Chapter 28: Fight

Upon hearing Bai An’s words, Dog Dan and the others exchanged uneasy glances. They all knew the truth.

Not only did they see it, but they also got to enjoy a long-awaited full meal and wear clothes they hadn’t worn in a long time.

But none of them spoke up for Bai An, even though she was right.

Since they were the beneficiaries of the situation, they selfishly regarded Bai An’s family as capitalists in their minds, easing their own guilt.

In their hearts, they justified their actions, thinking that what they had done was not wrong—that this was something the capitalists owed them.

Bai An watched them with no hint of remorse, calmly getting up from the ground. She took in her surroundings, because she was no coward who would stand there and take a beating without responding.

Dog Dan, puzzled, gave a grunt when he saw Bai An get up, and was about to push her again.

Bai An seized the moment, crouched down, and grabbed a handful of dirt, throwing it straight at Dog Dan’s face.

“Spit, spit, spit!” Dog Dan angrily slapped the dirt off his face, glaring at Bai An as he raised his foot to kick her.

But Bai An, who had grown up in an orphanage, wasn’t foolish enough to just stand there and let him kick her.

She sidestepped just in time to avoid the kick, and before Dog Dan could react, Bai An kicked him in the back.

Dog Dan, humiliated by being kicked in front of everyone, screamed and spun around to charge at Bai An.

Seeing this, Bai An grabbed a wooden stick from the ground and swung it at Dog Dan’s arm. The blow made Dog Dan clutch his arm in pain. Seizing the opportunity, Bai An swung the stick at his other arm.

With a twisted, pained face, Dog Dan picked up a stone from the ground and hurled it at Bai An. The stone hit her directly in the forehead.

For a brief moment, Bai An felt dizzy. Her body swayed involuntarily. When she tried to steady herself, her eyes felt as though something was covering them—everything looked red. She reached up and touched her forehead.

Looking at the blood on her hand, Bai An realized it was bright red.

The other children, having never witnessed such a scene, stood frozen in fear, not daring to move. Among them, a brave little girl stepped forward and was about to run to find the teacher.

“I’ll see who dares go!” Dog Dan’s voice trembled slightly as he called out to stop the girl. “If you go, don’t blame me for being rude.”

With that, he walked up to Bai An, nonchalantly grabbing her braid. “If anyone sees, they’ll say you did this to yourself. Got it?”

Bai An looked up at the boy, who was half a head taller than her, and whispered something.

Dog Dan didn’t hear clearly, thinking that Bai An was scared. He turned to walk away.

Bai An, holding the stick, suddenly swung it at his head. “Get lost. You really think I’m easy to bully?”

Since he had the nerve to throw a stone at her head, why should she hold back?

Dog Dan was caught off guard and was struck by the stick. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his head and howling in pain.

Bai An kept swinging the stick, hitting him without holding back, aiming for the painful spots.

Dog Dan covered his head, so Bai An hit his hand. When he tried to protect his hand by pulling it close to his chest, Bai An struck his back. As soon as he stretched out his hand to touch his back in pain, Bai An aimed for his stomach.

“You’re just standing there watching, aren’t you going to stop her?” Dog Dan shouted at the others who were standing nearby. “Hurry up!”

The group exchanged looks, then walked forward at the right moment. One person grabbed Bai An’s braid, another snatched the stick from her hand, and the third grabbed her arm.

“What’s this? You’re ganging up on me?” Bai An struggled with all her might, but it was useless.

Dog Dan slowly climbed to his feet, grabbed a handful of dirt, and smeared it across Bai An’s fair face, the remaining dirt spilling onto her head.

The wound on Bai An’s head stung as the dust touched it, causing her to frown involuntarily.

“What are you staring at? Didn’t you fight quite fiercely just now?” Dog Dan yelled at Bai An, seeing the defiance in her eyes. “Your family is just like Cui Ju’s family. You shouldn’t even be living in the same village as us.”

“You don’t deserve to wear such nice clothes,” Dog Dan sneered as he reached for the pink hairpin on Bai An’s head. When he felt a bit of resistance, he pulled harder, and a few strands of hair came out with it.

Bai An winced in pain and looked at the hair in Dog Dan’s hand. “What are you doing?”

“What am I doing?” Dog Dan turned around, holding the hairpin in his hand, and asked the girls nearby, “Who wants this?”

No one answered.

Seeing this, Dog Dan threw the hairpin on the ground, stomped on it with his foot, and scoffed, “That’s right, who would want the stuff from a capitalist?”

Bai An raised her foot and kicked at Dog Dan.

Dog Dan clutched his stomach. He hadn’t expected Bai An to still resist in such a situation. Furious, he yelled at the people holding Bai An, “Hold her tighter.”

Seeing Bai An’s miserable condition, one of the people hesitated and said, “Dog Dan, why don’t we just leave it here?”

“Leave it?” Dog Dan glared at them and said, “You didn’t get hit, so it’s easy for you to say that.”

Dog Dan picked up the wooden stick from the ground and was about to smash it into Bai An’s body.

Bai An, seeing the stick coming closer, closed her eyes in fear.

But instead of the expected pain, she felt the grip on her loosen, and the people around her released her.

Bai An opened her eyes and saw that the stick had ended up in Lin Zhixia’s hands.

Lin Zhixia looked at Bai An, who was now in a pitiful state, his eyes filled with pity. He slowly reached out, gently touching Bai An’s forehead. Not daring to apply too much pressure, he used his thumb to slowly rub it, avoiding the wound and trying to gently brush off the dirt from her head.

But Bai An quickly jerked her head away from his touch, glancing at Dog Dan, saying nothing. She stood up and walked toward the classroom.

Lin Zhixia watched her leave, his frown deepening.

Turning to Dog Dan, he coldly asked, “You did this, didn’t you?”

Looking at the twisted expression on Dog Dan’s face, trying to force a smile but failing due to his inner turmoil, Lin Zhixia said nothing more.

Dog Dan shook his head vigorously, trying to defend himself. “She did this to herself! I didn’t do anything!”

Lin Zhixia looked at the onlookers, his voice low and calm. “Is that so?”

They were all too terrified by Lin Zhixia’s demeanor to speak.

Lin Zhixia lowered his head and spotted a stone stained with blood at his feet. He gently picked it up.

He rubbed the stone against Dog Dan’s forehead lightly, watching his body tremble in fear. In a soft voice, he said, “If you say it wasn’t you, then it wasn’t, right?”

Dog Dan watched Lin Zhixia’s retreating back, remembering the way he had looked at him. He slumped, spitting in disgust. “My parents were right. These two families are the troublemakers in the village.”

Big Zhuang, who had been gathering wood, looked up and saw Bai An walk past, bloodied and covered in dirt. “Bai An!” Big Zhuang dropped the wood in his hands and, seeing the blood and dirt on her head, shouted in anger, “Who did this!?”