Chu You had just learned that the frail girl being bullied was named Xia Ji.
By coincidence, Xia Ji was also a student in Class 9, Grade 2.
The four bullies were led by Chen Xinyu, from the Oracle Class of Grade 2, while the other three were students from Class 6, Grade 2.
Any clear-eyed person could tell that the bullying Xia Ji endured under Chen Xinyu’s group was not a recent development.
Chu You had emphasized this more than once when explaining the situation, but the final resolution was somewhat disappointing.
Both sides apologized to each other, and that was the end of it.
The issue of Xia Ji’s bullying wasn’t even mentioned by the Director of Discipline or the other school administrators who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
There was another thing that gnawed at Chu You’s heart—since the Director of Discipline notified the parents, Xia Ji’s family had yet to show up.
Why was that?
It felt like the people and events encountered today were far more complicated than they seemed on the surface.
Especially Xia Ji…
Chu You was lost in thought about the terrifying black plastic bag from last night, her pen tip absentmindedly scratching across the paper when suddenly a sharp pain struck her forehead—Lin Mo had unknowingly appeared beside her, his bent fingers just having left her temple.
“Focus,” he said in a low voice, audible only to them both.
“At this pace, your 3,000-word self-criticism will take until dusk to finish.”
Chu You looked up and glared at him, catching a glimpse from the corner of her eye of the school administrators talking at the far end of the Discipline Office with Liu Secretary from Chen Xinyu’s family.
She forced the words through clenched teeth, “You’re cruel, huh? Watching me get bullied by ‘privileged people’ and not doing anything?”
The “privileged people” she meant, of course, was Chen Xinyu—the brat whose family only sent a secretary but could get the school leaders to smile and nod whenever they came.
Lin Mo glanced at the small group nearby, expression unchanged.
“Bullying? Her wrist’s practically twisted into a pretzel by you. Isn’t it normal she can’t write the self-criticism?”
“Pfft, you just want to see me make a fool of myself…” Chu You muttered, spinning the pen swiftly between her fingers.
Before she finished, her cheek was gently pinched by Lin Mo.
Just as she was about to glare at him again, he whispered, “I’m worried you’ll expose yourself. If those sewer rats are sensitive, things will get complicated.”
His words snapped Chu You awake.
Right, Lin Mo’s identity wasn’t something to reveal in a place like this.
“Then you’d better go…” she lifted her foot and lightly kicked his shin, eyes squinting with a dangerous glint, “But… when we get home tonight, I’ve got some scores to settle with you.”
Lin Mo’s lips curled into a smile at that, eyes flickering with amusement.
“Fine.”
He answered curtly, turning around with a casual thought—he really hadn’t done anything wrong.
After all, how many students brought dangerous restricted items to school?
Lin Mo’s departure didn’t speed up Chu You’s writing.
Instead, the delayed arrival of the Class 9 homeroom teacher was somewhat surprising.
While the school leaders and Director of Discipline were cautious and polite around Liu Secretary, this unremarkable-looking teacher gave Liu Secretary no favor from the moment he walked in.
Chu You poked her pen repeatedly on the draft paper, a stark contrast to the others buried in writing self-criticisms at nearby desks.
After about another ten minutes, the parents and leaders who had been chatting in a group nearby began to disperse.
The homeroom teachers from Classes 9 and 6 successively walked toward the corner of the office.
“Ahem…” The Class 9 homeroom teacher cleared his throat, tapping lightly on Chu You’s desk.
“You must be Chu You, huh? First day after transferring and you already bring me such a big surprise—quite polite of you!”
Chu You’s pupils contracted, and she buried her head, doing her best to pretend to be deaf and mute.
The homeroom teacher didn’t expose her, only pointed to the messy scrawl on the draft paper with a teasing tone, “Only five words after all that effort? Seems you don’t realize your mistake, or maybe you simply don’t think you’re wrong, right?”
Chu You’s pen immediately froze in her hand.
She raised her eyes slightly toward the balding middle-aged homeroom teacher, expression unchanged, and retorted, “What do you think, Teacher?”
“My surname’s Xu, full name Xu Guangming. The kids call me Old Xu…”
Homeroom Teacher Xu Guangming didn’t answer Chu You’s question.
Instead, he introduced himself briefly and then grabbed her self-criticism paper, crumpling it into a ball and tossing it into the trash bin right before her eyes.
“If you think you’re wrong, there’s no need to write a self-criticism. If you think you’re not, then writing it is pointless.”
Chu You said nothing.
Old Xu turned and walked toward Xia Ji, who was still bent over her desk, casually picking up her self-criticism and doing the same—crumpling it and throwing it into the bin.
“Both of you, come with me. Back to class.”
The Director of Discipline and school leaders exchanged glances at the scene but tacitly chose not to intervene.
The Discipline Office was on the first floor, while the Grade 2 classrooms were gathered on the fourth.
Following Old Xu out of the office, Chu You tried repeatedly to speak with Xia Ji along the way.
“Are you okay?”
“Why are they bullying you, Xia?”
“That Chen Xinyu… she seems familiar with you. Have you known each other for a long time?”
“Has she been bullying you for a long time?”
Chu You kept chattering, her voice not quiet, loud enough for Old Xu walking ahead to hear.
But for some reason, despite knowing a student was being bullied, the homeroom teacher didn’t intervene much.
“I…” At the corner of the third floor stairs, overwhelmed, Xia Ji finally mustered the courage to speak, stammering, “I don’t know why.”
“Chen, Chen Xinyu and I were classmates in elementary and middle school.”
“We… we used to be good friends…” Her voice dropped significantly here.
“But then she suddenly started to hate me. Really hate me.”
Best friends turning into cruel bullies?
From sisters-in-arms to ruthless tormentors, it sounded like there was a lot behind this.
A flicker of suspicion crossed Chu You’s eyes—even without evidence, her instincts told her that to investigate the aberration experiment, the conflict between Xia Ji and Chen Xinyu might be a perfect entry point.
Either way, it was like a headless fly crashing around blindly—the cost of trial and error was almost nothing, and the best way to hide her true identity was to blend in.
Becoming friends with Xia Ji, helping her get rid of Chen Xinyu’s trouble… Chu You quickly made a decision in her mind and drafted a rough plan.
“You can’t decide who likes or hates you,” Chu You suddenly grabbed Xia Ji’s wrist, stopping in her tracks and turning to face her, eyes serious.
“Xia, I think you’re very insecure… and you blame yourself too much, but that’s wrong.”
Old Xu quietly paused a few steps ahead.
Xia Ji, startled by Chu You’s sudden grip, trembled all over and lowered her head fearfully. “I, I…”
“If you don’t mind, be my friend?”
“Huh?”
Xia Ji looked up sharply at Chu You, letting out a confused little whimper, her watery eyes full of surprise.
A gentle breeze blew Chu You’s stray hair around her face.
She tilted her head slightly and smiled, “Let’s officially get to know each other. My name’s Chu You. Nice to meet you.”
…
…
In the dark basement, A hand, covered with pustules and trembling slightly, slammed forcefully onto a notebook.
Yellowish pus oozed between the fingers, spreading across the data-filled paper.
“Wh-why…”
“Everything’s wrong, all… all wrong!”
“How could this be?”
The hand resting on the notebook shook more violently, causing the entire table to creak and groan under the strain.
Heavy breathing mingled with the hum of a blower echoed through the cramped basement.
Until a breaking point neared.
“Boom!”
The pus-corroded table buckled and collapsed into scattered fragments across the floor.
“Hah, hah hah…”
A faint candle flame flickered to life.
Under the shadow of cracked, spiderweb-like glasses, a pair of bloodshot eyes suddenly opened, the veins spreading with rage and madness.
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