"Hey," Xia Xue said, "I heard Zou Yang has found someone else to deal with you?"

I stayed silent. Even Xia Xue had heard about it. It seemed that there was some truth to the rumors.

"It's okay," I could only say, "Ye Zhan talked to Li Jie, there's nothing to worry about, it's just rumors."

"Really?" Xia Xue still seemed concerned, "Just be careful, okay?"

"I will," I smiled. When the girl you like shows concern for you, it's hard not to feel elated. For a moment, I almost blurted out my confession. If she became my girlfriend, it would be amazing!

Unfortunately, Xia Xue didn't give me the chance to confess. She flipped through her book and said, "Alright, let's focus on the lesson."

A strand of Xia Xue's hair fell from behind her ear, swaying gently with her smile. It was a simple gesture, but it had me captivated.

But then things took a turn.

After the second class in the afternoon, there weren't many students left in the classroom. Several boys had gathered around Xia Xue, trying to make her laugh.

I wasn't good at mingling with a lot of people, so I stayed in my seat, reading a book.

Liu Zihong didn't leave either. His study strategy was to work hard, and he hadn't spoken to me in a while.

Zou Yang sat alone in the back row, lounging with his legs crossed, doing who knows what. Surprisingly, he wasn't hanging out with Li Jie and the others. They were in another corner of the classroom, erupting into laughter from time to time. Everything seemed normal, with no signs of danger.

Then, suddenly, the classroom door was pushed open, and a burly student stormed in.

"Who's Wang Hao?!"

The class fell silent.

I didn't recognize the student, but he must have been from a higher grade. Coming in with such anger and calling my name couldn't mean anything good.

I nudged Liu Zihong, and he nodded knowingly.

I glanced at Zou Yang, who was smiling smugly at me, a sense of triumph evident in his eyes.

"Hey bro, who's Wang Hao?" the student asked, walking up to Zou Yang.

"It's him," Zou Yang pointed at me.

I stood up and instinctively grabbed the chair beneath me, but it was too late.

"Bastard, you're Wang Hao?!" The student suddenly jumped up, delivering a resounding slap to my face.

The slap itself wasn't the worst part; it was the spittle that flew out as he cursed, leaving my face covered in droplets.

"I heard you're Meng Liang's brother?!" Before I could even react, another slap landed on my face.

"What's Meng Liang to you?!" The student roared, his voice thunderous.

I had to admit, some people were just ruthless. When they struck, they did it with full force, leaving you too stunned to retaliate.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

After two slaps, my head started to spin, and I collapsed to the ground, still clutching the chair.

"Haha, you're still holding onto the chair, planning to hit me with it?!" The student laughed, "Go on, hit me!" He kicked at my hand, causing me to release the chair. Glancing sideways, I saw Liu Zihong had disappeared.

He must have gone to find Ye Zhan. My heart settled slightly. The student's foot came down hard on my hand, and I had to let go of the chair. Glancing around, Liu Zihong was nowhere to be seen.

He must have gone to get Ye Zhan. My heart calmed slightly.

The student's foot came down hard on my hand, and I had to let go of the chair. Then he kicked me in the stomach, all while cursing, "What's wrong with Meng Liang? Who does he think he is? Why should someone from a vocational school meddle in the affairs of Chengnan High School?! Damn, do you think calling people from the vocational school is a big deal?!"

My stomach twisted in pain, and something threatened to come up. Even Zou Yang had never hit me this hard!

"What's the matter, still tough?" Zou Yang bent down, patting my face, "You think calling people from the vocational school is impressive?"

My chest heaved, filled with hatred. I only regretted not being harsher that day. I glared at him fiercely.

"Is calling people from the vocational school impressive?" Zou Yang continued patting my face, speaking softly, "In this world, money talks..."

My body lay on the ground, my face against the cold concrete.

I was waiting.

I hated myself for not being strong enough, for just lying there, waiting for Ye Zhan to come rescue me.

But even if Ye Zhan came, what good would it do? He was just a nobody, even less threatening than Meng Liang.

My heart sank.

But Ye Zhan was still a glimmer of hope in my heart.

Hong Li kept cursing, while Li Jie tried to console him, each word seemingly for my benefit.

"Hey, Wang Hao and Zou Yang are both from Dongguan Town. It's not good to cause such a scene."

"Li Ge, you're a big man, spare Wang Hao this time."

"Wang Hao and I are in the same class. It's heartbreaking to see him like this..."

But Hong Li kept repeating one thing: "No, bring me a thousand bucks, or this isn't over!"

Finally, footsteps sounded at the classroom door, and Ye Zhan, panting, entered. "Li Ge, what's going on?!"

"Ye Zhan, you finally came!" Before Hong Li could speak, Li Jie immediately said, "Turns out Li Ge is Zou Yang's brother. Even I didn't know. Li Ge is here to stand up for Zou Yang. I've been trying to talk sense into him, but to no avail!"

Ye Zhan didn't say anything.

I struggled to lift my head and saw Ye Zhan's face trembling slightly. He didn't look at Li Jie, Hong Li, or Zou Yang. He just silently looked at me. From his face, I saw regret and helplessness.

"It's okay," I mouthed to him. "It's okay." I couldn't even speak anymore. Those two slaps and the kick had drained all my strength.

I think he understood. Ye Zhan wasn't stupid. He was smart. He could see that Li Jie was just putting on a show, and that Hong Li was definitely someone Li Jie had brought. But Zou Yang had probably spent a lot of money to make this happen.

"Ye Zhan, a few days ago, did you bring Wang Hao to bully my brother?" Hong Li glared at Ye Zhan, like a ferocious tiger.

"Li Ge, it wasn't about bullying or not bullying." Ye Zhan tried to sound calm, "Wang Hao is Meng Liang's sworn brother. Wang Hao and Zou Yang had a small conflict, so Liang Ge asked me to mediate. After all, we're all classmates, and we're all from Dongguan Town. I took Wang Hao there, they had a one-on-one fight, and everything was fine afterward."

"Damn!" Hong Li slapped Ye Zhan across the face. Ye Zhan, with his small frame, couldn't take it and fell to the ground, facing me. He smiled bitterly at me and whispered, "Sorry, this time I can't cover for you."

"You son of a bitch!" Hong Li roared, "You say everything's fine? You think it's fine for Wang Hao to throw chicken bones at my brother? He doesn't even regard me as a person. I'm still a student at Chengnan High School!"

As he spoke, Hong Li tried to kick Ye Zhan.

"Li Ge!" Li Jie quickly grabbed Hong Li. I had to admit, his acting skills were impressive. He made it all seem so real. "Ye Zhan respects you a lot. We're all students at Chengnan High School. He didn't know Zou Yang is your brother. If he did, he wouldn't have gotten involved, no matter what. Please, don't resort to violence. Don't hurt Ye Zhan!"

"Fine, I won't hit Ye Zhan," Hong Li conceded. Perhaps he and Li Jie both thought Ye Zhan was more trouble than I was, so he viciously kicked towards my chest instead.

But the kick never landed because Ye Zhan grabbed his ankle.

"Why, are you still protecting him?!" Hong Li glared angrily at Ye Zhan, feeling annoyed at his audacity.

"Ye Zhan, why bother?" Li Jie sighed as he watched Ye Zhan. It seemed this good guy was going to stick to his principles until the end.

"Li Ge," Ye Zhan said, "Maybe I'm doing this for your own good."

"What do you mean?" Hong Li stared at Ye Zhan, wide-eyed.

"With your status, you might not care about Meng Liang, but what about the people behind him?" Ye Zhan's tone became strange, a mix of threat and advice.