Chapter 57: Rescuing the Bullied Top Student (5)

Luo Xun’s eyes widened. She felt something was off about what Tang Qi said, but for a moment she couldn’t find the words to refute it. Tang Qi mischievously pinched her cheek.

A bit thin! She noted mentally.

“You see it for yourself, there’s so much I can’t carry it all.” Tang Qi handed her a pair of chopsticks. “Eat up. After you’re done, you can head back to the classroom and nap for a bit.”

Luo Xun hesitated. Tang Qi sighed dramatically, “I have no authority as a Boss, can’t even get you to eat.”

“You’re not really trying to be some Boss,” Luo Xun muttered, but Tang Qi’s beautiful face kept hovering in her vision, making it impossible for her to refuse.

Tang Qi grinned. “Luoluo is so smart, already knows I don’t want to be your Boss. Then guess what I do want to be to you?”

Luo Xun felt her face flush, unsure how to answer.

“Please, Luoluo, keep me company while I eat, okay?” Tang Qi steeled her heart and started acting cute.

System: I’d give anything for a pair of eyes that have never seen the Host act cute.

Luo Xun finally couldn’t withstand Tang Qi’s coaxing. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite of rice. As the rice went down, Luo Xun’s eyes immediately lit up. It was soft, fragrant, and delicious—truly too good.

The two quickly finished lunch, packed up, and delivered the containers to the school gate. The nanny was waiting in the car, took the thermos, and drove off.

Back in the classroom, there were still forty minutes until class. Tang Qi smiled and said, “Get some sleep, so you’ll have energy this afternoon.”

The entire afternoon, Luo Xun felt she had an inexhaustible supply of energy. While taking notes, she opened her pencil case and found several extra pens inside.

Turning around, she saw Tang Qi winking and making faces at her. Tang Qi pointed at the blackboard and whispered, “Listen to the lesson.” Luo Xun couldn’t help but purse her lips in a smile. She turned back to face the blackboard, feeling for the first time that school wasn’t so unbearable.

There was a thirty-minute dinner break before evening self-study. Everyone usually made do and ate properly when they got home at night.

In such a short time, going to the gate to get food and return it was definitely impossible. Tang Qi bought bread and milk, stuffing plenty into Luo Xun’s desk cavity.

The day passed steadily. After evening self-study, Luo Xun packed her things and was about to leave when Tang Qi grabbed her wrist. “Wait for me, let’s go home together.”

Luo Xun didn’t argue. Tang Qi packed up very slowly, so by the time they left the classroom, the campus was empty. Luo Xun’s nervousness dissipated considerably. She slowed her pace and walked with Tang Qi.

The city night had no stars. The two walked side-by-side across the campus, a gentle summer breeze ruffling their hair. A liveliness befitting her age appeared in Luo Xun’s eyes.

“Tang Qi, why are you so strong? Did you learn martial arts?” She rarely initiated conversation.

“I was kidnapped when I was little. Afterwards, my grandfather hired people to teach me self-defense,” Tang Qi replied. In the night, she could see Luo Xun’s eyes round in shock.

“Kidnapped…” Luo Xun gasped. “Were you hurt?”

“I hit my head on a rock back then. The back of my head bled a lot. The kidnappers thought I was dead and ran.” Tang Qi told it like a story.

In the past, she didn’t understand the point of this kind of transmigration retirement. It was nothing more than the Main God Space being too cold and empty, so she found a place to live. But now thinking back, if she hadn’t come, Tang Jiu would have lost all his family, and Luo Xun would have been bullied forever.

“What about you? Why did Zhou Chenglong bully you?” Tang Qi hesitated for a moment, then asked anyway.

At this question, Luo Xun’s body involuntarily shrank back. “I don’t know. At first, he didn’t bully me, until… I ran into him when he was bleeding a lot, and I helped bandage him.”

Tang Qi silently took Luo Xun’s hand. She didn’t resist, her gaze confused as she looked at Tang Qi. “It started with hiding my books, tearing up my homework, then later he wouldn’t let classmates talk to me. Actually, it was okay. As long as I didn’t resist, I wouldn’t get hit.”

“He hit you?” Tang Qi felt blood rush straight to her head.

Luo Xun shook her head. “It was his friends.” She bit her lip, holding back her tears. She couldn’t cry in front of her mother, couldn’t let her mother worry. She couldn’t cry in front of classmates, because no one would help her.

But she really hurt so much, she felt so awful!

“Cry if you want to!” Tang Qi gritted her teeth in heartache while hugging Luo Xun and coaxing her gently. Luo Xun buried herself in her arms, sobbing quietly in small, suppressed whimpers.

“I don’t know what I did wrong!” Luo Xun’s voice was thick with tears.

Tang Qi said decisively, “You did nothing wrong.”

After crying for a while, Luo Xun felt much better. She pushed Tang Qi away, embarrassed. Tang Qi smiled. “Don’t worry, I didn’t see a thing.”

The car had been waiting outside the gate for a while. Luo Xun waved goodbye to leave but was pushed into the car by Tang Qi. “Your home is so far, better to take the car. Go home early and review your books, the monthly exams are coming up.”

Without a choice, Luo Xun was pulled into the car. It took only twenty minutes to get home.

In the past, she would get home after nine, out of breath from cycling, and still have to tidy up the house and take care of her mother. Every day was exhausting, but today she didn’t feel tired.

After Tang Qi got home, she received a call from Tang Jiu’s secretary. The files had been sent to her email.

Zhou Chenglong’s father was unknown. His mother drifted between numerous men. He had been mingling in the streets since childhood. With terrible grades, he ended up at No. 1 High School due to student allocation policies.

Once in the best high school, he didn’t study properly. He still got into fights every day, learned to collect protection money from others, and had a group of lackeys both in and out of school. Reading Zhou Chenglong’s file, Tang Qi let out a cold laugh. “He has some brains at least. Doesn’t mess with people he can’t afford to.”

The system glanced over it. “Extorting middle and elementary schoolers? He can do something that low?”

“Today he made Luoluo buy his breakfast, didn’t even give her money for it.” The system cried out, “The reason Luoluo has no money to fix her bike tire is because she’s buying his breakfast! This is extortion! What kind of garbage is he?”

Tang Qi started reading Luo Xun’s file. Luo Xun’s father died early. A car accident left her mother paralyzed and bedridden. Later, her grandparents also passed away one after another.

In the end, only she was left, struggling to survive with her mother, relying on the little savings and subsidy the elderly had left behind. Luo Xun was too young to find a job, so during holidays she would collect trash to sell for money.

Tang Qi pursed her lips. The system was watching with tearful eyes. “Luoluo! In your past life, you were the Empress… Wah…”

The next day, as Luo Xun walked to the intersection, she saw Tang Qi’s car there as expected. Tang Qi rolled down the window. “Get in, quick! I brought you osmanthus cakes today.”

Luo Xun got into the car. Tang Qi had laid out breakfast: millet porridge, tea eggs, red bean buns, and a few refreshing side dishes.

This was the breakfast style Luo Xu liked most in her past life. Tang Qi didn’t know what she liked to eat, so she ordered based on the past life. Luo Xun pursed her lips. When Tang Qi placed the chopsticks in her hand, she finally looked up. “Why are you so good to me?”

Tang Qi had long anticipated this question. “Because I saw you in a dream.”

Luo Xun didn’t believe it. Tang Qi pinched her face. “Don’t overthink it. Just eat well, study well, and get into a good university later to repay me.”

After getting out of the car, the two walked into the campus one after the other. Upon arriving at the classroom, they sensed the atmosphere was off. Li Min whispered, “Tang Qi, the teacher told you to go to the office.”

Luo Xun abruptly looked up. She wanted to ask what happened but knew no one would answer her. She could only watch Tang Qi with worry and tension. Tang Qi smiled and shook her head at her.

In the teacher’s office, Zhou Chenglong had gauze taped to his face and looked somewhat disheveled. A middle-aged woman with heavy, garish makeup—trying too hard—stood beside him.

Seeing Tang Qi appear, Zhou Chenglong suddenly stood up. The woman next to him looked Tang Qi up and down. “You’re the one who hit my son?”

She approached Tang Qi. Tang Qi smelled a wave of strong, cheap perfume, so overpowering it blanked her mind. She held her breath and couldn’t help stepping back a few paces. “What’s the matter?”

Her action made Zhou Chenglong and Mother Zhou’s expressions change. Mother Zhou screeched, “What’s the matter? You think you can just hit my son and that’s it? My son is badly hurt. Give me one hundred thousand, or I’ll call the police and have you arrested.”

At this time, housing prices in Haishi were less than ten thousand, a fraction of what they’d be later. Mother Zhou’s appetite was really huge. Tang Qi wasn’t angered. “I didn’t know you had to pay compensation for hitting garbage.”

The homeroom teacher coughed, pulled Tang Qi aside, and gave her a look. She said to Mother Zhou, “Show us the hospital receipts.”

“What receipts? My son is hurt this badly and you want receipts? A student hitting someone, and the school covers for the bully! You won’t let a widow and orphan live!” Mother Zhou was relentless, reaching her hand out to claw at the teacher’s face.

The teacher was scratched and flew into a towering rage. Tang Qi pushed the teacher aside and spoke, “I can give you one hundred thousand.”

Mother Zhou immediately stopped shrieking. Tang Qi took out a card. “There’s one million here.” Mother Zhou’s eyes lit up, but she looked at Tang Qi warily. “How does a student have so much money?”

“You just tell me, is one million enough for medical treatment?” She shook her wrist and smiled at Mother Zhou.

“Tang Qi!” The homeroom teacher knew something bad was about to happen when she heard that. Tang Qi was smiling one second, and the next, her fist slammed into Zhou Chenglong’s face. Mother Zhou screamed. Tang Qi lifted her face, licked her lips, wearing a bloodthirsty smile. “You should be glad I don’t hit women.”

Both Mother Zhou and the teacher were terrified. Mother Zhou cowered, not daring to step forward, not even daring to make a sound.

She patted Zhou Chenglong’s face beneath her. “This is what you said yesterday, right?”

“Fk…” Zhou Chenglong cursed and tried to fight back, but Tang Qi slapped him hard across the face. She dragged him like a dead dog into the hallway and kicked open the door to a faculty restroom.

She casually picked a sink, turned on the water, and shoved Zhou Chenglong’s face in, holding it down ruthlessly.

Zhou Chenglong struggled frantically. Tang Qi pulled him out of the water. “Enjoying that? Hmm?” Seeing Zhou Chenglong spit out a mouthful of water, she shoved him back into the water.

After repeating this several times, Zhou Chenglong was completely dazed. Tang Qi then released her grip, letting him slump to the floor. She crouched down. “I disapprove of violence for violence most, but you truly disgust me.”

“Bullying elementary schoolers, middle schoolers, and girls. What other skills do you have?” Tang Qi grabbed his collar. “Why did you bully Luo Xun? Was it because, even though you both only have a single mother at home, you thought: why can she stay untainted, live earnestly and hard, study well, while you can only do shady things?”

“You were jealous of Luo Xun, right? You wanted her to be like you, to give up on herself and abandon her life.”

Zhou Chenglong coughed non-stop. “No, I…”

“But did anyone force you to sink into depravity? No, you chose to sink on your own.” Tang Qi gripped Zhou Chenglong’s neck. “No one forced you. What right do you have to hate people who work hard and earnestly? What right do you have to drag her down?”