THIP Chapter 11

After teaching Class 30 of the senior year for a week, there was still no progress on her mission.

Looking at the empty seat in the back corner of the classroom, Mu Liuyin snapped her book shut with a thud and coldly announced the end of class.

As soon as she walked away, the students of Class 30 immediately started chattering.

“Hey, Boss Chu hasn’t been to class for three days now.”

“I’m surprised she lasted four days with Ms. Ning.”

“Pfft, she kept getting hit with chalk every time she dozed off in class. No wonder she stopped coming.”

“Exactly. Even if she did come to class, she definitely wouldn’t want to sit through Ms. Ning’s lessons.”

“But don’t you guys think Ms. Ning’s been in a bad mood ever since Boss Chu stopped coming?”

The students were deep in their discussion, unaware that every word was being relayed to Mu Liuyin in real time by Xiao Jiu.

Mu Liuyin thought about it and realized she might have gone a bit too far. She always made sure to hit Chu Jiyu with chalk just as she was about to fall asleep. When the girl finally stopped sleeping in class for two days, Mu Liuyin had assumed her method was working. She thought Chu Jiyu was finally taking her studies seriously. Who would have guessed that instead, she would just skip school entirely?

【Where is Chu Jiyu today?】Mu Liuyin asked Xiao Jiu.

For the past two days, Xiao Jiu’s responses had been the same: playing games, sleeping.

This time, however, Xiao Jiu sounded panicked. 【Host, the target is being cornered at an internet café.】

【What?!】

Xiao Jiu whined. 【It’s at an internet café not far from the school. The ones blocking her are from No. 2 High. There are thirteen of them. Wuwu, they look really scary.】

Mu Liuyin’s heart tightened. She grabbed her coat and left immediately.

Since it was still break time, some students from Class 10 saw her leave the office, but before they could even greet her, she was already far gone.

The reason Chu Jiyu had started skipping class was simple: Mu Liuyin was annoying. She couldn’t sleep during class, couldn’t smoke during breaks—she had no patience for it, so she simply stopped coming.

After skipping school, though, she didn’t know what to do. On a whim, she walked into an internet café to play games.

She booked a private room with a sofa inside. When she was awake, she played games casually. When she got tired, she lay down on the sofa to sleep. If she got hungry, she went out to buy food. Naturally, she spent far more time sleeping than gaming.

The past few days in class had pissed her off. From freshman to sophomore year, plenty of teachers had tried to discipline her, but once they heard about her reputation as the school delinquent and her dead-last grades, they all gave up. She never expected that her senior year would bring her a homeroom teacher like this.

Instead of focusing on the good students, Mu Liuyin kept her eyes locked on her. If she tried to sleep, she got hit with chalk. If she tried to sneak a smoke, Mu Liuyin would appear out of nowhere to lecture her.

Is she picking on me because I don’t hit teachers?

After a few days of catching up on sleep, Chu Jiyu was finally in a good mood. But just as she woke up today, a group of losers from No. 2 High surrounded her.

And judging by the way they blocked her in, this was a planned ambush. Chu Jiyu figured they must have spotted her when she went out to buy food and then called their buddies to trap her.

She counted—thirteen in total. The leader was Ma Zhuo, the top delinquent from No. 2 High.

They barged in just as she woke up.

Freshly awake, her delicate features looked soft and harmless. She leaned back against the sofa and lazily yawned.

All of them were guys, and for a moment, they hesitated at the sight of her like this.

But Mu Liuyin wasn’t around to witness that moment. By the time she arrived, the fight had already started.

Of course, they weren’t brawling inside the internet café. They had moved to a quiet, empty street.

When she arrived at the scene, Mu Liuyin frowned. Of the thirteen guys from No. 2 High, nearly half were already on the ground, bleeding.

But Chu Jiyu had taken even more damage—she had multiple wounds, including some from sharp weapons.

“Chu Jiyu, just be my girl, and we’ll call it even. How about that?” Ma Zhuo said, his confidence faltering as he looked at his injured gang and the bloodstained Chu Jiyu.

They had only teased her a little, but this crazy girl had thrown the first punch.

And when she fought, she was even more ruthless than them.

Chu Jiyu’s expression turned ice-cold as she prepared to strike again.

But before she could move, Mu Liuyin was faster. In a few swift kicks, she knocked down the remaining standing members of Ma Zhuo’s gang.

Chu Jiyu stared at the young teacher who had suddenly appeared.

“You…” Why are you here?

She opened her mouth to ask but was cut off.

Mu Liuyin walked over with a frosty expression. “Boss Chu, impressive. So you skipped school just to get into a fight?”

Despite her scolding tone, she checked Chu Jiyu’s wounds and let out a sigh of relief. “Luckily, they’re just superficial.”

Chu Jiyu glared at her. “Why are you here?”

Mu Liuyin replied casually, “I was just passing by. Who would’ve thought I’d run into my student brawling in the streets?”

Chu Jiyu frowned and was about to leave.

But before she could take a step, the sound of police sirens filled the air.

Chu Jiyu turned to look at Mu Liuyin.

Mu Liuyin calmly said, “I called the police. Make sure to tell them these little punks were the ones who picked on you first. Got it?”

Chu Jiyu: “…”

The No. 2 High gang lying on the ground: “…”

The police arrived quickly, rounding up the delinquents from No. 2 High and—of course—Mu Liuyin and Chu Jiyu as well.

At Mu Liuyin’s request, they were first taken to the hospital to have their injuries examined.

Sitting inside the police station, Chu Jiyu felt complicated. She had been in countless fights, but this was her first time getting hauled into a police station for it.

The officer asked why they had been fighting.

Mu Liuyin pointed at Ma Zhuo and his gang. “They bullied my student and tried to force her to be their girlfriend. When she refused, they ganged up on her.”

Chu Jiyu sat beside her, her usually delicate face now pale, her arm wrapped in bandages with bruises peeking through.

The officer believed it.

The delinquents from No. 2 High were furious. “She hit us first!”

True, they were also injured.

Mu Liuyin raised a brow. “She’s a pretty girl surrounded by a bunch of guys—of course she’d be scared. Are you saying it’s fine for you to attack her, but she’s not allowed to defend herself?”

The officer nodded in agreement. The boys from No. 2 High were injured, but according to the medical report, none of them were seriously hurt.

Chu Jiyu had been in plenty of fights. She knew how to hit where it hurt without leaving obvious evidence.

As for her injuries, well, they just looked bad.

The boys from No. 2 High School: “……”

The officer turned to Mu Liuyin and asked why she had been there.

Mu Liuyin responded with confidence, explaining that her student had taken a leave of absence due to a stomach illness. Worried about her well-being, she had gone to check on her after class, only to stumble upon her being harassed.

She even urged the officer to properly educate these bullies who had targeted her student.

Chu Jiyu sat silently beside Mu Liuyin the entire time, not saying a word.

Since there were no surveillance cameras in the alley where the fight took place, and no serious injuries had been reported, the police didn’t dig too deeply into the details. Given the situation, it certainly looked like a group of boys had ganged up on a lone girl.

After giving their statements, Mu Liuyin took Chu Jiyu and left, while the boys from No. 2 High School remained behind, receiving a lecture from the police about fostering a harmonious society.

Chu Jiyu: “……”

Noticing her complicated expression, Mu Liuyin smirked. “What do you think? Pretty impressive, huh? Your teacher did well at the police station, didn’t she?”

Chu Jiyu: “Ha.”

Mu Liuyin ignored her sarcastic laugh and kept walking. When she checked her watch, she realized it was already past six in the evening. Looking over at Chu Jiyu, she asked, “Boss Chu, where do you live?”

Chu Jiyu frowned at the nickname. “Why?”

“I’m taking you home.”

“I don’t need you to.”

“If I didn’t step in, who knows what kind of shape you’d be in right now?”

“Hah! If you hadn’t meddled, I wouldn’t have ended up at the police station in the first place!”

They bickered as they walked, unknowingly retracing their steps back to the fight scene.

Chu Jiyu finally realized something was off. She narrowed her eyes. “Hey, why are we here? My place isn’t this way.”

Mu Liuyin pulled a key out of her pocket and inserted it into the ignition of an electric scooter parked outside a convenience store.

Raising an eyebrow, she said, “Get on. I’ll give you a ride home.”

Chu Jiyu: “……”

In the end, she climbed onto the scooter.

Mu Liuyin started the engine. “Hold on tight, or you’ll fall off.”

Without thinking, Chu Jiyu wrapped her arms around Mu Liuyin’s waist.

By the time they arrived at Chu Jiyu’s apartment building, the sky had already gone completely dark.

Still holding onto Mu Liuyin’s waist, Chu Jiyu was a little out of it. When she felt the scooter stop, she mumbled, “Are we there?”

Her voice was hoarse and weak.

Mu Liuyin immediately sensed something was wrong. She turned around and pressed a hand to Chu Jiyu’s forehead—it was burning up.

She cursed inwardly. The girl was already injured, and now, after riding in the chilly evening air, she had caught a fever.

Mu Liuyin softened her voice. “You have a fever. I’m taking you to the hospital.”

Chu Jiyu kept her eyes closed and shook her head slightly, clearly reluctant.

But Mu Liuyin wouldn’t take no for an answer. She flagged down a taxi and took her straight to the hospital.

High fever—102.6°F.

After taking her temperature, the doctor started her on an IV drip.

Mu Liuyin knew that after finding out Chu Ruoyi was actually her half-sister and having a massive falling-out with Chu Jianren, Chu Jiyu had moved out on her own.

She had only been fifteen at the time, still a minor.

Now, at seventeen, she had been living on her own for two years. Chu Jianren never visited her—not once. The only thing he did was transfer money into her account at the start of each month.

She had a father, yet it was as if she didn’t.

Even at school, she was always alone. Sure, plenty of people admired her, but no one ever truly stepped into her world.

Watching the pale, sleeping girl, Mu Liuyin’s heart ached at the thought of how many times she must have nursed her wounds and endured sickness all by herself over the past two years.

She felt an overwhelming wave of pity.