CH 43

Chen Jialin’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he saw Jiang Li’s face. He used both hands to dig into Jiang Li’s hand that was stuck on his neck, but Jiang Li’s hand that was holding his neck didn’t move.

Jiang Li was strangling Chen Jialin’s neck with one hand, he still had the same gentle and harmless look, but the bottom of his eyes was cold and tyrannical, looking at Chen Jialin as if he was something filthy.

The air in his lungs was squeezed out little by little, and the suffocating feeling from his neck being strangled frightened Chen Jialin. In desperation he reached out, wanting to scratch Jiang Li’s face. But before he could touch him he was punched fiercely by Jiang Li on his abdomen.

“!!!”

The pain in his abdomen was excruciating, but his neck was still strangled by Jiang Li. Chen Jialin couldn’t even shout out a full cry of pain. His throat could only let out a low, hoarse, whimper. A layer of cold sweat emerged from his forehead instantly and both of his legs were kicking around non-stop.

“Be quiet.”

Jiang Li stretched out a finger and gently shushed him, slightly relaxing the strength of his hand. He then suddenly tightened when Chen Jialin was rapidly breathing, interrupting his breath at which the air had not been fully inhaled into the lungs.

He loosened and quickly tightened his grip like a cat teasing a mouse. He played several times back and forth, and then slowly held tight. The fear of approaching death made Chen Jialin’s lips involuntarily twitch. The fear in the depth of his heart expanded without limit, his eyes slightly bulging.

At that moment he almost thought he was going to die, but the next second Jiang Li let go of his hand.

The fresh air came like a tidal wave, Chen Jialin covered his neck and coughed violently. His throat was itchy and painful, even his tears came out as he choked. It was as if he had gained a new life.

Jiang Li stood up and looked down at him curling up on the floor. His school uniform was stained by the dirty water on the ground, his whole person was in a mess. He waited for him to catch his breath before bending down to approach him.

As soon as he got close, Chen Jialin reflexively backed up and said in a hoarse voice, panicking, “What do you want? Don’t come over!”

Jiang Li was wearing the school uniform of the Second Middle School, his white polo shirt with blue edges was buttoned to the top one on the collar. After he had cut his hair, his whole person looked clean and well-behaved. It was unimaginable that he had been strangling Chen Jialin’s neck tyrannically earlier.

“I’m not gonna do anything.” Jiang Li stood upright, looking at him coldly, “I’m just teaching you how to be a human. Didn’t you think that Chi Fang pressing and rubbing Zhou Kai on the ground was fucking cool? I just let you experience it too, are you happy? Hmm?”

The word “hmm” was as if it came out from his chest. It sounded low and dangerous, making Chen Jialin feel a chill on his back. He looked at him getting closer and closer and hurriedly crawled on his hands and knees to the other side. Jiang Li stepped towards him quickly to block his way, grabbed his hair, and lifted him up.

The person was obviously a dozen centimeters taller than Jiang Li, but he carried him to the side of the sink like a chick. He pressed Chen Jialin’s head and shoved it under the faucet, and used the other hand to turn the faucet. With a splash, the water was sprayed rapidly on Chen Jialin’s head.

“… What are you doing? Let… let go of me… cough…”

Chen Jialin was drenched with a head of water. His eyes were washed by the water so that he couldn’t open them. His hands were waving simply. As soon as he opened his mouth to speak water flowed into it, choking him and making him cough. Jiang Li’s hands  that were holding the back of his neck made him sweat, afraid that he would choke himself to death in the next second.

“What am I doing?” Jiang Li laughed and turned on the faucet to the maximum, “Don’t you like this kind of game? Have you forgotten what you did last week?”

The previous Friday the original host had been responsible for cleaning the men’s toilet. As he was sweeping the water that had accumulated on the floor, he accidentally splashed a few drops on Chen Jialin’s shoes. Chen Jialin ignored his apology, directly pressed his head under the faucet, and splashed him with water. He had also asked him to pay for the dry cleaning of his shoes.

“… It’s my fault, you let go of me first… cough…” Chen Jialin said intermittently as he was washed and choked by the water.

Jiang Li grabbed his hair and collar and threw him to the ground, lifted his foot, stepped on his chest, and crushed it twice. He then looked at him condescendingly and asked in a gentle tone, “Now do you know what you did wrong?”

“Wu!!!” Chen Jialin’s chest was stepped on as he felt the pain. His whole person had been tortured by him to the point of having no strength left. His fingers shook nervously, taking out money from his pocket as he shivered and said with a crying voice, “I know I know, it’s my fault… I’ll give you back the money…”

Jiang Li pulled the money out of his hands, let go of the foot that was stepping on him, pulled the hem of his clothes, and resumed the appearance of a good student. He then looked at Chen Jialin and said, “If you dare to say a word about today’s matter…”

His gaze landed on Chen Jialin’s neck and he said with a smile on his face, “You also know that my family is very poor, only an old man who’s even a gambler, as the saying goes, If the upper beam is not straight, the lower ones will go aslant1, the barefoot is not afraid of wearing shoes2. If I’m forced, I’m not afraid to take it out on you, understand?”

His sight made Chen Jialin subconsciously reach out to protect his neck. The choking feeling of death when he was strangled was still fresh in his mind. How would he dare to say no to him? He quickly nodded his head and said in a hoarse voice, “I know, I will not say anything!”

Jiang Li was very satisfied. He took off the gloves he was wearing and stuffed them into the pocket of his school pants together with the money. He then went to the sink nearby, washed his hands, opened the door, and went out.

Chen Jialin saw him leaving and his tense shoulders slowly relaxed. He then leaned against the wall as if he was paralyzed.

After Jiang Li went out of the toilet, he even thoughtfully closed the outside door for Chen Jialin, giving him time to clean himself up.

It was already class time, so there was no one outside the toilet. Jiang Li stood at the door and loosened his shoulders. He then heard System say, “Lord host, I thought you would say that you didn’t want his stinky money just now.”

“Why not take it? This is what Jiang Li deserves.” Jiang Li said rightfully. He not only took, but also took double, “By the way, Little Cutie, didn’t I look handsome when I hit him just now?”

“Very much like Governor Liu.” System replied, “Very fierce.”

Jiang Li smiled at the words and lifted his feet in the direction of the classroom. He had told the teacher that he had a stomachache and asked for leave to go to the infirmary earlier, so now it was time for him to return.

The toilet was on the first floor and  the classroom was on the third floor, so when Jiang Li just reached the turning of the stairs he came face to face with the person coming down from the upper floor. After seeing the other party’s face clearly, his footsteps stopped.

The person who came down was Chi Fang, who had his hands in the pockets of his school pants and also stopped his footsteps when he saw Jiang Li.

One of them was higher up than the other. The moment their eyes met, the words “According to the development of the storyline, he will definitely create a chance to encounter you next” which had been said by Feng Yu that morning appeared in Chi Fang’s mind for some reason.

Chi Fang: “…”

Jiang Li had no way of knowing what was going through his mind. As he thought about increasing the favorability, the first thing he did was to show him a delighted smile. “Chi Fang, what a coincidence!”

What a coincidence? Is it really a coincidence… Chi Fang thought in his heart.

He kept his expression and stayed silent. He simply nodded his head and walked down the stairs. As the two of them passed each other, Jiang Li suddenly reached out, pulled the hem of his shirt, and asked anxiously, “Where are you going, Chi Fang? Class has already started.”

Chi Fang looked down at the corner of his shirt that was pulled. He was very unhappy to be touched by someone he was not familiar with. He said with a slightly cold tone, “Let go.”

“I’m sorry!” Jiang Li reacted and hurriedly let go of his hand, took two steps back, lowered his head, and apologized repeatedly, “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to pull your clothes, I just…”

He hesitated twice and stole a glance at Chi Fang with the corner of his eyes before he carefully said, “Class has already started, I’m just afraid that you’ll be scolded by the teacher if you leave at this time.”

“Is it any of your business?” Chi Fang frowned, very unhappy with his obsequious attitude, thinking, why a big guy like him was acting like a little girl. But when he thought that he was initially a little sissy who liked men, he felt justified.

“I’m just worried about you.” Jiang Li said softly.

“Worried about me?” Chi Fang snickered and sized him up, “Are you very close with me? There’s no need for you to worry about me.”

Jiang Li was dumbfounded by his words. His expression was a little hurt. He looked at him blankly, then lowered his head, “… sorry.”

His words filled with ‘sorrys’ made Chi Fang feel inexplicably annoyed, as if he was no different from the people who bullied Jiang Li as mentioned by Feng Yu. He felt angry just looking at him. Out of sight, out of mind, he turned and left. 

Jiang Li looked at the back of Chi Fang leaving, the corners of his lips curved. He turned around and went upstairs.

The third period was math class. Jiang Li took a leave before he came out, so when he came back the teacher didn’t give him a hard time. After waiting for him to return to his seat, the teacher called the students to answer the questions on the podium.

Jiang Li had lived two lifetimes, high school was something very far away for him. Sitting in the classroom and listening to the teacher’s lecture gave him a wonderful feeling, he then listened with great interest.

The original host was actually a very hard-working child in learning, but his brain wasn’t flexible nor smart enough. Even if he worked twice as hard as others, it wasn’t effective. His results had always been ranked in the middle of the class.

But even so, he still  dreamed of going to Tsinghua University.

Jiang Li touched the word “Tsinghua University” engraved on the edge of the table with his finger, and decided to fulfill this dream for him.

After school, Jiang Li ate and took a ride to South Slope Street to get his new glasses. After he received the glasses, he took out the contact lenses to change.

The oval, silver-rimmed glasses added a touch of indifference and shrewdness to the original host’s excessively well-behaved and delicate face, suppressing the previous soft look and giving it more of an elite schoolboy feel.

After leaving the optical store and passing the police station next door, Jiang Li remembered that it was also there where he had seen Chi Fang. He involuntarily stopped to look inside, and surprisingly saw Chi Fang coming out from the station. The two met again.

“According to the development of the story line, he will definitely create a chance to encounter you next. First, he will make you familiar with him by appearing in front of you, and then slowly he will work on capturing your heart and body.”

The moment he saw Jiang Li, Feng Yu’s words resonated in Chi Fang’s mind again like a curse, what a pain in the balls.

Chi Fang: “…”

God damn story development.

When the superiors (or parents) do not set a good example, the subordinates (or children) are not expected behave well.

a beggar can never be bankrupt