Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When I returned to my seat, perfectly satisfied, the curious stares from my classmates practically drowned me.

Someone couldn’t help asking, “You actually know Song Wangshu?”

I smiled and said, “Yeah. We’re friends.”

The buzzing whispers grew even louder. They seemed to be wondering how someone like me could be friends with Song Wangshu.

A classmate who had no sense of boundaries leaned over and flipped open Song Wangshu’s notebook, then let out a gasp of admiration.

“As expected of a top student. Even his handwriting is so nice.”

The handwriting in the notebook was elegant and neat. It suited him perfectly.

I put the notebook into my schoolbag and praised him with a shy look on my face. “Mm. Song Wangshu is… a really good person.

“Unlike certain people… Song Wangshu is very gentlemanly and polite. Not only are his grades good, he’s great at basketball too.

“And thanks to him, I finally feel like I’m starting to understand physics.”

Under my classmates’ envious gazes, I lowered my lashes.

Half a classroom away, Zhang Kang was still glaring at me with venom in his eyes.

When he heard what I said about Song Wangshu, his gaze turned dark and sinister, and he cursed under his breath.

Judging from the shape of his mouth, what he called me was “slut.”

At school, whenever I had nothing to do, I would go camp out by the basketball court for Song Wangshu.

Outside of school, the two of us would go feed the cats together.

Song Wangshu adopted a little white kitten.

We took ID-style photos of Mimi and the other three kittens and posted them online to look for adopters.

Song Wangshu asked me if I wanted to adopt the little black kitten. He said, “Little Black really likes you.”

I rolled my eyes thoughtfully. “How about this? Let’s make a bet.

“If I can get into the top fifty of the grade on the midterms and make it onto the honor wall, then I’ll adopt it.”

He thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded. “Okay. Then I’ll take care of Little Black for you for now.”

And so, Song Wangshu began quietly explaining problems to me during the breaks in evening self-study…

Everything seemed to be moving in a better direction.

Thanks to Song Wangshu’s tireless efforts, my physics grades improved by leaps and bounds.

When the monthly exam ranking sheet was passed into my hands, my first reaction was to look for Zhang Kang and Luo Xing.

When I saw both of their rankings below my name, I burst out laughing with the smugness of a petty villain who had finally gotten her way.

After my weak subject, physics, had been patched up, my grade ranking reached a historic high-seventy-third.

As for Zhang Kang, when he saw the ranking sheet, he slammed his fist down on the desk in a fit of rage.

Bang-

The sound of his fist colliding with the desk was like a ceremonial cannon announcing my victory.

In physics class that day, the physics teacher praised me by name. “Li Zhuguang has made great progress in physics this time.

“She didn’t give up on her weaker subject. Everyone should learn from her.”

“On the other hand, some students shouldn’t get arrogant and slack off just because they have a solid foundation.”

His words weren’t directed at anyone in particular, but my classmates’ gazes all drifted knowingly toward Zhang Kang.

At that moment, Zhang Kang’s expression was as foul as the big rock used to weigh down a winter pickle jar.

His face flushed bright red, like an overinflated red balloon.

After school.

I took out my phone and found several unread messages.

They were from an unknown number, and the contents were shocking.

[photo.jpg]

[Does Song Wangshu know you’re this slutty behind his back? Does he know you’re a thief?]

In the photo, I was wearing the short skirt that came with our school uniform formal set.

The photo had been taken from above. It had clearly only captured my safety shorts, but it still gave off an uncomfortable sense of being spied on.

Very few people knew my phone number. I could guess who was on the other end with my toes.

Expressionlessly, I replied: [What do you want?! Don’t do anything reckless!]

The other side quickly responded: [After evening self-study tonight. The grove behind the cafeteria.

[Bring the thing you stole. If you don’t come, bear the consequences yourself.]

For once, I skipped evening self-study.

At home, I did my homework while continuously begging that number in a terrified tone:

[Please, I’m begging you. Don’t send those photos out.

[I’ll do whatever you say. Please don’t tell Song Wangshu]

…

When the appointed time arrived, I slung my empty, deflated schoolbag over my shoulder and slowly headed toward the cafeteria.

I dawdled all the way to the grove, and almost immediately, a pair of large hands grabbed my arm and yanked me into the dark thicket.

The grove was in a remote spot. There were only a few dim streetlights along the outer edge.

That person shoved me hard against a rough tree trunk, and I hissed in pain.

Among the shifting shadows of the trees, I saw a face full of malice.

My voice trembled. “Zhang Kang, what exactly do you want? Can’t you just leave me alone?”

Seeing the fear in my eyes, Zhang Kang let out a cold laugh. “What? You’re allowed to seduce other people, but I’m not allowed to enforce justice on behalf of heaven?”

“You hooked up with the top student in the grade. Feeling pretty pleased with yourself, huh?

“If it weren’t for the study materials on the phone you stole from me, do you really think you could have scored higher than me?”

When I stayed silent, the smug look on his face grew even stronger.

Zhang Kang cleared his throat. “I’m warning you. If the photos on that phone get leaked,

“the worst that’ll happen to me is that I’ll apologize. But your whole life will actually be ruined!

“Where’s the phone?”

I mumbled, “The phone… is gone.”

“Gone?!”

Zhang Kang’s eyes looked like they were about to split open. “What do you mean, gone?”

My face crumpled as if I were about to cry. “Actually, back then, I was so angry I lost my head, and that’s why I stole your phone.”

“I was so scared that I smashed my phone… and threw it away.”

Zhang Kang stared at me, dumbfounded. After a long moment, he shook his head in amusement. “You girls really are stupid.

“Have you never heard of cloud storage?

“What good does smashing your phone do? I can download them again anytime.”

I blinked through my tears, looking lost, aggrieved, and full of regret.

Zhang Kang thought it over for a moment. His expression shifted from anger to pained reluctance before he finally let out a quiet breath of relief.

He muttered under his breath, “Then… then I’ll just count that five thousand yuan as compensation for my phone.”

I lowered my head, my eyes widening slightly.

So he had taken the money after all.

Sparse lamplight filtered through the crisscrossing branches overhead. Suddenly, I said, “Zhang Kang, do you like me?”

For a split second, Zhang Kang’s face went blank.

I went on, “You’ve always paid special attention to me. You’ve always targeted me.

“You set my photo as your lock screen. You don’t want me getting close to Song Wangshu…

“It’s all because you like me, isn’t it?”

When I saw that lock screen, it had only been a vague suspicion.

But when I realized how violently he hated seeing me near Song Wangshu, I knew there was something else buried beneath Zhang Kang’s malice toward me.

At the end of the day, he wanted me. But he couldn’t face the fact that he wasn’t good enough, so he wanted to destroy me instead.

“D-don’t talk nonsense!” Zhang Kang instinctively took a step back. “I just like big boobs, that’s all.”

I sneered inwardly, but on the surface, I made myself look as if I had thrown caution to the wind. “Can you return the five thousand yuan?

“And those photos… can you delete them?”

Before Zhang Kang had a chance to think, I grabbed his wrist first. “In exchange, since you like my… then I’ll let you touch them, okay?”

Even in the dim light, I could see Zhang Kang’s face flush rapidly.

His eyes darted around, and his breathing grew uneven. “You… you’re really willing?”

At this hour, almost all the teachers and students had already gone home.

Even the security guard at the gate would only be patrolling the classroom buildings to check whether the doors and windows were locked. No one would come to this dark little grove.

I said softly, “Mm. But I’m embarrassed.

“Close your eyes.”

Zhang Kang’s gaze roamed over my face and body.

One moment he looked down at his toes, the next he looked out beyond the trees. He struggled with himself for a long time, but in the end, his lower head won over his upper one.

He said, “Fine. Let me touch your boobs once, and I’ll agree.”

With that, he closed his eyes, his cheeks flushed. He looked ridiculous and ugly.

I gripped his right wrist and slowly pulled his hand toward my body.

When his hand was close enough, I swiftly pulled the phone out of my pocket with my other hand and aimed the screen at Zhang Kang’s right thumb.

A nearly imperceptible vibration came from the phone.

Fingerprint unlock successful.

Because I had rehearsed it countless times in my mind, my movements were fast and steady.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Zhang Kang still had his eyes closed. Before he could even react, I drove my knee hard into his lower abdomen.

“Guh!”

He screamed and collapsed to the ground, curled up like a cooked shrimp.

I pulled the spray bottle full of chili water from my schoolbag and sprayed it all over Zhang Kang’s face.

Amid Zhang Kang’s screams, a smile of pure satisfaction spread across my face.

I kicked Zhang Kang several more times, cursing him as I did. “You piece of trash! You’re nothing but trash!

“Boobs, boobs, you’re so obsessed with calling them bombs-why didn’t you get blown up drinking milk as a kid?”

Zhang Kang’s face was covered in snot and tears, and he couldn’t even open his eyes. “Li Zhuguang… H-how dare you?!

“Don’t you like Song Wangshu?”

“Aren’t you scared I’ll send everything to him?”

I let out a scornful laugh. “Why would I be scared?

“You still don’t know, do you?

“From the very beginning, I only approached Song Wangshu because he was Luo Xing’s crush.”

I looked down coldly at Zhang Kang, who was lying there like a pile of rotten mud.

“Zhang Kang, your so-called affection is disgusting. You can’t even stand to see me do well. If you can’t have me, you want to ruin me.

“Every time I went to see Song Wangshu, you were so jealous you almost lost your mind, weren’t you?

“If I hadn’t used Song Wangshu to provoke you, you wouldn’t have shown yourself so quickly…”

If you want to destroy someone, you must first drive them mad.

From the first time Zhang Kang glared at me as I left the basketball court with Song Wangshu, my interactions with Song Wangshu had no longer been solely about getting revenge on Luo Xing.

Zhang Kang lay on the ground, panting heavily, trembling slightly, as if he were struggling to digest it all.

I turned to leave. But after only a few steps, I saw a tall figure standing outside the grove.

The words slipped out of my mouth. “…Song Wangshu?”

Behind me, Zhang Kang’s suppressed laughter rose from the ground.

“Hahaha, Li Zhuguang, didn’t see that coming, did you?” Zhang Kang’s voice was thick with malice. “I didn’t just ask you to come. I also called Song Wangshu here.

“He was already here when you offered to let me touch you.”

Zhang Kang laughed lowly. “Li Zhuguang, you’re finished.”

I walked out of the grove.

Under the dim lamplight, Song Wangshu’s usually gentle face was uncharacteristically cold and tense.

Before I could tell whether there was disappointment or disgust in his eyes, I saw his lips part slightly, as if he wanted to say something.

I immediately spoke first. “I’m sorry.”

I bowed to him, then turned and ran.

…