How come you're also my ex-girlfriend?

When Shen Yourong followed the three people to a park near the school gate, she gripped her backpack strap tightly with one hand and held her phone tightly with the other, her knuckles turning white.

"Shen Yourong, are you comfortable in your new class?"

A short-haired girl named Chang Yu put her arm around the girl next to her and squinted at the girl who was looking down.

Shen Yourong looked up at them weakly, "It's...it's okay, nothing's different from before."

The tone was cautious, as if afraid of saying something that might offend them.

Chang Yu sneered, "Nothing's different? Are you really comfortable without us, your good friends?"

"..."

Shen Yourong fell silent, seemingly unsure how to respond.

The girl next to Chang Yu shoved Shen Yourong's shoulder without any hesitation, saying, "I'm asking you a question, are you mute?!"

Shen Yourong staggered back a step, but dared not run away or talk back. She could only say in a pitiful voice, "But... I did all the homework for you... I really didn't know..."

"Who the hell asked you that?!"

Chang Yu glared fiercely at Shen Yourong.

Shen Yourong immediately fell silent and dared not speak again.

Seemingly impatient, Chang Yu stepped forward, grabbed Shen Yourong by the collar, and forced her to look at him.

"Still playing dumb, huh? Don't you know why I'm looking for you?"

"I..."

"What did I tell you before? I was right behind you during the exam, and I asked you not to block my view of the test paper so I could see it a little. What did you do?"

Chang Yu's fierce expression made Shen Yourong's eyes redden.

She looked like she was trying her best to explain, "I...I showed you...the proctor was nearby the whole time, I really couldn't have made it too obvious..."

"You showed it to me? You fucking showed me the wrong one! And you have the nerve to say that? Damn it... I've been so good to you, seducing my boyfriend while pretending to be innocent, wasn't it you? You think it's beneath you to ask me to do something? Do you really want me to tell everyone how you, this slut, acted like an innocent lotus?!"

Shen Yourong looked even more aggrieved and shook her head vigorously.

"I...I didn't seduce your boyfriend! Zhang Ziyu was the one who initiated the conversation, and...and we didn't even talk about anything, and he didn't tell me he was dating you..."

"Bullshit! Still trying to deny it? I'll beat you to death, you bitch!"

Just as Chang Yu seemed to have reached his limit and was about to strike, raising his arm high, ready to deliver a slap, Shen Yourong closed her eyes as if resigned to her fate.

"Which class are you from?!"

A sudden shout interrupted Chang Yu's actions. The key was not who shouted it, but the content and tone of the words, which immediately triggered the three people's instinctive reactions.

It was like a conditioned reflex, directly triggering the underlying code of the student.

This made the three girls think about turning around and running away immediately so that their faces wouldn't be seen.

But after taking one look, someone exclaimed in confusion, "Wait, who is this?!"

Shen Yourong stood there in a daze, not yet realizing what had happened, when a slightly familiar aura came through the wind to her side.

Only then did she belatedly turn her head and see the tall, slender boy, who looked like a towering tower, with sunlight shining on his hair and profile, as if he were glowing.

His handsome face was calm, yet carried an unprecedented coldness.

At this moment, in Shen Yourong's eyes, the tall figure completely overshadowed her, and she was like a speck of dust in the shadow.

The three girls finally realized what was happening, and Chang Yu couldn't help but say, "Who are you?! What's it to you? What business is it of yours if we old classmates are having a chat!"

Xu Yan said with a laugh, "Is this how you old classmates meet: first you threaten them, then you slap them? Are all your classmates your benefactors?"

Chang Yu's face flushed red, and she immediately retorted, "Did I slap her? Is she injured? What are you going to do, help this scheming woman report this to the teacher? Playing the hero, huh? You don't deserve it!"

Xu Yan had absolutely no interest in this kind of verbal sparring.

He clearly understood that someone who was already in their final year of high school and was still doing such bad things couldn't be dealt with by mere persuasion or guidance; he needed to take them home to be guided.

Bad is bad.

He had no interest in understanding what made them become the way they were—their family background, their upbringing… Just because they themselves were hurt, they could vent their anger on weaker people—that was utter bullshit.

So he simply reached out his hand to Chang Yu and then raised his middle finger.

"You idiot."

"...What did you say?!" Chang Yu couldn't believe that a boy would say such filthy things to her.

"I said you're an idiot, no, all three of you are idiots." Xu Yan said, his voice growing colder as Shen Yourong stared in astonishment.

This blunt and direct statement immediately made the three girls blush and start cursing at Xu Yan.

"How can you, a man, act like a shrew! Don't you have any manners?!"

"My manners are reserved for people with manners. As for you stray dogs, sorry, I'll f*** you."

"You're just a lover that Shen Yourong, that innocent-looking woman, found to play the victim. What are you pretending for!"

"Never mind what I'm up to. It's better than you idiots whose heads are full of shit, who only know how to bully classmates and cheat, and spew filth from their mouths."

"If you swear again, I'll tear your mouth apart!"

"I'll curse, I'll curse, you idiots, you idiots, you idiots~"

The angry, layered curses were barely audible; all that could be felt was their intense atmosphere, suggesting a potential for an immediate conflict.

However, Xu Yan simply stood there, suppressing his opponent with his obvious physical advantage.

He was just as assertive, without resorting to physical violence, and simply launched a verbal attack.

A shrewish woman yelling in the street? So what? I'm a gentleman who uses words, not fists.

This is a modern-day version of the debate with a group of scholars, my family.

The boy maintained his composure and continued to deliver his message: "Are you going to lay a hand on me or not? If you're too scared to fight, then don't yell. If you can't control your mouth, you'd better keep your mom hidden."

Would Chang Yu and the others dare to make a move? Of course not. They are already in their final year of high school, not at an age where they can explain their actions as being too young and ignorant.

Moreover, the school rules of Liangcheng Normal University Affiliated High School are there for all to see. Whether it's inside or outside the school, the consequences of such a conflict are unbearable, and no matter how much your family tries to protect you, it won't help.

They can only curse, but they don't dare to really escalate the situation. What will be the outcome of giving up? It's hard to say how the school will handle it.

What they found slightly unacceptable was that the three of them couldn't even out-argue a boy! And they even dragged the silent Shen Yourong along as a burden!

So when the boy who was protecting Shen Yourong saw the three of them react, he sneered: "Useless. You're useless even when you're trying to scare people, and you're even more useless when you insult people like you're being coquettish."

Chang Yu: "...Who the hell is trying to be cute with you!"

"Stop talking nonsense, do you have anything else? You can't even swear properly, yet you pretend to be a school bully and bully your classmates? If there's nothing else, we're leaving."

"you...!"

Xu Yan chuckled and turned to look at Shen Yourong, who was still in a daze, seemingly completely unprepared for Xu Yan's 'fierce' demeanor.

"Let's go, they're useless now."

"Ah... Oh oh."

Shen Yourong looked up at the three people who were frozen in place, unable to do anything. She turned around gently and followed Xu Yan's footsteps.

Feeling humiliated by Xu Yan, Chang Yu had no choice but to retort fiercely, "Tell me your name if you dare!" She couldn't possibly start a fight.

"I'm Qin Yifan, from Experimental Class 5. Come at me if you dare."

"Qin Yifan, is it... just you wait!"

Yes, Young Master Qin isn't afraid of trouble. He's a partner of justice, and this is just to give him a sense of participation. There's no problem with that.

……