Leng Siyu spoke calmly, lightly, as though dismissing everything:
"Don't worry, teacher. I should thank you instead. If it weren't for you… Forget it, you wouldn't understand."
When Leng Siyu walked out of the office, Hua Kedo, Ye Zhiqiu, Jiang Meidan, and Gong Yingxue immediately gathered around.
"Siyu, you scared me to death!" Hua Kedo's plump hand wrapped around Siyu's arm again. "Your mom is way too fierce! You should go home and run a DNA test to confirm you two are related!"
"You'd better go see the school nurse, Siyu," Ye Zhiqiu suggested with sincere gentleness in his eyes.
"You took more than ten strikes on your back — you need medicine!" Jiang Meidan tugged at Siyu's sports jacket anxiously.
Even the basketball captain, Gong Yingxue, chimed in, "Yeah, Siyu, injuries need treatment. You can't just rely on being tough!"
One beating had somehow tied the girls' hearts together.
"It's fine. Don't worry. I'm pretty beat-resistant." Leng Siyu lightly patted Ye Zhiqiu, cast Jiang Meidan and Gong Yingxue a reassuring look, then dragged Hua Kedo off with a carefree swing of her arm. A few steps away, she turned back and said to Gong Yingxue,
"Yingxue, about our one-on-one match?"
Gong Yingxue hid behind Jiang Meidan with a laugh.
"Leng Siyu, you're really a she-devil! And I just finished worrying about you!"
"Look at you — terrified already. No fun at all." A mischievous glint flashed through Leng Siyu's eyes as she walked away.
—
Xia Pengfei walked out of the office holding Lin Wanru's weapon of battle — a belt.
Liu Xudong stepped forward praising:
"Incredible! The South China tiger shredding the American leopard! Today you did Cold-Kill-You a huge favor!"
Xia Pengfei watched Leng Siyu's retreating figure, unimpressed.
"That girl's body and spirit are both tougher than steel. Doesn't seem like she needs anyone's help."
When Xia Pengfei and the other students returned to class, everyone looked at Leng Siyu with admiration.
They praised the girl — solid as forged iron.
She took the beating without howling or crying, and that calm, unflinching poise alone was something beyond most people.
Xia Pengfei pulled out a bottle of Leng-family-made safflower oil and placed it before her.
"Apply some later. Don't treat yourself like you're not human. Humans get hurt. They feel pain."
"So sentimental. Too bad I can't cry on cue. I have plenty at home."
Leng Siyu tossed the bottle back — Xia Pengfei quickly caught it.
"Plenty?" He studied the medicine, eyes gleaming.
"This is better than anything on the market. It has massive commercial potential! If you give me the recipe, I can help you take it to market."
"You little capitalist — you really get into every crack." Siyu kept her face cold.
"This formula is ancestral. Every inheritor swears never to reveal it."
Xia Pengfei lifted his gaze to her.
"You stubborn thing. Such a great business opportunity and you won't seize it? If you sell it, you wouldn't need to work yourself half to death. You could just sit at home counting money!"
Siyu zipped her bag, stared straight into his eyes:
"So as long as profit is involved, trust no longer matters?
Must human actions be measured solely by what makes money?
If you care so much about economic returns, why choose liberal arts? You know the humanities don't directly generate profit — they guide values. Science and engineering are far superior in material production — you know that too."
Xia Pengfei froze. Her words struck something in him.
In this profit-driven society, how many people pursue gain without limit?
How many ignore law and morality, producing toxic, counterfeit goods?
If developers, wholesalers, and retailers had even some humanity — some social responsibility — wouldn't the world be clearer, kinder, safer?
He had thought about this before.
Zhou Yang once asked why he chose liberal arts — he never answered.
But the truth was exactly this.
The humanities exist to return humanity to the human heart.
Stronger than technology.
Stronger than economy.
Is the human soul.
In her words, he sensed something — Leng Siyu valued things far beyond money.
Watching her leave, Xia Pengfei found her somehow more endearing than usual.
—
When Xia Pengfei left the school building, he walked slowly.
By the time he reached kindergarten, Leng Siyu was already racing toward Phoenix District with two little kids balanced in her arms.
At home, he flopped onto the sofa. Before he spoke, a cup of Tieguanyin was placed in his hand.
Xia Chongchong played with building blocks, munching chocolate.
"Hey, Chongchong — anyone bullying you at school lately?"
"That Cao Batian is awful! He's almost beaten up everyone in Class B. One day he tried to bully me, and Yuanyuan defended me — he pushed her so hard she got a huge bump on her head. Yuanyuan is so brave — she didn't even cry."
"A bump? I didn't see a bump."
"Teacher used ice and medicine. Yuanyuan said Rain-Sister taught her."
"This girl really is capable."
"Yuanyuan is very capable."
Xia Pengfei sipped tea by the window, watching Leng Siyu rush out of the neighborhood carrying little Yuanyuan.
Probably working again, he guessed.
Got beaten today and still runs around for pocket money…
Next time she gets beaten, will she shock the entire city?
He put the cup down, changed into casual clothes, heading for the door.
"Brother, where are you going? Take me!"
"Stay home and play. I'm just going out."
"If you take me, I'll tell you something about Rain-Sister and Yuanyuan!"
"I don't want to know anything about them."
"…Fine, forget it then—"
"Get your shoes on. Now!"
—
Leng Siyu hurried down Feilong Road with Yuanyuan in her arms.
Yuanyuan rested one hand on Siyu's shoulder.
"Sis — slow down, I need to say something!"
"My legs are walking, not my mouth. Speaking shouldn't interfere."
"When you run fast, it disrupts my thinking."
"You little brat — so many ghostly schemes."
She slowed down anyway.
"Better now?"
"Stop completely, I need to talk."
Siyu halted, eyes locked on Yuanyuan's big round ones.
"Say it fast. Don't delay my earning money."
Yuanyuan spoke solemnly — too solemnly — sounding exactly like a certain fierce mother-leopard:
"Sis, I think what you're doing is wrong."
"Wrong? What?"
"I saw my mom today."
"And?"
"She told me to keep an eye on you. If you sneak off to work again, I should report to her — and she'll reward me."
"So you agreed?"
"Are you kidding me? If I didn't agree, she'd beat my butt raw right there. Getting spanked in front of Chongchong — how humiliating!"