“How is it considered threatening a classmate?” Quan Jingyi asked with raised brows. “I’m simply speaking normally with my classmate. And you’re calling it a threat? How is it that the bar for the definition of threat has been lowered so low?”


  “Enough,” Quan Jingcheng said, taking control of the situation. “I believe that Li Jianyue here wasn’t the only one who had witnessed what had happened. Headmaster Xie, what do you think is the proper way to handle this?”


  Headmaster Xie could do no more than lament.

  At the outset, they were all convinced that Quan Jingyi was a delinquent. The initial scenario that the headmaster witnessed only reinforced his view. He naturally concluded that Quan Jingyi was wholly to blame.

  Li Jianyue’s unexpected entry had made the entire situation somewhat awkward.

  So, it wasn’t Quan Jingyi’s fault?

  He didn’t deserve to be slapped by Major Quan? Had he been wrongly accused?

  Yang Zihao’s mother seemed partially convinced. “That does, indeed, make sense. But, since it wasn’t Quan Jingyi who did it, why didn’t he explain himself?”


  “These sorts of things have always happened since I was a kid. If I had had to explain myself every single time, I would have died of exhaustion!” Quan Jingyi sneered. “I hadn’t had much credibility with you in the first place. Even if I had explained myself, would you have believed me?”


  It left all the parents speechless.

  Indeed, would they have believed him?

  It was highly likely that everyone would have been quick to assume Quan Jingyi was lying to cover his mischief.

  Given this, Quan Jingyi remained silent and didn’t bother to explain himself.

  Quan Jingcheng felt slightly unsettled by his son’s words. “So, you chose not to explain anything at all?”


  “It’s meaningless to engage in a useless battle,” Quan Jingyi said unperturbed. “Regardless of the situation, you’ve already hit me. I should be allowed to leave now, shouldn’t I?” he pressed on.

  Headmaster Xie decided it was better to settle the matter behind closed doors. Were Quan Jingyi to leave then and there, the truth may never emerge.

  Quan Jingyi didn’t wait for the headmaster to speak. He turned around to leave.

  The headmaster quickly called out. “Hold on a second. We haven’t gotten to the bottom of this.”


  Quan Jingyi obliged. He turned around to face the headmaster before setting his sights on Li Jianyue. He reached out, grabbed her hand, and strode to the door without saying a word.

  Li Jianyue was taken aback by the sudden move. Instinctively she turned around and looked at all the adults. Awkwardly she waved goodbye to them before Quan Jingyi pulled her along.

  As soon as they were out of the headmaster’s office, Li Jianyue hurriedly pulled her hand free from Quan Jingyi’s grasp. “Why do you act this way? How could you not even explain yourself after being accused by others?” she asked. “Everyone calls you a delinquent. If you earn a reputation as a delinquent this way, that’s such a huge injustice!”


  It wasn’t fair at all.

  They had found him to be guilty just because of his bad reputation?

  Li Jianyue was furious. On the contrary, the victim, standing in front of her, seemed utterly indifferent. That infuriated her even more.

  Quan Jingyi half-smiled at her. “I didn’t quite expect you to have such a strong sense of justice. Do you intend to be a heroine that protects the weak?”


  Li Jianyue didn’t think it was funny. “How can you still laugh? It is so maddening! That boy said such horrible things to slander me……” like when he said that I liked you.

  How could he be so mindless to say such things?

  Everyone knew that she didn’t like Quan Jingyi!

  The recent episode had only lessened Li Jianyue’s dislike of him. She didn’t think that feeling will disappear just because she felt sorry for him.

  Li Jianyue had always been the little princess of her family. She had never been good at hiding her feelings. Even now, her emotions were on full display. Quan Jingyi watched as she glared at him with pouted lips and clenched fists. He just let her have her say. For he had already guessed the gist of what was on her mind.

  Quite honestly, he thought, she looked quite cute.

  Quan Jingyi couldn’t resist a chuckle. He reached out to pat her on her head. “Got it. I’m not that weak. I’ve been used to this since I was young. On the other hand, if I had clarified everything, the other boy inside the office would have been in for it.”


  Li Jianyue’s eyes widened. “Even so! It’s still better for someone else other than you to suffer!”


  “It was just a slap,” Quan Jingyi said, as he pressed his tongue against the inner wall of his slapped cheek. “It’s not that bad.”


  “It is not that bad?” Li Jianyue covered her face reflexively. “Oh my god. If I got hit, I think I would have cried.”


  Quan Jingyi had a broad smiled on his face as he pictured what she had said in his mind. No matter. Anyone with half a brain would know she definitely would have burst out crying had she been slapped.

  Quan Jinyi cleared that thought, shook his head, and started walking away. “You should get back to class.”


  “Huh? What about you?” she quizzed.

  “This delinquent just got hit and is not in the mood to attend class.” With his back facing Li Jianyue, he waved and strode off, slowly disappearing into the distance.

  Li Jianyue found his action scandalous. How could he skip class so openly?

  But then again, she also very much wanted to skip class.

  She quickly brushed off the thought of playing truant and returned to her classroom.

  The lessons for the first half of the day had ended. As usual, Li Mosen went to Class 1-11 to look for Li Jianyue.

  Zhong Yikun and Lu Yuanyang followed behind him as they always do.

  The girls in Class 1-11 were eagerly waiting for Li Mosen to appear. The moment they saw him, they became ecstatic. The girls bumped into each other, as their expressions flashed red hearts.

  “What would you like to have for lunch?” Li Mosen asked Li Jianyue, ignoring the other girls.

  “Anything will do,” Li Jianyue said casually.

  “Hey,” Zhongie looked at Li Jianyue intently. “Why is our Little Sister so out-of-sorts today? What are you thinking about?”


  “Huh?” Li Jianyue looked up. “Oh, nothing,” she quickly replied.

  Enthusiastically, Lu Yuanyang joined the conversation. Looking into Li Jianyue’s eyes, he said, “Little Sister, stay back after school. Keep us company during basketball practice. I’ll show you some cool moves!”


  “Damn,” Zhongie shoved him aside. “You have the cheek to call your moves cool? Don’t listen to him, Little Sister. The best player in our school’s basketball team is your older brother. I’m a close second. This guy here counts for nothing at all!”


  That didn’t go down well with Lu Yuanyang. “Damn you, Zhongie! If you dare, let’s have a one-on-one match. You can watch as I destroy you!”


  “Come on! What’s there for me to be afraid of?” said Zhongie as he puffed his chest. That led to the two boys bumping their chests, a prelude to their duel.

  Their show of strength was short-lived, though.

  Li Mosen intervened. He pulled the boys apart and admonished them softly, “How childish.”


  “Hey, how could you say that?”


  “Am I even still your Little Cutiepie?” Zhongie looked meekly at Li Mosen, feigning heartbreak.

  Li Jianyue laughed at his antics and asked, “Are all the members in our school’s basketball team this lively?”


  “Sigh, don’t even talk about it. It’s all Mosen’s fault. He developed a physical training method last year that scared away several good players. Now, there were only a couple of junior players and me still on the team. We hope to attract some new players in the afternoon of the day after tomorrow.”