Without any unnecessary movements, Sheng Yan simply pressed the other person against the wall, his brows cold and expression unreadable. His long, slender fingers tightened little by little around the other’s collar. The shirt’s neckline sank deeper and deeper into the victim’s throat, leaving him wanting to struggle but unable to move, able only to cast helpless looks toward the onlookers for help.
But the person beside them was so shocked by this sudden turn of events that he stood frozen, staring in fear.
Although they had all heard various rumors about Sheng Yan outside of school, none of them had ever seen him fight on campus. Much less had they ever witnessed this cold, ruthless side of the usually easygoing and approachable, supposedly legendary school tyrant.
It was like seeing a usually lazy, lounging leopard suddenly get its tail stepped on, instantly awakened into a killing predator.
But what tail did they step on?
Weren’t they just talking about Qin Zigui earlier?
Didn’t Qin Zigui and Sheng Yan fall out already?
Doesn’t Sheng Yan usually insist that he hates Qin Zigui the most?
So by the logic of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” it would be normal if Sheng Yan didn’t join them but why is he beating them up instead?!
What kind of logic was that supposed to be?
The person beside them finally snapped out of his daze and rushed forward, trying to break up the fight. “Don’t fight, don’t fight, we’re all on the same—”
But he froze instantly when Sheng Yan shot him a cold glare, immediately shutting his mouth.
Sheng Yan withdrew his gaze, looked indifferently at the guy pinned against the wall—whose face had nearly turned the color of pig liver and finally released his grip, dropping his hand.
That person immediately slid weakly down the wall and landed on the restroom floor, which was covered in water stains. He clutched his neck, gulping down breaths filled with the toilet’s smell, his face still pale with shock.
Sheng Yan slipped both hands into his pockets, lowered his eyes, and looked down at him. “Fu Yun, you’ve been jealous of Qin Zigui for so many years. Don’t you think it’s getting old?”
The boy called Fu Yun looked up, his face red with anger. “Who’s jealous of him? Which part of what I said wasn’t true? Is he parentless or not? Does he depend on others and watch people’s faces or not? Is he pretending to be proper all day or not? Did he get into fights outside because he was jealous or not? Why, he’s allowed to do it but we can’t talk about it?!”
“Mm. You’re right,” Sheng Yan nodded. “Which is why you’re an idiot.”
Fu Yun: “??”
Sheng Yan raised a brow lazily. “What, he’s allowed to be an idiot but I’m not allowed to say so? You’ve been following that fat tiger since you were little, mocking Qin Zigui for having no parents. You’ve mocked him for years, but how is it that Qin Zigui still manages to outshine you in everything, even with you having both parents? Don’t tell me your two high-IQ parents, one big A and one small a, just happened to hit the unlucky one-fourth chance of giving birth to a small-a small-a dumbass like you?”
Sheng Yan wasn’t great at biology, but it was more than enough to roast Fu Yun.
Fu Yun had grown up in the same government housing compound as Sheng Yan and Qin Zigui. His grades had always been good but Qin Zigui’s were always better. He tried to copy him in everything, yet got crushed every time. From primary school all the way to high school, he chased after him and got crushed the whole way.
In the end, Qin Zigui ranked first in the grade and entered Class One, while Fu Yun, who couldn’t keep up anymore, ended up in Class Four. Qin Zigui became the “white shirt male god,” and Fu Yun became “the guy who likes to wear white shirts.”
He didn’t even realize what a joke he looked like.
Sheng Yan glanced at the silver-rimmed glasses on Fu Yun’s nose, the same style Qin Zigui wore, and let out a cold laugh. “Has anyone ever told you that people with flat nose bridges look like the middle and lower plains of the Yangtze River when they wear big-frame glasses?”
“…”
You’re the Yangtze River plains!
Fu Yun couldn’t hold it back anymore. “Sheng Yan, what’s your problem? Weren’t you the one who hated Qin Zigui the most? Aren’t you the one troubling him every day? And now you’re pretending to be some righteous hero?!”
“Who says I’m pretending to be a hero? What’s my relationship with Qin Zigui? What’s your relationship with Qin Zigui? How could we be the same? Qin Zigui is someone under my protection. If I hate him, if I mess with him, that’s my business. But you don’t get to. From now on, every time I hear you say this crap, I’ll beat you up. Every single time. Until you learn. Got it?”
Sheng Yan looked down at him from above, his sharp features giving off overwhelming aggression, the whole of him radiating arrogant dominance.
And the Fu Yun who had been slumped in the corner holding his collar suddenly looked at him with a wronged, aggrieved expression, clearly angry but too scared to show it. “Sheng Yan, is this how you treat your classmates every day? I only said a few things you didn’t like, and you want to beat me to death?”
Sheng Yan raised a brow.
What the hell? Did he ever say that?
Fu Yun’s nostrils flared, and he looked like he was about to cry. “I know what I said wasn’t appropriate, but I already apologized. What more do you want? Are you really going to beat me up every time you see me? Is that necessary? Just because your family has money, you think you can bully people however you want?!”
Sheng Yan: “??”
When did he say “beat him every time he sees him”?
And what was with that expression?
Why did he look exactly like Keyun from Romance in the Rain when she was crying about losing her child??
Did he accidentally damage Fu Yun’s brain just now?
No way—he’d controlled his strength carefully.
And what was with the other guy’s expression? Why was he staring past Sheng Yan’s shoulder in shock, lips trembling like he wanted to say “Huang—”
Huang?!
Sheng Yan reacted instantly and turned around.
Sure enough, Huang Shuliang was standing at the doorway of the bathroom, chest heaving, breathing hard, practically steaming from the top of his head, clearly trying to hold back his temper. But in the end, failing. He erupted with a furious roar:
“Sheng Yan! How dare you bully your classmate again?! Do you have any respect for rules at all?! Look at how pitiful Fu Yun is—doesn’t your conscience hurt?!”
Sheng Yan: “???”
Pitiful? Him?!
Were the words he said earlier not vicious enough?!
Sheng Yan opened his mouth, but Fu Yun quickly pushed himself up with one hand on the wall, head lowered, and whispered, “Teacher, this isn’t entirely Sheng Yan’s fault. I… I was the one who spoke carelessly first…”
“Even if you spoke carelessly, he can’t just hit you!” Huang Shuliang roared.
Fu Yun’s voice grew even smaller. “He didn’t hit me much… it didn’t hurt.”
“Not hurting doesn’t mean he didn’t hit you! Fu Yun, you’re too good-tempered—too honest—and that’s why people bully you!” Huang Shuliang scolded angrily.
Sheng Yan: “???”
What do you mean ‘didn’t hit much’?
He didn’t hit him at all.
He’d only scared him, and very carefully.
He said helplessly, “That’s not what happened—”
“Oh? Not what happened?” Huang Shuliang cut him off with another shout. “I saw it with my own eyes! You cornered Fu Yun against the wall and scared him to the point of tears! How dare you deny it?!”
He wasn’t crying before you came.
Sheng Yan had lived his whole life as a straightforward guy, if there was a problem, he said it; if there was a fight, they’d settle it; whoever won was right. This was his first time encountering a grown man acting pathetic to gain sympathy.
It was literally the case of a straight man running into a manipulative drama queen, roasted alive over the fire.
And on top of that, Huang Shuliang was already biased against him. There were no cameras in the restroom, and the other boy clearly stood on Fu Yun’s side. At this rate, there was no way he could explain himself clearly.
But he also had zero interest in arguing with these kinds of people, total waste of time. He was just about to throw out a “Believe whatever you want” and walk away when—thunk thunk—someone knocked twice on the doorframe.
Qin Zigui stood at the doorway. He looked at Huang Shuliang and said quietly, “Director, this wasn’t Sheng Yan’s fault. It was my responsibility.”
His voice sounded a bit down, and his expression wasn’t very good either.
Huang Shuliang had never seen Qin Zigui like this and immediately asked, “What does this have to do with you?”
Qin Zigui said calmly, “Nothing much. I was outside reviewing vocabulary and heard the noise inside, but because… because of some personal reasons, I didn’t come in to stop it immediately. So it’s my fault.”
The first-floor restroom was at a corner. One side led to the corridor lined with six senior-year science classes, the direction Sheng Yan and Huang Shuliang had come from. The other side led to a quiet row of plane trees, where students often went to study.
So Qin Zigui being nearby made sense.
What didn’t make sense was—what kind of “personal reason” would make the student council president ignore someone getting beaten up inside?
Huang Shuliang instinctively felt something was off and frowned. “Qin Zigui, what exactly did you hear? Explain.”
Fu Yun didn’t know whether Qin Zigui had truly heard something. His hands tightened, and he held his breath.
Qin Zigui lifted his eyes slightly toward him, then looked away again, saying nothing.
Huang Shuliang was an impatient man by nature, and being stonewalled like this drove him crazy. “If something happened, then say it! How else can I uphold fairness for you?!”
Qin Zigui put aside his usual aloofness. With his head lowered, his eyes carried a quiet hint of hurt and fragility. Combined with his naturally beautiful looks, he appeared incredibly pitiful. Even his tone was extraordinarily considerate. “I’m just worried that if you hear it, you’ll be upset.”
“I’ll be upset?”
Huang Shuliang blinked. What could possibly upset him?
Qin Zigui opened his mouth as if making a painful decision, then finally said softly, “Fu Yun and the others said I had no parents, that I live under someone else’s roof, and that you favor me. So I might be your illegitimate child. Sheng Yan got angry because he felt they were disrespecting you, so he grabbed Fu Yun’s collar. I don’t know what happened after that, but I didn’t hear any sounds of fighting, mostly just Sheng Yan lecturing him.”
“???”
Huang Shuliang never imagined that the “inappropriate” comments would be this inappropriate.
This wasn’t simple childish trash talk anymore, this was maliciously targeting someone where it hurt the most.
Huang Shuliang’s expression changed instantly. He turned to Fu Yun and his companion, his voice stern. “Is this true?”
There was no way they could admit it.
And with no solid evidence, it would only be their word against his.
Fu Yun hurriedly denied it. “No, no, Director, we absolutely never said that! Really! You have to believe—”
Before he could finish, Qin Zigui unclasped his smart wristband, handed it to Huang Shuliang, and said calmly, “Because I’m correcting my pronunciation, I always record myself when I review vocabulary. The recording might not be very clear, but it should prove that Sheng Yan didn’t actually hit him, nor did he say anything like ‘beat him to death’ or ‘beat him every time he sees him.’”
He pressed a finger to the device.
Fu Yun and his companion’s vicious insults crackled through the slight static.
The sound of their faces getting slapped was practically audible.
Both boys’ expressions and Huang Shuliang’s became equally awful.
Qin Zigui, listening again to those hurtful words, remained calm and unreadable, yet the sadness beneath that composure was still unmistakable.
Thinking about Qin Zigui’s tragic background, how he grew up into such a good child, and still had to endure such cruelty, Huang Shuliang felt distressed and furious.
Let alone someone as hot-blooded as Sheng Yan, even he wanted to beat these two mouthy brats.
So, for once, he didn’t even feel like dealing with Sheng Yan. Instead, he bellowed at the two boys, “You two get to the Academic Affairs Office RIGHT NOW! If I don’t teach you what basic human decency means today, I don’t deserve to be a teacher!”
Then he turned back to Qin Zigui.
Qin Zigui lowered his eyelashes and quickly said, “I’m fine, sir. Please don’t be too angry. I don’t think they meant it. Just talk to them properly. I’m okay.”
The more sensible he acted, the more it pained Huang Shuliang.
Sure enough….the kinder the child, the more they suffer.
He almost let those two Class Four bastards fool him!
They needed to be punished. Harshly. Very harshly.
With that thought, Huang Shuliang looked at the two slow, cowardly boys again and became even angrier. “MOVE FASTER!”
Then he turned to Sheng Yan. “Alright. Although you had your reasons this time, your behavior is still unacceptable. You can’t solve everything with violence. Use your brain. Do you understand? Use. Your. Wisdom.”
Sheng Yan, who had already been stunned speechless by Fu Yun’s pathetic performance, became completely dumbfounded after watching Qin Zigui’s divine-level acting. Was Qin Zigui really the one who needed comforting right now? Was this all an act? Was he “one cup purer than the next”? Or was he genuinely hurt?
No matter what, Sheng Yan felt uncomfortable. Qin Zigui had still heard those words.
So whatever Huang Shuliang said afterward, he didn’t hear a single word.
Not until Huang Shuliang shouted again: “Wisdom! Sheng Yan, where is your wisdom?! You have such a good-looking head—what are you using the brain inside it for?!”
Only then did he snap back.
Huang Shuliang’s tone finally softened a bit. “But I can tell you’re not a bad kid. You know right from wrong. There’s hope for you. So after a meeting with the grade-level team, we’ve decided… we’re giving you a reward.”
Sheng Yan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Did the sun rise from the west today?
Huang Shuliang was giving him a reward?
As he wondered, Huang Shuliang took out a classroom seating chart and held it up in front of him. “You recognize this, right?”
Sheng Yan nodded. “Yeah, it’s just the seating plan. But why is it Class One’s?”
Huang Shuliang took a red pen and circled the second-to-last seat by the window. “Do you know who sits here?”
Sheng Yan shook his head.
Huang Shuliang said, “Third in the grade on this exam. Head of the Discipline Committee. Chen Yubai.”
Sheng Yan: “?”
Huang Shuliang circled the very last seat in the second column by the window. “Do you know who sits here?”
Sheng Yan shook his head again.
Huang Shuliang said, “Second in the grade on this exam. Class One’s Chinese class representative. Lin Qian.”
Sheng Yan: “??”
Finally, Huang Shuliang circled the very last seat by the window. “And do you know who sits here?”
This time Sheng Yan knew. “Qin Zigui.”
Huang Shuliang nodded. “Correct. That is our grade’s top student and student council president, Qin Zigui’s seat.”
Sheng Yan didn’t get it. “So?”
“So we plan to add another desk behind Qin Zigui and have him sit there.”
Sheng Yan felt a bad premonition. “And then?”
Huang Shuliang smiled slightly. “Then we plan to assign the now-vacated prime seat—three sides blocked, one side facing the window, a feng shui treasure spot—to you.”
Sheng Yan: “???!!!”
Grade rank No. 3 and Discipline Committee head in front of him, grade rank No. 2 and Chinese rep on his left, grade rank No. 1 and Student Council President behind him, and on his right, the corridor windows, any teacher can pass by at any moment and observe everything he does without obstruction.
Which absolute genius came up with this feng shui treasure spot to torture him?!
What grudge?! What hatred?!
Sheng Yan didn’t even think. “Teacher, no. Really no. I definitely can’t keep up with Class One’s pace.”
Huang Shuliang smiled kindly. “It’s fine. You can’t keep up in Class Six either. So if you can’t keep up anyway, putting you here at least guarantees no one will talk to you or play games with you during class. If you skip class or sneak out your phone, someone will report it immediately. Over time, even if you don’t want to study, you’ll have to. Even if your grades don’t improve, your study habits will.”
Why don’t you say his blood pressure will also improve.
Sheng Yan tried another angle. “With my grade-rank dead last scores, if I go to Class One, the other students will definitely think it’s unfair.”
Huang Shuliang kept smiling kindly. “No, they won’t. If you were from Class Two or Three being promoted to Class One, that would be unfair. But you, with your grades going to Class One, the entire grade knows that’s punishment. They’ll only sympathize with you.”
Sheng Yan: “…”
So you all understand perfectly well, huh.
He wanted to refuse again, but Huang Shuliang cut him off briskly. “Enough. Don’t say more. Your mother has already agreed. As the lowest science score our school has had in five years, the grade-level teachers held a meeting all night to discuss this special arrangement for you. Cherish it. And it’s not forever—just one month of remedial observation. We’ll see the results and decide after. So, Qin Zigui, go help him move the desk. I’m going back to deal with those two brats in Class Four.”
And with that, Huang Shuliang swaggered off.
Sheng Yan remained standing alone at the bathroom entrance, despair washing over him.
Then he thought of something, turned to Qin Zigui, and snapped, “I’m not moving to that seat.”
Qin Zigui had already shed his earlier pitiful-delicate-little-white-flower act and returned to his usual cold, punchable demeanor, hands in pockets. “You’re saying?”
Sheng Yan raised his brows, looking as if he’d uncovered some heavenly truth. “You and Lin Qian originally sit in the same row. If I suddenly move over, wouldn’t I be like the Queen Mother beating apart a pair of lovebirds? I become the tiny ferry ticket separating the two of you—you on one side, Lin Qian on the other—and I’d have to watch you get jealous every day?”
“?” Qin Zigui paused for a moment, then seemed to understand his brain circuit. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “You think I like Lin Qian?”
Sheng Yan rolled his eyes. “Obviously. The whole grade probably knows you like Lin Qian. Otherwise why would you go fight Huangmao’s group?”
Qin Zigui finally understood completely.
So that’s why the young master was this angry.
He thought Qin Zigui had been giving him the cold shoulder because he liked Lin Qian.
So in Sheng Yan’s heart, he had already become a trash friend who abandons buddies for romance.
That was the problem.
And the thing Qin Zigui excelled at most was solving the problem in front of him.
He looked at Sheng Yan and said calmly, “I didn’t fight Huangmao for Lin Qian.”
Sheng Yan glanced at him.
Meeting his gaze, Qin Zigui lowered his eyes slightly, speaking lightly—
“I fought for you.”
