In sleep, Long Aotian was disturbed by the muted sounds of suppressed sobs.
With hazy eyes still heavy from slumber, he saw Hu Yuying attempting to put together scattered pieces of a broken pen shell, hoping to keep using it.
Seeing her distress, Long Aotian pulled out several pens from his pouch and placed them before Hu Yuying, “Don't cry, use mine.”
"Thank you."
As Hu Yuying spotted the pens on her desk, she inhaled deeply, trying her best to hide the traces of her tears. But her slightly reddened eyes and trembling shoulders betrayed her.
Hesitant at first, Long Aotian asked: “What's wrong?”
Nothing,” replied Hu Yuying as she bit her lip and shook her head lightly.
Tears are streaming, yet she insists it's nothing. Do I look stupid?, thought Long Aotian.
He looked around the classroom and finally landed on Wang Shuo. A smirk on Wang Shuo's face as he stared at Hu Yuying left no doubt about what had transpired.
It was clear to him now.
In the original plotline that he was aware of, it was him, Long Aotian, who led the ridicule and bullying of Hu Yuying.
However, since he had traveled to this world and deviated from the original plot, someone else was now bullying Hu Yuying.
"Did I bother you?" Hu Yuying asked in a small voice after she collected herself.
"No, I was just waking up."
"Do you need this? You were sleeping the entire class time. You can check it if you want," Hu Yuying offered, even while using Long Aotian's pen. She didn't want to owe anybody anything.
Therefore, she offered her carefully compiled study notes to Long Aotian.
Considering his current academic level, getting into a university was a dream. A costly lesson learned: he didn't want to suffer from a lack of education ever again.
In the original story, Hu Yuying was a top student, maintaining excellent grades even under relentless bullying.
Her notebook, filled with key knowledge points, would certainly be a great help for Long Aotian.
Taking the notebook, Long Aotian paused, then said, "You know, if you're being bullied, you should tell the teacher.”
"It's useless," Hu Yuying said softly while lowering her gaze.
Her words stunned Long Aotian.
When reading the novel, he only skimmed over Hu Yuying's earlier experience.
He didn't know about her past before her transfer.
According to the original plot, Hu Yuying didn't dare to report when she was bullied by Long Aotian. It was likely related to her previous experience.
Long Aotian remained silent for a moment.
When reading the novel, it was only a means of entertainment.
But when he arrived in this so-called novel world, it became a different emotional experience altogether.
The people here, they are real.
They feel pain when hurt, they cry when they're sad, they laugh when they're happy, and they regret when they make mistakes...
Everyone here is struggling for their own lives.
If he hadn't traveled here with memories of the past, this world is as real as it can get.
As the author breezed over the plot, for Hu Yuying, it was her reality; she had suffered through it all.
The process had been painful and bitter, shaping Hu Yuying's resilient character as it stands today.
She sighed quietly.
Flipping through her notebook, she had marked each knowledge point with her own analysis.
It's like cooking a meal and bringing it to Long Aotian's mouth, all he needs to do is open his mouth, and he can eat it directly.
The break between classes ended.
When Long Aotian returned to the classroom, he saw Wang Shuo standing in front of Hu Yuying's desk, maliciously pushing her pencil case and books from the tabletop to the ground with his finger.
Long Aotian frowned and went back to his seat. Bullying starts small and escalates from there. Right now, Wang Shuo is targeting Hu Yuying's books, but if she continues to be too scared to resist, the bullying will inevitably become more personal.
Watching as Wang Shuo deliberately stepped on the pencil he himself had given Hu Yuying, crushing it underfoot, an image of Hu Yuying’s teary eyes looking at him, trying to force a smile and pretend that everything was okay, surfaced in Long Aotian's mind.
He couldn't help but think back to the time when he was at the orphanage, being bullied by the other children.
But he and Hu Yuying were different. He knew how to resist, and slowly, no one dared to bully him anymore.
Taking a deep breath, he was a youth of the new era, and bullying was happening right before his eyes.
Was he really going to just stand there and watch as Hu Yuying experiences the humiliation and bullying once again, as per the original script, and eventually walks down the road of despair?
There is no innocent snowflake in an avalanche.
How could he bear to watch Hu Yuying walk step by step into the abyss of despair and pain in front of him?
No matter what, he could not let this go on.
Time to change the script!
"Is this the third time?" Long Aotian knocked on the desk with his knuckles.
Upon hearing Long Aotian's words, Wang Shuo turned around and scowled at him, "This is none of your business, is it?"
In his past life!
Long Aotian dropped out of school and started working at a young age. After years of hardships, being tricked, fighting for his wages...
Even if he's now back to being eighteen, having shed the hardened shell formed by society, the sophistication in his eyes is something these school-going kids cannot match.
"What if I make it my business?" Long Aotian got up from his seat. His 6'1'' frame, broad shoulders, narrow waist, when standing up, immediately radiated an aura of manly authority and strength.
Faced with a Long Aotian who was significantly taller, Wang Shuo couldn't help but take a step back.
They had argued over a slight disagreement before.
In school, the worst it got was threatening each other with the people they knew, challenging them to a physical confrontation at the school gate.
But Long Aotian didn't play that way. He went straight for a punch, not bothering to save face just because they were all delinquents.
Having been beaten before, he knew how hard Long Aotian punched.
Wang Shuo's eyes flickered, completely beaten down by Long Aotian's imposing aura.
"Long, Long Aotian, the teacher said, if you hit someone again, you'll get a serious infraction."
Seeing the fear etched on Wang Shuo's face, a touch of a smile emerged on the corner of Long Aotian's mouth.
Bullies can also be afraid of being bullied, huh.
"Do you think I care?"
He pounded the table sharply after he finished speaking.
The noise startled Wang Shuo, causing him to back up another two steps while trembling with fear. Simultaneously, it attracted all the gazes inside the classroom.
"School is a place for studying, not for bullying. If any of you bullies have the guts to try to bully anyone, come to bully me first!"
Even though what he said was right, for some reason, when this sentence came out of Long Aotian's mouth, everyone felt it was kind of strange.
Outside the classroom door, Hu Yuying was staring blankly at Long Aotian who had spoken these words.
Sunlight was scattering on him, as if he was sparkling. An involuntary trace of blush spread in her eyes, she hurriedly looked down, leaning against the wall outside the classroom, trying to look composed and shifting her gaze elsewhere...