Wei Yuan looked at the massive, bright windows and the neat, level tables and chairs. He picked up a steamed bun, popped it into his mouth, tilted his head back, and swallowed it whole. He silently resolved that once he returned, he would definitely set up a cafeteria of his own—bigger, brighter, and cleaner than this one. Most importantly, it would be affordable for everyone...
A stack of bamboo steamers was set down before Wei Yuan. Bao Yun sat down beside him and said, "Do you even chew when you eat buns?"
Wei Yuan tilted his head back again, swallowed another bun down, and said, "Eating fast avoids trouble."
"What kind of trouble could there be?" Bao Yun asked curiously.
Just then, a metal lunchbox came hurtling through the air. Wei Yuan tried to dodge, but his body refused to obey. He only managed to tilt his head slightly before it struck him with a loud clang.
Now Bao Yun knew what kind of trouble.
She looked back and saw Li Tianci and his crew sitting at a table behind them. There were seven or eight of them, with Li Tianci seated in the center. He was quite tall and decent-looking enough, but he wore his hair at medium length, with bangs drooping so low they nearly covered his eyes, looking completely out of place in a school.
Li Tianci sat turned around, leaning his back against the table with his legs spread wide, looking thoroughly pleased with himself and projecting an air of reckless swagger. His chin was tilted high, looking down his nose at Wei Yuan. The boy beside him was still holding his throwing pose, dripping with provocation.
Sitting across from the two, Peacock hesitated, saying, "Brother Yuan, class is about to start. They have too many people—"
"I ate your buns, so I'll solve your troubles," Wei Yuan said earnestly to Bao Yun. Then he picked up his bowl of porridge and strode toward Li Tianci's table.
Seeing Wei Yuan approach, Li Tianci sneered. "How'd you get the money to eat breakfast? This isn't a place for a broke beggar like you to—"
Before he could finish his sentence, his vision went dark as Wei Yuan slammed the bowl of porridge directly onto his head!
Immediately after, Wei Yuan threw his whole body forward, pinning Li Tianci beneath him and hammering his fists into his face, blow after blow.
The others at the table were startled. They rushed in together, yet no matter how they tried, they could not pull Wei Yuan off. They could only surround him, kicking and punching. Li Tianci's miserable wails rang out continuously from the scrum, but not a sound came from Wei Yuan.
"I have to get over there. Take your time eating!" Peacock called out to Bao Yun. He leaped up, grabbed a chair, and charged in. Within moments, however, he was knocked to the floor, surrounded and pummeled with punches and kicks.
A thunderous roar suddenly erupted through the cafeteria: "Eat your food properly, or get the hell out!!"
The cafeteria auntie who served the meals came charging out, brandishing a massive soup ladle. With one hand on her hip, she roared so hard a gale swept through the cafeteria.
Li Tianci's group hastily stopped. Scrambling clumsily, they pulled the exhausted Wei Yuan off Li Tianci and tossed him aside. A clean-cut student ran up to the auntie and said respectfully, "It's not our fault! He threw the first punch."
The cafeteria auntie brandished her ladle. "I don't give a damn about any of that! All of you, get lost! Cause trouble on my turf, and not even the principal will be able to protect you!"
Cowering as though facing a fierce tiger, the delinquent students lifted Li Tianci and fled the cafeteria in a panic.
Wei Yuan lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling, his face once again smeared with blood. His entire body ached so badly that he lacked the strength even to lift an arm. Just then, cool, slick touches brushed across his face, and his vision gradually cleared.
Once his sight returned, Wei Yuan saw Bao Yun squatting before him. A bun was held between her teeth as she used both hands to wipe away the grime and blood on his face. She used no handkerchief, wiping away the foul blood with her bare hands. Yet her expression remained so calm, as though she were simply performing the most ordinary of tasks.
A piercing bell suddenly rang out—the warning bell before class, soon to be followed by the official start bell. Like startled rabbits, the students in the cafeteria dropped everything and sprinted frantically toward their classrooms.
Bao Yun took the bitten bun from her mouth, casually stuffed it into Wei Yuan's mouth, hauled him up by his collar, and dragged him as she ran toward the classroom.
With the bun held in his mouth, Wei Yuan ran as hard as he could. He had a faint premonition that if they were late for class, something very terrible might happen.
The two tore along at full tilt, finally bursting into the classroom at the very last second.
The moment they entered, every pair of eyes fell upon them. Li Tianci sat in the back row, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with a paper bill. When he saw Wei Yuan, his gaze instantly flared with hatred.
Inside the classroom, Wei Yuan spotted his seat and Bao Yun's seat, which were quite far apart. Bao Yun pulled Wei Yuan over to her desk and said to her male deskmate, "Switch seats with him."
Seeing Bao Yun speak to him, the boy's face flushed as red as blood. He stammered, "B-but I... I don't want to—"
With a loud clatter, Bao Yun swept everything on his desk onto the floor.
The boy's eyes instantly reddened. Fighting back tears, he gathered up his stationery and textbooks, shuffling reluctantly toward Wei Yuan's original seat.
Once Wei Yuan sat down, his anxious heart finally settled. He tilted his head back and swallowed the bun. As it entered his stomach, a warm current spread throughout his body, and he could clearly feel a tiny bit of strength return to his limbs.
Just then, the teacher walked into the classroom. Just as he was about to shut the door, there was a loud thud as the door was knocked open, and Peacock came rolling inside.
The piercing school bell rang out, tinged with a rasping buzz—the electric bell was clearly long overdue for repairs.
The teacher glanced at Peacock, then closed the classroom door. Walking up to the podium, he adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and said, "Everyone, turn to page one hundred and thirty-eight. Let's first review the content from the previous lesson. Who can tell me what this molecular formula represents?"
Wei Yuan's body took up the textbook and flipped to the designated page. At that moment, Wei Yuan's consciousness intervened, and he turned back to look at the front cover. Written upon it was: *Chemistry*.
Chemistry?
Wei Yuan's spirits rallied; all at once, he was no longer sleepy. He looked back at the open page, but it read like heavenly scripture—he could not understand a single word.
Right then, the teacher said, "Wei Yuan, answer this."
Wei Yuan stood up and said, "I don't know."
The class instantly erupted into loud laughter. Li Tianci laughed with particular relish, pounding on his desk so hard his arm nearly cramped.
The teacher's face was already livid. "Wei Yuan! Your family is so poor, yet you still won't study hard—are you doing right by your parents?! You don't even know yesterday's lesson. All you know how to do every day is skip class, smoke, and get into fights! What will you be able to do when you grow up? How will you make money to support a family? Are you the same as everyone else? Other people have wealthy families, but what do you have? When you grow up, are you still going to rely on your parents to feed you? Have you no shame?!"
Wei Yuan froze. The words he had intended to say suddenly caught in his throat. He bowed and said, "I was wrong."
The teacher was taken aback. He took a few deep breaths, his tone softening considerably. "Admitting you're wrong with words isn't enough, and apologizing solves nothing. Study hard. This is the only opportunity you can grasp, and it's the easiest thing you will ever do in your entire life. Sit down."
Wei Yuan sat down, turned the book back to page one, and began reading with earnest concentration. Bao Yun looked at Wei Yuan and asked, "Is your family very poor?"
Wei Yuan replied offhandedly, "My family farms. I remember one year there was a severe drought, and we couldn't even afford meat."
"Then... does your family have vehicles? You know, those really big machines that can sow seeds and harvest crops?"
"No vehicles. We have a donkey."
Another roar of laughter burst through the classroom. Boys and girls alike laughed, and someone even began imitating a donkey's bray.
Bao Yun did not laugh. Instead, she said, "I have money. From now on, you'll spend mine."
The laughter in the classroom stopped abruptly. Many of the boys slowly hung their mouths open, looks of "What does he have that I don't?" plastered across their faces.
A sweet-looking girl was sitting in the front row. She turned around to look at Wei Yuan, then looked at Bao Yun, asking, "Bao Yun, I heard you made him your boyfriend?"
"Yes."
The sweet-looking girl clearly did not believe it. "You definitely just wanted an obedient lackey. Girls like us need to keep a few lackeys around—it gives us face. Real boyfriends and girlfriends do, well... really intimate things."
"Is that so?" Bao Yun pulled Wei Yuan close and planted a kiss squarely on his cheek.
In an instant, dead silence fell over the room—followed by surging murderous intent.
Chapter 759