One of the hooligans couldn't help cursing, "What a tough nut!"
In a group fight, if the initial surge fails, fear sets in. These hooligans usually dealt with students, and they had never seen He Li so unyielding. The more he fought, the crazier he got, and his eyes became more terrifying, making them uneasy. Finally, relying on their numbers, they managed to beat him down, but they felt no satisfaction, only unease for the first time.
He Li fell to the ground, and they were also bruised and swollen.
Seeing blood on the ground, they exchanged glances. "What now? He's not dead, is he?"
One person reached out to feel his pulse. "He's alive!"
"Damn it, you feel his pulse... Just put your hand under his nose to see if he's breathing!"
"What do we do now?"
"Just call 120 and leave him here..." Most of these school hooligans had entered the city's top high school through the back door. Though they were troublemakers, they didn't want to cause a death. "If this kid dares to come after us tomorrow, we'll handle it. We're also bruised up, so we can't hide it from our families anyway. If there's a lawsuit, the medical evidence won't be in his favor. Let's coordinate our stories and say he started it!"
"Alright!"
They called an ambulance and limped away.
A few minutes later, an old woman in a cleaner's uniform walked out from the alley.
Su Cui looked at He Li on the ground.
Earlier today, when He Li was wandering near Su Baixue's teaching building, she happened to see those hooligans there too. So she stepped aside and deliberately said, while looking at He Li's back, "Alas, that classmate is tall and handsome, wearing glasses. Clearly a good student. Why would he do something like splashing dirty water on people?"
Some hooligans heard her and stopped her: "Hey, aren't you the cleaner from last time? What did you say about splashing dirty water? Who? The guy who just walked by?"
Su Cui pretended to stutter, "No, no, I saw wrong. That student is pretty good. He just helped me carry things!"
"Just tell us if it was him who splashed us last time!"
Su Cui said panicked, "I don't know. The supervisor assigned work. You guys should go to class. Hurry back!"
Then she left.
Later, she followed the hooligans and found they were ambitious enough to actually block He Li.
In high school, He Li's domestic violence tendencies hadn't yet emerged. He was best at playing the fool in front of others. Later, when Su Baixue was fought over by several big shots, he naturally had no share. But he could endure and pretend to be good, becoming a subordinate to one of the underworld bosses to show loyalty, occasionally continuing to pester Su Baixue, and sometimes taking out his urges by hitting her.
Su Cui looked at He Li on the ground.
This was a man without limits, who had committed murder and arson, done everything.
The ambulance was coming soon. She had to hurry.
Su Cui took out a prepared knife from her backpack, gripped it tightly, and suddenly stabbed it into He Li's left ankle. Her strength was enormous; piercing into bone was effortless. He Li was awakened by the pain, but before he could fully wake, Su Cui pressed his head to the ground with a thud, and he completely passed out.
Su Cui did not plan to kill He Li.
Although this world was a book world, ordinary people who committed murder would attract great attention. She didn't want trouble for now, and she didn't want too much attention.
She wanted He Li to get entangled with these rich second-generation school hooligans, dog-eat-dog. If they made a fuss, Su Baixue would be safe.
The fight today was fierce, but Su Cui had observed that all injuries were superficial. Superficial injuries heal quickly, and when they heal fast, they are forgotten fast.
Only if He Li became lame, given his temperament, would he not rest until those hooligans were destroyed.
As for her, she might be confronted by the hooligans tomorrow, but she would side with He Li, defending this good student. She was old and dim-sighted—how could she know who splashed whom? There were no surveillance cameras.
She only knew that He Li was a good classmate.
He had helped her carry a water bucket, and many had seen it.
[Author's Note]
Happy weekend! Please leave a comment~ (っ//////////c)