Chapter 27: Bullied by Gou Dan

What a joke to call us friends! How dare you say something like that.

Bai An turned her head away, clearly not wanting to engage with him.

However, Lin Zhixia persisted, following Bai An and continuing to talk to her. Eventually, he even started to reach out to her.

Before Lin Zhixia could touch Bai An’s shoulder, she turned to him and said, “I don’t want to talk to a thief.”

Lin Zhixia’s eyes were dark, and when he heard Bai An’s words, his brows furrowed slightly but then relaxed again.

“I’m not a thief,” Lin Zhixia whispered in Bai An’s ear, speaking softly enough for only the two of them to hear. “I didn’t steal anything. In fact, I even made sure to protect your room.”

Bai An stared directly into his eyes and spoke each word slowly and clearly: “Then you’d better say the same thing when using our things.”

Lin Zhixia, facing Bai An’s hostility, merely smiled slightly, nodded, and bent over to pull a few books out of his bag, placing them on the desk.

Smiling, he said, “It might take some time for Cui Ju to return them, so why don’t I return them to you first?”

Bai An looked at the books on the desk and softly said, “Why does it seem like none of you are in a hurry about Cui Ju’s disappearance?”

“Isn’t that the same for you?” Lin Zhixia smiled at Bai An.

Bai An gazed at his indifferent expression, remaining silent and not saying anything more.

They weren’t fools; they knew why.

“When it’s time for labor, stay with me,” Lin Zhixia lazily leaned against the edge of the desk, his pale yet strong hand tapping on his knee, his gaze drifting toward the window.

“Why? I don’t want to.” Bai An mimicked his posture, leaning against the desk and turning to look at him, saying, “I’m staying with Da Zhuang.”

“Da Zhuang?” Lin Zhixia glanced at the boy behind them who was staring at them with wide eyes and gave a light laugh. “If you want to be with him, then be careful.”

“What do you mean?” Bai An thought he was threatening her, but she didn’t care and continued staring blankly at the desk.

Lin Zhixia, seeing that Bai An had no sense of urgency, couldn’t help but frown. He looked around, noticing that most of the students were focused on them.

After some time, the noise in the classroom increased, and several students tried to squeeze closer to Bai An.

“Hehe.”

Bai An once again saw a boy come up to her, making a face.

Bai An looked at Lin Zhixia in confusion and asked, “Are they always like this?”

Lin Zhixia glanced at the few boys and frowned. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” Bai An was about to ask more when the teacher walked in.

“Everyone, go to the playground for labor.”

Before Bai An could figure out what kind of labor it was, Lin Zhixia grabbed her hand and walked with the group outside.

The children, varying in height, lined up in an orderly fashion. Lin Zhixia skillfully placed Bai An in the middle and said, “If you need anything, come find me.”

Bai An watched in confusion as Lin Zhixia walked away with a teacher to the other side of the playground.

“Bai An, Bai An.” Da Zhuang, seizing the opportunity while the teacher wasn’t paying attention, sneaked up to Bai An’s side and whispered in her ear, “Later, the teacher will have us pull weeds. Just follow me.”

Bai An nodded, intending to say something, but then realized all the kids were staring at her.

It felt really strange.

Under their watchful gazes, Bai An kept quiet.

When the teacher stood in front of them and called a few boys’ names, those boys were sent to a nearby grove to collect wood.

One of the boys was Da Zhuang.

Da Zhuang followed the teacher, turning around to wink at Bai An.

Bai An didn’t understand what it meant and could only nod back at him.

Not long after, another teacher arrived, instructing the remaining children to go to a nearby field to pull weeds.

Bai An, all alone, watched as the children chattered and played in the field.

“Pull all the weeds out of the field, and once today’s task is done, you can all go home,” the teacher said, pointing to the field. “Be careful not to pull out the seedlings.”

“Got it!” the children answered in unison.

Once the teacher left, the children paired up in groups, while Bai An stood alone, unsure of what to do in the field.

“What are you doing?” a boy walked up to Bai An, pointing at a weed in her hand. “You pulled out a seedling.”

Bai An looked at the weed in her hand and then glanced around at the field.

It all looked the same to her.

“I’ve never worked in the fields before,” Bai An whispered.

“Never worked in the fields?” The boy was surprised and shouted, “You’ve never worked in the fields at all?”

The other kids were drawn by his loud voice and turned to look at them curiously.

Bai An hesitated and nodded.

“She’s from the city, so of course, she’s never worked in the fields,” the boy who had made faces at Bai An in the classroom earlier ran over. With exaggerated expressions, he said, “My mom says her family is capitalist.”

“Capitalist!” Someone gasped in surprise.

The children looked at each other, wondering what to think.

The boy who had just spoken to Bai An angrily said, “Don’t spread rumors.”

“Yeah, you shouldn’t say such things.”

“Exactly, just because someone is from the city doesn’t mean they’re a capitalist. Dog Dan is too bad.”

“Bai An seems so nice. How could she be a capitalist?”

A group of kids started defending Bai An.

Bai An understood the seriousness of the term, so she quickly rebutted, “My family isn’t capitalist.”

“How could they not be capitalists? You’re from the city, and your family has so many nice things. What else could you be if not capitalist?” Dog Dan shouted loudly.

His friends, hearing this, immediately tugged at his arm and asked, “Dog Dan, is that true? Does she really have nice things?”

Bai An was already annoyed by their words. “How do you know my family has nice things? My family is actually missing a lot of things recently. Could it be you stole them?”

Dog Dan retorted, “My parents said so. They also said Cui Ju’s disappearance is your family’s fault.”

Dog Dan and his group already looked down on Cui Ju’s family. They believed that anyone who associated with Cui Ju didn’t have anything good. Now, hearing Dog Dan claim that Bai An’s family was capitalist, it stirred up an unfounded animosity among them. One of the boys pushed Bai An’s arm and said, “Capitalists should be overthrown, and their stuff should be given to the country.”

Bai An staggered backward from the push, barely managing to steady herself. Dog Dan came over again and pushed her, saying, “Hey, why didn’t you fall?”

“You’re pushing people around.”

A few younger children couldn’t stand watching anymore. They rushed over and pushed Dog Dan and his friends, telling them not to bully Bai An.

Dog Dan, disdainful, shoved them aside.

“What’s the deal? Why are you calling my family capitalists? And why are you blaming us for Cui Ju’s disappearance?” Bai An got up and helped the smaller children back up. But while doing so, Dog Dan pushed her down again.

The dirt from the field stuck to Bai An’s clean clothes. In frustration, she grabbed a handful of soil and threw it at them.

Dog Dan brushed the dust off his clothes and shook his head, saying, “That’s what the people in the village are saying.”

“Is it?” Bai An looked at Dog Dan and his friends, raising her voice. “Then let me say this—you’re all thieves. Your parents have been sneaking into our house under the pretense of looking for Cui Ju and stealing our things.”

“Do you dare deny that you saw your parents that night, carrying some things that even you recognized, bringing them back home?”

“You’re all thieves!”