On the way back to school, Su Cui asked Su Baixue what she and He Li had talked about near the basketball court that day.
Su Baixue was sensitive and sensed that Su Cui's attitude toward He Li was off. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Grandma, do you know Senior He Li?"
"Mm, Grandma is responsible for cleaning the railing near He Li's area. I heard people say he was beaten and became lame. Bai Xue, are you familiar with this He Li?"
Su Baixue: "Not really. Grandma, I've only met Senior He a few times during military training last year, and we didn't even talk. Then today, Senior He suddenly came to find me. He wouldn't talk at the classroom door and asked me to go to the basketball court."
"...He said he heard I was helping the teacher plan the cultural festival, so he brought some materials from previous years."
Su Cui acknowledged this and then reminded Su Baixue not to casually accept things from others to drink. She didn't plan to tell Su Baixue that she was the female lead of a smutty novel, nor about those miserable and heavy things. Su Cui privately didn't want Su Baixue to know; she already regarded Su Baixue as her own granddaughter.
She knew Su Baixue had changed a lot compared to last year.
Su Cui wasn't in a hurry.
She believed Su Baixue would become braver and wiser.
Growth takes time. It's okay to be slow. Su Baixue was only sixteen, a wonderful age. Without parents, she had been strong alone for so long. Only this year, after Su Cui transmigrated into the book, did Su Baixue begin to act like a normal girl her age, having friends and happiness beyond studying.
Su Baixue was usually cautious outside, but people often fall victim not only to strangers but also to acquaintances. Clearly, toward He Li, who had a good reputation among students at the same school, Su Baixue wasn't vigilant enough.
After considering, Su Cui selectively mentioned some things she had seen at school in recent days.
"Grandma has recently seen this He Li often lurking in corners of the campus with some thugs, doing who knows what, sneaky and suspicious. Bai Xue, do you remember the time the thugs cornered you and Grandma saved you?"
Su Baixue was surprised. She still had a relatively good impression of He Li. "I remember, Grandma. How could He Li be mixed up with those people..."
"So you see, you have to remember: don't easily eat or drink anything He Li gives you, got it?" Su Cui muttered. "Best if a guy gives you anything, just don't take it. If you want to eat or drink something, ask Grandma for money, and we'll buy it ourselves!"
"Can I eat Shao Li's spicy strips?"
Su Cui burst out laughing.
She pinched her granddaughter's tender little face and teased, "You've already eaten them so many times... Eat less! What will you do if you get heat bumps and pimples!"
Su Bai smiled sweetly. "Grandma, you forgot, I never get pimples."
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Su Cui froze.
Right, as the female lead of a smutty novel, Su Baixue had perfect skin, no pimples, excellent metabolism. Even if her face wasn't the prettiest, her body was definitely the most perfect in this book world.
Heartbreaking, my Bai Xue.
Bathed in Su Baixue's youthful radiance, Su Cui shook her head and said, "Shao Li is your friend. You trust her, you trust her character, and you often hang out together. Grandma has heard you say you like going to the convenience store together and sharing snacks. She buys spicy strips many times right in front of you, so of course you can eat them."
"But He Li, first, he's not close to you. You're not even friends or classmates; at best, you're schoolmates, strangers you've only met once or twice. Second, his things weren't bought in front of you. You can't guarantee he didn't add something to them. Third, Grandma has noticed his behavior is off, not as good as he pretends to be. So you need to be wary." Su Cui looked seriously into Su Bai's eyes.
"He could have handed you the materials at the classroom door, but he specifically asked you to go out alone and even prepared two bottles of drinks for you for no reason. Even if he happened to bring them, Grandma hopes you won't touch them. It's not that Grandma is overly suspicious, but there are many reports in the news. It's not worth the risk for a bottle of water or some food."
"If he had bought the water in front of you, I'd feel a bit more at ease. But taking out something pre-prepared—what if something is in it? If you drank it at home and passed out, Grandma could still rush you to the hospital. But if you drank it while alone with him and passed out, Grandma wouldn't be able to save you in time."
Su Bai also became serious as Su Cui spoke. "Okay, Grandma. I'll be careful when I'm out from now on."
"Mm. Alright, when we get home, I'll cook. You go take a shower first. The weather has been gloomy the past few days; change your clothes early so they can dry sooner."
Su Cui looked up at the gloomy sky.
After they arrived home.
Su Bai went to take a shower. Su Cui took out the crumpled drink bottle from her bag—the one He Li had intended for Su Bai.
Su Cui hadn't actually poured out all the soda inside. She wanted to test it.
Back then, she only crippled He Li's leg to force an endless conflict between him and the thugs, but plans couldn't keep up with changes. Clearly, she had skipped some chapters and overlooked something.
Why did He Li suddenly make peace with the thugs and even have the mood to come after her granddaughter? There must be something fishy.
Su Cui thought of He Li's father—the drug dealer briefly mentioned in the book as the cause of He Li's domestic violence.
She suspected He Li had followed in his father's footsteps and was dealing drugs.
But He Li was just a high school good student. Where did he get a channel? He Li's father had been executed long ago, unless his father left him something, giving him access to certain channels, and just recently, he made contact.
Su Cui went back to her room, unlocked the drawer, took out her "Snow White's High School Anti-Scum Guide" notebook, and flipped to the records she had made when she first transmigrated to avoid forgetting the various scumbags.
On the page for He Li, she had written: "Domestic violence expert."
Background: His father was a drug dealer, beat his mother to death, then fled, was caught and executed. Raised by his uncle.
Personality: Hypocritical, good at pretending.
Notes: Later, when several big shots fought over Su Bai, he went to pledge loyalty to one of the gang leaders to continue harassing Su Bai and satisfy his urge to hit her.
Although He Li was a different kind of daily scumbag, he made it into the later plot.
But because he hit the female lead, the early high-level perverted scumbags didn't mind and occasionally let him hit her. Later, after the scumbags developed genuine feelings, they sacrificed him to win favor with the female lead.
So how did he initially connect with the big shot? After all, he was just a student with no money or power. To join a gang and get close to the female lead, how did he quickly gain the big shot's trust? The response was too fast. Don't tell me it's He Li's charm!
What did the gang leader see in him?
His domestic violence fighting skills?
Unless He Li had a channel and had contact with part of the gang earlier, doing their bidding.
Su Cui pondered and drew a line under one of the gang leaders.