Chapter 41: The Price of Treachery

“Tsk, serves you right!”

As Lin Qing heard the voice of his detestable deskmate, one of the surrounding students immediately spat in disdain, their expression filled with utter loathing.

It appeared that not only had Li Dong’s assault been exposed, but Wang Fanran’s instigation had also come to light.

“Lin Qing, you probably don’t know this, but Li Dong didn’t suddenly decide to kill you. It was that fat pig Wang Fanran, who added fuel to the fire… They were middle school classmates and plotted to murder us!”

While someone else was speaking of Wang Fanran, Zhou Lin hadn’t been idle either. He quickly opened his mouth and recounted the general situation.

The mere thought of Wang Fanran’s malicious scheme made Zhou Lin huff with anger, raising a hand to slap the doorframe. He, too, yearned to go inside and give Wang Fanran a good beating to vent his frustration.

However, compared to that fat pig, welcoming Lin Qing was more important.

“Oh? There’s more to this story!”

Upon hearing Zhou Lin’s explanation, the surrounding students gasped in surprise, clearly having no idea such details were involved.

Hearing their questions only energized Zhou Lin further, and he began chattering once more.

“Of course! During physical education class, Wang Fanran actively offered to take Li Dong to the infirmary… But in reality, they never went. Instead, they found a secluded spot to conspire on how to harm someone!”

If it had merely been a grudge between Li Dong and Lin Qing, Zhou Lin wouldn’t have been so enraged. He would have simply viewed it as a post-dinner diversion.

But once he was implicated, he couldn’t remain a bystander.

Although the main aggressors against Li Dong were Li Weiqiang and his group from Class One, Zhou Lin had snatched Li Dong’s pocket money a few times, thus he automatically categorized himself among the victims.

“How do you know all this in such detail?”

However, hearing how thoroughly Zhou Lin knew the situation, the student who had initially asked the question now had a new query.

How *did* Zhou Lin know?

“A friend of mine skipped class and was hiding away, getting intimate with his girlfriend. They were interrupted by those two. He originally wanted to rush out and teach them a lesson, but seeing Li Dong covered in blood, he decided not to stir up trouble for himself.”

“Ah, I see.”

“My friend thought they were just joking around, so he didn’t pay it much mind. Who would have thought it was actually true!”

After Zhou Lin finished his explanation, his anger didn’t subside; instead, it intensified. He still yearned to beat that fat pig, Wang Fanran.

That damned fellow!

Having heard the full story, the delinquents from Class One could no longer sit still.

Students with explosive tempers had already marched into Class Six, joining the ranks of those eager to deal with Wang Fanran.

Even more spectators pointed and gestured at the battered Wang Fanran, occasionally covering their mouths to snicker, their eyes gleaming with obvious schadenfreude.

Lin Qing, clutching a bag full of snacks, entered the classroom with the others. He then watched as Wang Fanran was surrounded and beaten by a group, his face bruised and swollen, snot and tears smearing his entire face.

He looked pathetic and laughable.

And somewhat disgusting.

Lin Qing merely watched in silence, his heart perfectly calm.

Wang Fanran had brought this upon himself.

If it hadn’t been for Wang Fanran, Su Yao wouldn’t have even noticed him.

‘Lin Qing wondered, was there anything wrong with simply wanting to live an ordinary life? Why did Wang Fanran cling to him like a hyena?’

‘He didn’t bother anyone else.’

‘Only him.’

“Lin Qing, I didn’t mean it! Please, make them let me go!”

Originally, Lin Qing had been inconspicuous, but now, surrounded by the crowd, he stood out remarkably.

This caused the beaten Wang Fanran to spot Lin Qing immediately. Weeping profusely, he quickly scrambled to Lin Qing’s feet, reaching out to grasp his leg and beg for mercy.

‘Even though Wang Fanran knew that appealing to Lin Qing wouldn’t make these delinquent students stop the beating.’

‘But he had to try anything, even if it was a long shot. Now that Lin Qing was a hero, his words carried some weight!’

‘Given their deskmate relationship, Lin Qing couldn’t just stand by and watch him die!’

‘He truly would be beaten to death by these hooligans.’

‘If he had known that instigating Li Dong would be exposed, he would never have come to school today to be beaten.’

However, as Wang Fanran crawled towards him, Lin Qing deliberately moved swiftly to the side, denying Wang Fanran the chance to cling to his leg.

He gazed at Wang Fanran with cold, clear eyes, completely devoid of any sympathy.

‘He brought it upon himself.’

‘No pity was needed.’

Lin Qing was no saint. Without the experience of being imprisoned for ten years, he would have simply been a very ordinary male high school student.

Wang Fanran’s repeated provocations were no longer accidental; they were deliberate acts targeting him.

He recalled Wang Fanran’s baseless accusations, which had led to Zhou Lin unceremoniously throwing Lin Qing to the ground when his body was paralyzed by fear.

Then he remembered Li Dong, knife in hand, charging into the locker room because of Wang Fanran’s scheme…

At this very moment, no matter how miserable Wang Fanran’s beating, he deserved every bit of it!

After Lin Qing deliberately moved away, Wang Fanran froze in surprise. He hadn’t expected Lin Qing to distance himself at such a moment. Did he truly want to see him beaten to death?

‘That bastard.’

‘He had known all along that Lin Qing was no good!’

‘Pah!’

‘Did Lin Qing think he was safe?’

‘Never!’

Wang Fanran recalled the scene he had witnessed in the locker room yesterday. He immediately shot Lin Qing a malicious glare. Even if he were beaten half to death today, Lin Qing wouldn’t get off easy!

‘He would expose Lin Qing’s relationship with Su Yao to everyone!’

“You fat pig, what are you staring at? A piece of trash like you should just drop dead!”

Just as Wang Fanran was mentally preparing to expose Lin Qing, Zhou Lin spoke up, utterly displeased. His long-suppressed urge to beat Wang Fanran finally became unbearable.

As Zhou Lin spoke, his foot was far from still; he delivered a fierce kick directly to Wang Fanran’s backside.

He showed no mercy.

“Zhou Lin, you can’t hit me! Chen Sen explicitly told you… you can’t touch me!”

However, after being kicked by Zhou Lin, Wang Fanran suddenly spoke.

He wasn’t afraid of Zhou Lin in the slightest.

‘If others hit him, Wang Fanran could only quietly endure the beating, but Zhou Lin was a different matter.’

‘Because of Wang Fanran’s agreement with Chen Sen, Zhou Lin was not supposed to lay a hand on him again.’

At this thought, a hint of smugness appeared in Wang Fanran’s eyes, realizing he still had Chen Sen as his backing!

“Chen Sen? Who’s that? Even if the King of Heaven himself showed up, I’d still beat you without a second thought!”

However, upon hearing the name Chen Sen, Zhou Lin’s expression turned puzzled, wondering what new trick Wang Fanran was trying to pull.

‘Suddenly bringing up someone he didn’t know.’

‘Though Brother Liu had said not to touch Wang Fanran yesterday, today was different. That fat pig Wang Fanran deserved to take his beating!’

“You can’t hit me, ah, you can’t…”

What Wang Fanran hadn’t anticipated was that his words would only provoke Zhou Lin further, leading him to beat Wang Fanran with even greater force.

Each blow was harsher than the last.

Wang Fanran’s corpulent body collapsed to the ground, crying out in pain from Zhou Lin’s relentless punches and kicks. He tried to raise his hands to shield his head, but his bulk prevented him from fully covering it.

‘In his heart, he furiously cursed everyone, wishing them all dead, dead, dead!’

“Brother Liu, you’re finally out of the black room!”

Just at that moment, while the students were engrossed in the spectacle of Wang Fanran’s beating, someone suddenly cried out in surprise.

This made Zhou Lin stop his assault, and he looked towards the doorway, his face alight with pleasant surprise.

There stood Liu Hong, who had been sent home for reflection after sending someone to the hospital. He was now smiling and waving at everyone, a clear sign that he had truly returned!

Subsequently, Liu Hong walked up to Wang Fanran, looking down at him as he spoke.

“You’re the one Chen Sen mentioned?”