DTTCM Chapter 76

Warning: This chapter contains brief descriptions of bullying.

Huang Anchong’s terrified pupils reflected Sheng Yuan’s image.

He strained to reduce the height difference between them by stepping on his tiptoes, and the forcefully grabbed collar caused a throbbing pain in his throat.

He pretended to be calm, and attempted to break free from Sheng Yuan’s grasp, wearing a forced smile. “Why are you carrying me?”

Sheng Yuan narrowed his eyes. “Did you bully him before?”

The hoarse, dry voice sounded just like Yu Zuojin’s. For a moment, he thought it was Yu Zuojin talking.

The resemblance sent shivers down his spine.

Why did you learn to speak like Yu Zuojin? Why do you imitate him so much?

—Have you ever heard him speak? It’s quite amusing.

In an instant, Sheng Yuan found his answer.

Confronted with the interrogation, Huang Anchong’s expression froze for a moment.

“What?”

“I asked if you ever bullied him.”

“Bullied him? Yu Zuojin?” Still wearing his mask, Huang Anchong pointed at his calf. “He bullied me. How could I bully him? I…”

“Huang Anchong.”

The sound pierced his ears, causing his heart to tremble.

Sheng Yuan gazed down at him coldly. “You and I are smart people.”

Huang Anchong locked eyes with Sheng Yuan, and the corners of his eyes began to twitch uncontrollably.

He hadn’t expected someone to see through him, pierce through his façade.

“Let me ask you again, have you ever bullied him!”

The boy’s voice grew louder, unsettling Huang Anchong.

He dropped the pretense, a slightly irritated smile on his face. “Damn, you’re quite smart, you’re different from those I can manipulate with just a word.”

He looked up at Sheng Yuan. “What if I did bully him?”

Sheng Yuan’s jaw clenched, his hand raised beneath the glaring light.

Before Huang Anchong could react, a swift punch was aimed directly at his face, striking his nose and lower eyelashes. The immense force jerked his neck back, causing sharp pain.

Everything went blank.

——

“Yu Zuojin, go to the supermarket and buy me a bottle of water.”

Yu Zuojin lifted his young face. At fourteen, his features were well-proportioned and radiant. His flawless bone structure complemented his flawless flesh, and his black eyes shone brightly.

He exuded an aura of brightness, like a little prince.

The suction cups attached to his head and the cochlear implants were in operation. These two things made him stand out in a crowd. At this age, it was considered cool to have something hanging from one’s ear. Coupled with his handsome appearance, he naturally became the center of attention.

He looked at Huang Anchong, pursed his lips, and spoke in a hoarse voice, reminiscent of a crow’s caw. “I don’t want to go.”

“Just go. I have something to do.”

Yu Zuojin remained silent, having already made several trips before this.

“Huang Anchong, can I have chewing gum?”

“I can’t give you. Yu Zuojin won’t go now.”

“Ah…”

A complaint, as if it were only natural for the other party to go shopping. Yu Zuojin seemed slightly embarrassed upon hearing the dissatisfaction.

Huang Anchong put his hand around Yu Zuojin’s shoulder, feigning to speak up for him. “What’s wrong with you? Don’t you know what the Yu family does? His father is running for mayor, and you want the future mayor to buy you chewing gum?!”

Yu Zuojin stood up. “I’ll go.”

Huang Anchong knew what he didn’t like to hear, so he smiled and said, “Thank you so much. I forgot my wallet today. Please help me get it packed first.”

Seeing Yu Zuojin’s ugly face, Huang Anchong hurriedly said, “Aren’t we good friends?”

Yu Zuojin didn’t speak and planned to leave the classroom.

A female classmate asked, “Can Classmate Huang Anchong buy me a pen?”

“No pproblem,” said Huang Anchong, and he yelled to Yu Zuojin. “Bring an extra pen for her.”

Then he made an OK gesture to the female classmate.

The female classmate said, “Thank you so much.”

However, it was Yu Zuojin who went out to buy things.

Because of his father’s work, Yu Zuojin had transferred here just two months ago and seemed out of place with the big group who had been together for a year.

But he also wanted to integrate quickly with everyone. In order to do so, he would help others with whatever they asked him to do. Gradually, some people started talking to him and playing with him, but it was all based on his running errands. Huang Anchong was his first friend.

Huang Anchong was a very nice person who often helped him and other students, but sometimes his words made Yu Zuojin uncomfortable.

It was Huang Anchong who spread rumors about his father’s job and the fact that his father was running for mayor.

“Yu Zuojin, what does your family do? I saw an expensive car picking you up yesterday. You even have a driver?” asked Huang Anchong.

“Yu Zuojin, can you take me to your house to play?”

“Yu Zuojin, is your father running for mayor?”

“Yu Zuojin, your house is so big, where are your parents?”

Yu Zuojin’s face turned bitter. In truth, he only saw his parents once or twice in half a year, but due to his congenital disability, he was sensitive and yearned for affection.

He had always hoped that the three of them could live together for a long time, and his parents had promised him that they would spend time with him when they were not working.

Information about his family gradually spread. Because he was good-looking, he received many love letters every day, but with that, jealousy followed.

“The father is just running for mayor but someone is rushing to post it around.”

Yu Zuojin frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Hahahahaha, can’t you understand? It’s like a donkey kicked your throat.”

Yu Zuojin’s eyes froze, and he stopped talking instinctively.

“Say a few more words, come on, say a few more words.”

“What are you doing?” Huang Anchong rushed over.

“Did you bully Yu Zuojin?”

Yu Zuojin’s expression softened a little.

Huang Anchong laughed at the group of people, saying, “You dare to bully the prince of the city?”

Yu Zuojin’s expression froze completely.

He didn’t speak again.

After that, such taunts became more and more common.

“I heard your nickname is Baobao the other day, hahaha.”

“Hey! Did you know? Yu Zuojin’s nickname is Baobao.”

The girl looked at Yu Zuojin and said kindly, “It’s cute.”

Yet those who taunted him were louder.

“Cute Nima, a grown man being cute is disgusting.”

“Yuck~”

“It’s disgusting~~”

Yu Zuojin was good-looking, had good grades, and had a good relationship with girls, not to mention his family’s rising status. He became the object of envy among his peers.

Some boys in the class had long disliked him, and Huang Anchong was the same.

When Huang Anchong joked about his father being the mayor again, Yu Zuojin couldn’t take it anymore and pulled him aside.

“Can you stop talking about my family?”

“Why?”

“I…” Yu Zuojin hesitated. “I don’t like it.”

Huang Anchong made a “tsk” sound.

Yu Zuojin looked at Huang Anchong, who seemed different from usual.

“What do you mean by pretending, Yu Zuojin?”

Yu Zuojin looked at the person in front of him in disbelief.

“Didn’t you always enjoy the adoring eyes of those girls? Didn’t you always rely on your family status to show off your might?”

“Sometimes I wonder if you’d be a god if you weren’t deaf, but you’re deaf, and that’s why.”

Bang— There was a loud noise, and the students’ eyes turned toward them.

“Go and call the teacher! Yu Zuojin hit Huang Anchong!”

Huang Anchong’s nose was bleeding, and he sat on the ground, yelling at Yu Zuojin, “Yu Zuojin, if you don’t want to help your classmates buy things, just say it. Why do you have to curse?”

In that moment, the students seemed to understand what had happened.

Huang Anchong had always been a helpful guy in the class, willing to assist with anything. Yu Zuojin usually stuck with him, but when Yu Zuojin didn’t want to help and even cursed them behind their backs, Huang Anchong couldn’t tolerate it and it started a conflict.

“Yu Zuojin, why are you hitting someone?”

“It’s fine if you don’t want to help out, and no one is forcing you.”

“If you want to curse, try it again!”

“You don’t deserve to speak like that. Heavens gave you that voice to prevent you from swearing!”

From that day on, the gray campus life shadowed Yu Zuojin like a dark cloud.

The external unit of the cochlear implant disappeared but was found near the drainage pool in the water room.

Chalk dust inside a water glass.

A wet rag with black water stains on the seat, textbooks thrown into the toilet.

Changteng was a private school, and its students were either rich or from noble families, all with influential backgrounds. At that time, Yu Zuojin’s father was a mayoral candidate, and his mother’s company had just started. Huang Anchong also came from a well-off background with a large listed company.

Yu Zuojin told his parents that he was being bullied.

They said they would talk to the teacher to resolve it.

Initially, the teacher was concerned about the other party’s father’s influence but, seeing the news that the other candidate was unlikely to be elected, didn’t want to offend other parents and dismissed the matter as trivial.

When they called the parents again, they told Yu Zuojin to get along with his classmates.

Until one day, when Yu Zuojin walked into the classroom, he was drenched with a bucket of water. His school uniform clung to his body, and the bucket made a muffled sound as it hit his head.

Then came a burst of mockery.

Yu Zuojin couldn’t control his emotions any longer. He grabbed the bucket, and Huang Anchong led a few boys to laugh in his face.

“Ah, oh no, the prince is angry, I’m so scared.”

Yu Zuojin looked at him with a sinister gaze, droplets of water dripping from his hair.

Tick, tick, tick.

On that day, the sirens of ambulances and police cars echoed through Changteng.

Huang Anchong’s family came, but…

Yu Zuojin stood in the hospital corridor, his family didn’t come, and in the end, it was his uncle who came forward to talk.

Yu Zuojin looked at his uncle who came in a hurry.

“Where are my parents?”

His uncle struggled to speak, “Your father has a special job and can’t come forward.”

Yu Fengren was currently in the period of running for mayor, and he had to be extremely cautious about everything he did. They couldn’t give anyone a handle, so the best way to handle such a situation at home was to suppress it quickly. If it was reported by the other party’s family or the media, it would be easy to be put in a difficult position.

As a mayoral candidate, he had to suppress people with his official position, and his child took advantage of his family background to bully others.

There was no need to think about it; the opposing candidates would not miss the opportunity to make a big deal out of it.

So Yu Fengren didn’t come forward, and Yu Zuojin’s mother couldn’t either.

That was the first time Yu Zuojin stopped feeling proud of his parents.

But he still hoped they would come home.

After that, all the open corridors in Changteng were fitted with iron railings, like a heavy prison where not even a bird could fly out.

Yu Zuojin started to fight constantly, hitting anyone who bullied or mocked him.

Because he realized that as long as everyone was afraid of him, no one would dare to bully him.

He learned the first lesson of his adolescence.

Fight violence with violence.