Ma Jian and Wang Zhi were on good terms. Hearing Wang Zhi's words, Ma Jian felt a flicker of doubt. Seeing the surrounding classmates all looking at him with disdain, with no one speaking up for him or Liu Fen, he frowned, sensing something was off. He turned his head and asked, "Xiao Fen, what's really going on? Didn't you say Yu Shulin was shamelessly pestering and harassing you? Why does Wang Zhi's story sound different?"
"He really dared to make that up," the short-haired girl sneered. The onlooking students also began whispering amongst themselves, and if one listened closely, the murmurs were all condemning Liu Fen.
Yu Shulin, annoyed by Liu Fen's repeated provocations, frowned and said to Ma Jian, "I'll say this one last time: I have absolutely no relationship with Liu Fen. Are you her boyfriend? Please tell her to stop making a scene. I'm not close with her, and the so-called harassment is completely fabricated."
Liu Fen glared at Yu Shulin, deeply stung by his words. How could he just push her off onto another boy so simply? Wouldn't he feel jealous or angry? A mix of shame, resentment, and fury churned inside her. The events of last night surged to the forefront of her mind, and she finally couldn't hold back her erupting emotions. She tugged at Ma Jian's sleeve and shrieked, "Ma Jian, he's insulting me again! Didn't you say you'd treat me well? Are you just going to stand there and watch him bully me? Yu Shulin, you liar! You hypocrite!"
"Hey, hey, Liu Fen, that's enough. Don't think I won't hit you just because you're a girl," Wang Zhi said, also fed up.
Ma Jian's wavering resolve instantly hardened again at Liu Fen's cry. He rolled up his sleeves and charged at Yu Shulin. His thinking was simple: Liu Fen was his girlfriend, so he should protect her. Since no one else was on her side, if he didn't help her too, how pitiful she would be.
Seeing how stubbornly unreasonable Ma Jian was, Yu Shulin pulled his hand out of his pocket, ready to teach this Ma Jian a lesson.
"Shulin, watch out!" Wang Zhi, who was unaware of Yu Shulin's fighting prowess, was startled and hurried to intervene. Damn it, with Shulin's slim and frail build, he couldn't withstand a punch from Ma Jian!
The watching students gasped in unison, their eyes filled with worry, clearly sharing Wang Zhi's concern.
Seeing this, the short-haired girl slammed her book on the desk and shouted, "Liu Fen! You've gone too far! Inciting a fight between classmates, I'm telling the teacher!"
Just as everyone thought Yu Shulin was about to get beaten up, Li Tao, who had been leaning against a corridor pillar watching the commotion, suddenly stood up. He took a few quick steps forward, raised his hand to catch Ma Jian's fist, twisted his wrist, grabbed his arm, pulled, shoved, and then executed a beautiful shoulder throw... Ma Jian landed on the ground.
The onlooking students: "Whoa..."
Yu Shulin, with his hand halfway out, ready to fight: "...Huh."
Wang Zhi & Ma Jian: What just happened...?
Liu Fen: "Ahhhh, someone's fighting! Teacher, there's a fight here, ahhhhhh..."
Everyone else: "..."
The class bell suddenly rang. The students were stunned for a moment, then scattered like birds and beasts.
Teacher Gao, who had rushed over upon hearing the screams, ran closer with a dark expression, his anger meter maxed out: "Who's fighting? Why are you running? Come back here! Who was fighting at school? Are your lives too comfortable, itching for trouble, huh? All of you, get back here!"
"It was Yu Shulin and Li Tao!" a daring student yelled back.
"What?!" Teacher Gao exclaimed in shock, stopping in his tracks.
After the crowd of students dispersed, Yu Shulin and the others in the center were exposed. Seeing that it really was his prized student involved in a fight, Teacher Gao's face flushed red with anger. He glanced at Ma Jian still lying on the ground and, seeing that he didn't seem injured, felt a bit relieved, but then grew even angrier. He roared, "You lot! Go back to class first. Come to my office after class. How dare you fight, you've got some nerve!"
Yu Shulin silently scratched his cheek and returned to the classroom.
After class, Yu Shulin and Li Tao went together to Teacher Gao's office.
On the way, Yu Shulin glanced at Li Tao and said quietly, "About earlier... thank you."
Li Tao turned his head to look at him steadily for a moment, then shook his head. "No need." Truth be told, he had wanted to throw a punch ever since Ma Jian showed up looking for trouble.
The office was bustling. Wang Zhi and Liu Fen stood before the homeroom teacher of Class One, one looking defiant, the other full of grievance. Ma Jian sat on a chair in the corner. The homeroom teacher of Class Five had hurried over from the neighboring office and was standing in front of him, looking very annoyed.
Teacher Gao took a slow sip of tea and asked the two who had just entered, "Explain clearly why you were fighting today."
Unexpectedly, Li Tao spoke up before Yu Shulin could. He pointed at Liu Fen and said calmly, "Liu Fen wanted Yu Shulin to be her boyfriend. Yu Shulin refused. She came and made a scene yesterday, and today she brought her new boyfriend, Ma Jian, to cause trouble for Yu Shulin. I intercepted Ma Jian's punch for Yu Shulin. We didn't fight. That's all."
The teachers in the office: "..." What kind of messy situation was this, boyfriends this, boyfriends that... Are kids these days so emotionally complicated?
Teacher Gao was the first to recover. He coughed and looked at Yu Shulin. "Is that what happened?"
Summarized, that was indeed what happened. Yu Shulin glanced at Li Tao and nodded.
After hearing Li Tao's account, Liu Fen's face paled. She hadn't expected the teachers to find out, let alone for Li Tao to phrase it so bluntly and embarrassingly. It was all Yu Shulin's fault for being so clueless, hypocritical, and disgusting... If the teacher told her mother what Li Tao said... No, she couldn't let her mother know about this!
"Ma Jian, tell me honestly, what exactly is your relationship with Liu Fen from Class One? And is today's incident really as Li Tao described?" the Class Five homeroom teacher asked with a frown, his face full of anger. Among the students causing trouble, except for Ma Jian, the others were all top students from the advanced class. And Ma Jian was the one who threw the first punch! He was at a complete disadvantage!
Ma Jian turned his head away and remained silent.
"I'm asking you a question! Speak! Are you dating Liu Fen? Did you throw a punch?" The Class Five homeroom teacher slammed the table.
Startled by the shout, Ma Jian didn't dare to be stubborn anymore. He glanced at Liu Fen's back as she stood before her homeroom teacher, hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, Liu Fen is my girlfriend. But today's trouble was my own—"
"No! He's lying! I'm not dating anyone!" Liu Fen quickly refuted, cutting Ma Jian off. She absolutely could not admit to a puppy love scandal, or her image in the eyes of her teachers and mother would be ruined.
She looked at her homeroom teacher, her expression full of grievance. "Teacher, you have to believe me. It was Ma Jian who kept pestering me, and I ignored him. He heard people say Yu Shulin liked me too, got jealous, insisted on picking a fight with Yu Shulin, and even dragged me along. I... I was scared too. I didn't expect him to act like this."
Ma Jian's head snapped up, and he looked at her in disbelief. "Xiao Fen, how can you say that? It was clearly you—"
"You're still lying? Shut up!" Liu Fen screamed.
Wang Zhi covered his ears, giving Liu Fen a disgusted look before speaking to Class One's homeroom teacher, Teacher Tian. "Teacher, don't believe a word Liu Fen says, she's full of lies. Many classmates saw what happened yesterday and today. She was clearly the one pestering Yu Shulin first and then sweet-talking Ma Jian. Now she comes here pretending to be innocent? It's so annoying. Ma Jian, I told you this girl was no good. See it clearly now? Don't be upset, bro, I'll find you a better girl."
Upon hearing this, Teacher Gao smiled. "Wang Zhi, are you encouraging classmates to start dating early? Want a demerit?"
Wang Zhi choked, twitched the corner of his mouth, and lowered his head without another word.
"Wang Zhi, why are you slandering me!" Liu Fen was furious.
"Stop shouting, it's annoying," Wang Zhi said with disgust, turning his head away and covering his ears.
Head Teacher Tian was a gentle middle-aged female teacher. Listening to them, she felt a headache coming on and turned to look at Teacher Gao. "Teacher Gao, this matter was ultimately the fault of the students from Class One and Class Five. Your Class Two students were wronged. What do you think should be done?"
Teacher Gao had taught Liu Fen for a year and had some understanding of the girl's character. He had already judged the rights and wrongs of the matter in his mind. He waved his hand and said, "It's just kids being immature and causing trouble. How about this: Ma Jian and Liu Fen go back and write self-criticisms, then have their parents come to the school. The remaining students should just do some self-reflection. It's not that big of a deal. How does this arrangement sound to everyone?"
This essentially pushed all the responsibility onto Liu Fen and Ma Jian, neatly absolving the students from his own class.
Although Teacher Tian and the Class Five homeroom teacher understood that Teacher Gao was deliberately favoring his own students, they were in the wrong. They exchanged a glance, nodded, and agreed to the arrangement.
Parents being called to school? Liu Fen's face went completely pale. She hurriedly grabbed Teacher Tian's sleeve, pleading pitifully. Ma Jian, still stunned by Liu Fen's earlier words, showed no reaction to the news about the parents, just sitting there dazedly.
"Serves you right," Wang Zhi said, feeling vindicated.
Teacher Gao glared at him and waved the three of them away. "Alright, you can go back to class now. Remember to reflect properly. If you cause trouble again next time, you won't get off so easily."
Wang Zhi shrank his neck, made a series of exaggerated faces at Yu Shulin, and followed the other two out.
Having been delayed in the office for so long, the break between classes had long since ended. The hallway was quiet, with only the three of them.
Wang Zhi slung his arm over Yu Shulin's shoulder, stole a few glances at Li Tao, and finally gathered the courage to speak up. "Hey, um... thanks for blocking Ma Jian's punch for Shulin. That's real loyalty. I consider you a friend now."
Yu Shulin found it amusing. "We were already friends. Just don't be so impulsive next time. This time you were completely dragged into it because of us."
"No problem, I was happy to! I just can't stand that Liu Fen. I just feel sorry for Ma Jian, sigh..." Wang Zhi sighed.
Li Tao glanced at the hand Wang Zhi had draped over Yu Shulin's shoulder, clenched the hand in his pocket tighter, pursed his lips, and maintained his usual silent demeanor.
The next day, Liu Fen's mother stormed into the school. First, she charged into Class One and gave Liu Fen a fierce scolding. Then, she rushed to the office and had a blazing row with Ma Jian's mother. Her shrill voice was practically identical to Liu Fen's, giving the students quite an eye-opening spectacle.
After school, Liu Fen's mother, completely changing her previously fierce and shrewish manner, dragged Liu Fen and waited at the entrance of Class Two. Seeing Yu Shulin come out, she quickly pulled Liu Fen forward and made her apologize.
Many students gathered around to watch the spectacle. Liu Fen felt utterly humiliated, but under the oppressive might of her mother, she had no choice but to mutter an unwilling "I'm sorry."
Infuriated by her daughter's perfunctory attitude, Mrs. Liu tugged at her, shot her a glare, then turned to Yu Shulin, her demeanor softening. "Student Yu, it's my fault for not teaching my daughter properly. I apologize to you on her behalf. I'll have a good talk with her when we get home."
Yu Shulin looked at Liu Fen, who kept her head down and said nothing, then at Mrs. Liu. He sighed inwardly about the universal heart of parents, ignored Liu Fen, and politely exchanged a few words with Mrs. Liu, effectively accepting the apology.
After the Liu mother and daughter left, the onlookers dispersed. He slung the schoolbag he was carrying onto his back, rubbed his forehead, and walked out. The matter was considered resolved... What an ugly scene. Romance and such things... they really are terrifying.
Guan Bowen couldn't find Liang Zhou anywhere at the banquet. After circling the venue twice, he finally spotted him in a dimly lit corner.
"Why are you hiding here?" He approached with a glass of red wine, his posture the picture of elegance.
"Shulin's homeroom teacher called," Liang Zhou said, rubbing his temples, somewhat annoyed.
"Little Yu's homeroom teacher? What's going on?" Guan Bowen was puzzled. Wasn't Little Yu a good student who behaved well at school? Why would the homeroom teacher call, and an international call at that?
Liang Zhou glanced at him and swirled the glass in his hand. "There was a bit of trouble, but it's been resolved now. Kids these days have so many schemes. Shulin is still too naive."
"What exactly happened? Was Little Yu bullied?"
"Not exactly bullied... Forget it, let's not talk about this." Liang Zhou drained the last of the wine from his glass and asked irritably, "When will this banquet end? What about that producer who was pestering you earlier?"
"Weren't there even more people pestering you? One after another trying to strike up a conversation. I didn't expect you to be so popular." Guan Bowen stroked his chin, his gaze sweeping over the glass in Liang Zhou's hand and his clearly off-kilter expression. He smiled. "Liang Zhou, you're not... drunk, are you? How much have you had tonight?"
Liang Zhou also felt his condition was a bit off. He loosened his tie and shook his head. "Seems like it, a little. Let's say our goodbyes and leave first."
"The ladies waiting to spend a wonderful evening with you are going to be heartbroken," Guan Bowen said, shaking his head. He turned and led the way out. He was actually quite surprised by Liang Zhou's inexplicable high popularity since coming to Europe. Asian faces had never had much presence in the European entertainment industry. To charm so many young women and men... he wasn't sure why. He looked back at Liang Zhou, who was frowning and looking grim, and narrowed his eyes. Could it be the so-called... aura?
