Chapter 37: Da Zhuang’s Revenge

Bai An let out a cold laugh. “Since you’re messing with me, let’s see if you can keep it safe.”

Lin Zhixia, seemingly afraid of her, raised his hands in surrender and shrugged, signaling that he gave up.

Bai An, satisfied, nodded and said to Lin Zhixia, “Then I forgive you. Hurry up and get back to work, don’t you worry the teacher will come to rush you?”

Hearing Bai An’s mischievous tone, Lin Zhixia couldn’t help but chuckle and said, “Alright.”

Bai An followed behind Lin Zhixia, watching as he folded his jacket neatly and then began using a bamboo basket to carry soil from one place to another, one basket after another.

When Lin Zhixia was about to carry the tenth basket, Bai An finally couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you doing all this by yourself? How long are you going to keep moving all this soil?”

“Because it’s what the teacher assigned,” Lin Zhixia wiped the sweat from his forehead, staring at the pile of soil that seemed to have no end. “Looks like we’ll be doing this for a few days.”

Bai An became even more confused. Lin Zhixia’s family was poor, they couldn’t even afford a good meal, so why was he here at school doing manual labor that wouldn’t even earn any credits?

“If coming to school means doing all this hard labor, why don’t you just stop coming? The school isn’t even teaching anything anymore.”

“That’s not possible.”

Lin Zhixia passed by Bai An carrying another basket of soil and said, “Even if I can’t do anything else at school, I still have to come.”

Just as Bai An was looking at him in confusion, he turned to ask, “Why do you come to school? Your answer is my answer.”

Bai An understood then. Coming to school wasn’t just about whether one wanted to or not—it was about being part of the community.

Seeing that Bai An had stopped asking questions, Lin Zhixia smiled and said, “If you get tired, just sit under the shade of the tree.”

Bai An nodded and actually went to sit under the tree.

Lin Zhixia, seeing that Bai An hadn’t used his jacket as a cushion, nodded in satisfaction.

She still had some conscience.

Listening to the birds chirping, which seemed to be lulling Bai An into sleep, and feeling the occasional cool breeze, she started to feel drowsy.

“Bai An! Bai An!”

Hearing someone urgently calling her name, Bai An initially thought she was dreaming and groggily responded a few times, not opening her eyes.

“Everyone’s calling your name, and you’re still not waking up.” Lin Zhixia used the back of his clean hand to gently rub Bai An’s cheek.

Feeling the rough sensation on her cheek and hearing Lin Zhixia’s annoying voice in her ear, Bai An finally opened her eyes.

Looking up at Lin Zhixia squatting in front of her, her voice still carrying a hint of what she herself didn’t realize was a spoiled tone, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“How are you acting so spoiled?” Lin Zhixia pointed to a small child in the distance, calling out her name. “You should ask him. He’s been shouting your name over and over.”

Bai An followed Lin Zhixia’s finger to see a boy around five or six years old, shouting her name hoarsely, over and over.

Although Bai An didn’t understand why the child was shouting her name from so far away but not coming over, it was even stranger that he didn’t talk about anything else and just kept calling her name.

When the child saw Bai An looking in his direction, he immediately shouted again, “Bai An, Da Zhuang is fighting with Gou Dan, come quickly!”

Bai An heard it clearly, and she hurriedly returned the clothes in her hands to Lin Zhixia, scrambling to get up. “I have to go check.”

Lin Zhixia, holding the clothes, followed her, casually saying, “Isn’t this the revenge Da Zhuang said he would help you with?”

Bai An turned her head to look at Lin Zhixia, recalling that Da Zhuang had indeed promised to help her take revenge. Could it be that he was using this method?

“Maybe.”

When Bai An arrived at the scene, Gou Dan was being brutally beaten by Da Zhuang. Da Zhuang had his body pressing down on Gou Dan, making it impossible for him to get up, while repeatedly pounding his fists into Gou Dan.

“Da Zhuang!” Bai An rushed over and tried to pull Da Zhuang’s hands to stop him.

Da Zhuang looked at Bai An in surprise and asked, “Why are you here?”

Bai An was furious and said, “You’re doing this, and I can’t come? Didn’t I tell you not to go too far?”

“I’m not going too far,” Da Zhuang said, looking at Gou Dan beneath him. “He hit you so hard yesterday, I’m just helping you get revenge.”

Bai An furrowed her brows, seeing that the already serious injuries on Gou Dan’s face were made even worse by Da Zhuang. She quickly pulled Da Zhuang off of him.

Da Zhuang didn’t understand why Bai An was angry. Didn’t he just do this to help her take revenge?

Bai An glanced at Da Zhuang, who was sitting on the ground, then turned around and pulled Gou Dan up. Gou Dan shook her hand off, tears and snot streaming down his face as he cursed, “Did you tell him to hit me?”

“No.” Bai An frowned, her gaze falling on a tiger plush toy lying on the ground beside Gou Dan. Her frown deepened as she bent down, picked it up, dusted it off, blew on it, and handed it back to Gou Dan.

Gou Dan, seeing Bai An seemingly showing concern for him, looked at her with a miserable face, not knowing what was going through his mind.

Just as Bai An was about to raise her hand again, Gou Dan took the plush toy and ran off.

At that moment, Da Zhuang remained seated on the ground, watching Bai An.

Bai An turned around and saw the resentful look on Da Zhuang’s face. Unable to hold back, she asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Da Zhuang sulkily said, “I was helping you take revenge, so why are you helping that kid?”

Bai An glanced around at the other children, then bent down to pull Da Zhuang up from the ground.

At first, Da Zhuang refused to get up, but after a long pause, Lin Zhixia, who had been observing, couldn’t stand it anymore and pulled Da Zhuang up.

Once Da Zhuang finally steadied himself, Bai An grabbed his hand and led him to a more secluded spot.

Bai An expressionlessly looked at Lin Zhixia and asked in a tone devoid of warmth, “I want to say something private to Da Zhuang, do you have to follow us?”

Lin Zhixia smiled, “What private conversation could you have that I can’t hear?”

Seeing that she couldn’t get rid of him, Bai An ignored where he stood.

She turned to Da Zhuang and said, “Why did you hit Gou Dan in front of so many people?”

“Because I wanted to get revenge for you.”

Bai An gave him a light slap, “Is that the question I asked you?”

Da Zhuang didn’t understand Bai An’s words.

Lin Zhixia, unable to watch any longer, added, “Bai An is asking why you hit him in front of so many people. If you’re going to hit him, you should do it in a more private place. Bai An is worried you’ll get punished.”

Da Zhuang understood now. Bai An looked at Lin Zhixia.

Her meaning was clear, but for some reason, hearing it from him made her feel like she sounded a little mean.