"Hold it. I'm not a thing, I'm a person. People and things aren't on the same level." Seeing how secluded the place was, Yao Tao dropped the act. "Things are inanimate. I'm much more advanced."
"Who's here to trade wisecracks with you?" Zhong Shengtai raised his right hand and pointed at Yao Tao's head. "I'm warning you, don't steal what belongs to Fu Xin!"
"When have I ever stolen anything from Fu Xin?" Yao Tao propped up her chin, looking thoughtful. "I haven't."
"Quit fucking pretending!" Zhong Shengtai used his height to loom over her. "Don't play dumb with me, you little brat. Who said you could get so close to He Zhen?"
"Anyone who ruins someone else's relationship is a homewrecker!"
"Didn't your parents teach you that growing up?"
Yao Tao looked thoughtful. "Have you said that to Tan Nianzhi?"
"She openly called Fu Xin a homewrecker and even beat her up!"
"Have you said that to He Zhen?"
"It's not like I have a gun to hold to his head and force him to come with me!"
"Have you said that to Qin Zhen?"
"Or Guan Xingchen?"
"Fuck you!" Zhong Shengtai was so worked up that he started swearing. "Quit bullshitting me about irrelevant crap! I don't care about anyone else. I'm warning you, stay the hell away from He Zhen and give him back to Fu Xin, or don't blame me for getting people to beat you up!"
"You girls just love fighting over what belongs to someone else. Are other people's men really that irresistible? I suggest you give up and find someone else to like." Zhang Rui stepped forward and spoke to Yao Tao in a conciliatory tone.
"So you just pick on whoever looks easiest to bully." Yao Tao clicked her tongue. "And here I thought you had some actual guts."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zhong Shengtai sneered. "You don't understand the situation you're in, do you?"
"Are you really begging for a beating?"
"You announce your fights in advance?" Yao Tao asked curiously. "Can't get the job done?"
"This Yao Tao is hilarious." Wang Qingsong burst out laughing. "Why don't you be my girlfriend? If you're my girlfriend, I'll get Zhong to stop calling people to beat you up."
"Look at you. You've got eyes and a nose, but your face is so huge I can barely make out your features." Yao Tao raised an eyebrow. "My mom never let me play with ugly people growing up."
"Boys or girls." Yao Tao smiled faintly. "Especially people who are hideous on the inside."
Zhong Shengtai scoffed and reached out to grab Yao Tao's chin. Instead, she twisted his arms behind his back and kicked him behind the knees, sending him straight down onto both knees.
"Holy shit, you fucking-!" Zhong Shengtai had only meant to scare Yao Tao a little. He hadn't expected her to be so different from how she looked.
"How lovely. No cameras, just a deserted little blind spot." Yao Tao raised her voice. "Why do you think I dared to come with you?"
"Since you're here, let's have a little chat. You can leave when I'm happy."
Yao Tao hadn't fought anyone in hundreds of years. She had almost forgotten what it felt like to land punches on flesh.
"Don't get cocky!" Zhong Shengtai flew into a rage. "Let go! I just let my guard down!"
"Sure. One-on-one or all at once, your choice." Yao Tao loosened up her muscles and joints. "But let's agree on one thing: no going home and crying to Mommy and Daddy."
"You think I'm giving you permission to walk all over me?" Zhong Shengtai's expression changed. If Yao Tao had training, he had no reason to hold back. "You won't learn until you're in a coffin!"
Half an hour later, Yao Tao had beaten Zhong Shengtai's face swollen.
Zhang Rui and Wang Qingsong squatted facing the wall with their hands raised above their heads. Whenever they opened their mouths, bloody froth sputtered out.
"You dared to corner me without even looking into my family background?" Yao Tao kicked them one after the other. "Who the hell do you think you are? Now any random nobody thinks he can shit on my head?"
"How hilarious. I recorded everything you said to me. You think having a family in business makes you hot shit?"
"Go home and ask around about what my family does."
"Aren't both your parents dead?" Wang Qingsong asked timidly.
"Hilarious." Yao Tao walked behind him and slapped the back of his head. "So you figured you'd bully an orphan? Nice going, kid. Still want me to be your girlfriend?"
"N-no, no, I wouldn't dare." Wang Qingsong kept nodding his bruised, swollen head vigorously.
"Get your ass over here." Yao Tao grabbed Zhong Shengtai by the back of his collar. "Did Fu Xin send you? Huh? Speak!"
Yao Tao didn't believe Fu Xin would send people to teach her a lesson, but she still had to ask.
"I came on my own." Zhong Shengtai had lost his earlier arrogance. "It has nothing to do with Fu Xin."
"But Zhong only came because Fu Xin cried a bit," Wang Qingsong added.
"You fucker!" Zhong Shengtai turned toward Wang Qingsong, gritting his teeth.
"Ma'am, this has nothing to do with me!" Wang Qingsong certainly knew when to bend. He turned around and sold Zhong Shengtai out immediately. "I only came along to help scare you a little."
"Did I tell you to turn around?" Yao Tao kicked him in the ass.
With a couple of yelps, Wang Qingsong hurriedly turned back to face the wall. "Ma'am, I'll tell you anything you want to know. Just don't hit me anymore."
"You spineless piece of shit!" Zhong Shengtai cursed.
"Did I give you permission to speak?!" Yao Tao seized Zhong Shengtai's collar and slapped him twice, once from each side.
The slaps rang out sharp and clear.
Even the two facing the wall felt the pain just hearing them.
"You corner a young girl and still have the nerve to act proud?" Yao Tao checked the time. It was too late to go sketching; the session was probably almost over. But she was still willing to take responsibility for giving idiots a proper education.
"Remember this: no matter what girl shows up around He Zhen, stay the hell away from them. If I find out you've threatened or intimidated any other girls, I'll pull out your intestines and use them as a jump rope. Try me."
Zhong Shengtai didn't believe her. Yet with the light behind her, the sparse rays filtering through the leaves onto Yao Tao and that half-smiling expression on her face made him feel a little frightened.
"Ma'am! Ma'am! I promise, I promise!" Wang Qingsong was the first to give his word. "I barely even know He Zhen. I only came to make up the numbers!"
"Wang Qingsong, you piece of trash!" Zhong Shengtai trembled with fury.
"Pfft! I'm just smart enough to know which side to choose!" Wang Qingsong shot back instantly.
What a fence-sitter!
With a series of clicks, Yao Tao photographed them from the front, back, and both sides, just like they were being booked into jail, then recorded an apology video.
"Remember this. If I catch you again, get ready to be publicly humiliated." Yao Tao held up her phone. "Now do a full thousand push-ups before you leave."
"A thousand?!" Even Zhang Rui couldn't help shrieking. "You might as well send us to the police station!"
Yao Tao raised her hand to slap him.
Zhang Rui reflexively shielded his face, only to take a solid kick to the ass.
"What right do three pieces of trash have to bargain with me?" Yao Tao struck whenever she felt like it, the complete opposite of the image she presented.
"Aren't you afraid I'll tell He Zhen?" True to his position as the trio's leader, Zhong Shengtai was still putting up a last-ditch struggle.
"Ooh, I'm so scared." Yao Tao looked at him expressionlessly. "Want me to give you a megaphone so you can tell the whole school?"
"Who do you think they'll believe, me or you, you little loser?" Yao Tao patted Zhong Shengtai's face. Still annoyed, she grabbed his cheeks and ruthlessly squished them several times.
For a moment, Zhang Rui and Wang Qingsong couldn't even tell who had come to warn whom-Yao Tao or Zhong Shengtai and the others.
Before you continue