After evening self-study, Qiao Ying walked home.
It was the end of April and the weather was still cool. Qiao Ying had rummaged through her closet that morning but couldn't find a long-sleeved shirt to wear, so under her school uniform jacket she still had on the short-sleeved undershirt she'd been wearing for two or three years.
A fine rain was falling and the night wind was unusually cold.
Qiao Ying walked along with her hands in her pockets, strolling leisurely home.
The old residential area appeared before her eyes. Qiao Ying stopped and the streetlights gave off a faint glow. She stood with her back to the light.
"If I don't make a move soon, I'll be home."
As Qiao Ying's words fell, four or five petty hooligans emerged from the shadows. The leader had a cigarette dangling from his mouth and dyed red and green hair. He bared his yellow teeth in a grin.
"Little girl, you're pretty clever."
Qiao Ying couldn't be bothered to move. She just stood there with her arms spread, waiting for the hooligans to surround her.
Qiao Ying recognized these people. To be precise, the original owner recognized them. These hooligans loitered around No. 7 Middle School every day, extorting money from students. The No. 7 students all avoided them, including the original owner.
"Young but gutsy." The hooligan leader looked Qiao Ying up and down and blew a smoke ring in her face. "A bit fat, but quite handsome."
The corners of Qiao Ying's mouth quirked up in a faint smile, but her eyes were cold as ice. "No one has ever dared blow smoke in my face before."
The hooligan still didn't realize the gravity of the situation. Qiao Ying's features had become more refined and sculpted after losing weight. Her smile aroused the hooligan's lust.
"Is that so? What happens then?" The hooligan bared his yellow teeth and reached out to touch Qiao Ying's face.
Just as he was about to make contact, a snow-white hand suddenly seized him by the throat.
She didn't seem to be using much force, but the hooligan's face wrinkled in pain.
He tried to break free but realized he couldn't move at all. Her seemingly weak grip was like pincers, holding him in an iron vise.
"You die." Qiao Ying uttered the two words flatly.
In the next moment, Qiao Ying twisted the hooligan's arm with a sharp tug. The sound of snapping bones rang out.
She had ripped the man's entire arm right out of its socket.
"Ah——!"
In the blink of an eye, the formerly arrogant hooligans were now a mess of severed limbs and anguished howls on the ground. Only their cries echoed through the night.
Qiao Ying stood with her hands in her pockets, looking down condescendingly at the hooligan leader writhing on the ground with his limbs bent at freakish angles.
She raised her foot and stepped on his chest. "Count yourself lucky. I'm not in a position to dispose of corpses today, so I spared your worthless lives."
"Who sent you?"
The hooligan was in such agonizing pain he barely registered Qiao Ying's words. He could only wail and groan.
"Who sent you?" Qiao Ying repeated patiently, increasing the pressure of her foot.
The hooligan felt like his chest was about to collapse. Howling, he cried out, "A No. 7 Middle School student!"
Ye Jingning.
It didn't take a genius to figure out it was her.
"Incorrigible thing." Qiao Ying cursed inwardly.
With her previous style, she wouldn't have let Ye make this kind of suicidal move a second time. But right now, she couldn't act without restraint.
If she really wanted to, she could end Ye's life in silence, or openly in front of everyone, and leave no trace.
But things hadn't reached the point where Ye's life was forfeit.
Simply beating her up would be letting her off too easily.
For people like her, Qiao Ying had plenty of ways.
She didn't mind finding some interesting fun.
Qiao Ying looked down at the hooligan under her foot, instantly hatching a plan.
Ye Jingning was in an unusually good mood that morning. When she got out of the car at the school gate she even waved goodbye to the driver.
Ye came from a well-off family. Her father held a prominent official position and her uncle ran a factory. The family owned countless restaurants. She was a bonafide rich beauty.
Ever since she was little she'd been chauffeured to and from school. She had always shone brilliantly.
Just after getting out of the car, she happened to run into Xu Mingchen, who had also just gotten out of a car. Ye greeted him enthusiastically, "Mingchen, good morning!"
Xu Mingchen glanced at her and gave a cool "Mmhmm."
It was just a perfunctory response. Then he walked on, ignoring her.
Ye felt a little miffed, but only for an instant before hurrying to catch up with him.
Xu Mingchen was a top student. His father was the deputy mayor. His future prospects were limitless.
Ye had known Xu Mingchen since she was little and had always liked him. Her little followers all knew it too, which was why they had bullied Qiao Ying even more when they found out she also liked Xu Mingchen.
In Ye's eyes, Qiao Ying liking Xu Mingchen was an insult to him.
"Mingchen, where are you planning to apply for university? I'm going to apply for Peking University. My uncle lives in Beijing, so I'll have someone to take care of me there."
Hearing she wanted to apply for Peking University, the normally indifferent Xu Mingchen couldn't help but look at her and take the initiative to chat: "I remember you got 650 on your midterm exam. You have a good chance of getting into Peking University."
"You actually remember what I got on my midterm." Ye's heart raced and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"Good luck on the gaokao [college entrance exam]." Xu Mingchen said matter-of-factly before quickening his pace and leaving first.
After two classes, Ye's little follower came rushing anxiously to tell her that Qiao Ying had come to school and seemed totally fine.
"How could that fatso be okay? Impossible." Ye didn't believe it. She went to see for herself and found Qiao Ying sitting safe and sound at her desk.
"How could those people mess up such a simple job? And they still had the nerve to take so much money from me." Ye was furious all the way until noon.
The delicate Ye always found the school cafeteria food hard to swallow. Plus she was still fuming, so she wanted to go out to eat.
But as soon as she stepped out the school gate, she was surrounded by a gang of people and let out a shriek.
Taking a closer look, she saw it was those hooligans.
Only now their noses were bruised and their faces swollen, some with their arms in slings and others on crutches. Ye was scared witless.
In the cafeteria, some students came running in gossiping loudly.
"Hurry to the school gate. The school belle is being harassed by a bunch of injured hooligans. They say she ordered them to beat up students from our school, but they got 'counter-killed' instead. Now they're blocking her way to demand medical fees. Even the principal has gone over."
"Go see quick. The school beauty is crying in fright, insisting she has nothing to do with it. But they whipped out evidence against her."
As soon as Qiao Lingling heard this, she abandoned her food and rushed out to watch the spectacle.
Xu Mingchen frowned. After thinking for a moment he also got up with the crowd to go take a look.
In an instant the cafeteria emptied out.
Qiao Yi looked up to see the space in front of him completely vacant.
In the huge cafeteria, he saw his big sister sitting alone by the window, oblivious to the commotion outside as she calmly ate her meal, not the least bit curious.
Qiao Yi went over with his tray.
"You didn't go see what's going on?" Qiao Ying made small talk.
"Not interested." Qiao Yi didn't even lift his head as he ate.
Qiao Ying glanced at Qiao Yi's plain tray and used her chopsticks to transfer the chicken leg from her plate to his.
"There's really nothing worth seeing. I'll take you to watch something more thrilling and interesting next time." Qiao Ying said.
Qiao Yi raised his eyes to look at her briefly but didn't take her words seriously at all.
Instead he noticed that his big sister seemed to have lost more weight.
