Li Shuying slowly turned her head toward the frail girl sitting beside her.
Tang Chunlan was trembling.
Her thin shoulders quivered visibly, and her entire body seemed to shake as though caught in a cold winter wind. Her fingers clutched the edge of the desk tightly, the knuckles pale from the pressure.
Seeing her like this, Li Shuying felt something tighten painfully in her chest.
A lump rose in her throat.
The faint sense of familiarity she had felt earlier suddenly made perfect sense.
Her eyes reddened.
How could she forget Tang Chunlan?
For a moment, Li Shuying even felt ashamed of herself.
After all, in her previous life, Tang Chunlan had been one of the very few people who had stood beside her without hesitation.
Perhaps even her only true friend.
A tear silently slid down Li Shuying's cheek as fragments of old memories resurfaced in her mind—small, forgotten moments of kindness, quiet companionship during difficult days, and the silent support Tang Chunlan had given her when the entire world seemed to turn against her.
Yet now, she had nearly failed to recognize her.
Before Li Shuying could say anything—
"What? Cat got your tongue?"
The sharp voice rang out again, filled with impatience and contempt.
"Tang Chunlan," the girl sneered loudly, standing arrogantly in the middle of the classroom.
"If you know what's good for you, you'll leave the school right now."
The girl speaking was dressed far more fashionably than most students present.
Her hair was neatly braided, tied with bright red ribbons. Her jacket was made of comparatively fine dacron cloth, and even her shoes appeared newer than those of the other students.
Her posture carried an unmistakable arrogance.
This girl was Tang Yulan.
Tang Chunlan lowered her head slightly. Her voice trembled as she spoke.
"B–but… Sister Yulan… Didn't Father say I could continue attending school?"
The moment the words left her mouth, Tang Yulan's expression twisted with fury.
Pa!
The sound of a slap echoed sharply through the classroom.
Tang Chunlan staggered sideways as Tang Yulan's palm struck her face without mercy.
"You little bitch!"
Tang Yulan's voice rose sharply, shrill with anger.
"Who are you calling father?"
"He is not your father!"
Her eyes flashed with cold hostility.
"You and your shameless mother are nothing but an unwanted burden on my family."
"Don't you dare call yourself my father's daughter in public again!"
Tang Chunlan instinctively raised her hand to her burning cheek.
Her fingers trembled as they touched the swelling skin.
She stared at Tang Yulan in stunned disbelief, as if the words had struck her even harder than the slap.
Tang Yulan merely smirked.
"And as for allowing you to attend school?" she said mockingly. "When exactly did my father ever agree to that?"
She crossed her arms with disdain.
"He never said a single word of consent. Because matters related to you and your mother simply don't concern him. You're not important enough."
Her lips curled into a cruel smile.
"You actually took his silence as approval?"
She laughed loudly.
The sound was sharp and unpleasant, echoing through the silent classroom.
Each word struck Tang Chunlan like a knife.
Her eyes reddened as tears gathered in them.
Her cheek was already flushed bright red from the slap, and with the tears flowing down her face, she looked utterly pitiful.
Yet she did not make a sound.
She only sat there silently, enduring the humiliation.
Tang Yulan suddenly stopped laughing.
Her expression darkened.
"You… Stop crying."
Her voice turned cold and sharp.
"And get the hell out of here before the teacher arrives."
She leaned closer, her gaze full of malice.
"What? You want to act like a victim in front of everyone?"
Her lips curled with disdain.
"Dream on."
She lifted her chin proudly.
"I am the daughter of the Deputy Director of the Steel Factory. You think your pathetic little act can make the teacher scold me?Don't flatter yourself."
With those words, Tang Yulan raised her hand once again.
Her palm came down toward Tang Chunlan's other cheek.
Seeing this, Tang Chunlan instinctively shrank back in fear.
A small whimper escaped her lips as she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the inevitable blow.
But the slap never came.
Instead—
There was a sudden thud.
Tang Chunlan slowly opened her eyes in confusion.
The scene before her left her stunned.
Tang Yulan, who had been standing before her only a moment ago, was now sprawled awkwardly on the floor.
Her hair was disheveled, and her once-proud posture had completely collapsed.
The entire classroom fell into shocked silence.
Students stared at one another with wide eyes.
Tang Chunlan had not seen what happened.
But everyone else had.
They had clearly witnessed the moment when someone stepped forward and shoved Tang Yulan aside with a swift, decisive motion.
The shock among the students was not merely because the situation had suddenly reversed.
It was because of who had done it.
Li Shuying.
Almost everyone in the class knew that Li Shuying and Tang Chunlan shared a similar reputation.
They were considered the two quietest and most timid girls in the entire class.
Both came from poor families.
Both lacked any powerful background.
Which naturally made them easy targets for ridicule and bullying.
Tang Chunlan suffered the most.
After all, the one who bullied her most frequently was her own stepsister—Tang Yulan.
Among the students present, opinions varied.
Some felt a trace of pity for Tang Chunlan.
Some secretly enjoyed watching her humiliation.
Others simply ignored the situation entirely.
But none of them had ever dared to intervene whatsoever.
Because Tang Yulan was not an ordinary student.
Her father was the Deputy Director of the Taonan County Steel Factory.
At first glance, the position might not appear particularly impressive—merely a deputy director of a factory in a small county under Baicheng Prefecture.
However, the reality was quite different.
Steel was the lifeblood of the nation's industrial development.
Especially now, when the state had recently launched the nationwide steel collection campaign, the importance of steel production had risen to unprecedented levels.
Factories that produced steel were considered key pillars of national construction.
And the Taonan County Steel Factory happened to be the largest steel facility in the entire Jilin Province.
Its influence reached far beyond the small county where it stood.
Under such circumstances, the authority held by its deputy director carried considerable weight.
In practical terms, his influence within Taonan County was almost equivalent to that of the county magistrate.
Therefore—
Offending Tang Yulan for the sake of someone like Tang Chunlan…
Was no different from lifting a stone only to drop it on one's own foot.
A sharp gasp rippled through the classroom.
In the tense silence that followed, a soft and overly concerned voice suddenly rang out.
"Sister Yulan… are you alright?"
The tone was meek—almost excessively so.
Li Shuying's lips curled faintly in disdain.
She did not even need to look to know who it was. Still, she turned her head slowly, her gaze settling upon the girl who had just pushed through the circle of onlookers.
Zhao Hongmei.
Her delicate brows were knitted together in exaggerated worry as she hurried forward and bent down to help Tang Yulan, who was still sitting awkwardly on the floor.
The gesture looked caring.
But to Li Shuying, it appeared unbearably pretentious.
With Zhao Hongmei's support, Tang Yulan was finally pulled to her feet. Dust clung to her clothes, and her hair had become slightly disheveled, making her appear far less dignified than she had a moment earlier.
Zhao Hongmei then turned toward Li Shuying.
Her expression changed instantly, transforming into one of wounded grievance.
"Sister Shuying," she said softly, her voice trembling with reproach, "how could you push Sister Yulan like that?"
"What if she had been seriously hurt?"
She sighed sorrowfully and shook her head as if deeply disappointed.
"What has gotten into you these days?"
"Yesterday you beat Uncle Guofu, and now you're even bullying your classmates."
As she spoke, tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes.
"Sister Shuying… please stop behaving like this," she said in a choked voice. "It really isn't good."
Her words were gentle, almost pleading.
Yet every sentence painted Li Shuying as unreasonable and violent.
Tang Yulan, who had just regained her balance with Zhao Hongmei's help, finally recovered from her initial shock.
The moment she understood what had happened, her face twisted with rage.
Without warning, she shoved Zhao Hongmei aside violently.
"You lowly pheasant!"
Tang Yulan shrieked.
"How dare you push me?!"
Her voice rose sharply, filled with fury.
"Today I'll show you exactly what I'm capable of!"
Like a furious shrew, she lunged forward, her hands reaching directly toward Li Shuying's hair.
Tang Chunlan, who had been standing nearby in shock, suddenly panicked.
She rushed forward and stepped in front of Li Shuying, her voice trembling with desperation.
"Sister Yulan, please…!"
"Please let Shuying go."
"She didn't mean it… it must have been an accident."
Her tone was pleading, almost pitiful.
"I'm sure she didn't intend to offend you."
But Tang Yulan was no longer listening to anyone.
She shoved Tang Chunlan aside so roughly that the thin girl nearly stumbled.
"No one can stop me today!"
Her face twisted with fury.
"I'll beat this bitch to death!"
Her hands shot forward again.
But just as her fingers were about to grab Li Shuying's hair—
Li Shuying moved.
With swift precision, she caught Tang Yulan's wrists and held them firmly in place.
"Tang Yulan," Li Shuying said coldly, her voice steady.
"Stop causing trouble."
Her eyes were sharp, no longer carrying the quiet timidity that everyone had once associated with her.
"You've bullied Tang Chunlan for far too long."
"There should be a limit to everything."
Her grip tightened slightly.
"Don't you have even the slightest bit of human conscience?"
"How cruel must a person be to torment someone like this?"
Though Li Shuying restrained Tang Yulan's hands, she did not strike her.
By now, the memories of her previous life had returned clearly.
She knew exactly what kind of people Tang Yulan's parents were.
Given her current circumstances, openly beating Tang Yulan would only create unnecessary trouble.
But that did not mean she would allow Tang Chunlan to continue suffering.
Tang Yulan shrieked as her wrists were held in place.
"You wretched village girl!"
"You dare touch me?!"
Her face flushed with humiliation.
"I already let you off last week when you interfered and helped this bitch escape from me!"
"And now you dare meddle again?"
Her voice rose angrily.
"This is our family matter!"
Poor pheasant? A rural nobody?
Li Shuying almost laughed at those words.
If this had been the late 1960s during the Cultural Revolution, someone with Tang Yulan's arrogant attitude and privileged background might have already been labeled as part of the "Five Black Categories" and sent for labor reform.
But of course, this was still 1958.
The storm had not yet arrived.
"Tang Chunlan is my friend," Li Shuying replied calmly.
"Of course I will help her whenever someone tries to bully her."
Her lips curved into a faint sneer.
"You torment her day after day for no reason."
"Simply because she is the top student in the class."
She tilted her head slightly.
"Is that why you're so desperate to drive her out of school? Instead of forcing her to leave, perhaps you should focus on your own studies. Who knows? With enough effort, you might even surpass her and take first place in the next monthly examination."
A wave of murmurs spread through the classroom.
Several students exchanged glances.
Everyone knew the truth.
Tang Yulan's hostility toward Tang Chunlan stemmed precisely from jealousy.
Seeing the shifting expressions around her, Tang Yulan felt as though someone had stripped away her dignity in public.
Her face turned crimson with rage.
"What are you all staring at?!"
"Mind your own business!"
She glared fiercely at Li Shuying.
"Don't push your luck, Li Shuying."
"I'm not interested in dealing with lowly rural trash like you."
Her chin lifted arrogantly.
"Tang Chunlan is my servant."
"I can treat her however I want."
The moment those words left her mouth—
Li Shuying suddenly gasped dramatically.
"A servant?"
"Aiya…"
She looked around the classroom in exaggerated astonishment.
"Did everyone hear that?"
"The daughter of the Deputy Director of the Steel Factory openly calling another student her servant."
Her tone carried unmistakable sarcasm.
"That sounds like blatant class discrimination to me."
"And such backward feudal thinking… how very enlightening."
She shook her head slowly, as though deeply disappointed.
Then her gaze shifted toward a boy standing quietly near the back of the classroom.
He wore a neat Dacron shirt and had been observing the situation with furrowed brows.
"Class Leader Chen," Li Shuying said calmly.
"I believe the teacher should be informed immediately."
"Student Tang's behavior seems rather… politically problematic."
Her eyes glinted faintly.
"Perhaps she should be sent for proper ideological reeducation."
"And of course—this matter should be recorded in her student conduct file."
She tilted her head slightly.
"What do you think?"
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