My Sister Is Acting Strange

The next morning, Tang Yaoyao’s cold had completely cleared up. Tang Huaijin finished breakfast while his sister’s cheeks were still slightly flushed.

The morning air was chilly as Tang Huaijin boarded the now familiar Route 9 bus, surprised to find plenty of seats available.

Ignoring the ponytailed girl sitting alone in the corner who was staring at him, Tang Huaijin found an empty seat and sat down.

As soon as he settled into the seat, a girl sat down on the left side of the two-seater.

Tang Huaijin looked at Lin Ruoxi without saying a word, just staring at her.

Lin Ruoxi, unfazed, stared back defiantly, asking, “What are you looking at?”

“I’m just trying to see who’s shameless enough to cling on after being dumped,” Tang Huaijin retorted with his usual sharp tongue.

His harsh words seemed to have no effect on Lin Ruoxi, whose ponytail bounced proudly with the movement of the bus. She snorted, “We haven’t broken up, so why can’t I cling to you?”

“If your memory’s failing, I know a brand of supplements that’s quite good.”

“Yesterday afternoon was just you breaking up unilaterally; I didn’t agree,” Lin Ruoxi’s eyes sparkled like autumn water.

Tang Huaijin couldn’t understand Lin Ruoxi’s resilience. He replied blandly, “What would make you agree?”

“Simple,” Lin Ruoxi bit her lip lightly, her eyes fixed on Tang Huaijin’s, “Bring that woman here, and we’ll have an open talk.”

Tang Huaijin frowned, wondering where he’d find the woman she was talking about. He waved his hand impatiently, saying, “Go play somewhere else.”

Lin Ruoxi’s eyes brightened, and her voice grew louder, questioning, “What, you can’t find your ex-girlfriend’s contact?”

“…” Tang Huaijin ignored her, turning his head towards the window, regretting engaging with Lin Ruoxi. He seemed to have forgotten how stubborn she could be.

Seeing Tang Huaijin remain silent, Lin Ruoxi wasn’t angry; instead, her eyes showed a hint of triumph.

Tang Huaijin’s sudden infidelity puzzled her, and the conversation they just had had been rehearsed in her mind many times. Finally, she found something amiss.

Tang Huaijin’s phone was always open to her, and aside from classmates, there were hardly any girls on his WeChat. How could a seemingly close girlfriend suddenly appear?

Both lost in thought, the Route 9 bus soon arrived at the Rose Elite High School stop.

Tang Huaijin walked down the hallway of his class, noticing many students gathered around the bulletin board on the wall.

Thanks to his height advantage, Tang Huaijin didn’t need to squeeze into the crowd to see the content: a large headline read, “Rumors Stop with the Wise.”

Below were quotes advising people to discern truth from falsehood and not be misled by others.

Tang Huaijin turned to see that almost all the bulletin boards in the hallway had changed overnight, filled with content about trust and rumors.

Following him, Lin Ruoxi covered her mouth in surprise. Completing such work overnight was no small feat.

Tang Huaijin stood silently for a moment before walking into the classroom. Xia Xinya was talking to Bai Yuerou, and upon seeing him, she shot him a sharp look.

Bai Yuerou, unexpectedly wearing light makeup today, still showed signs of fatigue with faint dark circles under her foundation. She greeted Tang Huaijin with a gentle smile.

Tang Huaijin felt uneasy, asking with a complex tone, “Was it you who did that outside? What time did you go home last night?”

Bai Yuerou was taken aback, then smiled wryly, “You figured it out…”

“I don’t care about these things; you didn’t have to do that,” Tang Huaijin sighed.

Bai Yuerou shook her head, her eyes firm, “I had to do it. Honestly, I was shaken at first, so this is not just for you but also to punish myself for not trusting my friend.”

“Thank you…” Tang Huaijin felt a mix of emotions, hesitating, “Even if others don’t know, why didn’t you believe it was true? Didn’t Lin Ruoxi tell you?”

Bai Yuerou turned to Tang Huaijin, “It’s precisely because Lin Ruoxi told me that I found many suspicious points in this matter.”

Bai Yuerou’s gaze wasn’t sharp, but being watched by her gentle almond eyes made Tang Huaijin feel seen. He shook his head, choosing not to say more.

Xia Xinya, listening in confusion, saw the conversation end and quickly nudged Bai Yuerou, whispering, “What are you talking about?”

“Nothing, I asked him a question, and though he didn’t answer, he gave me the answer,” Bai Yuerou’s eyes narrowed slightly, speaking softly.

What the heck? Everyone’s speaking in riddles, what about me, Xia Xinya?

Feeling a bit unhappy, Xia Xinya was increasingly anxious about Bai Yuerou’s recent behavior, which made her feel like a green light was flickering above her head.

But thinking about the afternoon after school, when she could finally prove herself to Tang Huaijin, she couldn’t help but look forward to it, wishing the class would end quickly.

The day’s classes passed swiftly, but to Xia Xinya, it felt like time had paused, making her restless and checking the time frequently.

Bai Yuerou glanced at her several times in surprise, wondering what was up with her best friend today, not sleeping but acting like she was on adrenaline.

In Xia Xinya’s seemingly endless wait, the dismissal bell rang like heavenly music, liberating her.

She practically jumped from her seat, running to Tang Huaijin’s desk, exclaiming, “Come with me.”

Tang Huaijin looked at her with a “Are you crazy?” expression, glancing at her lightly while leisurely packing his bag.

Xia Xinya snorted, saying indignantly to Tang Huaijin, “Didn’t you accuse me, saying I did it? Today, I’ll prove it to you.”

Seeing her confident expression, Tang Huaijin hesitated for a moment before saying, “Alright, let’s go.”

He was curious about what Xia Xinya wanted to prove. After all, his words yesterday were partly to prevent Xia Xinya from causing trouble, so he decided to trust her once more.

After bidding Bai Yuerou farewell, under her slightly puzzled gaze, Tang Huaijin followed Xia Xinya to the club building, seeing her looking around impatiently, asking, “What do you want me to see?”

“Don’t rush,” Xia Xinya replied, anxiously scanning the area. That darn Li Tong better not stand her up. Finally, she spotted Li Tong’s silhouette near the back passage of the club building, her eyes lighting up with a smug expression as she waved, calling out, “Li Tong, come here!”

Tang Huaijin showed no reaction to Li Tong’s name; he’d long forgotten that spirited guy after dealing with pests for Lin Ruoxi and his sister too many times.

Hearing Xia Xinya’s voice, Li Tong’s body visibly flinched but didn’t turn around, making Tang Huaijin, with his keen eyesight, feel puzzled.

After calling twice and seeing no response from Li Tong, Xia Xinya noticed Tang Huaijin’s slightly mocking gaze, angrily kicking a small stone by her foot, deciding to deal with him later, and led Tang Huaijin over.

As they approached, Li Tong turned around, his expression dark and uncertain, followed by a group of people who didn’t look like students, tall and strong.

Xia Xinya didn’t think much of it, pointing at Li Tong’s nose and scolding, “Are you deaf? Didn’t you hear me calling?”

Li Tong’s face grew darker, as if making a decision, he signaled to Abiao beside him, who understood and walked forward with his hands behind his back.

Though backed by Qin Shijie, Li Tong had still left a backup plan, instructing Abiao to slap Xia Xinya first if he signaled, then deal with Tang Huaijin.

Xia Xinya, unaware of the impending danger, looked disdainfully at Abiao, who was a size larger than her, and said arrogantly, “Who are you?”

Abiao sneered, swinging a steel pipe from behind him towards Xia Xinya’s leg.

Xia Xinya’s pupils shrank, but it was too late to dodge, only able to let out a scream.

Fortunately, she was wearing a backpack, and a strong arm grabbed her backpack strap, pulling her back just in time for the steel pipe to narrowly miss her leg, smashing into the ground with a bang, shattering the concrete and scattering small fragments.

But it wasn’t over. Abiao’s fierce eyes showed surprise as he swung the steel pipe upward towards Xia Xinya’s face.

Tang Huaijin had sensed something was wrong earlier, and his master-level fighting technique instincts had him holding his backpack in hand. He swung it to block the incoming steel pipe, then pushed the seemingly stunned Xia Xinya back, kicking Abiao in the chest, sending him stumbling backward before he fell to the ground.

Li Tong was in turmoil, shocked by Abiao’s ruthless attack, but there was no time to question him. He yelled at the group behind him, “What are you standing around for? Get him!”

Abiao sat on the ground with a grim expression, while the group hesitated for a moment before rushing forward at Li Tong’s shout.

Tang Huaijin was surprised by the power of his kick, then remembered his master-level fighting technique and slowly improving human limit physical fitness, feeling excited, looking at the approaching group like they were sandbags.

“Call for help! Are you stupid?”

Shouting at the dazed Xia Xinya, Tang Huaijin grinned, stepping forward to meet the attackers. The recent negativity had been overwhelming, and he hadn’t fought much since starting high school, so this was a chance to vent, and he didn’t mind hitting hard since someone else would take the blame.

The group seemed to only have Abiao who had trained a bit, and he had a weapon, while the others were unarmed, their steps unsteady, clearly untrained.

Hmm… They were tall and strong, perfect sandbags.

He jumped up, delivering a straight kick to the person at the front, who instinctively raised his arm to block but was still sent flying, his face flushed, causing the group behind him to halt.

With one move, he temporarily dealt with most of them. Tang Huaijin bent down to dodge a punch from the left, seeing the opponent’s open stance, his mind instantly flooded with countless ways to defeat him, randomly choosing one, and punched the man’s side with a thud, causing the strong man to fall, screaming like a pig being slaughtered.

The taste of liver explosion, well, whoever tries it knows.

Quickly dealing with the remaining few who had almost lost their will to fight, Tang Huaijin’s face showed pain.

Not from injury, but from excitement, combined with the dry weather, his mouth had cracked from smiling.

His expression slightly displeased, he licked his lips, walking towards the admiring Xia Xinya, whose family’s bodyguards had reacted extremely quickly, arriving within two minutes and heading towards them.

Abiao, who had been observing from the ground, suddenly threw the steel pipe at Tang Huaijin.

Tang Huaijin was a bit too excited, realizing the steel pipe was coming too late, barely managing to block it with his arm.

With a bang, the steel pipe hit his arm, but his human limit physical fitness was top-notch, barely hurting.

Seeing his attack fail, Abiao’s face darkened as he got up, clutching his chest and quickly running to the other side of the club building, leaving his fallen comrades and the now expressionless Li Tong.

Xia Xinya was startled by the sudden attack, looking at Tang Huaijin with concern.

Tang Huaijin’s face showed pain, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Xia Xinya’s face turned pale, rushing to Tang Huaijin’s side, her hands unsure where to go, babbling, “Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Seeing Tang Huaijin in pain, unable to speak, Xia Xinya panicked, crying out to the nearby female bodyguard, “You, save him!” Then, looking at Tang Huaijin, she sobbed, “You, you can’t die!”

Tang Huaijin spat out a few more bloody spits, pushing away the burly female bodyguard trying to hold him, angrily saying, “Who’s dying?! I bit my tongue!”

Seeing him alive and well, they knew he was probably fine. Tang Huaijin’s speech was mumbled, likely due to his tongue injury, his face showing a twisted expression, making Xia Xinya laugh through her tears.

The bodyguards, watching the young miss cry and laugh, were puzzled, but they were professional, quickly finding the leader, Li Tong, and questioning, “Why did you do this?”

“It was… Qin Shijie told me to do it.” Under the cold stares of several female bodyguards, Li Tong almost wet his pants.

The bodyguards had heard of this name, exchanging glances at his words.