Do Good People Deserve to Have Guns Pointed at Them?

What a cringey woman. Couldn't she tell that was just polite flattery?

And she even went, "Oh, you flatter me."

I'm not eight anymore. You can't trust a single word out of a woman's mouth. Can you guarantee you won't tell your husband who practices sanda once I give you a detailed description?

Eighteen years old, and terrified of Dongda's "selfie sticks."

"Ahem. Miss, you're drop-dead gorgeous. Seriously fucking beautiful," Jiang Nian said vaguely. "The school rules are the only thing holding us back. Otherwise, not a single one of us would have any interest in studying."

Zhuang Wenqian felt he was insulting her in some filthy way, but she had no proof. She narrowed her eyes and rubbed her chin.

"Jiang Nian, you're no angel yourself."

"Miss, did you know that's the lesbian hand gesture?" Jiang Nian mimicked the finger-gun gesture against her chin and abruptly changed the subject. "Could it be..."

"What?" Qianbao couldn't keep up with his wildly leaping train of thought. She was bewildered.

"I don't know either. I saw it on Xiaohongshu." Seeing that she was interested, Jiang Nian steered the topic even further away. "Just open Xiaohongshu and..."

Ten seconds later.

Jiang Nian made a tactical lean backward. "Miss, so you're momo?"

"What about it? It's the default username."

"A cringey woman called momo chased me around hurling abuse the other day. Let me see if that was you." As he spoke, Jiang Nian reached to open her Xiaohongshu message list.

"Wh-what are you doing?!" Qianbao blushed and slapped her hand over the phone on the desk. "Are you the teacher, or am I? Stand up straight. We haven't even discussed your blank exam paper yet!"

Oh, fuck you, you cringey woman!

Getting flustered, are we?

One look and you could tell she'd done this plenty of times. A graceful female teacher in real life, a raging troll online, huh? Fine, fine, fine. Truly society's purple Fume-shroom.

"Okaaay." Jiang Nian surrendered.

He had no choice. His homeroom teacher, Old Liu, had come in, probably having sniffed out the trouble. Ah, shit. Why did it feel like everyone was protecting that bastard Yu Tongjie?

Even if he jumped, it wouldn't have a fucking thing to do with me.

My mental health is one hundred percent sound.

"Ms. Zhuang." A faint smile appeared on Old Liu's face as he greeted Qianbao. "Are you finished talking? I need to speak with Jiang Nian."

Jiang Nian turned toward Qianbao at that, frantically signaling with his eyes.

Qianbao, you're the prettiest!

"We weren't discussing much. I just dragged him into the office to sit for a bit," Zhuang Wenqian said with a smile. "We're finished. He's all yours, Mr. Liu."

Qianbao, you really are a fucking wicked woman!

Ring, ring, ring.

The class bell rang. Old Liu waited by the doorway for a while. Once there were no students outside, he led Jiang Nian into his office and found him a stool.

"Have a seat. Would you like some tea?" Old Liu asked.

An actual invitation to tea in the office.

As the education bureau's darling right across the street and the alma mater of countless successful graduates, Zhen Nan Middle School had a generous budget. It was practically rolling in money.

The office had everything: desks, chairs, computers, and a water heater.

"Sure." He nodded.

Old Liu took a tin of tea leaves out of a drawer. "Then make me a cup while you're at it."

Jiang Nian: "????"

You're all the same, aren't you, teachers?

"Yes, sir." Jiang Nian smiled, thinking that at least he would get a cup out of it.

Three minutes later, Jiang Nian and Old Liu drank their hot tea in unison, their eyes narrowing the instant they took a sip. After swallowing, they let out long, satisfied breaths and slowly closed their eyes.

It was fourth period. Almost all the teachers who had no classes had left the office, leaving just the two of them.

Old Liu slowly opened his eyes. "Jiang Nian."

"Your servant is here."

"Ahem, you... I asked some of your classmates about what happened in English class." Old Liu set down his teacup. "It wasn't your fault, but you're classmates, after all."

"If it wasn't my fault, then there's no problem with me," Jiang Nian said. "I didn't even insult him. I just stated the facts."

"I know, but you're in your final year now. It's a sensitive time," Old Liu said patiently. "Yu Tongjie was certainly wrong to accuse you of cheating behind your back."

"Sir, are we getting another 'but'?"

"Look, try to spare a thought for your teacher. Yu Tongjie is so quiet and withdrawn. I'm afraid he might have some psychological..." His homeroom teacher trailed off. "Anyway, I'm not blaming you."

"Just do me a favor. How about it?"

"No thanks, sir. Actually, I have depwession." Jiang Nian folded his arms and frowned. "Severe bipolar disorder. Whenever someone picks on me, I tend to develop physical symptoms."

Old Liu: "..."

Students like Jiang Nian were the ones he feared most. They weren't afraid of anything. That temperament made them impossible to reason with; they generally wouldn't lift a finger unless there was something in it for them.

"Yu Tongjie's mother-"

"Sir, why are you swearing at him?" Jiang Nian interrupted indignantly. "Sure, Yu Tongjie accused me of cheating behind my back, and he's a piece of shit, but you still shouldn't insult him."

Old Liu fell silent for several seconds. This fucking kid really knew how to get his blood boiling.

"His mother is..."

"I know. My mom works at the same place as her," Jiang Nian said casually. "I don't know what his dad does, but he probably works for some government office too."

"When a son goes astray, the father's to blame. What do you think, sir?"

"What I mean is, his mother told me that Yu Tongjie didn't have many friends in his old class either," Old Liu explained, standing up to refill Jiang Nian's tea.

Jiang Nian's expression softened a little, and he became less aggressive.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's nothing. Just do me this favor, all right?" Old Liu remained standing and spoke earnestly.

"Sir, why don't you talk to Yu Tongjie?" Rather than answer directly, Jiang Nian looked up and asked a question of his own. "If he apologizes to me, it'll be over."

"His personality is a little... difficult."

"My personality's twisted too."

Old Liu looked somewhat awkward. "I know you're a good student. You wouldn't make things too hard for anyone."

"So good people deserve to have guns pointed at them?" Jiang Nian shot to his feet. "If he could do something like that, doesn't he know damn well what kind of person he is?"

The office instantly fell silent. Old Liu sighed helplessly.

Jiang Nian remained unmoved. A few words, and that was supposed to settle everything?

Where was the apology?

If Yu Tongjie didn't pay the price, then Old Liu, as his homeroom teacher, would have to compensate for him.

Stolid, honest people only followed the explicit rules laid down by teachers, elders, or superiors. They were ashamed to fight for their own interests and cared too much about saving face. All that earned them was an endless stream of

crap.

When wronged in real life, they usually either decided to put up with it a little longer or flew into a rage and spilled blood.

Jiang Nian took the middle road. He refused other people's proposed solutions and fought for his own interests.

If his homeroom teacher hadn't brought it up, he might have let it slide. Now that he had, Jiang Nian was definitely going after that bastard. Unless... there was a suitable benefit that could change his mind.

Two minutes later, Old Liu lowered his voice and said a few things. Jiang Nian's eyelid twitched at his words, but his expression betrayed nothing. He likewise lowered his voice and began bargaining.

"I'll get a long-term medical record for a chronic illness. From now on, whenever I want to leave evening study hall, you'll have to approve my leave."

"Nonsense. Don't even think about it." Old Liu looked displeased.

Seeing an opening, Jiang Nian said, "Then let's negotiate a little more."