Chapter 3: Bullying

“Xiao-gege…” Ou Zhiqin still wanted to continue persuading me, but her expression suddenly changed, and she said: “My senior is looking for me; I have to go to the club room now.
If anything happens, come find me!”

“Got it.” I said carelessly.
Now, I was no longer in the mood to deal with my childhood friend; all I wanted was to meet Xia Yubing.
I didn’t even consider that Ou Zhiqin didn’t seem to take out her phone before saying her senior was looking for her.

I ran up the stairs towards the top floor.
However, I only made it to the fifth floor before being stopped again.
This time it wasn’t Ou Zhiqin, but a group of boys, and Huang Tianhao was among them.

I recognized the leader; his name was Cao Bao, a third-year student who had been held back due to disciplinary issues—a true school bully.
The group around him were all his hangers-on.

I intended to go around them and avoid conflict, but Cao Bao suddenly blocked my path and asked with an unfriendly tone: “You punk, I heard our Campus Belle, Xia Yubing, confessed to you?”

Trouble.
Could the danger Ou Zhiqin mentioned just now be from these bullies?
Huang Tianhao must have twisted my words and exaggerated them to Cao Bao.
It was too much; I hadn’t even provoked him.

“Senior Cao, those are all rumors.
Xia Yubing just said she had some things to tell me; it wasn’t a confession.” I said respectfully, hoping to avoid trouble.

“Heh heh, I thought so.
A toad like you, still hoping to eat swan meat?” Cao Bao said with a malicious grin.

I felt immensely humiliated but could only lower my head and endure it.
There was no need to conflict with school bullies; they were completely unreasonable.

However, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my abdomen.
Cao Bao had unexpectedly kicked me in the stomach, directly knocking me to the ground.

“Cough cough cough! What are you doing?!” I clutched my stomach, lying on the ground, glaring at Cao Bao.
I had clearly said it was a rumor, so why was he kicking me for no reason?

But I had also heard that Cao Bao often beat up classmates for no reason, and I also heard that he had supposedly pursued Xia Yubing but was rejected.

Cao Bao walked up to me, grabbed my hair, and said: “Kid, I advise you to stay away from Xia Yubing, otherwise I’ll show you what’s what, understand?”

“Ugh! I understand!” I could only barely say.
A wise man doesn’t fight when the odds are against him.
If I dared to refuse Cao Bao here, his cronies would definitely beat me into the hospital.

“Very good, I like people who know their place.
Brothers, take whatever you want from him.
We’re going drinking tonight.” Cao Bao sneered, and his gang of thugs swarmed me.

“Wait! Senior Cao, didn’t I agree to your demand?” I asked, startled and angry.

“Yes, you did, so I’m not hitting you.
But a little respect money is appropriate, isn’t it?” Cao Bao laughed, looking as if I should be thanking him.

These hooligan students searched my pockets, finding them completely empty.
Huang Tianhao angrily shouted: “Brother Cao, this kid has nothing on him, not even a phone.”

“I really don’t have any money, Senior Cao, please let me go.” I was actually feeling fortunate for my family’s poverty right now; I had no pocket money at all.
Even my lunch was eaten in the cafeteria with a meal card, so they couldn’t get anything valuable.

“Wait, what’s this?” Suddenly, someone seemed to notice the red string around my neck and reached out to pull it.
I immediately panicked.

“A jade pendant? Looks a bit valuable.” The thug looked at the glistening jade pendant hanging around my neck, calculating if he could sell it for some money.

“No! That’s something my grandmother left me; it’s just an ordinary craft, not worth anything!” I cried out in alarm.
This jade pendant, and only this one, absolutely could not be taken from me.

“Stop spouting nonsense! Hand it over!” The person yanked hard, pulling the necklace from my neck.
“I heard that in the market, some people collect these amulets, and they’re very expensive.”

My eyes instantly turned red.
I lunged forward with all my might, pushing him down, trying to snatch back my grandmother’s jade pendant.

“What do you want, you punk?
Let go of me! What are you trying to do?!
Ahhh!” The thug punched me several times, but I bit his hand, making him scream in pain.

The other thugs immediately swarmed over, punching and kicking me, trying to make me let go, but my eyes were bloodshot from the beating.
I held onto his hand tightly, refusing to let go, and blood flowed into my mouth.

“Let go, ahhh!” The thug was in too much pain to care about the jade pendant anymore and released his hand.
I snatched the jade pendant and hugged it tightly to my chest.

“Damn it! This madman, hit him!
Just don’t kill him!” The thug, clutching his bleeding hand, got up and yelled furiously.
His companions surrounded me, raining punches and kicks upon me.

I could only curl up, hugging my head, enduring their beating, just tightly gripping the jade pendant in my palm.
As long as my grandmother’s jade pendant wasn’t stolen from me, even being beaten into the hospital wouldn’t matter.

“Stop! What are you doing?” Just then, a cold voice, like a celestial melody, rang out.
With the girl’s rebuke, the thugs stopped their assault.

I managed to lift my head and saw Xia Yubing standing on the stairs, looking coldly at Cao Bao and his group.
At this moment, she was like a goddess in my eyes.

“Heh heh, Classmate Xia, I heard this guy was bothering you.
I was just kindly helping you teach him a lesson, to make him stay away from you.” Cao Bao’s expression changed instantly, smiling as he spoke to Xia Yubing.

He completely twisted black and white; it was Xia Yubing who came to talk to me, but it became me harassing Xia Yubing, and his bullying was made to sound like he was a protector of flowers.

“Who asked you to teach him a lesson?
Move aside.” Xia Yubing said indifferently, walking over.
Her beautiful, cold demeanor made the thugs feel inferior, and they involuntarily moved aside, allowing her to reach my side.

Seeing Xia Yubing squat down to check my injuries, Cao Bao’s face immediately darkened.
He glared fiercely at me from behind Xia Yubing, seemingly threatening to break my limbs, and that look sent a chill down my spine.

“Classmate Xia, why bother talking to such a pauper?
Why don’t you come hang out with me?
I can take you to see some very exciting things.” Cao Bao forced a smile and asked again.

“Get lost!” Xia Yubing suddenly snapped impatiently.
I felt a shiver of cold and was also surprised; was the Campus Belle really a girl who would swear like that?

Then, I also began to worry for Xia Yubing.
Cao Bao was by no means a gentleman who cherished women.
He feigned a smile only to leave a good impression on Xia Yubing.
For Xia Yubing to disrespect him like this, she could very likely be bullied or even defiled by him.

However, each of the thugs became stiff, even trembling slightly.
Cao Bao didn’t utter a single harsh word, turned around, and led his men away.