Tears Are Too Salty!

Zhang Chen vomited with all his might, his insides churning, and he threw up his breakfast from two days ago.

He first bent over, then knelt on one knee, and when he could no longer vomit, his body went limp, collapsing onto the ground.

All his strength was drained, leaving him like a useless husk.

Zhang Chen's nose was running, and juice lingered at the corners of his mouth; the sight was unbearable.

"Are... are you okay?" Li Sinian asked, her face full of worry, her eyes reddened and on the verge of tears. "How could this happen? I put so much effort into making the soup, is it really that awful?"

Zhang Chen looked up at Little Bok Choy standing before him, wanting to offer a comforting smile. But right now, his smile looked worse than crying. He spoke in a hoarse, weak voice, "What... what exactly did you put in the soup?"

"What did I put in?" Li Sinian looked innocent and pure, thinking hard before replying, "Pork ribs, Angelica Sinensis, Chinese Yam, Sophora Root, Houttuynia Cordata, Night Shining Sand, Five Spirit Fat—"

"Five Spirit Fat?" Zhang Chen's stomach cramped again. He clutched his throat and dry-heaved, saying angrily, "That's—that's the dried feces of a flying squirrel! You actually put—put feces in the soup?"

"Five Spirit Fat is also a type of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It can be used for blood stasis obstructing the meridians, and bleeding where blood fails to return to its proper channels, such as excessive menstrual bleeding in women, with dark purple clots and abdominal pain— You like playing sports, so your body might have some bumps and bruises. I used Five Spirit Fat to help you invigorate blood and remove stasis. What's wrong with that?"

"You—you—"

Zhang Chen's finger trembled as he pointed at Li Sinian, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Seeing their idol vomit like that, the other cheerleaders gathered around.

"Little Chen Chen, are you alright? My heart aches for you."

"Zhang Chen, what's wrong? Are you sick?"

"Hey, who are you? What did you give our Zhang Chen to drink?"

—

These supporters were already jealous of Li Sinian's beauty; her captivating aura, radiating from within, was incredibly alluring.

Seeing Zhang Chen taking special care of her and refusing their tea had already annoyed them. Now, after drinking her soup, he was vomiting uncontrollably, so they naturally had to step forward and voice their righteous accusations.

"I just—" Li Sinian appeared timid, then suddenly raised her voice and said, "I just gave him a cup of poop soup."

"What did you say?" The girls were furious and prepared to make a move.

Li Sinian flicked her toe, and the soup bowl Zhang Chen had thrown to the ground returned to her hand.

She looked regretfully at the grass clippings stuck to it, sighing, "This is my favorite soup bowl, but it was wasted on a pig."

She tightened her grip on the bowl, and with a 'crack,' the bronze soup bowl shattered into countless pieces.

Crash—

The girls who had just gathered around retreated like a tide.

Li Sinian threw the broken bowl fragments onto Zhang Chen and took out a handkerchief from her pocket to carefully wipe the soup stains from her hands.

The handkerchief was very white, and her hands were even whiter.

Then, under everyone's gaze, Li Sinian lifted her small chin and walked out.

As she reached the entrance of the hall, Li Sinian suddenly turned around, a sweet smile on her face, and said in a soft, charming voice, "Be good, and don't bully my brother anymore."

"Who's your brother?" someone asked.

"Li Mu Yang."

"—"

—

Bang!

Zhang Chen slammed his hand on the table and roared, "Li Mu Yang, get up."

Li Mu Yang was still sound asleep, showing no reaction at all.

Knowing Li Mu Yang's habits, Zhang Chen slammed the table even harder.

Bang, bang, bang—

It was the break time between classes at noon. Seeing Zhang Chen leading a group of people to Li Mu Yang's side, everyone in the classroom turned their attention to them.

Cui Xiaoxin was engrossed in reading "Western Wind Reform" when the loud sound of the table being slammed made her look up towards the source of the noise, raising an eyebrow slightly.

It wasn't that she wanted to stand up for Li Mu Yang, but rather that she disliked being disturbed by such noise.

Amidst the anticipation of the entire class, Li Mu Yang finally woke up. He lifted his head from behind a pile of books and looked at Zhang Chen standing before him, saying, "You're here to bully me again?"

"—" Zhang Chen's eyes reddened; he almost burst into tears on the spot.

Who was bullying whom here? If I were here to bully you—do I look like someone who's here to bully others?

He tried to calm his anger, staring fiercely at Li Mu Yang, and questioned, "Li Mu Yang, how could you be so despicable?"

"Despicable?" Li Mu Yang ran his hand through his messy hair, trying to make it lie flatter. But that tuft of hair stood out with a unique personality; no matter how hard Li Mu Yang tried, it stubbornly refused to be tamed.

Li Mu Yang had no choice but to press it down with one hand, knowing it would eventually flatten with time. He tilted his head back in a comical pose and said, "I'm either sleeping or preparing to sleep every day. Besides being bullied by you guys, I have no other value. How can you use such words to describe me?"

"Li Mu Yang, you despicable scoundrel, you're two-faced, you're playing the pig to eat the tiger—" Zhang Chen grew angrier the more he thought about it, and with his stomach still churning madly, he felt like he was going crazy. "You clearly possess extraordinary skills, yet you pretend to be so frail. If that were true, how could you have delivered such a powerful punch—so powerful—when we were by the lake? Even more hateful is that you let your own sister—let your own sister frame me into drinking that soup—"

"Li Sinian?" Li Mu Yang's brow furrowed, and his eyes sharply fixed on Zhang Chen as he asked, "What did you do to her?"

Although the little girl had claimed she wanted to protect him since she was very young, and she was a hundred times better than him at everything, she was still a girl, his sister. If Zhang Chen dared to play any tricks on her, Li Mu Yang would rush forward and fight him to the death.

"What did I do to her? Why don't you ask what she did to me?" Zhang Chen roared, but before he could jump up, he quickly clutched his stomach and squatted down.

"Pfft—"

Only after a loud fart escaped from his lower body did his stomach feel much better.

However, while his stomach felt better, he himself felt quite uncomfortable.

Seeing all his classmates staring at him with wide eyes, some even fanning the air and covering their noses, Zhang Chen felt an urge to find a hole to crawl into.

From childhood to adulthood, he had always grown up surrounded by flowers and praise. When had he ever suffered such humiliation?

"Brothers, beat him up for me," Zhang Chen shouted angrily.

The few cuju players following behind Zhang Chen immediately surrounded him, ready to teach Li Mu Yang a good lesson and vent their captain's anger.

Li Mu Yang held up a fist, shook it in the air, and said to Zhang Chen, "I sent you flying with one punch."

"—"

The players who had witnessed Li Mu Yang sending Zhang Chen flying with one punch immediately retreated. The players who hadn't seen it saw the others retreat and followed suit.

If everyone else retreated, it must be very powerful.

So, except for Zhang Chen who was still standing next to Li Mu Yang, everyone else fled far away.

Li Mu Yang pinched his nose with one hand and used his other hand to fan the air with his textbook. He said to Zhang Chen with great annoyance, "I smell something like houttuynia cordata, night shining sand, and five spirit fat—poison in your farts. You tell everyone, who between us is despicable?"

Zhang Chen's nose stung, and tears began to stream down his face.

He cried.