School Spirit

The junior girl's eyes were red and swollen, as though she had just been crying. She had a fragile air that inspired pity.

From afar, she waved at Xue Jing and forced a faint smile as a greeting.

Seeing her like this, Xue Jing understood. He murmured, "So that's how it is..."

"Hm? Why did this junior come here? She's got some nerve, coming straight to our class to find you without even waiting for lunch break." Li Ge was taken aback.

He was slightly nearsighted and was not wearing his glasses, so he had not seen the girl's expression clearly. He merely grinned at Xue Jing. "Be gentler when you reject her. Don't hurt the little girl's feelings too badly. Honestly, trying out a relationship wouldn't be bad either. Those long pale legs wouldn't exactly be beneath you..."

Xue Jing did not say much. He simply gave a quiet acknowledgment, stood, and headed out of the classroom.

Many people in the class had noticed the pretty junior girl at the door. Combined with the shout from earlier, they all knew she had come for Xue Jing, and they turned to watch him walk outside.

Once Xue Jing and the junior girl left together, the flames of gossip were lit in the classroom, sparking a heated wave of discussion.

Xue Jing followed the junior girl to the stairwell at the end of the corridor. Since class was about to begin, all the students had already gone inside, leaving no one else in the hallway.

"Here is fine."

Xue Jing spoke.

"Go on. What is it?"

The moment she heard Xue Jing speak, tears began streaming uncontrollably down the junior girl's face.

"I'm sorry, Senior. It's all my fault..."

She began explaining what had happened. She was crying so hard that her words came out in fragments, and in her agitation, her phrasing was difficult to understand. Xue Jing did not rush her. He simply listened patiently until she had finished, only asking again when there were parts he truly could not make out.

Only after she had recounted the entire matter did Xue Jing understand what had happened.

Simply put, this beautiful second-year junior girl had a classmate pursuing her, named Pei Youguang.

That name was quite famous at the affiliated high school. Xue Jing had heard of him before. He was the sort of school bully who could throw his weight around on campus.

The problem stemmed from the scene yesterday during the physical fitness test, when the junior girl had brought Xue Jing a towel.

Some busybody had apparently told Pei Youguang that Xue Jing accepted the towel yesterday. This morning, Pei Youguang had loudly declared in class that he would teach Xue Jing a lesson.

"..."

Although Xue Jing had already guessed what this was about when he saw the tearful junior girl coming to find him, he still found it rather absurd once it was confirmed.

"Senior, I'm really sorry. I begged him for so long not to cause you trouble, but he wouldn't listen at all..." The junior girl sobbed, wiping away her tears again and again.

Xue Jing: "..."

Are you sure that didn't just add fuel to the fire? He was at a loss for words.

If he did not know that children their age tended to think things through poorly, he would have suspected that this junior girl was deliberately stirring things up.

A young man who would resort to violence to compete for a girl was clearly extremely impulsive. Hearing the person he liked plead for someone else would only ignite the anger in his heart. He might even instinctively believe he had done the right thing, that he had found a "weakness," or else the junior girl would not be so afraid.

However, Xue Jing did not blame her.

He nodded and said, "I understand. Go back."

After a pause, he added, "...This isn't your fault. Don't worry about it. I'll handle it."

Was the junior girl at fault? A little, perhaps.

But it was not as though she had done anything terribly wrong.

Even if Bao Si, Daji, and Yang Guifei had made mistakes, the greatest blame certainly would not fall on their heads.

"Senior..."

The junior girl was deeply moved.

"I actually have always..."

She wanted to take this opportunity to say something, only to find that Xue Jing had already turned and headed back toward his classroom, clearly with no intention of hearing what came next.

"..."

The junior girl understood his meaning. It was a rejection that seemed cold but was, in truth, gentle. After falling silent for a while, she laughed at herself and left dejectedly.

"So the person looking to cause you trouble is Pei Youguang?"

Li Ge pinched his chin, his brows furrowed tightly after hearing Xue Jing's account.

"This isn't good, Jing Ye."

Xue Jing pulled out the Chinese textbook needed for first period from his backpack and placed it on the desk. He casually replied, "How so?"

"You don't really pay attention to this kind of news, so you might not know it, but Pei Youguang is a real problem."

Li Ge explained.

"Put it this way: if our affiliated high school had a Sorting Hat when students enrolled, he'd be sent straight to Azkaban."

"He's in the Martial Arts Club. Since he knows a little martial arts, bullying classmates is practically routine for him. Every few days, you hear that he beat up someone or other. I've also heard he often harasses girls."

Li Ge shifted his chair closer to Xue Jing and lowered his voice. "But that's not the important part. I've heard that he's killed someone, and that he's raped female classmates."

"As I recall, a girl from Class Seven of the second year suddenly transferred away last semester. They said she transferred because he bullied her."

Xue Jing frowned. "That's fake, right? If he really did something like that, would he still be allowed to stay in school?"

Li Ge said, "That's what I thought at first too. But later, I found out that students he bullied all dared not tell their teachers or parents. The school also seems to turn a blind eye."

"So I asked some second-years, and that's when I learned that Pei Youguang's father works for a Governing Councilman. His connections are incredibly powerful."

"Come to think of it, it makes sense. How could a tyrant like him get into our affiliated high school without a powerful enough background?"

Governing Councilmen stood, in theory, at the very top of a city's pyramid of power. Sunny City had around thirty of them in total, including one chief and three deputies.

Working under one of them truly counted as having connections that reached the heavens.

After thinking for a moment, Xue Jing asked, "He's killed someone too?"

Li Ge shook his head. "There's no specific story about that. But a lot of people have seen Pei Youguang carrying a knife. If he even dares to do that sort of thing, it wouldn't be strange if he'd killed someone."

"We should tell a teacher. What if someone like Pei Youguang really tries to kill you?"

Li Ge was deeply worried.

Xue Jing smiled.

It sounded intimidating. An ordinary student who heard all this would probably be scared stiff by Pei Youguang.

But Xue Jing did not find the other man particularly frightening.

There was always a logic to how the world worked. Once one's understanding reached a certain level, it became easy to see through appearances and grasp the essence of things.

Such heinous acts were absolute taboos in human society. Let alone someone with a father working for a Governing Councilman, even a Governing Councilman himself could not possibly flaunt such actions as if he wanted the whole world to know.

Even those at the pinnacle of power had to appear to follow the rules. What was a mere second-rate schoolyard thug in comparison?

Ordinary students had yet to step into society and lacked sufficient understanding. Hearing such rumors, they would become afraid, draping layer after layer of tiger skin over Pei Youguang in their minds and growing more frightened of him.

Xue Jing was the opposite. The more he heard, the more layers of tiger skin were stripped away from the other man.

Some people emphasized most strongly the things they lacked most.

"There's no need to tell the teachers."

"I'll have a good talk with Pei Youguang."

Xue Jing spoke softly.

The class bell rang, and Du Shiwei, their homeroom teacher and Chinese teacher, walked in.

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