Several boys silently sat under the fragrant camphor tree on the side of the sports field.
Fang Li ran over in small steps, holding an iodine bottle fetched from the school infirmary. He hesitated as he looked at Ruan Qingmu. “Tang Tiantian told me to give this to you. Your arm… may I help you with that?”
Fu Songhua sat on the ground and snatched the iodine bottle, unceremoniously throwing it to Ruan Qingmu. “Does he have no hands and need you to serve him?”
Ruan Qingmu casually took the bottle and looked at Fang Li in dissatisfaction. “Are you stupid? Who told you to send this stupid big guy over?”
Fang Li’s face turned red and he shrank back while closing his mouth.
Fu Songhua suddenly jumped up. “Hey, have some conscience. Wasn’t all of this because Fang Li was afraid you would be beaten to death?!”
Ruan Qingmu faintly sneered. “Oh, it wouldn’t be wrong if someone other than me would be beaten to death if you guys had come one step later.”
“That’s right, that’s right. You’re awesome.” Fu Songhua called out, “I just knew it. It was already a good thing if you didn’t kill other people.”
He muttered in dissatisfaction,“Did you think I would care about you if it wasn’t because our class monitor wordlessly running this way?”
Ruan Qingmu slightly tilted his gaze and looked at the person next to him.
Qin Yuan, who had been silently sitting since just now, was unusually quiet. He lowered his head, took the medicine bottle from Ruan Qingmu’s hand, and unscrewed the lid.
There was an additional cotton swab inside the cap. He took it out, dipped it in the iodine, and calmly looked at Ruan Qingmu.
“Arm.”
Ruan Qingmu glanced at him and extended his injured arm.
The yellowish-brown iodine was gently applied. Qin Yuan lowered his eyes and carefully worked; his expression was cold.
Qin Yuan didn’t even raise his head and said to Fu Songhua beside him, “Please help us get a seat in the cafeteria and order some food. Thank you.”
Fu Songhua let out an “oh,” jumped up swiftly, and wrapped his arm around Fang Li in a friendly manner. “Let’s go together.”
The two people walked away, the wind carrying Fu Songhua’s threatening voice. “Next time, don’t bother with this guy’s matter, understand? I’m telling you, be careful of being splattered by blood if you stand there!”
As Ruan Qingmu listened to the faint voices, he drew back the corner of his mouth and laughed.
The cotton swab in Qin Yuan’s hand stopped on his wound and his pupils darkened. “Are his words funny?”
Ruan Qingmu reached out and took the cotton swab. He casually dabbed it a few times on his arm and threw it away.
“It’s funny, ah.” He beamed while looking at Qin Yuan. “Especially the part about being splattered by blood.”
Qin Yuan’s face slightly changed. “Be more serious!”
Ruan Qingmu suddenly laughed with a pleased expression. “Hey, was it especially intimidating when I said I dared to kill someone? Look at that Fu Songhua being scared to death.”
Qin Yuan coldly looked at him. “If someone watches too much wuxia and xx series, would they also like to say such embarrassing lines like you?”
Ruan Qingmu smiled even more uncontrollably. His gleaming eyes looked at him, carrying a slightly weird evil aura. “Then are you afraid?”
Qin Yuan couldn’t stand it anymore and suddenly shook off his arm. “Childish!”
Ruan Qingmu was quiet for a moment before saying, “I’m telling the truth. These days, I’ve thought about it. If someone like Liu Jun were to be in a TV drama or martial arts novel, he would have been killed by the righteous protagonist with a sword long ago.”
“That’s why those types of things only happen in television and novels.”
“Bullying is too malicious to be taken as child’s play. But if you say they didn’t do anything serious, that’s not true. Their actions have consequences.”
Ruan Qingmu faintly smiled. “In their eyes, it’s an ordinary badass thing to bully others and flaunt it. For the whole year, they forced Fang Li and me to pick up balls, fetch water, and order food for them. If you dared to resist, they would casually hit you in the face and force you into the bathroom to threaten you. Of course, they wouldn’t go as far as injuring anyone – but it’s humiliating and scary to be stuck and intimidated in the bathroom and forced to beg for mercy, don’t you know?”
Qin Yuan suddenly turned his head and looked at him; his gaze was surprised and angry.
“See, you didn’t know.” Ruan Qingmu leisurely said, “People like Fu Songhua and you are excellent and highly favored. You guys live under the sun and are surrounded by splendor. You guys wouldn’t know that being humiliated and bullied isn’t the most frightening thing. The most frightening thing is when others see you as weaklings and don’t dare to hang out with you. The people I’m talking about don’t have any friends and they will always be alone. That kind of life is more frightening than anything else in the world.”
“Fu Songhua will never understand why Fang Li is so timid and scared of being called a sissy. You will also never understand why I would secretly ask in my Moments before: ‘Why isn’t someone like Liu Jun already dead?’”
Qin Yuan took a deep breath. His gaze carried extreme fury and he stood up. “Follow me. I will accompany you to look for your class teacher and the Dean of the Teaching Department.”
Ruan Qingmu snorted. “It’s not useful. They will at most be lectured for this kind of behavior. It’s not like they’ve hurt someone or caused anything serious.”
However, it wasn’t enough just to kill someone. They also had to make the original lonely teenager feel unloved. After being called a murderer’s bastard, he couldn’t just sit around and do nothing as him and his friends get bullied.