Chapter 30: Telling the Battle Experience

Bai An listened to the teacher’s words and nodded. Before she could make any move, she saw Lu Jin’an squatting in front of her.

“Climb on,” Lu Jin’an said gently to Bai An, “I’ll take you home.”

Bai An looked at the not-so-wide shoulders in front of her, then leaned onto them, inhaling the familiar fragrance of papaya, which made her feel at ease.

When Wan Qing was tidying up the clothes, she would place a papaya in the wardrobe. Over time, the clothes absorbed the scent.

Whenever Bai An smelled it, she felt as if she were home.

Lu Jin’an carried Bai An on his back, treating her like a treasure, gently supporting her.

Before leaving, Lu Jin’an turned to look at Goudan, who was still sitting on the ground. Half of his face was shaded by the tree, and his eyes narrowed, a ruthless coldness flashing quickly through them.

Goudan saw the threat in his eyes and, frightened, grabbed the teacher’s pants and shouted, “Teacher, what should I do? He’s going to kill me!”

“You deserve it,” Big Zhuang stepped forward and kicked him, “Who told you to hit Bai An? She’s such a good person, and you still hurt her.”

The teacher furrowed his brows and, seeing Big Zhuang about to kick again, half-heartedly stopped him, “Stop it. Go do some labor.”

Big Zhuang, unwilling, glared at Goudan on the ground. As the teacher wasn’t paying attention, he raised his foot and kicked him.

“Ouch!” Goudan clutched his arm and complained to the teacher, “Big Zhuang kicked me!”

By the time the teacher was about to scold Big Zhuang, he had already disappeared.

Goudan, sensing someone approaching, glanced down at the shadow near his feet. He quickly looked up and saw Lin Zhixia lowering his head, looking at him.

“What are you doing?” Goudan asked nervously, feeling uneasy at the smile on Lin Zhixia’s face.

Lin Zhixia smiled at Goudan and kindly stretched out his hand, saying, “Are you okay? Can you get up?”

Goudan looked at Lin Zhixia, not understanding why he was being so friendly. Even though Lin Zhixia was smiling, Goudan couldn’t detect any warmth in his eyes, making it seem strange and unsettling.

Ignoring Lin Zhixia’s hand, Goudan climbed up from the ground, patted his bottom, and gave him a strange look, saying, “I’m fine.”

Lin Zhixia seemed unaffected by Goudan’s impolite behavior. He simply smiled faintly and asked, “You were scared today. Can you make it home by yourself, or do you need your parents to pick you up?”

“Why do I need my parents to pick me up? It’s not like anything happened to me.”

“Oh.” Lin Zhixia smiled at him, his grin becoming even more eerie. He softly added, “You can still go home by yourself.”

Goudan wasn’t sure what Lin Zhixia was up to, but nodded anyway.

The teacher, who had been watching from behind, noticed Goudan hadn’t started working yet and urged him to go work.

Goudan glanced at Lin Zhixia beside him and thought bitterly, Why is he only urging me?

Bai An, lying on Lu Jin’an’s back, swayed slightly and felt sleepy.

But her bloody appearance made Lu Jin’an feel uneasy. He feared Bai An might fall asleep and not wake up.

No matter how Bai An explained that she was simply tired and just wanted to nap for a while, Lu Jin’an didn’t believe her. He kept telling her not to sleep too deeply.

“What’s going on?!” Wan Qing was startled when she saw Bai An, “Didn’t you go to school? Why do you look like this?”

The wound on Bai An’s forehead looked even worse. Wan Qing’s eyes reddened, and she hurriedly asked Lu Jin’an to fetch a basin of clean water.

“Tell me, who did this to you? I’ll fight them!” Wan Qing, heartbroken, untangled Bai An’s messed-up braid. She couldn’t understand how Bai An, who had been fine when leaving this morning, could return like this. “Bai An, don’t be afraid. Mommy’s here.”

Bai An had always been the precious one in their family. No one could bear to hurt her. Who could be so cruel as to harm Bai An?

As Bai An’s braids loosened, some bits of dirt fell onto the floor.

Wan Qing looked at the dirt on the ground and the dust on Bai An’s face. Could she not tell what kind of bullying Bai An had suffered?

At that moment, Lu Jin’an entered, holding a basin of water. The moment he entered, he saw his mother’s red-rimmed eyes and her trembling lips. Following her gaze, he noticed the scattered dirt on the floor.

Seeing Bai An’s disheveled hair, Lu Jin’an understood what had happened.

“Mom, help Bai An clean up,” he said.

Wan Qing soaked the towel in water, wrung it out tightly, and gently wiped Bai An’s face with the towel.

Bai An had several scratches on her face, with the most serious injury being the wound on her forehead. It had swollen up significantly, covered in blood, and looked extremely horrifying.

Wan Qing closed her eyes, unable to bear it. She handed the towel to Lu Jin’an and said, “I’m afraid I’ll hurt her, you do it.”

Hearing the tremor in her voice, Lu Jin’an silently took the towel from her hands, soaked it again, and washed it thoroughly.

Looking at the wound on Bai An’s forehead, his eyes darkened. He spoke softly to Bai An, “If it hurts, just shout.”

Bai An looked up at Lu Jin’an and said, “It doesn’t hurt.”

Lu Jin’an paused for a moment as he was wiping the wound. He lowered his head, staring into Bai An’s eyes and speaking slowly, “You don’t have to be so obedient.”

Wan Qing, standing nearby, wiped away her tears with a handkerchief and nodded in agreement. “Bai An, your brother is right. Who hit you? We’ll go take revenge for you.”

Upon hearing her mother say this, Bai An raised her head excitedly. Just as Lu Jin’an was tending to her most severe wound, Bai An moved, and Lu Jin’an accidentally pressed on the wound.

Bai An cried out in pain, and Lu Jin’an immediately removed his hand.

Seeing Bai An in pain, Lu Jin’an spoke in a cold voice, “Why aren’t you being careful? Be more careful next time.”

Bai An looked at him with grievance. “Didn’t you tell me not to be so obedient?”

Lu Jin’an: “………”

He continued to wipe Bai An’s wounds, while she enthusiastically recounted her heroic and unyielding battle experience.

“Mom, let me tell you, they were the ones who pushed me to the ground first. The first time, I got up, but the second time, that Goudan pushed me down again.”

“I definitely couldn’t let that slide, so I grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at them. Goudan tried to kick me, but I dodged and kicked him back.”

Bai An got more excited as she spoke. “He originally wanted to fight back, but I’m smart. I grabbed a stick from the ground and kept hitting him.”

“But then, unexpectedly, he threw a stone at my head.”

Bai An pointed to the wound on her head, showing it to her mother with a face full of grievance. “It really hurts.”

Wan Qing, seeing Bai An like this, blew gently on the wound in a comforting manner. “It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt.”

Feeling the love from her mother, Bai An continued, “But I fought back in the end. I hit him on the head with the stick.”

“Good job,” Lu Jin’an said from the side.

Encouraged, Bai An excitedly said to Lu Jin’an, “Right? In situations like this, you can’t back down, can’t let others look down on you. If they hadn’t used their numbers to overwhelm me later, I would’ve won already.”

“Used their numbers to overwhelm you?” Lu Jin’an frowned and asked, “How did they use their numbers to overwhelm you?”