Ch. 14 - Let Go of That Girl

I should have realized it earlier.

As I ran at full speed toward the direction of Wu Yaoyao's home, I blamed myself for my slowness of mind.

Sweat continuously flowed down from my forehead, entering my field of vision, irritating my eyes. This sweat didn't flow because my body needed to dissipate heat from my frantic running, but from nervousness thinking about Wu Yaoyao.

I should have realized it earlier.

Why that seemingly refined Lin Gu was actually a closet pervert, why he came to chat with me at that time, and why Lin Gu had spoken up to stop them when those three girls wanted to go teach Wu Yaoyao a lesson.

I ran forward frantically. The events from earlier, like lotus root threads, appeared hazily in my mind.

The three-way intersection in front of the school was Seaside Boulevard. The right led to the south of the city, the left to the north. And on the left section of Seaside Boulevard was the beautiful scenery of Yugang Park. It was a place that students from the north of the city had to pass through to get to Peony High School.

As I ran with all my might, I looked at the sunset hanging far in the sky, slowly sinking. The sweat on my forehead continued to pour out unceasingly, and the unease in my heart gradually rose.

I could only hope I was overthinking it.

...

Slap.

The girl was cornered by three female students into a pavilion in the park. Her school bag was grabbed from her and thrown to the ground. The pavilion wasn't large. The trees around it were somewhat tall, and the evening light couldn't reach inside the pavilion, so it appeared rather dark inside. The sea breeze blew gently, carrying away the lingering heat from one’s body.

"What do you want?"

Although she knew these three people came with ill intentions, the girl's voice remained calm. Her eyes stared intently at the three of them while she looked around for anyone she could call for help.

But the girl's intention to seek help had already been calculated by those three girls. At this time of day, it was after work but before dinner—there were very few people taking walks in the park, and it was even more impossible for anyone to pass by the pavilion deep inside the park.

"You should ask yourself that question."

Hearing the girl's words, one of the three female students sneered contemptuously, speaking in a mocking tone.

This scene, combined with the gloomy atmosphere in the pavilion, easily brought two words to mind—bullying.

"I don't know you."

The girl bit her lip, as if searching her mind for any impression of these three people.

"Ha, as expected, a self-righteous woman who thinks she's superior to others." Another of the three girls curled up the corners of her mouth and exchanged glances with the other two, as if seeing a boring joke. "Look more carefully. We just met. Did you forget so quickly?"

Saying this, this girl grabbed the girl's collar and brought her own face close to the girl's.

"You... you're from No. 2 City High School."

The girl finally recognized their faces.

"So you know why we cornered you in this pavilion, right?"

"I have no idea what you want to do. We didn't even know each other before—"

Slap!

Before the girl could finish speaking, the girl grabbing her collar mercilessly raised her hand and slapped her delicate, beautiful face. The sound was loud enough to echo slightly in the pavilion.

"You bitch, still pretending."

The girl who struck her raised her head, looking down on the girl contemptuously.

And the other two, seeing this scene, also crossed their arms and sneered coldly at the girl.

The girl tightly covered her swollen, reddened face that had been struck. Her reddened eyes glared hatefully at the one who hit her, her hands already trembling slightly from agitation. "I have no idea what you mean!"

"Hmph... you can really act. When you slapped Lin Gu like this, you were probably also pretending to be noble in your heart, right? Huh? Isn't that right, you stinking bitch?"

Hearing the two words "Lin Gu," the girl finally understood.

"So it's you." The girl sneered coldly and humphed, her eyes looking coldly at these three people. "As expected, trash likes to gather together."

The girl's words clearly enraged the female students standing on both sides. The eyes of the two girls already carried anger.

"Who the fuck are you calling trash!"

The girl covered her face that had just been slapped, as if not seeing their movements. Her contemptuous words came out slowly from her mouth in her usual tone.

"You all, and that Lin-whatever, are trash."

"Such a hard mouth!"

One of the girls just raised her hand, wanting to slap the girl again, but her movement was stopped by the girl who had grabbed the girl's collar earlier.

"You’ve really got guts." The girl who stopped her companion's movement looked at the coldly sneering girl and bit her teeth. "I'll give you one more chance. Take back what you just said. Then say that you yourself are trash, a slut."

The girl's highly raised hand already indicated that if the words from the girl's mouth didn't satisfy her, this hand would next slap the other side of the girl's face.

"Heh."

The girl smiled lightly. The cold expression on her face didn't change at all.

"I said, everyone present, and that Lin-whatever of yours, are—all—trash."

After emphasizing those four words one by one, the girl stared intently at that hand that was rapidly falling toward her face.

...

"Stop!"

When the hand was about to hit Wu Yaoyao's face, I shouted with all my strength.

Having run all the way to not far from the pavilion, my physical strength was already somewhat depleted. But even so, when I saw Wu Yaoyao covering her face and biting her teeth hard, my strength seemed to appear out of nowhere, and I shouted loudly.

And Wu Yaoyao, covering her face, heard my voice. Her head suddenly looked over, her face full of delight. And at this moment, the tears she had held back for so long began to well up in her eyes.

I slowly adjusted my breathing and walked slowly toward the pavilion. Those three girls from No. 2 City High School also turned their heads toward me, looking at me with shock in their eyes. They probably didn't expect me to appear here.

"Did they hit you?"

I passed through the three people and walked straight to Wu Yaoyao, who was covering her face with tears in her eyes, asking gently.

Wu Yaoyao didn't speak. She just pouted, looked at me with a face full of grievance, and nodded.

"It's my fault. I should have realized earlier. Come, take your hand away and let me see."

Hearing my words, Wu Yaoyao slowly removed the hand covering her face.

Looking at the face that used to be delicate and adorable, now red and swollen, the sad feeling in my heart pressed heavily on my lungs.

"She hit you with this hand, right?"

I asked, patting Wu Yaoyao's head and placing my right hand in front of her.

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