Le roi des pilleurs de tombes

Chapitre 8

Over the years, she didn't actually expect Fang Lin to have excellent grades; she only hoped that Fang Lin could be happy.

“I haven’t heard you talk about school much lately.” Mom put the chopped tofu into the fish soup.

"Because there's not much to say," Fang Lin said casually.

"How are you and Meifang doing?"

"It seems she's dating the boy from the next class, the really tall boy I was talking about."

"Oh? Why do you say 'seems'? Didn't Meifang tell you?"

"Maybe Meifang is a little awkward. Anyway, I'm not really that curious, I'll wait for her to tell me herself."

"Oh, I see... So Meifang is a girl who can be awkward."

"Mmm."

"Next time, please invite Meifang over. I'll add two more dishes, what do you think?"

"I'll ask her, but she goes to tutoring after school, and it seems she has a boyfriend now, so they're living together!"

Mom started stir-frying the vegetables over high heat, then cracked two eggs into the pan and cooked them all at once… solving both the egg and vegetable problem in one go. This is Mom's usual style.

"And you? Do you have a crush on anyone in your class? Or maybe someone from the next class? Or an upperclassman?"

"There aren't any left."

"If you want to go out with friends on the weekend, tell your mom. She sometimes wants to go shopping by herself too."

"Okay, I'll try to arrange it," Fang Lin said absentmindedly.

...Then, I'll go to the library by myself this Sunday to study, so that Mom won't get suspicious?

Should we take the bus to the memorial to see Dad? No, Mom might go too, but if we bump into her there, all our efforts will be wasted.

That's it, I'll go to the library. I'll pray I don't run into any classmates there.

The food is ready.

The mother and daughter ate slowly, neither of them in a hurry to finish the last bite.

At this time, no one realized that the accumulated fatigue had seeped into the mother's liver, causing the cells to deform and transform.

One year and two months later, my mother will leave this dining table forever due to terminal liver cancer.

5

As the days went by, the school's malice towards Fang Lin did not diminish in the slightest.

For a jerk who's good at looking down on people, the precious time he has to bully Fang Lin is slipping away day by day.

The classroom was empty.

However, during the third period in the afternoon, more than a dozen students sneaked out to attend the public memorial service for a gang leader.

Eighty percent of the students weren't actually in class. Girls brazenly placed romance novels on their desks to read, showing absolutely no basic respect whatsoever. The boys were either sleeping or reading the latest issue of the Youth Express newspaper. The students in the corners were even playing cards under their desks. A few girls were even squeezing pimples with mirrors on their desks, whispering to each other about which store in Ximending they'd go to after class to buy the coolest, longest false eyelashes.

"Zhang Zongxun." The civics teacher began taking attendance in accordance with school regulations.

"Yes." Gan Ze, who was sitting at the back of the classroom, raised his hand.

"Ganze".

"Yes." Gan Ze stretched.

Xu Guoqiang.

"Yes," Gan Ze raised his hand again.

"Li Qunkai." The civics teacher's gaze was fixed solely on the roll call register.

"Yes," Gan Ze raised his hand.

"Zhang Kaicheng."

"Yes," Gan Ze replied lazily.

The civics teacher finally finished taking attendance, and Gan Ze, who played more than a dozen roles, went to sleep.

It's a very delicate balance.

The teacher doesn't directly call out the absent students or cause trouble for everyone, but the bad students still have to raise their hands to help the absent students answer yes, in order to preserve the teacher's remaining face.

Some might say that the starting point of this habitual cycle of theft is definitely not the bad students, but the bad teachers who justify their bad behavior—but is that really the case?

Why are bullying incidents so rampant in schools? Is it so hard to fight back? Is it so difficult to help weaker classmates? Is it so shameful to seek help from teachers and elders?

Cleverly, it was "time" that tolerated all of this.

Being bullied is certainly terrible, but school happens to be a place where you can precisely count down the days until this misery ends, and most bullied students believe this. They believe it desperately. As long as they hold onto the idea that "once they graduate, they'll be free from this sea of suffering," they can squeeze strength out of despair—and endure it! These days will eventually end!

Fang Lin also shares this belief.

She often stared blankly out the classroom window, imagining the light sound of her footsteps as she left the school one day. It didn't matter which university she got into, as long as she never saw those bastards again, she could be reborn.

"One year and two months," Fang Lin murmured to herself, "two more classes."

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class.

Oh dear, only one year, two months, and one class left.

The last class is for mopping the floor, which is when you can best see the food chain relationship among the students.

The students actually moving tables, watering, and sweeping are herbivores; those playing around with brooms like knives are carnivores; and the students patrolling the corridors, carelessly kicking over buckets of water, are the kings of the forest.

Fang Lin was mopping the floor when the bucket was "accidentally" kicked over.

Without even looking up, one could tell it was Gan Ze and his cronies.

“Li Fanglin, we were just betting on the color of your underwear.” Gan Ze kicked the empty bucket aside: “We each bet a hundred yuan, I bet on white.” He pointed to his henchmen, Xu Guoxian and Wang Naiqiang, on either side.

"..." Fang Lin pretended not to hear and picked up the bucket.

“I bet it’s a cartoon character,” said the chubby Xu Guoxian, grinning widely.

"I bet he wasn't wearing any, hahaha!" Wang Naiqiang, with his dark skin, grinned mischievously.

What kind of lousy show is this?

The classmate sitting in front of Fang Lin was standing nearby wiping the glass. He witnessed everything and couldn't help but frown.

"Take a look." Gan Ze tried to lift Fang Lin's skirt with his hand, but Fang Lin slapped it off forcefully.

"Let me see!" Wang Naiqiang also reached out his groping hand, but Fang Lin slapped it away forcefully as well.

"..." Fang Lin wanted to leave, but Xu Guoxian stopped her and "accidentally" touched her chest.

Fang Lin glared at Xu Guoxian, but now she was blocked in the middle of the road by three scoundrels and could neither move forward nor backward.

...Are you kidding me? This is still a school, after all.

"We've given you so many handguns these past two years, how can you be so stingy?" Wang Naiqiang thrust his lower body forward, mimicking Ricky Martin's hip-shaking: "Would it kill you to take a look? Otherwise, I'll show you mine too!"

"Oh right, is it because you think we're betting too little?" Gan Ze suddenly realized, "Then we're in the wrong! A hundred dollars is indeed a bit disrespectful, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll bet five hundred yuan on the cartoon design!" Xu Guoxian chuckled.

"I bet five hundred dollars on white." Gan Ze reached out and touched Fang Lin's long hair, but Fang Lin brushed his hand away in disgust.

“I’ll bet you’re not wearing… five hundred yuan!” Wang Naiqiang continued shaking his buttocks, his trembling lower body getting closer and closer to Fang Lin’s skirt.

Laughing and joking, six groping hands teased Fang Lin in a chaotic manner, touching her here and there, but refusing to directly lift up her skirt.

Fang Lin calmly dodged and weaved, neither crying nor answering. Compared to last week when these three bastards pestered her to practice "the technique of unhooking a girl's bra with one hand," and the week before last when the topic was "Quickly tell me what menstruation is all about," today's sexual harassment was relatively mild.

"If you don't show us your underwear, each of you will have to pay us five hundred yuan, because you ruined our gambling chances," Gan Ze, the leader, said angrily to Fang Lin, feigning anger.

“Yeah, each person pays five hundred yuan.” Xu Guoxian sniffed the hand that had just touched Fang Lin’s buttocks.

Fang Lin wasn't angry. At least, her anger didn't affect a single nerve on her face.

Over the past two years, Fang Lin has learned that the best way to "get through awkward times" is to avoid making any of the reactions these bastards expect: crying, making a scene, getting angry, begging for forgiveness, etc. The best approach is to observe everything that happens to you like a stranger.

When these bastards get annoyed, frustrated, and fed up, they'll stop...

"Hey, you're really stingy!" Xu Guoxian suddenly moved closer and blew hard into Fang Lin's ear.

"Karma is karma. For every person your father kills, you have to show them the color of their underwear a thousand times to offset it. Why don't you hurry up and show us?" Gan Ze grinned, his face close to Fang Lin's, the huge black mole on his chin almost hitting Fang Lin's nose...

"Either give me money, give me money!"

"I'll show you, you show me." Wang Naiqiang pulled down his pants, revealing the slightly yellowed edge of his underwear: "Hurry up, hurry up, it's your turn to show me."

Fang Lin was caught off guard, being pushed around and pulled around in turns.

The only boy in the front seat who hadn't bullied Fang Lin was still wiping the window. He noticed that his hands, holding the old newspaper and dry cloth, were trembling slightly. The glass was already clearer than air, but he hadn't left this spot where he could see everything clearly.

These bastards seem unusually patient today... The boy in the front seat took a slow, deep breath.

This wasn't something he should be involved in, nor was it something he was capable of handling, and the consequences of continuing to interfere were beyond his means. The outcome of speaking out in support of Fang Lin was clear: from then on, he would also be one of those dragged along and pressured into extorting money for lunch.

The boy in the front seat felt both ridiculous and ashamed.

What kind of pretentious inner drama are you putting on?

If he had the guts to stop those bastards, he would have done so two years ago. He didn't dare then, and he certainly doesn't dare now, even if he secretly likes this poor little girl—if there really is a hero saving the damsel in distress scenario, he will never be that hero.

Fang Lin lowered her head, her eyes vacant, and dodged the advances, one hand covering her chest and the other constantly pushing away the groping hands.

"How about a kiss?" Gan Ze stuck out his tongue and licked Fang Lin's face.

Fang Lin flinched in fright, but couldn't escape Xu Guoxian's thick, wet tongue. Xu Guoxian greedily left a trail of saliva on Fang Lin's cheek, like licking an ice cream cone. Fang Lin felt a wave of nausea.

"I'll trade you my underwear!" Wang Naiqiang shoved Fang Lin hard with his hips, almost making her fall.

"I want a kiss too! If I kiss you, I won't look at your underwear!" Gan Ze flicked his tongue and licked wildly.

Fang Lin was truly terrified by the rude and disgusting behavior these bastards had just invented. The thought of that stench of saliva lingering on her cheeks finally brought a look of horror to her face… This was a grave mistake!

"Give me a kiss! This is my first kiss, baby!"

"You've already touched my semen several times, would it kill you to kiss it?"

"What kind of expression is that? Is my saliva dirty? Hahahaha!"

Fang Lin's terrified expression greatly encouraged Gan Ze and the others, who intensified their actions, licking her neck, her hands, and her face. Their tongues swayed back and forth, leaving Fang Lin completely stunned.

Go to hell!