Volume 4: Days of Making Mischief at School
Revenge
She wants revenge
“The key to leaving this instance lies with her,” Lou Jingmo said flatly. “If we can quell her anger before dawn tomorrow, we can successfully escape this world.”
Her tone was too calm. For a moment, Shen Maomao felt as if they weren’t struggling among ghosts and monsters, but rather carrying a shopping basket ready to buy groceries downstairs.
“I understand the logic…” Shen Maomao asked, “but how can we quell her anger?”
“It’s simple——” Lou Jingmo said, “just help her get revenge.”
Revenge?
Those two short words, who knows how many lives they encompassed.
Shen Maomao felt her brain split into two parts – emotionally she supported revenge, but rationally she believed fighting violence with violence wasn’t the best solution.
Golden Retriever beside them was completely out of it. As a man, he was naturally missing two strings of sensitivity and delicacy in his head compared to girls, and didn’t understand empathy either, which actually made him more suited for the game than Shen Maomao.
He asked in confusion: “What does this have to do with the black umbrella?”
“Not much,” Lou Jingmo replied, “The day she jumped from the building, it happened to be raining. From that height, she would have been seriously injured at most, not died, but the shop below had set up a large black umbrella to shelter their merchandise…”
Shen Maomao dared not imagine the scene further, but even without imagining, everyone knew what a bloody sight it must have been.
“However, revenge isn’t the only way…” Lou Jingmo glanced at her and suddenly changed her tune, “We can try to change the story. Time has returned to the first day of school, before the bear child had a chance to court death. Perhaps we can solve the problem at its source, nipping it in the bud.” Though the possibility was slim, because what Teacher Zhao needed wasn’t prevention of the incident, but a spectacular revenge…
But she didn’t tell Shen Maomao this point. Low possibility didn’t mean no possibility. Since Shen Maomao couldn’t bear it, she’d give her a fighting chance – perhaps this was Lou Jingmo’s unique form of gentleness?
Sure enough, Shen Maomao got a bit excited, fired up like she’d been injected with chicken blood: “Where should we start?”
Golden Retriever cut in: “First find the problem kid? Let me tell you, I’m thief 6 [賊6 | zéi liù | internet slang meaning extremely good] at beating up troublesome kids.”
He didn’t much like children, but the troublesome kids in his family always came to bother him, so he’d beaten up all his nephews and nieces, and afterward, they’d all become wary of him and never played with him again.
Actions speak louder than words – since they’d agreed on a strategy, regardless of whether it would work or not, they had to at least try.
The three formed a small group and cornered the mastermind of the incident, the king among the problem children, a shrewd-looking little boy.
The little boy’s friend, fearing that he, an innocent fish that will suffer when the pond is drained [殃及池魚 | yāng jí chí yú | idiom: collateral damage], slowly inched backward, and seeing he was about to leave their line of sight, suddenly turned and ran.
Lou Jingmo wasn’t worried at all, casually lifting her chin in the direction he fled: “Go.” She had quite the aura of a female gang leader.
Shen Maomao sprang into action, shooting out like a small cannonball, catching up to the little boy who had just eaten and had little strength in a few steps, tackling him from behind onto the grass, then twisting his arm and pinning him to the ground.
The little boy howled in pain, snot and tears streaming down his face in fright, forgetting even to resist.
Shen Maomao sighed in relief – if such a big problem child had struggled recklessly, she might not have been able to hold him down.
She yanked the little boy up and fierely ordered him to walk forward: “No crying! Get moving now!”
The little boy walked over to the others clutching his arm, sniffling and hiccuping, wanting to cry but not daring to make a sound, looking utterly pitiful.
Shen Maomao shoved him next to his friend, reuniting the good brothers, while she herself returned to Lou Jingmo’s side, like Sister Lou’s most loyal bootlicker, following orders without question.
The surrounded boy had maintained a precocious demeanor, showing no fear even when cornered, but after Shen Maomao’s display of killing a chicken to warn the monkeys [殺雞儆猴 | shā jī jǐng hóu | idiom: making an example], he couldn’t help feeling scared, though he still tried to appear calm as he asked: “What do you want? Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell the teacher?”
Hearing this, Golden Retriever laughed: “Now you think of finding a teacher? Why didn’t you think about Teacher Zhao when you were trying to frame her?”
Upon hearing these words, the little boy immediately understood their intentions: “So you’re Teacher Zhao’s running dogs [走狗 | zǒu gǒu | derogatory term for lackey]!” For elementary school students of this era, students who helped teachers and tattled were traitors among them, ostracized by all students.
Golden Retriever ran behind him, raised his leg and kicked his bottom, knocking him flat, then planted a foot on his back, asking coldly: “You dare use any words you learn from adults? Got a mouth and just babble whatever? Don’t know what you can and can’t say?”
His rare display of ferocity startled even Shen Maomao, who whispered to Lou Jingmo behind her: “Sister Lou, look at Golden Retriever, isn’t he more like a gang boss than you?”
Lou Jingmo: “? When was I ever a boss?” Was this rabbit misunderstanding something about her?
Shen Maomao giggled and stopped talking, lest she get beaten up later.
Whether Golden Retriever heard their whispers or not was unclear, but it didn’t stop him from continuing to play the boss, raising his leg to give the little boy another kick while threatening: “You better cut out all your little tricks quick. My father runs in the underworld [道上混 | dào shàng hùn | involved in criminal/gang activities], dealing with you would be child’s play! When the time comes, not only will you suffer misfortune, but your whole family will suffer because of you!”
“Sister Lou, do you think Golden Retriever’s family really has some situation? How is he so experienced at this?”
Lou Jingmo: “…Maybe.”
Golden Retriever who could actually hear them: “…” He wasn’t! He didn’t!!
The little radish heads were too busy being scared to hear clearly what they were saying. The boy whose arm Shen Maomao had twisted was frightened into loud crying, starting to throw the pot [甩鍋 | shuǎi guō | meaning: deflect responsibility]: “I don’t know anything wuwuwuwu, it was all his doing! Please don’t find my mom wuwuwuwu…”
The boy lying on the ground spat at him viciously: “Peh! No loyalty!”
Golden Retriever gave him another kick: “What? Only those who do bad things with you count as being loyal?”
The little boy’s face was buried in the grass, yet he started to chuckle lowly: “Hehehehehe…”
Shen Maomao froze, hesitating: “Did Golden Retriever beat this kid stupid?”
Lou Jingmo: “…”
Golden Retriever: “…”
After finishing his self-satisfied laugh, when the little boy spoke again, his tone had completely changed: “You’re thinking too simply, aren’t you?”
“Hm?” Shen Maomao stepped forward, and together with Golden Retriever pulled him up from the ground, then asked, “What do you mean?”
The little boy lowered his eyelids and spoke a sentence: “If it’s not me, there will be others…” He raised his head, revealing a face with a smile, “You’ll never get out… Stay here and keep me company!”
As soon as the words fell, black qi spewed from his grinning mouth, rushing straight toward Shen Maomao.
Shen Maomao tried to retreat, but both she and Golden Retriever were firmly grabbed by the little boy, unable to break free no matter how they struggled.
The black mist corroded the air, emitting a numbing “zzzzt” sound. If hit by it, one’s flesh would likely be corroded away.
At this critical moment, Lou Jingmo flew into a kick that landed on his arm. This not only made him release his grip in pain but sent him flying several meters. While the black mist still crackled in mid-air, Shen Maomao and Golden Retriever quickly backed away, distancing themselves from the dangerous area.
Once safe, Shen Maomao didn’t forget to continue being a qualified Lou-fan, immediately flattering Lou Jingmo: “Sister Lou has supernatural strength! So amazing!”
Lou Jingmo: “I used a small prop.”
Shen Maomao immediately changed her tune: “Sister Lou is so knowledgeable, you probably have more props than Golden Retriever could get with his money ability!”
Golden Retriever gave her a very disgusted look, then asked Lou Jingmo: “Sister Xiaolou, he’s not dead, is he?”
That little boy lay on the ground, motionless for a long while, indeed looking like something had happened to him…
As he spoke about going to check, Lou Jingmo reached out to stop him: “If you don’t want to die, don’t go.”
Golden Retriever’s steps halted, very obediently stopping in place. Beside him, Shen Maomao also turned to look at the little boy and asked: “Sister Lou, what did he mean by those words? Why do I feel like he knows we’re players?”
Lou Jingmo looked at her and sighed: “Shen Maomao, you need to understand, it’s not that I don’t want to resolve things peacefully.”
Shen Maomao looked completely confused: “??”
Lou Jingmo spoke with rare earnestness: “What Teacher Zhao needs is revenge, not making up for regrets by killing everything in its cradle. So even if he’s not the one who made the mistake—”
She glanced sideways at the boy on the ground, “If it’s not him, someone else will take his place.”
After finishing these words, she expressionlessly looked toward the teaching building, her sharp eyes catching a white figure on the rooftop.
The next second, she reached out and covered Shen Maomao’s ears.
Shen Maomao was dumbfounded, slightly lowering her head to look at Lou Jingmo.
In Lou Jingmo’s black pupils, her tiny reflection was mirrored, and she could even see her own startled expression in Lou Jingmo’s eyes.
This distance was a bit too close even for best girlfriends. With her ears covered, her heartbeat was amplified several times, pounding in her mind.
She caught a faint orange scent from Lou Jingmo, and randomly wondered if Sister Lou had been secretly eating oranges behind her back?
Then came a thud so loud she could hear it even through covered ears.
Like something falling from high up on the building, startling Shen Maomao with a jolt.
Lou Jingmo removed her hands from covering her ears, raised her arm and rubbed her puppy head: “Don’t be afraid.”
Shen Maomao’s heart beat even faster.
Golden Retriever’s face turned deathly pale, not daring to look back, asking in a trembling voice: “What… happened behind us?”
Lou Jingmo looked at the puddle of muck that was reconstructing itself on the ground behind them, and said coldly: “It’s beginning.”
The author has something to say:
The story presented in this instance may not necessarily be the truth.
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