Chapter 16: Are Poor People People?
Because Chen Li fell, the entire row of desks that were hit formed a domino effect, and a total of four desks fell.
The girl next to Chen Li’s seat quickly rushed forward to help Chen Li up. The other girls rushed towards Nie Qiu. Nie Qiu, clutching her foot that had been stepped on and hurt, retreated repeatedly. She didn’t want to fight with these girls, not at all. She was already thirty-eight years old, not eighteen. It could be said that she was very rational. When Chen Li attacked her earlier, she only defended and didn’t attack. It was only after Chen Li went too far that she flipped Chen Li to the ground. Everyone has their own bottom line. Chen Li had completely angered her. If they were to fight, although Nie Qiu didn’t want to, she wouldn’t let herself suffer!
Li Kai and Luo Xu, who had been watching the drama from outside the classroom for a while, exchanged glances and saw the surprise in each other’s eyes. They stepped into the classroom. Li Kai glanced at Chen Li, “If there’s something, settle it outside the school! It’s almost time for class, aren’t you afraid of the teacher coming?”
Chen Li grabbed a girl next to her, “Bai Ya, forget it!”
The girl named Bai Ya nodded, thinking Li Kai made a lot of sense. She then told the other girls to return to their seats and gave Nie Qiu a fierce glare.
Chen Li smiled at Nie Qiu, “Very good, Nie Qiu, you have completely angered me!” Chen Li sneered, “Wait for me after school.”
Nie Qiu didn’t answer. She squatted down again and started looking for the coins that had fallen on the ground. She had already picked up two ten-yuan RMB bills and anything within her line of sight on the ground. However… for the three subjects, forty-five yuan, she only found thirty-nine yuan, still short six yuan.
Six yuan is not much. Really, for the Nie Qiu of the past, if six yuan in coins fell on the ground, she wouldn’t even bend down to pick them up. However, for this family, six yuan was enough for a family of one or two meals.
Nie Qiu saw two under the fallen desks and was about to go pick them up, but the owner of the desk lifted it. Seeing Nie Qiu walking towards him, he frowned, “Are you crazy? Get lost, you dirty ghost! Poverty sickness, stay away from me, you’re disgusting.”
Crazy? Dirty ghost? Poverty sickness? Disgusting? Was this the environment in which the previous Nie Qiu lived and studied? Nie Qiu sighed in her heart, staring at the boy who had cursed her, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes. She said fiercely, “What did you say? Say that again?!” She rubbed her hands together, her knuckles making ‘crackling’ sounds. Her hand was still hurting from being stepped on by Chen Li, so rubbing them could also be a form of exercise. To the classmates in the classroom, it looked like the ‘warm-up exercise’ that the boss often did on TV before beating someone up.
That gesture alone made the boy disdainful, “You can scare them, but you can’t scare me. Get lost.”
The arrogant tone and arrogant laugh both made Nie Qiu unexpectedly angry. Just as Nie Qiu was about to throw a punch, she heard Chen Li slam the table and stand up, “Wang Chao Lei, what the hell did you say? I was scared by her? I would be scared by her?”
Wang Chao Lei crossed his arms and sneered, “I don’t know who was scared back two steps by that poor ghost Nie Qiu! You’re simply embarrassing us.”
Chen Li, ignoring her deskmate’s attempts to stop her, suddenly lunged at Wang Chao Lei, “What did you say? Say that again, you bastard.”
Nie Qiu took a deep breath and didn’t speak. She just squatted down, carefully picked up the two yuan coins on the ground, and then returned to her seat. Her deskmate, the boy named Li Kai, was already leisurely sitting there playing with his mobile phone.
Nie Qiu didn’t speak. She just took out a very old iron pencil case and carefully put the coins in it. Four yuan were missing. Nie Qiu couldn’t help but give a bitter smile, four yuan short.
But even for four yuan, she didn’t know how to earn it.
Li Kai saw Nie Qiu looking at the coins in her pencil case with a bitter smile and couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Missing?”
Nie Qiu nodded and vaguely replied, “Four yuan is missing.”
Li Kai heard Nie Qiu’s words and asked, “Are you short of money?”
Nie Qiu shook her head and took out the books from her schoolbag. It seemed she would have to go and hand the money to the homeroom teacher during the break. With some missing, she could only hand in what she had for the three subjects first.
“I’m the class monitor, you should know that. If you need anything, you can come to me. Don’t be polite with me, especially since… we’re deskmates.” Li Kai didn’t get angry even though Nie Qiu ignored him. Instead, he said enthusiastically, “Don’t be polite with me.” He was really too curious. How could Nie Qiu be like a completely different person after being discharged from the hospital? Not only did she dare to talk to the teacher, dare to talk to him, but she even dared to provoke Chen Li, who had beaten her into the hospital. Could it be… she wanted to go to the hospital again? Or did she meet someone or experience something in the hospital that caused her personality to change drastically?
Nie Qiu looked at the young man in front of her, who was smiling but didn’t feel the slightest bit of friendliness, and gently shook her head, “No need, thank you.”
Li Kai’s face was a little embarrassed. A boy sitting in front of them heard their conversation and turned to glare at Nie Qiu, “Nie Qiu, don’t be ungrateful. You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a fine, you…”
“Alright, don’t scare her. The class bell has already rung, and the teacher will be here soon.” Li Kai interrupted the boy with a frown. He didn’t look at Nie Qiu and just took out his mobile phone from his purse and continued playing with it.
Li Kai, who seemed to be unaffected, was actually furious. Who was he? He was a true prodigal son. His father was the mayor of this city, and his mother was the general manager of a group. He had been pampered since he was a child, getting whatever he wanted. Who saw him without eagerly trying to get close to him? Even the daughter of the biggest conglomerate boss in this city had to give him some face.
He kindly wanted to help Nie Qiu, but unexpectedly, she ignored him and even said “no need.” Fine, fine! Very good, no need! Then let’s wait and see! Li Kai thought angrily.
Nie Qiu had expected to be intercepted by Chen Li and her group after school, but she didn’t expect to be intercepted in this place. To be honest, this place was almost home, in a half-demolished residential area not far from her own.
They must have either been following her the whole time waiting for fewer people, or they were already familiar with her route home. She sighed, took off her schoolbag from her back, and threw it on the ground. She took off her school uniform and tied it around her waist. She beckoned to the people who were stunned by her actions and got into a stance, “Are you coming one by one, or all at once?” Her tone was disdainful and arrogant.
Chen Li crossed her arms and snorted, “Nie Qiu, do you think you’re some martial arts master? What’s with the stance? If you obediently let us beat you up, I might consider not breaking your arms or legs. If you really intend to resist, then don’t blame me.”
