Chapter 24: Self-Defense
After a simple meal, Long Qinxin clung to Lu Zhiyin, snuggling for a long time.
Lu Zhiyin was distracted, only occasionally stroking Long Qinxin’s head.
Long Qinxin, whose confession was successful, was filled with overflowing joy and did not notice Lu Zhiyin’s distraction at all.
They stayed together for a long time, and it was not until the afternoon that Long Qinxin reluctantly got up.
“Zhiyin, come with me.”
Extending her hand to Lu Zhiyin, Long Qinxin still wanted to live with Lu Zhiyin.
There were many things she wanted to do with Lu Zhiyin: have dinner together, take a walk together under the night sky, and then lie on the same bed to talk about past experiences and future ideals.
And all these things had one prerequisite: they needed to live together.
“…Hmm? No… I’m working hard to make money recently. I’ll go with you after I pay back what I owe Leng Qing Qiu.”
Lu Zhiyin narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“…Then… okay. Actually, I can help you pay it back…”
Lowering her head, Long Qinxin, whose confession was successful, was very easy to fool and did not make a fuss.
She quickly became cheerful again.
“Then… shall we go on a date this weekend? I’ll wait for you in the park outside the school.”
She made a date invitation.
“…Ah… I really want to go on a date with you, but I’m not sure if I can go out.”
Frowning, Lu Zhiyin placed her hand on her knee, looking at her fair fingers.
She actually didn’t want to go out.
“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you. If you don’t have time, just notify me by phone.”
Tilting her head, with a smile on her lips, Long Qinxin walked slowly to the door.
“…Achoo…”
As Long Qinxin opened the door, cold air rushed into the room, and Lu Zhiyin sneezed.
“Sorry… um, Zhiyin, I have to go. Remember to rest well.”
Long Qinxin said goodbye to Lu Zhiyin with an apologetic tone.
After leaving the room, Long Qinxin was too lazy to go back to school. She walked all the way to her apartment, smiling foolishly as she walked.
All she had to do was ask those thugs tomorrow how things were going, and then wait for the scheduled date to arrive.
After Long Qinxin left, Lu Zhiyin sat in the wheelchair and stayed in a daze for a while. She started to busy herself tidying up the room.
She washed the bowls and chopsticks and put them back in place, and then swept up the broken porcelain pieces and bloodstains on the ground. These seemingly simple tasks were actually a bit troublesome for Lu Zhiyin.
…
While Lu Zhiyin was busy cleaning the room, Leng Qing Qiu was sitting in her seat at school. She looked at Long Qinxin’s empty seat, lost in thought.
“…My right eyelid is twitching, I have a bad feeling…”
Muttering to herself, Leng Qing Qiu looked up at the teacher who was holding textbooks and preparing to leave at the podium.
Another class had ended.
There was only one more class before school ended, and then she could go back to see her sick white fluffy cat.
Leng Qing Qiu remembered that she needed to bring Lu Zhiyin cold medicine. She recalled carefully and realized that there were no pharmacies on the way home.
“I’ll get some from the infirmary after school.”
Muttering to herself, Leng Qing Qiu took out her thermos from her desk.
For some reason, she found today a bit boring, even though she had been used to being alone for a long time.
“Yawn…”
She was too bored, so Leng Qing Qiu yawned.
She decided to go out to get some hot water.
Leaving the classroom, Leng Qing Qiu walked towards the hot water room. The students in the corridor were still the same, chattering and discussing various things, as if nothing had changed.
As she walked, Leng Qing Qiu suddenly noticed something was wrong.
It seemed like someone was following her.
Leng Qing Qiu turned her head and saw several senior students holding stacks of test papers in their hands.
“…It’s probably my imagination.”
Leng Qing Qiu had not offended anyone at school, so she shouldn’t have anyone looking for trouble with her.
As for Long Qinxin… Leng Qing Qiu didn’t think that weak person would do anything to her.
Casually arriving at the hot water room, Leng Qing Qiu had just finished filling her cup with water. When she turned around, she saw five people blocking the entrance to the hot water room tightly.
At this moment, the five people no longer held test papers in their hands. Instead, they held small items such as utility knives and screwdrivers.
Leng Qing Qiu’s gaze deepened. It seemed she was indeed targeted by someone.
Honestly, she was not afraid of the guys in front of her. It would be too easy to deal with them.
She just found it troublesome.
In a place with many people and eyes like school, if she beat these people down, she would have to go to the police station to make a statement afterwards. Even if it was self-defense, it would be the same.
She might even be kept at the police station for a day or two under the guise of psychological counseling, which would be terrible.
Therefore, Leng Qing Qiu decided not to fight if she could avoid it.
“Do you have something to do? If not, can you let us pass?”
Holding the hot water cup in one hand, she removed the lid, which was not tightly closed, and Leng Qing Qiu pushed her hair back.
“Yes, of course, we do.”
The thug at the front smiled and twirled the utility knife in his hand.
“Someone paid us to beat you. I think you’d better behave yourself and stand still to be beaten, so we don’t have to use our knives.”
Using knives could really lead to death. Even thugs would avoid using knives if possible. Most of the time, knives only served as a deterrent.
“…Tsk…”
Leng Qing Qiu’s face completely fell. She was too lazy to say anything more.
She splashed the boiling hot water from the thermos onto the man at the front.
“Aaah! Ha… Go on.”
The man at the front couldn’t dodge in time and was accurately splashed in the face with a cup of hot water.
Closing his eyes, the man kept retreating.
The remaining four subordinates hesitated for a moment, then brandished the objects in their hands and rushed forward.
If this were an open area, fighting against many would be a troublesome matter. Fortunately, this was the hot water room.
The entrance to the hot water room was not wide, and only two people could enter at the same time.
The thug leader, who kept retreating with his eyes closed, had already occupied one spot, while the rest were squeezed into one spot, moving slowly.
“Tsk… how stupid…”
Without any mercy, Leng Qing Qiu kicked the few idiots in front of her out of the hot water room. Only the thug leader, with his eyes closed, was still standing at the door, waving the utility knife in his hand.
Leng Qing Qiu took a step forward. The thug leader’s wildly swung utility knife cut open the school uniform sleeve on Leng Qing Qiu’s right arm, creating a gash in her flesh.
Leng Qing Qiu deliberately let the man cut her, because only then would she appear more like self-defense.
There were no surveillance cameras in the school. To prove that she was the victim, she had to have some injuries on her body. This was indeed absurd, but there was no other way but to accept it.
“…”
With her lips tightly shut, Leng Qing Qiu temporarily ignored the pain. She snatched the utility knife from the man’s hand and then struck the five men in front of her, one by one.
She didn’t hit any vital points, but it was enough to make these people suffer for a long time.
“Hmph, you guys hurt me first. This is self-defense.”
Holding the utility knife in her hand, Leng Qing Qiu looked at the five useless people in front of her mockingly and swaggered away.
