Chapter 141

Chapter 141

In the sweltering height of summer during her first year of high school, students in blue-and-white uniforms ran one after another along the red track.

Sixteen-year-old Yun Li was among them.

Back then, Yun Li still looked young and unformed, but her naturally cool, fair complexion and the aloof yet gentle air about her made her seem like a little fairy.

The wind swept a wave of heat straight toward her. Yun Li lifted a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead. Smelling the scorched rubber of the track baking under the sun, she felt as if she could hardly breathe.

When she happened to look up, she saw a boy standing just outside the track, dressed in the trendiest streetwear of the time.

He was Liu Ye’s nephew. His name was Liu Tai, and he was not a student at No. 1 High School.

But everyone in Class One knew that because he had missed the college entrance exam last month, Teacher Liu had been keeping him at his side these past two days, forcing him to adapt to and familiarize himself with No. 1 High School.

Most likely, it was to prepare him to repeat a year there.

Yun Li’s eyes met his, only to see the corner of his mouth twist into a sudden grin.

Yun Li found it disgusting. For some reason, her chest tightened with discomfort, and it became even harder to breathe.

Someone like him did not seem like a student at all. He looked more like one of those thugs from the streets, his whole body steeped in a sinister air.

Yun Li did not know when he had set his sights on her. It was not until PE class ended and, as the leader of the duty group, she was the last to stay behind to count and sort the equipment for return.

This was the last class before lunch. Most of the students were rushing toward the cafeteria, while the field and equipment room at No. 1 High School were in a relatively remote direction, opposite from the cafeteria.

At this hour, under the scorching heat, almost no one lingered here.

After Yun Li finished arranging the equipment and making the records, she was just about to leave. But when she turned around, the open door of the equipment room was slammed shut with a bang.

The surroundings were silent.

The person who had suddenly barged in and locked the equipment room door was none other than Liu Tai, the boy who had smiled so wickedly at Yun Li on the field earlier.

Instinctive fear drove Yun Li to retreat. Even though she did not know what he intended to do, the moment she saw him shut and lock the door, her face turned pale with fright.

The revulsion on her face was completely exposed. Before she could even speak, Liu Tai was already lunging at her like a starving wolf, yanking Yun Li toward the innermost part of the equipment room.

“Help!” Yun Li cried out on instinct, but his hand clamped tightly over her mouth.

Pressing her against the equipment cabinet behind her, Liu Tai widened his eyes like a vengeful ghost come to claim a life. He licked his lips and laughed, looking as if he had finally gotten what he wanted. “You’re Yun Li? You’re so pretty…”

“Mmph-” Yun Li struggled with everything she had. Her terrified eyes were already filled with tears. With her mouth covered, she could not make a sound, and the screams in her heart were threaded with utter despair.

Liu Tai lifted her hair, grabbed her long ponytail, and took a deep sniff of it. Then he lowered his voice and said to her, “That old bastard Liu Ye actually thinks he can control me. He actually wants me to come repeat a year at your No. 1 High School. Like I care!”

“Hahahaha, I didn’t care at first. But then I saw you, little fairy. You’re so pretty. I like you so much…”

“Don’t make a sound. Don’t cry. I’m not going to do anything to you. You’re a little fairy. I just want to smell you. Let me breathe in a little of your fairy air…”

Yun Li whimpered, her whole body resisting him. Seeing that she refused to obey and was still trying to shout, Liu Tai’s eyes flicked aside. He spotted a scrap of cloth on the shelf, snatched it up, and shook off the dust. Afraid of dirtying the fairy’s mouth, he wiped it several times on his own clothes before stuffing it into Yun Li’s mouth.

Because he had freed one hand to grab the scrap of cloth, Yun Li managed to break her hands out of his grip. She pushed and scratched with all her strength, but it was still useless.

She was far too slender. In front of him, all her struggles were like an ant trying to shake a tree.

With the scrap of cloth blocking her mouth, Yun Li could no longer make any sound at all. He pinned both her hands down hard and forced them back. His rough hand lingered on her neck, then his fingers suddenly twitched as he undid two buttons of her school uniform.

“Mmph…” Yun Li’s eyes blurred with tears. Her wrists hurt badly. So did her back.

It was as if she had been dragged into a bottomless abyss.

No one was coming to save her…

No one could hear her cries.

“Don’t worry. How could I dare defile such a beautiful fairy? I just want to enjoy myself a little. Just let me take one breath…”
Greed surfaced in Liu Tai’s eyes. He leaned in close to Yun Li’s neck and took a harsh sniff, one hand clamping onto her shoulder as he tried to yank that troublesome clothing even farther down.

He was a madman.

Yun Li kicked her legs, and in the chaos of her struggling, she seemed to hit a metal dustpan. It clattered loudly.

“Teacher Liu, what are you looking for?” Outside the equipment room, a boy’s clear voice flashed past.

The owner of the voice was standing at the doorway, calling out loudly to Teacher Liu, who was walking this way as if searching for something.

Inside the equipment room, Liu Tai froze at the sound. Every movement stopped. He stared warily at that door.

Half a minute later, the boy’s voice was gone from outside.

The hope that had just ignited in Yun Li’s heart sank heavily again.

What was she thinking?

She was thinking…

She wanted to die.

Just when she thought she was truly about to fall into an endless hell, the phone in Liu Tai’s pocket rang.

The ringtone was loud enough for anyone outside to hear.

Liu Tai panicked and lost focus for a moment, seeming to reach for his phone to silence it. Yun Li seized the chance. The instant his grip loosened, she shoved him away with all her strength and sprinted to open the door that had plunged her into darkness.

Someone was standing outside.

It was Liu Ye, the one calling Liu Tai.

And just like that, Yun Li stood before Liu Ye in a state of utter disarray.

After a long moment, Liu Ye smashed his phone against Liu Tai’s head as Liu Tai chased after her, splitting open a gash. “You bastard!”

At the time, Yun Li couldn’t think of anything at all. She only felt that the sun in the sky was so warm.

Ahead of her was the red running track. At the far end of it, a boy was leisurely walking away while twirling a key ring in his hand. Before long, he disappeared from Yun Li’s sight.

That day, Yun Li escaped. She thought Teacher Liu would give her justice. She thought he would give her a satisfactory outcome.

Naively, she believed Teacher Liu would handle it impartially.

But after school that day, Liu Ye called her to his office and begged her not to call the police. Begged her not to ruin Liu Tai.

Liu Tai stood off to the side with a careless, arrogant air, laughing as he said, “Calling the police won’t do anything. I didn’t do anything to her. I only smelled her a little, hahahaha…”

On the way home, Yun Li felt as if her soul had been stripped from her body. Her mind was filled with the image of Liu Ye nearly kneeling before her, pleading with her not to make the matter public.

He said he was willing to offer any compensation.

By the time she got home, it was already dark.

Yun Meilan had never allowed Yun Li to go out with classmates after school. Every day, she stipulated that Yun Li had to be home before dark.

But that night, on the way back, Yun Li found a bench and sat there for over an hour before she regained even a little awareness. Only then did she hurry back as fast as she could.

The moment she saw Yun Meilan, she wanted to tell her about all the humiliation she had suffered that day. In that moment, Yun Li firmly believed Yun Meilan would stand up for her.

She was Yun Li’s only support.

But the instant she opened the door and stepped inside, what greeted her were Yun Meilan’s curses and accusations-

“Were you fooling around with some boy?”

“Didn’t I tell you that you have to come straight home after school?”

“Those male classmates give you one smile and you go running over to them. Do you know what they’re really thinking? I’m saying this one last time: from now on, you’re not allowed to have male friends, and you’re definitely not allowed to go out with them!”

“And your hair-go cut it. Do you know what the old lady next door said about you today? She said you’re getting prettier! Dressing yourself up so nicely at such a young age, making all that fuss-who are you trying to seduce…?”

In that instant, Yun Li only felt that every word coming out of Yun Meilan’s mouth had turned into an invisible knife, stabbing viciously into her heart.

That was the fatal blow to Yun Li.

After that night, Yun Li came down with a fever.

She was sick for an entire week and took a full week off from school.

As for what happened with Liu Tai, Yun Li never told Yun Meilan.

By the time she returned to school, it was time for final exams.

Liu Ye promised that Liu Tai would never appear at No. 1 High again. Perhaps because they were afraid the matter would blow up, they sent Liu Tai straight overseas.

As for the compensation Liu Ye had promised, Yun Li didn’t take it.

What she wanted was to transfer schools.

With Liu Ye negotiating with Yun Meilan, the process of transferring to the Affiliated High School for the second semester of her first year went very smoothly. Yun Meilan also believed the story Liu Ye had made up about the Affiliated High School waiving tuition.