Chapter 120

Chapter 120

Ning Shuo wanted to take advantage of the fact that Ning Wang had forgotten him for the moment and get back as soon as possible, before anyone noticed anything strange. So he said to Fan Jiangnan, “Have you thought about what you’re going to do after you see her?”

Fan Jiangnan nodded firmly. “I’m going back to save her.”

When they returned to A High School, Ning Shuo noticed that the words “No. 1 High School” on the notice board by the school gate were gone. In their place was the old display from four years ago: “Outstanding Students of the XX Graduating Class.” You Ge was among them.

The protagonist of this other stretch of spacetime was You Ge, so the timeline kept looping around the period before her death.

For Fan Jiangnan, this was the second time she had come to meet her good friend You Ge.

Oh, except You Ge didn’t know her yet.

It was now the end of the first semester of senior year. Fan Jiangnan went to Senior 3 Class 2, the class You Ge had been in before the classes were divided.

You Ge was holding her dance shoes and had just been about to head to the dance studio when she was stopped.

She looked at the girls in front of her, each taller and stronger than she was, and couldn’t help taking a step back. “Wh-what do you want?”

The girl in the lead shoved her. “Aren’t you an art student? How did you get first place?”

“I study at night too…”

“Oh? So you didn’t buy the answers?”

That was the first time You Ge was bullied, and also the first time she fought back.

When she went to find the homeroom teacher, it was also the first time she saw the darkness in this school.

The homeroom teacher said, “If you didn’t do anything wrong, why would they bully you?”

You Ge said, even if I did do something wrong, does that make it right for them to bully me?

The homeroom teacher answered, you must have done something wrong. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have bullied you.

But she clearly hadn’t done anything. She had only scored well on a test.

Only later did You Ge learn that those girls had family connections, and that their families had secretly given the teacher gifts.

By the time she found out, however, she was already severely depressed. Aside from defending herself, she no longer wanted to communicate with the outside world at all.

Naturally, she couldn’t keep dancing either.

But at this point, she gained a friend.

Her name was Fan Jiangnan. You Ge had never seen her before; she was probably from another class.

The first time You Ge saw Fan Jiangnan, she had just finished being bullied.

She stood up numbly, as if this had already become part of her daily life.

When she saw Fan Jiangnan, she only glanced at her. She had just been about to leave when Fan Jiangnan stopped her. “I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

That was the first stretch of time they spent together. It was also during that time that they became friends, and You Ge’s depression improved considerably.

Until the very end, when those girls broke You Ge’s leg. Fan Jiangnan stood off to the side and watched. Just watched. Her mind went blank, and her legs seemed nailed to the ground. She couldn’t move at all.

She didn’t know that in psychology, this was called a catatonic response. Every time she recalled that scene, she only saw it as her own cowardice.

So later, she learned taekwondo.

Now, she had returned to the moment when You Ge was first bullied.

Fan Jiangnan kicked those girls away. Her movements were still unpolished, and even her fingertips were trembling.

But her voice was firm. “Don’t bully her.”

The girls exchanged a look, then laughed mockingly. “And why shouldn’t we?”

They surrounded the two of them. “What class are you from? Haven’t seen you before.”

“Since you like this bitch so much, you can get beaten with her. There’s no family background in this school I can’t afford to mess with anyway.”

Fan Jiangnan wasn’t particularly good at taekwondo. After all, she spent most of her time at school.

But for some reason-whether it was luck or something else, when those girls closed in on her, even though she looked miserable, she somehow managed to dodge them and kick them away.
Fan Jiangnan was dumbfounded. So she had been this incredible all along!

Not far away, Ning Shuo sat on the edge of the rooftop, fiddling with the shards in his hand as he looked down at the commotion elsewhere.

Just like the spirit idol in the Ghost Bride Script that could repair itself automatically, the shards pressed together began to fuse on their own, the cracks gradually vanishing.

After so many days of rest, the shards had finally been restored.

Ning Shuo swung his legs and said lazily, “The girl has been practicing taekwondo for so long, after all. Let her win for once.”

Once the bullies left, You Ge let out a breath of relief. “Thank you.”

She studied Fan Jiangnan, then suddenly asked, “Have I met you before? You feel really familiar.”

Fan Jiangnan’s nose stung. She immediately said, “We’re friends, You Ge.”

You Ge gave a puzzled “Mm.” Even though something felt off, she still nodded. “Okay.”

Because You Ge was the protagonist, even though the first layer of suffering had already passed, this was still a vanished past. You Ge remained depressed under endless silent violence, and she was still bullied by those people.

Once again, when she looked at her dance shoes, there was no longer longing in her eyes, only fear.

-How is someone like you worthy of dancing?

-Wow, don’t tell me you bought your dance awards too?

-Never heard her family was that rich. Maybe she slept her way to them.

Malice, rumors, mockery.

You Ge was cornered on that rooftop again. This time, the girls were all holding metal rods.

They had already made up their minds to break You Ge’s legs.

Unlike the first time, though You Ge was depressed, she still asked the question that had troubled her for a very long time. “Why do you have to bully me?”

The girl in the lead raised an eyebrow. “Because we can’t stand you.”

“Fine, you’re pretty. Whatever. But why should an art student like you have better grades in academic classes than all of us?”

“You’re just a dancer. You exist to entertain us. Why should you?”

She shot a look at the person beside her. That person nodded and pulled away the black cloth covering something off to the side.

Fan Jiangnan was tied to a chair, a wad of cloth stuffed in her mouth as she glared furiously at them.

The girl had a cigarette dangling from her lips. “This one ruined our plans so many times. Of course we had to restrain her first before doing what we wanted this time.”

“You Ge, no one’s going to save you this time…”

Before she could finish, pain exploded at the back of her neck. A tremendous force drove her straight down to her knees.

“Excuse me, coming through.” The young man landed in a few quick steps, then waved the girls aside and untied Fan Jiangnan. “Honestly, all these girls ganging up on two little girls, and you even tied one of them up in advance.”

The girl flew into a rage. “Who the hell are you?! Mind your own business!”

They did not recognize him, because in this stretch of time and space, Ning Shuo had no identity at all.

Ning Shuo looked at his own hand.

It was paler than ever before, so pale it was almost translucent.

Realizing that this was proof that someone without an identity was slowly disappearing from this time and space, Ning Shuo raised his head and smiled carelessly. “When a child gets bullied at school, the parent has to come take a look.”

Fortunately, he was not wearing a school uniform right now. Otherwise, that really would not have sounded convincing.

The girls watched him suddenly vanish right before their eyes, and their hands abruptly went empty.

Ning Shuo tossed the rods far away. “If you’re going to fight, then fight. How can you bring weapons into it?”

He took a few steps back and spread his hands. “All right, go on. Keep fighting.”

“Oh, right. I heard none of you can beat Jiangnan now, correct?”