It was lunch break, and after class, students were leaving the teaching building in twos and threes to go to the cafeteria. Some bought instant noodles and took them back to the dormitories.
City A High School had its own dormitory buildings; students could choose to board or commute. The campus was divided into east and west sections. The east section was newly built and had better facilities, while the west section had older, shabbier buildings.
At this moment, in a secluded corner on the first floor of an old teaching building in the west section, several boys in school uniforms surrounded a girl also in school uniform against the wall.
"What do you want..." Su Baixue asked timidly, her voice softer than a mosquito's buzz. Out of fear, she unconsciously clutched the hem of her clothes, looking utterly panicked.
The school thugs exchanged glances. Seeing Su Baixue's fair skin and large, sparkling eyes, they couldn't help but step forward. The closer they got, the more beautiful they found her; it was as if with the shortening distance, an inexplicable beauty filter enveloped Su Baixue entirely. Her clear eyes seemed to be silently telling them something. The uniform, which they saw every day, looked strangely alluring on the girl before them, making them suddenly want to reach out and pull it open for a better look...
Just as they reached out, before their hands could touch Su Baixue, there was a sudden splash as a bucket of filthy water poured down from above, drenching them completely.
"What the heck!"
"Damn, what's going on!"
"Who poured that! It stinks!"
The thugs glared at their once-clean uniforms now stained with large black patches and cursed loudly, looking up.
Just then, from upstairs came an extremely loud, hoarse, angry old woman's voice: "Aiya, student, what's wrong with you? Why did you bump my bucket! Don't run!"
Su Cui put her hands on her hips and shouted toward the empty second floor: "Don't run, come back here!"
"Come back quickly!"
After shouting twice, she thought that was enough. She leaned out and looked down, then said in a flustered tone: "Aiya!"
"Oh my, students, what happened to you! I just finished washing the toilet, and some student knocked the bucket downstairs. Didn't it hit you?"
"What is the world coming to! Today someone was relieving themselves on the floor in the restroom. I just cleaned up and put the dirty water near the railing, and someone knocked it over!"
"I wonder if there's a surveillance camera here. This infuriates me!"
Though she asked about surveillance cameras, Su Cui knew they wouldn't be there. That was how sanitized novels worked; no matter where the heroine was victimized, the cameras would either be broken or missing. When the heroine reported it to the police, there was never any evidence. How could surveillance cameras exist? They didn't.
Su Cui looked at the third-tier passerby scumbags downstairs with a mix of anger and concern.
The school thugs stared back at her.
In their eyes was reflected Su Cui's short, stout figure. A few strands of white hair fluttered out from the edge of her mask. Though she couldn't be seen clearly, her uniform marked her as one of the school's cleaning staff, often seen near the restrooms.
Most students didn't know the specific duties of the custodians. Once they heard Su Cui say it was "toilet-cleaning water" that had been knocked down, they felt sick to their stomachs. The already foul water, associated with the restroom, doubled in stench.
They cursed, "Are you nuts? Putting a bucket near the railing?"
Su Cui tugged at the mask strings over her ears and tucked the white hair behind her ear. Nuts or not, she was perfectly fine.
"What bad luck!"
"Whoever did this on purpose, I'm gonna kill him!"
The school thugs knew they had a bad reputation; having bullied many, they assumed someone bold had retaliated. They never suspected the custodian upstairs was behind it. Clenching their teeth, they said, "When we catch him, we'll beat him to death!"
Hearing them talk about beating someone to death, Su Cui raised an eyebrow and chimed in, "Exactly! He deserves a beating! The male student who bumped my bucket was tall and handsome, wearing glasses, looking like a good student. Who knew he could be so mean! Too much!"
Su Cui wanted to pin the blame on He Li directly, but she thought that would be too obvious. She was a cautious old lady. She had already caused trouble in her custodian role today, so she'd better take it easy and not alert the enemy.
So she said enthusiastically, "Students, go change your clothes quickly! Don't catch a cold. It's so dirty—what if you get sick? Oh, you poor things. Hurry and change. Seeing you kids reminds me of my own grandson... I heard that if you have a wound, dirty water can get in and cause infection!" She added with some gravity, "Who knows what's in such dirty water..."
"What nonsense is this old lady talking!"
"Forget her. Let's hurry back to change! Let's go to Daming's dorm. If I go home in these clothes, my dad will kill me."
"Let's go, go..."
The school thugs lost interest in bothering Su Baixue. While Su Cui was still rambling upstairs, they held their noses and rushed toward the dormitory.
The thugs left.
Only then did Su Cui come downstairs.
Su Baixue was waiting for her with tears in her eyes. She knew her grandmother had taken a cleaning job. She didn't want her grandmother to work, but Grandma was insistent, so she agreed. But she didn't expect Su Cui to be a custodian at City A High School—the very school she attended.
When Su Baixue saw Su Cui come downstairs, she rushed over like a bird and hugged her tightly.
"Grandma!" Su Baixue choked out, her voice trembling. She had been so scared just now. Those boys had strange looks in their eyes that made her uncomfortable and shiver all over. She couldn't believe her grandmother was there. When she heard the familiar hoarse voice, she couldn't believe it until she looked up and saw Su Cui. Even with a mask and cleaning uniform, Su Baixue would never mistake her.
Grandma had come to save her!
"Alright, alright, it's okay. Be good!" Su Cui skillfully wiped her granddaughter's tear-streaked, pink face with her rag. She was used to it. Really used to it.
After wiping, she was satisfied to see Su Baixue's pink face turn... black?
Su Cui paused, pulled off the arm sleeve from her left arm, and wiped Su Baixue's face again.
"Grandma, are you working here? That's wonderful." Su Baixue said happily.
"Baixue." Su Cui looked at her seriously. "You must not tell anyone at this school that I'm your grandmother, understand?"
"Huh? Why?" Su Baixue was puzzled.
"Grandma doesn't want to embarrass you."
Su Baixue was taken aback and quickly said, "I don't think it's embarrassing at all! Grandma, I could even help you during breaks and lunch if I'm free."
"I said no means no. It's not about what you think; it's about what I think." Su Cui stressed. "Listen to Grandma: breaks and lunch at school are for you students to rest well and be energized for study. If you come to help me, you'll neglect your studies. Putting the cart before the horse—that doesn't make Grandma happy at all!"
When Su Baixue saw Su Cui being firm, she immediately backed down. Stuttering, she said, "Then I won't help you, but can I come talk to you occasionally?"
Su Cui: "No. Don't you have a phone? If something's up, call Grandma. If not, don't bother me. This job is easy and pays well. If you keep coming to chat with me, others might see and think I'm not working properly."
Su Baixue hesitated for a moment, glancing at her grandmother. She had worked as a cleaner before. "But cleaning toilets isn't an easy job. And you've just recovered from your illness..."
Su Cui smiled.
"Silly child. Do you really think I poured toilet water on them? That dirty water was from cleaning the railings today. How could it be toilet water? I'm not even responsible for cleaning the restrooms."
Su Baixue was stunned. "Huh?!"
Su Cui thought this was a good opportunity and said seriously, "You have to be adaptable. See this water? To use it, you need a container. If you try to carry it in your hands, it slips through your fingers. But if you switch to a bucket, you can carry it all away, right?"
"Mm."
"So, the water becomes dirty after wiping something. It's completely useless—wastewater that needs to be discarded, right?"
"Mm..."
"But when I saw someone bullying you, all I had was this useless wastewater. What should I do to save you? Use the bucket as a weapon? But I'm old and weak—a very feeble old lady. How could I defeat those bad students with just a bucket?" Su Cui patted her shoulder muscle and lectured earnestly. "Even if by luck I drove one away, there were still several others. What then? If I can't beat them and get hurt, we can't afford the medical bills either. So what should we do? Let them bully you?"
Su Baixue began to understand. "So Grandma poured it on them..."
"Right. This dirty water is black. You could say it's toilet water, or not. But everyone is afraid of being splashed with toilet water. At that moment, it becomes a weapon—a weapon to protect you."
Su Baixue thought for a moment and asked, "Grandma, why didn't you call the police, or go get a teacher?"
"What if the police take too long? What if no teacher passes by? Rely on yourself rather than others! Today, Grandma happened to be passing by. I'm telling you this so that next time something like this happens, you'll know how to save yourself. Get yourself out of trouble..."
"I'm scared..." Su Baixue lowered her head. "They probably just want money. If I have to, I'll give it to them."
Su Cui looked at Su Baixue's cowering posture and sighed inwardly.
If this were a typical school story, they'd probably just demand money or hit her. But you're the heroine of a sanitized novel.
"If they demand money from you, they're bullying you. Bullying others is shameful. It's not your fault—it's theirs. You have no obligation to pay. When you're treated unfairly, Grandma hopes you'll have the courage to resist, and the wisdom to resist."
Su Baixue shook her head; tears fell straight to the ground. "But there are so many unfair things in this world..."
"We can't demand fairness, but when faced with injustice, we must strive to achieve fairness through our own efforts... Grandma knows you didn't want to resist. You've been studying hard all these years, and I've seen it." Su Cui stopped talking. She gently pulled Su Baixue into her arms.
"Good child, good child. Don't be afraid. Grandma is by your side... We still have a long, good life ahead."