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Chapter 29: Bros, do you know what the 24-character core values are?

“R-Really, someone did?” Chu Zining asked timidly, her gaze dodging his.

“Of course.” Lu Li thought back to that girl. “She had a pointy chin, thick lips, and both eyebrows would stand up whenever she glared.”

“N-no, I don’t think so…” Chu Zining still avoided his eyes.

The silly girl denied it simply because she didn’t want trouble. Lu Li had already possessed her body once, so he knew it inside out and had a fair grasp of her timid nature.

“Really not?” Lu Li raised an eyebrow.

“Probably… not…” Chu Zining lowered her head.

“Classmate Chu Zining, you don’t want people finding out about your chaotic private life, do you?” Lu Li flashed a villainous grin.

Chu Zining froze. Knowing better than to argue, she spilled everything at once: “Her name is Hao Xin, she’s a domineering girl in our class…”

The story itself was actually quite simple.

Chu Zining and Hao Xin never had any past grudges or recent conflicts.

But a girl’s world was overly complex; in a dorm of 6 girls, they could split into 20 chat groups.

Chu Zining had good grades and a pretty face; she was gentle and taciturn, the model good girl with no friends in class, and she kept silent even when bullied.

Hao Xin was different; she formed cliques and swaggered around the class, acting like a tyrant. Unfortunately she was plain-looking, pursued a boy, and got rejected.

Later she discovered that the boy actually liked Chu Zining and had secretly given her a love letter.

Although Chu Zining turned down the letter, Hao Xin felt irritated whenever she saw her from then on.

Chu Zining naturally became the target of bullying.

Even after Hao Xin found a campus thug as her new boyfriend, the matter still gnawed at her.

It all boiled down to jealousy; the boy was merely the fuse. Even without that letter, someone with Chu Zining’s meek nature would have been bullied sooner or later by a malicious person.

Girls in the grip of jealousy were truly frightening; see Lu Yao’s classmate He Yan, who hounded Lu Yao everywhere just because Lu Yao had “stolen” her class belle title.

“Did you eat hawthorn today?” Lu Li asked again.

Startled, Chu Zining quavered, “How did you know?”

“The doctor told me.” Lu Li gave her head a light karate chop. “Dummy, you can’t eat hawthorn on an empty stomach.”

“Ouch.” Chu Zining held her head, looking aggrieved.

Sensing something, Lu Li asked, “Did Hao Xin give it to you?”

Chu Zining murmured, “She said that if I didn’t eat it, I was looking down on her…”

“So you just ate it? Silly girl…” Lu Li ruffled her hair in exasperation.

Chu Zining looked at him timidly and tried to dodge his hand, but when his gaze suddenly turned stern she meekly offered her head again.

“Obedient kids are good kids.” Lu Li stroked her silky hair, then held out his hand on the bed. “Give me your arm.”

Chu Zining slowly held out her injured arm.

Lu Li picked up the saline and iodophor and began treating her wound.

When the liquid touched the cut, Chu Zining let out a tiny “mm” but soon endured it with a calm face.

She seemed used to pain.

After finishing, Lu Li patted her head as a reward. “Good girl.”

“I’m not a child…” Chu Zining blushed; she had only heard praise like that when she was little.

Lu Li said in surprise, “Who called you a child? I’m clearly taking care of an injured puppy.”

Chu Zining pouted in protest. “I’m not a puppy.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Am not…”

“Classmate Chu Zining, you don’t want your messy private life getting out, right?”

“I… I’m a puppy…”

“Good girl…” Lu Li stroked her little head, utterly victorious.

After sitting for a while, Lu Li stood up and said, “Have lunch with me.”

“Huh?” Chu Zining looked at him in confusion.

Lu Li rolled his eyes. “You’ve already fainted from hunger once; do you want a repeat?”

“But… I… why are you helping me?” Chu Zining couldn’t understand. Once or twice might be coincidence; three or four times was deliberate.

What other reason could there be? You’re my second account; I don’t want to log in next time and find myself in a corpse.

“Take a guess.” Lu Li tilted his head and walked out of the infirmary.

Chu Zining sat dazed on the bed for a long time. Suddenly something seemed to dawn on her, and her face flushed all the way to her ears, even her neck tinted pink.

…

By now the senior fitness test had nearly finished, and it was lunchtime.

Most students had dispersed to the cafeteria to demolish their meals.

Lu Li left the infirmary, planning to return to class and fetch the food he had packed that morning.

He had not even entered the classroom when he heard a noisy commotion.

“The guy who hit me is in Class 4!”

“His name is Lu Li!”

“Lu Li, if you’ve got the guts to hit someone, don’t hide in the classroom. I know you’re here!”

Lu Li walked over and saw that same girl with the pointy chin, thick lips, and eyebrows that bristled when she glared… Hao Xin.

Four or five male students stood behind her, each looking fierce.

Lu Li strode over openly and cleared his throat. “Hey!”

When Hao Xin turned and saw Lu Li’s faint smile, she seemed to recall that merciless slap and backed up two steps in fright.

But realizing she had backup, she grabbed a thick-necked boy and shrieked, “That’s him, honey! He’s the one who hit me! Avenge me… beat him to a pulp!”

The boy wasted no time, cracking his knuckles as he stepped forward. “So you’re the one who hit my girl?”

“Yup, I did.” Lu Li nodded without hesitation.

“Straightforward kid. Come with me quietly.” He chuckled. “Didn’t you ask around about who you can’t mess with at Beiyun High? You’re poking the tiger, man!”

The boys surrounded Lu Li and herded him toward the corner beside the restroom.

“Hey, you didn’t drag me here just to beat me up, did you?” With nobody else around, Lu Li lifted his chin and asked.

“Heh, if we weren’t going to hit you, would we invite you here for tea?” the big-headed boy sneered, rolling his wrist.

“So if I fight back, it counts as self-defense, right?” Lu Li mused.

“Tch, self-defense only works if you can defend yourself. I’ve got five or six bros… think you can handle that?” the boy scoffed.

As the boys closed in, Lu Li suddenly raised a hand and asked, “Bros, do you know what the 24-character core values are?”

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