Chapter 24 The Encirclement She came to school today; there was no escape. ...
It's a new week, and Ye Yuying's injury has almost healed. Before going to school, she spent two extra minutes having an internal struggle in front of the mirror.
The female gang leader who collected protection money from her was also Ge Jie's mortal enemy outside of school. Ye Yuying didn't know her real name, only that everyone respectfully called her "Ninth Sister".
Ye Yuying didn't know if the character "nine" had any origin.
However, last week, when Sister Jiu came out of the arcade without anyone with her, she took advantage of her unpreparedness and beat her up. Sister Jiu, being a gang leader, was naturally no pushover either.
However, Ye Yuying was first ambushed, and then intimidated by her reckless attitude. The two fought until they were covered in injuries. Ye Yuying should have been unable to hold on for a long time. According to Ninth Sister's past experience, the other party should have begged for mercy long ago.
But that day was different. Ye Yuying disregarded appearance and cut her hair very short, all for the sake of a desperate fight with her.
Knowing she was alone and had run into Ye Yuying, who had been silently threatening to explode, Ninth Sister meekly admitted defeat for the first time in her life, and obediently took out her money under Ye Yuying's terrifying presence.
Ye Yuying's wrists were scratched raw, she was exhausted, her lips were trembling, and her face was expressionless, like a fighting machine. She knelt on the ground counting money, ignoring the blood on her wrists...
Afterwards, she took back all the money that had been stolen from her, coldly threw the wallet at Ninth Sister, put on her school uniform jacket, and walked away.
"Ye Yuying, I'll remember you. You'll pay the price."
She ignored the provocation behind her; every part of her body was numb.
It wasn't until she walked out of the alley that she felt her hands were a little wet. When she looked up, she realized that the blood on her arm had stained her right hand.
That day, the sunset was brighter than usual, its warmth illuminating her skin. She looked up at the red sun in the west, and for a moment, she seemed unable to distinguish between blood and the setting sun.
Only now, staring at her short, dog-chewed hair in the mirror, did she belatedly hear Ninth Sister's warning echoing in her ears.
She didn't know what offending Ninth Sister meant, but she knew that Ge Jie only dared to play dirty tricks in front of Ninth Sister and never dared to confront her directly.
After all, junior high school students who are still in school are somewhat different from real delinquents in society.
This time when she returned, she had a premonition that there might be new storms brewing.
As I was leaving, I happened to run into Cheng Mingdu making tea in the tea room.
She caught a glimpse of this scene out of the corner of her eye, suddenly stopped, stood on the corridor looking at the people in the tea room, hesitated for a long time, her school uniform already creased from being gripped so tightly.
She took several deep breaths, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
Finally, she lowered her hand, ready to give up.
Cheng Mingdu paused, his hand still holding the teacup. He seemed to notice the gaze coming from the corridor, and turned slightly to ask, "Is there something you need?"
She was stopped and turned around abruptly. After struggling with her thoughts for a while, she said slowly and embarrassedly, "Brother... um, could you ask the driver to give me a ride? But... don't let my mom know."
Cheng Mingdu put down his teacup, picked up his car keys, and said, "I'll just drive you there; I'm heading out anyway."
And so, with a heavy heart, Ye Yuying got into Cheng Mingdu's car.
She wasn't stupid; she knew what it meant for that car to be at the school gate.
If Cheng Mingdu's car and license plate number were parked in front of an ordinary middle school, and she happened to get out of it, it would confirm one thing—
Ye Yuying has a powerful backer, the kind that no one dares to mess with.
However, along the way, she felt that such thoughts were very sordid, and that they were somewhat like taking advantage of Cheng Mingdu.
When she was three blocks away from the school, the Zhiyuan List of Rongcheng No.1 High School suddenly flashed through her mind.
She turned her head to the side, then, under the guise of looking at the scenery on her left, secretly glanced at Cheng Mingdu's profile.
This face should probably always be in the spotlight. He is an absolute prodigy, a top student known far and wide. No one should ever mess with him, let alone fight him.
Although Cheng Mingdu is tall and imposing, and supposedly plays American football, but...
He has a bright future, but what if he gets injured or suffers a concussion...?
She didn't want to see any of these consequences.
She really didn't think he could beat those reckless street thugs.
Or perhaps we shouldn't let him get involved in the conflict... Cheng Mingdu's life shouldn't be tainted.
In the end, she changed her mind and asked Cheng Mingdu to drop her off when they were two blocks from the school, so she could walk there.
Cheng Mingdu asked, "What's wrong with dropping them off at the school gate?"
She looked away and said in an awkward tone, "Your car will cause me trouble."
Cheng Mingdu's gaze was somber. Without asking any further questions, he pulled the car over to the side of the road.
When Ye Yuying appeared at the classroom door with her schoolbag, the previously noisy room instantly fell silent, and everyone stared at her.
Ye Yuying was dressed no differently than usual today, except for her short hair, which was particularly eye-catching. It looked as if it had been cut with a steel knife, clinging to the side of her neck, as if it had been cut off cleanly with scissors in a fit of anger, with an unintentional sharp curve.
The classroom instantly felt like a vacuum had been drawn out, and sound could not travel in this closed and stuffy space.
Someone swallowed first, and then the members of Ge Jie's "sisterhood" exchanged glances and unanimously conveyed their feelings.
Even Ge Jie herself just stood several rows away, quietly observing her without moving.
Ye Yuying didn't even glance at anyone else. She went straight to her seat, pulled out a chair, sat down, and put her schoolbag on the table in one smooth motion.
The entire class remained deathly silent.
Someone whispered, "Why did she cut her hair... has she gone crazy?"
Someone with better connections said, "Have you heard? Last week, Ninth Sister... got beaten up by her."
"Really? She's usually so timid, how dare she mess with Ninth Sister? Besides... how could she possibly beat Ninth Sister?"
"It was probably a sneak attack combined with recklessness."
"The information is reliable. Ninth Sister has already told her boyfriend. Ninth Sister's boyfriend—I don't need to say more, in short, she's finished."
"I heard that Ninth Sister's face was swollen that day, and when she got back she went crazy and summoned everyone back... She even called out the group from 'Meilin Lane,' and they'll probably be waiting for her at the gate after school."
"Ninth Sister said she wouldn't swallow this insult and would make Ye Yuying fall back down from where she jumped out."
"I heard she said—'No matter where she hides, I'll chop her up and feed her to the dogs.'"
The murmurs grew fainter, like the wind passing through a wheat field—slightly audible, yet inexplicably unsettling.
The boy sitting next to Ye Yuying glanced at her furtively, only to be met with her gloomy gaze. Startled, he quickly lowered his head and pretended to be flipping through a book.
Everyone felt that Ye Yuying was a different person today, but Ye Yuying felt that apart from her hair being shorter, nothing had changed.
She took a deep breath, opened the book, closed her eyes, and regulated her breathing—
Why is life so hard? She didn't provoke anyone, but some people still provoke and bully her. She finally fought back once, only to find herself caught in a dangerous vortex.
She sat quietly, her hands folded on the desk, her gaze no longer wandering, but calmly weighing her options in her mind. No one knew what she would do next.
Today, Ge Jie and her group of girlfriends were unusually well-behaved, as if they were somewhat intimidated by her "deeds" last week.
But there were still gossipy people hovering around her, their faces showing worry.
"I'm telling you, Yuying, you've messed with Ninth Sister this time, you're probably not going to have a good time." The other person couldn't hide the schadenfreude on their face. "Of all people to mess with, you had to go and provoke Ninth Sister. Her boyfriend is the boss of Meilin Alley, the kind who's said to be wielding a knife... The last girl who messed with Ninth Sister has disappeared without a trace..."
At this moment, the homeroom teacher stepped into the classroom, interrupting the alarmist talk around her, and said in a cold tone: "Ye Yuying, come out with me for a moment."
The classroom tensed up instantly. Everyone held their breath, as if watching a TV series, with one episode after another, waiting for some explosive plot to unfold.
Ye Yuying stood up without any hesitation. She didn't even have time to zip up her school uniform. A cold wind slipped into her clothes, but she didn't react at all.
She followed the teacher out of the classroom with her back straight.
As soon as she left the classroom, she heard the teacher say without turning around, "I heard you've gotten into trouble with some shady characters?"
Ye Yuying did not deny it, only saying, "They used to collect protection money from me and beat me up."
The teacher paused, her voice lowering slightly: "Do you know who she is?"
"..." All I know is that she's a female thug; I don't know much else.
“You know she dropped out of school a long time ago and has been hanging out on the streets. Even the police don’t bother with her—these guys don’t care about the occasion when they beat someone up.”
“Then I’ll keep running.” Her tone was as calm as if she were stating a math problem. “If I really can’t escape, I’ll fight back.”
The teacher was stunned, turned around to look at her, and looked at her as if she were seeing this student for the first time.
The homeroom teacher wanted to say something, but in the end, he just sighed: "Ye Yuying, you need to protect yourself, but also... be smart."
Ye Yuying nodded, but felt a sense of dejection—she had thought her homeroom teacher would offer her some advice, but who knew… the other party also seemed to be wary of that group of people.
Indeed, like a mad dog that sticks to your skin, it's idle and lazy, but once it sets its sights on someone, it will relentlessly bite and chase after them, and no one dares to get involved in this mess.
She had long known that the world wasn't so fair to her, and that no one would dare to stand up for her in this situation. This was a possibility she had anticipated before she rebelled, leaving her completely isolated and helpless.
But if you ask her if she regrets doing it, she still says no.
She was not wrong; at most, she was giving him a taste of his own medicine, doing her best to turn every inch of her body into armor.
She knew that some problems couldn't be overcome simply by enduring them.
Her forbearance towards Ge Jie only resulted in her unwittingly getting caught up in new conflicts.
She simply didn't want to rely on giving in enough, like she had before.
Because she gained nothing from yielding, she was instead forced into even bigger trouble.
What's the point of surrendering then?
Ye Yuying returned to the classroom, casually opened her schoolbag again, and took out her workbooks one by one, her expression so calm it was chilling.
It was as if she wasn't the one rumored to be hunted down by a group of people.
At this moment, Ninth Sister was indeed taking action.
It is said that every afternoon she would lead a group to block the alleyway near the school, waiting for Ye Yuying to get out of school.
A few days ago, Ye Yuying took sick leave, but today she came to school, so there's no escaping her.
*
Ninth Sister was dressed even more flamboyantly than usual today, in a leather jacket and short skirt, seemingly oblivious to the biting wind. She still had bruises on her legs from last week's incident with Ye Yuying, and her eyes were still a little swollen, but this did not diminish her cold and sinister gaze in the slightest.
Dressed in a bright red leather jacket, he looked like a tough guy straight out of a street videotape. He had a cigarette dangling from his mouth, wore dark purple lipstick, and sat on an abandoned electrical box at the alley entrance, with one leg propped on a car railing. A dozen or so boys and girls who looked like thugs were gathered around him.
They spent the whole day wandering around the school. Ninth Sister sat there, as if waiting for some prey to fall into her trap. Her fingers, painted with black nail polish, tapped on the electrical box, making an eerie scraping sound that made one's teeth ache.
Someone asked her, "Ninth Sister, should we just go in and drag the person out?"
Ninth Sister's cold gaze swept over them, her tone nonchalant yet chilling: "Fool, there are surveillance cameras up ahead. Do you want to walk right into a trap? I'd like to see if she has the guts to walk out the front door today."
She slowly exhaled a puff of smoke and sneered, "If she dares to go out, don't blame me for being impolite."
*
When the school bell rang in the afternoon, as winter approached, the daylight outside the school gate gradually dimmed, and students surged out like a tide.
The students walked faster than usual, as if they knew something was about to happen. Some wanted to go home early to avoid the commotion, while others found a good spot to stand far away and quietly watch from a corner.
At the school gate, several students had already noticed the small group of menacing figures across the street.
"It's Ninth Sister..."
"They've really come, even 'Iron Hammer' has come along."
"Oh my god, is she really going to attack? Did they bring knives?"
The atmosphere was extremely oppressive; the cold air seemed to be stretched to its limit, as if it might snap at any moment.
At that moment, Ye Yuying happened to be on duty that day. She had already heard that her Ninth Sister was waiting for her at the school gate. If she left the school, she would surely die.
During her duty time, she wiped the blackboard while thinking of a solution.
It's impossible not to be scared, after all, the other side outnumbered her and her injuries hadn't healed yet, so she definitely couldn't fight them head-on. But they were right at the school gate, and there was no way she could escape.
Several kind-hearted classmates turned back from the school gate to warn her.
"Yu Ying, the people Ninth Sister brought don't look like good people. You should think of a solution first."
"If all else fails, should we call the police?"
Calling the police might save you today, but what about tomorrow or the day after? These people are unpredictable. If you call the police today, but they haven't taken any action yet, you certainly won't be punished. Instead, it might just provoke them, and they'll be lying in wait in some corner of the city.
This group of people is very experienced in dealing with these situations.
A classmate secretly handed over his hidden phone: "Why don't you call your parents and ask them to come pick you up? It must hurt a lot if they beat you up..."
Ye Yuying chuckled, and Jiang Xinxue's face instantly flashed into her mind. Her fear of that face far outweighed her fear of being beaten.
Jiang Xinxue already disliked her for being embarrassing, and if she caused trouble, she would definitely throw her to Qingcheng without saying a word. But now that her grandmother's back injury hadn't healed, another argument was bound to break out at home.
All of this was unbearable for her.
If she can run, she should; if not, she should just let them beat her up badly. That way, she can get a medical examination and call the police, and that'll be the end of it...
After thinking it over, she picked up her schoolbag and walked out. Her steps were not fast, but extremely steady, as if she had planned her pace in advance.
The students automatically made way for them, and no one dared to speak.
Her gaze swept across the crowd in front of her, finally settling on the group of people opposite the school gate.
The red leather jacket stood out in the crowd. Ninth Sister stood up, a ruthless smile curling at the corner of her mouth, like a cat seeing a mouse that had run away out of control.
But Ye Yuying did not retreat, she did not take a detour, she did not turn around, and she did not pretend not to see.
She walked straight toward the door, her gaze calm, as if she were attending a silent funeral, and she was the one being sacrificed.
Everyone held their breath, watching how this girl, who was rumored to be "chopped up and fed to the dogs," approached a pack of wolves.
She only paused for a second before stepping out of the school gate.
Sure enough, the group of people jumped off the electrical box with whatever they were carrying and approached her step by step with ill intent.
Just as Ye Yuying was about to run away, a burly man blocked her way.
All her avenues of survival were blocked.
At that moment, a familiar sports car drove onto the campus road, causing a commotion.
The crowd's attention was immediately drawn to the sudden roar of the engine.
The understated yet imposing gray-black sports car, like a wild beast, slowly drove into the driveway outside the school gate. The car body scraped against the steps at the end of the school gate, the wheels kicked up dust, and the sound of braking tore through the oppressive atmosphere that had been locked down for so long.
Ye Yuying looked up abruptly, almost thinking she was hallucinating.
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Author's Note: 50 red envelopes [Cat emoji]
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