Deceased Mother's Inheritance - Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Who Bullied You?

Yun Zhixue’s school life was terrible.

She had no friends at school, and her desk was filled with garbage every day.

She hadn’t had time to clean it for the past few days of her break, and now it was stinking. The students around her wrinkled their noses in disgust.

Yun Zhixue didn’t listen to much of the class. Her mind was filled with Meng Zhengyue’s cold face. There was a sense of uncontrollable panic in her heart.

Fortunately, Yun Zhixue’s grades were good, so it didn’t affect her much. During class, she took out her phone, then remembered that she and Meng Zhengyue were not friends on social media.

At noon, she went to the cafeteria. As she was holding her tray, someone bumped into her, not too hard or too light. She let out a muffled groan of pain. The person looked at her sideways and blamed her, “Why weren’t you more careful?”

Yun Zhixue was being maliciously targeted. A boy named Du Mingxiao, who had liked her for many years, had put on a grand fireworks show for her birthday a while ago. The whole school thought that Yun Zhixue would be moved and get together with him.

However, Yun Zhixue didn’t show up that day.

Du Mingxiao was handsome and had a nice voice. He had a group of fans online. He would hint that Yun Zhixue was leading him on and deliberately giving him hope, which led everyone at school to be cold to her and target her both openly and secretly.

When she returned to the dorm in the evening, Yun Zhixue was tidying up her bag. Besides her school uniform and nightgown, there were also a few antibacterial waterproof patches, which had been specially wrapped in her clothes.

Suddenly, a strange feeling welled up in her heart. It was swollen.

After a long time, she could only think of one word.

So annoying.

There was a faint scent on the clothes. Although Meng Zhengyue wasn’t there, it felt like she had invaded her space again, marking her room with her scent again.

Annoying, so annoying.

The next morning, Yun Zhixue wore the blue school uniform with the faint scent to class.

Her desk was dirty again. The pungent smell overpowered the faint scent on her body. She silently cleaned the desk and took out the voice recorder hidden in the inner layer of her bag. The voice recorder had also been broken. She buried her face deep in her sleeve. All she could smell was the scent of flowers. She couldn’t tell what kind of flower it was, and she felt incredibly wronged.

As soon as the bell for morning class rang, Yun Zhixue dragged the trash can to the back of the classroom. To the surprise of the whole class, she dumped the entire can of garbage on the head of the boy with long hair. Fruit peels and paper scraps slid down his long hair. All that was left in the classroom was his miserable cursing and the sound of Yun Zhixue’s footsteps returning to her seat.

Soon, both of them were called to the office. The teacher was so angry that he slammed his hand on the desk. “If you don’t want to be suspended before the college entrance exam, you better behave!” He glared at Yun Zhixue. “I’ll definitely inform your mother this time.”

Yun Zhixue just looked up faintly, her gaze as calm as still water. She knew that the email would, as usual, sink into the abyss of her mother’s never-to-be-replied-to inbox.

Yun Jing wouldn’t come. When she was a child, she was bullied and told Yun Jing about it. Yun Jing replied, “If he bullies you, why don’t you fight back? Do whatever you want to do.”

At that time, she most wanted to tell Yun Jing that she wished her to care for her, but Yun Jing rejected the second idea and made her choose the first.

She fought back and knocked out one of his teeth.

Yun Jing had her secretary pay the money and told her at the same time that it was a simple matter and not to complicate it.

After coming out of the office, the boy was still not giving up. He pointed his finger at her nose and said, “You wait. This isn’t over.”

During evening study hall, the class representative came to remind her to hand in her letter of apology. Yun Zhixue didn’t respond. She held a few textbooks and walked to the dorm alone.

The tree-lined path in front of the teaching building was empty. A hand suddenly reached out from the swaying shadows of the trees and tightly covered her mouth.

She was violently dragged behind the flower bed. The wound on her waist burst open from the tearing. She let out a muffled groan of pain. She held back and, when the person loosened their grip, she kicked back hard. Her books hit the face of the figure in the darkness.

“Damn it!”

With a cry of pain, four or five boys rushed out of the shadows and pressed her down onto the cold concrete ground. Du Mingxiao walked toward her, playing with a shining pair of scissors. He grabbed her long braid. “Yun Zhixue, I’ve had enough of you.”

One of Du Mingxiao’s friends held her neck, forcing her to lower her head. He laughed loudly. “Didn’t you used to love her long hair?”

Du Mingxiao’s scissors went straight down the middle.

Each time the scissors came down, there was a suppressed sob. Du Mingxiao admired her tearful expression, then suddenly realized—even without her long hair, she was still so pretty.

In her first year of middle school, having long hair down to your waist was a trend.

Yun Zhixue had a head of long hair. Du Mingxiao was obsessed with her and confessed to her directly. Yun Zhixue didn’t respond to him.

But Yun Zhixue was also despicable and disgusting. While ignoring him, she was keeping the long hair he loved.

The carefully braided hair hung down to her waist, like a black waterfall, constantly hitting his brain. If he couldn’t have it, he would destroy it.

The hair was too long to be cut in one go.

He “snip-snip-snip” a few times. Yun Zhixue let out a whimper from her throat. Her legs were on the ground. Her body was still trembling.

Her eyes were wet, and the light in her pupils was shattered into a million pieces. She felt like she was about to fall apart.

Du Mingxiao felt a sense of satisfaction. He saw a boy taking a picture with his phone. He immediately yelled at him, telling him not to take pictures.

If it got out, he would have a bad history when he joined the entertainment industry in the future.

After they cut her hair, the group of people didn’t dare to bully Yun Zhixue further. After all, her mom was Yun Jing.

Yun Zhixue’s face was pale. She couldn’t tell where the pain was coming from. She tried to get up and rush at them, but she was too weak.

The group of people walked away, looking smug after cutting her hair.

Yun Zhixue was curled up on the ground, holding her stomach. She tried to get up several times, falling and getting back up.

A thought flashed through her mind: Should she ask someone for help?

It was only a brief thought, like a luxury. She wished someone would come and save her. But, it was impossible. A person couldn’t be that lucky twice.

She had even made Meng Zhengyue angry. How could it be?

…Ah, this is so awful.

…

Yun Zhixue took a leave of absence from her teacher and stayed curled up in her dorm. She had become a puddle of mud, trampled on by others.

For some reason, during this time, she missed Meng Zhengyue so much, especially so. She missed that hug in the rain, her warmth, and her hand.

It was like a last glimpse of life before death. She only had this little bit of meager warmth in her memory. She held on to it tightly, savoring its bitterness.

Yun Zhixue made a decision.

She was going to rush into Du Mingxiao’s classroom and stab him to death. This might make Yun Jing angry, but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t planning on living anyway.

Yun Zhixue called Yun Jing. She dialed the number, but no one answered. She persevered and called again, and it was hung up.

She wanted to tell Yun Jing: Mom, someone cut my hair.

She held her phone and waited a little longer.

In elementary school, the first time she attended a party with Yun Jing, someone complimented her on how pretty she was. Yun Jing smiled and said, “Her long hair is very beautiful.”

Mom, I will never love you again.

Her stomach was so itchy and painful. She wanted to stick her fingers in and dig, but she tried her best to hold back… Someone bruised their arm to save her. She had to leave something behind. She couldn’t waste someone else’s effort.

Yun Zhixue pushed herself up and put a pair of latex gloves in her backpack. Du Mingxiao’s bl00d would stink and get her hands dirty.

She counted all of her belongings. They would be her belongings in the future. She took out a pen and wrote a note on the ointment, then packed up some valuable things to give to her.

“I’m sorry. I hope you get better soon.”

Yun Zhixue had realized a long time ago that she was not good at making friends. She was very harsh and cold to people. If someone hurt her, she would remember it. Similarly, others would not forgive her and would even retaliate like Du Mingxiao.

It was late at night. The heat that had accumulated during the day rose in waves. She put on her backpack and walked out with her hair in a mess. She had planned to comb her hair, but it was so messy from being cut that it was impossible to style.

Yun Zhixue walked out of the elevator with a hunched back. Her ears were ringing. The sound of the cicadas made her hallucinate. She heard her name.

“Yun Zhixue.”

Yun Zhixue looked up with a stutter, like a broken robot. If she lost one more part, she would rot and be destroyed.

The familiar figure was standing under the tree, very quiet. A small light slowly brightened in the darkness, like a glowing firefly.

Meng Zhengyue’s face was cold. She was still angry.

She said in a low voice, “I came to see you.”

After a few seconds, she looked behind her and asked, “What happened to your hair?”

Yun Zhixue, who had already decided to die, wanted to ignore her. Her first instinct was to leave, but her body was rooted to the spot and began to tremble.

At the moment she saw Meng Zhengyue.

It wasn’t happiness, and it wasn’t a desire to cry.

It was a tingling in her body, like new skin growing, and also like insects gnawing at her.

Meng Zhengyue’s voice was full of command. “Lift your head!”

The moment her tears burst, Meng Zhengyue walked toward her, step by step. She was wrapped in a warm embrace. The faint scent of gardenia mixed with tobacco held her shattered body together.

Meng Zhengyue’s voice was incredibly soft. She gently stroked the back of her neck. “Honey, who bullied you?”