Chapter 21 - A helping hand

Bian watched Jian hurry out of the class. he ran after him but he was not able to catch up to his rat-like movement. That guy actually squeezed and slid around the crowd and left through the back gate before he could stop him.

Frowning, he peered at the gate in fury. 'He actually ran away from me!! I'll show him what I can do. It's high time I take down his confidence by a notch!' he turned back and ran to his classroom.

Just as he was about to enter, he stopped. He pinched his hands hard enough to bring tears to his eyes. With his head lowered, he slowly entered the classroom. It was still not empty yet. The rogue students like to stay back chatting and playing around.

As he walked close, the chatters went silent.

"Bian, what's wrong?" Nansich instantly fell for his trick.

Sniffling Bian wiped his eyes. "n-nothing. I'm good…. I'm good."

"No, this is not nothing!" he grabbed his shoulders tightly and pulled him close. "Tell me who bullied you? Is it those seniors again?"

"it's not..." Bian turned his face away from him

"Was it that bastard!"

Wordlessly, he sniffled and lowered his head.

"I knew it! it's that fucker. I shouldn't have spared him last time! Boys, come!" he gestured to his gang and was ready to head out.

Bian subtly smiled at these words. 'Tsk this idiot is so easy to manipulate...' he gripped Nansich's hands. "don't... don't hurt him. he is my brother. I don't want anything happening to him. Even though he might be mean to me, he is still my blood relative. Please…"

"Fuck! Who does he think he is? How can you be so soft-hearted Bian... that bastard has been bullying you for so long yet you take it all in silence. I won't spare him! I will kill that fucker."

Bian's grip on his wrist tightened. 'don't kill him you bastard... just took him so that he will lose his confidence and fall back into my web.' He was thinking this inside but he maintained a pitiful look in his eyes. "it's okay Nan… I can talk to him. Maybe Jian will change."

"Humans don't change!" said Nansich and stormed out of the class with his gang.

Some of them even gave him words of comfort. Nodding, Bian weakly sat on his chair.

His tear-filled eyes watched the gang leave with gusto. 'This will do for now. Let's see how he can live peacefully.'

Last night he started to get a vague sense of fear. Like everything was going out of control. His grandpa had a good impression on Jian and everyone around him started to like him. He can't let that happen... he must beat that dog down until he is a cowering idiot.

'Should I make him drop out of school? If he stays home every day, he will be beaten down by grandma and will lose his edge. Hmm, that doesn't seem like a bad idea.'

Unknown to all this, Jian was cheerfully working in the small kitchen of the restaurant. The plates were piling up but he was able to wash them easily. The boss even kindly heated the wash water for him.

"Did you eat?" Giya whispered to him with a slight frown.

Jian froze. "I... I did," but those dirty egg rolls were not enough to fill him up. and he was reluctant to use his grandpa's money, so he skipped lunch.

"Did you?" she skeptically raised a brow. "Your stomach has been growling for a long time now."

Blushing, Jian placed a hand on his stomach. "Sorry…"

"Wait," she quickly whipped up a bowl of noodles. "Eat and work. Don't want you fainting on me."

With a soft smile, he took the offered bowl. "Thank you, boss…. I'm sorry for being such an inconvenience,"

"Tsk, kid, you talk such big words," saying so she continued to cook the customer orders. her thin lips were raised up in a content smile.

Jian silently ate the hot noodle soup with relish. After starving for so long, he was finally able to eat something delicious. It made him so happy.

'Working here was the best choice I've made! boss makes the best noodles!!' with a huge grin he gulped down the soup, leaving the bowl crystal clean.

After finishing, he wordlessly went back to cleaning the dishes. Soon everything was clean.

Giya asked him to chop up the veggies, and he did so with a happy grin.

'Wonder how Grandma will react when she learns that I'm not cooking dinner. I bet she is going to rage like a bull.'

But soon he froze.

'Grandpa will work the later shift so… she can easily bully me. Maybe I shouldn't fight back too much. It will only make me bruised and wounded.' He pulled his sleeve up to scratch at the black and blue bruise.

Yesterday's punishment really hurt.

He did not wish to be tortured like this again.

"Did someone hit you?" the boss's cold voice suddenly pulled him out of his thoughts.

Jian hurriedly pulled down his sleeve with a smile. "no... I just fell down the stairs."

'What if the boss calls the cops on us? Then all my plans will be disrupted. The Wang family will not accept a felon into their family and he would be stuck with his grandma forever!'

He shivered in fear. 'That can never happen. nah ah. Nope. I will have to hide my bruised well from now on,'

Giya gave him a look.

Smiling, Jian continued to chop the lotus roots.