C7 – Beaten
Joy radiated from Xiao Qing’s face.
Her plot had worked.
Xiao Qing erupted into laughter. She spun around and yelled at a nearby statue, “You hear that? I told you he likes me, but none of you believed me.”
Watching Xiao Qing’s manic laughter, Qi Ning felt a chill in his heart.
He regarded her with a cold detachment, as if she were a stranger.
Amidst Xiao Qing’s laughter, Qi Ning noticed someone behind the statue.
“So, he really does like you,” a young man emerged from behind the statue. He wrapped his arms around Xiao Qing, grinning as he said, “Then tonight, I’ll take you to Linshan’s place to enjoy ourselves.”
“Sure!” Xiao Qing glanced at Qi Ning with smug satisfaction.
At that moment, the young man released Xiao Qing and approached Qi Ning.
He slapped Qi Ning’s cheek with a resounding smack.
“Get lost!” he barked, then with a swift kick, sent Qi Ning tumbling to the ground.
“Mr. Pei, you’re truly badass!”
Several other young men appeared from behind the statue, all bearing the look of thugs.
Pei spat toward Qi Ning with contempt, “Garbage! You dare to chase after my girl?”
“That’s right.”
Another young man chimed in, “Xiao Qing is Mr. Pei’s girl!”
“Mr. Pei, should we give him a beating to cool you off?”
At these words, Mr. Pei’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
Qi Ning lay still in the rain, not moving an inch.
He bit his lip so hard that he broke the skin.
Blood trickled from his lips, some spilling onto the ground, some seeping back into his mouth.
Humiliation surged within Qi Ning. He longed to lash out at Pei, but reason held him back.
Even if they weren’t so numerous, he knew he was no match for a street thug.
“Kid, what’s with that look?” Pei had been silent, searching for a pretext to hit Qi Ning.
But when Qi Ning’s gaze met his, Pei seized the opportunity.
Qi Ning remained silent and avoided Pei’s gaze.
But Pei, having found his reason, was not about to let Qi Ning off the hook that easily.
“Who gave you permission to look at me that way?” Pei bellowed, launching a kick at Qi Ning.
This time, his foot connected with Qi Ning’s face.
Qi Ning’s face throbbed with pain, and instinctively, he toppled to the ground. As he hit the earth, a spray of water erupted around him.
Lying there, he opened his eyes to the sky, watching the raindrops fall, feeling an acute pang of bitterness in his heart.
“I had thought that gaining the system would allow me to change my destiny, yet I never anticipated facing something like this.”
Beyond the bitterness, Qi Ning was overwhelmed by an ineffable sense of desolation.
Half of this melancholy stemmed from Xiao Qing, and the other half, from within himself.