Chapter 16: Wouldn’t Mind Giving Him More…

Cui Zhe’s first reaction upon hearing the name was disbelief.

Xia Mi La had just been with Jin Can, and given her personality, she would absolutely never do such a thing.

She was kind, gentle, soft-hearted, and avoided conflict… though she did possess the strongest motive.

Despite her prestigious background, Xia Mi La was actually quite vulnerable. Having been oppressed for years by her non-biological stepsister, she had long become a laughingstock in their social circle.

She herself paid no mind to these matters. The Business Empire, Factional Strife – she cared nothing for those things. The only person she cared about was Jin He.

Yes, Jin He was her only Dragon’s Scale. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that her temperament had drastically changed, leading her to attack Pei Duo Xing?

Even as this thought crossed his mind, Cui Zhe still spoke up in Xia Mi La’s defense: “How could that be? How could Mira do such a thing?”

“Duo Xing said so,” Jin He replied. “She’s the victim. Could what she says be wrong?”

Cui Zhe couldn’t help but glance at Pei Duo Xing.

She lay on the bed, her face washed but flour still clinging to her hair, pale and pitiful-looking.

He desperately wanted to ask where she had drawn this conclusion from, but seeing her in this state, he couldn’t bring himself to voice the question.

Jin He remained expressionless, but from Cui Zhe’s understanding of him, this wasn’t absence of emotion but rather fury at its extreme – the calm before the storm.

“Rest well for now,” Jin He said, reaching out to gently tuck the blanket around Pei Duo Xing before turning to leave the room.

“A He,” Cui Zhe quickly caught up with him. “What are you going to do?”

“Find Xia Mi La,” Jin He answered.

Cui Zhe’s heart pounded wildly. He had just been thinking about advising Jin He to treat Xia Mi La better, and now, not even half an hour later, their relationship was heading toward complete breakdown.

Once they had stepped outside the hospital room, Cui Zhe stopped Jin He and quietly reminded him: “There’s no additional evidence yet. If you wrong Mira…”

Jin He, consumed by anger, wouldn’t listen.

He brushed off Cui Zhe’s hand: “Stop speaking up for her. She’s merely my fiance, not even my wife yet, and she dares to openly attack someone close to me… Go back and stay with Duo Xing. Don’t interfere in matters between Mira and me.”

“A He…” Cui Zhe wanted to persuade him further, but couldn’t stop him.

Jin He needed an outlet for the rage boiling inside him.

Xia Mi La and Jin Can had been strolling back slowly, not checking their phones, and only learned about the incident later.

When she returned to the classroom and reached her seat, she picked up her phone and opened the video.

Pei Duo Xing indeed looked miserable. The nearly ten-minute video in the group chat documented the entire bullying process.

Xia Mi La wasn’t a sadist and had no interest in such one-sided torment. The taunts in the video and the vulgar remarks targeting female anatomy made her uncomfortable.

Just as she was about to close the video, Jin He strode quickly into the classroom.

He approached Xia Mi La and, seeing the content on her phone, instantly burned with fury.

Believing she was reviewing the results of her own despicable actions, he snatched her phone without a word and smashed it violently against the back wall of the classroom.

The small flip phone shattered into pieces the moment it hit the wall. Everyone in the classroom was startled by Jin He’s sudden outburst, instantly falling silent and not daring to move.

The previously lively classroom abruptly quieted down, followed by the harsh scraping of chairs and desks being pushed aside. Jin Can swiftly rushed forward and landed a clean punch on Jin He.

Jin He hadn’t anticipated this punch either.

Staggering back two steps from the blow, he tilted his head and immediately tasted blood in his mouth.

As he steadied himself, he saw Jin Can standing firmly in front of Xia Mi La, shielding her protectively.

Jin He was so furious he felt dizzy. Whether it was because of Xia Mi La’s viciousness, Jin Can’s arrogance, or perhaps Jin Can’s mindless defense of Xia Mi La, he couldn’t tell.

He stood up and threw a punch back at Jin Can.

Jin Can deftly dodged by tilting his head, then grabbed Jin He’s arm and pulled back the charging figure.

More than half of Class One belonged to the Azure Dragon Hall. If Jin He were facing Zhao Taihe, they would have all stepped in to help by now.

But this wasn’t Zhao Taihe this was Jin Can. He was Jin He’s younger brother, Han Lin’s youngest son.

Should they, as outsiders, get involved in Han Lin’s internal conflicts? Especially when Jin Can was protecting Xia Mi La, Xia Hong’s daughter.

After weighing the situation, no one stepped forward; everyone chose to wait and see how things would unfold.

Jin He glared at Jin Can with fiery eyes, as if saying, “Who do you think you are, daring to lay a hand on me?”

Jin Can stared back unflinchingly, his relaxed demeanor seeming to suggest he wouldn’t mind throwing another punch.

“Acan,” Xia Mi La spoke up at that moment, “It’s fine. Step aside.”

Her voice was calm, her tone indifferent, completely unaffected by the two in front of her.

Jin Can glanced back at her, released his grip, and moved aside.

Jin He met Xia Mi La’s indifferent gaze.

Her entire demeanor was just like her voice detached and composed. There was no trace of tension or panic on her face.

This only strengthened Jin He’s conviction that she was involved in Pei Duo Xing’s matter.

Because if she were innocent, faced with his current anger, she should have been hurt and upset, maybe even burst into tears.

But Xia Mi La showed nothing.

With a calmness that felt unfamiliar to him, she asked, “What’s wrong? For you to lose your temper like this, it must be something serious.”

“Why pretend?” Jin He retorted, “The video on the phone didn’t you send someone to do it?”

“You think I did it?” Xia Mi La asked, “Where’s the proof?”

“Proof.” Jin He sneered, “Don’t worry, I’ll get it. I just never expected you to be so hypocritical. Acting all detached and peaceful on the surface, yet doing something so vicious to another girl behind the scenes. You’re a girl yourself how could you? Your two-faced, sanctimonious act is disgusting!”

After the tense confrontation, everyone began murmuring upon hearing Jin He’s words.

“What? Xia Mi La had someone film that video? I never would have guessed!”

“Impossible. Xia Mi La isn’t that kind of person.”

“Well, someone was trying to steal Jin He from her what wouldn’t she do?”

“Lots of people want to teach that scholarship student a lesson; it might not be Xia Mi La.”

“If Jin He said so, how could it be false? Tsk, he really spared no face for his fiance just to support that scholarship student!”

“Xia Mi La is truly pitiful.”

Xia Mi La felt this might be the natural order of things in this comic-like world.

Though she had done nothing wrong, simply by virtue of being the female lead, she would inevitably get entangled in incidents involving the male lead and supporting female characters.

But she didn’t need to rush to prove her innocence – what wasn’t done would eventually come to light.

Jin He didn’t require her explanation either. He had come specifically to warn her.

“Keep your cheap tricks to yourself.” He gazed at her coldly, his voice icy. “If you lay hands on Pei Duo Xing again, I won’t show mercy even if it’s you.”

With things having reached this point, everyone could only feel sympathy for Xia Mi La.

Despite her prestigious background, Jin He was trampling her into the mud over some scholarship student.

Meanwhile, Zhao Taihe and his lackeys were still lingering on the sports field, having missed the drama at the teaching building.

Zhao Taihe sat on a moderately high wooden platform, casually tossing the White Tiger Badge in his hand.

He didn’t bother properly pinning the badge to his uniform, just played with it absentmindedly.

Had Jin Can been more obedient earlier, he might have given him this badge.

The thought of bringing Jin He’s younger brother under his wing to use against Jin He was quite appealing.

Unfortunately, Jin Can wasn’t the type to follow orders meekly.

“That kid hits hard,” Bian Junye beside him complained while rubbing his face.

Towering at 195cm despite being only a year older than Zhao Taihe, he served as Zhao’s personal bodyguard and enforcer, having deliberately repeated a grade to stay by his side.

Though skilled in fights, he hadn’t gained any advantage against Jin Can earlier.

“He’s a wild child,” Zhao Taihe said lazily. “Grew up in an orphanage, probably had it rough. Gets beaten enough, learns to fight back.”

Bian Junye murmured agreement.

Though Jin Can was formerly an orphan, he was now the young master of the Han Lin family, which was why Bian hadn’t dared to go all out against him.

Zhao Taihe remained seated, apparently planning to spend the entire lunch break here today… unlike his usual self.

Normally after handling such matters, he’d immediately rush off to date some girl.

Lately he’d been acting strange, having gone quite some time without a relationship.

Bian Junye voiced his curiosity: “A-Tai, what’s going on with you? Why aren’t you dating anyone?”

He remembered a junior girl had approached Zhao just yesterday hoping to get together, yet nothing came of it. This was unusual – by now Zhao should already be involved with her.

“Common trash,” Zhao Taihe dismissed. “Not interested.”

Ding Yuan on the other side seemed to understand Zhao Taihe’s mindset better.

“Don’t you know?” he said. “A-Tai has been interested in Xia Mi La recently.”

Bian Junye was aware of this but hadn’t taken it seriously.

“How could that work?” he blurted out bluntly. “Xia Mi La only has eyes for Jin He – she can’t see anyone else.”

This was common knowledge throughout Tan Ming, but it wasn’t something Zhao Taihe wanted to hear right now.

“How is that impossible?” He clutched the White Tiger Badge in his hand and challenged Bian Junye, “Are you saying what Jin He can accomplish, I, Zhao Taihe, cannot?”

Bian Junye dared not disagree, quickly nodding: “Of course you can, hehe, definitely possible.”

Ding Yuan watched from the side, laughing quietly.

While amusedly observing their banter, he lowered his head to glance at his phone.

There he saw the earlier commotion from Classroom One.

Someone had secretly recorded the segment where Jin He confronted and warned Xia Mi La.

He hurriedly showed the phone to Zhao Taihe.

It wasn’t long, just a short clip.

In the video, Jin He appeared fierce and aloof, while Xia Mi La looked utterly vulnerable.

Zhao Taihe chuckled upon seeing it: “Look, here comes our opportunity.”

Author’s note:

———————-

[Throwing flowers]