Qin Sui looked at the little kids who went to fetch reinforcements and asked, "Shall we go?"
He could see that Li Xiaoya was completely uninterested in such childish affairs and wanted to resolve this quickly.
But Li Xiaoya shook her head, her eyebrows drooping slightly as she said, "Let's wait a bit."
"Wait? Wait for them to bring reinforcements?" Qin Sui paused, then added, "I feel obliged to remind you that fifth graders are... well, taller and stronger than you."
Li Xiaoya nodded and said, "It's fine."
Qin Sui couldn't help but ask, "If you can't beat them..."
The third-grade little ones couldn't resist chiming in, "If she can't beat them, will you help? Will you? Will you?"
"You look like you could take on three of them!" they praised.
Qin Sui: "..."
He lowered his head again to check Li Xiaoya's expression.
Li Xiaoya said firmly, "You don't need to help."
Just as she finished speaking, a noisy group of elementary school students arrived.
Although they were all elementary school students, as Qin Sui had mentioned, the fifth graders walking in the middle actually appeared somewhat "tall" in comparison.
The leader stretched his neck and asked, "Who is it? Who hit you?"
The fourth-grade bully raised his hand and pointed directly at Li Xiaoya.
In an instant, the air fell silent.
Qin Sui's usually calm expression instantly broke, and he almost laughed out loud on the spot.
"It's her, it's her!" The little bully was still jumping up and down.
At this moment, Li Xiaoya tightened her backpack straps and faced her opponents, saying, "I remember your name is Mu... Bai."
"...Ah." The expression on the opposite side twitched, caught in a dilemma.
The leader was indeed Mu Bai, who had been badly beaten by Li Xiaoya at the party.
Li Xiaoya clearly remembered seeing him earlier when passing by the fifth-grade area. Given that this young Master Mu's father was also very powerful, she had guessed early on that he was probably the big shot of the fifth grade.
The little bully slowly began to sense that something was off and hurriedly called out, "Young Master Mu! Why aren't you saying anything? She stomped on my face and it really hurts. I want to stomp her back!"
Mu Bai didn't want to speak.
Because last time, his face had hurt too.
Not only did his face hurt, but his nose hurt as well. And being scolded by his father afterward hurt even more.
What... what should he do?
Mu Bai put on a stern face and, in a moment of quick thinking, said, "I don't hit girls."
The little bully was stunned upon hearing this: "Why don't you hit girls? Why?"
Mu Bai said disdainfully, "Do you know what gentlemanly conduct means?"
The little bully mumbled, "But last month you still fought with the little devil from the Qin family."
Qin Sui: ?
With his sister?
Mu Bai hesitated for a moment, then squeezed out a sentence: "That was... that was before I learned about gentlemanly conduct last month. I just learned it this month, didn't I? My dad taught me personally, you wouldn't understand."
Li Xiaoya curiously asked, "Did your dad get beaten up too?"
Mu Bai nearly fell over in anger: "Nonsense! Of course my dad didn't..."
Qin Sui, listening to this elementary school squabble, couldn't bear it anymore and turned his body towards the railing outside to avoid laughing out loud.
The fourth-grade bully didn't really care whether Mu Bai's father had been beaten up or not; he only cared about himself.
He anxiously asked, "What about me then? What should I do?"
"Handle your own affairs," Mu Bai said, trying to sound mature.
Then he was about to leave.
Li Xiaoya felt this wasn't right.
She couldn't quite explain why it wasn't right.
Mu Bai had backed down, not wanting to provoke her. The matter should have ended there.
Relying on instinct, she suddenly took a big step forward.
In an instant, everyone fell silent, and even Mu Bai turned his head to stare at her: "You..."
What are you going to do?
Are you going to beat me up today too?
Mu Bai mustered up a bit of courage. Maybe, perhaps, today... he could turn the tables?
But just as this thought crossed his mind, Li Xiaoya suddenly grabbed the little bully's collar and yanked him forward, using her own body weight. The little bully, caught off guard, fell flat on his face.
Then Li Xiaoya stepped on his back and looked up to meet Mu Bai's eyes.
Mu Bai... fell silent.
If he didn't act, he could still save face.
But she was too arrogant! Beating someone up again right in front of him was like... like slapping him in the face!
At this moment, the little bully was crying and wailing: "Why are you hitting me again? Why? Young Master Mu, help me, help me!"
Li Xiaoya lowered her head and answered him, "Why I'm hitting you again? Because you went to fetch reinforcements."
The little bully felt very wronged: "But Zhao Xuyang brought you here too!"
Zhao Xuyang was the one from Li Xiaoya's class who got beaten up.
Li Xiaoya blinked and said, "He brought a classmate, you brought upper graders. It's different. Besides, the ones you brought can't even beat me."
"That's right, that's right! Our classmate Li Xiaoya even knows people from the high school division! She didn't even call them to come beat you guys up!" The third-grade little ones quickly chimed in to help.
Qin Sui from the high school division stood to the side, silently shifting his steps outward to avoid getting too close to them, lest his intelligence be diminished.
While Qin Sui found such boasting quite stupid, the fourth-grade kids didn't think so.
They shrank back, even more afraid to "seek justice" for the little bully on the ground.
"But... but you shouldn't keep hitting me," the little bully struggled a couple of times but couldn't get up.
"I'll hit you until you don't dare to do it again in the future," Li Xiaoya said.
"I don't dare anymore, I really don't dare now," the little bully said without any fight left in him.
Only then did Li Xiaoya stop.
The third graders immediately burst into applause again, like a cheerleading squad.
"It's like watching a martial arts movie."
"No, it's like an American blockbuster."
They argued for a bit.
Li Xiaoya glanced at Mu Bai: "If you're not going to fight me, then I'm leaving."
Mu Bai still didn't say anything.
This time when Li Xiaoya said she was leaving, she really did leave.
She tugged on Qin Sui's sleeve, taking him along as they walked downstairs.
Qin Sui suddenly asked, "Who taught you?"
"Hm?" Li Xiaoya looked up in confusion.
"I'm not asking about the fighting techniques you used to take down that kid. Well, it was probably taught by Sheng Yuxiao, he's very good at fighting..."
"It wasn't him."
"It wasn't?" Qin Sui paused, "Then it must have been someone from your family..."
"Not them either."
Now Qin Sui was really curious and couldn't help but bend down to ask, "Li Xiaoya, have you met someone new?"
Li Xiaoya nodded.
Qin Sui pressed his lips together and said in a neutral tone, "No wonder you've been so busy."
But then he quickly returned to the main topic: "Some people are good at suppressing with violence, while others excel at manipulating human nature through cunning. It seems you now possess both skills."
When Qin Sui said this, his expression was unusually pleased.
But Li Xiaoya just froze for a moment: "Huh?"
Qin Sui took in her expression, feeling a tickle in his heart.
He patiently began to analyze the situation for Li Xiaoya.
He said, "The first time you took him down, your movements were quick. You immediately withdrew after taking him down, announcing a message that you didn't care about him at all. Dealing with him was as simple as disposing of trash, not even worth a second glance."
"This is a tactical form of contempt."
"You chose to wait for his reinforcements to arrive, then beat him up again in front of Mu Bai. This was an even more thorough blow and destruction of his will, while also crushing the face of that Mu kid."
"You resolved it very thoroughly. As long as they don't want to lose face like today, no one will come to provoke you again. Of course... this is limited to the elementary school division."
"But this approach to handling things is correct. It would work the same way if applied to other circles. Nothing is more intimidating than continuing to beat up a minion in front of the boss."
When Qin Sui reached this point, Li Xiaoya first asked with confusion, "Is face really that important?"
"Of course, it's a crucial basis for survival in high society. They can be as rotten as they want on the inside, but they must maintain a beautiful appearance on the surface."
After finishing, Qin Sui asked her in return, "After hearing all this, don't you find people rather boring?"
"They are boring, but they don't represent everyone," Li Xiaoya said.
Qin Sui was taken aback for a moment, and finally said one word: "Correct."
Then he smiled genuinely: "People like you are very interesting."
He didn't ask again who had taught her.
Because it seemed... this was her innate ability to overpower others.
Before they reached the school gate, Li Xiaoya had already said goodbye to him.
Qin Sui lowered his eyes: "Saying goodbye so soon?"
Li Xiaoya didn't answer that question. Instead, she asked, "What do you like?"
"Are you planning to get me a birthday present?"
Li Xiaoya nodded.
"When giving someone a birthday gift, it should be kept secret to create a surprise. How can you be so direct in asking?"
"What if it's something you don't like..."
"When you bought a watch for Sheng Yuxiao, you didn't ask him, did you?"
"How did you know..."
"Sheng Yuxiao rolled up his sleeves during PE class, insisting on showing everyone his watch face, and warning them not to break it. With all that flaunting, how could I not know?"
"Oh."
"If you really want my opinion, then prepare something at least as good as what you gave him."
Li Xiaoya fell silent for a moment.
Then she hesitantly asked, "Should I... get a clock? That doesn't seem quite right, does it?"
Qin Sui: "..."