The First Order

The female parent looked at the male parent who spoke and sneered at him “It’s none of your bloody business how I speak. You might want your child to be friends with the refugees, but I don’t!”

The male parent choked on his words and couldn’t come up with anything in response, but he wasn’t going to stoop to her level either.

Xiaoyu sneered, “And if I refuse to let them switch classes?”

“Refuse to switch classes?” The short female parent stood with her arms on her hips and said, “Do you think you can make that decision? Why don’t you ask the parents and students in class if they agree to it or not first? Why should the 30 of us have to accommodate you?”

Xiaoyu said, “Stand up if you want to talk to me. I’m standing up while you’re sitting down. Where are your manners? Is this how stronghold residents behave?”

Yan Liuyuan burst out laughing. Wang Dalong looked on from next to him, apparently enjoying the show.

The female parent was immediately enraged. Her height had always been her sore spot and she hated anyone who brought it up. Yet now she was being ruthlessly mocked by Xiaoyu on it.

She raised her voice and said, “What an uncultured thing you are! How dare you speak to me like this? Watch your-“

“Watch what?” Xiaoyu said with a smile, “Watch out in case you jump up and hit my knee?”

Yan Liuyuan died of laughter. He sat in his seat and looked up at Xiaoyu, her thin stature suddenly looming much larger.

For the sake of Ren Xiaosu and him, this little woman ended up becoming a housekeeper who did the laundry and cooking for them. Having been used to spending generously without a second thought in the past, she had now become willing to haggle with shopkeeps for a long time just to save a few cents.

And now she was acting like a hero as she tried her best to protect Yan Liuyuan from getting hurt.

Normally, Yan Liuyuan was actually quite annoyed by Xiaoyu. She demanded him to wash his hands before eating and made sure he wore his fall clothing when it got cold. He also had to eat some vegetables he didn’t like because Xiaoyu said he needed to have a balanced diet.

But as he thought back on the past, that was the warmth of family.

It seemed that only with Xiaoyu around did their family feel complete. If they were without her, this family would lack a kind of warmth.

Looking at Xiaoyu, the female parent was so irritated she couldn’t utter another word. She rushed at Xiaoyu and wanted to slap her face. However, Xiaoyu dodged in time and slapped her back, knocking off her glasses as well. After slapping her, Xiaoyu did not take the opportunity to hit her again. Instead, she retreated.

Some of the parents quickly stood up to stop the fight. The female parent tried again to slap her, but there was no chance to do so anymore. Xiaoyu had gained the upper hand, and it was as though she had expected such a thing to happen.

The refugees were much fiercer than the people from the stronghold when they fought. That was regardless of whether they were male or female.

Someone suddenly said, “Why don’t we hear the children’s opinions? See what they have to say about the matter?”

A child spoke up, “Ever since they arrived, there’s been cases of pencils and erasers going missing in class—”

Xiaoyu was unable to stand it any longer. She started cursing, “Bullshit, whose badly disciplined child is that to cast stones at others? Who doesn’t have pencils and erasers? I bought many of them for Liuyuan, so why would he need to steal yours?”

However, that parent who had been slapped exploded into anger again. “How dare you say that about my son! Your mouth is filthy. One look at you and I know you do illicit activities outside the stronghold. The money you earn is dirty too, isn’t it!”

Yan Liuyuan was stunned. He immediately turned to look at Xiaoyu, but he found that the usually glib Xiaoyu was dumbfounded. That was her most painful emotional scar, and it was suddenly uncovered by someone now. Xiaoyu looked a little confused and helpless. She was like an injured little animal.

The darkest and most depressing time of her life was a burden Xiaoyu constantly had to carry around. That was why she always felt like she couldn’t integrate into the family. It was not that Yan Liuyuan and Ren Xiaosu did not treat her well, but because… she felt she was unworthy of them.

Early this morning, Li Xiaoyu thought the world was fresh and exciting. It was like she climbed out of her nightmarish hellscape in the middle of the night and into the world to enjoy the scenery. But now she was dragged into hell once again.

When the female parent saw Xiaoyu’s reaction, she got smug. “See! Look at her! I wasn’t wrong. I was spot on, wasn’t I!”

Yan Liuyuan looked at her and said, “I’m warning you, don’t say anything else.”

“Why can’t I?” The female parent snarled, “How can a promiscuous woman like her be allowed to attend the parent-teacher conference!”

Yan Liuyuan roared, “I told you, don’t say anything else!”

Done speaking, Yan Liuyuan broke through the crowd and slapped her face. Many of the people had wanted to stop Yan Liuyuan when they saw him charging. But when Yan Liuyuan collided with them, they realized they could not stop him.

The young man was surprisingly strong! The classroom was in complete chaos, and many of the tables were even overturned!

But when he was about to kill that woman, Xiaoyu hugged him from behind and said softly, “Liuyuan, let’s go home.”

Yan Liuyuan stood there quietly. Tears suddenly streamed down his cheeks. Xiaoyu said softly again, “Liuyuan, let’s go home.”

“Dalong, let’s go.” Yan Liuyuan held Xiaoyu’s hand and walked out of the front door. He no longer wanted to attend school.

Wang Dalong quickly followed closely behind them. Before he left, he even spat at that female parent. Yan Liuyuan hit her so hard she was still in a daze.

LOU

On their way back, Xiaoyu held Yan Liuyuan’s hand tightly in the fear that he would get impulsive and kill someone. She knew that if Yan Liuyuan used the nanomachines and started killing people, the classroom would have turned into a river of blood, and no one could’ve stopped him. She also held Yan Liuyuan’s hand tightly like she was afraid she would lose him. It was as though she were scared Yan Liuyuan would abandon her.

But just as they were about to reach home, a car suddenly sped towards them. The driver of the car was so drunk he kept flooring the gas pedal.

The pedestrians on the streets cried out in alarm, but the driver paid them no heed and continued accelerating.

A vehicle speeding rampantly on the road like that was as good as the Grim Reaper waving his sickle at them.

But just as the car was about to hit Yan Liuyuan, he pulled Xiaoyu and Wang Dalong to safety like he already knew beforehand what was going to happen.

Xiaoyu stared dumbfoundedly at Yan Liuyuan. “You…”

Curse Manipulation was a new world Xiaoyu had personally opened up for Yan Liuyuan. So she knew Yan Liuyuan possessed such a power and also knew he would receive a similar backlash whenever he used it.

She asked in a whisper, “Has she died already?”

Next to her, Yan Liuyuan said calmly, “She must die.”

“Let’s head home right away.” Xiaoyu pulled Yan Liuyuan with her. Her feeble little body dragged Yan Liuyuan along in a stubborn yet helpless manner.