For the past two days, Xiao Zhi-Yuan had been missing Ru’s presence since she had not been back to the apartment. He had been sulking all alone since even Xiao Zhi-Ren wasn’t around to keep him company.
At times like these, Xiao Zhi-Yuan truly felt lonely but he still couldn’t bring himself to make friends. Socializing had always been his nemesis. He would rather stay cooped up in his room reading a book than going out to party like others his age. As Ru named him; he really was a nerd who knew only how to bury himself in books.
He tried to be rebellious just to spite his own brother but smoking or drinking both didn’t work for him. When he wanted to smoke, Ru snatched the pack from him and when he wanted to get drunk, Ru made him that spicy drink making him want to never touch alcohol ever again.
With his head resting on his hand, he had a goofy smile on his face as those memories of meeting Ru came to his mind. Although he seemed to be looking at the school grounds through the window, in reality, he was just lost in his own thoughts.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan’s day-dreaming came to an end when he heard a camera snap sound. With a frown, he turned his face to see Shen Yue grinning as she was looking at the photo she just clicked. "Woah! I really can’t get tired of this charming and gentle smile." She commented making Xiao Zhi-Yuan upset.
"Delete that!" Xiao Zhi-Yuan said keeping his voice neutral.
"I don’t want to!" Shen Yue retorted and even stuck out her tongue childishly.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan got irked by her behavior and he shot up from his chair. His tall and lanky figure towered above Shen Yue’s petite one. When he lifted his hand to take the phone, Shen Yue stubbornly hid it behind her; clasping it tightly.
"I said to delete it," he was trying hard to not let his temper get the best of him but the girl before him had her own ’ideas’. She took a step back and tried to run from the classroom. Catching on to her thoughts, Xiao Zhi-Yuan stretched out his long leg to follow but before he could move, he was pushed back by a sturdy hand. Shen Yue gasped as she stopped in her track.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan was caught off guard and took him a while to get back to his feet. He clenched his fists and looked at the one who just pushed him; Zhang Han. He was the current class president and also the top student in the whole school. Zhang Han and Xiao Zhi-Yuan had no animosity or at least, that’s what Xiao Zhi-Yuan thought. Technically they never even interacted with each other and yet, Zhang Han hated his guts but why? That Xiao Zhi-Yuan had no clue about.
Because let’s be honest, Ru’s little squirrel was truly a bit dense when it came to reading people or their feelings.
For instance, Xiao Zhi-Yuan couldn’t possibly see that Shen Yue was irritating him all the time because she was interested in him. Also, if he couldn’t even notice others feelings for himself, how could he see that Zhang Han was interested in Shen Yue?
"How dare you try to touch our Yue Yue?" Zhang Han asked with hostility.
"I only asked her to delete the photo she clicked. I have no interest in touching someone like her," Xiao Zhi-Yuan had always been honest but Ru’s influence actually made him brutally honest. His words stung Shen Yue who was trying to intervene but was stopped by the other students.
Even Zhang Han felt hurt when he heard that Shen Yue actually clicked a photo of Xiao Zhi-Yuan but his last words made Zhang Han glare hatefully at him. Before Xiao Zhi-Yuan could even react, Zhang Han delivered a punch to his face in a fit of rage.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan tasted blood in his mouth as his lip was cut by the impact of that punch. Xiao Zhi-Yuan also raised his fist to attack but suddenly a voice rang out, "Guys, get back to your seats. The teacher is coming."
Xiao Zhi-Yuan reluctantly let his hand drop by his side and sat back on his seat and dropped his head on the desk, not taking any interest in the class affairs. Everyone else also settled down.
Soon the head teacher Li entered the senior class ’A’ with a delicate, beautiful and a magnificent beauty following behind. There were countless gasps of astonishment in the class which came from the boys while the girls burned with envy.
"Stay quiet everyone!" The teacher Li announced and all the students lowered their voices. Then the teacher turned to the beauty and said, "Miss, this is the senior class ’A’. Who were you looking for?" The teacher spoke humbly since the person before him was the only daughter of Ji Family. A family that held the highest esteem in the whole of Asia.
Earlier when the teacher Li was called to the principal office, he had no idea he would get to meet this pride of the aristocratic family in flesh. But he was confused, this Miss Ji only asked for the directions to the class, she didn’t tell him who she was looking for.
Ji Caihong clad in her ocean blue dress looked like a water fairy with her long black hair cascading down to her back in waves. Her delicate manner and those glistening eyes had already enchanted plenty in the class. But there was a slight disappointment in those eyes as they darted around in the class but couldn’t find whom she was looking for.
Suddenly, she saw someone in the last row with his head down. Her eyes brightened up and she walked briskly towards Xiao Zhi-Yuan’s side. She tapped on his shoulder lightly, Xiao Zhi-Yuan who was already in a bad mood, turned his face to snap at the one who disturbed him, "What?"
Looking at Ji Caihong’s grinning face, Xiao Zhi-Yuan was stunned for a moment before his brows knitted together. Ji Caihong was about to say something when her eyes fell on the blood on his lower lip and sensing a dangerous glint in her eyes, Xiao Zhi-Yuan tried to cover his lip instinctively. But she didn’t give him a chance to do so.
"Who did it?" She only voiced out this question as her hand lifted up to touch his face that was turning slightly blue.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan hissed at her slight touch and swatted her hand away saying, "None of your concern." Ji Caihong’s eyes darkened even more as she felt her body burning with rage. She was meek and a very delicate young lady of her family but the one hurt before her was her only younger brother. And how can a sister see her brother hurt? Definitely, she couldn’t!
The gentle water fairy instantly turned into a dark one with a fierce aura around her.
She whipped her body around to glare at teacher Li and seeing her eyes, even the elderly teacher was startled. "I didn’t know that Imperial’s top school allowed their students to bully others!"
"Miss..." Teacher Li tried to clarify but he didn’t have anything to argue with. He was already stupified to see Ji Caihong approaching Xiao Zhi-Yuan.
"Save your breath!" Ji Caihong’s voice boomed in the classroom jolting everyone. "You just wait and see what I do to your school now." Her threat was blatant and teacher Li knew that she was not kidding at all.
"Miss, this was obviously a matter between students. It’s not right to implicate the school." Teacher Li could only come up with these words to placate the situation but he didn’t know that his words would get back to bite him in the as*.
"Really? Then find me the one who is responsible," Ji Caihong gave him a way out and teacher Li heaved a sigh of relief.
Teacher Li looked sternly at the students and said, "Whoever did this to Xiao Zhi-Yuan, come out now!" No-one moved from there seats. "None of you is willing to tell me who is responsible here?" The students were quite loyal to Zhang Han since he was the class president and also, he had a pretty good backing. Even when Shen Yue wanted to help, she couldn’t. Zhang Han’s and her own families were business partners and good friends.
Also, no-one in the class knew anything about Xiao Zhi-Yuan or the Ji Caihong. Otherwise, they wouldn’t dare to be so loyal.
Teacher Li gritted his teeth since none of his students was ready to open their mouth. Since Xiao Zhi-Yuan had no interest in speaking up himself, the students thought he was scared of Zhang Han. And they tried to take advantage of that fact by saying, "Teacher, Xiao Zhi-Yuan have a bad company. One of his gangster friends might have done this to him."
Xiao Zhi-Yuan still didn’t try to defend himself but his reason was simple; he wasn’t sure about Ji Caihong’s intentions. Why was she being so protective of him? Clearly, he had treated her badly every time they met. But here she was with a fierce look in her eyes that had seemed to touch his heart in one way or another.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan didn’t react that was one thing but Ji Caihone doesn’t say anything, how was that possible? She directly went up to the student who had spoken and delivered a crisp slap to his face without restraining her strength. The guy was stunned still as he glared at Ji Caihong.
"How dare you hit me?" The student roared at her. Since it was the top school of Imperial obviously each student came from a prominent background and had some sense of arrogance. "My father is the top lawyer of the country. He’ll sue you for this!" Teacher Li felt his heart drop as he heard his own student’s haughty words before the haughtiness queen herself.
Ji Caihong sneered as she pulled at his corner and gave another slap saying, "Now, I slapped you twice. Go and tell your father to sue me. And don’t forget to tell him that my name is Ji... Cai... Hong!"
The students twisted their necks to look at her in astonishment. Although the Ji family was highly esteemed, it was also one of the most secretive ones. They had all heard about the Ji family’s young miss but they had never seen her.
As the fear of Ji Family crawled in the students’ hearts, one of them stood up and tried to speak, "Miss Ji, I’ll tell you who-" Ji Caihong interrupted him.
With a sweet smile, she said, "My family doesn’t have the habit of giving the second chances. You all have chosen your path and now all of you should also wait for a lawsuit along with this lousy school."
"But why should all of us take the blame?" One girl cried out exasperatedly.
"Because all of you are such loyal friends!" Ji Caihong turned and held Xiao Zhi-Yuan’s wrist pulling him with herself. She stopped at the door and said, "The one who does the crime is not the only criminal. Those watch it and stay silent are also as much guilty." With that, she dragged Xiao Zhi-Yuan straight out of the school.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan was still in a daze when she had dragged him along to where her car was parked. She took deep breaths. Inside, under the influence of adrenaline, she didn’t realize how nervous she was after all, she had never spoken like that before.
Xiao Zhi-Yuan smiled to himself looking at her fidgeting all by herself. All his life the only person who fought for him like this was his elder brother. Then Ru came to fight for him in a different way and now, Ji Caihong’s fighting style was completely out of his expectations. Why was she so concerned about him so much?
He once heard that a sister’s protectiveness for her brother goes beyond one’s imaginations. Was this anger because she really was acting like his elder sister? Was this the wrath of an elder sister? If it was, he felt really happy about it.
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