[Outside the School—After Classes]
The final bell had rung.
The hallways emptied. Students cheered, ran, chatted, skipped, complained, or collapsed from homework overload. And outside the school gate—Stood Lu Zhen.
Motionless.
Expression blank.
Posture: hands behind his back like a grandpa questioning life. Spirit level: OUT OF BODY. Energy level: -999%.
He stared at the sky like a man who had witnessed war, betrayal, reincarnation, and high school… all in one day.
"…I have endured… too much," he muttered.
A leaf drifted past him. He didn't even blink. His soul hovered next to him, patting his shoulder like: It's okay, bro. We survived.
He slowly exhaled through his nose.
"First… a desk full of curse words…" He squinted into the distance like he was narrating a tragic documentary. "Then… a long lecture from that dean who nearly screamed my ear into retirement…"
He rubbed his left ear. It was still trembling.
"...Then some tall brat slammed me with 'you shouldn't be here.' Then getting a ghost friend—" He paused. Corrected himself. "—a genius ghost friend with a face that could summon nightmares."
Students walking past glanced at him nervously.
He raised a finger, counting his daily sufferings.
"One. Bullies spotted. Two. Didn't understand a single damn sentence in English class. Three. My brain short-circuited during math. Four. I think my girl-body arms are sore from throwing that bench."
He cracked his knuckles.
"Five… today drained my entire gangster lifespan."
He finally sighed and placed both hands on his hips like a middle-aged father after work. "…High school is harder than the underworld."
At that moment, a familiar car rolled up beside him.
The window slid down.
"Sweetheart?" Qiao Jian leaned out, looking worried. "Why are you standing like a retired soldier staring at the horizon?"
Lu Zhen turned slowly.
Very slowly. Like a war veteran returning from a battlefield.
"Qiao Jian…"
"Yes?"
"…Take me home."
Qiao Jian blinked, then quietly unlocked the door, saying, "That's why I am here."
Lu Zhen climbed in with the heaviness of a man whose entire spine had filed a complaint. Once seated, he slammed his head back against the seat like he was done with existence itself.
Qiao Jian started the car, glancing over at his daughter—who was sitting like a mafia boss after a 14-hour shift.
"…Rough day?"
Lu Zhen stared at the ceiling.
"Qiao Jian."
"Yes?"
"…Never let your daughter go to school again."
Qiao Jian panicked. "What?! Ning Ning—school is important!"
Lu Zhen slapped the dashboard lightly. "This place is not a school. This place is a battlefield. A warzone. A psychological torture chamber. Do you know how much English homework I don't understand?! DO YOU?!"
Qiao Jian's eyes widened, horrified. He clutched the steering wheel.
"D-Did… something happen again?" His voice trembled, tiny and Terrified.
Lu Zhen turned his head slowly. He saw the fear in the man's eyes. Not fear for himself. Fear for Qiao Ning.
Fear that something had happened to her again. That she had suffered again. Lu Zhen's jaw softened—just a bit.
He sighed.
Then reached over… And patted Qiao Jian's shoulder with the authority of a mafia boss comforting a junior member.
"Qiao Jian…"
He spoke slowly.
Deeply.
Dangerously.
"No one—" he cracked his knuckles, one by one, the sound echoing in the small car—"can bully your daughter again."
Qiao Jian blinked.
Lu Zhen smirked, rolling his neck like he was preparing for a fight. "Anyone… ANYONE who tries—" He clenched his fist. "I will break every bone in their tiny, pathetic, high-school bodies."
Qiao Jian stared, Jaw slightly open, eyes halfway between fear and admiration.
Then slowly…slowly… He smiled.
Not a big smile.
A soft one, Relieved, Warm and Grateful. "I… see."
His voice trembled, but he nodded, as if some weight had lifted from his chest. He started the car again.
"Alright then," he murmured, almost to himself, "let's go home, Ning Ning."
Lu Zhen leaned back in the seat, closing his eyes, "Yes."
***
[Qiao Family—Later]
The front door opened with the dead heaviness of a soldier returning from war.
Lu Zhen staggered in.
Not walked.Staggered.
Like his soul had packed its bags, bought a ticket, and almost left him behind. He dragged his feet across the living room, eyes vacant, expression hollow.
He took one step. Then—
FWOMP.
He collapsed face-first onto the sofa like a corpse discovering gravity for the first time.
A long, tortured groan escaped his lips. "Uuuuuugh… my life… is suffering…"
His limbs dangled off the sofa like abandoned laundry. His hair spilled everywhere like he'd just lost a fight with a shampoo commercial.
He lay there in silence… utterly defeated by the universe.
Then—
From the kitchen, "Oh… you arrived, sweetie."
He cracked one eye open. "Oh… Qiao Mei… whatever you brought, just get it here."
Silence.
A sharp, deadly, motherly silence. Slowly… VERY slowly… Qiao Mei turned around with the warmest, sweetest, most absolutely terrifying smile known to mankind.
Qiao Jian froze near the doorway. Because HE knew. He knew a demon had awakened.
Lu Zhen blinked. "What… why are you just standing there? Bring the snacks here. I am Damn hungry."
Another silence.
Then—
"YOU—BRAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lu Zhen SHRIEKED, covering his ears as if struck by holy thunder.
"AAAA—MY EARS—!!! WHAT DID I DO?!"(He knew. He KNEW. But he still tried.)
Qiao Mei marched out of the kitchen like a war goddess descending from the heavens, wielding a spatula like a divine punishment tool.
"HOW—DARE—YOU—CALL—YOUR—MOTHER—BY—HER—NAME!!!!!"
Spatula slap on air. Sofa shook. House spirit fled.
"M-MA—Qiao—M—MADAM—LADY—STOP WAVING THAT—"
"STAY STILL!! DON'T YOU DARE ROLL OFF THAT SOFA!!"
"I WASN'T ROLLING, YOU WERE APPROACHING WITH HOSTILE INTENT—!"
"You dare talk back?!"
"I'M NOT—TALKING BACK, I'M NEGOTIATING FOR MY LIFE—!!"
And that was how the legendary gangster—breaker of bones, terror of back alleys, feared shadow of the underworld—
…got utterly DESTROYED by a gentle mom wielding a spatula of justice.
"NO TALKING!" She pointed the spatula at him. "You call me WHAT?"
Lu Zhen swallowed. Hard.
"…Mom?"
"What was that? I didn't hear you."
"...Mom."
"SWEETER."
"…mama."
"LOUDER."
"MAMA!!"
Qiao Mei nodded proudly, like she had just successfully house-trained a gangster. "Hmph. Good."
Qiao Jian stood in the hallway, hands behind his back, pretending to admire the wall. Inside his soul: Hallelujah… she needed this after so many days of crying.
Meanwhile, Lu Zhen sat on the sofa, traumatized, soul-shaking, and muttering to himself: "First the bullies… then English… then the Dean… then some tall idiot threatening me… NOW I'm getting yelled at by my new mom."
He stared into the distance.
"I'm… I'm losing to everyone. I'm a gangster. A GANGSTER. Why am I being defeated by a spatula…?"
Qiao Mei gently placed the snack tray on the table, smile warm, voice soft with motherly affection. "Here you go, Ning Ning~ have some snacks."
Lu Zhen stared at the snacks. Then at her. "…Thank you… mama…"
Qiao Mei smiled too sweetly like a satisfied general after winning a war and walked away. Lu Zhen slumped back onto the sofa, lifeless.
"This world," he muttered, eyes hollow, voice cracking, "…is really unfair."
And that was how the legendary gangster—breaker of bones, destroyer of reputations, feared ruler of the underworld—
got absolutely obliterated… by a loving mom with a spatula.
His pride? Gone.His gangster dignity? Evaporated.His soul? Missing in action.
He slumped back onto the sofa, whispering, "…How do I return to my gangster life like this…?"
A small head peeked from behind the hall.
"Sister… did you get scolded by Mama?"
Lu Zhen narrowed her—his—her?—eyes.
"…What do you want, you little brat? Are you HAPPY your sister got scolded?"
Qiao Rui immediately shook his head. "N-No! Not happy—But… this is the first time Mama scolded you in a long, long time."
He slowly brightened, like a lamp being switched on.
"That means… we're going back to our old life, right?"
Lu Zhen blinked."…Old life?"
"What old life?" he asked, sitting up a little.
Qiao Rui walked closer, clutching his toy robot. His voice softened."Sister… you used to lock your room every day. You didn't eat with us. You didn't talk to Mama or Papa. You didn't… smile."
He looked down, fiddling with his toy.
"Mama cried a lot. Papa too. You always said you were studying but… you didn't even go outside. Not even once."
A silence fell.
Heavy.Quiet.Full of the ache that didn't belong to Lu Zhen—but to the girl whose life he now carried.
"…So this kid isolated herself," he murmured softly.
He reached out and gently patted Qiao Rui's head.
"Don't worry," he said, voice firm in a way only a gangster could make comforting. "From now on… we're going back to the REAL old life."
The boy's eyes widened.
"Really? Really really?!"
Lu Zhen nodded. "Yeah. Really. You want to eat snacks with me?"
Qiao Rui brightened like fireworks exploding behind his eyes. "YES!! I'll turn on the TV!!"
He zoomed off like a rocket, skidding around the corner.
"MAMA!! DAD!! SISTER'S WATCHING TV WITH US!!"
And in the kitchen, Qiao Jian silently exhaled—eyes softening with relief. Qiao Mei set the snack tray down, wiping the corner of her eyes discreetly.
And on the sofa—An ex-gangster in a girl's body grinned faintly and muttered: "…Guess this family ain't bad."
And just like that— The Qiao household, once heavy with silence, filled with warmth again.