Chapter 56 Leg Cramp

With his cold shout, the intimidation was so convincing that Xu Yannuo almost wanted to award him an Oscar statuette or some Best Actor Hundred Flowers Award. The school’s female bully was indeed stunned for a second before involuntarily loosening her grip and letting her go. Then, the boys, remembering their roles as protectors and sidekicks—and eager to reclaim the dignity they’d lost when they froze in fear—stepped forward toward Chen Ciyi.

Before the sidekicks could speak, Chen Ciyi coldly snapped, “A bunch of you ganging up on a girl—have you no shame? What are you staring at? You call yourselves men?” Seeing the boys preparing to fight, Chen Ciyi was about to swing the plastic bag in his hand and leap forward to kick the two approaching guys away. But in that 0.01-second moment, he suddenly remembered Xu Yannuo behind them…

All the fierce expressions on his coldly handsome face froze in an instant, along with his limbs.

None of the expected fight scenes unfolded. The senior-year boys across from him had already stepped forward, and one tall guy—not from Chenci High—lifted a finger to point at his nose, putting on the arrogant air of “I’m a senior, I can do whatever I want.” “Who the hell do you think you are? What’s it to you?”

Chen Ciyi frowned almost imperceptibly, then raised his hand and hooked the plastic bag of drinks he was holding onto the tall guy’s outstretched finger. The tall guy never expected him to do that—his finger, completely unprepared, immediately buckled under the weight in a rather embarrassing display. The drinks and ice cream instantly crashed to the ground with a clatter, as if cheering for this humiliating moment, even adding a touch of absurd comedy to the scene. The tall guy flew into a rage. “You fucking dare mess with me?”

Chen Ciyi waved his hand with a smile. “No, what are you talking about? I’m so weak! I just couldn’t resist when I saw how strong your finger looked.”

“You asking for a beating?” With that growl, the tall guy shoved a palm toward his shoulder.

Chen Ciyi nimbly dodged, not forgetting to remind him, “There are teachers all over the field. There’s no cover here, and you guys are about to be seniors—getting a demerit now wouldn’t leave you any time to clear it. I’m just a freshman…”

The tall guy and the boys behind him turned to look at the sports field, realizing they had acted impulsively. The tall guy pointed at Chen Ciyi and cursed, “Fine, you bastards better watch out.” Seemingly trying to save face in front of the school’s female bully, he added, “This isn’t over yet.”

Chen Ciyi watched them putting on their ridiculous tough-guy act, pretending to be some kind of campus gangsters, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Why wait? Let’s just pick a spot and settle this now. Quicker it’s done, quicker it’s over.” He hated two things most in life—being threatened and dragging things out—and these idiots in front of him managed to hit both buttons. Whether it was studying or fighting, he preferred to get it over with. Their attitude had successfully stirred his desire for a fight.

The boys across from him burst into laughter, their expressions dripping with mockery. “You’re just a freshman, and you want to pick a fight?”

Chen Ciyi clarified, “No, no, I’m asking to get beaten up. After all, I’m an easy target—soft and squishy! But let’s make a deal: once you’re done with me, you leave the two of us alone, okay?”

After arranging to meet at the artificial hill in the park behind the school after classes, the school bully left with her followers, but not without shooting Xu Yannuo one last glare before walking away.

After they left, Chen Ciyi walked over to Xu Yannuo. The barrier created by those few people was gone, and he noticed that Xu Yannuo’s expression seemed a bit off. Immediately raising an eyebrow, he squatted down beside her and asked worriedly, “Did that bastard hit you?”

Xu Yannuo’s face still looked very unpleasant. “No, my leg cramped up.”

This time, it was Chen Ci’s turn to have a strained expression.

The two sat for a while longer, waiting until Xu Yannuo’s calf had recovered before they stood up. Xu Yannuo looked at the two scattered bottles of drink on the ground and the ice cream, whose packaging was intact but had probably already melted. She was about to pick up the drinks when Chen Ci stopped her. Chen Ci walked over, picked up the drinks and the ice cream, and threw them directly into the nearby trash can.

Xu Yannuo looked at her, “They’re the ones who annoyed you, not me. Why can’t I even have a drink now?”

“What are you thinking, desk mate? How could my desk mate eat something touched by those idiots? Let’s go buy you a new one.”

As the two walked toward the campus convenience store together, Xu Yannuo remembered their earlier agreement. “Wait for me at the park entrance tonight. Don’t go inside—I’ll come to you.”

Chen Ciyi glanced at Xu Yannuo’s now freely moving calf, confirming she was truly fine. Considering how even a bag of drinks could bend his fingers, he knew he stood no chance against her. He nodded, looking relieved to have his desk mate’s protection. “Well then, I’ll be counting on my desk mate to protect me.”

They didn’t go to the sports field in the afternoon either, as the sun was too strong and it would be even more scorching there. Chen Ci dozed off at his seat for an afternoon nap. With no one in the classroom and no teacher supervising the use of phones, Xu Yannuo sat there browsing online, carefully studying strategies for the newly downloaded game dungeon. After the evening fight, they still had to go to the internet cafe to play games.

They didn’t go back to the sports field until the evening when the sports meet ended, just to check the final results. As they had seen at noon, what they saw was what they got—their class really was the weakest. The only achievement was a third place in shot put, which they heard was only possible because the top contender from Class 6, who was expected to win, ate too much ice cream in the hot noon sun and got an upset stomach, preventing them from competing.

Although the sports meet was exhausting, evening classes and self-study sessions weren’t canceled. The homeroom teacher and subject teachers couldn’t defy the school rules to let them go home early, but they relaxed the atmosphere—no problem-solving or test papers, just free review time to let them rest.

Evening classes ended, and it was time for the homeroom teacher’s evening self-study session. All the classes were still buzzing with the excitement from today’s sports meet. Although Class 8 didn’t have any particularly impressive achievements, their excitement hadn’t faded either.

After Sister Hua came in, she first summarized the day’s sports meet. Although there wasn’t much to boast about in terms of competition results—nothing worth celebrating—it wasn’t entirely without merit. After all, their class’s slogan was loud and clear. Sister Hua praised the slogan and then encouraged today’s athletes before officially starting the self-study session.

Only a few students in the class were actually studying. Most had their heads down, reading magazines or books borrowed from the library, while a handful were even doodling comics. Sister Hua turned a blind eye to it all and didn’t bother to intervene.

Xu Yannuo had nothing much to do and suddenly remembered the school forum again. She lowered her head, took out her phone, and opened it to take a look. Before knowing Chen Ciyi, she never bothered with this thing because it had nothing to do with her. As a low-profile nobody, there was absolutely no news about her inside. But ever since meeting Chen Ciyi, she liked logging in to check it whenever she had free time—not just because she had once been the subject of discussion herself, but also because her deskmate was a frequent topic of gossip on there.