Chapter 44 School Bullying

Wu Shuang took out his handkerchief and wiped the stain off Wei Ruxuan’s face. He was as gentle as a beam of sunlight in spring. Along with his movements, he said, “Ruxuan, don’t mind them. Let’s have lunch together.” “Wu Shuang, leave him alone.” “Wu Shuang, come with us!” “Wu Shuang, why are you so into him?” “Why? Why?” ... With Xuan Zhi here, the students didn’t dare to mess up with Wei Ruxuan anymore, but they kept throwing questions at Wu Shuang. “Because he is Wei Ruxuan, but you are not,” cruelly but still gently, he said. He took Wei Ruxuan to a corner of the cafeteria and sat down, sharing his meal with him. For the rest of the day, Wei Ruxuan was accompanied by Wu Shuang. He didn’t suffer too much, but even if Wu Shuang was away for one second, someone would take the chance to bully him. He had been tripped, poured water on, thrown things at, and cursed with dirty words over and over again. The next day, Wei Ruxuan’s desk was piled with rubbish, so Wu Shuang asked Wei Ruxuan to sit with him. The teacher also frowned at Wei Ruxuan’s desk. Although he liked this kid, he couldn’t find the culprit after asking around. Yet things were not over. After the class began, Wei Ruxuan’s stool suddenly fell apart, and he fell into the broken pieces on the floor. Obviously, someone did it on purpose. But the culprit still couldn’t be found, and the investigation went nowhere. Day after day, it got worse and worse. On the third day, Wei Ruxuan’s books first disappeared. On the fourth day, they were found torn apart on his desk. But his homework went through the same thing. On the fifth day, his homework appeared again in pieces, and his brush pens were missing. On the sixth day, his brush pens were back, broken, and he couldn’t find his inkstone. On the seventh day, his inkstone showed up, shattered into pieces… Gradually, he got used to bringing his own stool from the dorm every day and sitting directly beside Wu Shuang. Never again did he cast a look at his filthy desk or try to find his missing stool, let alone his ripped books and assignments and broken brush pens and inkstone. Meanwhile, no matter how much the teacher appreciated Wei Ruxuan, he couldn’t bear to deal with his crap and look for the wrongdoer every day. Besides, no one liked Wei Ruxuan except for Wu Shuang. At first, the teacher tried to talk with the students, but over time, he had learned to ignore what happened and to stop caring about Wei Ruxuan. After all, if one person was lying, he would naturally become the one to blame. But if everyone was lying, the lie would gradually become the truth. Then the teacher, who had no idea about the fact and Wei Ruxuan’s identity, started to believe that Wei Ruxuan must have brought it on himself. And as a prestigious educator, how could he stand an ill-behaved student whom he thought came from a poor family? Wei Ruxuan now shared almost every meal with Wu Shuang. The only relaxing time he had every day was after he returned to the dorm in the evening. Wei Ruxuan was so grateful that Wu Shuang was there with him. Otherwise, he could not make it while being isolated and bullied every day. Yet despite all the suffering, he still didn’t want to go back home. He didn’t want to be seen as a loser. Another day had passed, and the only thing that Wei Ruxuan could do now was counting how many days he had survived. He was still hoping that maybe his classmates would stop the game someday. And with Wu Shuang around, it seemed they couldn’t do much harm to him anymore. Wei Ruxuan was being too naive. Brought up facing almost no negativity, he always believed that life would go on as he planned. But the cruelty in the world had always been beyond imagination. He never understood that the more Wu Shuang protected him, the worse his life would become... As the sun slowly set down, the bathhouse of the college was bathed in the faint afterglow. Inside the bathhouse, Wei Ruxuan sat nakedly on the floor, holding his legs and staring blankly at the tub in front of him. Somehow, he had become a public enemy in the school. Everyone avoided him like the plague. No one talked to him, but they loved to insult him wherever he was around, knock over his food tray, hide his books, tear up his homework, pour drinks on him, and steal his stool. And the list just went on and on. Wu Shuang, however, was the only one to be on his side and help him no matter what. Basically, once he got out of the dorm, he didn’t dare to leave Wu Shuang’s side. He was even afraid of coming over for a bath just because Wu Shuang didn’t like a public bathhouse. But unlike Wu Shuang, Wei Ruxuan didn’t have a servant like Xuan Zhi who could bring him elsewhere to take a bath at any time. After days without washing himself, he couldn’t bear the smell from his body. As a young master of a prestigious family, he had never led a life as such. He was too scared. Eventually, he made the big decision to sneak into the bathhouse, hoping not to be noticed. But unfortunately, his classmates still caught him. They stole his clothes and locked the door from the outside. Looking at the tub in front of him, Wei Ruxuan started to feel aggrieved. No pampered child could tolerate all these, not to mention Wei Ruxuan, who grew up as a spoiled young master in a prestigious family. His tolerance of hardships was much lower than ordinary people’s. As his heart filled with grievances, he was on the verge of collapse. He was not much of a crier, but tears kept dripping down his cheeks. He missed his home, his dad, his mom, his aunt, the pageboy who grew up with him, and just everything else back home. He even missed the yellow puppy that often walked by his door. Inside the silent bathhouse, it got darker and darker. Wei Ruxuan felt he was plunged into the darkness deep in his heart. He looked like a helpless child who could do nothing more than holding himself tight. Compared to fear, he felt more desperate, as if he was about to fall into an abyss. Suddenly, a window was opened in the blackness, and a slender blue figure climbed in. It was Wu Shuang, the stunningly beautiful boy that no woman could compete with. He attracted Wei Ruxuan’s attention like the only light in the dark night. As soon as Wu Shuang came in, he saw the small form huddled up on the floor. Without a second thought, he took off his robe and put it on Wei Ruxuan’s naked body. “Ruxuan, there you are.” Wei Ruxuan raised his helpless eyes. There was finally some light in them when he saw Wu Shuang. Never before had he ever desired to see a person so much. Wu Shuang was his savior in the darkness. With his face shining with tears, he whispered, “Wu Shuang.” “Ruxuan, why are you crying? Come on, you’re a grown man. Be strong.” “Wu Shuang, Wu Shuang...” Wei Ruxuan grabbed Wu Shuang’s sleeve and cried like a child. He pulled it tightly as if he was afraid that Wu Shuang would disappear. Wu Shuang stayed still. He knew that Wei Ruxuan became dependent on him more and more, and he had successfully won his trust. But Wei Ruxuan was still too weak and useless. He was not desperate enough. In the shadow Wei Ruxuan could not see, Wu Shuang’s mouth twitched into a sarcastic smile. Long after Wu Shuang’s arrival, Wei Ruxuan had finally calmed down. He let go of Wu Shuang and said, “I didn’t cry.” “Of course you didn’t. You are a man. I just mistook the water splashed on your face for tears.” As soon as Wu Shuang’s soft words came out, Wei Ruxuan blushed and immediately turned to another subject. “Wu Shuang, how did you find me?” “I searched the whole campus but got nothing. Then I happened to hear that you were locked in the bathhouse, so I came over. I just didn’t expect those guys to steal your clothes. Wait a minute, I’ll get them back for you.” “Wu Shuang, can you just stay with me?” Actually, Wei Ruxuan didn’t need to ask. When Wu Shuang tried to climb out of the window again, he found it was locked. There was nothing else they could do but stay here. “I’m sorry, Wu Shuang. You are in trouble now because of me.” “Why do you say that? Remember, we are friends.” “Thank you so much, Wu Shuang.” “Ruxuan, don’t you ever say you’re sorry or that you thank me. I might want more than that,” Wu Shuang said, touching the pearl on his hairpin. “Wu Shuang, you’re so funny.” Just like that, they sat in the bathhouse all night. Wei Ruxuan looked at Wu Shuang sleeping next to him. This quiet and innocent boy always gave him hope. He felt something different towards Wu Shuang, something warm and special. In fact, Wu Shuang was just an acquaintance, but Wei Ruxuan had already attached great importance to him. It was true that he used to be an arrogant and indifferent young master, but he had changed once he had made friends with him. Even if he was a man, he would be Wei Ruxuan’s dearest brother. Then came the morning. Xuan Zhi opened the door and released them. It was much colder at night, and Wei Ruxuan wore nothing but a robe from Wu Shuang. Naturally, he caught a high fever. As expected, Wu Shuang was the only one to take care of him. Wei Ruxuan returned to class a week later, but the bullying got worse. He tried seeking help from his teacher, but the teacher had already stopped believing in him. After all, almost all the students claimed he was just pretending to be the victim. Everyone knew that Wei Ruxuan was set up this time. However, they still managed to spread the rumor that he was trying to steal from others but ended up locking himself in the bathhouse by accident and got ill. Clearly, this story held no water. Who on earth would steal things from a bathhouse nakedly? And the door was locked from the outside. But as people all claimed it’s true, it gradually became “the truth.” Hoping for some help, Wei Ruxuan went to the teacher again, but he didn’t expect him to turn around and just leave. Little did he know that he had become a pain in the old man’s ass. After many times of inquires, his teacher was finally convinced that the complaints Wei Ruxuan made were due to “his own faults.”