“Who exactly is the filthy one here, Qiao Lian? Do you think nobody knows you’re a kid born by a mother but never raised by one? Three years of high school and I’ve never seen a single parent of yours show up. You go to bars every day just looking for thrills, right? How much do you make singing a night? I’ve heard all about it. You can’t even afford your dorm fees anymore, and you’re out there sleeping with different men every night. You’ve practically been worn out, and you still think you’re something special?”
Watching Qiao Lian’s face grow colder and colder, Zhao Silei’s resentment surged even more.
“What are you acting all high and mighty for? I heard from Ke Tingyu that your mom died from depression, right? Tell me, why was she depressed? Was it because something’s wrong with your personality, even your own mother didn’t like you, so she abandoned you?”
Qiao Lian lowered her brows, her eyes darkening into something dangerous. Before she could react, a figure rushed forward first.
Lin Sanyuan was carrying a small watermelon in one hand and gripping her phone in the other, lips pressed into a tight line. She stormed over like an angry little bird.
All of Qiao Lian’s expressions froze on her face. She had never seen Lin Sanyuan look so fierce.
Lin Sanyuan shoved the boy’s shoulder aside. “Move.”
She stuffed her phone into Qiao Lian’s hand. “Hold this for me.” Her small frame carried an overwhelming presence.
Zhao Silei blinked in confusion. “Who are you? Which class are you from? Why are you sticking your nose into this?”
“You’re asking who I am?” Lin Sanyuan turned around, her face frighteningly cold, her round eyes wide and red.
She swung the small watermelon in her hand and smashed it straight into his head, splitting it open on impact.
“I’m her mom! Who else do you think I am?!”
The watermelon had a thin, crisp rind, not too heavy, not too big. Just enough force to stun without causing real harm.
Lin Sanyuan was furious.
“You little brat! Who are you calling a kid with no upbringing? Nine years of compulsory education and this is what you turned out to be? Your mouth is worse than minced dumpling filling. Your mom is a woman too, didn’t she ever teach you not to spread disgusting rumors about girls?”
The boy’s head was covered in smashed red pulp. He was stunned, wanting to fight back, but the moment he heard she was Qiao Lian’s mother, he froze again.
He spat out a mouthful of watermelon, cursing under his breath, “Damn!”
“You say you’re her mom? You think this is funny? Call her, see if she’ll admit it!”
He threw a punch instinctively, landing squarely on Lin Sanyuan’s left cheek. Blood spurted from her nose, but she didn’t even bother wiping it, only sneering.
Lin Sanyuan wished she were in a bathroom right now, she would have dipped that watermelon in something even nastier before smashing it on his head. There were still broken chunks in the bag, and even the pain couldn’t suppress the burning rage inside her.
She swung her arm again and smashed it against his head repeatedly.
The boy was tall and big, but more bark than bite. Before he could react, he was already intimidated by Lin Sanyuan’s ferocity.
The floor of the hot water room was wet, from when he had just splashed water onto Qiao Lian’s face.
His footing slipped, and he fell flat on his backside, unable to get up for a while.
With a sharp smack, he took another solid punch from Lin Sanyuan.
Lin Sanyuan didn’t have great athletic ability and her balance wasn’t good either. The punch looked impressive, but it threw her off balance as well, like the recovery lag after a move in a game.
Everyone watching in the hot water room was stunned.
What kind of girl throws punches in a fight? Don’t they usually slap or pull hair?
The boy clutched his face, sweating from the pain, pointing at her. “You, you, you!”
Lin Sanyuan was still burning with anger, completely out of control. With blood still streaming from her nose, she turned and glared at Qiao Lian, her gaze fierce.
“Say it!”
Qiao Lian trembled from the shock, her heart pounding, her eyelashes quivering. Before her mind could catch up, she instinctively shouted, “Mom!”
That “Mom” carried real weight. Lin Sanyuan’s anger eased a little. She puffed her cheeks, eyes bright. “Good girl!”
Fifteen minutes later, Lin Sanyuan didn’t end up attending the parent meeting. Instead, she became the most unusual “parent” there and was called into the homeroom teacher’s office.
When asked again about her relationship with Qiao Lian, her earlier bravado had already faded.
It was hard to explain.
At that point, she couldn’t switch to saying she was her sister, so she awkwardly claimed to be her stepmother.
The homeroom teacher knew about Qiao Lian’s family situation.
Lin Sanyuan looked far too young, which oddly made the “stepmother” identity more believable.
“Tell me, what exactly happened in the hot water room?”
Zhao Silei and his parent had also been called in.
Even the teacher was stunned. After years of hosting parent meetings, this was the first time she had seen a parent physically fight a student.
Zhao Silei complained first. “It was her! She hit me first. I’ve got evidence, the watermelon was the weapon. She went all out too!”
Normally, Lin Sanyuan was only bold at home and timid outside, but even a rabbit bites when cornered.
If you don’t explode in silence, you perish in silence.
The madness she had just suppressed surged back at his barking accusations. She looked at him coldly. “Then why don’t you go die first and show me?”
The boy’s parent couldn’t take it. “Teacher, listen to that. Is that something a parent should say? That’s horrible, cursing a student to die? I demand that both of them apologize to my son!”
Lin Sanyuan let out a breath. She knew better than to lash out blindly, so her tone toward the woman softened slightly. “Before holding me accountable, shouldn’t you find out why I hit your son?”
The middle-aged woman was angry, but still reasonable.
She shoved her son. “Exactly, why would she hit you for no reason?”
The boy, clearly a habitual liar, said, “Qiao Lian and I have been classmates for three years. I’ve never seen her mom at school. She hasn’t been staying in the dorm lately, so I was worried she couldn’t afford it and might go astray. I kindly offered to lend her money, and then her mom suddenly came out and beat me up.”
His mother didn’t even bother checking the logic. She exploded on the spot. “What kind of parent are you? My son was just being kind. You can’t even teach your own daughter and now you’re taking it out on other people’s children?”
Lin Sanyuan didn’t argue with her. She knew this brat would twist things.
“Qiao Lian, give me the phone.”
Qiao Lian, who had been quiet as a quail since entering the office, immediately handed over the phone with both hands.
Looking at Lin Sanyuan’s back now, she felt she was towering, authoritative.
Lin Sanyuan played the recording from the hot water room.
The teacher froze. Zhao Silei and his mother froze.
Qiao Lian had never expected Lin Sanyuan to have recorded it.
What she thought would turn into a long, messy ordeal was resolved by Lin Sanyuan, who usually seemed so mild, suddenly showing a powerful and reliable side.
The image Zhao Silei had built of himself as a kind, innocent classmate collapsed instantly.
He rushed forward to grab the phone. “You’re so sneaky, you actually recorded it!”
Lin Sanyuan stepped back, putting the phone away, then looked at the stunned woman.
All parents love their children.
She suppressed her anger and spoke as calmly as she could. “You’re a parent too. You should know how hurtful those words are. Targeting someone’s deepest wounds like that, that’s cruel. I know what kind of person my child is, but judging by your son’s attitude, he doesn’t think what he said was wrong at all. Maybe in a few months, he won’t even remember saying it, but for the person who was hurt, those words can last a lifetime.”
The woman trembled with anger and shame, slapping her son repeatedly on the back.
“You still dare to complain? You even dared to hit her mother back? You bullied her daughter and then hit her mother? Did all your education go to waste? Who taught you to rub salt into someone’s wounds? And you still think you’re in the right? If she didn’t have someone standing up for her, would you have kept bullying her at school? Is this how you treat a girl you like, by spreading rumors about her?”
The homeroom teacher’s face darkened. She stood up and bowed deeply to Lin Sanyuan. “This is a failure on our school’s part. We will give you a proper explanation.”
Lin Sanyuan’s expression was serious. “Teacher, my Qiao Lian is a good kid. I don’t want anyone at school bullying her again.”
“Understood.”
Voices of scolding continued in the office, while the parent meeting had already ended. Worried that Qiao Lian might be hungry, Lin Sanyuan took her to the school cafeteria.
What a waste of that watermelon, she had planned to eat it together after lunch to cool off.
The cafeteria didn’t have many good options. Qiao Lian ordered a decent small hot pot.
Lin Sanyuan didn’t start eating right away. She tapped the table lightly. “What exactly is going on? Do they always bully you like this at school? Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
She still had a wad of tissue stuffed in her nostril.
Qiao Lian handed her an ice pack. “Put this on your face.”
“They can’t bully me.”
“Bullshit.”
Lin Sanyuan refused to sit across from her. She moved to sit beside her instead, brushing aside her still damp hair, clearly angry. “That bastard actually splashed hot water on your face!”
Qiao Lian spoke softly. “The water in the hot water room usually isn’t that hot.”
“Your face is red. Doesn’t it hurt?”
Qiao Lian looked at her. “Your face is really swollen. It probably hurts more than mine.”
“Don’t remind me. I didn’t notice at first, but now that you mention it, it really hurts.”
She had never been in a fight before.
No one told her fighting a guy would hurt this much.
Seeing her sit closer, Qiao Lian took the ice pack from her and gently pressed it against her face.
As she did, her eyes reddened again, and tears started falling, one after another, like pear blossoms in the rain, her delicate face soaked.
Lin Sanyuan was startled. “Why are you crying?”
This was actually the second time Qiao Lian cried that day.
Back in the hot water room, when Lin Sanyuan smashed the watermelon, she had already cried, just silently, unnoticed.
And now it started again.
She cried quietly, her gaze unfocused, not drawing attention from others in the cafeteria.
As if she didn’t want anyone to see, she buried her warm face into Lin Sanyuan’s chest, her breathing uneven.
Lin Sanyuan wasn’t good at comforting people. She pressed her lips together and stayed silent, gently patting her shoulder.
Like soothing a child to sleep.
Qiao Lian buried her head there and made no sound.
