Chapter 3

Xie Wendong had no idea how long he had been walking when he finally returned home. When he opened the door, his parents were there. Seeing the wounds on his face, they quickly asked, “Wendong, what happened to your face?”

Wendong’s pride prevented him from admitting it was someone else who hurt him, so he mumbled, “It was raining outside; I slipped and fell.”

His mother asked worriedly, “Are you okay, Wendong? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“Mom, I’m fine. Don’t worry about it!” Wendong went back to his room and closed the door. He was in a chaotic mood and didn’t want to see anyone.

Wendong’s father knocked on his door and said, “Wendong, at least eat something before going back in!”

“Dad, I already ate outside,” came an impatient reply from inside. Wendong’s father turned to his wife and said, “I feel like the gap between us and our child is growing wider. Now Wendong rarely talks to us about his own affairs.” “Yes, this child…”

After 10 p.m., Wendong heard his parents go to bed. So he came out of his room, went to the bathroom to wash himself clean, then found the tool box in the balcony and took a utility knife back to his room.

In his room, Wendong took off all his clothes and stood naked in front of the mirror, holding the utility knife. Looking at himself in the mirror, he said in a cold voice, “Xie Wendong, remember this—from today on, no one will be able to bully you anymore!”

Then he pulled out the blade of the knife, extended his left hand, and slashed across his palm. The sharp blade created a wound over three inches long, and blood immediately flowed out. Wendong gritted his teeth to avoid screaming. Looking at his distorted face in the mirror, he said through clenched teeth, “Xie Wendong, if you can’t even endure such pain, then what hope do you have of not being bullied?” The pain in his palm stimulated every nerve in his body, causing him to moan involuntarily.

Perhaps due to the intense pain or excessive blood loss, Wendong felt dizzy, but he still held the knife tightly. His parents heard noises coming from their son’s room, sounds that seemed like he was sick. Not understanding what was going on, they opened the door to Wendong’s room and were shocked by what they saw. Wendong’s hands and the floor were covered in blood; he lay naked on the ground, emitting weak sounds.

Wendong’s father quickly wrapped his son in a blanket and headed outside, with his mother following behind. The two rushed to the hospital.

A week later, Xie Wendong came to school as usual with his schoolbag, except his left hand was wrapped in a bandage. Entering the classroom, he ignored his classmates’ curious looks and silently sat down at his seat. The classmates felt that Xie Wendong, whom they hadn’t seen in a week, seemed different, but they couldn’t quite explain what it was—just a strange feeling. Looking at his deskmate, Xu Na asked concerningly, “Xie Wendong, I heard you were hospitalized these past few days. What serious illness is it?” “It’s nothing,” Xie Wendong smiled slightly. “I just cut my hand accidentally.” Xu Na saw the bandage on his hand, nodded understandingly, and said angrily, “How old are you? Still so careless!” Xie Wendong laughed and said, “Okay, I’ll be more careful next time.” Seeing Xie Wendong’s smiling face, Xu Na felt he really had changed, at least he seemed much happier. “What’s so funny? Xie Wendong, you didn’t go to the hospital to avoid me, did you? Haha!” Li Shuang walked up to Xie Wendong with a mischievous grin. Xu Na got angry when she saw Li Shuang bullying Xie Wendong and shouted, “Li Shuang, are you crazy? Can’t you see Xie Wendong is injured?” “Oh, he’s your boyfriend? Why are you helping him so much? When did you two start dating?” Xu Na turned red with anger. “You… you’re shameless.” Xie Wendong pulled Xu Na aside and said, “Forget it. Just treat him as talking nonsense. Why bother with him?” Xu Na giggled and playfully ignored Li Shuang. Li Shuang thought he heard wrong and stared at Xie Wendong, saying, “What the hell did you just say?” Xie Wendong stood up, straightened his chest, and walked toward Li Shuang. When their faces were only half a foot apart, he stopped and said clearly, “I just said you’re talking nonsense!” Everyone stared at Xie Wendong in disbelief. Li Shuang felt his head explode like a volcano. With red eyes, he said, “Xie Wendong, don’t think you’re some big shot just because you were in the hospital for a few days. Don’t act tough in front of me!” Then he punched Xie Wendong in the face. Blood flowed from Xie Wendong’s corner of his mouth, but this time he didn’t cry—he laughed. Watching Li Shuang laugh loudly, he put his hands in his pants pockets. When Li Shuang and everyone else thought Xie Wendong was crazy, the laughter stopped. Xie Wendong took his hands out of his pockets, and Li Shuang saw a knife—a brand-new utility knife.

Xie Wendong slowly pulled out the blade. The classroom was dead silent, with only the clicking sound of the knife heard. Li Shuang tried to suppress his fear. He couldn’t believe that Xie Wendong, who had beaten him badly just a week ago, could now do anything to him! “Damn you, don’t think I’m afraid of your crappy knife. A wretched guy trying to act tough? Don’t even look at what kind of loser you are.” Seeing that Xie Wendong didn’t move, Li Shuang became even more convinced that he was just trying to scare him. He pushed Xie Wendong’s head aside and said, “I hate just looking at you. Get away from me now.”

Xie Wendong waited until he finished speaking, then stepped to the side. His hand holding the knife suddenly flashed in front of Li Shuang’s eyes. Li Shuang felt a cold sensation on his face, followed by shrill screams from the students around him. A sweet-and-salty liquid flowed into his mouth. He reached up to touch his face—what was this? It was so sticky! When he looked down, his hands were covered in blood.

“Ah!~~~” Li Shuang covered his face with both hands and screamed. Xie Wendong stepped forward, grabbed his hair, and pulled hard, forcing Li Shuang to look at him. “Do you know? This is what happens when you bully me!” Li Shuang stared into Xie Wendong’s icy eyes. It was just a fleeting moment, but it didn’t seem human—only the eyes of a beast could emit such a glow. He was terrified now; for the first time in his life, he felt what death was like. It wasn’t because of the wound on his face or the knife in Xie Wendong’s hand, but because of this person standing in front of him—someone both familiar and strange.

After all, middle school students were still teenagers and had never seen such a scene before. The timid girls cried out in fear. A male student ran out of the classroom, strode into the homeroom teacher’s office, and rushed in. The homeroom teacher was reading pre-class materials when he saw his student come in in a panic. He asked, “Sun Xuewen, why did you come in without knocking?”

Sun Xuewen gasped for breath and said, “Teacher, it’s bad! Xie Wendong cut Li Shuang’s face—there’s a lot of blood!”

The homeroom teacher was a male teacher who usually liked Xie Wendong very much. He thought the boy was not only hardworking but also extremely smart, able to understand even the hardest problems after just one explanation, though he was a bit introverted. Hearing Sun Xuewen’s words, he couldn’t believe it—how could a good kid like Xie Wendong cut another student’s face?! But Sun Xuewen didn’t seem like he was lying, so out of curiosity, he followed Sun Xuewen back to the classroom.

When he reached the classroom door, he heard complete silence inside. The teacher glanced at Sun Xuewen suspiciously and thought to himself, “You little brat, better not lie to me, or else just wait and see what I’ll do to you.” Sun Xuewen, under the teacher’s gaze, felt uneasy and stood motionless. The teacher pushed the door open and entered the classroom; all the students were sitting in their seats. First, she glanced at Xie Wendong, who was then bent over his desk reading. Then she looked back and saw Li Shuang covering her face with a handkerchief, but the bright red blood had already soaked through it, dripping onto the desk.

The teacher asked loudly, “Li Shuang, who cut your face?”

Li Shuang raised her head and secretly glanced at Xie Wendong sitting in front, only to find him looking back at her with that same wild gaze, making her feel as if she would be torn to pieces the moment she revealed the truth. A chill ran through her, and she couldn’t help shivering. Standing up, she said loudly, “Teacher, I cut my face by accident myself; it wasn’t anyone else.”

The teacher already disliked students like him, so hearing this, she felt relieved. “Then why are you still sitting here? Chen Hui, take him to the infirmary!” She gave him a disdainful look and muttered under her breath, “So annoying, all this blood!”

Then she pointed at Sun Xuewen and said, “How come you said it was Xie Wendong who cut Li Shuang’s face?” Sun Xuewen replied aggrievedly, “I saw Xie… with my own eyes just now…” But when he saw Xie Wendong’s gaze, he forced himself to swallow the rest of his words. Turning to the teacher, he said, “Yes… I’m sorry, teacher. I shouldn’t have lied. Li Shuang cut her own face!”

“Next time, look carefully before speaking to me,” the teacher said, then turned to Xie Wendong, “Wendong, the mid-term exams are coming up soon. How’s your review going?”

Xie Wendong stood up respectfully and replied, “Teacher, don’t worry! I’m confident I can come first in the grade.”

Having a student like Xie Wendong was a source of pride for a teacher. With such a student in the class, he felt superior even when standing among other teachers. Smiling in satisfaction, he patted Xie Wendong’s shoulder and said, “Wendong, studying hard is good. But make sure to take care of your health. Don’t overwork yourself, understand?”

Xie Wendong nodded obediently. “Thank you, teacher, for your concern. I will be careful!”

The teacher told Xie Wendong to sit down and said to Sun Xuewen, “Go get a mop and clean the blood in the classroom.” Sun Xuewen now admitted that he would rather offend the teacher than reveal the truth, because he felt that Xie Wendong was even more terrifying now. The teacher stood in the classroom for a while and only left after seeing Sun Xuewen clean the floor. The classroom was eerily quiet; every student sat in their seat, feeling as if a heavy stone was pressing down on them, making it hard to breathe. Xu Na was the first to break the silence. Looking at her deskmate, she asked, “How could you become so cruel?”
Xie Wendong replied indifferently, “Because I understand that’s the only way to avoid being bullied by others.”
“But even though Li Shuang is a bit bad, your actions are too extreme. Such big wounds will leave scars on his face, right?” Xu Na thought Xie Wendong had gone too far.
Xie Wendong smiled and said something confusing, “A person’s life is predetermined by heaven. No matter how hard you try, you can’t change your fate.” After saying that, he leaned on his desk and ignored Xu Na, who looked puzzled.
After a while, Li Shuang and Chen Hui returned from the infirmary. Li Shuang had a four-inch-long bandage across his nose, with faint traces of blood on it. As he passed by Xie Wendong, he stopped, bowed respectfully, and said, “Brother Dong, from now on you’re my boss. I’ll follow you!”
Li Shuang, the fat guy who often bullied Xie Wendong, became his most loyal protector from then on. There were countless scars on his body, some of which he suffered for Xie Wendong—details to be told later.