By the edge of the playground, Xiao Yuanyuan handed a racket to Ye Qingzhou.
Ye Qingzhou shook his head: "I don’t need a racket, I’m fine with this."
He casually snapped off a branch, holding it in his hand, clearly planning to use it as a racket to play against Xiao Yuanyuan.
Xiao Yuanyuan’s eyes widened: "You’re just going to use that?"
"It’s enough."
"Humph, looks like you’re underestimating me."
Xiao Yuanyuan’s lips curved into a smile. Practicing martial arts with Ye Qingzhou, she was far behind, but when it came to badminton, she was quite confident, smilingly looking at Ye Qingzhou: "If you lose later, you have to treat me to lunch."
"Sure, okay."
Ye Qingzhou casually agreed, and then the two began their "intense" confrontation.
Around them, at some point, a crowd of students had gathered, mostly boys.
They were all Xiao Yuanyuan’s fans; every time Xiao Yuanyuan played badminton with someone, they would come to lend support.
After twenty minutes, Xiao Yuanyuan’s sportswear was soaked with sweat, revealing attractive curves, her hot figure undeniable, causing the surrounding boys to exclaim in excitement.
In contrast, Ye Qingzhou hadn’t even broken a sweat, wielding the branch with ease, his every strike of the shuttlecock quite fierce.
Ultimately, Xiao Yuanyuan lost the match.
"Ye Qingzhou, you’re amazing."
Xiao Yuanyuan found it hard to believe that Ye Qingzhou had won without even using a racket, just a branch, but she soon felt proud.
’No wonder this is the man I chose, truly amazing!’
Even though she lost the match, her smile did not fade, as she happily walked over to Ye Qingzhou: "Looks like I lost this time, let me treat you to lunch then."
"???"
Ye Qingzhou felt something was off, but having someone treat him to a meal would save him some money, so he didn’t think much and agreed: "Okay."
After physical education class ended, Huang Liwen came as usual to find Ye Qingzhou: "Old Ye, let’s head to the cafeteria together."
"No, I’m waiting for someone, someone is treating me to lunch later."
"Who?"
"Xiao Yuanyuan."
"!!"
Huang Liwen clutched his chest, feeling quite heartbroken, but only for a moment before steeling himself: "Old Ye, you’re right."
"What did I say?"
"Last time, didn’t you suggest I start online dating? After thinking about it, I realized it makes a lot of sense, so I plan to pretend to be a tall, handsome rich guy, and try fishing online for girls. Maybe I’ll catch one? Fishermen never go home empty-handed!"
Huang Liwen’s expression was serious; he was genuinely focused on this matter of courting girls.
"You? Tall, handsome, rich?"
Ye Qingzhou looked at Huang Liwen with a con-artist’s eye.
Huang Liwen chuckled, scratched his head: "I’m tall and handsome, as for money, that will come later, so let’s call it a slightly exaggerated rhetorical device, not really lying."
"Hmm, after the incident, when you go to the police station for a statement, remember to say it like that too."
"..."
Soon, Xiao Yuanyuan, having changed clothes, bounced over to Ye Qingzhou: "Sorry to keep you waiting."
"No worries."
Afterward, the three of them went together to the second floor of the cafeteria, where Huang Liwen shamelessly tried to join for a free meal but was finally glared away by Xiao Yuanyuan’s "fierce" look.
After the meal, Ye Qingzhou was just about to get up when his phone rang in his pocket.
"Hello."
"Ye Qingzhou!!"
"Oh, it’s Governor Wang, why are you so agitated today?"
On the other end, Wang Anyuan suppressed his anger, sparks almost flying from his teeth, questioning: "Ye Qingzhou, don’t play dumb with me, where were you all day yesterday?"
"I was at school, in class."
Ye Qingzhou then turned to Xiao Yuanyuan and asked: "Nobody in our class took leave yesterday, right?"
Xiao Yuanyuan didn’t quite understand but nodded anyway.
Ye Qingzhou then told Wang Anyuan: "If you don’t believe it, I have forty-eight witnesses who can provide an alibi. Oh, if we include elective teachers, it’s probably fifty-something."
"You!"
Wang Anyuan was already convinced it was Ye Qingzhou who killed the person; after all, how could such a coincidence happen?
Not long ago, Xing Jiansong had hired someone to kill, colluding with Cao Yangxiong to frame Ye Qingzhou, only for them both to end up dead afterward.
Even using the back of his mind, it was obvious who did it.
The issue was, he had no evidence.
And Ye Qingzhou wasn’t someone he could casually arrest and interrogate.
"Ye Qingzhou, do you know what you’re doing?"
"Governor Wang, your question is puzzling, did I do something?"
"Ye Qingzhou, once Zhao Baoming breaks through, if he finds out his sister and brother-in-law’s family died at your hands, he surely won’t let it go. You’ve caused a big mess."
"Hey, Xing Jiansong is dead? Congratulations! As for Zhao Baoming, Governor Wang, I’m a future pillar of the Martial Arts World in Dongji Kingdom, can’t you ask him to consider the big picture?"
Ye Qingzhou coldly chuckled.
He was well aware of the thoughts and actions of people like Wang Anyuan and Martial Arts Association President Zhao Zhiyi.
For the powerful, what they valued was never fairness and justice; every decision they made was based on weighing their own interests.
As for someone like Ye Qingzhou, a subordinate being controlled, the grievances he suffered were not important at all.
Because the own interests of the powerful are the big picture, and as for Ye Qingzhou, no matter how talented he is, no matter his potential, as long as he isn’t a Martial Saint, hasn’t become the next Zhang Xinwu, he’s merely a pawn in the eyes of the powerful, one that could be sacrificed.
It’s just a matter of how much it costs to sacrifice.
But Ye Qingzhou didn’t intend to be sacrificed, so he acted swiftly, removing potential threats first.
After all, having already beaten Xing Yaoming, once Zhao Baoming breaks through, would it be too much to expect trouble from him?
Endurance is useless.