Chapter 31: Protection

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ever since she was nagged on by Jiang Shuxuan, Gu Xiqiao had never stepped foot on this alley. The reason why she did so today was that the system had issued a mission for her, and a red arrow was floating in front of her, pointing towards the alleyway.

At the end of the alley, a group of people was beating someone up.

The one that was surrounded was a youngster in a white t-shirt and jeans that had been washed so many times that it had become bleached. He held a pole in his hand that was stained with blood and was swinging towards one of the people in the group. He didn’t have any special order in which he attacked, and beat whoever it was he chose as much as he could. Evidently, he had been in many fights of the sort and had a great aim, but there were too many people surrounding him so he was wounded, a trail of blood flowing down his leg which had probably been slashed by a knife.

These people weren’t like the ones that Wu Hongwen had met, their arms and necks tattooed heavily and were real gangsters that had been doing this sort of thing on society for a long time.

That young man couldn’t stand it anymore.

Gu Xiqiao knew that it was difficult to defeat these people with her feeble martial arts, and so she immediately bough Master status from the system. She was currently in a bad mood, and these people were the best sandbags for her to relieve her frustration.

Even though they were ferocious, but they weren’t a match for Gu Xiqiao in Master status, who could break their limbs without breaking a sweat.

That being said, she still held back a little as she walked around, making these buff men drop to the ground with a single flick of her wrist.

If someone were to see this, they would say that it seemed like she was teasing a bunch of puppies.

These gangsters wanted to run away, but they felt as if they were surrounded by an invisible barrier, and they could only plead for mercy. After Gu Xiqiao played enough, she waved them away.

“Thank you for sparing us!” And so the gangsters fled with their tails between their legs, not wanting to stay in the presence of this terrifying girl for even more than a second. Was she even human?

Gu Xiqiao looked over at the young man that had slumped down at the corner.

“Thank you.” Luo Wenlang’s cheeks were devoid of any color.

“No worries.”

As soon as she got the reward points, she turned around and left.

Luo Wenlang looked up at her, and upon seeing her face, his extremely smart brain immediately remembered who she was. “Please wait!”

Gu Xiqiao stopped and turned around to look at him.

“I’m Luo Wenlang from the Rocket Class, I know you’re from our school, I saw you in our school canteen before.” Luo Wenlang took out his school card and showed it to her.

Gu Xiqiao read it carefully, seeing the familiar name on the card. “And?”

“Do you have any money?” He looked at Gu Xiqiao seriously and handed her his school card. “I’m promise I’m going to return it to you, and you can keep this card as collateral. I’m Luo Wenlang from the Rocket Class.” He stated again.

His left fist gripped tightly, and his gaze was dark and gloomy as if he was on the brink of despair. Who would lend a stranger their money?

He smiled bitterly, and the glint of hope in his heart disappeared.

“Oh.” Gu Xiqiao looked at him without saying another word, before crouching down and placing her backpack on the ground, opening it and taking out a stack of money. This was the leftover money from that time at the shopping center, and then she patted her pockets and took out the money she had leftover from buying milk tea. “How much do you need? I only have this amount on me right now, and if this isn’t enough we can go find an ATM?”

The system analyzed that his desire for money had reached five stars, but it didn’t activate a mission. That being said, she still loaned him money.

She knew that despaired gaze better than anyone.

Luo Wenlang looked at her, before accepting the money with trembling fingers, counting them carefully. There were 2528.5 dollars. He covered his eyes with his hand, his voice hoarse as if he were going to cry. “It’s more than enough.”

“Alright, keep it.” Gu Xiqiao took out another vial of transparent liquid from her backpack and threw it over to him. “This is for your leg. I’m going now.”

“Let me escort you.” Luo Wenlang stood up shakily and followed behind her. He knew how confusing these alleys were.

“No need.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at his leg that was still bleeding.

Even though she said so, Luo Wenlang still followed behind her quietly. The good looking young man’s head was lowered, and his lips were pursed in thought, only turning around and going back upon seeing her leave the alleys.

The next day, Gu Xiqiao woke up and had her usual morning run, before drinking a bowl of unknown soup under the gaze of Mrs. Zhang.

She arrived on the dot at school, and Xiao Yun was waiting for her at the school gates. There weren’t many people on the roads at this time and was the same as usual.

Gu Xiqiao looked at Xiao Yun who was frowning and spacing out, and she took out an apple from her backpack and munched on it. “Did that uncle of yours visit your grandfather again?”

“Yeah, he’s quite bothersome.” Xiao Yun didn’t ask why the other girl knew and scoffed. “Grandfather and Brother believed in him too much in the past, so he has a lot of shareholders on his side. That being said, he’s underestimating us too much.”

Gu Xiqiao made a confused expression. “If you’re so confident, why does your expression look like a bitter gourd?”

“I…” Xiao Yun didn’t know how to start.

She had arrived earlier at school today, and as soon as she stepped into the school she heard people chattering about an oil painting being stolen. It was clear how much impact this matter had, but she didn’t know how to go about dealing with it because she didn’t know what happened between Gu Xijin and Gu Xiqiao, so she could only wait for her patiently. As soon as she saw her, however, she didn’t know what to say.

Seeing Xiao Yun’s expression, Gu Xiqiao knew what the former was thinking. “It’s alright.”

The two girls that had bought breakfast and were coming back to school in front of them stopped and one of them started talking with the other as she glanced at Gu Xiqiao occasionally.

She didn’t bother to talk in a lower volume, and her tone was extremely disdainful as she talked about how ‘the school should expel Gu Xiqiao’ and how she ‘couldn’t believe they were in the same school with such a girl’.

These students excluded a girl in such a way without any proof, and these rumors, gossip, and strange looks were like a suffocating mountain of stress. If someone else were subjected to this, they wouldn’t even have the courage to go to school!

Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Parallel Class was completely unaffected by anything that was happening outside. Gu Xiqiao’s classmates had all been taken care of by Gu Xiqiao in the past, and their studies had improved dramatically, so they all treated Gu Xiqiao like the treasure of their class. None of them believed that she was that sort of person, so they all argued to protect her when they saw posts of people slandering her on the official school forum.