After divorcing Ye Mingyuan, Zhao Li seemed unwilling to stay in the house where she lived with her ex-husband, so she sold the house and moved to S City with Ye Ying. Zhao Li was not as crazy as she was later, and the large sum of money she got from the divorce was enough for her to squander, so she generously transferred Ye Ying to a good private school, Peizheng Middle School.
Peizheng is famous for its strong faculty and the highest enrollment rate in the city. It is said that 70% of Peizheng's students can be admitted to the top middle schools in S City, which is equivalent to getting a pass to a top university in advance. Therefore, the competition among students in the school is very fierce, and the rankings of each exam will fluctuate.
But the first place in the grade 2 class was always occupied by Fu Kai.
Fu Kai is the monitor of the experimental class and the "chairman" of the student union. He has an amazing family background. His father is the director of a department in S City and has donated two buildings to the school. Fu Kai is also a very capable person. He has excellent grades, is handsome, has strong leadership and organizational skills, and is generous in his dealings with others. Therefore, both teachers and leaders think highly of him, and the students also surround him like stars around the moon, and usually call him "Brother Kai".
When Ye Ying first transferred to the experimental class, Fu Kai also warmly and friendly welcomed her. Until the second monthly exam, Ye Ying's total score was 12 points higher than his, and she replaced him in the grade commendation list.
After school, Ye Ying left the classroom with her schoolbag and met Fu Kai who had just returned from the teacher's office in the corridor. When the two passed by, Fu Kai bumped into Ye Ying's shoulder, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Ye Ying stopped and looked at him sideways.
"Transfer student, you're amazing." Fu Kai tilted his head towards him and raised the corner of his lips, but there was no meaning in his eyes. He said softly, "But you're putting a lot of pressure on me."
Ye Ying said nothing, straightened her schoolbag, and left.
Fu Kai thought that this transfer student was so smart that he would definitely understand what he said, but he didn't expect that in the next very important midterm exam, Ye Ying would actually replace him again in the grade, and this time her score was 36 points higher than his!
"Student Ye, did you pretend not to understand what I said to you last time?"
After school that day, Fu Kai and four students from the experimental class surrounded the teenager in the tool room. These students were usually positive, modest and well-behaved top students in front of the teacher, but in this dark classroom where no one was, they all took off their disguises and showed a different face.
"You like to be in the limelight so much?" Fu Kai asked slightly, "Do you feel good about the exam?"
Another boy said viciously, "Transfer student, don't you understand the rules of Peizheng? Brother Kai is the boss here, how dare you climb over his head and bully others? Are you looking for death?"
Ye Ying looked at the boys in front of her and moved slightly.
He said: "Has Brother Yuan Kai's first place always been given up by someone else?"
Fu Kai's eyes turned scary for a moment, but he didn't move. He even patted his head and said, "Good, you have courage."
He took two steps forward, showing his sharp teeth like a jackal, and whispered in Ye Ying's ear: "I hope you won't regret it."
The so-called school violence is sometimes not just physical abuse, it can take many forms, it is not obvious, but it is like a snake lurking under still water, despicable and vicious.
All kinds of strange things were often put into the hole of the desk, the test papers were always missing, the lights would be turned off and I would be locked in the classroom after school, and a group of boys would deliberately target me during volleyball class...
In addition, there is increasingly obvious isolation and exclusion.
Fu Kai had the final say in the class. As long as he revealed a little bit of his attitude, other students in the class would not dare to have too much contact with Ye Ying. Even though they looked at him with a bit of sympathy and pity, they did not dare to interact and talk with boys openly.
The teachers also noticed the undercurrents in the class and repeatedly stressed the need for students to get along harmoniously. They also talked to students privately. However, the class had already formed a small society, where students were the masters. Even adults and teachers could not shake the rules.
So Ye Ying spent the next few years like this.
He didn't know that he was being stubborn. He only needed to do two fewer questions in the exam and deliberately keep his score lower than Fu Kai, and he could spend the three years of junior high school in peace and smoothly, and it wouldn't have any impact on his grades.
But he just couldn't do it.
Zhao Li became more and more unscrupulous and crazy, and the silent bullying and suppression in school were like two thousand-pound mountains, pressing his life into darkness.
But the more pressure and pain Ye Ying faced on the verge of collapse, the clearer a certain string in her mind became.
I can't give up.
Why should I admit defeat?
It's not me who did anything wrong. Must I surrender just because fate is oppressing and forcing me?
So there were monthly exams, midterm exams, final exams; Mathematical Olympiad competitions, essay competitions, English speech contests... During the second year of junior high school, no award could escape Ye Ying's, and no time was Ye Ying's name not at the top of the honor roll.
Be it rules or power, only scores and strength cannot be faked.
No matter how many tricks Fu Kai used, he was never able to remove the name Ye Ying from his head.
Fu Kai was angry and hateful, yet helpless at the same time. In addition to these emotions, he also felt an indescribable feeling.
The boy named Ye Ying was obviously not strong, and even looked too pretty, like a little glass toy that would break into pieces if it was hit lightly. But after a while, I found that the glass had a steel bone inside, and no matter how thin and skinny its back was, it would never bow its head.
One night near the end of the second year of junior high school, Ye Ying went to the bathroom. There was a sign at the door saying it was under repair. He was about to leave when he suddenly heard a faint cry for help from inside.
Ye Ying's expression changed slightly. If she heard it correctly, it was clearly a girl's voice!
He entered the bathroom without hesitation, followed the sound of crying to find a closed cubicle, looked around, picked up a steel pipe that had fallen from the sink during maintenance, and smashed it against the door!
The huge noise scared the people inside and made them scream. In addition to the female voice just now, there were clearly several male voices!
Ye Ying didn't hesitate. With a cold face, she hit him with the stick again. After a loud bang, the compartment door suddenly opened from the inside.
A disheveled girl huddled in a corner and cried. Three boys walked out, one of whom was Fu Kai.
Fu Kai's clothes were also messy, and he even smelled strongly of cigarettes and alcohol. Seeing that the person outside was Ye Ying, his eyes suddenly became more sinister, and he squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "You are f*cking trying to pick on me, right?"
Ye Ying ignored him, walked up to the girl and pulled her out, put her coat on her and said quickly, "Go call the teacher."
The girl, who was also a sophomore, wrapped her coat tightly around her and said thank you with trembling lips, then immediately ran out. Fu Kai seemed to be sure that the girl would not dare to call for help in this state, so he did not stop her. His sinister eyes were fixed on Ye Ying's face, and suddenly.
"I'm not in a good mood today. You ruined my fun," Fu Kai's eyes were bright and terrifying, and he spoke slowly, "Do you want to take her place?"
The day before yesterday, he lost a competition trophy he wanted, and his father was furious, scolding him for his continuous decline this year. Fu Kai was depressed and drank, and in a good mood, he dragged a girl he had long admired to the men's bathroom to play.
He had played with many girls, but never with a boy. He had no interest in it before, but if it was Ye Ying, he thought he could make an exception and give it a try.
The blood in his body was boiling, and he reached out to touch Ye Ying's face: "There is something I have wanted to say for a long time - Ye Ying, you are prettier than any other girl, don't you think?"
Before he finished speaking, Ye Ying had already swung the steel pipe and smashed it directly towards his face.
When the teachers and school leaders rushed over, several boys had already started fighting fiercely. The surprising thing was that although Ye Ying was alone, she was not completely at a disadvantage. No matter how many hits she received, she never let go of the steel pipe. On the contrary, Fu Kai's eyes were hit by him and bled. They were so swollen that he couldn't open them at all. He looked extremely miserable.
Several students were taken to the principal's office. The girl who was bullied before was also there. Although it was a little difficult to speak, the girl still bravely told everyone about her experience and pointed out that this was not the first time Fu Kai had done such a thing. Many girls in the school had been coerced and bribed by him, but they never dared to expose the matter because of Fu Kai's identity and their own reputation.
The school's men's restroom is divided into cubicles inside and washrooms outside. In order to monitor boys smoking and fighting in the restroom, the school installed surveillance cameras at the entrance of the washrooms. The surveillance cameras were quickly called up. Although they could not capture the situation in the cubicles, the images in the video fully demonstrated the bad behavior of Fu Kai and others. Perhaps this cannot be described as just bad - this is a crime.
Faced with the shocking scenes in the video, the school leaders were all silent.
Fu Kai stood by, his face cold and fearless, pressing the tip of his tongue against his bleeding mouth, as if he was sure that even if the truth was revealed, he would not be punished.
After a moment of dead silence, the principal of Peizheng closed his eyes and finally spoke with a sad look: "When Peizheng was first established, its purpose was to cultivate noble spirit and train upright and loyal students. Unfortunately, in just over a decade, the school has been corrupted. We know how much filth is hidden inside, but we keep whitewashing it and pretending that nothing has happened..."
Several middle-aged men in suits had pale faces and were unable to speak.
Principal: "If we still pretend to be indifferent to what happened today, we will be completely unscrupulous. We will be punished in the future."
He said to Fu Kai and the others, "You are expelled from school."
Fu Kai couldn't believe the result would be like this. He gritted his teeth and said "Just wait for me" and slammed the door and left in anger. The school suppressed the incident and Fu Kai didn't make any more waves afterwards. Perhaps his father, the director, also felt that his son had completely lost face this time, so he silently let him transfer to another school.
"I haven't heard from them since then." After explaining the whole story, Ye Ying said calmly, "But the whistleblower said so many details, maybe it's related to them."
The people at the scene silently digested this huge amount of information. The director was stunned for a while, pounded his right hand on the table, and said in disbelief: "So, the person who broke the news is probably that Fu Kai? He blamed you for what he did!?"
"Fuck..." He Xizhou's face turned pale after hearing this. He was so angry that he couldn't vent his anger. He wanted to kick but couldn't find anything to kick. He could only curse fiercely, "Fuck!"
The director felt that it was unlucky for such a shameless idiot to run into such a busy show. He said coldly, "These days, even a coward dares to stir up trouble. If we don't teach him a lesson, he will be easy for our people to bully! Let the public relations department issue a clarification announcement immediately. I will also sue that bastard for defamation!"
He Xizhou said, "Wait."
Everyone in the room looked at him.
"You're issuing a clarification announcement now, but it's just a piece of white paper. There's no evidence to prove Ye Ying's innocence." He Xizhou said, "If someone leads the way, the consequences will be even worse."
The director thought so too.
It is easy to throw dirty water, but once rumors and slander spread, it is not easy to wash them away. Sometimes people don't care about the truth and are only willing to believe what they believe, unless there is enough ironclad evidence in front of everyone so that they can't lie with their eyes open.
He Xizhou said to the director: "Lend me the camera."
The director raised his eyelids and looked at him: "What are you doing?"
He Xizhou said expressionlessly: "Call my dad."
Holding the phone handed to him by the director, He Xizhou walked to a corner and dialed a number: "Dad, it's me."
He Pingqiu's voice came from the receiver: "Why are you calling me again? Aren't you guys in closed training? You are violating the rules and regulations..."
He Xizhou interrupted his father directly: "There is a hot search about school violence, did you see it?"
He Pingqiu paused: "Look, what's going on?"
"My friend was framed," He Xizhou said, "It should be a man named Fu Kai who is behind this. He went to junior high school in Peizheng, S City. Can you help me check what he is doing now? Also, his father is the director of the S City Department. I guess he is not a good person either. Can you ask my mother to help take a look. Maybe we can find out a major case of embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power for personal gain."
He Pingqiu: "... You little brat, you're pretty good at ordering your parents around, aren't you?"
"Dad, please," He Xizhou said, "I owe you a favor."
He Pingqiu was silent for a moment.
No one knows better than him how independent his son is. Whether he is going to school or working in the entertainment industry, he has never actively asked for help from his connections. I still remember that when He Xizhou was a teenager, he participated in a music program. Because he did not listen to the advice of the "music master", he was criticized online for more than a month. His reputation was almost ruined, but he did not say a word to the master. He Pingqiu also wanted to use this incident to sound a warning to He Xizhou, let him restrain his temper and learn to be cautious in public, but in the end he could not bear it and let people expose the old bottom of the "master", and then public opinion began to reverse.
This was the second time He Xizhou had actually taken the initiative to ask for help. As for the third time...
He Pingqiu: "The Ye Ying in the trending search is the little classmate you mentioned being bullied a while ago, right?"
Not long ago, He Xizhou called him and asked him to help deal with Xinyue Entertainment and get a student named Zhao Liang to withdraw from the competition.
He Pingqiu said at the time: "Do you think your father is a domineering president who can make anyone suffer?"
"Don't be modest, you must have a way." He Xizhou said, "That Zhao Liang is not a good guy, his private life is messy. He has Xinyue Entertainment to support him, and the director can't just let him withdraw from the competition, you can help him."
He Pingqiu was even more puzzled: "Why is it your business if someone has a messy private life? Why didn't I know you were so kind-hearted?"
He Xizhou said bluntly: "He bullied my classmates."
He Pingqiu wondered at the time what kind of classmate was worthy of his son making such a rare phone call to him.
Facing his father's question, He Xizhou answered frankly: "It's a person."
"Okay. Since you can make friends despite your bad temper." He Pingqiu agreed, and then reminded him, "Yes, after the show is finished, invite your classmate back to play. Your mom and I will also."
He Xizhou's angry and cold brows finally relaxed slightly after hearing these words, and he replied with a hint of meaning: "Okay."
After hanging up the phone and returning the phone to the director, He Xizhou took Ye Ying's hand and said, "I'll take him back to the dormitory. Let me know the result."
The director nodded, and then patted Ye Ying's shoulder with a kind look: "Xiao Ye, adjust your attitude and have a good rest. Don't let this matter affect you. On the road to fame, you have to face all kinds of obstacles. As long as you overcome them, you will have a smooth journey."
＿＿
He Xizhou took Ye Ying straight back to the dormitory.
It was only seven o'clock in the evening and everyone else was in the practice room. He Xizhou turned on the dormitory light and turned to look at Ye Ying, his brows still furrowed.
Ye Ying's state was very calm, and she was able to show him a smile to comfort him: "Brother He, don't worry, it's been a long time, I'm really fine."
He Xizhou ignored his words "It's okay".
From the moment he came forward, all the subtle sense of contradiction in the boy was finally explained.
Although she is so perfect and excellent in every aspect, she always reveals a slight lack of confidence and even inferiority from time to time; she should be the absolute focus of the crowd wherever she stands, but she always subconsciously hides herself in a corner and downplays all sense of existence; she is gentle and delicate in personality and loved by everyone, but there is always a sense of indifference and distance around her, like a layer of transparent membrane, which makes people afraid to approach her.
How can it be “okay”?
The long-standing malice and isolation had seeped into the boy's bones like a slow-acting poison, making him a barren, scorched wasteland with no grass growing on the inside, no matter how outstanding a person he appeared to be.
At this moment, He Xizhou suddenly remembered the song that the boy sang on the first stage. Everyone, including him, was deeply amazed. The instructor also praised him for his "high singing quotient" and said that he could empathize with the people in the story.
The boy was indeed empathizing, because he was another Aying - lonely, closed, and inferior. Perhaps he himself did not even realize that deep down he longed for someone to pull him out of the silent abyss.
He Xizhou suddenly stepped forward and hugged Ye Ying tightly.
Ye Ying's chin hit the boy's shoulder, and her chest pressed tightly against his. The arms around her tightened a little bit, as if she wanted to pass all the warmth and heat to him without reservation through such a deep and domineering force.
Ye Ying opened her eyes slightly: "He..."
"It's a pity that I went to junior high school in the north. How great would it be if I could go to the same school as you?" He Xizhou stretched out his hand, gently rubbed the boy's soft hair on the back of his head, and whispered to him, "I can beat three people like Fu Kai. We can eat together, play together, fight together, and stand together if we get caught. I'm not good at studying, and you can tutor me. We go to school and go home together, and you will never be left behind."
Ye Ying's eyes quickly turned red, and the calmness that had lasted for so long was completely shattered like glass. He gritted his teeth and swallowed the groan that almost rushed out of his throat, lowered his head and buried his face in He Xizhou's shoulder.
Like a wounded bird with nowhere to rest, it finally finds its home nest.
He Xizhou rubbed his hair vigorously, feeling the wet warmth on his shoulders, and hugged him tighter in his arms, his voice slightly hoarse: "I'm sorry, I couldn't get along with you at that time."
"But from now on...I will always be with you."
I will protect you forever and ever.
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