"Why are you looking at him again? Don't tell me you've taken a liking to him." Qian Baoyuan's friend Lin Xun waved a hand in front of his eyes, joking.
Since He Li had returned to school, Qian Baoyuan's gaze had been following him.
It was shortly after the lunch break. He Li was dozing at his desk, and Qian Baoyuan had been secretly staring at his ankle. Lin Xun's hand waving in front of his eyes was brushed aside. He lowered his voice and asked Lin Xun, "A Xun, I think there's something off about He Li since he came back."
Lin Xun was puzzled. "What happened? What's off?"
"Do you remember last semester when he hit me?" Qian Baoyuan said indignantly. "The teacher had just walked in and I kindly reminded him to turn the page. But instead, he slapped me!"
Lin Xun was a bit speechless. "You're still hung up on that? Didn't you hit him back? I still remember that scene. That chubby, honest-looking kid—who knew you could throw such a punch? He apologized afterward, and with a good attitude at that. Don't hold a grudge."
Qian Baoyuan got a bit excited, gesturing to mimic He Li's posture when he struck, pointing at his own eyes. "That's different. When he hit me, it was like I was his mortal enemy. Especially that look in his eyes—watch, I'll show you!"
Lin Xun watched Qian Baoyuan's performance calmly and mused, "Stop acting. Your impression is better off not shown—no threat at all, just pitiful."
Qian Baoyuan choked, lowering his hands from his eyes. He stressed, "Anyway, it was vicious! Definitely not what he claimed—that he was spacing out and didn't mean it... Even if he was spacing out, would you hit someone that hard just because you got startled?"
"That's true..." Lin Xun stroked his chin. "But it's been so long. What are you still worried about? He just came back, and he's had it rough—those thugs beat him into a cripple."
Qian Baoyuan glanced around; the area was noisy and his seat far from He Li. He leaned close to Lin Xun's ear and whispered, "I know some inside info about his fight. One of the school thugs is my cousin. You know I'm a Qian, and before, people asked if my family was related to the Qian Group. I said no, but actually, yes. Especially my cousin—he's a total rich kid."
Lin Xun perked up. "What, there's more to this?"
"My cousin told me that He Li ambushed them first, splashing water in the bathroom. That's why my cousin gathered his buddies to corner He Li. But they couldn't beat him!"
Lin Xun froze at the words "couldn't beat him." "Wait, if they couldn't beat him, how did He Li end up crippled?"
"No idea!" Qian Baoyuan looked at Lin Xun. "My cousin also marveled at He Li's ruthlessness. There were so many of them, and it was a draw. If they hadn't picked up a tennis racket later, they really couldn't have taken him. And He Li—once he saw blood, he was ferocious! Nothing like a good student who doesn't fight. After they knocked He Li down, my cousin and his crew were also badly hurt and went straight home."
"But the next day, the police showed up at my cousin's house, saying He Li was crippled. My cousin was baffled later. They've done plenty of stuff and own up to it, always clean, because money can settle it. But that time, they never touched He Li's feet!" Qian Baoyuan pondered. "Isn't that weird?"
"Maybe in the chaos, someone accidentally hurt him," Lin Xun speculated.
"Impossible!" Qian Baoyuan was firm. "My cousin has cornered people before, and he always holds back. He suspected He Li faked the limp, that he deliberately injured himself. But He Li's medical report came out, and it was indeed caused by someone else. My cousin's parents believed it, and he couldn't talk his way out. He had to take the blame, but he's been holding it in. That's why he told me."
Lin Xun was a bit freaked out. He glanced at He Li's leg and whispered, "That is suspicious. Could He Li have stirred up trouble to go after your cousin but messed up instead?"
"That's exactly what I find strange!" Qian Baoyuan stared at Lin Xun. "If you were crippled, would you act like nothing happened?"
Lin Xun shook his head.
"He's been back for days now. When classmates ask about his well-being or gossip, he handles it like it's nothing. Last time on the playground, when he ran into my cousin and them, he didn't even frown." Qian Baoyuan couldn't forget the state He Li was in when he hit him.
"A Xun, still waters run deep." Qian Baoyuan shuddered. "I feel like He Li is plotting something bad."
"Probably not. I still think He Li is a decent guy, and he's got such good grades. But his family background is no match for your cousin's. They paid compensation, didn't they? What else can he do? Even if he wants revenge, it's only human nature. And your cousin has a whole crew—what's to fear?" Lin Xun shook his head, thinking to himself that Qian Baoyuan's cousin wasn't exactly a good person anyway.
Even if he got revenge, he'd deserve it.
"I need to keep an eye on him," Qian Baoyuan said seriously.
Lin Xun disagreed. "This is between your cousin and He Li. Don't meddle. Let them handle it."
Qian Baoyuan shook his head. "I just feel like this whole thing is strange. How He Li hit me was strange, and then him getting crippled is even stranger. I'm going to watch him."
Lin Xun gave up.
Meanwhile, Su Cui was also frequently loitering around the fourth floor of Building 2, where He Li's second-year science experimental class was. She too was watching He Li.
Since He Li returned, she had seen him run into those thugs a few times, but neither side caused trouble. A few verbal spats occurred when the thugs couldn't resist mocking He Li's foot, but He Li didn't respond.
He Li had a short fuse.
But before achieving his goal, he would stop at nothing and was very good at enduring—though endurance depended on the person.
Su Cui estimated that, at this rate, He Li would soon be unable to hold back. Compared to the underworld bosses in the original story, those thugs were far lower level. Even if their families had power, once He Li's emotions built up, he would find an opportunity to vent.
Su Cui believed he would definitely go after those thugs until the end. She was waiting for the moment when both sides started causing trouble, which would be her chance to cast her net and completely remove this tumor from Su Baixue's high school life.
*
Su Cui's guess was right.
He Li, lying on the desk pretending to doze, had his eyes moving rapidly under his closed lids.
"Look, how does He Li walk? He limps... He's crippled."
"God, is he never going to recover?"
Classmates cast sympathetic or curious glances.
"Hey, cripple!"
"Kid, you healed up pretty fast."
And those voices, carrying cheerful malice, had been echoing in He Li's ears all this time. He thought about how he had inexplicably been locked in the bathroom, and the curses from those thugs before his foot was injured.
Back then, he hadn't been losing.
If not for the tennis racket that suddenly hit him from behind! If not for that racket nearly knocking him out! He wouldn't have lost later. He Li's face darkened.
He wouldn't let those thugs off.
He Li knew his emotions were very unstable lately. He hadn't been this excited, restless, and impatient in a long time. He often couldn't help looking at his left ankle, the wound so ugly it disgusted him.
A rusty smell lingered faintly around the tip of his nose. He Li couldn't tell if it was his imagination or real. He tilted his head, shoved his hand into his school uniform pocket, and tightened his grip on the address and contact information from that secret drawer—something his father had once told him about, which he had found at home before returning to school.
Violence, blood, and that thing.
With that thing, he could send those people to hell step by step.
*
Three days later, on a weekend, He Li left school and took a minibus to the outskirts of the city.
At dusk, he walked into a quiet neighborhood filled with children's laughter. He sat on a bench under a long corridor. His gait and obvious limp made the kids around curious. Beneath a tall elephant-shaped slide, a heavily pregnant woman carrying a bag and pushing a stroller smiled at him, walked over slowly, and sat down beside He Li.
"Where are you from?" the woman asked casually, like small talk.
"A City. Surname He."
The woman's expression changed. She warily looked around and hissed through gritted teeth, "There's no one named He here. Get lost!" As her face changed, a child near the slide left and walked away. A few seconds later, several burly men emerged from the sidelines.
He Li, still in high school, was clearly less experienced than his original-story counterpart. Seeing the men suddenly appear, his heart sank.
But he was born with a ruthless streak. He didn't panic at all. After a moment's thought, he simply took a stack of cash from his backpack and handed it to the woman.
"My father is He Hong. He used to work for Boss Yu," He Li added.
Hearing the name "Boss Yu," the woman's face softened. She glanced at He Li, took the money, and placed it in the stroller.
Then she called a child over, held him in her arms, and said with a friendly smile to He Li, "He Hong has been gone for a long time. After all these years, if you want to get the goods, you have to start from scratch, following the rules for newcomers."
He Li stared hard at the woman's child. "I know."
The woman smiled even brighter. She took a small bottle from the stroller and handed it to He Li. He silently took it and put it in his bag. Under the woman's kind gaze, he stood up.
He was about to leave, but before going, he suddenly said to the child in her arms, "This child is very fair."
The woman was confused and gave him a puzzled look.
He Li's face twisted slightly, and he breathed heavily as he repeated, "This child is very fair."
He thought of a girl he had almost forgotten.
He Li snapped back to reality and strode away quickly.
[Author's Note]
Thank you to the little angels who cast king votes or irrigated nutrient fluid for me~