Death and Rebirth

In the broad daylight, as the unforgiving sun beat down on the Beijing International School grounds, there was a certain spot shrouded in shadow and lingering smoke - the dingy back alley. 

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Several high schoolers clad in black vests with dark stripes over their crisp white shirts had gathered there, casually puffing on cigarettes. The acrid smell of tobacco hung thick in the air, but something far more unsettling was unfolding.

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"Hey, Li Yue!" one of the students barked, a bulky and intimidating figure. He stepped forward menacingly, grinding the toe of his scuffed shoe into the ribs of a skinny boy lying crumpled on the filthy concrete. 

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Li Yue let out a strangled groan of pain as the bully sneered down at him. "Where's our money?! You promised us 1,000 yuan by now."

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Li Yue's face contorted, his eyes squeezed shut against the waves of agony radiating through his battered body. 

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His dark vest was caked with dirt and grime from being kicked around on the ground, and ugly blooms of purple and blue marred the exposed skin of his arms, which were wrapped protectively around his abdomen.

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Despite his pitiful state, defiance burned in his gaze as he glared up at his tormentors through a sweaty fringe of black hair.

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"What's wrong, Li Yue? Cat got your tongue?" Another student chimed in with a mocking laugh, taking a long drag from his cigarette and exhaling a thick plume of smoke. "We've been pretty generous, giving you extra time. Don't make us regret being so nice."

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"P-please..." The word caught in Li Yue's throat as he struggled to speak through the pain. "I-I have no money left."

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The bully's face twisted into an ugly sneer at Li Yue's feeble plea. "Huh? I can't hear you," he growled, rearing back to deliver another brutal kick square into the defenseless boy's gut. Li Yue's body seized as the air was driven from his lungs in a choked gasp. "Speak up!"

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At that, the floodgates seemed to open. A few of the other students joined in enthusiastically, raining vicious kicks and stomps onto Li Yue's curled form as he feebly tried to protect himself. 

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...

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Raucous laughter and cruel jeers filled the alley, some of the students hungrily egging on the violence while others simply watched with sadistic grins.

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Amid the chaotic frenzy stood one young man, an unwitting island of calm in the eye of the storm. He leaned against the rough brick wall, the occasional wisp of smoke curling up from the cigarette dangling between his long fingers. 

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His narrow black eyes betrayed no emotion as they flickered dispassionately between the crazed grins of his fellow students drunk on their own cruelty, and the small patch of brilliant blue sky visible above the tops of the surrounding buildings. 

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At around 180 cm, he stood a head taller than the rest, his short black hair styled into an artfully tousled quiff. One hand holding a cigarette while the other gripped his phone.

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His narrow eyes were focused intently on the webnovel app displayed on the screen, following the story of a main character who had transmigrated into the body of someone from a wealthy family. 

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Power, money - those are the things that control modern society now, he thought with a sense of removed cynicism. 

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Lifting his gaze, Shen Zeming's eyes coolly appraised the vicious beating playing out before him. 

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Li Yue was just a kid whose father was a lowly manager at the bully's company, caught in the crosshairs simply for being from a less affluent background. 

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Most of the other students enthusiastically participating in the assault came from prominent families, all intertwined through a twisted web of wealth, power and connections. 

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Revolt against the bully? A futile effort. 

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Li Yue's father's entire career would be at stake, and by extension their family's future. Not to mention, he was attending Beijing International - not just any random high school, but one of the most prestigious and exorbitantly priced institutions in the city. 

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Their tuition fees alone were more than most families made in a year.

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Report the incident to the teachers? Shen Zeming's lip curled almost imperceptibly. Given the level of influence wielded by the families involved, who in their right mind would risk offending some rich kid's parents to defend a mere manager's son? 

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Everyone had their career and livelihood on the line. Li Yue was trapped - he couldn't afford to jeopardize his father's job, nor could he risk being expelled from this school, as it represented his only chance to potentially climb out of his current circumstances someday and seek revenge.

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But... 

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Shen Zeming took one last long drag of his cigarette before casually extinguishing it against the brick and slipping his phone back into his pocket.

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"Yo, Shen Zeming, where are you going?" 

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The sudden question made Shen Zeming pause mid-step, his head turning just enough to meet the speaker's gaze with an unflinching stare. 

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There was no trace of apprehension in his eyes as he responded in a low, even tone, "Canteen. I'm hungry." He didn't fully turn around, keeping his body angled away as if he could dismiss the whole scene with a mere tilt of his head. "You in or not?"

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His hands stayed buried in his pockets, framing the image of casual nonchalance. But there was an intensity simmering just beneath that impassive exterior, like the promise of a gathering storm. 

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Revenge? That's just a pipe dream.

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Unlike the hapless Li Yue, Shen Zeming had nothing to lose by speaking up or getting involved. 

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In fact, seeing Li Yue's helpless situation struck a little too close to home, dredging up memories of his own past self - when he had been in that same degrading position, at the mercy of bullies while his father was just a manager at their company. 

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But unlike Li Yue, Shen Zeming had managed to find a way to break that cycle through conviction. 

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He had convinced his father to take a risk, to eschew societal expectations and not simply accept their predetermined roles as lesser beings bowing to the whims of the wealthy elite. 

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Even if it meant dropping out of this prestigious school, Shen Zeming held an unshakable belief that they could forge their own path through life without relying on or being indebted to anyone else's power or status.

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As a man, who would want to bow down and kneel, becoming nothing more than a lapdog? 

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School doesn't guarantee a successful career; it shapes personality instead.

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"Jeez, you're so boring," he snorted derisively, his fists clenching as if itching for a fight. "He's so arrogant, just because he's learned some kind of martial arts," the bully continued, his eyes narrowing to slits as he appraised Shen Zeming's back with disdain.

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Off to the side, Li Yue lay crumpled on the ground, his school uniform caked with dirt and speckled with flecks of blood from a split lip. 

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SLAM!

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One of the bully's cronies delivered another vicious kick to his midsection, eliciting a pained groan. "Boss, shouldn't you just fire and threaten his father like you did with this bastard?" he suggested with a malicious grin.

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The bully shook his head, "It's no use. Like father, like son. His father is also fearless." He punctuated the statement with another brutal kick to Li Yue's ribs, the sickening thud followed by a pitiful whimper as the boy slipped into unconsciousness. 

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"Not only did he manage to increase the profits of my father's company, but he's also fully aware of the bullying going on at our school."

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But just as the words left his mouth, something caught his eye - a gigantic, looming shadow that seemed to manifest from thin air, aligning perfectly with Shen Zeming's own shadow. 

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"Hmm, is that a plane?" one of his lackeys wondered aloud, just before the massive object crashed into Shen Zeming's shadow with earth-shattering force, sending tremors rippling through the whole school as it hurtled straight towards them.

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BOOM!

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An explosion and a cloud of fire engulfed the entire school—or rather, the entire alley—killing all the high schoolers, Li Yue, and Shen Zeming.