Long Aotian panted heavily as he strode step by step toward the boy who had earlier dared to insult him. The boy’s legs gave out as he watched Long Aotian approach, collapsing onto the ground in fear. He had witnessed it firsthand—this man had taken on seven opponents single-handedly, seemingly impervious to pain, leaving all seven sprawled on the ground, unable to even stand back up.

“Y-you… what do you want? I-I didn’t do anything to you, did I?”

Seeing the boy’s pathetic cowardice, Long Aotian grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up from the ground.

“With a spineless attitude like this, you think Shen Mengjie would ever look your way?”

Shen Mengjie admired strength. This scrawny, trembling mess—unless she’d gone blind, there was no way she’d ever give him a second glance.

“I—I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I was lying! I tried pursuing her before, but she rejected me… I was just talking nonsense—”

“Worthless.”

With a flick of his wrist, Long Aotian flung the boy back onto the ground.

Xu Shuai and Li Longlong exchanged uneasy glances. Given the sheer force Long Aotian had displayed today, it was clear he’d only held back against Huang Fei out of respect for their brotherhood.

And yet… just hearing them slander Shen Mengjie had driven him to this extent. Maybe they’d all misjudged Old Ao?

......

The faculty office.

The homeroom teachers of both classes slammed their palms against the desk in fury.

“Long Aotian, explain yourself. What was this about?”

Faced with their interrogation, Long Aotian remained silent. It was because they’d disrespected Shen Mengjie—but he couldn’t bring himself to repeat those words. He refused to drag her name back into the spotlight, making her the subject of gossip all over again.

When it became clear Long Aotian wouldn’t speak, the other teacher turned to the eight boys in frustration.

“Then you tell us. What happened?”

Long Aotian lifted his gaze, locking onto the one who had first insulted Shen Mengjie.

Under his withering glare, the boy stammered incoherently, unable to form a proper sentence.

“Long Aotian, have you lost your mind?!”

Right under the teachers’ noses, he still had the audacity to ignore them and intimidate the others!

“Get out of here right now and wait for your punishment!” His homeroom teacher pointed at the door, seething.

Long Aotian met the teacher’s eyes, gave a deep bow, and walked out.

This outcome—being allowed to leave first—meant his teacher was trying to protect him.

If he couldn’t recognize that and instead let anger drive him to argue further, he’d be the biggest fool alive.

“Old Ao, you okay?”

Xu Shuai and Li Longlong rushed over as soon as he stepped out, concern written all over their faces.

They felt guilty. They’d wanted to help, but in the end, they hadn’t been able to do a thing.

Long Aotian had taken down eight guys without even sustaining a scratch.

“I’m fine. I’m leaving.” Without another word, Long Aotian walked past them.

Watching his lonely retreating figure, they felt an unexpected pang in their chests.

“I’ll stay and wait for the verdict. You go after Old Ao—something’s off about his mood,” Li Longlong said, staring at his back.

“Got it. I can tell he’s been bottling up a lot today.” Xu Shuai jogged off in the direction Long Aotian had gone.

Once off campus, Long Aotian wandered the streets until he suddenly stopped in front of a shop.

A braised pork trotter stall.

He’d brought Shen Mengjie here once before. She’d said it was delicious.

The memory pulled him inside.

“Medium portion. Spicy.”

Not long after settling into a private booth, a steaming pot of braised trotters, glistening with red chili oil and fragrant spices, was set before him.

Long Aotian dug in, shoveling large bites into his mouth as if he couldn’t even feel the heat of the freshly cooked meat.

Maybe it was too spicy—tears suddenly welled up without warning.

Everything that had happened today tore open a crack in the walls he’d built around his emotions. His breath hitched, his jaw clenched with audible clicks, as if he couldn’t breathe. The pain he’d suppressed so deeply came surging out, unstoppable.

He could only keep stuffing his mouth with pork, bite after desperate bite.

When he finally forced down the last piece, his body rebelled—everything came back up in a violent heave.

Outside the booth, Xu Shuai bit down hard on his lip as he watched.

Of course Long Aotian cared. He probably cared more than anyone else.

But he was so good at pretending—so good that everyone believed he didn’t.

His pain was no less than anyone’s…

No one could have imagined that someone who always seemed so unshakable could break down like this.

In psychology, there’s a term for it—emotional defense.

A self-preservation mechanism the mind activates when faced with unbearable grief or pain.

It keeps the psyche from shattering all at once.

When the heart aches beyond endurance, all that’s left is numbness.

The commotion inside drew the attention of a passing waiter.

Xu Shuai wiped his face, forcing a faint smile as he stopped the person in front of him.

Perhaps he only allowed himself to vent his emotions when no one was around.

A long, long time passed.

Long Aotian stood up and began cleaning the mess he had made.

Then, as if nothing had happened, he paid the bill and left.

Xu Shuai watched as Long Aotian rode away on his electric scooter.

He returned to the school and met up with Li Longlong.

Just as Long Aotian had expected, the counselor had let him go to sweep the matter under the rug.

A written self-criticism—that was all it took to end the incident.

"Hey, what’s wrong with you? You’re not crying, are you?" Li Longlong shared the good news with Xu Shuai.

But instead of the expected happiness, he noticed Xu Shuai’s slightly reddened eyes.

Xu Shuai didn’t know how to explain it. Just the memory of Long Aotian’s emotional outburst in the private room made him lose control of his own feelings.

"What the hell happened? Where’s Old Ao?"

The whole point of sending Xu Shuai after Long Aotian was to prevent him from losing his cool. So how had things ended up like this after just one trip outside?

Li Longlong quickly called Wang Lijuan.

Wang Lijuan and Han Xiaojing rushed over in a panic.

What they saw was Xu Shuai, his eyes red with suppressed emotion.

Li Longlong recounted the situation.

When they heard that Long Aotian had fought eight people—ending up in the dean’s office—all because someone had insulted Shen Mengjie, both girls fell silent.

"What’s wrong with Xu Shuai?"

"I don’t know. After Old Ao left, we could all tell his mood was off. We sent Xu Shuai to keep an eye on him, but he came back like this. I had no choice but to call you."

Hearing this, Wang Lijuan crouched gently beside Xu Shuai and softly asked what had happened.

Xu Shuai suddenly hugged her and couldn’t hold back his tears.

He poured out everything he had witnessed.

When emotions reach a certain point, they color every word.

"Do you know how it felt to see Old Ao break down, crying so hard his veins bulged? I kept thinking—how much pain must someone be in to cry like that?"

"Can you imagine him finishing his outburst, pretending nothing happened, and then just… walking away?"

"I can’t even describe it, but I could tell—Old Ao was falling apart..."

Xu Shuai’s words left everyone silent.

They hadn’t seen it themselves, but through his raw emotion, the scene played out vividly in their minds.

For a moment, even the two girls’ eyes grew wet...

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