Chapter 203 Lin Luodong’s Cla.s.smates (Part 2)
Huang Weijian is the new transfer student. He is wearing a worn sweater under the school uniform. His bangs cover most of his face. If so, he only looks like an introverted little boy. However, he carries an old bag all day. As a result, one month later, he takes the place of Lin Luodong and becomes the one to be bullied in Cla.s.s Three, Grade Six.
Now, it is break time. Ma Ming, a chubby boy, thinks that Huang is unpleasant to his eyes. Ma goes to pick up a fight. Huang Weijian is so introverted that no matter what Ma Ming says, he says nothing in return. Ma is annoyed by Huang’s reaction.
The situation gets intensified in the next few minutes. Ma Ming asks his minions to tear Huang’s books.
“Hey, we’re all cla.s.smates. Don’t go that far!”
Before saying this, Lin Luodong has hesitated and felt scared. When he actually opened his mouth, he realized that it was not so difficult.
Ma Ming and his minions paused and then burst out of laugh.
“Lin Luodong, just mind your own business! You think you’re better than us after going on a trip this summer vacation? Bulls.h.i.+t! The pictures of yours must be downloaded from the internet! Stop pretending to be rich!”
Lin Luodong has a good temper. But Ma Ming is being so aggressive. His arrogant tone makes Luodong want to punch him. This summer, Luodong went on a trip from the north to the south with his sister. He got to feel the beauty of nature. Luodong cherishes the days of living in the mountains so he printed the pictures he took.
Recently, in order to help Luodong become more independent, Lin Luoran has asked him to do things by himself. Therefore, days ago, Luodong went to fetch the pictures from the photo studio during lunch break and he planned to take the pictures back home after school. Unfortunately, his desk mate knocked the pictures off on the ground by accident. Many of Luodong’s cla.s.smates saw the b.u.t.terflies and dewdrops on flowers, as well as Luodong’s sister’s side face. Luodong’s cla.s.smates, who used to look down on him, were stunned.
Kids today know that SLR cameras are expensive. After knowing that Luodong went to Mount Hua with his sister, everyone in Luodong’s cla.s.s realized that Luodong was not from a poor rural family.
As a matter of fact, Luodong’s cla.s.smates are only teenagers. They are not sn.o.bby. They only treated Luodong badly because they were laughed at every time they tried to talk to Luodong. This was all Ma Ming and his minions’ fault.
Everyone started to treat Luodong better after seeing those pictures. Ma Ming was unwilling to let this go. He questioned the authenticity of those pictures in order to isolate Lin Luodong.
Luodong never bothers to argue or explain because he has become an optimistic person. Now, Ma Ming is bullying his cla.s.smate again, and somebody speaks up for Lin Luodong.
Luodong’s desk mate, study secretary of the cla.s.s, stands up and says,
“Ma Ming, you were wrong in the first place by tearing Huang Weijian’s book. And you talked so offensively. You’ve gone too far!”
Ma Ming opens his eyes widely and answers, “Wei Xue, this is between us boys! It’s none of your business! I told you Lin Luodong was from a poor rural family and he only pretended to be rich… Have you fallen in love with him? Is that why you care so much? Wei Xue, I didn’t know that you’re such a sn.o.b!”
Wei Xue feels so wronged for being accused of a sn.o.b. She has never felt so disrespected since she was selected as the study secretary. Her eyes are filled with tears.
Some of the cla.s.smates are looking at her with doubts. Thinking about what her cousins told her about “premature love”, Wei Xue starts to cry.
Ma Ming and his minions laugh and throw Huang Weijian’s pencil box into the waste bin. They walk to Lin Luodong and say,
“Wei Xue is just a weak little girl. Lin Luodong, you should pretend to be rich after getting yourself a tougher backup. Ha-ha…”
“I don’t need a backup.” Lin Luodong says seriously, staring at Ma Ming.
“Pardon?” Ma Ming didn’t hear Lin’s words clearly. Maybe he did but he didn’t believe that Lin Luodong could be so tough. This is the reason why he asked Lin to repeat his words.
Lin Luodong sighs and says, “I don’t need a backup. And… I’m going to hit you.” Luodong is not able to throw a hard punch, but his move has become so fast after all the mountain-climbing during the summer vacation. Ma Ming doesn’t have a chance to dodge Luodong’s attack.
“Ouch!” Ma Ming covers his nose and falls back. His minions catch him and help him up when he is falling on the ground. Ma Ming didn’t expect that Lin Luoran would have the b.a.l.l.s to hit him. After all, Ma believed that Lin Luodong was a coward because he never fought back when he was bullied.
More importantly, what kind of person would say “I’m going to hit you” when he actually hits someone?
Ma Ming feels that something warm is in his hand. He looks down at his palm and sees blood. His nose is bleeding! Ma Ming now finally has a different impression on Lin Luodong.
“Hit him! Hit him to death!”
Ma Ming’s minions hesitate. Seeing this, Ma Ming says, “I’ll give all of you a treat at the dinner!”
Because of the treat, Ma’s minions don’t hesitate anymore. They rush at Lin Luodong. Little boys fight randomly. Luodong is stronger than his peers because he has been eating vegetables from Lin Luoran’s s.p.a.ce for years. Even so, he doesn’t stand a chance of beating all these people.
Seeing that the fight is becoming fiercer, the bystanders in the cla.s.sroom want to go and tell the teachers about this. They are stopped by Ma Ming, whose nose is still bleeding. Ma says, “I’ll beat whoever tries to tell the teachers about this!” Then he casts a vicious glance at Wei Xue.
Wei Xue looks at Lin Luodong and Huang Weijian, who starts all of this but does nothing to help. She shouts, “Huang Weijian, can you act like a man?”
Huang had tried a few times to fetch his worn bag but failed. He looks at Wei Xue seriously and answers, “I’m just a boy…”
This is the first time that Huang ever says anything in the cla.s.s. However, Wei Xue gets angry while being surprised — as the top student of the cla.s.s, she hates to see her cla.s.smates fight with each other. Moreover, she thinks that Huang Weijian, who accepted the favor of Lin Luodong and didn’t help Lin in return, is more repulsive.
Of course, Huang Weijian has noticed the disdain from the study secretary. He looks at his bag again and feels at ease — no matter what, he is already disdained. Huang thinks that he is not obliged to help Lin Luodong.
Huang Weijian tries to convince himself. However, looking at Lin Luodong, who is now in a fight because of him, Huang lowers his head in order to hide the guilt in his eyes.
When Lin Luodong is fighting Ma’s minions, Ma Ming wipes the blood on his face and feels proud of himself. A voice comes from outside of the window.
“Mr. Qiu… Is this what you called a harmonious cla.s.s?”
The voice sounds so pleasant and familiar. Lin Luoran is surprised and he is. .h.i.t on the face by another kid. His mouth starts to bleed.
“Stop fighting!”
Mr. Qiu, headteacher of Cla.s.s Three, Grade Six, pushes the chubby little boy by the door aside. He feels that his face is red because of the embarra.s.sment. One second ago, he was telling this pretty woman about how good the teachers were and how loving Cla.s.s Three was. This naughty student slaps his face by fighting each other. As a single man, Mr. Qiu is furious.
The worse thing is, the boy this pretty woman comes to see is being beaten up by a bunch of other students. Mr. Qiu wants to hide himself.
No matter how aggressive the kids act in front of their cla.s.smates, they are afraid of the teachers, especially the headteacher of their cla.s.s. The boys stop fighting and talking.
“Tell me. What was this about?” Mr. Qiu is furious but he tries to maintain his image.
Wei Xue tells Mr. Qiu everything that happened. Mr. Qiu is in a pickle. Though Lin Luodong was righteous, he did throw the first punch. What should he do…?
Lin Luodong peeks at the door. His sister is standing there emotionlessly. Luodong’s heart starts pounding.
Wei Xue suddenly realizes, “You are Lin Luodong’s sister!” This girl does have a good memory. She can even recognize Lin Luoran from the picture of her side face. Now, Ma Ming and his minions, as well as Huang Weijian, all look at the woman by the door with surprise.
Lin Luodong’s sister looks like a movie star! G.o.d! Why is she not my sister?
Ma Ming thinks with exasperation. Thinking of the fact that he beat Lin Luodong in front of his beautiful sister, Ma Ming feels awkward.
Huang Weijian looks at Lin Luoran and turns his eyes away immediately. He doesn’t know that Lin Luoran is checking on him secretly.
Lin Luoran draws her attention back from this introverted boy with long bangs. She smiles and says, “Just go by the book. Luodong is ignorant. I’m sorry that he caused trouble.”
Lin Luodong is relaxed but Ma Ming and his minions are depressed. They go with Mr. Qiu to the office.
Wei Xun walks in the back. She says while crying, “It’s not Luodong’s fault. Ma Ming was the one who started this. He bullied Huang Weijian and me… Luodong hit him because of this.”
Lin Luoran nods to let the little girl know that she believes her. Wei Xue catches up with the others — she is the witness. She must go to the office.
In fact, Lin Luoran is paying attention to Huang Weijian. As the cause of this fight, this little boy is too low-pitched. Nevertheless, this boy has been bullied and his books have been torn apart. Lin Luoran is curious about how Huang Weijian is able to withhold his temper in front of all the “provocation”.
Lin Luoran remembers that Huang is transferred to this school at the beginning of this semester. Is this a coincidence or an arrangement?
Lin Luoran squints. People who know her well understand that this is a signal of danger.