United as One

When the dismissal bell rang, Jiaming lay sprawled over his desk and began dozing off.

He never went to bed early, and he had to get up again in the predawn hours. For a child, it was still hard on the body. Yet his mind had already grown accustomed to it. Whenever he had nothing to do during the day, he would habitually zone out or nap, making up for the rest he had lost.

Jiaming did not take the mother and daughter who had been hunted down that morning to heart. Although, after he had killed the assassin, the older and younger women had asked for his help in English, he simply pretended not to understand and left under cover of the night. He believed the two survivors would not be able to recognize him.

However, when he, Lingjing, and Huaisha had run to that grassy slope in the morning, the more than ten corpses scattered through the woods and across the hillside had already caused a huge uproar. In truth, Jiaming had recognized the assassin from their very first encounter. He was an assassin from Peiluojia's Asian division, codenamed Aqi. In Jiaming's original life, Aqi had still been alive after Jiaming formally became an assassin at seventeen. The man had been crazed and bloodthirsty, flamboyant to the extreme. Because of that showy personality, Peiluojia had only ever rated him at B-plus. Yet in terms of actual strength, he was already at the level of an A-rank assassin.

Killing one mad assassin was a trivial matter. The problem was that Peiluojia would surely investigate it. Though there was little chance they would trace it back to him, it still lingered in his mind. Besides, when he had left through the darkness, the little girl's soft cries of "Help, help me..." had sounded rather nice... I really am a pervert...

Although he, Lingjing, and Huaisha attended the same school, they were not actually in the same class. Xinghui Middle School had three classes in each grade. Generally speaking, outstanding students like Lingjing were assigned to Class One, average students like Jiaming to Class Two, and troublemakers who fought all day like Huaisha naturally ended up in Class Three. Since the three of them had been separated this way, Jiaming had gained the freedom to daydream and rest. During breaks, however, Lingjing and Huaisha would still often come looking for him.

The classroom was chaotic and noisy. He had barely been lying there for a while when someone suddenly slammed a hand onto his desk, startling him upright. Looking closely, he saw it was the group who had cornered Huaisha in the dead end yesterday. The fat boy leading them had a gauze patch over his nose and mouth, making him look rather ridiculous. Jiaming could not help laughing. He yawned as he said, "Are you looking for Shasha? She's in the next class."

"Fuck you, go die! I came here for you today!" Seeing that this kid actually dared to laugh at him, the fat boy let out a roar. The students playing around in the classroom immediately fell silent. The fat boy swept his gaze around, looking slightly guilty, then grabbed Jiaming by the collar and yanked him to his feet. "Come with me."

Wearing the sluggish expression of someone who had not slept enough, Jiaming weakly followed them out.

In truth, it was not that these people did not want to go after Liu Huaisha. It was just that that girl was far too fierce. She carried a baseball bat around all day and fought like her life depended on it. They could not possibly pull something like that off at school, so they had first set their sights on Jiaming, who was supposedly easier to bully.

The five of them shoved and jostled Jiaming out of the classroom, cursing as they went. "You were pretty cocky yesterday."

"Why aren't you so brave today?"

"Come on, try that again."

The first-year classrooms were on the ground floor. The five boys pushed the silent Jiaming along, looking for somewhere deserted. Students playing nearby pointed and whispered, probably wondering how Gu Jiaming, who had always been so meek, had managed to offend this gang of delinquent high schoolers. But as they passed the Class One classroom, a girl suddenly rushed out with a shout.

"What are you trying to do?!"

With her pretty, delicate face, two pigtails behind her head, and light blue floral dress, Class One's class monitor, Ye Lingjing, charged out like a female warrior. When she tried to grab Jiaming's hand, however, two boys reached out and blocked her.

"What are you to him? Don't stick your nose into this!" the two high schoolers said, pointing at Lingjing.

"I'll do exactly that!" The normally quiet and sweet girl showed no hesitation at all. She shoved one of their hands aside. "Let him go, or I'll tell the teachers!"

An amused smile appeared on Jiaming's face, while the high schoolers laughed mockingly. "Haha, she said she'll tell the teachers..."

Before they could finish laughing, Lingjing took advantage of them turning their heads. She fiercely kicked one high schooler in the shin, then shoved hard with both hands, sending another tumbling into the grass beside them. She practiced martial arts diligently every day. Though in Jiaming's eyes it was merely flashy, impractical stuff, and though she looked refined and gentle, she was much stronger than most girls. The student who had fallen onto the grass was not badly hurt, but the other had been kicked in the shin by Lingjing's little red boots. He staggered several steps before falling to the ground, clutching his leg and howling.

Bad company corrupts... Jiaming chuckled inwardly. The shinbone was one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. Huaisha had taught Lingjing that fighting trick when she had nothing better to do.

When Jiaming had first been dragged outside, the middle school students playing and resting across the lawn had already noticed them. Now that the fight had broken out, classmates near and far turned to watch. Seeing that the refined-looking Lingjing had actually been the first to strike, the fat boy hesitated briefly before charging over. He had only taken one step when Jiaming silently lifted his left leg. With a bang, the fat boy crashed to the ground. Because he had fallen too fast, his face slammed squarely into the dirt. When he looked up, his eyes were full of tears, his face covered in blades of grass, and blood was once again flowing from the nostrils Jiaming had punched yesterday, quickly soaking the gauze around his nose and mouth red.

Fights between children did not involve much technique. Seeing what had happened, the remaining two students reached out and shoved hard at Jiaming. They were a full head taller than Jiaming and Lingjing, so naturally they felt no fear. Jiaming, however, pretended to dodge in panic, deflecting the force of one boy's push. The boy had put too much strength into it and slammed into the other. Just as the two were about to rush forward again, they saw a girl charging out from a classroom in the distance. It was Liu Huaisha.

Dressed in Xinghui's blue-and-white school uniform and looking like a straightforward little boy, Sister Liu swung her over-one-meter-long baseball bat as she rushed toward them at full speed. Her momentum stunned the two high schoolers for a moment. Even Jiaming blanked out slightly. Is this girl trying to kill someone?

"Liu Huaisha! Gu Jiaming! Ye Lingjing! What are you three doing?!"

At that moment, a thunderous roar rang out. The middle school disciplinary director had finally noticed the disturbance and came charging downstairs. Hearing the teacher's shout, the high schoolers immediately struggled to flee. Yet Liu Huaisha had no intention of letting them off. Just as she rushed close, she swung her bat with all her strength, sending it whistling through the air. Jiaming hurriedly tried to stop her.

"Jiaming, move aside... Ah..."

"Shasha, don't... Ngh..."

With a bang, the two children collided violently, then both went flying to the ground. Jiaming landed underneath, while Huaisha landed on top of him. The teacher's voice drew closer and closer. The three high schoolers were the first to bolt out of the crowd, followed by the fat boy with blood pouring from his nose and his limping lackey. When the two children climbed up from the ground, both were covering their lips.

That collision had nearly sent them mouth-to-mouth onto the ground, and both had hit hard. Ignoring the disciplinary director's furious shouting, the girl's cheeks reddened as she waved her baseball bat and shouted, "Why did you stop me?!"

Jiaming shrugged and lowered the hand covering his mouth. A trace of blood seeped from his lips. He rolled his eyes. "My lip split..."

"You deserved it!" Huaisha shouted. "Mine split too!"

"Are you two okay?" Seeing blood seeping from both of her friends' mouths, good little girl Ye Lingjing forgot that the disciplinary director was still yelling beside them and hurriedly crouched down to inspect their injuries. Then the director's roar shook the entire campus.

"You, you... You three are going to drive me mad! Liu Huaisha! You actually dared to bring a baseball bat to school and hit people! And Ye Lingjing and Gu Jiaming, you two actually joined in the trouble! You... I'm making you stand on the lawn as punishment for the entire morning! I want the whole school to see the three of you! And tomorrow, hand in three written self-criticisms—I'll announce this to the entire schooool..."

Thus, when the class bell rang, the three of them were left standing alone on the lawn in front of the school building. Any student who glanced out the window could admire their heroic figures.

"Damn it, that bald bastard actually dared to yell at me. In a few years, I'll get someone to smash up his whole family..."

Liu Huaisha bitterly voiced her dissatisfaction with the bald disciplinary director. That guy had actually confiscated her baseball bat... No matter. She had several more at home. Tomorrow, she would bring an even sturdier one!

"Are your mouths okay?" Lingjing asked worriedly, only to receive countless glares from Huaisha.

"Lingjing, you'd better keep an eye on your boyfriend. In front of everyone, he stole my first kiss just now."

After saying that, Huaisha tried to act magnanimous, but her face still flushed red. Lingjing gave a soft spit of annoyance, though her own cheeks had already turned crimson. Huaisha dealt with gangsters all the time and never held back when she spoke. Lingjing had once cried from anger when Huaisha said, "You're Jiaming's wife," but after the three had spent so much time together, they had gradually gotten used to such remarks. Still, they were only thirteen or fourteen, and so many people were watching. After a moment, Lingjing gave a clever smile. "Now you two have completely ruined my good little girl reputation."

They had been in middle school for more than a semester. Although the three were always together, this was the first time since elementary school that they had gotten into a public fight. After a while, the silent Jiaming yawned.

"Mm, standing here is really boring. I think... we should skip class."

The moment he said that, both girls' eyes lit up.