Chapter 45
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Chapter 45:
Li Chunzhou looked at the strange clothes on these people and asked Qi Leyuan, "What are they doing?"
"Looks like bullying in school…?" Qi Leyuan said with a hint of doubt.
Li Chunzhou signaled Li Zhexuan to transform into a small bird and land on her shoulder. Then she tugged at her clothes and changed her long dress into the strange outfit that exposed her arms and thighs like theirs.
Li Chunzhou now looked like a vibrant high school student, stretching out her arms and turning her head to look at her clothing.
Suddenly, Qi Leyuan realized, "Lady Chun… did you see what I saw in the illusion just now?"
Li Chunzhou nodded, not exposing his lie, but smiled and said, "Lots of beans…"
Qi Leyuan tensed up for a moment, cleared his throat awkwardly, and then embarrassedly said, "Well, I’m not really afraid of beans either, cough… How did you come out of your own illusion then?"
Li Chunzhou calmly said, "She couldn’t read my memories, so she saw where we usually live from your and Ming Xiang’s memories and created an illusion based on that… but it didn’t scare me."
Qi Leyuan curiously asked, "Why can’t it see your memories?"
Li Chunzhou pointed to the small black bird Li Zhexuan standing on her shoulder.
Qi Leyuan felt like he suddenly understood, no wonder Li Chunzhou remembered all the memories from past lives at the beginning of each reincarnation – because she had Li Zhexuan by her side.
This sudden realization quickly faded from Qi Leyuan’s memory with Li Zhexuan’s intervention.
In the illusion created by the malevolent spirit, time flowed differently from the outside world. Although Li Chunzhou had spent a long time in their shared illusion with Qi Leyuan, in the external world, only a moment had passed.
Li Chunzhou didn’t interfere with their actions in the past, she just briefly skimmed through the memories in Ming Xiang’s mind, and then followed Ming Xiang at a distance to see what she would do next.
Among the group of people surrounding Ming Xiang, a boy spoke up, "Hey, aren’t you close to Yuan Qingcai? She jumped off the building, why aren’t you with her?"
Immediately, there was a malicious laughter from the surrounding crowd.
Qi Leyuan withdrew his gaze from examining the surroundings, "This should be a school from over ten years ago."
"School? Is it like a private school?" Li Chunzhou stepped out of the shadows and onto a sunny open space, she looked up at the sun.
However, in a little while, the sunshine quickly disappeared, in the rainy school, a heavy atmosphere hung in the air, the trees outside the teaching building drooped their branches and leaves in the desolate autumn rain, as if expressing long-lost grievances and grievances.
Li Chunzhou took her eyes back and calmly followed "Ming Xiang" as they walked into the classroom.
The teacher was giving a lesson on the podium as if no one else was there, there was no interaction with the students below, the whole classroom was messy, everyone was doing their own thing, especially the students at the back, their movements and voices were even louder than the teacher on the podium, there were not many students seriously listening, ‘Ming Xiang’ was one of them.
Li Chunzhou found an empty seat and sat down, listening with curiosity to the teacher’s lesson on the podium for a while. The knowledge points of classical Chinese in this Chinese class had no difficulty for Li Chunzhou as a real ancient person, but the experience of sitting in a classroom studying was indeed very new for Li Chunzhou.
The wind blew through the campus, carrying a damp smell, making people feel gloomy and bleak for no reason. The lights in the classroom were dim, raindrops outside the window tapped on the window panes in the gloomy sky, causing a feeling of oppression and helplessness in the heart, as if following the rainy weather, the mood also became gloomy and heavy.
Li Chunzhou glanced around the room at the environment and the students, and asked Qi Leyuan, "Why aren’t these people studying?"
Qi Leyuan casually replied, "Probably because it’s a vocational school, not a top high school. The students don’t respect the rules, the teachers are lazy, the teaching resources are not good, it turns into a vicious cycle and ends up like this."
"I see," Li Chunzhou nodded as if she understood.
"Wait! Why did you all turn into high school girls, but I’m still a chicken? I want to be a high school student too…" Qi Leyuan complained as if he had discovered a new world.
Li Chunzhou grinned happily and replied casually, "Because I still prefer you as Li Li, the chicken."
Qi Leyuan was dazzled by her youthful and lively smile, and for a moment he didn’t even want to investigate further. Just hearing Li Chunzhou say she liked him, he proudly puffed out his chest.
Loud cries and commotion could be heard from the corridor outside the classroom, distracting students who were not paying attention in class as they eagerly looked outside.
It turned out that the family members of a deceased student were at the school holding a photo of their child, seeking an explanation.
Listening to the unbearable words shouted by the parents outside, Li Chunzhou felt that they seemed more concerned about getting a substantial amount of compensation rather than seeking justice for their child.
The grade director quickly arrived with security guards to remove the protesting parents, but somehow ended up leading them to the principal’s office.
Yuan Qingcai’s mother sat on the ground crying while holding her daughter’s smiling photo, while Yuan Qingcai’s father angrily argued with the principal. It was like a chaotic scene, with only Yuan Qingcai’s radiant yet eerie smile in the black and white photo.
"This is outrageous…" Qi Leyuan was astonished, "This school clearly has a history of incidents, why aren’t there security guards at the school gate? How could they easily break in like this?"
Li Chunzhou said, "There’s no common sense here, it’s just a fantasy created by evil spirits. The more you fear, the more she will create. Otherwise, Li Li might really think there’s a mountain of beans in the world."
Qi Leyuan shook his head with lingering fear, "It’s hard to say."
In the principal’s office, because the principal refused to give an explanation, Yuan Qingcai’s parents simply hung a photo of their daughter on the wall in the principal’s office.
The group that is currently bullying "Ming Xiang" once bullied Yuan Qingcai as well. Seeing this scene, the leader of the boys even gloatingly said, "Aren’t you friends with her? Why don’t you look sad at all?"
Seeing "Ming Xiang" not speaking, a girl took out lipstick from her backpack, and started drawing on "Ming Xiang’s" face with it.
After finishing the drawing, they turned "Ming Xiang’s" head around to show their friends, and they all burst into laughter.
Qi Leyuan was getting angry watching this, muttered, "A bunch of ignorant little rabbits! They really deserve to be taught a lesson!"
Li Chunzhou calmed him down by gripping his agitated wing, saying, "Even if we beat them up now, what’s the point? This is just Ming Xiang’s memories and illusions."
The mischievous girl laughed enough, forcefully put the lipstick into "Ming Xiang’s" hand, while another boy who rummaged through "Ming Xiang’s" backpack said, "Here’s the deal, tonight you go to the principal’s office, write three words on that photo—’Four-Eyes Girl’. Once you’re done, we’ll consider this matter closed, won’t bother you again in the future, sound fair? Good student…"
Qi Leyuan held back his anger, but his face turned red.
Ming Xiang lowered her head, clutching the marker tightly, lost in thought. Inside the room, the bright light was on, but the gloomy atmosphere from the heavy rain outside lingered.
Li Chunzhou suddenly asked, "Is this kind of thing very common in your time?"
"Not really, it’s just that in this environment, there are a few troublemakers. If Ming Xiang studies harder and goes to a better high school, she might not encounter such things."
Li Chunzhou remembered Ming Xiang’s difficult childhood growing up in a mountain village, where the lack of educational resources made it hard for her to receive a good education. Ming Xiang had to walk long distances or take inconvenient transportation to get to school.
Among her classmates, only Ming Xiang managed to go to high school, while others had to drop out due to family responsibilities.
Ming Xiang faced not only educational disparities but also discrimination from her classmates due to her background. Making it to vocational school was a hard-earned achievement for her, as she had to work odd jobs besides attending school.
Li Chunzhou listened to Qi Leyuan’s words without agreeing aloud, only saying, "Not everyone has the opportunity to study."
For children like Ming Xiang, growing up in less privileged families, especially as a girl, making one wrong choice early in life could lead to a downward spiral with no way out.
No one will support her.
Two people were chatting, while "Ming Xiang" had already agreed. She tightly held the lipstick in her hand, as if gripping her destiny tightly. Just by writing three words, just by bowing her head to them, just by transferring the pain to others, maybe her own life wouldn’t be so difficult…
Li Chunzhou turned to look at "Ming Xiang", her eyes showing a hint of pity, but mostly calm. She softly said, "Don’t go."
"Ming Xiang" subconsciously looked towards the source of the voice, and the moment she saw Li Chunzhou, she froze.