Chapter 10: Ouyang Qing is a Bit Too Much of a Troublemaker
It was getting late, and there were few people left in the school. On the sports ground, only a handful of boarding students were strolling about after their meal.
The evening breeze rustled through the new leaves of the trees in the flower bed, creating a pleasant whispering sound.
The rough cement ground, the tall teaching building, and the thriving vegetation in the flower bed were all bathed in the orange-red hue of the setting sun. Unlike the repulsive color of blood, this color evoked warmth.
Lu Zhiyin closed her eyes as she walked through the campus at dusk, letting the evening breeze caress her cheeks. She savored this rare moment of peace. Of course, she hadn’t forgotten the purpose of her return to school. After enjoying the breeze for a while, Lu Zhiyin headed towards the cafeteria.
Inside the cafeteria, most of the boarding students had already finished their meals, with only a few counters still open. The cafeteria should have been quiet by now, but the reality was far from what Lu Zhiyin had imagined. In the cafeteria, several students had formed a circle, their voices rising and falling.
“Hey you, why are you cutting in line? Just because you’re good-looking doesn’t mean you can bully people.”
“What? You’re calling us ants? Hey, I think your brain is out of order.”
“No matter what young lady you are, you need to see the situation clearly. We have the numbers here.”
“The worst thing you could have done, the absolute worst, was to flip over the food bucket.”
“You’re so disgusting.”
“Hurry up, apologize to us.”
…
Such voices were incessant. Just by listening to these words, Lu Zhiyin could already guess who the center of the commotion was. It was most likely Ouyang Qing. And as Lu Zhiyin expected, Ouyang Qing was indeed surrounded by the crowd. She was currently sitting behind a table within the circle, calmly eating a plate of fried rice. As for what she had done… perhaps it was her curiosity about the taste of human food that led her to cut in front of a group of innocent students. She had taken the fried rice that belonged to another student.
If it were just that, she wouldn’t have been surrounded. More importantly, during an argument, she had overturned the food bucket the cafeteria aunt was serving from. When the cafeteria aunt rushed out to hit her, she slipped on a flat surface. Several students, enraged by the overturned dinner, also felt a surge of anger and wanted to hit her, but they either fell flat on their faces or choked on their own saliva, unable to strike. The bizarre turn of events made the remaining people who were displeased with her hesitant to act, only able to point and talk.
“Useless people, it is your honor to even see me. You dare to be angry just because your dinner was overturned?”
The girl’s cold and provocative voice could be heard. Lu Zhiyin put her hand to her forehead. “It really is her…” Lu Zhiyin shook her head. Ouyang Qing, who had possessed unparalleled divine power since birth, despised everyone. Moreover, this world was created by her, and she knew nothing of restraint. It was almost inevitable that she would incur the wrath of others by being so unreasonable. Lu Zhiyin wasn’t worried about her getting beaten up. If possible, she wished Ouyang Qing would be beaten black and blue, or even killed here.
But the problem was that these people were incapable of causing any harm to Ouyang Qing. If they were to lay a hand on her, they would only be severely injured or even killed by Ouyang Qing in various ways. The lives of these people were of no concern to Lu Zhiyin. Ouyang Qing didn’t need to kill anyone herself, but if Ouyang Qing were to go on a killing spree, even an idiot could see that these people’s deaths were related to Ouyang Qing. As someone who transferred to the school with Ouyang Qing, she would likely be implicated, which was something Lu Zhiyin did not want.
After a moment of thought, Lu Zhiyin decided to find a way to resolve the trouble Ouyang Qing had caused. She pushed through the crowd and came up behind Ouyang Qing. After a brief silence, she considered what kind of expression she should use to face these angry students.
“Everyone, please calm down. She is my friend. She was pampered by her family since she was a child, which is why she has become this way. Please don’t hold it against her. As for dinner… see, aren’t there noodles over there? I’ll treat you all to noodles, what do you say?” Lu Zhiyin wore a sincere apology on her face as she pointed to the noodle counter in the distance. After all, the reason people were surrounding Ouyang Qing was mainly because she had disrupted their meal, and her attitude was terrible. No normal person would tolerate her. After the first few people fell inexplicably, the remaining few were scared to act but felt too embarrassed to retreat. If the rumor spread that they were scared off by a young girl, it would be a great loss of face. Lu Zhiyin’s goal was to give them a way to back down, along with a small incentive, so they would let it go.
“Hmph, for your friend’s sake, we’ll let you off today. Don’t be so arrogant in the future. This school isn’t your home, and no one will indulge you.” The leader pointed at Ouyang Qing and spoke fiercely before leading his group away. Lu Zhiyin glanced at Ouyang Qing and followed her.
There were a total of eight people who had surrounded Ouyang Qing. Lu Zhiyin bought each of them a bowl of vegetarian noodles for five yuan, successfully spending all her money until she was left with only two coins. The good news was that she had managed to narrowly resolve the trouble Ouyang Qing had caused. The bad news was that she had no dinner for herself.
“…Sigh, why can’t I save any money…” After settling the students who had clashed with Ouyang Qing, Lu Zhiyin held her forehead and returned to Ouyang Qing’s side.
When she returned, Ouyang Qing had just finished the last bit of fried rice and was getting up to leave the cafeteria. Lu Zhiyin didn’t even have time to rest before she hurriedly followed her out of the cafeteria.
“…Uh, Ouyang Qing? Perhaps… you should try to live like ordinary people? Instead of always putting on airs? That might make your life more comfortable.” Leaving the cafeteria, Lu Zhiyin hesitantly offered Ouyang Qing some advice.
“You mean, you want me to treat a bunch of ants, who aren’t even worthy of licking my toes, as equals? What a joke.” Tilting her head, Ouyang Qing looked at Lu Zhiyin, who was standing on the steps, making her half a head taller than her.
“Ahem… That said, you are a deity after all. There’s no need to argue with your own creation, right? Restraining your temper a bit will lead to much less trouble. You wouldn’t want to be talked back to by those people all the time, would you? Often, if you’re just a little kinder, they won’t offend you.” Lu Zhiyin tried to reason with Ouyang Qing, but all she received was Ouyang Qing’s cold, knife-like gaze.
“Let’s not discuss it. Also, you are not worthy of being my friend. You are just a toy.” Ouyang Qing seemed quite displeased with Lu Zhiyin’s address to her in the cafeteria. She looked at her hand, thought for a moment, and then, without using her hand, pushed Lu Zhiyin. She didn’t want to have direct contact with Lu Zhiyin for the time being. She kicked Lu Zhiyin’s small leg again. Her body lurched, and although Lu Zhiyin didn’t fall, it was still uncomfortable. The pain in her leg made Lu Zhiyin grimace.
“I’m going back to the dormitory.” Glancing at Lu Zhiyin, Ouyang Qing slowly walked towards the dormitory building. She touched the doll that was still hanging from her waist. She didn’t necessarily need to report her whereabouts, but since it came out naturally, it didn’t matter.
“Friends? How ridiculous.” In a bad mood, Ouyang Qing deliberately kicked stray small stones on her way back to the dormitory to vent her frustration. The stones she kicked either turned to dust or flew straight into the distance, disappearing from view.
…
“Hoo… So, dealing with that guy is really too difficult…” Sitting on the steps, Lu Zhiyin massaged her injured leg. She rolled up her pant leg. The spot where she was kicked was already swollen, and now it was broken. She didn’t have time to go to the infirmary. All she could do now was endure her hunger and go to the restaurant where she worked part-time to wash dishes. In any case, Lu Zhiyin’s impression of Ouyang Qing grew worse. That person always managed to lower the bar for Lu Zhiyin’s impression of her, being incomparably awful.
