Chapter 107 The Unlucky Guys Around the Chosen One - The Unlucky Brother is Heavy...
Chu Feng quickly calmed Li Bing down, who was trying to grab the arms of the Si brothers and desperately pull them out. In front of the whole class, he said seriously, "The reason I went to the police station was because a group of thugs wanted to extort money from me. I called the police and had them taken to the station, so I went along and gave a statement. I still have the police report receipt, which clearly states what I said."
"Whoosh—"
A low murmur rippled through the class. The student next to Chu Feng, whose name had been called out, asked incredulously, "Huh? Wasn't it because you got into a fight with some thugs?"
Chu Feng frowned: "I don't know where you heard this news from. I didn't fight anyone. If you ask me directly, I will explain it to you."
Everyone looked at each other strangely, unsure of what to say. Li Bing's face turned red with anger, and he seemed about to say something again, but Si Qi spoke first: "Explain what? You were the victim, robbed and slandered. Why should you take the initiative to explain? You didn't even know there were such rumors circulating about you in the first place. You didn't even have a chance to explain, did you?"
Chu Feng's expression remained unchanged. He had clearly been misunderstood so much that he no longer cared about who was right or wrong. He just wanted to try his best to clear his name and didn't want to suffer any more harm.
Si Qi felt a pang of pain in his heart and said to the classmate, "May I ask where this news originally came from? I want to find out why this person would let the rumors spread like this and smear Brother Feng like this."
"Ah...this..." The student subconsciously looked around. He wasn't in the small group that Li Bing had created, so he didn't know the original source of the message, nor had he seen Chu Feng's photo at the police station. He only said, "Everyone's saying that."
Meanwhile, the people in Li Bing's small group all turned their gazes to Li Bing, whose face was flushed. Recalling Li Bing's previous behavior of constantly stopping Si Ping from asking questions and even turning around and accusing Si Ping of openly bullying Chu Feng, their eyes suddenly became somewhat subtle.
“Now that you know it’s a rumor, please help clarify it for others in the future. After all, it’s not a good thing to slander your classmates. If others ask, they’ll know that the rumor was spread by your Class 3.” After saying that, Si Qi pointed to the students sitting around him one by one and asked, “Is that alright?”
Everyone whose name was called nodded subconsciously, indicating, "I understand."
"I will."
"I won't say it again."
Chu Feng, who witnessed the whole thing from the sidelines: "…………"
So, it turns out that all of the many people in the class actually knew about this rumor.
No wonder they didn't want to talk to him; they would subconsciously show strange expressions and stop talking when he got close. With such a stigma on their shoulders, only the most thick-skinned people would want to talk to him.
After confirming the attitudes of the students around him, Si Qi turned to Li Bing, who had been trying to drag him away, and said, "What about you? Will you help explain things to others? After all, you pulled me quite hard just now, it seems like you care a lot."
Li Bing forced a smile, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood you earlier. It's just that Xiao Feng has caused too much trouble in class before, and people are always picking on him and bullying him. I was just reflexively worried..."
Si Qi interrupted: "That's all in the past. You don't need to keep emphasizing Feng Ge's past experiences in front of everyone. Most of the people here didn't know about Feng Ge's past situation at first. Being bullied at school is not something to be happy about."
Li Bing said, feeling wronged, "You didn't have to say such hurtful things... I just felt that if I spoke up, people wouldn't do it this way..."
Si Qi's usually smiling face was now icy cold: "Then please don't say it again. Many people didn't have that impression of Brother Feng at first, but after you repeatedly emphasized it, they started to look at Brother Feng with strange eyes and think he was this or that."
Chu Feng's lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to explain, but Si Qi's tongue was faster than his, and he said first, "Since you claim to be Brother Feng's best friend, shouldn't you go and catch the person who first spread the rumors?"
Li Bing struggled to maintain his composure. In front of many others in the know, he said with difficulty, "Since it's a rumor, explaining it is enough. There's no need—"
"How could it be unnecessary? Did Feng-ge suffer those injuries for nothing?" Si Qi retorted. "When I asked Feng-ge about the police station before, you were so anxious that you tried to drag me out and tell me not to say anything more. Now that I want to trace the source, why are you changing your story and trying to settle things peacefully? Could it be that you're the one who leaked this news? After all, you're Feng-ge's 'best friend.' Who wouldn't believe the news about Feng-ge that you say? And who has the ability to get firsthand information about Feng-ge while he's still off-campus and spread it to the school in time? It must be someone closest to Feng-ge."
Many people in the group, realizing that Si Qi had hit the nail on the head, were speechless.
The students in the class, who were just watching the drama unfold, were speechless.
That makes a lot of sense.
Li Bing trembled with rage: "What nonsense are you spouting!"
Si Qi: "Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you know in your heart. If you don't want to help, then don't stand here and stop me from speaking up for Brother Feng."
"I'm just afraid that Xiao Feng will..." He habitually wanted to talk about Chu Feng's past experiences, but when faced with the warning looks from the Si brothers, he didn't bring up the old stories. Instead, he said, "Xiao Feng has a bad personality and is easily misunderstood. I'm watching from the side and can help explain things. Otherwise, with his always sullen face, no one will like him."
"I've really had enough," Si Ping said angrily, having stood by watching his younger brother's performance for so long and finally unable to bear it any longer.
I thought he had already had enough bad luck growing up, but I never expected that he would encounter someone whose living environment was even more suffocating than his.
“We’ve only exchanged a few words with Chu Feng, and you’re already saying that he was bullied since childhood and likes to fight; that he has a stern face and no one would like him—and you even said these things to Chu Feng’s face!”
He gritted his teeth: "What grudge do you have against Chu Feng? Do you think he won't be upset to hear this? Or are you afraid we won't look at him differently, that we'll be wary of him being the kind of person who'll hit someone at the drop of a hat? During the time I was talking to him, did he try to hit me? If not, then why did you 'remind' me of these things? To help reinforce the labels attached to him?"
He grew increasingly agitated as he spoke: "You keep saying you're 'thinking of Chu Feng,' but what you're actually doing is 'thinking of those around you,' reminding everyone not to get close to the 'beating' Chu Feng and to be wary of his gloomy and unpredictable personality. Your two-faced tactics are truly insidious!"
Li Bing stared in disbelief: "You—"
"What do you mean, 'you'? Don't you always interfere whenever Brother Feng wants to make friends, making those who originally wanted to be friends with Brother Feng stop wanting to talk to him?"
Si Qi pointed to the classmate who had just given him the gift and said with great certainty, "Otherwise, you can call over all those who broke ties with Brother Feng and see why they suddenly stopped being close to Brother Feng and started getting closer to you instead."
Li Bing stood still, looking furious. Si Qi urged, "Go and call him!"
Li Bing: "..." With you two, the Yin-Yang Duo, standing here, who would dare to shout!
Chu Feng stood aside without saying a word, looking down and carefully recalling his experience, and found that things seemed to be really like that.
As for the classmates who had once had a good impression of Chu Feng because of his appearance and grades, but later gradually drifted away: "..." It feels like things are getting more and more wrong, and it's starting to feel like a suspenseful mystery movie.
"Fine, don't go then! I bet you wouldn't dare!" Si Qi sneered, "You know you're using PUA on me? When Feng was only my age, you brainwashed him, telling him over and over again that he wasn't liked, that his personality was terrible, and that he couldn't make friends!"
"While you're trying to make changes, you keep pulling him back, using 'facts' to prove that Feng Ge isn't liked by everyone, just as you say. But all of this is because of rumors and slander! It's not Feng Ge's fault at all!"
Si Qi tilted his head back and pointed at Li Bing: "Let me be frank with you, I'm determined to be friends with Brother Feng! I won't misunderstand him because of other people's opinions of him. I only believe in the Brother Feng I see with my own eyes. He is very considerate and gentle, and has never intentionally hurt anyone!"
Si Qi glanced at the students around him and said seriously, "I believe that everyone in this class, like me, has never been intentionally hurt by Brother Feng. But because of many misunderstandings, they have developed a lot of bad impressions of Brother Feng and then distanced themselves from him."
"This is very unfair to Brother Feng!"
His voice was loud, and the room fell silent, with only Si Qi's voice echoing in the classroom.
Chu Feng stared blankly at Si Qi. Ever since Li Bing helped him in public a few years ago, he had been helped in the same way again.
His eyes welled up with tears, and he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how.
Having never been treated kindly, he didn't even know how to express his kindness.
She could only whisper to Si Qi, "Thank you."
"This is what every person with a conscience should do. School bullying is unacceptable!" Si Qi said earnestly. "You are good, very good! You deserve to be liked by anyone! Your life has just begun. Even if you haven't had a good life in the past ten years or so, you have plenty of opportunities to love yourself and enjoy the life you deserve in the decades to come! If others treat you badly, that's their fault! What wrong have you done!"
Si Qi jumped up and patted Chu Feng on the shoulder, saying, "Don't care about what others think of you. You know best what kind of person you are."
“Taking things out of context and distorting the truth will not escape the eyes that face the truth. Sooner or later, everyone will find that it was all a misunderstanding.”
"If we can't find it, then it's an environmental problem, and we can choose a better place to live!"
Si Qi turned around and raised his head: "Right, brother?"
Si Ping quickly chimed in, "Yes, the students in the Rocket Class are all focused on their studies and not interested in gossip, so it's a good place for you to join."
The students from the surrounding three classes remained silent, not angered by the brothers' words, since they were indeed wrong to spread rumors earlier.
But Li Bing couldn't sit still any longer and jumped in, saying, "This is getting more and more outrageous! Xiao Feng's grades aren't nearly as good as you're making them out of the top class—"
"Feng-ge's grades have always been excellent. It's because you said you wanted him to be in the same class as you that Feng-ge deliberately lowered his score. Don't you know this better than anyone else?" Si Qi asked loudly.
Li Bing's face turned green, and he complained in a voice barely above a whisper, "...Why does he tell you everything?"
He never expected that these two people, who had just met Chu Feng yesterday, would come to the classroom today to defend Chu Feng and say so many things that were detrimental to him, catching him completely off guard.
Where did this weirdo come from? What benefit do they get from helping Chu Feng? Why are they so genuinely standing up for him? Aren't they afraid of getting too close to a violent maniac like Chu Feng and getting themselves into trouble for no reason?
“I don’t need Feng-ge to tell me this. Feng-ge has always had excellent grades since childhood, except for failing the class placement exams. You can figure out why by thinking about it. Who else could it be but you?” Si Qi said. “If you really considered Feng-ge a friend, you wouldn’t have made such a request that would hinder your friend’s better development. It’s only because Feng-ge truly considers you a good brother that he would do something like this that would ruin his own future.”
Li Bing's forehead veins bulged, wondering why this brat was so sharp-tongued and good at stirring up trouble. Chu Feng whispered an explanation from the side: "It was my own choice."
Grades weren't important to him, and he didn't get good grades because he liked studying. Clearly, his good friends who had helped him were more important. He liked being in the same class as Li Bing; at least that made his time at school less unpleasant.
“I know, I understand, Brother Feng,” Si Qi said, gently patting Chu Feng’s arm reassuringly.
Seeking a breathing space is a human survival instinct, and in this situation, academic performance is naturally less important than mental well-being. He only said that to put Li Bing down, not to criticize Chu Feng. Chu Feng was already very brave to not skip school and to insist on coming to school. He just wanted to find a comfort zone so he could relax a bit.
“But it’s one thing for you to be willing to do it, but it’s another thing for him to actually say it,” Si Qi said. “Brother Feng, your friend is a man of hidden malice in his words and actions. Don’t trust him.”
Li Bing's anger surged: "You're trying to sow discord right in front of me? Xiao Feng and I have been friends for so many years, and you're here—"
"You're allowed to tell Brother Feng behind his back that so-and-so doesn't want to be your friend, but we're not allowed to tell Brother Feng that you're not suitable to be his friend?" Si Qi raised an eyebrow: "Let me tell you, I came here after investigating thoroughly. You often tell seemingly plausible lies to distort the truth."
"When did I—"
“Have you heard of ‘montage-style lying’? By reversing the order and editing to change the language, the truth is disguised as a lie.” Si Qi said: “The most classic example is a man saying that his wife was with someone else, that he beat his wife, and that they got divorced.”
"Everyone who hears this will think that the wife who cheated is the one who is wrong, and the man is the victim. He only hit her in a fit of emotion, which is understandable and he is very innocent."
"But the truth is that the man often beat his wife, and the wife couldn't take it anymore, so she chose to divorce him. After the divorce, she got together with someone else. The wife is the biggest victim. But in the eyes of the audience, she became the only villain in the whole incident, while the one who beat him was pitiful."
Si Qi looked directly into Li Bing's eyes: "Have you ever done something like this before?"
Li Bing naturally said, "I didn't!"
"Really?" Si Qi glanced at the classmate who had given him the gift, whose expression had suddenly turned horrified, and continued, "Have you told anyone that the watch you liked was taken by Chu Feng?"
Before Li Bing could argue, Si Qi said directly, "You said it, and everyone who heard it thought that Chu Feng stole the watch you liked, and that his personality was indeed as domineering as rumored, even bullying his good friend like you."
Li Bing remained silent, his gaze towards Si Qi carrying a chilling undertone. He hadn't expected Si Qi to have even investigated such a matter.
The girls next to him looked surprised. They had started to have a bad impression of Chu Feng because they heard Li Bing complaining and felt that Chu Feng would even hurt his own friends.
Si Qi: "But actually, it was you who took a liking to the watch on Chu Feng's wrist, liked it very much, and wanted it too. I just want to ask, is that watch yours? Is it your place to be upset?"
Li Bing: "…………"
Surrounding classmates: "…………"
Wow, this way of speaking is truly ingenious!
"With the way you speak, even if others later find out the watch belongs to Feng-ge, you only need to say 'I do like Xiao Feng's watch' to prove you weren't wrong. If others misunderstand, they're overthinking it. You haven't said a single bad word about Chu Feng. You're so pure and innocent; you've never uttered a lie."
Si Qi crossed his arms, his dark eyes scanning the surroundings. "Have you ever heard anything like this before? Have you ever misunderstood Brother Feng because of such words?"
The students thought about it carefully and suddenly realized: it seems there really is one!
The classmate who gave the gift suddenly said, "So, what Li Bing just told me was that he saw the gift I gave to Chu Feng in the trash can, implying that Chu Feng threw it away? Is that the 'montage-style lie'?"
Before Li Bing could refute, he said directly, "Yes, you didn't say it explicitly; you just guided me to guess in that direction. But if you really meant no harm and didn't want me to have a conflict with Chu Feng, would you have told me about the gift being in the trash can without covering for Chu Feng beforehand? Would you have watched me scold Chu Feng in front of you without doing anything to clear Chu Feng's name?"
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that every word Li Bing had said to him was a trap, and that he had been completely used as a pawn and made a fool of. He slammed his fist on the table in anger: "Is it fun to play tricks on me? You were the one who threw my gift away!"
"You think I have a good relationship with Chu Feng, so you use this method to make me resent Chu Feng."
"Chu Feng didn't do anything from beginning to end. He thought we were on good terms and was happy to receive the gift I gave him. But then, for no apparent reason, I started to dislike him!"
"You're terrifying, Li Bing! Your methods are truly deadly! Chu Feng and I were fooled by you, and now we have to thank you for helping us!"
"No wonder those who used to be close to Chu Feng suddenly stopped talking to him and became close to you. They were all fooled by you, weren't they?"
This statement was like stirring up a hornet's nest. The students, who had been able to remain calm before, could no longer stay composed in the face of this ready-made example. One after another, they exclaimed "Holy crap!" and said in bewilderment, "Oh my god, I have goosebumps."
"I've only ever seen this kind of thing in TV dramas."
"How terrifying!!"
"Chu Feng is so pitiful, he's been treated like this by the people around him since he was a child."
"He also considered Li Bing his best friend..."
"I didn't!" Li Bing's chest heaved with anger, his eyes reddening with intense emotion. He said to Chu Feng, "Are you just going to watch them slander me like this in public? Aren't you going to come out and say a word for me?"
Chu Feng's mind was a bit of a mess: "I—"
"Are you going to say next, 'Do you choose to be friends with them or with me?'" Si Qi interrupted. "Seizing every opportunity to make Brother Feng lose a few friends, you really haven't forgotten your original intentions!"
Li Bing, who was indeed planning to complain to Chu Feng in private and ask Chu Feng to never have any more contact with the Si Qi brothers for his sake: "………… Damn it!"
Chu Feng decisively replied, "I won't."
His intention was to comfort Si Qi and tell him that he wouldn't do such a thing, but this was undoubtedly a slap in the face to Li Bing, and that he was siding with Si Qi.
Li Bing exploded: "Chu Feng! Do you have any conscience? Who am I doing all this for? I've helped you so much in the past, and I've always thought of you in every way. And you just listen to them and misinterpret my meaning?"
"Ha! After helping for so many years, not only has Feng Ge's situation not improved, but it has actually made his situation worse. You've really done a great job helping him!"
Si Qi said in a strange tone, "To judge whether a person is good or bad, you don't look at how nice their words are, but at what they actually do! What have you done? Besides using Brother Feng to gain everyone's favor or sympathy, have you made anyone like Brother Feng because of you? Doesn't the more people talk to you, the more they think Brother Feng is a terrible person?"
Everyone looked horrified, recalling the events of the past few days, feeling as if they were listening to a terrifying ghost story, which was extremely frightening to think about.
Li Bing was grinding his teeth so hard he almost wanted to rush over and strangle Si Qi.
Ding-dong—
The school bell, which had rung several times before, rang again. The teacher walked into the classroom and saw two unfamiliar faces. Seeing everyone gathered around Chu Feng, the teacher instinctively assumed that Chu Feng had caused trouble again, attracting students from other classes and grades to come and cause trouble. The teacher said to Chu Feng, "Alright, Chu Feng, let's deal with this after class. Don't delay everyone's lesson."
The students who heard this were speechless.
Is it possible that this really wasn't Chu Feng's fault?
Why was Chu Feng wronged and misunderstood, even though he hadn't done anything proactively throughout the entire process, yet the teacher immediately started causing trouble for him as soon as he arrived?
Everyone had mixed feelings. Recalling their prejudice against Chu Feng during this period, the more they thought about it, the more they felt that they were exactly like the teacher at this moment, completely manipulated by others (public opinion).
"Teacher, this has nothing to do with Chu Feng," the class monitor said. "We're sorry to disturb your class, we'll go back to our seats now."
Chu Feng also said to Si Qi and Si Ping, "Thank you so much."
"It's alright," Si Qi raised his arm and patted Chu Feng's back reassuringly, like an elder soothing a wronged child, and said with a smile, "Don't worry, everything will be alright."
Chu Feng felt a lump in her throat from his coaxing and inexplicably wanted to cry.
Even though he was beaten, wronged, and surrounded by a group of people lecturing him, he didn't feel any sadness or want to cry. But now, after Si Qi said just one simple sentence, he suddenly couldn't control his emotions.
"Um……"
Worried that he might make an embarrassing face in front of everyone, Chu Feng gave a brief reply with his choked and swollen throat, and sat back down in his seat.
The students around him couldn't help but glance at Chu Feng a few more times, and sighed softly, "Oh, that's really pitiful."
Si Ping apologized to the teacher and pulled Si Qi away from the classroom. Before leaving, Si Qi turned back, stared at Li Bing, who was sitting in his seat with an extremely unpleasant expression, and gestured with his fingers, silently saying something.
You better watch out!
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