Tao Fengche closed his eyes and took a deep breath, seemingly pulling back from the brink of losing control. Wang Yuan was about to seize the opportunity to diffuse the situation, but Yan Yi couldn’t hold back any longer.

“Cai Hong, are you out of your mind? Do you need to see a doctor? Stop acting like a mad dog, biting people everywhere!”

She had truly been holding it in for a long time. Even her close friends said that Cai Hong’s pursuit of her was like a toad dreaming of eating swan meat. She didn’t understand why Cai Hong believed that Tao Fengche’s presence was the reason she disliked him. He treated Tao Fengche like an imaginary enemy. But what had Tao Fengche done to deserve this? After unexpectedly losing his father and having his family’s assets taken, he hadn’t done anything wrong. It was already pitiful enough, yet Cai Hong had to come and provoke him again.

Just the thought that Tao Fengche might be attacked for her sake made Yan Yi feel awful.

Cai Hong had initially been somewhat hesitant and timid, but now being publicly rebuked by his goddess, he added another grievance against Tao Fengche in his heart: “Tao Fengche, I’ve never seen an alpha as cowardly as you. You always hide behind omegas like a little kitten. Even a dog is stronger than you. At least dogs can bite. What can you do?”

Wang Yuan’s heart trembled, and suddenly everything went black—this was really bad.

Tao Fengche’s rationality was constantly being provoked by Cai Hong. Finally, it completely snapped. He laughed in anger, and the smile on his face was the brightest since starting high school. Yan Yi’s heart fluttered like a startled deer, even feeling a bit stunned.

“Coward?” Tao Fengche repeated softly.

Before the words had even settled, he swiftly reached out and slammed his hand on Yan Yi’s desk, flipping it directly over the head of her desk mate. There was a gasp all around, but he seemed oblivious. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he darted like an arrow to Cai Hong’s seat, grabbed his collar, and lifted him up with force.

Of course, Cai Hong wouldn’t just let him succeed so easily! But Tao Fengche’s grip was like a pair of iron tongs. Under his irresistible force, even an alpha weighing close to 180 pounds like Cai Hong was actually lifted with one hand from his seat!

“What… what are you doing?” Cai Hong whispered. He finally felt a bit panicked, trying to maintain a calm facade but stuttering, “I… I’m telling you, fighting at school will get you expelled!”

“What am I doing?” Tao Fengche responded as if he had heard a funny joke, asking back, “Guess what I’m doing?”

Before Cai Hong could reply, he felt a strong gust of wind beside his face, followed immediately by a sharp pain on his cheek. He had been slammed to the ground by Tao Fengche’s punch! But Tao Fengche seemed to think that wasn’t enough. He squatted halfway down and delivered another fierce uppercut!

As the saying goes, people care about their face as much as a tree cares about its bark. Being publicly slapped in the face not only hurt his pride but the facial nerves were sensitive. After these two punches from Tao Fengche, Cai Hong felt like he had lost all feeling in his face, and the buzzing in his ears was overwhelming. Something slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth, and when he tasted the rusty iron smell, he finally realized—he was bleeding from Tao Fengche’s punches.

Even a clay figure had a temper, and although he knew he was no match, Cai Hong began to resist desperately. He didn’t expect to make Tao Fengche look as bad as himself, but if he could just mess up Tao Fengche’s face, that would be something.

However, his full-scale resistance was held back by Tao Fengche’s single hand. Tao Fengche extended his hand again, delivering another punch with the same force as before to the same spot.

No, perhaps even harder than before.

Cai Hong felt like his head was vibrating like a phone set on vibrate mode, and the sensation of a foreign object in his mouth was very clear. Thinking he might be mistaken, he instinctively spat, but it turned out to be half a broken tooth.

Tao Fengche paid no heed, squinting as he observed him. “Looks like I didn’t hit evenly.”

So the next punch aimed for his left cheek.

The surrounding high school students had never seen such a scene. They didn’t dare to move, frozen in place. Finally, Wang Yuan came to his senses and reached out to Yan Yi, “What are you standing there for? Go call a teacher!”

Then he himself took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and bravely threw himself forward, embracing Tao Fengche, who was still punching but constantly shifting, “Ge! Stop it! He’s a person! Not a punching bag!

···

“Tao Fengche!” Class teacher Feng Hui stared at this once most reassuring and outstanding student with a mix of anger and disappointment, slamming the textbook heavily on the desk.

“One-sidedly beating up a classmate in the classroom, and with such brutality! Look at what you’ve done?! Do you realize you’re only in the second year of high school? You’re going to apply to schools in the second half of the year, and now you’re happy to get a mark against your name?”

Tao Fengche remained silent, unmoved.

Feng Hui looked at him, then at Cai Hong, who had been turned into a colorful palette by him— the latter couldn’t even stand on his own and had to be carried to the office by several alpha classmates. The whole thing made her dizzy with anger.

The school had to at least maintain superficial fairness. Fighting and brawling on campus, and turning a classmate into this, even if Tao Fengche’s background was strong, he couldn’t escape a major punishment that everyone could accept. But once the storm passed, the school would help to erase the punishment to avoid affecting the college entrance exams.

But they were going abroad in the second half of the year, and they would need to provide personal files and proof of no criminal record. Tao Fengche, with his current unrepentant attitude, made her feel overwhelmed.

Although Feng Hui had only recently graduated from a normal university, her heart for educating students was no less than that of any veteran teacher. She couldn’t bear to see such a promising student ruin his future over a fight.

She came from an intellectual family and upheld the old notion that “while all things are of lower order, reading is supreme.” Even though Tao’s family was wealthy, and Tao Fengche could live without worries for a lifetime even if he dropped out now, in her eyes, obtaining an education was still the most important thing.

Although it was Tao Fengche who unilaterally attacked Cai Hong, the whole class could testify that Cai Hong had provoked Tao Fengche repeatedly beforehand. One was a good student who excelled in both academics and conduct before this incident, and the other was perennially uneducated and inept. Even as a teacher, Feng Hui naturally had a bias.

Today’s incident was a big deal or a small matter, depending on how it was handled. As long as Tao Fengche bowed his head and apologized, and Cai Hong immediately showed a repentant attitude, with each side being punished equally, it could be resolved.

She patiently explained to Tao Fengche for more than ten minutes, her throat dry from talking. Despite her efforts, Tao Fengche acted as if he hadn’t heard anything.

In fact, Tao Fengche’s patience was nearly at its limit. Out of respect for Feng Hui’s youth, her status as an omega, and the Tao family’s tradition of respecting educated people, he refrained from arguing on the spot.

Cai Hong’s disrespect and insults to his parents and upbringing came first. He even had the audacity to demand an apology?! Truly outrageous.

Although they weren’t yet adults, they weren’t ignorant children either. Since Cai Hong dared to say those words, he should be prepared to face the consequences.

After speaking for a long time and seeing no sign of remorse from Tao Fengche, Feng Hui was exhausted. She rubbed her temples and, resorting to her final option as a teacher, said, “Tao Fengche, since you won’t listen to me, let’s have your parents come to the school.”

Her initial intentions were actually good. There’s no student who wasn’t afraid of contacting their parents. During her internship, she had seen a supervising teacher use this tactic. Once the words were spoken, the troublesome student opposite instantly softened.

But this time, things didn’t develop as she had imagined.

Tao Fengche remained silent for a while, then suddenly chuckled, “Teacher, are you too busy with work to ever watch the news?”

The sarcasm in his words was barely concealed. Feng Hui neither understood why he had suddenly become so contrary today, nor why she felt attacked. She instinctively felt a bit scared and even wanted to give in.

But how could a teacher bow down to a student?

This was clearly challenging her authority as a teacher!

Feng Hui furrowed her brow. “Tao Fengche, watch your words.”

“Teacher, both my parents are dead.”

Feng Hui was instantly stunned. She instinctively wanted to apologize, but she had decided today to subdue Tao Fengche, this suddenly rebellious student, to prevent him from facing more challenges in society. Pretending not to hear, she continued, “What about your other guardians?”

Just last year, she had graduated from a teacher training college. The original homeroom teacher of Tao Fengche’s class was on maternity leave due to pregnancy complications. She had managed to get in with the help of connections, not very familiar with the specific family situations of the students in the class. Overly focused on talking to him in an effort to suppress Tao Fengche, she missed the frantic signals from other teachers in the office.

Tao Fengche closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, his eyes and voice had completely lost their warmth, like a perennially frozen ice layer in the northern hemisphere.

“I have no family left.”