chapter4

  Yan Bai sat down again opposite He Song, looking at the other's slightly open mouth and extremely surprised expression, and smiled: "What? You don't want to eat with me?"

  "No!" She just felt that people like them wouldn't get along with someone like her. She couldn't quite put into words the difference between herself and them, but deep down she knew they were far superior to her, a distance she found hard to bridge.

  "Hurry up and eat, it won't be good if it gets cold," Yan Bai said, then lowered his head to slowly start eating. His elegant appearance didn't seem much inferior to Yuan Zhi's.

  He Song glanced at the small chicken leg in his own bowl, then looked at the few green vegetables in his bowl, hesitated for a few seconds before pushing the plate forward slightly. Receiving the other person's questioning gaze, she smiled awkwardly and pointed to the plate, "Chicken leg, you eat."

  He might rarely take the initiative, especially when facing someone he wasn't very familiar with. He Song appeared a bit tense, yet also somewhat expectant. Yan Bai looked at the chicken leg for a few seconds before picking up a small chicken wing next to it and saying, "I'll eat this one, you have the chicken leg."

  Yu Shi was still very happy and responded with a sound, then picked up the chicken leg and slowly gnawed on it himself.

  After that day, He Shuang started school, carrying a school bag to the third grade of elementary school. She was an insert student and was the oldest in the class, so among a group of younger kids, He Shuang was still the least popular one.

  Since she arrived, everyone except Yan Bai and Wu Shu kept a certain degree of hostility and distance from her. After a while, she got used to it, and actually, it wasn't a big deal, just endure it and it would pass. Besides, even if she was dissatisfied, what could she do? At this time, He Shuang already had such self-awareness.

  Yan Bai comes over every week to help He Sheng with her homework and explain some question types. He Sheng isn't the type of person who is naturally good at studying, to put it simply, she's not smart, but fortunately, she's willing to spend time and effort, so she's made quite a bit of progress.

  She would often move the small stool that Wu Auntie used to sit on while picking vegetables to the entrance and look at the various mistakes in her homework, thinking deeply. At first, Wu Auntie found it strange and thought it was uncomfortable to study like this, suggesting she go back to her room and lie on the desk instead. However, He Song replied that she liked studying this way and had done so at home before. Wu Auntie didn't say anything else after that, and even Yuan Zhi got used to her habit of not knowing how to enjoy herself over time.

  These two people rarely had the opportunity to come into contact with each other, and Yuan Zhi's disdain for her was evident. He Shuang was also very aware of this and tried his best to avoid appearing in front of him, so from the time he moved here until now, even when occasionally being sarcastically teased by Yuan Zhi, nothing big had happened that couldn't be handled.

  It was a weekend, He Sheng squatted at the door as usual to watch the topic, and other textbooks and test papers were neatly stacked beside him.

  Yuan Zhi and He Shou Si walked in, making a ruckus. The young man who burst in had an exceptionally vivid expression on his face, and under the sunlight, those sparkling particles seemed to be dancing.

  He Sheng subconsciously raised his head to take a look, and then quickly lowered it again. Those two restless kids naturally also discovered her. Yuan Zhi usually had a good temper and was too lazy to bother with her, but today he walked over to take a look at the novelty, with He Shou following closely behind him.

  Two men walked up to He Song's front, and He Shou Si was the first to speak, pointing at the book beside him in surprise. "Third grade? I'm saying, Black Skin, how old are you?"

  He didn't know He Shuang's name, and would sometimes refer to her as "Black Skin" in private conversations with Yuan Zhi, due to her dark complexion and the fact that she seemed out of place in this city.

  He Sheng saw them standing in front of him and didn't move, so he felt a bit nervous, his fingers tapping on the corner of the book, "Twelve."

  "You're in third grade at 12?" He Guanshu was even more shocked, his eyes wide with wonder. "Are you kidding me? Your IQ must be negative!"

  He Sheng pursed her lips, lowered her head in embarrassment, and slid her fingers over the book corners at a faster speed. She didn't plan to explain anything, nor was there much to explain; she really was stupid, not as good as the people here.

  Yuan Zhi bent down and pulled out a math test paper, took a look, and saw that more than half of it was wrong. There were steps to solve the problem next to it, and the handwriting was clearly not hers. Her gaze shifted to the top, raised an eyebrow, "57 points? Not bad."

  He slapped the test paper against He Song's lowered head, the thin paper making a crisp sound, not painful, but the action was humiliating enough.

  Yuan Zhi continued to pat him a few more times, before stopping and saying: "You got so many wrong, this kind of question even kindergarten kids can do, huh? I suggest you either go to kindergarten, it might be more suitable for you."

  After saying "hiss", He Sheng was stunned for a moment, then suddenly raised his head and saw that the test paper had been torn in half and was still being torn apart. She stared blankly at it, then shifted her gaze to Yuan Zhi's face, which was full of mockery. The contours of his features were clearly so handsome, but why did he suddenly look disgusting?

  "Why are you doing this?" He Song stood up, pinching the hem of his clothes with both hands, frowning at him with a timid expression mixed with rare dissatisfaction. She was afraid of Yuan Zhi from the bottom of her heart, but the anger at this moment also made her uncomfortable and unable to ignore it. Thinking that she had never provoked him from their meeting until now, He Song couldn't understand why Yuan Zhi always made things difficult for herself.

  Yuan Zhi's expression turned cold, and he crumpled up the exam paper in his hand into a ball and smashed it onto He Song's face without hesitation. "It's just that I don't like looking at you."

  The rustling of the paper slightly lifted her light yellow hair, He Sheng tilted his head, and that not-so-good-looking face was buried in the shadows. The hand pulling on his clothes tightened again, and the grievances in his heart surged due to the other party's insulting behavior. He clenched his teeth and silently endured the moist heat at the corners of his eyes.

  Yuan Zhi looked at her sulking behavior and narrowed his eyes, flashing a dangerous light inside. He took a step closer to He Song, looking down on her, "What? Uncomfortable listening? If you're uncomfortable, then take action!"

  He pushed her hard, and after seeing her stumble backwards, he shouted loudly: "You think that with Yan Bai's backing you have nothing to fear? You're still a naive little girl. I'll tell you, Yan Bai is just a dog next to Yuan Chongyang, what can he do? Do you think I'm afraid of him?"

  Her face was stiff with anger, her eyes cast downward in a clear sign of resentment. She was used to being discriminated against and bullied wherever she went, as if born to play this humble role. She had almost lost the ability to resist, but Yan Bai was different. That gentle and kind man was the only one who made her feel like sunshine existed. She didn't have much education, but she knew how to repay kindness, so how could she allow others to insult Yan Bai?

  Now Yuan Zhi was recklessly scolding that kind-hearted man, which made He Sheng extremely unacceptable. She breathed softly, her eyes full of struggle. After a while, Yuan Zhi pushed her again, and this push was like a silver needle piercing the swollen balloon, bursting with a loud bang.

  He Sheng finally lifted his head, his eyes red-rimmed, and he didn't know whether it was from humiliation or anger. Yuan Zhi's mouth opened and closed, still constantly insulting him, but He Sheng couldn't hear a word. The next second, he stretched out his hand and forcefully pushed him away.

  The children who were used to doing rough work in the mountains and those who were born and raised in the city had a fundamental difference. He Shuang's strength was very great, Yuan Zhi didn't think she would fight back, so he wasn't on guard at all. One unstable step backward, coincidentally it was the stairs, stumbled and fell straight towards the stone pillar on one side, his head hit hard against it with a dull thud.

  He Shouci, who had intended to intervene, was stunned and then hastily shouted "Yuan Zhi!" as he rushed over. Yuan Zhi's occipital bone was cracked, and the seam of his hand covering it had already started to seep blood.

  He Shouci hastily helped to cover his wound, while dialing the phone with a flustered expression to inform others. Yuan Zhi was already in so much pain that he couldn't speak, He Shouci glared at He Song fiercely after finishing the call and gritted his teeth, saying: "You're brave, if anything happens to him, you'll pay with your life."

  He originally thought that the black skin was being bullied by Yuan Zhi and felt a bit pitiful, thinking of helping to mediate and say something. Even if this person was brought over from Yuan Zhi's father's side, he couldn't be treated so unfairly. As a result, the next second he was played out in blood. Damn it, no matter what Yuan Zhi said, he was his brother, and no matter how despicable things he did, he had never been bullied by others before.

  He Sheng was also frightened, his whole face turned white, and his eyes were filled with despair. Especially when he saw the blood on his head that couldn't be stopped, it gave him a feeling of darkness and hopelessness. She had never experienced such a violent thing before, especially since she was the one who did it. She didn't mean to hurt Yuan Zhi, she hadn't intended for him to get injured.

  He Sheng lowered her head and looked at her trembling hands, what should she do?

  A car came quickly outside the door, and several adults helped He Shou Si to lift Yuan Zhi into the car and left immediately. Next to it was a police car, and a man in uniform walked up to He Song's face, without saying a word, he picked up He Song like a chicken and took him away. Wu Auntie had not returned from buying vegetables yet, and the outer door was still wide open. Through the car window, He Song could still see the small stool, the scattered textbooks, and the bloodstains on the pillar that stung his eyes.

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