When Ruan Mei was led to the back of the school by Wan Shanshan and her four underlings, her mind was a complex mix of emotions.
Wan Shanshan’s bleached blonde hair flew wildly, and her face wore an evil smile, as if she were mimicking a major anime villain, laughing in a strange, sinister way:
“Ruan Mei, Ruan Mei, I never thought you could act so well. You’ve been acting so meek lately, and your grades have even gone up. What, are you trying to ditch me and become a model student all by yourself?”
Ruan Mei retorted:
“Is being a good student not a good thing?”
Wan Shanshan suddenly slammed her wooden stick onto the ground, kicking up a pile of fallen leaves:
“You’re pretending to be a good person now? Too late! In middle school, you always overshadowed me. Now that I finally have the upper hand on you, you’re trying to climb ashore and become a good person? What am I supposed to do then? If I’m the school bully now, it feels like you just handed the title to me!”
Ruan Mei couldn’t quite understand Wan Shanshan’s way of thinking, so she said:
“What you’ll do, I don’t know. But I advise you to study hard. Studying is never the wrong thing to do.”
Wan Shanshan scoffed, and the stick in her hand whacked against a tree trunk, crack-crack. Her followers menacingly surrounded Ruan Mei.
Li Namei, crying and clutching her homework book, hid behind a nearby tree, muttering continuously:
“Boss, I’m sorry, this is all my fault. I promise I’ll study hard later. Boss, maybe we should just apologize and leave!”
Her book had been torn up, and she’d have to rewrite it, but even so, she didn’t dare confront this many people! Her boss was the strongest, of course, but there were too many on the other side! Even if the boss and she teamed up, they couldn’t win a fight against them!
Li Namei stood behind the tree with a crestfallen face, trying to use the tree to shield herself.
Ruan Mei stood in a clearing between the trees, looking up at the blonde girl in front of her.
Wan Shanshan was just an ordinary Beta. Ruan Mei hadn’t even settled the score with her about her grandmother yet.
It was after school, and all the important characters should have already left. This spot was very secluded. Even if she revealed her strength as an Alpha, no one else besides these perpetrators and Li Namei would see it.
Ruan Mei thought for a moment and took out her phone from her pocket.
Wan Shanshan lunged forward and slapped the phone away:
“What are you doing, you coward? Are you calling the teachers or the police? I’m telling you, no way!”
Ruan Mei spread her hands:
“I was just going to ask for leave from my part-time job.”
Naturally, Wan Shanshan wouldn’t give Ruan Mei that chance and immediately started swinging the wooden stick.
Li Namei screamed when she saw the forearm thick wooden stick heading straight for Ruan Mei’s face. She covered her eyes with both hands, unable to watch the brutal scene unfold.
Ruan Mei stood still, not moving at all. There was no need.
Her inhibitor could only last ten hours; by now, it had long worn off, and under the crisis, Ruan Mei’s body began to react automatically.
The super five senses of a top-tier Alpha brought Ruan Mei a sense of calm and peace. This was because the stick, which looked fast and powerful in Li Namei’s eyes, moved as slowly as a snail crawling in Ruan Mei’s sight.
Ruan Mei wanted to experience her current physical condition. Despite how slow the stick was, she didn’t even try to block it she actively moved towards it.
She took the blow!
Wan Shanshan was first delighted, then immediately terrified!
“Holy cow!”
Wan Shanshan let out a screech that changed pitch. The skin under her stick, which should have been soft, felt as hard as steel. The full force strike she delivered felt like hitting an iron plate!
The wooden stick immediately fell to the ground. Wan Shanshan clearly felt that the web of her hand was nearly shattered! She pulled her arm back, her entire palm burning with pain.
Across from her, the delicate and gently tempered Ruan Mei raised an eyebrow, let out a light chuckle, and whispered:
“That felt like being tickled.”
Wan Shanshan:
“!”
Just as she was about to back away, Ruan Mei grabbed one of her hands.
Wan Shanshan pulled with all her might, but she couldn’t break free. Her hand felt clamped by a steel plate, her skin painfully stretched, and she couldn’t move at all!
Only then did Wan Shanshan look at Ruan Mei in terror, muttering:
“You… you must have differentiated? You’ve turned into an A now, right? That’s impossible! Even a normal A couldn’t block a wooden stick like that! Impossible…”
Ruan Mei couldn’t let Wan Shanshan keep talking she still needed to keep her status a secret! However, she didn’t really know any fighting techniques. Relying on some moves from the original body’s memory, she swung a punch toward Wan Shanshan’s head to make her stop talking.
Ruan Mei felt her force was very light, and her speed was very slow just upgraded from a snail to a turtle compared to Wan Shanshan just moments ago.
But who knew, after taking the punch, Wan Shanshan didn’t even let out a scream; she just plopped down onto the ground covered in fallen leaves.
Ruan Mei stared at the person on the ground, then looked at her own hand, and fell into deep thought.
After everyone left the classroom, Fang Zhishui pulled out a bag of rabbit food from her desk compartment, glanced back at Ruan Mei’s empty seat, stood up, walked out of the classroom, and headed toward the back of the school.
As she walked deeper into the area, she suddenly heard talking nearby. She couldn’t make out the content, but the tone of voice was definitely not kind.
Fang Zhishui was usually not the type to intervene in trouble, but today, an image of Ruan Mei’s expression suddenly flashed in her mind. Ruan Mei, the kind of person who would give her snacks, would probably step in if she heard this noise, right?
Fang Zhishui moved her feet toward the source of the sound, carefully concealing her movements. When she was conscious, her steps could be as light as a cat’s, not making a sound even on the dry fallen leaves.
When she saw the figures, Fang Zhishui hid behind a tree trunk, first taking out her phone and turning on the recording function as a backup, then looking up.
The little girl surrounded by several people and a blonde was none other than Ruan Mei!
Blood rushed to Fang Zhishui’s head, and she immediately rushed forward, her steps incredibly fast yet utterly silent. She also managed to tap the record button on her phone. If the blonde girl and her group were planning to bully Ruan Mei, she needed to secure evidence beforehand so that after knocking them out, she could claim self defense to the school. The more urgent the situation, the calmer Fang Zhishui’s thinking became she made the optimal decision under limited conditions.
Unfortunately, after just a few steps, Fang Zhishui realized… the situation was not what she expected.
She watched as the blonde girl picked up the wooden stick and swung it at Ruan Mei, but Ruan Mei didn’t move; instead, she threw a punch toward the blonde’s head.
The blonde girl, who looked incredibly arrogant and was half a head taller than Ruan Mei, didn’t even let out a sound before collapsing to the ground.
Fang Zhishui:
“???”
She pursed her lips, stopped in her tracks, silently hid behind the tree, and held up her phone to record properly.
“I always felt that Ruan Mei… finally showed her true colors.”
“Is she really the school bully who always caused trouble for me before?”
“But her physical fitness, reaction speed, and observation skills are clearly several levels higher than before.”
Fang Zhishui frowned as she observed the unfolding situation.
Up ahead, the underlings, seeing their boss knocked down by Ruan Mei’s single punch, first exchanged bewildered glances, then erupted in fury. They charged forward, shouting wildly:
“You dare hit our boss! You’re finished!”
“Today I’m taking your life! Give me your life, AAAAAH!”
“Brothers, charge! There are so many of us and only one of her. Let’s take her down and avenge the boss!”
“Avenge the boss!”
The remaining four were all boys, tall and sturdy, their battle cries ringing out loudly.
Unfortunately, in Ruan Mei’s eyes, these four were thinner than tree trunks, their movements slower than snails, and their strength as weak as needlepoint. Ruan Mei was genuinely astonished: are ordinary people this frail? She didn’t know any fighting skills she just casually threw a punch or instinctively kicked out. By the time she snapped back to her senses, all four boys were sprawled on the ground in disarray, crying out in pain, “Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!”
Li Namei, who had been covering her face behind the tree, had stared blankly when Wan Shanshan fell. After the others fell one after another, she stepped out from behind the tree, approached Ruan Mei, and asked with a blank expression:
“Boss… I’m not hallucinating, am I? It’s true that you took them all down, right?”
Ruan Mei blew a strand of broken hair from her palm. She didn’t know what to say either, so she just stood with Li Namei, silently watching the group writhing on the ground.
“Boss… so, what do we do next?”
Ruan Mei remained silent. She was contemplating whether to call an ambulance. Theoretically, she should leave the scene of the crime, but in reality, she was a little worried that Wan Shanshan might have a concussion.
“Ruan Mei.”
A cold voice sounded from behind her.
Ruan Mei shuddered all over. How could she be this unlucky! To be encountered by the Female Lead!
“Ah, Boss, it’s that class beauty from your class,” Li Namei said obsequiously.
Ruan Mei dared not turn around. In her heart, she was praying to every god and Buddha she could think of, begging one to take pity and allow her to instantly burrow into the ground and escape! Or digging a hole to bury herself would also be fine!
“What’s going on here? Who are these people?”
Fang Zhishui’s voice grew closer.
It sounded like there was still room for lying no, room for maneuvering…
Ruan Mei quickly concocted an excuse in her mind. She squeezed her eyes until two drops of tears appeared. When she turned around, she had transformed into a frail, on the verge of collapse, extremely frightened, tearful little girl.
“I… I don’t know what happened. These people dragged me here and then suddenly all collapsed on the ground… Waaah, I’m so scared, sob!”
Ruan Mei squeezed out a few tears, twisted her hands, kept her head down, and while crying, subtly shuffled to the side. She didn’t forget to pull Li Namei along and secretly shot a warning glare her way.
Fortunately, the usually brainless Li Namei was quite considerate today. She immediately piped up:
“Ah… y-yes, they must have gotten sick all of a sudden. C-classmate, could you please call an ambulance? We… we have to go now, bye!”
Ruan Mei, still sobbing, stretched out her legs and sprinted away.
Fang Zhishui watched Ruan Mei’s retreating figure and quietly said:
“Stop.”
Ruan Mei’s back instantly stiffened, her scalp tingled, and every pore exuded panic. She dared not run further, nor did she dare to turn back. She could only stand frozen, waiting for Fang Zhishui to speak, like waiting for the executioner’s axe to finally fall on her head.
“Ruan Mei, come with me.”
Ruan Mei looked at Li Namei, and Li Namei looked at Ruan Mei.
“Boss, don’t go!”
Li Namei, uncharacteristically brave, stepped in front of Ruan Mei, extending both hands to shield her, and bravely faced Fang Zhishui:
“What do you want!”
Ruan Mei was so moved her eyes filled with tears! Serving a subordinate for a thousand days finally paid off for one moment! Her middle school textbooks weren’t given away for nothing!
Fang Zhishui glanced at Li Namei, suddenly broke into a brilliant smile, pulled a bag of rabbit food from her pocket, shook it, and the crinkling sound of the bag filled the air.
“Let’s go feed the rabbits.”