Chapter 106 The Unlucky Guys Around the Chosen One - The Unlucky Brother is Heavy...
After parting ways with Chu Feng, Si Qi quickly racked his brains for memories of Chu Feng.
I thought my first meeting with Chu Feng would be at a top-level summit a decade or two later, when we met in a business setting.
Who would have thought that Chu Feng was from the same school as him?
The two are several grades apart, so they shouldn't have any interaction.
But after careful recollection, Si Qi actually found some clues about Chu Feng deep in his mind.
It was something I caught a glimpse of, the kind I saw casually while browsing the campus forum.
The post was titled: "School bullying, a black sheep, Chu Feng from Class 3, Grade 8, get out of Lingyang Academy!!"
Si Qi looked completely bewildered.
School bullying? Who? Chu Feng?
He and Chu Feng had spent so many worlds together, and he had never heard anyone associate school violence with Chu Feng.
This matter is a bit strange, but unfortunately the original owner never cared about gossip or rumors, and similar negative events would never reach the original owner's attention, so the original owner didn't know much about it.
But there are things he doesn't know, his brother should know.
After school, Si Qi leaned close to Si Ping and whispered, "Brother, do you still remember Chu Feng?"
Because of Si Qi, Si Ping kept thinking about the relationship between Si Qi and Chu Feng after class, and how they met in their past life.
As he thought about it, he remembered that after he transferred to this school, he also experienced bullying from the rich kids in his class, and then he heard about Chu Feng's name from other people.
He said to Si Qi with a stern face, "I remember."
Si Ping tried to act like the older brother and put on a dignified show, but when he saw his younger brother's obedient appearance, he couldn't harden his heart. So he had to soften his voice and reason with his younger brother.
“Since he’s someone you know, I believe he’s not the bad person the outside world says he is,” Si Ping said. “In that case, we should stop him even more.”
"Stop it?" Si Qi asked. "You mean school violence?"
"You know?" Si Ping remembered that the incident happened in the second semester, when he had just transferred to the school. Logically speaking, Si Qi was only a few years old at the time, so how could he remember this incident so clearly?
His brother's memory is indeed excellent.
“That’s it,” Si Ping kept trying to recall, but he could only remember a few scattered details and couldn’t remember the rest: “It’s said that he got into a fight with some thugs off-campus and was taken to the police station. Then he pushed a classmate down the stairs, causing the classmate to break a bone. Because of this, his classmates couldn’t stand him staying in the class, and netizens who heard the news off-campus also criticized the school for its poor management. The matter got a bit out of hand, and Chu Feng eventually transferred schools.”
“He wouldn’t do such a thing,” Si Qi said confidently.
I guessed so.
Although in his previous life, Si Ping deeply resented Chu Feng, who was said to frequently commit school violence and even pushed a classmate off a building, because of his own experiences, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he learned that Chu Feng had been expelled from school.
But after hearing that Chu Feng was someone Si Qi still acknowledged after a lifetime, Si Ping felt that there might be other hidden stories about the past life. How could his younger brother be friends with bad people?
He was so self-righteous in loving everything about the house that he felt his judgment was correct.
Seeing Si Qi's insistence on Chu Feng's innocence, Si Ping felt relieved and said to Si Qi, "What should we do next? We can't just stand by and watch him get expelled like he did in our previous life."
"Brother, can you keep an eye on things for me?" Si Qi said. "My class is a bit far from yours, so if anything happens, you can notice it before I do."
“No problem,” Si Ping agreed without hesitation, then added, “By the way, is he your friend? Or a business partner?”
"He's my boyfriend."
"It's you—cough cough cough cough!!"
Si Ping took a deep breath, almost choking on his own saliva. He coughed several times, his face turning bright red, but his gaze remained fixed on Si Qi. His fingers trembled as he pointed at him, struggling to say, "Wh-what did you say?!"
Si Qi stepped forward and gently patted Si Ping on the back.
"Brother, take it easy, what's the big deal?"
Si Ping's voice nearly cracked: "What do you mean, 'What's so special about this?!'"
His brother was kidnapped by a scumbag without his knowledge!
"That guy is so much older than you!! I don't agree!!" Si Ping said indignantly.
“It’s only a few years apart, and actually I’m sixty or seventy years older than him,” Si Qi comforted, “I’m the one who’s an old cow eating young grass.”
"Nonsense! How old are you!" Si Ping glared. "I don't care, that guy is no good, he, he, he hit someone!"
“That’s all a misunderstanding,” Si Qi said, shrugging his shoulders. “Besides, he wouldn’t hit me.”
Si Ping grumbled unhappily, feeling as if he had inadvertently helped the enemy camp and spoken well of them. Now he regretted it, he was extremely regretful!
Sometimes even the younger brother's judgment isn't always accurate!
Loving someone because of them is a bad habit!
Si Qi: "Same-sex marriage will be legal and compliant in the future, it's nothing unusual, you'll know when you grow up."
"Grow up? What do you mean, grow up!" Si Ping's face turned purple from Si Qi's condescending words, but since his younger brother had lived longer than him, he had no reliable way to refute him.
“What’s so good about him?” Si Ping tried hard to recall his first impression of Chu Feng when he saw him during the day. His gloomy and indifferent expression made him seem like a bad match.
His younger brother hasn't even grown up yet, and he's already dating, getting married, and who knows, he might even end up in the same grave as someone else.
Waaah, his poor little brother.
Si Qi could tell that Si Ping's anger was purely a result of impotent rage and that he didn't actually hate Chu Feng that much. He shrugged and let his older brother vent his emotions. Once Si Ping calmed down, he said, "Anyway, I've decided on him. You can't take away the person I've loved all my life. He took care of me for decades in place of my family. I can't let him down."
Si Qi's words came out off the cuff, since they were all things Chu Feng had done in his "past life," and he wasn't lying.
Si Ping knew this in his heart, but he still pursed his lips and kept breathing through his nose, trying to express his last resistance through silence.
Si Qi: "Alright, it's settled then. Brother, you need to protect your other younger brother while you're at school."
Si Ping recalled the news about pushing someone down the stairs that led to school violence, and his brows furrowed: "But I don't remember the exact time it happened..."
Even if he wanted to protect him, and stayed close behind Chu Feng as soon as class ended to keep an eye on him, he couldn't possibly miss him every single moment. After all, they were in different classes with different courses. He couldn't possibly skip PE class or go to the art studio to follow him, and what if something happened after school?
"Instead of stopping Chu Feng from pushing people, we should investigate who he pushed and why he pushed them."
Speaking of violent incidents on campus, Si Ping inevitably recalled his past life, when Si Qi had a conflict with someone, hit a classmate, and then his parents were called to the school by the teacher.
He unconsciously softened his expression and said to Si Qi, "It's like before, when you had a conflict with your classmate. I know it definitely wasn't your fault, otherwise that classmate wouldn't have taken the initiative to make up with you before your parents went to school. But if I want to stop you from hitting someone, it's not about me being there before you start hitting someone, but about figuring out why you hit someone and persuading you not to act impulsively, right?"
Si Qi calmed down.
Si Ping continued, "In your past life, your parents and you never told me why you were angry. Now that it's all in the past, can you tell your brother?"
Otherwise, he didn't know if Si Qi would repeat the same mistake in this life and have another conflict with that classmate.
He didn't want Si Qi to encounter anything that would make him so angry that he might even hit someone.
Si Qi thought for a moment, then shook his head, not wanting to talk.
Si Ping sighed: "My parents don't have memories of their past lives, so they can't tell me the answer. If you don't tell me, I'll keep this on my mind and won't be able to let it go."
He carefully observed Si Qi's expression, trying to guess why Si Qi was so unwilling to tell him. After much speculation, a sudden thought flashed through his mind: "Is it because of me?"
Si Qi: "…………"
“As expected,” Si Ping breathed a sigh of relief, “If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have deliberately hidden things from me.”
His brother has always been open and honest, speaking his mind without hiding anything.
His brother would only remain silent if he didn't want him to know or thought it was better not to say anything.
For example, once his brother discovered that an exchange student from another school ate very simple meals every day, with no meat in the dishes. So he secretly found out the student's class, name, and meal card number, and quietly deposited several hundred yuan into the student's card.
The person didn't know who gave the money, so they specifically asked the teacher in charge of topping up the account. They eventually found his brother, but his brother also denied it, saying he knew nothing about it.
Therefore, based on his brother's habits, Si Ping guessed that his brother probably hit someone because of him. That's why his parents, like his brother, didn't tell him anything afterward.
Si Ping pressed him repeatedly until he finally threatened, "If you don't tell me, what if I encounter those things again that make you so angry you want to hit someone?"
Si Qi's expression softened, and after a long silence with his head down, he said softly, "Do you remember when someone splashed ink on your painting?"
Si Ping froze. Deep in his mind, that memory he had been trying to hide, yet which he would inadvertently recall every time, and which would always sting his heart, surged forth with his thoughts.
He forced a smile: "That was so long ago, I don't even remember... So that's why you hit someone?"
Si Qi nodded: "Mm..."
Si Ping stared at his younger brother's head-down posture, bent down to look at Si Qi's expression, and couldn't help but hug his brother and pat him on the back: "Okay, it's not like you did it."
What does this have to do with Si Qi? It's not like Si Qi wanted his painting destroyed and replaced with his own.
Moreover, upon learning that Si Qi had actually hit the classmate who splashed ink on his artwork in a fit of anger because of this incident, all his anger vanished, and he even felt like laughing: "You actually hit people... Haha, I really am..."
Si Qi lowered his head, the guilt from the original owner making his nose sting and feel like crying: "Brother, I'm sorry."
Si Ping shook his head: "Hey, never mind, your classmate is just a kid."
A primary school student, upon discovering that his favorite friend was saddened by the fact that his work did not win an award, impulsively destroyed the winning piece—while unacceptable, it is not entirely incomprehensible.
Moreover, his brother wasn't happy about it at all; instead, he got so angry that he started a fight with someone. After learning how much his brother had defended him, his previous sadness disappeared, replaced by the warmth of being cared for by his brother.
He didn't know at the time that his parents and brother knew about it. He just licked his wounds in silence, feeling sad about why his brother was so popular while he was just an unpopular cannon fodder. Now it seems that he should have said something back then. If he had, he wouldn't have felt sad until now, and his brother would have healed him much earlier.
Si Ping couldn't help but laugh: "I used to really love getting stuck on things."
Instead of worrying about why you are not loved, worry about why you don't love yourself enough. When your painting is destroyed, you should stand up like your brother and ask who did it, and speak up to protect yourself.
He asked the question, and with his current adult perspective on the events, he believes he would see his teacher or other classmates standing up for him. He would know that his brother was even angrier than he, the victim, when he saw his painting destroyed.
He wouldn't have been silently saddened for so many years because of a painting.
After his rebirth, the change in his parents' attitude and the welcome he received from his classmates all showed that as long as he was not timid or cowardly and performed well enough, people would naturally like him.
What was that saying?
If you blossom, butterflies will come.
Si Ping laughed and said, "Alright, from now on, I will protect myself and won't let you fight with anyone because of me again."
Si Qi muttered, "He deserves to be beaten for doing something like this."
A painting that could win an award requires so much effort from Si Ping, from start to finish. If he hadn't been truly heartbroken, Si Ping wouldn't have written it down in his notebook and couldn't forget it for so many years.
Moreover, that person thought that if the winner's painting was destroyed and replaced with Si Qi's painting, Si Qi would be happy—who was being humiliated?
Even if the other party quickly realizes their mistake and apologizes to Si Qi and his parents, saying that they shouldn't have done that and hurt the two brothers, Si Qi and Si Ping, Si Qi still cannot forgive them.
“I didn’t know you knew about the painting being destroyed, so I kept it from you,” Si Qi said regretfully. “We thought you wouldn’t be upset if you didn’t know, so we never told you…”
“I see,” Si Ping smiled slightly, “So his parents were protecting him back then too. Thank you, Xiao Qi. I’m very happy.”
Si Qi had his head rubbed and said embarrassedly, "It was my fault for causing this trouble..."
"What's it to you?" Si Ping glanced at Si Qi. "Don't try to take everything on yourself."
Several times, his parents treated Si Qi better and ignored him, and his younger brother would come over and apologize indirectly, trying to make amends. But what did it have to do with his brother? His brother was the kindest person to him in the family; it was his parents who did those things!
Si Ping didn't like seeing Si Qi blame himself for this, so he changed the subject, saying, "Knowing the reason will put your mind at ease that you won't hit anyone again this time. Similarly, by investigating why Chu Feng got angry, we can prevent Chu Feng from being expelled from school for hitting someone in our past life."
Si Qi continued, following Si Ping's lead, without dwelling on the previous topic: "Okay, I'll investigate this matter. Brother, you just need to keep an eye on Chu Feng."
Si Ping was still uneasy: "How do you plan to investigate?"
Even though he knew in his heart that his brother had lived for a long time and had far more experience than him, and had plenty of ways to do whatever he wanted, he couldn't help but feel that his brother was still very young and needed his care and help.
"You and Chu Feng, didn't you... you know? Didn't he tell you?" Si Ping asked sourly, "Is he deliberately hiding his bad side and only telling you the good stuff?"
For example, his younger brother didn't even know that he was expelled from school as a teenager for fighting. Humph... Men are all the same.
Si Qi: "He never talks about his childhood. When we first met, he was even more gloomy than he is now."
In the original owner's memories, Chu Feng was a cold and ruthless businessman. His personality was the complete opposite of the original owner's, so the two were not very close. Naturally, the original owner did not know about Chu Feng's past experiences.
Si Ping: "Then why are you still with him—"
“He fell in love with me at first sight and pursued me relentlessly. You can imagine the feeling of an iceberg melting only in front of you. He treats me completely differently from others.” Si Qi said with a smile, “You’ll see later.”
Si Ping: "..." I don't really want to know.
But since Si Qi said so, Si Ping had no choice but to leave the matter to Si Qi to handle, and at the same time suggested in a wild idea: "We can find a private investigator or something."
Si Qi: "I don't need a detective, I can investigate myself."
“Hmm…that makes sense, you have a lot of connections at school.” Si Ping suddenly understood.
"I suppose so," Si Qi smiled wryly, if an omniscient and omnipotent world consciousness could be considered a network of connections.
...
In the description of world consciousness, Chu Feng's situation is not particularly complicated.
Like the original owner's parents, Chu Feng's parents also started from scratch and built a successful business in a big city, opening a profitable company.
However, unlike the original owner's parents, who had a tacit understanding and were not only husband and wife but also comrades-in-arms, Chu Feng's mother retired to become a housewife after the family's conditions improved. She handed over the company to her husband and focused on managing the family affairs and taking care of the children.
The couple spent less time together, and Chu's father was always busy with business and social engagements, where he would often encounter beautiful young women or beauties brought by business partners.
With his wife absent and surrounded by people eager for him to take advantage of them, the cost of infidelity was so low, and the temptation was right in front of him and within easy reach. Chu's father quickly lowered his standards and began engaging in promiscuous affairs. And as the frequency increased, he became increasingly blatant in his actions.
Chu's mother noticed something was wrong with her husband and felt betrayed, causing a huge scene at home. But Chu's father felt it was nothing; his wife was old and faded, they no longer had anything in common, and she couldn't offer him any help in his career. So what if he didn't like her?
It's because his wife wasn't good enough to keep him, while he was rich and capable, so it's normal for other women to like him.
Therefore, he felt no guilt whatsoever for his wife's tears and complaints. Instead, he mocked her for being useless and berated her for being ugly.
As for getting a divorce, he was unwilling. The company was something he and his wife started together, and after the divorce, half of the assets would go to his wife. Why should he give so much money to his wife, who just lies at home eating and sleeping all day?
And after the divorce, he didn't plan to remarry. He just wanted to sleep with women, not to take things further and start a new family. Keeping his wife around would occasionally help him deal with those women he was no longer interested in but who always wanted to stick around. That was quite nice.
As for his wife's tendency to throw tantrums at home, she can't beat him; at most, they just argue. If the argument really gets to his breaking point, he can just slam the door and leave, so it's not a problem at all.
It's their son, Chu Feng, who has suffered terribly at the hands of his mother. He's grown up watching his parents argue all the time, and when his mother can't control her husband, she takes it out on him, saying it's all his fault for being useless that his father doesn't like the family. She yells and curses at the child, venting her emotions in every way.
When Chu Feng was a child, he was a very cheerful boy. Even though his family was poor and his parents were often busy with work and not at home, he was still very happy.
Later, as his family became wealthier, his parents' relationship deteriorated, and his life became increasingly worse.
His mother always made a scene in front of him, smashing things and getting into fights when she lost control of her emotions. His father, on the other hand, said that his mother was crazy and mentally ill, and he would rudely insult her in front of him with very foul language.
As time went on, it became difficult for Chu Feng to smile anymore, and when he occasionally saw his cheating father, he couldn't help but show a look of hatred and disgust in his eyes.
His father, of course, wouldn't like Chu Feng's rejection of him. He felt that his son was just like his mother, thinking he had the moral high ground and therefore targeting him. He often cursed Chu Feng along with his wife, and if things went too far, he would use economic sanctions and other means to make life difficult for the mother and son.
Chu Feng's mother is an adult and can always get by no matter what, but Chu Feng, who was deliberately abused by her mother, is unable to take care of herself at the age of seven or eight.
Either their clothes are always a mess, or their hair is too long to need a trim. Chu Feng's parents never participate in school activities that require parental involvement.
As time went on, the group of spoiled rich kids in his class, who had been pampered since childhood, naturally set their sights on him and started bullying him.
Chu Feng had been beaten by his mother so many times at home that he could hardly bear it anymore. How could he possibly be beaten by his peers at school? Naturally, he would fight back.
But after he fought back, the incident escalated to the teacher's office. The teacher notified both sets of parents, and the parents of the other child rushed to the school to defend their son, insisting that their child had done nothing wrong. However, upon arriving at the school, Chu Feng's mother immediately attacked him in front of everyone, hysterically yelling and screaming without asking any questions. It was clear that she was used to going berserk and resorting to hysterical punches and kicks, leaving the other family stunned. The teachers quickly intervened to stop her.
The news spread throughout the class within a few days. The classmates who already liked to bully Chu Feng became even more enthusiastic about it. Moreover, while bullying him, they always liked to bring up Chu Feng's mother, saying that it was particularly funny to see Chu Feng being beaten.
As for Chu Feng's hitting and resisting, and the fact that he would cause a commotion every now and then, after it happened many times, it became evidence that Chu Feng was a "troublemaker".
No one considered that Chu Feng had never actually caused trouble and was a victim of school bullying. They just thought that Chu Feng always liked to fight and made a mess of the class, whether in class or after class, which made him very annoying.
Nobody wanted to be friends with Chu Feng, who had a gloomy face and an unpleasant personality, and Chu Feng was ostracized by the whole class for several years.
Even when Chu Feng's mother and father got into a fight at home, and her mother died in the hospital shortly after being seriously injured, no one around her came to comfort Chu Feng, who had been out of school for half a month. Instead, the bullies came over with smiles and ridiculed her, saying, "Aren't you happy that no one is beating you at home anymore?" and "Don't be afraid, your dad has found you dozens of mistresses outside, and there are plenty of people who want to be your stepmother."
Leaving aside the fact that the two fought again, Chu Feng became increasingly gloomy after that, feeling suffocated both at school and at home.
It was at this time that a transfer student named Li Bing came to his class.
Li Bing's mother was a caregiver, specifically responsible for looking after Chu's father, who had contracted an incurable infectious disease due to his promiscuity outside. Like the housekeeper and servants, she lived full-time in the dormitory next to the Chu family villa.
Li Bing lives with his caregiver mother. Because he is close in age to Chu Feng, he has some impression of Chu Feng.
After transferring to Chu Feng's class, Li Bing noticed that Chu Feng was being ostracized. He stepped forward to stop the bullying. He sought help from the teacher, explained Chu Feng's innocence to the other students, and constantly stood up for Chu Feng. He even comforted Chu Feng, telling her not to be sad.
In all his years, Chu Feng had never been treated so kindly. He was incredibly grateful to Li Bing for his constant comforting words and quickly came to regard him as his best friend.
After learning about Chu Feng's situation, Li Bing's mother treated him with exceptional gentleness, just like her son. She always cared about Chu Feng's daily life, made his favorite snacks, and meticulously prepared birthday celebrations for him.
That period was truly the happiest time Chu Feng had experienced in all these years.
It seems he has finally found a family willing to care about him, and friends who always think of him and protect him.
Even though Chu's father later had ulterior motives and started flirting with Li Bing's mother, making advances towards her and giving her all sorts of expensive gifts, Chu Feng didn't think that Li Bing's mother was taking advantage of her job as a caregiver to seduce her employer. Instead, he thought that Chu's father had relapsed into his old habits and was eyeing such a good Li Bing's mother.
He treated Li's mother as his second mother and Li Bing as his best brother. Even when he opposed Chu's father getting close to Li's mother, it wasn't because he objected to a mistress becoming his stepmother, but because he was afraid that Li's mother would suffer.
As for Chu's father, now that he was bedridden and unable to go out and flirt, he showed extra kindness to the woman who took such good care of him every day. He found her gentle and considerate quite appealing, treating her like his own woman and subtly giving her the status of the mistress of the house. He also felt particularly fond of Li Bing, who often sweet-talked him and tried to make him happy, finding such a child more like a child. He found Chu Feng's behavior—treating him like an enemy—utterly annoying and didn't bother with him at all.
Then a strange thing happened: the two families surnamed Chu couldn't stand each other at home, while the Li family mother and son, who had no blood relation to the Chu family, were deeply loved by the father and son and held a high position in the family.
The servants treated Li and her son as if they were the masters of the house. They provided them with the same food, clothing and daily necessities as Chu and his son. Li's mother even slept in Chu's father's room under the guise of being a caregiver.
Everything happened so subtly and naturally.
The servants didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and Chu Feng, who was caught up in the situation and had been cared for by Li's mother and Li Bing for years, didn't realize anything was amiss either.
As Chu Feng grew older, he graduated from elementary school and entered junior high school.
New school district, new class, new teacher.
Having left his former classmates, Chu Feng had the opportunity to make new friends.
Because of his outstanding appearance, good grades, and strong athletic ability, girls who love beauty and mature early try to get close to Chu Feng; when teachers appoint class officers based on grades, they also choose Chu Feng; boys see that Chu Feng is particularly good at basketball, horseback riding, and swimming, and they often ask Chu Feng to play with them.
Chu Feng finally had a chance to change his past life.
But his best friend, Li Bing, would always inadvertently interrupt his interactions with his classmates, preventing Chu Feng from showcasing his talents and hindering him from expanding his social circle and making new friends.
He always kept track of Chu Feng's every move, and at just the right time, he would make Chu Feng, who had planned to go out with his friends, suddenly have some other urgent business.
After failing to get people to come to him several times, his friends naturally stopped contacting him.
And before long, the events that happened in elementary school unknowingly spread to his junior high class. Many people thus learned that Chu Feng, who appeared to be a respectable person on the outside, was actually a violent maniac who liked to fight and cause trouble, inheriting his parents' ability to frequently brawl at home.
"His father stabbed his mother to death with a knife right in front of him!"
Upon hearing this, Chu Feng stood outside the classroom, staring blankly at his friend who had been chatting and laughing with him not long ago, gossiping about him to a group of classmates.
The students showed no surprise whatsoever, as if they already knew, and whispered among themselves, "No wonder he always got into fights before, it turns out it was his family environment that influenced him."
"I really can't tell, she looks so—"
Halfway through their conversation, everyone stared in astonishment at Chu Feng, who walked in from outside the classroom with a dark expression.
In front of everyone, Chu Feng picked up that "friend," threw him hard to the ground, and punched him: "Does it make you happy to laugh at how my mother died?!"
Chu Feng would remember the slight upturn of the other person's lips and the gossipy expression as if they were discussing something interesting for the rest of his life.
Of course, they couldn't remain friends. The classmates felt embarrassed to be caught gossiping by the person in question. Although they wouldn't ask Chu Feng about it on the surface, they changed their previous impression of Chu Feng as a "handsome school heartthrob and aloof academic genius" and their attitude suddenly became distant.
Upon hearing the news, Li Bing rushed over to comfort Chu Feng, while also scolding him for his lack of self-control, saying, "You finally made it to junior high and could make friends, how could you hit someone again?"
“I know they’re being rude, but aren’t all people like that? You can’t expect them to be as patient as I am, to look beyond your outward appearance and understand you as a person, can you?”
"Then I'll just not be friends with them. A bunch of scum who gossip about my private affairs behind my back, what's there to be close to?" Chu Feng said coldly, "They don't deserve it!"
Li Bing looked helpless. No matter how much he tried to persuade Chu Feng, Chu Feng wouldn't budge. When he tried to persuade his classmates to get along with Chu Feng, all he got was, "Hey, they don't want to be your friends. They think you're violent and have a terrible personality."
Chu Feng's heart sank. He was inevitably stung by Li Bing's words, but he said dismissively, "Whatever. I was too lazy to bother with them anyway."
So Li Bing turned around and privately relayed Chu Feng's words to the class, sighing, "There's nothing I can do. I advised Chu Feng to get along with you guys, but Chu Feng said he couldn't be bothered with you. I really have no idea what to do."
Hearing Li Bing's words, the classmates' impression of Chu Feng worsened. Naturally, they wouldn't bother trying to get close to Chu Feng, who was both aggressive and difficult to get along with; it would only be pointless.
Those girls who originally liked Chu Feng were scared away, and those who almost became friends with Chu Feng became friends with Li Bing, who had a better and more lively personality.
Even if the initial point of contact between the two sides was Chu Feng, and Li Bing got to know them through Chu Feng, these people would only say in retrospect: "At first I thought Chu Feng was a pretty good person, but now it seems that you are better. I really misjudged you back then."
"Yes, someone like Chu Feng is lucky to have a friend like you who cares about him so much."
"Only you can put up with him, right?"
Everyone thought it was Chu Feng's good fortune to be friends with Li Bing. Chu Feng also felt that she lived like a ghost both at school and at home, and it was nice to have someone like Li Bing by her side.
So, the first year of junior high ended, the second year began, and the school reassigned students to classes based on their grades.
Following Li Bing's advice, "What will you do if I'm not watching over you?", Chu Feng controlled his grades and his scores became similar to Li Bing's, so they were assigned to the same class.
What happened in the first year of junior high school inevitably happened again in the second year.
Even though it was only halfway through the first semester of the second year of junior high school, some classmates had already heard rumors about him and gradually distanced themselves from him.
The students sitting in front of and behind him, who used to have a good relationship with him, started speaking in a sarcastic and unpleasant tone.
Chu Feng sensed this atmosphere and was naturally saddened, but he did not believe he was at fault.
He had a conflict with someone because he was bullied and his family background was ridiculed in public. He had no reason to admit his mistake or think that he was in the wrong.
He tried to salvage the public opinion situation, but with little success. Several times, after hearing his explanations, those people softened their attitude towards him, only to turn around and pretend not to know him again. What could he do?
Once, twice, three times, four times, and each time it ended in failure. Chu Feng wasn't some self-illuminating little sun, always full of energy; he simply couldn't muster the motivation to change anything, and even began to resign himself to his fate.
If it weren't for the fact that during the summer vacation after the second year of junior high school, Chu's father was critically ill and about to die, and Li's mother suddenly tried to probe Chu Feng's intentions by secretly trying to get Chu Feng's father to transfer the family inheritance to her and her child, and even told Chu Feng's father that Chu Feng was always up to no good and getting into fights outside, which Chu Feng overheard, he would have remained completely unaware of what the mother and son were doing.
Back then, when he got into a fight outside, Li's mother clearly knew that he was the one being targeted. The police determined that the group of thugs wanted to extort money from him because they thought he had money, which is why he was at the police station. But Li's mother told her father that he had started the trouble and was arrested by the police.
This was completely contrary to Chu Feng's impression of Li's mother over the years, and he immediately sensed that something was wrong.
As a result, he became estranged from Li's mother and son, and even began to doubt Li Bing, Li's mother's biological son.
Li Bing had been scheming against Chu Feng for years and paid close attention to Chu Feng's affairs. He quickly noticed Chu Feng's rejection of him and his mother, and immediately broke off relations with Chu Feng. In a secluded corner of the stairs, he mocked Chu Feng's stupidity, saying that he was worthless and deserved to be beaten all these years. He proudly boasted about how he had manipulated Chu Feng and sowed discord between those around him and Chu Feng, causing Chu Feng to gradually fall into this predicament.
Betrayed by the person he trusted most, and learning that all his misfortunes were orchestrated by that person, Chu Feng was driven mad with rage. He couldn't help but shout and curse, and even tried to drag Li Bing to the front of everyone to confront him, asking who had been behind all these years, spreading rumors about him everywhere.
But after being pulled by him, Li Bing noticed that the people around him were paying attention to them, so he went all out and fell backward as Chu Feng approached, tumbling down the stairs.
When the people around saw this, they screamed and ran over, crowding around and taking the fractured Li Bing to the hospital. They then told the teachers who arrived that Chu Feng had physically assaulted and verbally abused Li Bing, and even pushed him downstairs.
Chu Feng was speechless and emotionally charged, trying to explain, but no one listened.
At the same time, Li's mother cooperated with Li Bing's actions, hiring online trolls to hype up and expose the matter.
The eyewitness accounts of classmates, the school's evaluation of Chu Feng, and the vicious insults hurled at Chu Feng by his father in support of the Li family all became irrefutable evidence for reporters to extensively report on the "arrogant and domineering bullying of classmates by the rich second generation."
Chu Feng was therefore expelled from the school.
This is the whole story of the "school violence" incident in my past life.
After listening to the world consciousness's retelling, Si Qi sighed and turned to his brother Si Ping to give a general explanation of Chu Feng's situation.
Si Ping clenched his fists upon hearing this, repeatedly saying, "How could such a thing happen?" He felt extremely distressed for Chu Feng.
Si Qi took out his phone, found Chu Feng's contact information that he had added during the day, sent a cute cat emoji, and asked: [Brother~ Are you busy? (Cat winking sweetly.jpg)]
About a minute later, Chu Feng replied: [Not busy, what's up?]
Si Qi: [Brother, I can't solve this problem, can you help me? [Pity][Pity]]
This time, Chu Feng replied faster than before, concisely stating: 【The question has been sent.】
Si Qi: [Okay! (Cat spinning in circles.jpg)]
With the homework as an excuse, Si Qi easily started a chat with Chu Feng, and then, using the excuse that it was inconvenient to explain the problem by text, the two started a video call.
The child's innocent and well-behaved face instantly brought back the feeling of closeness that had arisen when they met during the day. He couldn't be wary of Si Qi at all, and he didn't mind Si Qi using very simple elementary school questions to waste his time, explaining things to Si Qi in detail, step by step.
He had excellent grades, but with no friends to play with and nothing else to do at home, he spent most of his time studying.
Si Qi's willingness to talk to him about his studies was a relief, because he didn't know what else to say.
He taught Si Qi very diligently, going beyond the rigid content of the textbook and using the most accessible language to make it easier for Si Qi to understand. It was clear that he had put a lot of effort into teaching.
Si Ping listened quietly beside Si Qi and quickly discerned the hidden intentions behind Chu Feng's cold expression and words, realizing that he was not at all as fierce and menacing as the rumors suggested.
They were truly wronged.
The more Si Ping recalled Si Qi's description of Chu Feng's tragic childhood, the more he felt sorry for the child. He absolutely could not let him fall into the same situation as in his previous life. Even if he didn't care that she was his future sister-in-law, as a person with a conscience, he could not sit idly by.
"Brother, can I still come to your class to play with you in the future?" Si Qi blinked and asked cutely.
Chu Feng was completely unable to resist Si Qi's "attack," and spoke faster than her mind could process: "Okay."
“Great,” Si Qi turned the camera slightly to Si Ping, “This is my brother, Si Ping, who is studying in the advanced class.”
"Hi," Si Ping subconsciously raised his hand to greet Chu Feng, "Hello, I'm Si Ping."
Chu Feng's mind, which had been clouded by Si Qi's charm, finally came back to normal. He said, "Your brother is in the top class, why are you asking me questions?"
After saying that, he realized there was an ambiguity in his words and awkwardly explained, "I didn't mean to look down on you."
"Because my brother's teaching isn't as good as yours," Si Qi said in a serious tone, "You speak so gently and meticulously, I like it so much."
Chu Feng was speechless for a long time, his lips pursed. He finally managed a soft "hmm" after a long while, clearly caught off guard by Si Qi's direct attack.
Si Ping watched from the side, thinking to himself that his younger brother was indeed a seasoned veteran, not ashamed at all when he said such cheesy things. But puppy love was absolutely not allowed, so he had to keep an eye on things from the side. He leaned over and said, "Your lectures are really good. I'll come and ask you for advice next time."
Chu Feng said "Oh," and then replied, "Okay."
Her attitude was noticeably less friendly than when she was facing Si Qi.
Si Ping: "..." So what is this, a telepathic connection between future husband and wife? We're meeting for the first time, there's no need to treat each other so obviously differently.
However, considering that people around him were often more enthusiastic towards Si Qi than towards others, Si Ping felt that he was probably overthinking it; his brother was naturally easy to like.
The second young master of the Li family and the young lady of the Wang family, no matter how willful and capricious they are outside, will instantly transform into adorable sweethearts in front of Si Qi, faster than the face-changing act in a traditional opera.
"Oh, right, brother."
Just then, Si Qi spoke, and Chu Feng and Si Ping subconsciously responded, "Hmm?" "What?"
Si Qi: "..."
Chu Feng: "".
Si Ping: "Xiao Qi is calling me, right?" Putting everything else aside, he is Si Qi's only brother!
“Next time I’ll call you Brother Feng,” Si Qi said to Chu Feng on the other side of the screen. “Brother Feng, someone said you got into a fight and ended up in the police station. Is that true?”
Chu Feng immediately frowned: "How did you know about this?"
This happened off-campus, and no one on the street saw it, so people on campus should not have known about it.
"Someone spread the rumor."
According to the timeline described by the world consciousness, this matter will likely escalate within the school in a while, greatly increasing the likelihood that Chu Feng will be attacked and annihilated by everyone for committing "school violence" in the future.
“I don’t think you’re the kind of person who would do bad things, Feng. There must be more to this than meets the eye.”
Chu Feng was filled with mixed emotions. He didn't know how Si Qi knew about this, but he was also touched that Si Qi was willing to stand by him and believe in him immediately. This was an extremely rare experience in his life, and he cherished it very much.
“Some thugs were trying to extort money from me and even hit me. I fought back and called the police. The police took me and those thugs to the station to give statements,” he explained succinctly.
Because of this unexpected incident, Chu Feng unfortunately missed an important family banquet. Even though he went to apologize afterwards, the missed opportunity was still missed, and he didn't get to speak to many people he was supposed to meet at the banquet.
Chu Feng already felt unlucky to have encountered such a thing, but now the news has spread to the school. He guessed that it wouldn't be long before a bunch of messy rumors would circulate in private, which inevitably made him feel annoyed and irritable.
"So that's how it is! I knew it." Si Qi said, "Then next time I hear such rumors, I'll just explain it back to you, Brother Feng! By the way, Brother Feng, you just said that no one knows about this, so why did I hear about it?"
Chu Feng was taken aback, and said dejectedly, "Maybe someone saw us, or maybe one of the students' parents works in a related institution."
Chu Feng had experienced too many cases of people distorting the truth and slandering him without even asking the facts; he was numb to it all.
Si Qi: "Do the people around you know about this, Brother Feng? There's a high chance that this kind of thing will spread from acquaintances."
Chu Feng subconsciously pictured Li Bing and his mother, but quickly dismissed the possibility, shaking his head: "It shouldn't be them."
After all, these are the only two people in the world who are willing to be kind to him.
Si Qi didn't press the matter, and said with a smile, "Alright then, I'll help you clarify things later, Brother Feng!"
Chu Feng pursed his lips, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, and said sincerely, "I'm already very happy that you're willing to believe me."
The label of "violent maniac" has been stuck to his forehead for so many years, and he's about to resign himself to it.
But these two people he had just met stood firmly by his side, wholeheartedly wanting to help him, which comforted him greatly.
His expression changed too obviously, and his tone was too serious. Si Ping, who was sensitive and easily empathetic, was the first to find it unbearable.
Chu Feng is really pitiful; he can't bear to hold any more grudges against Chu Feng (who kidnapped his younger brother in his previous life).
So the next morning, during the long break, Si Ping specially accompanied Si Qi to Chu Feng's class.
Their timing wasn't ideal; Chu Feng wasn't in the classroom. But there happened to be someone next to him, so Si Ping went over and asked, "Excuse me, where did Chu Feng go?"
For some reason, the man's expression was rather unpleasant. Upon hearing the name Chu Feng, his expression darkened further, and he said viciously, "I don't care where he's dead!"
His tone was filled with gritted teeth, as if Chu Feng had done something to wrong him.
Si Qi glanced at Li Bing, who was standing innocently to the side, then turned to the angry male classmate and asked, "Why are you angry? Did something happen?"
Seeing that the Si brothers probably knew Chu Feng, the man didn't hold back and started listing all the bad things Chu Feng had done, saying angrily, "That guy Chu Feng threw the gift I gave him in the trash!"
Si Qi didn't show any surprise. Instead, he asked seriously, "Did you see it with your own eyes?"
"I didn't see it!" the student pointed to Li Bing standing next to him. "But he saw it and told me!"
Li Bing looked helpless and explained gently, "Maybe it's a misunderstanding. I just saw something in the trash can that looked familiar, like I'd seen it somewhere before, so I asked you. Who knew you'd given it to Xiao Feng... Sigh, I shouldn't have asked."
The student was clearly even angrier, shouting furiously, "What can't I ask! Luckily you told me, otherwise I wouldn't have known that Chu Feng was such a scoundrel!"
Si Qi blinked and said in a clear voice, "We can't jump to conclusions so quickly, can we? You mean this thing, right? I'll put it back in Feng-ge's drawer and ask him if it's yours later, and see how he reacts."
"What's there to ask?" This classmate was obviously short-tempered and couldn't bring himself to confront Chu Feng about whether he looked down on him or whether he had lost the gift Chu Feng had given him. That was just too pointless.
But the next second, Chu Feng walked in from outside the classroom. The student subconsciously shut up. Li Bing tried to go up and talk to Chu Feng, but Si Ping, who was standing next to him, grabbed him and stopped him from speaking.
Si Qi stood in front of Chu Feng's desk, smiling and waving at Chu Feng. Then he pointed to the gift in Chu Feng's drawer, which Chu Feng had supposedly thrown into the trash can, and asked, "Brother Feng, I saw something here that looks really fun. Is it yours?"
Chu Feng looked at the item he had carefully put away in the drawer, nodded, and said quite naturally, "Yes, it was a gift from my classmate."
The student's mouth dropped open in astonishment, like a powder keg about to explode whose fuse had been extinguished; his expression was priceless.
Si Qi chuckled, glanced at his classmate, then at Li Bing, and said meaningfully, "Brother Feng, you'd better keep your things safe, otherwise if you lose them, people will say—"
"It's probably a misunderstanding!" Seeing that things were not going well, Li Bing hurriedly interjected: "I don't know who picked it up from the ground, found that it was something that fell from Xiao Feng's seat, and threw it directly into the trash can. This kind of thing has happened before."
"Is that so?" Si Qi smiled faintly. "You saw someone throw away Feng Ge's things, but you went to ask the owner of the gift if he threw them away?"
Chu Feng understood what they meant and said in a low voice, "Has someone stolen my things again?"
"Yeah, just like before. Ugh, those pranksters are really mean." Li Bing said, trying to mislead the audience, "It's a pity I didn't see who it was, otherwise I would have stopped him."
Chu Feng kept his head down and remained silent, clearly processing the fact that he had been bullied again. The classmate who had given him the gift didn't know whether he should apologize to Chu Feng or what else to do, and stood there looking conflicted.
Chu Feng snapped out of his daze and said to Si Qi, "You've arrived."
He didn't expect that the person he was chatting with last night would come to see him so soon today. "What do you want?"
Si Qi: "Oh, okay, I'll do what I promised yesterday."
He gently nudged his brother. Si Ping, who had already discussed it with Si Qi, didn't hesitate. He patted a student next to Chu Feng's seat and asked, "Excuse me, have you heard about Chu Feng going to the police station?"
The student was startled and instinctively looked nervously at Chu Feng, stammering, "Have you heard a little bit about it?"
As if something had triggered a mechanism, Li Bing reflexively rushed over to stop them: "What are you talking about!"
From what had just happened, Si Ping had already guessed that Li Bing was the "friend" Si Qi had mentioned who had approached Chu Feng with ill intentions.
Seeing that the surrounding students' attention was gradually turning to him, he not only did not lower his voice, but instead raised it even more, making sure that everyone in the class could hear him: "Because I heard some rumors, I wanted to come and confirm them."
"Did you even consider Chu Feng's feelings when you said that?!" Li Bing was furious, standing up for Chu Feng: "You two, you came all this way just to say these things, are you trying to bully Chu Feng? Get out of here!"
Chu Feng gently tugged at Li Bing's arm: "It's nothing."
Li Bing was very anxious: "This trouble has come right to you, and you still say it's nothing!"
Si Qi: "Can bringing into the open the rumors spread by a large group of people behind their backs be considered causing trouble? What were you doing before? Causing trouble behind their backs?"
The students in Class 3 all looked at him, and their expressions were not good when they heard Si Qi's words. Si Qi continued, "Brother Feng, you tell us, why did you end up in the police station?"
Li Bing immediately exploded: "Get out of here! Don't you dare rub salt in Xiao Feng's wounds like this again! Do you have any conscience at all?! How can you be so vicious!"
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