Сhарtеr 22: Тea Art Маster Fu Tinghаn
“Say sоmеthing! Саt gоt уour tоnguе?!” Sеeing Fu Тinghan rеmain silent, Lin Ling grеw еven mоre аgitаtеd.
Fu Tinghаn: “Lеt go.”
Lin Ling: “Whу shоuld I listеn tо уоu?!”
Fu Тinghan hаd had еnоugh. With one hand, he twistеd Lin Ling’s wrist and fоrcеfullу wrеnсhed it upwаrd.
Lin Ling let out а mufflеd grоаn, involuntаrily rеleasing his griр аnd stаggеring bаck sеveral steрs. Оnсе hе steadied himsеlf, hе triеd to сhargе forward аgаin, but Fu Тinghаn seized his аrm аnd used the mоmentum to рin him dоwn оn thе desk.
“Lеt mе go!” he roared.
Fu Tinghan kеpt оnе hаnd рrеssing him down whilе using the other tо loоsen his shirt сollаr, his expression calm and composed:
“Why should I listen to you.”
Lin Ling was momentarily stunned. After processing the words, he struggled violently: “You bastard, don’t you dare mimic me!”
Fu Tinghan then asked, “You’ve been targeting me all this time because of Wen Xiyue?”
Lin Ling struggled even more fiercely, his eyes reddening as if he were about to cry:
“You think I don’t know? You two have been together since freshman year! Others might not have seen it clearly, but I did—you went shopping at the supermarket together, and you even bought soda, her favorite orange soda!”
“You’re so damn stingy, only buying one bottle!”
Fu Tinghan: “…”
Lin Ling continued, “She didn’t mind your poverty and lowered herself to be with you for so long, and you just break up with her like that? If anyone should end it, it should be her!”
Fu Tinghan remained silent.
Lin Ling couldn’t stand this the most. “Don’t you have anything to say?!”
“She and I aren’t the kind of relationship you think,” Fu Tinghan released him.
Lin Ling straightened up, rubbing his wrist, and sneered as he questioned:
“Then tell me, what kind of relationship are you?”
Fu Tinghan parted his lips, the words rising to his tongue several times only to be swallowed back. In the end, he still said nothing.
“Can’t say it, can you? Don’t try to fool me! My eyesight is sharp! I see through everyone clearly!” Lin Ling said bitterly.
Fu Tinghan’s last shred of patience ran out. He released Lin Ling’s wrist:
“Are you done? If you’re done, get lost.”
Lin Ling kicked the leg of the desk hard:
“Fine, since you’re so ungrateful, Wen Xiyue has me from now on. If you dare have even the slightest connection with her again, I won’t let you off.”
With that, he turned to leave.
A hand blocked his path.
Following the hand upward, he saw Fu Tinghan’s face, cold as ice.
“What you just kicked,” he said, enunciating each word, “is my deskmate’s desk.”
After finishing her meal, Jiang Er walked back to the teaching building with heavy steps.
Little Fatty comforted her considerately beside her: “It’s okay. Based on Teacher Wang’s personality, failing a dictation usually just means copying it fifty times.”
Jiang Er’s heart grew even colder.
“Why are there so many people up ahead?” Little Fatty suddenly exclaimed, “The corridor in front of our classroom is completely blocked.”
Jiang Er listlessly replied, “What’s the big deal? It’s like that every day…”
As she spoke, she looked up and was startled by the dense crowd.
This time, the density was truly unprecedented.
“What’s going on?” She casually grabbed a boy holding binoculars and watching the commotion.
“I heard Lin Ling came to challenge Fu Tinghan to a one-on-one!” he said excitedly, hopping around like a monkey. Turning to see it was Jiang Er, he became even more delighted. “It’s you!”
He immediately struck a pose leaning against the wall. “Little junior, there are three types of rulers in the world. Do you know what the four are?”
“They are the straight ruler, the triangle ruler,” he said with a mischievous smile, “and I love you very much.”Jiang Er: “…Right, and your shamelessness.”
The next moment, several loud bangs echoed from the classroom, sounding like desks and chairs crashing to the floor.
Her heart leaped into her throat. Without bothering to continue her pointless argument with the telescope, she pushed her way forward, clinging to the window in an attempt to see what was happening inside.
The curtains inside were drawn tightly, making it impossible to see clearly. Only through the thinner gaps in the fabric could she glimpse two figures tangled together.
A few faint groans of pain reached her ears.
“Judging by the situation, Fu Tinghan is probably half-beaten to death by now,” someone sighed.
“Really? Is Lin Ling really that lawless?”
“Hard to say. His family seems to have some connections. From the principal to the teachers, everyone favors him. He’s made so many mistakes, big and small, before, and nothing ever happened to him.”
“…”
Jiang Er clenched her fists and walked to the classroom door.
“The door’s locked,” a girl kindly reminded her.
“Bang—”
As the last word fell, the door was violently kicked open.
Dust from the walls fluttered down.
The girl’s mouth fell open, and she silently took two steps back, putting some distance between herself and Jiang Er.
“Fu Tinghan!”
Jiang Er rushed into the classroom first. “Are you okay…?”
When she saw the scene before her, her face filled with astonishment, and her voice trailed off until it completely disappeared.
Just as she had imagined, most of the desks and chairs in the classroom were overturned, and the place was a mess, like a scene after an earthquake.
The only difference was—
Lin Ling, pinned to the ground, struggled to lift his face and squeezed out words through gritted teeth:
“Can’t you fucking see? I’m the one who’s hurt!”
Jiang Er snapped out of her daze and quickly turned to close the door.
Lin Ling: “”
Fuck.
Fu Tinghan had let go of him at some point and was now standing to the side, head bowed, tugging at the hem of his shirt. He radiated a profound sense of helplessness, like a child who had done something wrong.
She hurried over to him, grabbing him and looking him up and down. “How are you? Are you hurt anywhere?”
Fu Tinghan paused for a long moment before slightly lifting his face, “accidentally” revealing a bruise.
“How did you get hurt like this?” Jiang Er indeed furrowed her brows.
He stared unblinkingly at the ground, his long eyelashes casting shadows over his dark, ink-like pupils. He coughed lightly twice and whispered:
“I’m fine. He didn’t hit me that hard.”
Lin Ling on the ground: “”
“Why are you still defending him!” Jiang Er said angrily.
Lin Ling staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall to steady himself. He nearly ground his molars to dust, trembling as he pointed at Fu Tinghan:
“What the hell are you pretending for?! I’m asking you, what the hell are you pretending for?! You weren’t like this when you were beating me up just now!”
“Shut up!” Jiang Er turned and snapped. “You think you have the right to hit someone?”
Lin Ling was so angry he spun in place twice, pointing at his swollen cheek and then at the footprints on his body. “Are you blind? Take a good look yourself—who’s hitting who here?”
Jiang Er was momentarily speechless.
Well, it seemed like Fu Tinghan only had… that one injury.
She glanced at the uneasy boy beside her, her eyes sharpening as she turned to Lin Ling:
“You’re so malicious!”
Lin Ling: “”
With a size 44 shoe print on his face, he stared in disbelief:
“Who are you calling malicious?”
Jiang Er: “You!”
Lin Ling pointed at himself: “Me what??”
Jiang Er: “You’re so malicious!”
Lin Ling: “Are you out of your mind??”
Jiang Er spat: “You hit someone in places others can’t see, and now you’re trying to play the victim first? That’s just too malicious!”Lin Ling: “”
I want to kill someone.