Chapter 151: Punishment

Chapter 151: Chapter 151: Punishment

"I just went to the bathroom too," Xu Yi mumbled, shrinking back.

"Chen Zhuang, you talk," Lin Jia Bao demanded, his tone growing even harsher as he turned to another boy.

"Don’t know," Chen Zhuang said lazily, twirling a pen in his hand.

"What, did you go to the bathroom too?" Lin Jia Bao sneered. He then turned to the rest of the class and shouted angrily, "What about everyone else? Did not a single one of you see anything? Did you all go to the damned bathroom?"

"Hey, who do you think you are, acting so high and mighty? What gives you the right to question us like that? So what if we did see something and just don’t feel like telling you?" Chen Zhuang shot to his feet. He was clearly much taller than Lin Jia Bao, and true to his name, he was built strong, making him all the more intimidating.

"So what if I cussed you out? If you’ve got the guts, come and hit me," Lin Jia Bao shot back, not the least bit afraid. Chen Zhuang was also one of the kids from the textile factory’s family courtyard, so he was certain the other boy wouldn’t dare do anything serious to him. He wasn’t just unafraid; he was defiant.

Lin Jia Bao never expected that the moment the words left his mouth, Chen Zhuang would actually throw a punch. He was stunned for a second. Having never been on the losing end of a confrontation like this, he swung back without a second thought... The scene instantly spiraled out of control. The two boys traded blows, a chaotic flurry of fists and feet. The surrounding students, loving the drama, crowded in to cheer them on. A few troublemakers even took advantage of the chaos to land a few sneak attacks on Lin Jia Bao. With punches and kicks coming from all sides, the already outmatched Lin Jia Bao was soon bruised and battered, completely overpowered by Chen Zhuang.

Lin Jiayi stood on the side, frantic, wanting to rush in and break up the fight. But after taking a couple of stray hits, she didn’t dare get any closer. All she could do was cry and shout, "Stop fighting! Stop it! All of you, stop fighting!"

"Stop it, all of you!"

Their homeroom teacher, Teacher He, walked in with her textbook tucked under her arm. She was stunned, then started trembling with rage. She couldn’t believe it. All she did was talk to the art teacher about swapping classes, and in the few short minutes she was late, the classroom had descended into chaos. Her students were openly brawling.

The world went silent in an instant. Except for the two boys who had been fighting and Lin Jiayi, everyone who had left their seat scurried back and sat down properly.

"Getting bold, are we? Final exams are right around the corner! Instead of making every second count and studying for a good grade so you can enjoy your two-month summer vacation, you decide to fight at a critical time like this? You don’t want to study, fine, but you have to disrupt the other students in the class too..." Without even asking what happened, Teacher He launched into a tirade against the three students still standing—Lin Jiayi, Lin Jia Bao, and Chen Zhuang. Finally, she pointed at the door. "All of you, get out and stand in the hall! If you don’t want to learn, there are plenty of other students who do."

The moment Teacher He finished speaking, Chen Zhuang immediately started walking out. As he reached the doorway, he secretly shot Lin Jia Bao the middle finger.

Lin Jia Bao’s face went ashen. Relying on the fact that Teacher He had always treated him somewhat specially, he stuck his neck out and yelled, "Teacher He, Chen Zhuang started it! And this has nothing to do with my sister! She wasn’t part of the fight!"

"Not part of it? If she wasn’t part of it, what is she still standing here for? Did you hear me? Both of you, get out and stand in the hall!" Teacher He shot the siblings a look of disgust. They were just standing there, treating her words like they were nothing but wind. The rumors she had been hearing recently came to mind, and her dislike for the pair intensified. She spoke without a shred of courtesy.

"Teacher He, it really wasn’t our fault," Lin Jiayi said, sobbing. "Someone put an earthworm in my pencil case. My brother just stood up and asked everyone who did it, and Chen Zhuang started hitting him. He threw the first punch, so my brother fought back."

"Did you not hear me tell you to get out and stand in the hall? Do you know that time is precious? Are you only happy when you’re wasting the entire class’s precious time?" Teacher He was incandescent with rage. Her authority had been challenged again and again by a student, and her fury was boiling over. "I’ll ask one more time: are you going out or not? If you don’t get out right now, then you can stop attending my class from now on. I can’t teach students like you who only cause chaos and refuse to be taught."

"We’ll go," Lin Jiayi answered quickly. Crying, she grabbed Lin Jia Bao, who was still struggling to argue, and pulled him toward the door.

"Sis, Teacher He is totally wrong! She didn’t even bother to ask what happened..." Out in the hallway, the classroom door SLAMMED shut, nearly hitting the siblings in the face. Lin Jia Bao wrenched his hand free from Lin Jiayi’s grasp, his face a mask of stubbornness and humiliation. "I’m going to go home and tell Grandpa. They’re all bullying us."

"Heh, go on then, run and tattle. Let’s see if that so-called grandfather of yours will still protect you," Chen Zhuang sneered from the side.

"What do you mean by that? Our grandfather is not some ’so-called’ grandfather!"

Besides anger, confusion flickered across Lin Jiayi and Lin Jia Bao’s faces. Something was wrong. This was their first day back at school after being absent for so many days, but the entire day had been incredibly strange. When they arrived that morning, not a single person had come over to see how they were. During lunch, everyone seemed to be deliberately avoiding them. And by the afternoon, things had gotten even worse...

’Just why has everyone’s attitude toward us done a complete 180? Could it be that something happened at home while we were gone? Is Grandpa not the factory director anymore?’

The two siblings stared at Chen Zhuang. "Tell us. You know something, don’t you?"

"Tsk tsk, how pitiful. You mean you two are the only ones who don’t know what everyone else already knows?" Chen Zhuang said with a mocking shake of his head.

"What does everyone know?" Lin Jia Bao finally understood he needed to calm down and fish for information.

"Why should I tell you?" Chen Zhuang snorted and turned his head away.

"I’ll let you borrow my *Journey to the West* picture book set," Lin Jia Bao said through gritted teeth.

"Borrow? I might consider telling you if you give it to me," Chen Zhuang said bluntly.

"Fine, it’s yours." Lin Jia Bao steeled himself, swallowing the heartache. "I’ll go get it after school and bring it to you tomorrow. You can tell us now, right?"

"I can tell you now, sure. But if you break your promise and don’t bring me the books tomorrow, I won’t let it slide. I’ll beat you up every time I see you. I’ll beat you until your own mother can’t recognize you, got it?" After a moment’s thought, Chen Zhuang threatened him with a raised fist.

"A promise is a promise. Now hurry up and talk. I’ll do what I said." Lin Jia Bao steeled his resolve, thinking of the brand-new, treasured set of *Dream of the Red Chamber* picture books he had brought to his grandmother’s house. ’Out with the old, in with the new,’ he thought grimly. ’At worst, I’ll just have to find an excuse to get Grandpa to buy me a new set later.’