Tiancheng City No. 1 Middle School.
Evening self-study.
After merging with the memories, Zhang Chen finally understood what was going on.
He had transmigrated into a book.
No wonder the names Bai Xiruo and Su Yu sounded so familiar…
This was an urban novel about a male lead saving different female leads. If he remembered correctly, the male lead’s name was Ye Fan.
Hmm… just hearing that name, you could tell he had the makings of a great emperor.
But back then, he had only focused on the female leads and hadn’t paid much attention to the male lead.
Among them, Bai Xiruo seemed to be one of the male lead’s harem members…
As for himself, he was the classic villain in the story, appearing only a few times throughout the whole novel. Every time he showed up, it was just to serve as a stepping stone for the male lead’s romance.
For example, with Bai Xiruo… once Ye Fan appeared, he would beat Zhang Chen up the moment he saw him bullying Bai Xiruo, then rescue Bai Xiruo and ultimately complete her redemption.
A very classic hero-saves-the-beauty trope.
His final fate seemed to be endlessly causing trouble in front of Ye Fan, only to end up bankrupt and with his family ruined.
The fate of daring to challenge the Child of Destiny…
As for the middle parts, Zhang Chen could no longer remember them very clearly. The only things he remembered well were the matters concerning a few of the female leads.
If he remembered correctly, Bai Xiruo’s family seemed to be in a very difficult situation. Both of her parents had passed away, leaving only a grandmother who lived in the countryside.
Because she had to attend school, after entering high school she could only stay at her uncle’s house. But living under someone else’s roof was naturally unpleasant, something Zhang Chen, who had lived under someone else’s roof since childhood, understood deeply.
That was also why Zhang Chen had been drawn to this novel. The stories of some of the female leads always struck a chord with him.
It made him, who felt the same way, become immersed in it, imagining that he also wanted to do something for them…
This could also be considered helping his former self…
Maybe it was precisely because of this that he had entered this novel…
Bai Xiruo’s uncle treated her badly. Since he already had children of his own, he was even harsher toward her, making her do all the housework and not even letting her sit at the table for meals.
As for meat and things like that, she had basically never seen any.
Occasionally, when she went back to the countryside to see her grandmother, her grandmother would give her the eggs she had saved up, or prepare a free-range chicken for her to take back to her uncle’s house to eat, partly as a token of thanks and partly so Bai Xiruo could nourish her body.
After all, Bai Xiruo’s uncle’s family and her grandmother’s family were not related by blood at all.
Her grandmother figured that no matter what, a whole chicken would at least let Xiruo have some soup…
But once those things were taken back to her uncle’s house, Bai Xiruo would not get a single bite of the benefit…
And Bai Xiruo had no complaints about it. She was already grateful just to be allowed to stay there…
As for why he had bullied Bai Xiruo, Zhang Chen also remembered.
In the book, it was because Su Yu had invited Bai Xiruo to eat, but Bai Xiruo repeatedly refused, so Su Yu told Zhang Chen about it.
And Su Yu was precisely the person Zhang Chen had liked and pursued for more than a year.
So the conflict arose. Zhang Chen acted on his own and went after Bai Xiruo, bullying her.
This even got as far as the office, and he was eventually expelled for long-standing violations of school rules.
But even after being expelled, he still would not settle down. Later on, he would even blame everything on Bai Xiruo. Without his student status, he became even more reckless, often waiting at the school gate for Bai Xiruo…
It was not until the protagonist Ye Fan appeared that Bai Xiruo was finally saved from the dark, sunless abyss…
“If I remember correctly, in the novel I practically drove Bai Xiruo to suicide…”
Being bullied at school every day and then having to endure that suffocating oppression at home… how could she not go insane?
Thinking of this, Zhang Chen glanced at the change Bai Xiruo had returned, now neatly arranged on the corner of his desk.
Then he looked up at Bai Xiruo’s seat in the third row ahead. The white school uniform on her shoulders still had the stains from the alley earlier.
She sat upright and proper, seriously doing her homework, showing none of the weakness she had displayed in the alley.
Like a small sapling enduring wind and rain, never broken by life, always stubbornly resilient.
Growing quietly and earnestly, unaffected by anyone…
After looking at Bai Xiruo, Zhang Chen turned to Su Yu in the second row by the corridor window.
A girl with a low ponytail, transparent-framed glasses, fair skin, and a sweet face, with a rather gentle and quiet air about her.
She was the one who had told him to bully Bai Xiruo.
From her appearance alone, you would never guess that such a fresh and cute girl was actually the one leading school bullying.
But Zhang Chen, who knew the truth, understood that she was no good.
Not only did she use Zhang Chen, she also joined other girls at school in isolating Bai Xiruo.
One major reason most of the girls in the class did not interact with Bai Xiruo was because of her.
The reason was simply that Bai Xiruo did not wear makeup, dressed plainly, yet was more beautiful than she was.
Add in Bai Xiruo’s poor background and easy-to-bully personality…
She had given Bai Xiruo more than one chance… really, invitations… to play with her, essentially forming a group centered on herself, which would indirectly boost her own status.
But Bai Xiruo was focused on studying. She had no interest in the eating, drinking, and fun that her peers enjoyed, nor did she have the means for it.
And so Su Yu developed a grudge against Bai Xiruo…
Zhang Chen frowned slightly, his gaze calm.
Honestly, she was quite pretty. No wonder he had liked her.
But knowing the truth, he naturally could not feel even the slightest interest in her anymore.
Just then, Zhang Chen felt someone suddenly tap him on the back.
He turned around to see a middle-aged man with a receding hairline, wearing classic black-framed glasses, a patterned shirt, and a black coat, holding a thermos filled with yellow-green tea leaves and still steaming.
One look, and Zhang Chen knew who this was.
The homeroom teacher.
“Zhang Chen, come with me to the office,” the homeroom teacher, Deng Xianbing, said softly.
But the classroom during evening self-study was very quiet. Even though Deng Xianbing had spoken in a low voice, the students around them were not deaf and naturally heard it clearly.
“Oh, okay.”
Zhang Chen immediately stood up. Facing the strange looks from everyone, he did not feel the least bit timid. After all, in his original world, he had practically taken a dump on the principal’s head. Something this small meant nothing to him.
He just did not know why he had been called to the office. The novel did not seem to describe this part in much detail.
This really was a real world, after all. Even without being described, the characters were still moving forward.
He just did not know where the protagonist was…
Please don’t just come out and punch me in the face, okay?
When he arrived at the office, Deng Xianbing said nothing. He simply sat down in the chair behind his desk, placed the teacup on the tabletop, and looked at Zhang Chen with a serious expression.
Zhang Chen knew very well that for a student like him, being called to the office usually meant nothing good.
Could it be that the original body had done something before he transmigrated here?
“What did you do tonight?”
Deng Xianbing let out a deep sigh, his brow tightly furrowed. His expression showed either anger or disappointment as he questioned him.
“Me? I didn’t do anything,” Zhang Chen said, looking completely confused.
“Didn’t do anything?” Deng Xianbing widened his eyes, his questioning expression looking extremely intimidating. “You and a few other boys dragged Bai Xiruo into the alley by the school gate. What did you do to her?”
“Why did she come out crying?”