"Young man, how does this look? I saw that your shoelaces were tied in a butterfly knot, so I guessed you must like them. The way I bandaged your hand is also a butterfly knot."
The paramedic had a very favorable impression of Leo. This was a very brave student.
Leo tilted his head. "It's very beautiful."
The paramedic smiled. He had had many girlfriends when he was younger, which was how he had learned this trick.
A police officer approached with a notepad.
"Young man, what's your name? We need to record it. Your actions were very courageous, and we will contact your school later to commend you."
Whenever something like this happened, the most important thing was to publicize it properly. They couldn't let their little hero go unrecognized. They needed to let the school know about his excellent character, so the teachers would pay more attention to him and give him more homework. They would provide extra tutoring in his weak subjects to help him get into a top university.
"I'm going to be late for school," Leo said.
The officer replied, "Don't worry, young man. We'll give you a ride to school. Besides, you're injured now, you need to rest. We'll call the school and get you excused."
In the eyes of the police and paramedics, Leo was an outstanding little hero. Even when injured, he still wanted to go to school. If it had been anyone else, they would probably be feigning a more serious injury on the ground, hoping for a few days off.
They thought of their own children at home.
They all fell silent, thinking that perhaps they needed to have a talk with their own kids that night to bridge the gap between them.
"Goodbye, I have to go to school now." Leo slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked away quickly.
"Hey! Young man, wait a minute…"
"Little hero, you still need a tetanus shot!"
Leo walked very fast, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.
The police officer and the paramedic looked at each other, their eyes filled with admiration.
"Officer, that little hero was truly brave. If all the young people in our country were like him, how could our nation not be strong?" the paramedic exclaimed.
The officer said, "Yes, I glanced at his student ID earlier. His name is Chen Yang, and he's a student at Skyworth High School No. 3. After we finish here, we'll report this to our superiors and get an award for him."
…
Zack squatted by the side of the road, his mind still in a daze. He looked down at the blood on his palm, and the image of Leo filled his head.
"Hello, classmate. Let's get reacquainted."
The calm eyes, the cold face.
The images replayed in Zack's mind. The person from before was not the Chen Yang he knew.
Skyworth High School No. 3.
Leo walked through the school, smelling the scent of books. He thought to himself that if Old Walter were here, he would probably become an excellent acupuncture teacher.
Class 11, Grade 2.
At school, Chen Yang was very popular with the girls. They all wanted a "sister" of the opposite gender.
Chen Yang's deskmate was named Lily. She had long hair, neat bangs, fair skin, and was very pretty. But her personality was a bit odd, and she didn't seem to like Chen Yang very much.
A line was drawn down the middle of their desk.
Leo felt out of place in this environment. The other students were engrossed in their books, while he just stared blankly at the blackboard.
"Your butterfly knot is very pretty today," Lily said, looking at the knot on Leo's shoelace and the bandage on his hand.
If it had been the old Chen Yang, he would have blushed and mumbled a barely audible, "It's alright."
But today was different.
"Mm," Leo said.
"No fun at all."
Lily pouted. This wasn't how she had expected things to go. Then, she noticed that Leo's arm had crossed the dividing line. Her eyes lit up. She took a ballpoint pen from her pencil case, uncapped it, and, when Leo wasn't looking, poked him in the arm.
Lily eagerly awaited the scene where Chen Yang would jump up in surprise and whine, "Why did you do that? It hurts!"
Huh?
It was all in her imagination. Nothing happened.
Leo just glanced over briefly before turning his attention back to the blackboard. He felt that his deskmate was just as playful as his friends at the Green Mountain Asylum.
"How is that possible?"
Lily's eyes widened, her face a mask of confusion.
Girls are about to lose this battle.
She had deliberately poked him hard, the tip of the pen even breaking the skin. But Chen Yang had no reaction at all, not even a frown.
"Impossible."
Lily was skeptical. She took out the pen's refill. She thought maybe there was something wrong with the pen, that's why it didn't hurt.
The moment Lily pulled out the refill.
Sputter!
Leo's arm spurted blood, splattering all over Lily's face.
Lily felt a cold sensation on her face. She touched it and found her hand covered in sticky, fresh blood. She saw the blood gushing from Leo's arm, but because the pressure wasn't strong enough, it didn't form an arc. Lily's eyes widened in terror.
"Aaaah!"
Lily covered her face, jumped out of her seat in fear, and ran crying out the door.
"Help!"
"Help me!"
The students in the class stared blankly at Lily, who looked as if she had seen a ghost.
Leo shook his head.
These people have such low tolerance. Fresh blood flows in our bodies, it's been with us for so long, and yet they're afraid of it. It's our best friend. This is where betrayal comes from.
He hadn't come up with that line himself. An old man at Green Mountain Asylum had said it.
Leo's constitution was good. The bleeding stopped on its own after a little while.
The morning class began.
Zack walked in from outside, his spirits low. He especially kept his head down when he saw Leo, not wanting to make eye contact.
They were all the "bad" students in the class.
So the teacher had seated them all at the back.
Zack's deskmate, who also bullied Chen Yang, saw Zack and immediately started gossiping. "Lily, the girl you like, got bullied by Chen Yang. After school, let's drag him into the bathroom and beat him up. What do you think?"
His name was Zane. He was decent-looking, with a buzz cut and an earring, looking like a bit of a thug. He had a few girlfriends, all of whom were attracted to his thuggish charm.
"No, don't," Zack said, still shaken. "Let's not do that anymore. I think there's something weird about Chen Yang."
"Weird? What's weird about him? The most you can say about him is that he's a sissy, an incompletely evolved species," Zane said. But then he noticed that Zack wasn't himself.
"What happened to you overnight? Did Chen Yang hire some thugs with 200 dollars to beat you up?"
"Nonsense, who would dare to hit me?" Zack retorted.
At this moment, Leo was trying to remember who had bullied Chen Yang.
He realized that basically everyone here had bullied Chen Yang.
He walked up to a student, smiled, and extended his hand. "Hello, let's get reacquainted."
Everyone was stunned by Chen Yang's actions.
They all thought there was something wrong with him.
"Hello, friend. Let's get reacquainted."
Leo extended his hand to Zane.
Zane glared at Leo. "Idiot."
Leo turned to Zack, a smile on his face. "Hello, let's get reacquainted. We met on the bus earlier."
Crash!
Zack shot up from his seat in a panic, his chair clattering loudly. He looked extremely tense.
"H-hello."