Chapter 49: Persuading Jia

  "Get out of the way!" Yu roared loudly, like a male lion that had been provoked, with a blood-red color appearing in the whites of his eyes.

  Several people in the row behind me were frightened and retreated back to their original positions. I also felt a sudden jolt, but still pretended to be calm and composed, unaffected by his roar, continuing to block him. I only knew that I had to do this now, even if he was going to slap me or kick me away, I couldn't dodge, and even if I was really kicked away, I would still have to rush forward to block again. As the saying goes, one of me falls down, but a thousand more of me stand up...

  "Yu, calm down!" I frowned and glared at him, using both hands to hold back his arms, trying my best not to let him rush over and get into a fight with Ji Dong. "Stop fighting! Can't you just talk things through?" I turned around and glared at Ji Dong again, who was being tightly hugged by Ruo Xi in his arms, her face red and ears flushed.

  My heart is filled with mixed emotions, and my mind is a mess, but for now, the most important thing is to calm them both down, and put aside other things that are not essential.

  "Ji Dong! Stop it too! Know when to stop! I'm Yu's girlfriend, have some respect for me and don't hit him again, okay?" I yelled loudly, this was the first time I had ever addressed him by his full name, indicating that I was truly angry at this moment.

  He stopped the struggling motion he had originally intended, and stared at me blankly. In the darkness, I could only make out that he was looking in my direction, but couldn't see the expression in his eyes.

  My heart suddenly felt a pang of guilt, I still remember that when I first heard him say his own name as a child, I burst out laughing and took the liberty of changing his name to "Winter Melon", from then on he was crowned with the title of "Mimi's exclusive slave", every day being bullied by me until he left, and for a long time I couldn't get used to not having someone to bully.

  As I came to, I found that the whispers around me had suddenly stopped, and the sound of cicadas was unusually prominent. The wind was like a rolling fireball, and my whole body felt as if it was immersed in flames, with sweat breaking out all over, and the pain and itchiness spreading along my meridians, like being bitten by tens of thousands of mosquitoes.

  After a while, the crowd started to stir again. The lonely universe beside me let out a cold laugh: "Dong, you should understand? She belongs to me, why are you competing with me?"

  I glared at Ze Yu discontentedly, and the anger on his face dissipated by half, still with a triumphant smile hanging on it.

  "Ruoxi, let me go." Ji Dong said in a low voice, but he didn't even struggle to shake off Ruoxi.

  "I won't let go unless you promise me you'll never hit me again!" Yu Xi didn't back down either, her whole face was red with anger.

  "Alright, Creek, I'll leave the winter melon to you. You go analyze it for him!" I found myself in a dominant position without realizing it, so I must remain calm and adapt to any situation.

  I turned back, looking at Ji Yu with a determined gaze that said "don't even think about continuing unless you knock me down". I noticed an oval-shaped red mark on his left cheek, with faint bloodstains. Judging by the general thickness of boys' skin, Ji Dong's punch shouldn't have been enough to leave such a visible mark. It seemed he had taken several punches already. My heart softened, and I reached out to gently touch it, but quickly withdrew my hand, afraid of hurting him further. His fiery gaze turned to me, and he pulled my hand over, placing it on his injured cheek without any expression, his eyes not even blinking once. If it were me, I would have already jumped up in pain.

  My heart is unbalanced, and I'm slightly pinching his face with a mischievous force. He finally frowns, takes in a cold breath, and I burst out laughing, feeling pleased with myself. What's the point of pretending? It hurts, so what? Not honest at all!

  He raised his eyes and found him staring at me with a murderous gaze, so he immediately stopped smiling, and gently rubbed him, smiled and stuck out his tongue: "Sorry!"

  "You woman!" He gritted his teeth and grasped my arm tightly, the two of us with our hands clasped together, our eyes locked in a gaze. Under the starry night sky, if you ignored the facial expressions, this pose was romantic enough.

  "You want to fight me? I'm not your opponent! I admit defeat, okay?" I nodded my head towards the big hand grasping my arm, trying to ease the tension with a joke.

  He didn't let go, and his eyes were again filled with fierce anger, as he said fiercely: "Then get out of the way, I'm going to teach that little brat a good lesson today!"

  He said, as he tried to push me aside with a strong arm, his strength was astonishing, grabbing me and lifting me sideways like an Indian pancake. He couldn't wait to get rid of me and rush over, I held onto his arm tightly and refused to let go, flying through the air, I remembered the new move I just learned, why not use it now? So, relying on inertia, I pulled him along with me as we spun 90°, using his force against him without exerting any effort, ah~ indeed very practical! Suddenly an idea struck my mind.

  He was obviously taken aback by me turning him around, staring at me with an unusual gaze, his expression as if he had just seen a UFO.

  "If you want to fight, I'll be your opponent! However, you can't lay a hand on Ji Dong again! How about it?" Ah, what a refreshing feeling! For the first time, I've managed to take down this powerful Golden Warrior single-handedly!

  He slightly frowned: "Do you have to oppose me? Do you want me to cripple you? I advise you not to interfere, I won't go easy on women either."

  "So you've agreed? No backing out!" My attention is now only receiving usable information, everything serves to resolve the dispute, relaxing my muscles, making preparations, "Alright! Come on!"

  My abnormal reaction attracted countless strange glances from around me, as if everyone thought I was the type who looked for trouble when there wasn't any.

  "Be careful, Mei!" Ruo Xi cheered me on from the other end, her trembling voice revealing her concern. Dealing with Yu was the first step, but taming this lion was really difficult. If this had happened a few days ago, I wouldn't have been so brave. After learning some martial arts moves, I thought it would be good to try them out, and although my opponent was Yu, I felt a thrill of excitement in my heart.

  He sank into thought for a moment, his deep eyes staring tightly at mine, and the corners of his mouth rose slightly: "Interesting, but the rules are set by me."

  "No problem!" I blurted out without thinking, feeling that this would kill two birds with one stone, and not only could I practice my skills but also resolve the conflict, as long as Yu Xing promised, I didn't care about the rules.

  He smiled faintly and looked at me, saying in a light tone: "The rule is that you have to make sure I get tired of hitting."

  "...haven't asked..." The words hadn't even left his mouth before he immediately covered it, the excitement vanishing in an instant, replaced by a chilling sense of foreboding. What does this mean? He wouldn't actually...hurt me, would he?

  He was amused by me, and burst out laughing with his head down, the smile in his eyes still lingering. Not a hint of anger on him! It turned out he was teasing me again, he's really tireless!

  "Alright, alright! You've vented your anger. Let's just forget it and not fight anymore, okay?" I suddenly felt that my skills weren't up to par, and my skin might not be thick enough to withstand his punches. Taking advantage of his relaxed state, I started to persuade him in a soft but firm tone, "Fighting will only hurt our bodies and hearts, what's the point? Between us, it's even more unnecessary! Let me accompany you for a drink instead of fighting, isn't that better?" I tried my best to put on a flattering expression, although I felt quite disgusted with myself. But at this moment, making him comfortable meant making myself comfortable, and also making everyone else comfortable. I could endure anything.

  "Drink with me? You up for it?" He raised an eyebrow and asked, his voice full of skepticism.

  "No problem! No problem!" I nodded like a garlic press, getting drunk to death is much better than being beaten to death by random punches.

  As I spoke, I hopped up to him in front of everyone, like a rabbit, grabbed his clothes, looked at him with pitiful eyes, made a coquettish face, and spoke softly, almost kissing him.

  He stared at me blankly, his eyes gradually softening, his face relaxing, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth. He pulled me into a hug: "I'm really defeated by you, forget it, Dong, go ahead, I don't want to pursue this anymore. But if in the future you still don't know what's good for you, then don't blame me for not upholding brotherly loyalty!"

  As soon as this was said, the atmosphere suddenly improved, and the situation took a dramatic 180-degree turn. The younger brothers all secretly let out a sigh of relief, patted their chests, and prepared to leave with Ze Yu.

  Xu Yu gently wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pulling me to turn and leave. I secretly sighed, looking at Ji Dong, who was still firmly pinned down by Ruo Xi, his face hidden with an unreadable expression, his fists clenched tightly at his sides. I slipped my hand behind Xu Yu's back, placing it on his waist, urging him to quicken his pace, afraid that Ji Dong would still charge over. At this moment, I couldn't care about him anymore; with Ruo Xi there, perhaps she could calm down his anger, and from now on, let them resolve their own issues.