"Jiaojiao, why don't you take action?" Xu Qiao shook her head. "I'm not interested in Pei Jinchuan."
Just thinking about the conversation she overheard in class that afternoon, she felt not a shred of goodwill toward Pei Jinchuan.
She even worried that if she intervened, she might just have her bodyguards pin him down and beat him up first.
Redemption?
It would be a miracle if she didn't finish him off before he even had a chance to grow.
"Don't say that! You know I'm not interested in men, right? If I liked guys, with his looks, I would've made a move long ago!" Su Jiaojiao waved her hands repeatedly.
The standoff in the alley continued.
"Miss Xu Rou, although you're from the Xu family, you're just a relative temporarily staying with them. There's no benefit in offending us over some slum trash, is there?"
Xu Rou had always followed Xu Qiao around, so these boys who admired Xu Qiao recognized her at a glance.
However, Xu Qiao wasn't particularly close to her cousin. Xu Rou had always been quiet and timid, never causing trouble, so naturally, no one paid her much attention.
"Yes, I'm just a relative of the Xu family. But you also know that Qiaoqiao and I are inseparable every day. Aren't you worried that one day I might tell Qiaoqiao about how you've been bullying Pei behind her back?"
Xu Rou stood her ground, her legs trembling, yet she remained resolutely protective in front of Pei Jinchuan.
The boy in the cap clearly had reservations about Xu Rou's words.
Although Xu Qiao disliked slum trash, she also disliked others using her name to teach people lessons behind her back.
"Brother Yong, maybe we should let it go this time. Pei Jinchuan is already injured, and we've vented our anger anyway."
"Yeah, if this really blows up and Miss Xu finds out, she'll definitely be unhappy."
"Didn't Young Master Jiang fall out with Miss Xu because he targeted… behind her back? And they were childhood friends! We're not even on Young Master Jiang's level."
The boys behind the cap-wearing boy grew timid, lowering their voices to persuade him.
Seeing their hesitation, Xu Rou's expression relaxed slightly.
But just then, the boy she had been protecting, who had remained silent until now, lunged forward like a mad dog, wielding a stick and striking the cap-wearing leader.
"You—" Xu Rou had no time to react before the stick landed on the boy's shoulder.
A howl of pain erupted, and the group of boys immediately began brawling with Pei Jinchuan.
At first, Pei Jinchuan held the upper hand, but soon, outnumbered and attacked from all sides, he was bleeding from multiple wounds.
"Stop fighting! Someone could die!" Xu Rou snapped out of her daze, completely stunned.
Frantically, she called out to Xitong in her mind, [What's going on? Is Pei Jinchuan insane? I just calmed these boys down. Why did he attack them? Is he trying to get himself killed?]
[I… I don't know either… In the original plot, he was the one being beaten up. But given his vengeful nature, it seems normal for him to attack them first.]
Xitong was equally confused. The two of them stood to the side, too afraid to step in.
Xu Qiao and Su Jiaojiao, watching from the shadows, were also taken aback, completely unprepared for Pei Jinchuan's unexpected move.
But at that moment, a plastic water bottle was suddenly thrown out, landing right where Xu Qiao and Su Jiaojiao were standing.
The remaining water inside splashed over both of them, eliciting two sharp screams.
"What filthy thing is this? Could there be saliva in it?" Su Jiaojiao tugged at her clothes, her mind reeling in horror, her face filled with despair.
Heaven knew how much she despised smelly, dirty men!
Xu Qiao’s face also scrunched up like a soft, puffy mochi.
"Young Miss, are you alright?" The bodyguard behind them quickly handed tissues to both girls.
Now, the attention of everyone in the alley was drawn to them, and even the scuffling came to a halt.
After wiping her face, Xu Qiao looked at the obvious wet stains on her dress, and her anger flared up uncontrollably.
Twice in one day, her clothes had been dirtied, and both times were related to Pei Jinchuan.
She suddenly felt that this guy was no Qiyun Zhi Zi at all.
He was practically her jinx—nothing good ever happened when she ran into him.
The young girl stomped into the alley in her black round-toe flats, seething with rage.
Seeing the newcomer, Xu Rou’s face turned pale.
Why was she here?
Hadn’t Xu Qiao gone home long ago?
Half an hour earlier, she had clearly seen Xu Qiao get into the Xu family’s car. By now, she should have been home, shouldn’t she?
The boys who had been brawling all bore marks on their faces, though none were seriously injured.
As soon as they caught sight of Xu Qiao, they all covered their faces and stood up, heads bowed in silence, their earlier ferocity completely gone.
Only Pei Jinchuan remained on the ground, his chest stained red, his face bruised and swollen in several places, breathing heavily as if struggling for air.
Through one swollen but still functional eye, he saw the bright, cheerful girl in a blue halter dress striding over with a group of bodyguards in tow.
Her fair face was scrunched up, her delicate brows tightly furrowed, her lips pressed together, hands on her hips, looking particularly domineering—like a pretty but ill-tempered kitten.
His injuries ached all over, yet he couldn’t help but keep his gaze fixed on the girl.
"Qiaoqiao, what are you doing here?" Xu Rou’s voice trembled. Pei Jinchuan’s earlier behavior had already been unexpected, and now Xu Qiao’s appearance here was completely inconsistent with what the Xitong had said.
"I just have one question: who threw this bottle?"
Xu Qiao didn’t even glance at Xu Rou, pointing instead at the plastic bottle held by the bodyguard behind her.
The girl stared calmly at each boy present, but the words she forced out revealed the burning anger within her.
"Young Miss Xu, it was him! It was Pei Jinchuan. I saw it—he was the one who threw it."
The bright girl’s light blue halter dress was stained with several wet patches. The boy in the cap quickly figured out why Xu Qiao was angry. Though he didn’t know who had thrown the bottle, it didn’t stop him from redirecting the blame.
Worried that Xu Qiao might have forgotten the incident from earlier that morning, he deliberately reminded her, "Also, that lowlife who bumped into you at the entrance of Class A this morning was him too!"
As soon as the leader spoke, the other boys one after another pointed their fingers at the boy lying on the ground.
At this moment, no one would admit to throwing the bottle.
Because Xu Qiao was truly capable of beating up whoever had thrown it—after all, she had brought her bodyguards along.
Only Xu Rou stepped forward to refute, "No, you're lying! Classmate Pei didn't bring any mineral water at all today. This bottle isn't his, and I never saw him throw it from start to finish…"
Xu Qiao walked over to Pei Jinchuan's side with a cold expression.
The boy now had no part of his body left unscathed. Even the fair, handsome face Xu Qiao had seen in the morning was now bruised and swollen in many places, with traces of blood seeping through.
When the cap-wearing man accused him of throwing the bottle, Pei Jinchuan's lips curled into a smile.
Even as Xu Qiao's gaze fell upon him, those dark eyes held a hint of provocative defiance, as if it were only natural.
"So, did you throw this bottle?" he heard the girl with anger etched between her brows ask him.
As she drew near, that sweet, heart-trembling scent returned.
Upon smelling it, he even felt as though his wounds weren't so painful anymore.
"What if I did?" After a long struggle, he heard himself say.
Just uttering those four words made his mouth ache terribly, a mix of pain and bitterness.
But meeting that gaze filled with disgust, he couldn't help but want to laugh.
A faint smile tugged at his lips, and blood trickled into his mouth. The unpleasant metallic taste diluted the sweetness, and he instinctively frowned.
Yet his eyes remained fixed upward. He saw the deepening disgust on the face of the young lady looking down at him, as if she were staring at a filthy, repulsive dog.
Was the lofty, immaculate young lady about to lose her temper again?
How could someone as lowly as Pei Jinchuan, born in the slums, possibly deserve to anger the young lady so much?
What an honor indeed!
"No, Qiaoqiao, that bottle really wasn't thrown by Classmate Pei. He's already beaten up like this—how could he possibly have the strength to throw something and hit someone?" Xu Rou was frantic with worry.
She thought Pei Jinchuan, the male lead, was utterly insane. Injured to this extent, he still dared to provoke Xu Qiao. If he really got beaten to death, what would she even have left to conquer?
But Xu Qiao paid no attention to her words. Watching the boy's provocative gaze, the smile in her eyes grew even darker.
She stood up and directly stepped on the boy's chest, grinding her foot hard against the area bleeding the most.
Yet no matter how much force she applied, the boy's lips remained curled in a smile from start to finish.
After a while, the person beneath her foot suddenly closed his eyes, and the smile on his lips stiffened slightly.
Xu Qiao frowned, crouched down, and checked his breathing. Just then, Xu Rou's frantic voice echoed in her ears—
[Xitong! Xitong! Did Pei Jinchuan die? Ahhh, if he's dead, what am I even supposed to conquer? This is insane, everyone's insane! Pei Jinchuan is insane, Xu Qiao is insane—is there not a single normal person in this world?]
[No, the male lead has only fainted. How could he die? Qiyun Zhi Zi is blessed with great fortune and won't die so easily.]
Hearing this, Xu Qiao nudged the boy's face with her foot, tossed out the word "useless," and turned away.
The few male classmates watching from behind were too terrified to even breathe.
Before, they had only seen the young lady's immaculate, pure, and lovely side. Even when she disciplined others, it was only with minor fits of temper. When had they ever seen her punish someone like this?
It was clear she intended to torment Pei Jinchuan to death.
They had only seen Pei Jinchuan close his eyes and faint moments ago and had no idea whether he was still breathing or not.
If Pei Jinchuan really died, they would absolutely be in deep trouble.
After all, if it were just a beating, their parents might still be able to use money to settle it for them. But if they were truly implicated in a death, their families didn’t have the kind of far-reaching influence that the Xu family possessed.
The group immediately shrank back, not daring to say another word.
Xu Rou also stiffened.
She couldn’t make any sense of Xu Qiao’s behavior at all.
Xitong kept comforting her, saying that Xu Qiao, this Edu Nüpei, was simply spoiled rotten, so it was normal for her to act willful, unruly, and lawless.
But she felt that Xu Qiao’s crazed and vicious demeanor wasn’t just a matter of being spoiled.
Just based on how she could ruthlessly stomp on Pei Jinchuan’s most painful spot and even trample him until he passed out, all because her clothes got wet—this kind of ruthless disregard for human life was something she, a Chuanshu Nü with no backing at all, couldn’t afford to provoke.
Moreover, aside from providing prophetic plot information, Xitong didn’t give her any useful Jinshouzhi at all.
Xu Rou’s mind raced as she weighed the situation. This Edu Nüpei, Xu Qiao, truly wasn’t someone she could provoke. From now on, it was best to go along with her whenever possible.
Better safe than sorry—if this person ever took a sudden dislike to her and decided to slit her throat, neither she nor Xitong would likely be able to do anything about it.
“Jiaojiao, did you see who threw this bottle of water?”
Xu Qiao walked over to Su Jiaojiao’s side, her gaze sweeping over the people in the alley. When her eyes met Xu Rou’s, which were filled with panic and fear, she even smiled at her.
The former looked utterly innocent and honest, while the latter felt her body grow cold and tremble.
As for the remaining boys, some looked utterly confused, some had turned pale, and others had pupils that slightly contracted.
Meanwhile, Su Jiaojiao, who also wore a smile on her lips, pointed decisively at the boy in the middle wearing a Luosi school uniform and a flashy red tie, declaring, “It was him!”