Irreversible - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: The Scumbag’s Counterattack (Part 1)

Around 11:10 PM, Su Zhiyi finished washing up. Dressed in a thin, snow-white silk nightgown with her supple long hair draped over her shoulders, she lay down on her bed.

She opened WeChat, wanting to see if Gu Xizhou had replied to her. Upon clicking, she found that the screen still showed only the messages she had sent: “Gu Xizhou, if you’re free, could you tell me about what happened between you and my sister?”

“If she bullies you, you can tell me. I will help you.”

Su Zhiyi sat against the headboard, scrolling through her sent messages repeatedly, but there was no response. After a moment of hesitation, she sent another: “Gu Xizhou, are you feeling any better?”

Gu Xizhou didn’t answer, but an old middle school friend, Mu Zhiqing, suddenly dropped a link to her. When Su Zhiyi clicked over and saw the post titled “Daughter of Mu Zhilan Bullies Classmate,” her eyes widened in shock.

A string of messages from Mu Zhiqing flooded in: “Zhiyi! Zhiyi! Zhiyi!”

“Check this out quick! Is that your sister in the recording? She sounds so scary—she led a group of people to beat up a classmate!”

Stunned, Su Zhiyi quickly clicked into the post. She discovered that the victim was none other than Gu Xizhou—the same girl Su Nanfeng had kicked into the hospital earlier today.

The post was written from Gu Jing’s perspective. It told the story of a pitiful “corporate slave” who had lost her wife in middle age and raised her only daughter through blood, sweat, and tears, only to suddenly discover today that her child had been bullied into the hospital by a classmate. The person bullying her daughter was the child of a public figure, whose mother was also an investor in Gu Jing’s own company.

Filled with heartbreak, Gu Jing began to recount the years of bullying Gu Xizhou had endured. Starting from Gu Xizhou’s first day as a transfer student in the second year of middle school—when she tried to stop the bully from picking on another student—Su Nanfeng had targeted her, launching a campaign of never-ending torment.

Gu Jing’s words were written in blood and tears. She loathed herself for not wanting to offend people and for ignoring her daughter’s feelings. It wasn’t until her daughter was hospitalized—and nearly beaten to death—that she finally woke up and tore open this scar.

As Su Zhiyi scrolled through the post line by line, she saw many photos of bruises on various parts of Gu Xizhou’s body. These were records Gu Xizhou had made herself after being hit. Over the years, this frail child had silently gathered evidence in her own way, hoping that one day an adult would provide her with justice.

In those photos, Gu Xizhou’s thin shoulders, bony arms, and the insides of her slender thighs were covered in blue and purple bruises left by Su Nanfeng and her group.

“I am 1.82 meters tall; as an Alpha, I am quite large. Xizhou’s Omega mother was also tall, at 1.73 meters,” Gu Jing wrote. “But Xizhou is only 1.58 meters.”

Below was a photo of a family of three standing at a park entrance, looking very happy. Su Zhiyi continued to the next line: “She is sixteen and has just differentiated into an Alpha, yet she is still so small. I used to think she was just a late bloomer, but I later realized she simply wasn’t eating enough.”

“Su Nanfeng and those kids never let her eat properly at school and stole all her pocket money.”

“Aside from her bus card, there wasn’t a cent in Xizhou’s bag. She couldn’t buy anything.”

Reading this, Su Zhiyi felt a sharp sting in her nose. Tears filled her eyes and fell like broken pearls. She clicked on the audio recording. Amidst the chaotic sounds of a struggle, she heard her sister’s sharp voice: “You still dare to glare at me!”

“Fine, Gu Xizhou. I guess you haven’t learned your lesson yet.”

In the sound of a short fall and a groan, Su Zhiyi heard a clear, muffled grunt of pain. Accompanied by the jeers of Ding Yi and the others, Su Nanfeng seemed to yank the girl up by the collar, letting out a sneer: “Didn’t get enough to eat at noon, did you? Let big sister gift you a few more slaps.”

The words were followed by the crisp sound of several slaps.

Su Zhiyi’s tears fell onto her phone screen. She let out a short sob and covered her mouth, her tears quickly soaking the back of her hand. She couldn’t bear to watch or listen anymore. She had vaguely known her sister did bad things, but witnessing it made her realize just how cruel it was for Gu Xizhou.

No wonder she…

Su Zhiyi exited the app abruptly. Through her blurred vision, she saw that Gu Xizhou had finally replied. Hurriedly wiping her eyes, she opened WeChat to see several messages: “Thank you for your concern. It makes me happy that you said you’d help me. You are the only person who has proactively offered to help in all these years. I am very grateful.”

“Su Nanfeng is your sister, but what happens between her and me doesn’t actually involve you. You don’t need to do anything for me.”

“I will protect myself in my own way.”

“Some methods might affect your family; I hope you can understand my actions.”

“I just want to live well.”

And grow up well.

Su Zhiyi’s tears surged even more violently. Amidst a faint sigh, the girl pursed her lips and typed a line through her tears: “When someone does something wrong, they should be punished.”

“No matter who it is, I will always stand on the side of those who need help.”

She knew what consequences Gu Xizhou’s actions would bring to their family and Su Nanfeng, but she was willing to stand by Gu Xizhou. After all, this was the only turning point in Gu Xizhou’s tragic life. She hoped that from now on, there would be no more shadows in her world.

Mu Zhilan was a very famous young pianist in the country. Combined with the fact that she was about to hold a global concert tour and had recently undergone a massive promotional push, the sudden exposure of her daughter bullying a classmate added immense fuel to the fire.

Quickly, the news spread from forum posts to every social media platform. With “school bullying” as a hot social topic, many concerned citizens flocked to Mu Zhilan’s social media accounts to demand why she hadn’t educated her child properly.

Coincidentally, a bystander who had been on the same subway as Gu Xizhou that morning had recorded the scene of her confronting the pervert and uploaded it online. When netizens saw it, their anger intensified.

“Such a good child, bullied for so many years, yet she still dares to stand up against social problems. The adults around her aren’t even as brave as she is.”

“I feel so sad thinking that she was targeted by bullies in the first place because she helped a classmate.”

“She is so small, but she has so much strength. Let her eat well; she will grow into someone useful to society.”

The resentment of the netizens turned into a flood, rushing toward Su Tianyu’s family. They did everything they could to dig up Su Nanfeng’s personal accounts, and in the process, they even “mis-fire” caught her twin sister, Su Zhiyi.

Soon, Su Zhiyi’s social media was flooded with private messages: “Bullying at school, huh? Well, little punk, let me show you what ‘social bullying’ feels like! Why don’t you just die!”

“Think you’re special because you’re rich? Being pretty is useless; one day society will teach you how to be human at a heavy price!”

Anyone would feel terrible seeing such comments. Facing the swarm of DMs and @-mentions, Su Zhiyi shut down her social media accounts in the middle of the night.

At midnight, when social platforms are at their busiest, Gu Xizhou finally registered an account. After verifying her identity, she tagged Su Zhiyi and posted her first tweet.

“Hello everyone, I am the bullied student, Gu Xizhou. Thank you all for your concern and for wanting to seek justice for me. The reason my mother and I exposed this is not just to get an apology from the bully, Su Nanfeng, but more importantly, to ensure that no other child has to suffer like I did.”

“I know everyone is indignant, but please stick to the facts of the case. The account @LittleGirlPickingMushrooms is not Su Nanfeng; it is her twin sister, Su Zhiyi.”

“Su Nanfeng comes from a divorced home. Since the mothers separated, the two sisters have rarely been in contact, and Su Zhiyi was unaware of Su Nanfeng’s situation.”

“Su Zhiyi is different from Su Nanfeng; she is a very good classmate. This morning, she was the one who helped me catch the pervert on the subway. After I was hit, she even came to visit me on behalf of the class.”

“She is an innocent, good girl. I hope everyone does not misdirect their anger toward her.”

Gu Xizhou spoke with genuine sincerity, hoping to extract Su Zhiyi from the “online courtroom” and the atmosphere where everyone in the Su family was deemed guilty.

In the dark, Su Nanfeng sat leaned against her headboard, staring at the screen filled with vitriol directed at her name. Her eyes looked as if they were about to burst.

“Gu Xizhou…”

Su Nanfeng clenched her fists, gritting her teeth: “You’ve got some nerve!”

Fine! Very fine! You’ve got some tricks up your sleeve! She even felt a trace of regret—why hadn’t she hit harder? She should have crushed that little rabbit’s pride completely to prevent it from coming back to haunt her today.