Сhарtеr 25: If You Beаt Нim, You Cаn’t Beаt Us
“Rеmеmbеr, mу nаme is Lin Ling.”
Lin Ling сurlеd оne сornеr of his mouth:
“Тhе ‘Ling’ that mеans ‘оvеrbеaring.’”
Аftеr saуing this, hе wаvеd his hаnd саsuallу. “You guуs tаke your time. I wоn’t disturb yоu anуmоrе.”
With thаt, he turned tо leavе.
Jiаng Еr: “…”
Jiаng Er hаnded hеr backрасk tо Fu Тinghan аnd uttered two wоrds ехрrеssionlessly:
“Ноld this.”
Fu Тinghan silеntly tоok it.
She wаlkеd tоwаrd that slouсhing figurе and raisеd her leg fоr а kiсk.
“Вoss!!”
Тhе next moment, a heart-wrеnching sсrеаm есhoеd through the schоol building.
Lin Ling lаy sрrawlеd on the ground, face-to-face with a puddle of unidentified green substance. His face gradually turned green as well, tinged with a hint of confusion, as if he couldn’t quite figure out how he had been kicked down.
His lackeys crowded around him, asking anxiously:
“Boss, are you okay?”
Suppressing his nausea, he said, “Help me up.”
The lackeys looked left and right but made no move to help.
Lin Ling raised his voice: “Are you all deaf?! Help me up!”
The lackeys hesitated, cautiously saying, “But boss, you’re so dirty right now.”
“And smelly.”
Lin Ling: “…”
He struggled to his feet on his own and scolded angrily, “Useless, all of you are useless!”
The lackeys fidgeted with their fingers, not daring to utter a word.
“Grab her for me!” Lin Ling pointed heavily at Jiang Er. “We’ll settle old and new scores together!”
The lackeys shrank their necks, still not daring to speak.
“You, go grab her for me!” Lin Ling pushed his number one lackey.
The number one lackey, who had forgotten to bring the small blackboard, pointed at himself. “Me?”
“Yes, you,” Lin Ling said.
Number one lackey fell silent for a few seconds before declaring righteously, “We can’t bully girls.”
Lin Ling was about to explode. “Look at me now! If it were you, could you stand it??”
Number one lackey shook his head honestly. “I couldn’t stand it at all.”
Lin Ling: “Then why aren’t you going?!”
Number one lackey: “I don’t dare.”
Lin Ling: “…”
Number one lackey timidly shrank back. “I’m afraid she’ll kick me like she kicked you. It looks really painful.”
The others nodded in agreement. “Exactly, and our clothes will get dirty too. If my mom sees it when I get home, I’ll definitely get scolded again.”
Lin Ling: “…”
What kind of demons had he recruited as lackeys?
“Fine, if you won’t do it, I’ll do it myself!” Lin Ling stomped forward angrily.
“Boss, don’t! She’ll beat you into an idiot!” the lackeys cried out mournfully.
Lin Ling’s foot slipped, nearly causing him to fall.
He turned back and glared angrily.
The lackeys wanted to reach out and pull him back, but halfway through, they all retracted their hands in unison.
—Ew, so dirty.
Lin Ling was so angry he felt dizzy. Jiang Er, like a ghost, approached him. Surprisingly, she didn’t seem to mind the dirt and wrapped an arm around his shoulder in a buddy-like manner.
His body stiffened instantly.
“What do you want?” he asked, his chest heaving rapidly.
“Didn’t you want to settle scores?” Jiang Er said leisurely. “Go ahead.”
Lin Ling tried to break free from her grip.
“If you dare move, you’ll end up lying in the trash again,” she said slowly.
Lin Ling shuddered and stood still, not moving a muscle.
“Let go of our boss!” the lackeys shouted at the top of their lungs.
“Sure,” Jiang Er grinned at them. “Clean up the school building, tidy this place up, and I’ll let him go. Otherwise—”
“I really will beat him into an idiot.”
Hearing this, the lackeys immediately snarled viciously:”Then if you hit him, you can’t hit us, okay.”
Jiang Er: “”
She slowly typed out a question mark.
Why did Lin Ling’s lackeys seem… not quite normal.
“Boss, we’ll definitely come save you in our next life!” Taking advantage of Jiang Er’s stunned moment, they took off like the wind, immediately trying to run.
Lin Ling: “”
Before he could say anything, Jiang Er said lightly, “If you dare run, I’ll beat you into idiots too. I mean what I say.”
The lackeys’ direction abruptly changed.
Lackey No. 1 rubbed his hands together like a fly, smiling obsequiously at Jiang Er: “Boss, you misunderstood, we were just going to get tools.”
The others nodded frantically.
Jiang Er: “Boss?”
Everyone bowed to her in unison, righteous and solemn:
“That’s right, we’ve long wanted to switch sides. From today on, you are our new boss. Forget just cleaning up, we’d go through fire and water for you without hesitation!”
Jiang Er: “”
Lin Ling: “”
Fu Tinghan: “”
“Do you know your lackeys are so… loyal to you?” Jiang Er’s mouth twitched as she asked Lin Ling beside her.
Lin Ling closed his eyes in despair:
“Kill them. Now. Immediately. Right away.”
Lin Ling’s lackeys… no, now Jiang Er’s lackeys.
As the sun set in the west, they diligently cleaned up, miserably picking up the trash they had dumped back into the bins. Tired and hot, they were all sweating profusely.
At the highest step, Jiang Er sat on the chair they had brought, legs crossed, taking a sip of the drink they had bought, with a gentle breeze by her ears.
Blissful.
Lackey No. 1 vigorously fanned her with a fan, “Boss, is the breeze satisfactory?”
“Not bad.” She smacked her lips, turning to Lin Ling who was standing aside sulking, “So having many lackeys is this comfortable.”
Lin Ling: “Don’t get too cocky!”
“Hey, how are you talking to our boss? You should use the respectful ‘you’ form, you know?” Lackey No. 1 immediately complained.
Lin Ling nearly spat blood.
Jiang Er waved her hand grandly, “It’s fine, no need for formalities. I’m not someone who fusses over details.”
Lackey No. 1 said with exaggerated admiration, “As expected of our boss, your vision is extraordinary. You’ll definitely lead us to greatness and glory in the future!”
Jiang Er was quite pleased, “Oh, it’s nothing special, just average.”
Lackey No. 1 seized the moment, tentatively asking, “Boss, have you trained before? Your skills are so good.”
Jiang Er said, “No, I haven’t.”
He didn’t quite believe it, “Then how—?”
Jiang Er: “Oh, I often beat up my younger brother. Just practice makes perfect.”
Lackey No. 1: “…Boss is truly the boss, naturally gifted!!”
He clapped loudly, not forgetting to appropriately accompany it with nodding in awe and monkey-like antics to embellish, earnestly showing his admiration for Jiang Er.
The three people opposite simultaneously had their pupils shake in shock.
Fu Tinghan was the first to react, stepping forward to block Jiang Er, putting distance between her and No. 1.
—They say unstable mental states can be contagious.
Jiang Er peeked half her head out from behind him, hesitantly asking Lin Ling:
“Are all your lackeys this… wild?”
Lin Ling smiled viciously: “I’ll go kill him right now.”
This guy’s mental state wasn’t quite right either.
Jiang Er gave up on communication, tactically coughed twice, and said to No. 1:
“Alright, you’re not needed here anymore. Go help the others.”
“Right away!”The first underling eagerly complied, sliding down the concrete pillar with a whoosh. Just as he was about to hand the fan to Lin Ling, he was startled by the other’s glare. He quickly turned and shoved it into Fu Tinghan’s hands, his face stern as he said:
“Keep fanning, don’t stop. If the boss gets hot, you’ll be held responsible.”
Fu Tinghan: “…”
He silently began fanning.
“Watch your tone,” Jiang Er said disapprovingly. “He’s the first underling I recruited, senior to you. You should call him ‘big brother.'”
The first underling shuddered. “Big brother, I was wrong! To show my apology, let me kowtow to you!”
A vein throbbed merrily at Fu Tinghan’s temple.
He scooped up the first underling from the ground and said in a low voice, “No need. Go about your business.”
First underling: “Yes, big brother!”
“Give me the fan,” Jiang Er said to Fu Tinghan. “I’ll do it myself.”
Fu Tinghan moved his hand away from hers. “You’re injured.”
Only then, with his reminder, did Jiang Er notice a scratch on the back of her hand. Against her fair skin, it looked particularly glaring.
She must have scraped it somewhere while beating up Lin Ling earlier.
“It’s fine, the cut isn’t deep,” she said lightly. “It’ll heal in a couple of days.”
Fu Tinghan produced a bandage as if by magic and handed it to her without a word.
Beside them, Lin Ling snorted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “It’s fine~ The cut isn’t deep~ It’ll heal in a couple of days~”
“Hah, how hypocritical.”
Fu Tinghan shot him a cool glance.
Jiang Er wore an equally insincere smile.
Lin Ling instinctively took a step back, his face and back aching faintly from the earlier kicks.
These two… It seemed he couldn’t take on either of them.
Damn.