“And you still have the nerve to show your face at school? You’ve used every dirty trick in the book—stringing Song Ze along while seducing Gu Yao. Your heart is rotten to the core!”
The girls hurled the nastiest insults they could think of at Zhang Yanyan, one after another.
Zhang Yanyan merely stood there with her arms folded, one eyebrow slightly raised, her eyes filled with disdain. Only after they had finished did she speak leisurely, the mockery in her voice even sharper than theirs.
“Who are you to judge whether I’m worthy or not? You’re nothing but a bunch of useless brats who only know how to throw your weight around behind your parents. The Li family is merely a third-rate family in Rongcheng, and your families can’t even be considered third-rate. You swagger around the school with a little money and actually think you’re important?”
She paused, her gaze sweeping over them as each word struck home.
“Besides, what does my relationship with Gu Yao have to do with any of you? You’re the ones throwing yourselves at him and acting like dogs, yet he won’t even spare you a glance. How dare you come lecture me? You must be so frustrated by Gu Yao’s cold shoulder that you have to vent your anger on me. How pitiful—and how pathetic.”
Her words struck precisely where it hurt. The girls’ faces instantly flushed red, and they trembled with rage, unable to come up with a single retort.
Seeing Zhang Yanyan’s calm, unruffled expression, Li Man finally lost control. With a furious roar, she shouted, “Get her! Shut that mouth of hers!”
Before the words had even left her mouth, the girls charged at Zhang Yanyan, baseball bats in hand. The bats cut through the air with sharp whistles, aimed straight at her.
Zhang Yanyan’s eyes turned cold. She nimbly sidestepped the first swing, then countered with swift precision, grabbing the baseball bat from her attacker’s hands. With a sudden twist of her wrist, she forced the girl’s grip loose and easily wrested the bat away.
The next moment, she gripped the bat and moved with crisp, efficient precision. In just a few strikes, she had knocked all of them to the ground.
Luckily, her body’s original owner had learned a few self-defense techniques. Otherwise, getting away today would have been difficult.
Even so, she exercised great restraint. Every blow landed on areas with plenty of muscle, causing only superficial injuries without damaging their bones or tendons.
In no time at all, Li Man and the others were sprawled on the ground, crying out in agony. Each of them clutched an arm or a leg, their faces deathly pale, none of them able to stand.
The scene of Li Man and the others surrounding Zhang Yanyan happened to be witnessed by two students passing by. Realizing that something was wrong, they quickly turned around and ran to the security office for help.
By the time the security guards hurried over, they saw Zhang Yanyan toss the baseball bat aside and stand there with an innocent look on her face, while Li Man and the others lay on the ground howling.
“Uncle, you finally came,” Zhang Yanyan said first, her tone utterly innocent. “They blocked my way and wouldn’t let me leave. Then they started insulting me, and when they couldn’t win the argument, they tried to hit me. I was only defending myself. If you don’t believe me, you can check the security footage. It captured everything clearly.”
The security guards followed the direction she pointed and indeed saw a surveillance camera aimed directly at the area.
By then, night had completely fallen, and the campus streetlights had come on. After inspecting the scene, the security guards said little more. They merely stated that the incident was serious, so they would record the details that night and wait for the school to handle the matter formally the following day.
As soon as the principal was informed, he learned that the student who had been surrounded was Zhang Yanyan. He immediately realized the seriousness of the situation and hurriedly called the Zhang family’s butler.
Uncle Chen received the news and learned that the young lady had been surrounded at school. He didn’t dare conceal anything and immediately called Zhang Yanyan’s father, who was overseas, explaining the entire situation in detail.
After hearing everything, Zhang Yanyan’s father was instantly consumed by fury. In a deep voice, he said, “How outrageous. It seems that because I’ve been busy handling the overseas branch and haven’t appeared in Rongcheng for a long time, they’ve decided I no longer exist. They actually dared lay a hand on my daughter? Go there at once and stay by Yanyan’s side. First thing tomorrow morning, go to the school and deal with this matter. I’ll handle the contracts for the overseas branch here and return as soon as possible—by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.
“I’d like to see which family has raised such an ignorant, undisciplined child. They’ll all receive the lesson they deserve!”
Uncle Chen acknowledged the order and spent the night making all the necessary preparations, waiting to head to the school the next day.
Early the following morning, Li Man’s father, Li Jianming, along with the fathers and mothers of the other girls, gathered in the principal’s office at Tenyuan University.
Some were furious, while others were sobbing and complaining. The moment they saw the principal and the director of academic affairs, they immediately surrounded them, slapped the table, and began shouting.
“Principal, you have to give us an explanation! My daughter is covered in injuries because of that little bitch. She must be expelled today!”
“Exactly! That student is far too arrogant. She beat them so viciously. Keeping her here will only make her a menace to the school! If you don’t deal with her, our families will join forces and withdraw all our funding from Tenyuan immediately!”
Trapped in the middle of the crowd, the principal and the director of academic affairs wore tightly furrowed brows, but they refused to give in. They merely said that they would investigate and deal with the matter as soon as the students involved and the relevant parties had all arrived.
Just then, the office door was gently pushed open.
Uncle Chen appeared at the doorway first. With one hand lightly holding the door, he moved aside and made a respectful gesture of invitation.
“Miss, please come in.”
As his words fell, Zhang Yanyan, dressed in her school uniform and wearing a calm expression, walked in at an unhurried pace.
Uncle Chen carried a briefcase and followed half a step behind her, never straying from her side. His gaze kept returning to her, filled with clear concern and respect. Every movement he made showed that Zhang Yanyan was the center of his attention.
The sight instantly silenced the noisy office.
The principal and the director of academic affairs looked as though they had just found a lifeline. They immediately pushed through the parents surrounding them and hurried over.
Their faces instantly settled into perfectly measured, amiable smiles, not a trace remaining of the embarrassment they had shown moments earlier.
The principal was the first to address Zhang Yanyan, his voice exceptionally gentle.
“Zhang, you’re finally here. Please, have a seat. The sofa over there is spacious and comfortable. I’ll have someone bring you a glass of warm water.”
The director of academic affairs hurriedly echoed him. As he walked toward the water dispenser, he glanced back and called out, “Zhang, please sit over here. Don’t just stand there.”
The two men also nodded toward Uncle Chen and greeted him. “Mr. Chen, please have a seat as well.”
They then turned their full attention back to Zhang Yanyan. The obvious difference in how they treated her left the parents in the room stunned.
Li Jianming stopped shouting as well and looked suspiciously toward the doorway.
His gaze first landed on Uncle Chen. The man’s face seemed vaguely familiar, but for the moment, he couldn’t remember where he had seen him.
Then he noticed the way Uncle Chen bowed and scraped before Zhang Yanyan. Combined with the principal’s unusually respectful treatment of a mere student, it suddenly made Li Jianming’s heart lurch. A terrible premonition began to rise within him.
He stared fixedly at Uncle Chen, frantically searching through the fragments of his memory. After a moment, a long-buried scene suddenly came into sharp focus.
Two years earlier, Old Master Zhou had held a banquet for his sixtieth birthday in Rongcheng. Li Jianming had gone to great lengths just to obtain an invitation. At that banquet, he had caught a distant glimpse of the head of the Zhang family.
The man had been dressed in a tailored suit, with a steady, imposing air.
At that moment, the person standing before her was none other than Mr. Chen—the butler who never left Zhang Zhenxiong, chairman of the Zhang Group, and respectfully addressed him as “Sir,” the trusted aide of the head of the Zhang family!
