“Where did such a pitiful little thing come from, and how did she get bullied so badly?”
Over the weekend, past noon, the bustling campus had fallen into a heavy silence, and the administrative building was so quiet that even a pin drop could be heard.
Crash!
The heavy fire door was pushed open violently, making a loud noise that broke the quietness of the corner.
Under the dim, chilling lights, several long, slender shadows cast on the ground closed in toward the same direction, as if executing some sort of hunt.
The encirclement kept shrinking, and the thick darkness closed in further.
A ray of light slipped through the gap, illuminating half of a trapped figure.
A loose white T-shirt paired with black sweatpants, a jacket of the same color tied around her waist, and a pair of canvas sneakers that had been washed until they were faded white.
This outfit alone was enough for everyone to identify her.
The military training had just ended, and while everyone else couldn’t wait to throw away those ugly clothes, she was the only one in the whole school who didn’t find it humiliating. After washing and drying them, she still strutted around wearing them over a year later.
“If you know what’s good for you, hurry up and hand over the stuff.”
Exquisite low-heeled leather shoes stepped heavily on the ground with a rhythmic tap, tap, tap coming from behind, one step after another.
The Alphas on both sides glanced over and instinctively made way, clearing a path.
Thud!
With the final step landing, Murong Xu stopped in her tracks, staring fixedly at the person in the corner, looking as though she wanted to tear a piece of flesh off her.
A Beta with no background and no backing, yet she dared to come and threaten her?
Overestimating her capabilities.
Pu Zhi lifted her eyelids, raised her phone, and gave it a shake. “Are you talking about this?”
Murong Xu’s pupils dilated slightly, her hand reaching out instinctively to snatch it.
“Don’t rush, listen to the end first.” Pu Zhi easily dodged it, her tone calm.
As the words fell, several familiar voices accompanied by crackling static burst from the receiver.
“Xu, I didn’t expect you to still apply for financial aid for underprivileged students. Heh, those few pennies aren’t even enough for a meal of mine, if my mom hadn’t frozen my card…”
The expressions of those present varied; the recording playing was precisely their conversation from not long ago.
Pu Zhi put away her phone. “If I remember correctly, the financial aid is primarily for students with genuine economic hardships in their families, including orphans, children of martyrs, and students from families impoverished by disasters or illnesses. What, could it be that your family went bankrupt too, and you’re in urgent need of this money to save the day?”
“Who are you cursing?” Murong Xu glared angrily. “Do you think everyone is as destitute as you? What does a mere five thousand yuan even count for? The money my mom dumps into the school every year…”
“You look down on it? Then why are you still applying for it? Have you gone crazy from poverty?” Pu Zhi’s expression remained unchanged, maintaining the same composed tone.
Before Murong Xu could act up, the sycophants around her stepped forward first.
Each of them acted like her most loyal soldiers, mustering all their strength to charge into battle for her.
“Does this have anything to do with you? Mind your own business!”
“I think you’re the one who went crazy from poverty and is biting people at random!”
“Anyone can apply for this aid. You act all self-righteous and refuse to fight for it, but now that you see others getting it, you’re green with envy. Heh, I’ve seen plenty of people like you.”
“Wait.” Murong Xu raised a hand to stop them, a mocking smile slowly curling the corner of her lips. “So you’re sticking your neck out for someone else. I didn’t expect you to be so enthusiastic.”
Pu Zhi did not deny it.
The “someone else” Murong Xu mentioned was her roommate, Xie Yao, who, like her, was a Beta. Her family used to be quite well-off, but recently she suffered sudden blows: first her family’s company went bankrupt and fell into debt, followed by the passing of her grandparents, and then her mother falling ill.
Yet, despite such severe circumstances, when the financial aid results came out, she was only rated as a second-tier recipient.
That was a full two thousand yuan short of the first tier.
Two thousand yuan was an amount a wealthy family’s child could squander away in the blink of an eye, but for them, it was living expenses for a month or two.
Stay calm, you cannot get emotional.
Pu Zhi’s eyelashes trembled slightly, the rise and fall of her chest gradually evening out with her breaths, but the corners of her eyes inevitably took on a faint flush.
It was an old flaw from childhood, where whenever she got slightly emotional, the bridge of her nose would sting and her eyes would turn red, and tears would uncontrollably fall.
Quickly composing her emotions, Pu Zhi spoke up again: “We’re classmates, and I don’t want to make a big fuss. The final review results haven’t been finalized yet, and I hope we can handle this fairly and equitably…”
“What kind of thing are you, daring to put on airs in front of me?” Before she could finish, Murong Xu directly cut her off, a hint of disdain turning into mockery. “You don’t really think you can threaten me with this, do you?”
“I know your dad is a school board member with overwhelming power, but the entire academy isn’t run by just his word alone.” Pu Zhi said slowly, “Aside from him, I think others would be very glad to handle this matter.”
Murong Xu’s expression froze, and her face turned completely cold.
Right at that moment, someone whispered something into her ear. Visible to the naked eye, Murong Xu’s mood shifted from cloudy to sunny, and then she took off her suppression collar right in front of everyone.
The others froze for a second, looking at each other’s noses and hearts before suddenly understanding.
The suppression collar worn by Alphas can effectively isolate various pheromones and generally remains unaffected.
But Betas were a completely different story.
Though they couldn’t smell the scent, they would still be disrupted by Alpha pheromones.
The higher the rank, the stronger the effect.
Before long, a dense, heavy pheromone filled the entire hallway, and the suppression collars beeped in succession as warning alarms went off.
The crowd acted as if they heard nothing, several pairs of eyes filled with contempt pinned directly onto her, eagerly waiting to watch her make a fool of herself.
A defenseless Beta was completely powerless against a powerful Alpha.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, the Beta cowering in the corner furrowed her brows and began to show a painful expression.
Her straight spine bent down bit by bit, showing utter vulnerability.
Seeing this, one of them couldn’t wait any longer, bypassed the others, and pressed a heavy hand onto Pu Zhi’s shoulder, forcing her to drop to her knees.
The Beta beneath her palm had no power to fight back and could only put up a stubborn resistance.
“I thought you were something special.” That person said ominously, feeling it wasn’t enough, clenched her fist and aimed a punch straight at Pu Zhi’s lower abdomen.
However, before she could make a move, a sharp pain shot from her knee, and a pig-slaughtering scream immediately resounded through the hallway.
The person was in such pain that stars danced before her eyes, and in a daze, she felt as though she had turned into a lump of kneadable rubber.
Opening her eyes again, she saw herself kneeling on the ground in an extremely humiliating posture.
Both of her hands were twisted behind her back, and a foot was stepping on her shoulder.
At the mercy of another, one move affected the whole body, and her angry curses instantly turned into cries of pain.
Pu Zhi leaned down and said slowly, “A bit stronger than you.”
“More trouble than you’re worth, ruining everything.” Murong Xu couldn’t help rolling her eyes, holding back her temper as she said, “What are you all standing around for?”
Everyone snapped back to their senses instantly and lunged at the person ahead.
Pu Zhi hauled up the person on the ground and tossed her away like a sandbag.
Her phone, however, accidentally slipped from her hand and slid all the way toward the stairs.
Everyone’s gaze was instantly drawn to it.
“The phone!” Murong Xu lowered her voice, crying out impatiently.
Everyone’s footsteps pivoted, and they swarmed toward the stairway.
Right at that moment, a string of footsteps broke the empty, silent hallway.
The air froze, and the world seemed as if the pause button had been pressed.
The beeping alarm sounds grew sharper.
Her eardrums hummed, and amidst the faint buzzing, Pu Zhi vaguely heard Murong Xu cursing something in frustration.
Following that, the shadow cast over her head abruptly lifted.
The flurry of footsteps faded away, and the world grew completely quiet, leaving only the sound of her heart violently pounding against her chest.
The blood in her body surged, and a fishy, sweet taste rose to her throat.
As her tense nerves suddenly relaxed, Pu Zhi’s legs went weak, and she slid down against the wall.
A bunch of idiots, did they really think deleting the audio recording would settle everything?
Amidst her thoughts, she didn’t notice that crisp set of footsteps pause for a few seconds.
Coming back to her senses, a shadow fell directly in front of her, enveloping her figure.
“Are you alright?”
The voice was low and pleasant, the three short words sounding as if they had slid off a vinyl record.
Pu Zhi’s heart skipped a beat, and she instinctively raised her eyes.
The first thing that came into view was a pair of hands that were almost excessively good-looking.
Fair, tender, and slender, with a red tint at the fingertips, comparable to a hand model in a commercial.
Even though they were currently holding her smashed-to-pieces phone, they still looked pleasing to the eye.
Wisps of fragrance drifted into her nasal cavity, making Pu Zhi’s brain swell. Instead of reaching out immediately, her eyes uncontrollably drifted upward.
The woman wore a black casual suit with her shirt buttoned all the way up to the top collar button, radiating a heavy elite vibe and packed with strong abstinence appeal.
Yet, contrasting with that was a face so gorgeous it was almost scorching.
A striking sense of contrast.
While she was sizing up the woman, the woman was also observing her.
Only her gaze was bolder, more uninhibited, with no pretense of hiding whatsoever.
Her light golden pupils trembled slightly as their eyes met, like falling into a sunset dusk.
The woman’s smile deepened, her upper body leaning down bit by bit until she completely engulfed her figure in shadow.
In a daze, she felt as though she really had turned into a prey with nowhere to escape.
Her breath was stolen for two or three seconds. Pu Zhi’s eyelashes fluttered, and she looked away unnaturally, stammering, “I am fine, thank you.”
She reached out to take the phone, but whether intentional or not, the woman pulled back slightly.
A strand of cascading hair brushed across her forearm, sending a tingling, numb sensation.
Pu Zhi’s fingertips shrank back as she looked at her in a daze.
The woman suddenly burst into laughter, shaking off thousands of blossoming spring flowers.
“Where did such a pitiful little thing come from, and how did she get bullied so miserably?”