The showdown begins! Jiang Queyun: “Bah! Talk to your hand.”
Jiang Queyun had grown up in an orphanage since he was a child.
With the limited supplies in the orphanage, it was inevitable for the children to get into physical altercations, so he could tell how cuts and bruises were formed at a single glance.
Every time Lu Yu came home covered in dirt, he claimed it was from playing around with his friends, but those bruises told the real story.
“There’s something I need to tell you.” Jiang Queyun gave a light cough as he walked over to Lu Hanbai, completely devoid of his previous haughty demeanor.
“Did you do something wrong?” Lu Hanbai glanced at him, keeping his eyes fixed on the flowering sausage in the pot.
Jiang Queyun wanted nothing more than to punch him, but constrained by the disparity in their physical strength, he held back.
“It’s about Lu Yu. I just noticed he seems to have some bruises on him. You know what I mean. If it were just ordinary bumps and scrapes, I wouldn’t mention it to you.” Jiang Queyun scratched his face, actually feeling somewhat at loss about how to resolve this.
The dogmatic rule of the orphanage was not to stir up trouble.
Besides, brawling inside the facility was a minor matter, but out in society, children without parents like them had no choice but to learn to swallow their pride and endure.
Yet Lu Yu had a father, so he shouldn’t be treated arbitrarily.
Pulling out the last piece of fried sausage, Lu Hanbai immediately headed toward Lu Yu’s room, determined to get to the bottom of what was going on.
“Calm down. If he isn’t saying anything, he must have his own reasons. Even if you go ask him, you won’t get any answers right away. I’m taking him to school, the private school this afternoon, so I’ll ask around and check it out on the way.” Jiang Queyun patted his shoulder. “I’ll figure out a way to handle it. If it really can’t be resolved, I’ll let you use brute force to settle it.”
He could have simply played dumb and acted like he didn’t know anything.
However, now that he had seen it with his own eyes, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, especially since Lu Yu was already pitiful enough. For a mere seven-year-old child to be bullied by others simply defied all reason.
Lu Hanbai fell silent for a moment before saying, “Thank you.”
Jiang Queyun’s eyes immediately curved into smiles. “Then how about you owe me a small favor? Who knows, maybe one day I’ll need your help, and you can bail me out then?”
“If a day like that truly comes, as long as it doesn’t break the law, involve murder and arson, or go against basic morality, I will.” Lu Hanbai said.
Lu Yu was the child he cared about most. If Jiang Queyun could quietly reclaim justice and put an end to this matter without a fuss, he was naturally willing to make such a promise.
Jiang Queyun beamed with joy.
This was a promise from the protagonist gong!
Even if he really ran into trouble later, someone would be there to rescue him. It was practically a life-saving amulet.
Lu Hanbai really was a remarkably good person!
Afternoon.
After tidying up briefly, Jiang Queyun escorted Lu Yu up the hillside. Watching the boy make his way down the small path, Jiang Queyun took a different trail leading into Jujube Village.
As soon as Lu Yu reached Jujube Village, he ran into a little classmate. Seeing that Lu Yu had changed into another clean set of clothes, one of the skinny boys smiled and asked, “Lu Yu, you changed your clothes again?”
“He said I have to change into clean clothes, wash my hands and face before eating.” Lu Yu smiled back. Even if he didn’t explicitly spell it out, his friends knew who he was talking about.
Beside them, a chubby little boy’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t you get scolded for coming home dirty every day? Are you going to keep lying? It’s so scary, wuwu.”
“Yu Xiaopang!” Yang Duozhi, the skinny boy, quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. “Stop crying already! We’ll definitely find a way to fight back against Wang Xiaohu. He’s so hateful, someone’s bound to beat him up!”
Guilt pricked at Lu Yu. Ever since their last fight with Wang Xiaohu, the boy had constantly brought a gang of kids to harass them, ambushing him on the way home every single day and scaring his friends half to death.
To keep his family from finding out, he could only endure having mud thrown at him. If he delayed his return home, Dad and the troublemaker would worry.
He silently prayed that someone would hurry up and give Wang Xiaohu a sound thrashing, preferably beating him until he fled in utter panic!
“Big meat worm, skinny bamboo pole, a white dough ball right in the middle!”
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out, hurling a nursery rhyme whose every line targeted Lu Yu and his two friends.
To think they were ambushed right on their way to school!
“Wang Xiaohu, you’re the big meat worm, you’re the fatty!” Yang Duozhi shielded the sniffling Yu Xiaopang behind him. This chubby crybaby was always leaking tears!
“Bah! You fatherless and motherless kids just love hanging out together. If you’ve got the guts, come hit me! Can you even beat us? Skinny bamboo pole, your family doesn’t give you enough to eat, so you have to chase after Lu Yu and beg him for food, right?” Spitting on the ground, Wang Xiaohu stood akimbo and hurled insults.
He was certain Lu Yu wouldn’t dare throw hands with him again, especially since Lu Yu hadn’t gotten the upper hand last time.
What he didn’t know was that even a cornered rabbit would bite.
The moment Wang Xiaohu finished speaking, Lu Yu charged straight at him, planting a small fist squarely on the bridge of Wang Xiaohu’s nose. While it didn’t draw blood, it hurt enough to make him wince.
“Ah!”
Seeing Lu Yu make a move, Yang Duozhi and Yu Xiaopang let out a shout and immediately joined the fray. They certainly weren’t going to stand by and watch their good friend get beaten!
Wang Xiaohu was stunned by that punch. The anger that had been festering in Lu Yu over days of guilt and misery finally erupted. It was all because of Wang Xiaohu!
“I’ll teach you to have a foul mouth! I’m going to sort you out properly!” Lu Yu roared as he pummeled away. “You’re the wild kid with no parents to teach you! You’re just an ugly fatty! An ugly monster!”
Bullying him was one thing, but making his dad and friends take the blame and get insulted along with him, Lu Yu felt deeply aggrieved as he sniffled and continued raining blows.
“What are you doing! How dare you start a fight!”
Just as the brawl reached its peak, a passing villager from Jujube Village hurried over to scold them, threatening to drag them all before the academy teacher, which finally forced them apart.
Even so, word of the incident still reached the teacher’s ears.
Taking a different mountain trail and lagging a few steps behind, Jiang Queyun entered the village and immediately headed to a crowded spot to ask about the private school. He spoke vaguely, claiming their child was lagging in studies and that he wanted to inquire around out of fear the boy might go astray.
Villagers loved gathering in groups of three or five to chat in the shade. Once someone brought up a topic, the gossip flowed endlessly.
“The teacher is very strict and upright, but I’ve heard there are always kids fighting and causing trouble. It never reaches the teacher’s ears though, especially since they fight outside the academy grounds. The teacher won’t bother with that.”
“Lately, I’ve always seen kids fighting on that small path over there, right around the time school lets out. I’ve scolded them a few times, but there are always times when you miss it.”
“The one getting beaten must be from North River Village. Aren’t you from North River Village? Who knows which parents could be so careless. That Wang Xiaohu who does the beating has been a slippery little scoundrel since he was small! He’s always up to petty theft, and he’s not even ten yet, his heart is completely rotten!”
As the villagers spoke, they pointed toward the path where the fights happened.
The only student attending the private school in Jujube Village from North River Village was Lu Yu. It went without saying who the victim was, and now knowing who the culprit was, Jiang Queyun stood up and strode straight toward the academy.
Wang Xiaohu, Wang Dahua, whatever his name was, he was going to turn him into a cowering little rat!
Fuming with aggression, Jiang Queyun found the private school. Normally, no one dared barge into the school casually, and the students didn’t run around wildly either, so the front gates weren’t strictly locked. Pushing the door open directly, he stepped inside to search for them.
Though called a private school, it was essentially just two small rooms. Not seeing Lu Yu in the classroom where the students sat, his face immediately dropped as he hurriedly strode toward the next room.
This was a small room resembling an office, presumably the teacher’s study. A group of children stood inside, some still sniffling and crying, others stiffening their necks defiantly. Without exception, all of them were covered in dust, and visible bruises marked their cheeks.
Among them, Lu Yu stood with his chest puffed out the most rigidly.
Even while facing the teacher’s reprimand, he showed no trace of cowardly fear, only the quiet relief of having their secret uncovered. Once disciplined by the teacher, Wang Xiaohu surely wouldn’t dare bully them anymore!
“The ones who threw the first punch, hold your hands out! I am going to teach you a proper lesson today to prevent you from pulling stunts that corrupt public morals in the future!” Eyebrows knitted in fury, the teacher picked up a wooden ruler from the desk and brandished it.
Wang Xiaohu immediately looked gleeful. “It was Lu Yu who started it! He rushed up and hit me first, Teacher. My nose still hurts!”
The teacher instantly shifted his gaze to Lu Yu, displeased. “I always knew you excelled at your studies, but I had no idea you were so unruly and dared to instigate trouble. Hold out your hand!”
“No, Teacher, Wang Xiaohu was insulting us first! He always bullies us, and Lu Yu couldn’t take it anymore, so.”
“Quiet! Insulting someone is a minor matter, but you actually dared to resort to physical violence! Do you have any idea how egregious an offense hitting someone is?” The teacher cut Yang Duozhi off with a stern reprimand.
He detested these messy troubles above all else. The village children were never ambitious, constantly stirring up trouble, and every single one of them was filthy to boot. He truly didn’t want to look at them.
Believing he was in the right, Lu Yu had no intention of standing there to take a beating.
Yet he didn’t dare disobey the teacher, otherwise the teacher would go to the village and summon his dad. He didn’t want to bring shame upon his father.
“Pardon me, let me interrupt.”
“I genuinely cannot listen to another word of this.”
Pushing the door open and stepping straight inside, Jiang Queyun wore a striking face darkened with anger and disgust. Raising his eyes to fixate on the teacher, he said, “Forgive my bluntness, but the words you just uttered are a complete disgrace to your scholarship. It makes me wonder if you took bribes from Jujube Village to become their teacher. Otherwise, how could someone like you ever be fit to stand here?”
“Who, who on earth are you! What are you doing barging in here? This is a private school, not some place you can burst into as you please!” Furious, the teacher was left shaking with rage, his beard twitching as he slammed the wooden ruler against the desk.
“You were about to punish my child without distinguishing right from wrong, and I’m not even allowed to argue a point or two?” Jiang Queyun’s initial intention of resolving things quietly had long since vanished into thin air. “Do you think these children have no parents to dote on them, so they’re fair game for anyone to bully? Is that why you can abandon all sense of right and wrong?”
Flying into a rage, the teacher swept his gaze over the parentless children before landing on Lu Yu’s expression, immediately deducing who the intruder was related to.
He roared, “Children without parental discipline naturally have no manners! As Lu Yu’s relative, you are living proof of that utter lack of breeding!”
“Bah! Talk to your hand. My child is smart, obedient, and sensible, and in your mouth, he becomes mannerless?”
“Besides, who said Lu Yu has no parents? I am his father’s newlywed husband, and he is my son! My son lacks manners? What kind of decrepit old thing do you think you are!”
Jiang Queyun had truly reached his limit.
The thought of Lu Yu coming home covered in dirt every day because he was being bullied made him want to beat these unruly brats to a pulp!
The elderly teacher stretched out a trembling finger to point at him. “You, you’re cursing people!”
“Cursing people is a minor matter. What are you even arguing with me about?”