Chapter 19: Pulling each other

There was no bond in the past, and there is no intersection now, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be one in the future.

What began as a friendship that could be taken or left behind, something easily discarded.

Yet in this very moment, it’s starting to twist and warp!

On the other hand, Li Zuhao arrived safely at Jihuang Academy.

He even felt that he looked pretty cool just now, without sensing anything amiss.

He had no idea that his cold-heartedness was digging a pit for himself.

Just like the traps he set for the Delinquent Gal and the ace of the Kendo Club, it would explode soon enough.

This time, Li Zuhao entered the school gates without getting beaten up, made it through the corridors without being blocked, and successfully arrived at Class 9, Grade 1.

As he entered the classroom, the students tacitly fell silent for two seconds, but quickly returned to their noisy chatter.

It was clear that the once notorious rich kid bully Li Zuhao no longer held any sway.

No one was afraid of him anymore, nor did they care about his life or death.

Li Zuhao had no friends, and no one greeted him, which suited him just fine.

Moreover, rumors had just spread that he had failed a suicide attempt.

Because of this, even his old enemies—at least for the time being—didn’t dare provoke him, afraid of getting burned, so they all kept their distance and minded their own business.

Take that group of Delinquent Gals, for example. 

They hated Li Zuhao the most, but now they wouldn’t dare lay a finger on him. 

After all, those unafraid of death are the most terrifying of all.

Sitting right next to Li Zuhao was the ringleader of the Delinquent Gals, Kaixin Min.

Almost the moment Li Zuhao walked in, she wore a look of disgust, her nose haughtily upturned, long fair legs crossed, turning her face away from him.

“Tch~”

As Li Zuhao passed by her, she clicked her tongue loudly on purpose, deliberately trying to embarrass him.

Li Zuhao sat down at his seat and immediately pulled out a discarded toothbrush, silently scrubbing away the insults written on his desk. 

It looked simple, but in practice, it took him an entire class period to barely erase the most humiliating three characters: “X Impotent.”

There were still over a dozen characters left on the desk, clearly not something that could be cleaned in a day.

The worst part was that Li Zuhao’s right hand was injured, so he could only use one hand to scrub, unable to use much force. 

Otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken so long.

Ling.

Kaixin Min couldn’t concentrate in class either, glancing at Li Zuhao from time to time.

Li Zuhao, however, was completely focused on scrubbing his desk, not noticing her secret glances at all.

As someone from a psychiatric hospital, his greatest skill was immersing himself in his own world and ignoring all outside interference.

He just didn’t plan to use this ability for studying.

After class, Li Zuhao prepared to go wash his discarded toothbrush.

“What happened to your arm?” 

Kaixin Min asked, pretending to be casual.

“It’s nothing serious,” Li Zuhao replied.

Getting his answer, Kaixin Min went quiet.

By noon, Li Zuhao had finally scrubbed all the filthy words off his desk, and his left fingers were stiff from the effort. 

But the entire desk surface now looked like a mess of scribbles, even uglier than when it was covered in insults.

There was nothing he could do. 

Li Zuhao went to the boys’ restroom to fetch a kettle of water.

But when he came back and plopped down on his chair, there was a sudden crack—the chair leg broke, and he fell flat on his face.

Yet Li Zuhao desperately held his arm high, maintaining his balance, refusing to let the kettle in his hand spill a drop.

“What are you doing?” 

Kaixin Min next to him was startled.

Her next move was rather intriguing—one hand pressed on the back of her chair, as if she wanted to get up.

But in the end, she didn’t move, choosing to stay on the sidelines and watch.

Normally, if Kaixin Min saw Li Zuhao fall flat on his face, she’d be laughing her head off.

But the seeds Li Zuhao planted earlier were now taking effect. 

He looked so pitiful at the moment, even the Gold-haired Delinquent Girls couldn’t bear to bully him.

“Please, help me………………”

Li Zuhao was like a flipped turtle, unable to get up.

With his right hand injured and his left holding the kettle aloft, he had no hand left to push himself off the ground.

Kaixin Min frowned, turned her head away, choosing to ignore him and keep her distance.

She had to maintain her tough Delinquent Gal persona.

With so many sisters watching, how could she show a soft spot for this pitiful little bug?

No way!

So Kaixin Min let Li Zuhao writhe on the floor like a turtle.

The whole class secretly watched and snickered at his embarrassment.

In the end, Li Zuhao thought of a solution himself.

He put the kettle down first, used his injured hand to push off the ground, and managed to get up with difficulty.

But at that very moment……………….

A hero appeared!

“Li, are you alright?!”

Miya really couldn’t stand it any longer and came over, ready to help Li Zuhao up.

But as soon as Li Zuhao saw Miya move, he forced himself up quickly despite his injured right hand, not letting her help.

If these delinquent girls saw the country bumpkin transfer student Miya hanging out with a universally hated loser like him, she’d never be able to fit in at school.

He couldn’t let that happen. 

He’d already met too many weird girls.

A normal girl like Miya was his last ray of hope.

“I don’t need your help, don’t get involved with me.”

Li Zuhao said coldly in a low voice, persuading Miya to back off.

Miya wanted to say something more, but when he glared at her, she could only fall silent.

Inside, she was conflicted. 

Would you really rather have those delinquent girls help you than accept my help?

Li Zuhao bent down to pick up the kettle, sat back in his seat, and coldly brushed past Miya, starting to clean the scratched-up desk.

“Ding! Li Zuhao from Class 9, Grade 1, please come to the High School Division Student Council.”

The classroom announcement speaker crackled to life.

The Student Council had suddenly summoned Li Zuhao.

“Uh? Me?”

Hearing this, Li Zuhao could only put down what he was doing and head to the Student Council.

This was surely the Student Council Vice President of the High School Division, Haotian Hui, looking for him.

After the bizarre events of yesterday, she definitely had a lot of questions for him.

He left through the back door of the classroom just as the class bell rang, even brushing past the teacher.

But the teacher didn’t react at all to a student running off.

Because the staff at Jihuang Academy had no obligation to manage the students.

Teachers were only responsible for teaching knowledge—whether students learned or not? Not their concern.

At a top school like Jihuang Academy, students who wanted to climb higher would naturally compete fiercely. 

As for the privileged kids just here to pad their resumes, no matter what you said, they wouldn’t work hard.

The authority to manage students was delegated to the students themselves.

The organization with the greatest real power on campus was the [Student Council].

“You’re Li Zuhao, right?”

When Li Zuhao arrived at the High School Division Student Council, a senior greeted him outside and led him in to see the Vice President.

Vice President Haotian Hui had her own private office in the Student Council, a low-key but luxurious study.

“Vice President, hello.” 

Li Zuhao stood before the mahogany desk, politely greeting Haotian Hui, who was playing on her computer.

Haotian Hui gave him a cold glance, then continued playing on her computer.

The atmosphere in the study instantly grew a bit awkward.