The thought of being beaten up like that at home made him kick the person on the ground a few more times.
After venting his anger, he suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter. “Besides, isn’t it normal for you to drop out? You’ve always been D-Sequence anyway. Did you really think you could get into some good university and come out to keep working for us?”
After saying this, he and a few other boys nearby burst into loud laughter.
Han Shixu calmly returned to his seat. Li Chengshuo ran over to Kong Shixuan, and the two of them kept glancing at Jing Yuanxi and Yin Meiyan, who had just entered.
Bai Huina glanced at the corner and muttered to herself, “This Zhao Yupeng really knows how to make trouble.”
Seeing the person in front of her head straight to her seat, she quickly followed and gossiped, “I heard that during last semester’s final exam, he deliberately changed a few answers on his paper to wrong ones.”
Jing Yuanxi found it baffling. “He’s this angry because of something he orchestrated himself?”
Bai Huina’s sweet smile widened, revealing a row of small teeth. “No, he’s angry because the person he swapped papers with solved a few high-scoring questions in the last half hour and ended up beating him by two points.”
“So his current rating sequence is D now?”
“Mhm,” Bai Huina said. “I heard he was so furious about this that he even went to that person’s house during summer break.”
Useless trash.
Jing Yuanxi sneered twice.
Not long after, the homeroom teacher Du Ren entered the classroom. “Students, return to your seats and settle down.”
Although Zhao Yupeng looked displeased, he stopped his actions due to something.
The students in the classroom gradually returned to their seats, and even He Zhiyuan got up as if nothing had happened.
Whether or not Du Ren noticed the commotion in the corner of the classroom, he beamed with a smile and said, “This semester, a new student has transferred to our class.”
Jing Yuanxi suddenly looked up, her eyes fixed tightly on the classroom door.
He’s here already?
The next second, a bright yellow banner caught everyone’s attention, followed by a familiar face appearing in the classroom.
Pei Jize held the banner high, a smile on his lips as he stepped onto the podium, followed by a police officer.
The classmates were stunned, and the homeroom teacher was even more confused.
A student sitting in the front couldn’t help but read the words on the banner aloud: “Thank you, Jing…”
The student paused slightly at this point, glancing sideways at the protagonist in the back, “…thank you, Jing Yuanxi, for your bravery and fearlessness…”
The classroom instantly erupted in excitement.
“That’s right! Before introducing myself, I must first express my heartfelt gratitude to my lifesaver, the beautiful Jing Yuanxi, who single-handedly subdued the assailant and saved me from danger. I am eternally grateful!”
As Pei Jize said this, his eyes drifted toward the girl sitting below, and he added with a grin, “I even specially invited the officer who was at the scene to join me in expressing my gratitude, to show my sincerity!”
The named Officer Xue immediately pulled out a small banner from behind. “Miss Jing showed exceptional bravery and assisted us in apprehending a criminal. On behalf of our police team, I am here to express our gratitude.”
Upon hearing this, Bai Huina’s eyes lit up as she looked at the girl diagonally in front of her and immediately led the applause.
Yin Meiyan clapped half-heartedly, while Zhao Yupeng rested his hands behind his head, his gaze fixed on the front.
The thunderous applause lasted a full two minutes.
Pei Jize solemnly held up two brocade banners as he walked to the seat of the person involved. Amid the applause, he mouthed the words, “How about it? Surprised?”
Jing Yuanxi looked at him with a half-smile, arms crossed as she leaned back in her seat, showing no intention of taking the banners.
Pei Jize wasn’t the least bit annoyed. Instead, he pulled out a hook and dangled it in front of her before playfully hanging the banners on her seat.
At this, Jing Yuanxi couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh.
It was hard to tell whether she found his crouching posture while attaching the hook amusing or the banners themselves funny.
After seeing the police officers off, the homeroom teacher hurried back to the classroom, her face beaming with joy.
Having a student who bravely stood up for justice was a great opportunity to promote the school’s positive image!
And the fact that this student was Jing Yuanxi made it even better!
“My name is Pei Jize. I look forward to your guidance in the future.”
Pei Jize’s tone wasn’t particularly serious, but the students below gave him a round of applause anyway.
“The surname Pei… that doesn’t seem very common in Zhongdu.”
“Maybe he’s from out of town. Could he be from Shengjing or Fengtian?”
Du Ren, seemingly oblivious to the students’ whispers, smiled and said, “Pei, why don’t you take that empty seat for now? We’ll rearrange the seating tomorrow.”
The first day of school didn’t involve any actual classes—just a brief overview of the semester’s learning objectives and the arrangements for the next few days of school.
As soon as the homeroom teacher left, the classroom buzzed with activity again.
“Yuanxi, did you help catch a criminal during the break? Were you hurt?”
“I can’t believe there are still kidnappers these days. How terrifying!”
“Yuanxi, how did you catch him? Did you study martial arts?”
“Yuanxi, you’re so cool, and you’re such a good student too…”
A large group crowded around Jing Yuanxi’s seat, showering her with a mix of flattery and admiration.
Pei Jize watched with a smile for a moment before shifting his gaze to other corners of the classroom.
A boy sitting by the left window at the front was slowly flipping through a book, while another boy behind him slept with his head on the desk. That side of the room remained undisturbed.
The aisle on the left side of the middle section was crowded with the group surrounding Jing Yuanxi, a mix of boys and girls.
Further to the right, aside from small clusters of chatting and laughing students, a red-haired boy was pushing another pale-faced boy out of the classroom, followed by two or three others with unfriendly expressions.
“Di’an International… not bad,” Pei Jize murmured with a slight smirk.
…
The next day, a sharp scream shattered the school’s silence.
As Jing Yuanxi stepped into the classroom, her ears were met with noise and cries of distress.
Many students had already arrived, but they stood frozen in place, staring ahead with expressions of horror or solemnity, as if turned to statues, not making a single sound.
Jing Yuanxi quickly made her way to the center of the room, and her pupils instantly contracted.
On the electronic screen at the front of the classroom, a video was playing.
Perhaps because it was late in the day and the footage was taken in an alley outside the school, the image wasn’t very clear.
But it was still unmistakable—the person being brutally beaten until bloodied and bruised was He Zhiyuan.
The sounds of blows and pleas for mercy mixed together, accompanied by unsettling jeers.
“Where’s Zhao Yupeng?” Jing Yuanxi turned and asked coldly.
Bai Huina shook her head repeatedly.
BANG—
The door was kicked open with force, and Zhao Yupeng strode in impatiently. “What do you want from me now?”
He walked up to Jing Yuanxi, slowly turning his head to glance somewhat carelessly at the still-playing video.
After a moment, he said angrily, “That little brat is really annoying. How dare he secretly install surveillance?”
Then he changed his tone, looking around smugly, “But why are all of you making such faces? Do you think I’m in there? How ridiculous. Even if there is a video, so what—”
Slap—
A sharp slap echoed abruptly in the classroom, startling everyone around. Even Kong Shixuan and Han Shixu stood up.
Zhao Yupeng raised a hand in disbelief to touch his left cheek, which had been struck and turned aside, his eyes filled with malice as he glared at the person opposite him. “Are you fucking crazy?”
Jing Yuanxi’s face was cold as she raised her hand and slapped him again. “You’re the one who’s crazy!”
Zhao Yupeng grabbed her wrist as she swung, his voice icy. “You think I really wouldn’t dare hit you?”
“Yuanxi…”
Almost instantly, the others moved. Bai Huina and Li Chengshuo stepped between them, one on each side.
Just as Zhao Yupeng was about to act, he suddenly felt his hand being pulled back.
Turning his head, he saw it was the new transfer student—Pei Jize.
Pei Jize held his raised wrist with one hand, his expression blank.
“Let go of me!”
Zhao Yupeng tried to break free, but the other’s grip was surprisingly strong.
Kong Shixuan stood by the desk, watching as Han Shixu strode over and warned in a stern tone, “Zhao Yupeng, have you had enough?”
“No matter what, you should remember that the Jing and Han families are engaged.”
He usually didn’t involve himself in class affairs, almost like a ghost, but no one forgot his surname was Han.
Hitting Jing Yuanxi now meant slapping the Jing family in the face, and slapping the Jing family meant slapping the Han family!
Zhao Yupeng couldn’t help but laugh in anger. “You’re all so amusing. Didn’t you see she was the one who started it?”
Jing Yuanxi let out a heavy, cold laugh. “There’s a limit to how stupid you can be. I was just trying to wake you up.”
“You fucking—”
Before he could finish, a dark shadow suddenly fell past the window, followed by another piercing scream.
Everyone panicked.
Seizing the moment of stunned silence, Jing Yuanxi shook off Zhao Yupeng’s grip and hurried to the window to look down.
Her eyes were met with a scene of crimson.
The body that had fallen from the high building lay twisted on the ground, bright red blood slowly seeping out, winding its way across the pavement.