingyue reject yesterday?" Ye Jiu said, feigning exaggeration.

"Ye Jiu, are you sick in the head?!" Xia Banmeng was so angry that her head was practically steaming.