When Jian Changnian returned to her dormitory after class, her roommates were already dressed up and ready to go out. Seeing that she had no intention of packing up and leaving school, one of the round-faced girls rolled her eyes and came closer.
"Jian Changnian, aren't you going home this week?"
Jian Changnian took out her only badminton racket from the cabinet, gently wiping away the dust with a clean towel without looking up.
I'll be back tomorrow.
"Why don't you come out with us? We're just killing time anyway. I've invited a few handsome guys from another school to go to karaoke. Maybe we'll even..."
The girl's eyes sparkled, displaying a feigned mature allure, and she nudged her shoulder.
Because she was the only girl in the entire auto repair major, she had to share a dormitory with students from other majors.
Jian Changnian knew her; she was the prettiest girl in the nursing class. Sometimes when she was working in the workshop, she would often see her holding hands with different boys and walking on the playground, looking very intimate.
The handsome guys from other schools she mentioned were nothing more than idle people with brightly colored hair.
Everyone has their own way of living. She doesn't dislike people like that, but she doesn't want to be friends with them either.
"I have something to do today, you guys go ahead."
Thinking back to the task her "big brother" had given her during their date last week—to find a few more young girls to hang out with—she realized that he had assigned her this task.
The round-faced girl's eyes darted around, her smile becoming more sincere. She clung to her arm, pouting and acting coquettishly, "Oh, please go! Everyone in our dorm will go, let's have fun together~ Besides, you've been living here for so long, and you've never gone out with us before."
Jian Changnian was wiping his racket when someone suddenly tugged at it, causing it to wobble and hit the edge of the table, leaving a scratch on the frame.
Her heart tightened, and in a moment of panic, she quickly shook the person off, touching the chipped paint with heartache.
"I said I'm not going, and I'm not going. You guys have fun, I have something to do."
In her haste, she didn't pay attention to her strength, and the girl stumbled back two steps, barely managing to regain her balance, her face completely ruined.
"Jian Changnian, don't push your luck! Letting you hang out with us is giving you face!"
Seeing that things were not going well, the others also gathered around.
"Yeah, what's wrong with you? We're doing you a favor by letting you play with us. If you don't want to go, fine, but why did you have to push us like that!"
"I didn't! She grabbed my arm first and bumped into my racket! I just shook her off!"
Jian Changnian stood up and retorted loudly.
Seeing that she had also stood up, a tall and strong girl from that group walked over and shoved her.
"What are you doing? What are you yelling about?! Who are you talking to?! Apologize to Sister Yuanyuan right now!"
“I did nothing wrong, why should I apologize!” Jian Changnian stiffened her neck, looked up at her, and refused to budge an inch.
"you……"
The tall girl choked. She had always thought that the girl was dull and didn't talk much, but she didn't expect her to be so determined and refuse to apologize or back down. Looking at her cold eyes, she was momentarily frightened.
The girl called "Sister Yuanyuan" shrieked, "It's just a racket, what's the big deal! You like it so much, I'm going to break it and use it to my advantage!!"
Jian Changnian still held her neck stiffly. She never liked arguing with people, and she had never encountered such bullying before. Her eyes reddened slightly as she stared intently at her.
Even if you beat me to death, I will never apologize to you!
The other girls exchanged glances, somewhat hesitant.
Jian Changnian's neither humble nor arrogant attitude made her feel somewhat embarrassed.
Yuanyuan pointed at her nose and yelled, "What are you afraid of! She's a good-for-nothing from the countryside. Even if she makes a scene at the teacher's, I can handle it. If you don't take action today, don't blame me for not treating you like sisters!"
Upon hearing this, the tall girl who had just shoved her gritted her teeth and pounced on her, tearing at her.
Anyway, someone will take the blame. Jian Changnian has no background or connections at school, so it's fine if she gets hit. I doubt she'll dare to say anything.
"It's just a racket, Sister Yuanyuan has as many as she wants, let go! Let go! Give it to me!"
Once the first person takes action, a second will follow.
In the chaos, she was pushed and shoved around, and she didn't know how many times she was slapped.
Jian Changnian bent down, holding the badminton racket tightly to prevent them from taking it away, and used her back and head to receive their punches and kicks.
"Let go of me! Don't touch my racket!! It was a gift from my grandma..."
Seeing that the racket was about to be snatched away, Jian Changnian didn't care who it was and bit the other person's hand tightly, her voice choked with sobs.
The tall girl winced in pain and punched her in the temple. Jian Changnian's vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground, knocking over a chair.
The commotion was so loud that the dormitory manager on this floor finally heard it and rushed over, pushing open the door and shouting.
"What are you doing?! I'm going to tell your homeroom teacher!!"
"No...nothing, we were just joking around."
Seeing that Jian Changnian was still lying on the ground, Yuanyuan quickly went over and helped him up, putting on a pitiful face.
"Jian, are you alright? It's all my fault, I was so careless..."
The dormitory supervisor rolled her eyes at her, then glanced at Jian Changnian. She roughly knew what was going on, but she was just a dormitory supervisor, not their class teacher, so she decided to avoid trouble.
"It's good that everything's alright. It's Friday, so those who want to go home should hurry up and go home. Don't be fooling around in the dorm!"
"Yes, yes, Auntie, we'll be going now."
Yuanyuan greeted them with a smile, saw off the dormitory manager, and noticing that it was getting late, she picked up her bag and gave Jian Changnian one last fierce glare before leaving.
"You just wait."
***
As soon as she stepped out of the school gate, Zhou Mu was already waiting. Upon seeing her, he was shocked and surrounded her.
Jian Changnian had a large bruise on her face, near the corner of her eye.
"What happened to you? Who hit you?! Did they bully you again? Oh my god..."
Seeing that she was about to confront someone, Jian Changnian pulled her back.
"Oh well, school's over already. Besides, I have a match to play tonight."
It was already past six o'clock, and if it got any later we might miss the competition. Zhou Mu could only stomp his feet in frustration as he walked and talked with her.
"We can't let them bully us like this! Aren't you enough that you always get them textbooks, buy them water, bring them snacks, get them meals, and do their laundry?! They've even started hitting them, aren't you teachers going to do anything about it?!"
“I’m not in the same class as them.” Jian Changnian only then realized that her face was a little sore, and she grimaced as she spoke.
She had barely finished speaking when her stomach growled.
I was so busy fighting with them in the afternoon that I didn't have time to go to the cafeteria for lunch.
Zhou Mu rolled her eyes at her, then took her arm and continued walking.
"You can't let people bully you all the time. You should find a chance to talk to your homeroom teacher. If that doesn't work, you can change dorms. By the way, you probably haven't eaten yet. Come on, there's a new fried rice place that just opened near the entrance of No. 2 Middle School. Let's go try it."
Jian Changnian felt a warmth in her heart. Just as she was about to refuse, she was dragged away by someone.
"Hurry up, or you'll miss the competition."
***
"Boss, two servings of ham fried rice, with eggs."
"I..." Jian Changnian was about to speak when she was cut off.
"Alright, alright, I know you too well. Even if you do eat, it'll probably just be two steamed buns and some pickled vegetables in the cafeteria. Will that be enough to fill you up? I haven't eaten yet. Come eat some more with me."
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Mu asked the shop owner for a boiled egg, peeled it, and smeared it on her face.
"Your grandma will be heartbroken when she sees this injury when you get home tomorrow. It's not good for you to keep letting people bully you like this. Otherwise, I'll have some upperclassmen from our school go over and warn them..."
From childhood to adulthood, apart from her maternal grandmother, only Zhou Mu had ever truly treated her well.
Jian Changnian's eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly snatched the egg from her hand and bent down to apply it to her face.
"Let's just forget about it. It's better to avoid trouble. Besides, I don't think they're easy to deal with. Most of the people they know are from the streets. I'll just mention changing dorms to the homeroom teacher another day."
"If they bully you again, you must tell me."
"Okay, okay, I know. Eat up, we have a competition to go to after you finish eating."
***
Jiangcheng city is not large, and schools are almost all located in the same bustling area. Even though school has ended, on Friday evening, the school gates are still crowded with vendors and bustling with activity.
A bicycle stopped in front of a shaved ice stall not far from Jian Changnian and the others. The boy reached out and handed over money, his smile was cheerful and his voice was clear.
"Auntie, three servings of shaved ice, with extra fruit."
No one knows what wind blew, but it carried his words to his ears. Several meters away, Zhou Mu turned around abruptly, not even noticing that the rice on his spoon had all fallen out of his hand.
"Senior Cheng...!!"
Jian Changnian glanced up a few times when she had a spare moment.
The boy was riding his bike, facing them sideways. He was wearing a baseball cap, his sideburns were cut short, and he looked energetic and refreshed. He was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, matching athletic shorts, and a pair of sneakers that she couldn't name. However, Yuanyuan in the dorm also had a pair with the same logo, so they must have been expensive.
"Yes, it's not bad."
"What's so great about him? Don't you think he's handsome?! He's good at studying, and he's a great swimmer. He's already been selected for the provincial swimming team. I heard he won't be coming to school next semester; he's taking a break to train in swimming. Lots of girls in our school like him!"
The moment Zhou Mu heard about her senior, it was as if a praise switch had been flipped, and countless words of praise poured out, giving Jian Changnian a headache, so he deliberately egged her on.
"Then why don't you hurry up and go say hello?"
"I... I only met him once on the day of freshman registration. He saw that I had a lot of things, so he offered to help me carry them down to the dormitory. There were so many people, he probably doesn't remember me."
"Tsk, there are so many freshmen, why do you only help them and not others?"
Upon hearing this, Zhou Mu blushed and was about to pounce on her and scratch her.
"Even food can't shut you up!"
Jian Changnian had just put the rice in her mouth when she dodged and stammered.
"Hmm... if you don't go say hello soon, they might leave."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Mu glanced back, as if she had made a major decision. She took a deep breath and stood up abruptly. However, as soon as she lifted her foot, the boy took the shaved ice he had made, turned his bike around, and rode away without even looking at her.
Zhou Mu deflated instantly, like a balloon that had been pricked by a needle, and sat down somewhat sullenly.
Jian Changnian's gaze followed the direction the boy had left. Under the shade of a tree at the school gate, the boy was chatting and laughing with two girls, handing them the shaved ice he had bought. They were too far apart to hear what they were saying, but she could tell they were very familiar with each other.
The person who had just encouraged her felt a little guilty, and Jian Changnian put down her spoon: "Are you finished eating? If you are, let's go inside first."