After two morning classes, as the familiar yet unfamiliar broadcast for the morning exercises echoed through the school, Liu Yutong, like the other students, stepped out of the classroom in her uniform.
Gazing at the sea of students gathered on the playground, Liu Yutong felt a peculiar sensation.
Though she didn’t know most of them, they all seemed oddly familiar.
This sense of familiarity didn’t come from recognizing former classmates or schoolmates but rather from their clothing, hairstyles, and overall appearance, which gave her a strong sense of déjà vu.
Most of the girls wore thick, straight bangs, while the boys sported nearly identical side-swept bangs, their hair so long it almost covered their eyes.
Even Liu Yutong herself now had straight bangs and a long ponytail.
If she weren’t certain she wasn’t face-blind, she might have worried about mistaking people for one another.
"The third set of national middle school calisthenics, Dancing Youth, calls of the era…"
Liu Yutong moved stiffly, following the rhythm of the exercises.
She had long forgotten this routine.
Of course, she wasn’t the only one. The rest of the class moved like emotionless zombies, barely going through the motions.
Some were particularly unruly.
Between exercises, someone deliberately tugged at the hair of the girl in front of them and even kicked her butt and legs.
The girl stumbled, nearly falling.
But even after being bullied like this, she didn’t dare speak up, only biting her lip as tears silently rolled down her cheeks.
This girl was Yu Xin.
Like Liu Yutong, she came from the countryside, lonely and helpless, raised by her grandmother, her heart filled with insecurity.
Because of her timid nature, both she and Liu Yutong were often bullied by their classmate Zhao Zhu.
During morning exercises, Zhao Zhu would always stand behind them, pulling petty stunts to pass the time.
Perhaps because Liu Yutong had been especially compliant the day before, Zhao Zhu hadn’t bothered her all morning.
After the exercises ended, Zhao Zhu still refused to let Yu Xin go, grabbing a piece of chalk to scribble on her face.
Yu Xin wanted to resist, but alone, she was no match for Zhao Zhu and her two lackeys.
With just a single threat from Zhao Zhu, Yu Xin froze, crying silently as they drew a turtle on her face.
Liu Yutong secretly captured the scene with her backup phone.
Then she prepared to return to the classroom.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to stop Zhao Zhu from bullying Yu Xin—she just knew someone else would step in.
Sure enough.
Just as Zhao Zhu and her friends were laughing while defacing Yu Xin’s face, a boy’s voice suddenly rang out.
"What are you doing?"
Zhao Zhu quickly hid the red chalk behind her back, forcing a calm expression. "Nothing! We’re just playing around!"
She then turned to Yu Xin. "Right, Yu Xin?"
Terrified of Zhao Zhu, Yu Xin nodded. "Y-yes… Zhao Zhu was just joking with me."
Lin Bin glanced between Yu Xin and Zhao Zhu but said nothing more. Instead, he pulled out a folded heart-shaped letter from his pocket and tossed it carelessly to Zhao Zhu.
"Stop having people deliver this to me."
Having her love letter publicly thrown back at her, Zhao Zhu’s face flushed red with humiliation.
Her crush on Lin Bin was practically common knowledge in their class, but he had never shown any interest.
With their final year of high school nearly over, she had finally mustered the courage to have her lackeys deliver the letter.
Yet Lin Bin hadn’t even glanced at it before tossing it back.
And right in front of her two followers.
It was beyond embarrassing.
Since Lin Bin was also Yu Xin’s deskmate, Zhao Zhu was convinced this was all Yu Xin’s fault.
After all, Lin Bin had always been protective of Yu Xin.
That bitch must have said something to turn him against her.
The more Zhao Zhu thought about it, the angrier she became. She decided then and there that she’d find some people outside school to teach Yu Xin a lesson—make her regret ever crossing her.
Inside school, she might act tough, but she couldn’t go too far with so many eyes watching.
Outside was a different story.
She could do whatever she wanted to Yu Xin—and to Liu Yutong too.
Still fuming from Lin Bin’s rejection, Zhao Zhu was in a foul mood.
As she passed Liu Yutong’s seat on her way back to the classroom, she deliberately kicked her leg.
"Liu Yutong, we’re going out to an internet café later. Pretend you’re sick so we can ‘take you to the hospital.’ Make it convincing."
"If you don’t cooperate…"
She assumed Liu Yutong was truly afraid of her now, especially after extorting 200 yuan from her the day before. With her mood already sour, she just wanted to go out and have some fun.
The three of them had come up with this plan together.
If they tried to skip class on their own, their homeroom teacher would never approve—especially since Zhao Zhu’s uncle had already warned him about them.
And with only a month left before the college entrance exams, the teacher knew they were slackers who often skipped school to hang out with troublemakers. Getting permission would be impossible.
Liu Yutong was different. She had always given off the impression of being well-behaved, with good grades, and the homeroom teacher thought highly of her.
If she claimed she was sick, the teacher would definitely grant her leave.
Liu Yutong had already planned to find an excuse to leave school today, and now that Zhao Zhu had made her demand, it was the perfect opportunity to go along with it.
She deliberately put on a frightened act, stammering, "I... I’ll do whatever you say, as long as you don’t hit me anymore."
Zhao Zhu, pleased by her reaction, smirked smugly. "Fine. Since you’re being so obedient now, I’ll let you off this time. Hurry up—don’t keep me waiting!"
With that, she led her two lackeys to the back of the classroom and sat down.
The meekness on Liu Yutong’s face vanished instantly, replaced by a cold smirk.
"Before destruction, pride must swell."
"Zhao Zhu, you bullied me in my past life, and now you dare try again in this one? Very well. I’ll make sure you learn what true despair feels like."
