Qin Qiao'an heard that his younger sister had been bullied.
He immediately set out to teach Li Taohua a lesson.
Qin Qiao'an shoved his backpack into Xiaxia's arms, a fierce look on his fair, handsome face. "That bastard dares to bully my sister—he's completely disregarding me! Xiaxia, wait here. Your brother's going to get revenge for you."
With that, Qin Qiao'an turned and sprinted off, moving at lightning speed.
Xiaxia was left carrying her own backpack while hugging his in her arms, nearly buried under the load.
"Brother, brother, wait up!" she called after him several times, but Qin Qiao'an didn't respond. In the blink of an eye, he was already far away.
Xiaxia grew worried, afraid her brother might end up in trouble. After hesitating for just two seconds, she clutched his backpack and ran after him.
Although Qin Qiao'an wasn't the best student academically, he was well-liked, and most of the boys in his class were on good terms with him. He got along with classmates from his own grade and others too.
After rushing back to school, he grabbed three or four male classmates along the way, yelling that they were going to find Li Taohua and settle the score for his sister.
Boys in their early teens were all about loyalty and stirring up trouble. None of the kids felt scared—instead, they were excited.
At the same time, Li Taohua was with her own brother, Li Jian, a tall, sturdy fifth grader.
Qin Qiao'an wasn't intimidated. He blocked them with his group of classmates, frowning. "Li Taohua, why did you bully my sister?"
Qin Qiao'an, like Xiaxia, had fair skin. His features were a mix—two parts like Qiao Lanshu, five or six parts like Qin Yuanzheng—with thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a handsome face. He was very good-looking.
Li Taohua recognized him (after all, not many people were that attractive, and it left a strong impression).
"I never said I bullied your sister! I didn't!" Li Taohua retorted.
Qin Qiao'an was fuming. "If it weren't for you, would my sister have been hit by Teacher Qian? Now go back to the classroom and move your desk back where it belongs. Otherwise, I'll smash it, and you'll have to stand through class!"
Li Taohua raised her voice. "Try it! The desks and chairs belong to the school. If you smash them, you'll have to pay—and the teacher will call your parents!"
Qin Qiao'an was the type who feared nothing, least of all paying compensation.
He pointed at Li Taohua. "Just watch me!"
With that, he dashed toward the first-grade area.
But Li Taohua's brother, Li Jian, blocked his path. "Stop right there!"
Li Jian was a head taller than Qin Qiao'an and twice as broad.
Qin Qiao'an shoved him. "Get out of my way!"
Li Jian refused, and the two of them tumbled into a brawl.
Li Taohua swung her backpack at Qin Qiao'an, but one of his classmates stopped her. "Hey, hey, hey—no fighting from you, miss. Don't make us hit you."
Li Taohua was pushed aside. She snorted coldly and stood by, watching. "Just wait—my brother's going to wipe the floor with you."
Qin Qiao'an and Li Jian were locked in a chaotic fight. Having trained with Qin Yuanzheng since he was young, Qin Qiao'an was decently skilled.
Li Jian's only advantages were his size and strength—he had no systematic training and fought purely with brute force.
They'd been at it for several minutes when Xiaxia finally ran up, panting, still clutching both backpacks. "Stop fighting!" she shouted. "Stop! The teacher's coming!"
As soon as they heard a teacher was coming, a few of Qin Qiao'an's classmates rushed over to break up the fight: "Stop it, stop it! The teacher's here!"
The two were barely separated. Li Jian's face was fine, but his body was already covered in bruises, hurting like crazy. He spat angrily and said, "Qin Qiao'an, if you ever bully my sister again, I'll beat you to death."
Qin Qiao'an was clever—he knew to hit where it hurt and avoid leaving marks on the face, aiming instead at tender spots that wouldn't easily show bruises.
But Li Jian didn't understand that, so Qin Qiao'an's face ended up black and blue with bruises, while his body had fewer injuries.
This made it look like Li Jian had beaten Qin Qiao'an's face to a pulp.
Xiaxia's eyes reddened with heartache, and silent tears began to fall.
Qin Qiao'an wiped his swollen cheek and glared fiercely at them: "I'm telling you too, Li Taohua! If you dare bully Xiaxia again, you just wait—I'll come for you!"
Li Taohua shrank back under Qin Qiao'an's fierce gaze, too scared to utter a word.
Li Taohua was the type to bully the weak and fear the strong. When faced with Qin Qiao'an, she kept her mouth shut, but seeing how meek Xiaxia was, she sneered inwardly, not caring about Xiaxia at all.
It was just around school dismissal time—everyone was heading home or going to eat, so there weren't many people left on campus.
That's why their fight hadn't been discovered.
Seeing a teacher approaching from a distance, the two groups finally split up.
A battered and bruised Qin Qiao'an walked out with a sobbing Xiaxia. Han Ye was already waiting at the school gate.
Seeing them like this, Han Ye was startled and asked with a dark expression, "What happened? Did you get into a fight?"
Qin Qiao'an explained what had just happened.
After listening, Han Ye sneered, "Xiaxia, go back this afternoon and check if Li Taohua's desk has been moved back. If it hasn't, tell me, and I'll go move it for her personally."
Han Ye was already in middle school—if he showed up, wouldn't that be like an older kid bullying a younger one? At that point, even if they were in the right, they'd end up being wrong.
Qin Qiao'an said, "Big Brother, no need for you to get involved. I'll personally take Xiaxia to school this afternoon."
Han Ye scolded him, "You've been beaten into a mess, and you still want to go? Fine, listen to me—I'll take Xiaxia this afternoon, Qiao'an. You just go to class."
Since Big Brother had already decided, that settled it.
Half of Qin Qiao'an's face was swollen, and he kept wincing in pain even while eating lunch. He was truly a pitiful sight.
Seeing her brother like this, Xiaxia felt terrible inside.
She said, "I'll go to school by myself this afternoon. Neither of you need to come. I can handle it."
Han Ye said sternly, "Eat your meal. Leave this to me. I promise no one will dare bully you from now on."
Then he added, "It must be because you look too gentle that everyone thinks you're easy to push around. From now on, don't be so soft—try to act a little fiercer, got it?"
Xiaxia: "..."
How was she supposed to act fiercer? Xiaxia frowned.
Seeing her like that, Han Ye felt utterly helpless.
After lunch, Han Ye took Qin Qiao'an to the clinic. He applied medicine to his face and examined his body to make sure there were no wounds. Only then did he let it go.
When it was time for afternoon classes, Han Ye told Qin Qiao'an to go to his own classroom. Then, he led Xiaxia toward the first floor.
Their school building had six floors, one grade per floor.
First grade had five classes, all on the first floor.
When Xiaxia reached the classroom door, she hesitated and looked up at Han Ye. "Brother Ye, maybe... maybe you should just go back?"
Han Ye glared. "I'm already here. You're not going to let me take a look?"
Xiaxia: "..."
It sounded like he was visiting as a guest or something.
Han Ye walked into the classroom first, glanced around, and asked, "Where's your seat?"
Xiaxia led him to her desk.
Just then, Li Taohua came in and sat down at her own desk.
Han Ye went up to her and took a look, startling Li Taohua.
He pressed one hand down on Li Taohua's desk and slowly pushed it backward.
Li Taohua tried to hold it in place, but she wasn't as strong as Han Ye.
He shoved her desk far back until Li Taohua was wedged between two desks.
Li Taohua, being overweight, could barely breathe.
Han Ye smirked coldly at her. "Now you know how it feels to get squeezed by a desk. How is it? Good?"
Li Taohua was so scared she started crying. "Class is about to start. Get out."
Han Ye told Xiaxia to sit down, then kept one hand pressed on Li Taohua's desk. "Sorry, but I'm here today just to keep an eye on you."
Li Taohua hung her head, trapped between the desks, too afraid to speak.
Soon, the bell rang. Li Taohua sneaked a glance at Han Ye, hoping he would leave.
Instead, Han Ye turned and walked to the back of the classroom to stand.
Li Taohua turned around and saw Han Ye staring darkly at her with a grim expression.
She quickly looked away, glaring resentfully at Xiaxia.
Xiaxia was also worried about Han Ye, but when she caught Li Taohua's stare, she deliberately said, "Don't you have a brother too? Tell him to come stand here, then."
Li Taohua: "..."
This Han Ye was obviously taller and stronger than Li Jian. If it came to a fight, Li Jian would definitely lose.
Li Taohua wasn't stupid. She knew her brother couldn't help her now.
So in her heart, she hated Xiaxia even more.
Why did some people have it so good?
Not only good grades and a pretty face, but also two handsome brothers.
And both of them doted on her so much.
Just then, Teacher Qian came in with a textbook and a ruler.
As soon as she entered, she felt something was off. She glanced around and locked eyes with Han Ye standing at the back.
Teacher Qian froze, confused. She put down the textbook, walked over with the ruler in hand, and looked Han Ye up and down. "Who are you? Get out. We're about to start class."
Han Ye stood still. "Sorry, teacher, but I can't leave today. And not just today—I'll be here every day from now on. I have to protect my sister. Someone's been bullying her, and since you all didn't do anything about it, I have to handle it myself."
Teacher Qian's face darkened. She stared at him. "Which one is your sister? Who's been bullying her?"
Han Ye pointed at Li Taohua. "She almost crushed Qin Qiaoxia flat with a desk. Teacher, didn't you see that?"
He spoke rudely. "Teacher, if your eyesight's that bad, maybe you shouldn't be a teacher anymore. A blind person can't lead students the right way."
Teacher Qian was so angry she nearly fell over. She pointed at Han Ye. "You... you're Qin Qiaoxia's brother?"
Han Ye grinned lazily. "Guess?"
Teacher Qian: "..."
Teacher Qian was furious. Looking at the burly Han Ye, she didn't dare to confront him head-on.
She turned around and quickly left the room, then sent someone to the nearby high school to find Qiao Lanshu.
For something like this, she had no choice but to call the parent to come.
At the same time, because Han Ye had skipped class, his homeroom teacher also went to the high school to find Qiao Lanshu.
Qiao Lanshu first heard about Han Ye skipping class, and then she received another notice from the elementary school asking the parents to come.
Qiao Lanshu had no choice but to go to the elementary school first. Han Ye was already grown up, so his matter wasn't as urgent.
This was Qiao Lanshu's first time being called in as a parent.
She hurried to the school and saw Teacher Qian waiting for her at the school gate.
Qiao Lanshu was a bit surprised. She jogged over and asked, "Teacher Qian, what's wrong with Xiaxia? Why did you suddenly call me over?"
Qiao Lanshu was worried, fearful that something had happened to her daughter.
Teacher Qian saw her and said with a stern face,
"Teacher Qiao, since you're also a teacher, I assume you know how to educate children, right? Look at your son. He has no manners at all. Knowing full well that we were having class, he still walked into the first-grade classroom and stood there, disrupting the lesson and wasting everyone's time. This is truly unacceptable. Please discipline your child properly, give him a serious scolding, and make sure it never happens again."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Qiao Lanshu was a bit confused by what she said.
She frowned and asked, "Teacher Qian, could you please explain clearly? What exactly happened? What did my son do?"
At this moment, she still thought the "son" Teacher Qian mentioned was Qin Qiao'an.
But Teacher Qian replied, "Your son is already in middle school, yet he came to the first grade to bully a female student. Do you think that's appropriate? No matter what, whatever happens in my class, I will handle it myself. There's no need for a middle schooler to come play judge. As his mother, you really need to educate him properly."
Qiao Lanshu: "..."
Oh, now she finally understood where Han Ye had disappeared to after skipping class all afternoon.
She stopped walking and said to Teacher Qian, "Please hold on for a moment. Let me send someone to inform the child's father and ask him to come educate the child."
With that, Qiao Lanshu ran to the school gate and asked the security guard at the gatehouse to send a message to the public security bureau.
Teacher Qian had never met Qin Qiaoxia's father before, so she didn't think much of it at the time.
She remembered that Li Taohua's father worked in the Education Bureau, and since Li Taohua had been wronged in her class, it was very possible that Li Taohua's parents would come to question her.
So, before entering the classroom, she said to Qiao Lanshu, "No matter how you look at it, what happened today was indeed your son's fault. A middle school boy coming to bully a first-grade female student—what kind of behavior is that? Later, you need to have your son apologize to Li Taohua. Make sure he says it nicely and doesn't scare her into crying again."
Qiao Lanshu listened to her the whole way and felt very displeased.
But since she still didn't know the specific situation, she didn't share her opinion prematurely.
Teacher Qian kept criticizing Han Ye, saying everything that was wrong with him.
But why would Han Ye, without any good reason, skip class and go stand in a first-grade classroom?
And what did Li Taohua have to do with all this?
Teacher Qian hadn't mentioned the cause and effect of the matter at all.
Therefore, Qiao Lanshu's expression was also unpleasant. She listened to Teacher Qian in silence, then quickened her pace until she reached the entrance of the first-grade classroom.
She stood at the door and glanced inside. In one look, she spotted the tall and burly Han Ye, standing against the wall at the back of the classroom with his hands in his pockets.
Judging by his demeanor, he really did look like someone asking for a beating.
