Chapter 13: We Are Awful, But You're No Better

The blond-haired boy scratched his head. "Not really... it's just... uh... I don't even know how to put it... Anyway, I just find it scary..."

Ye Luo refrained from mentioning she had worked as a forensic doctor for a year and had seen too many corpses. Her family always said that when she looked at people, her gaze would unconsciously turn as cold as if she were looking at a dead body.

No emotion, no warmth.

Utterly chilling.

"Don't talk nonsense. I don't think it's scary at all," Ye Wuqi said, landing another slap on the blond boy's head.

"You've got real guts," the blond boy grumbled, rubbing his aching head in protest.

Ye Wuqi ignored him and turned to Ye Luo with a goofy grin. "Since Old Jiang asked me to look after you, I definitely will. You just got here, and you don't know anything, so let me tell you a bit about our class."

Without waiting for Ye Luo's agreement, Ye Wuqi barreled on, "Our class does terribly in academics, but your grades aren't great either, so it doesn't matter."

"But you need to get used to this kind of scene."

With that, Ye Wuqi gestured at the almost empty classroom, where only a few people sat. He waited for Ye Luo to look before continuing, "It's been ages since our class was ever full. Every day it's like this—either these few people come to class, or those few do. It's rare to have more than a dozen in here at once, never mind all twenty of us sitting through a lesson together."

"Oh, with you here now, that makes twenty-one in our class."

"The teachers have already given up on us, and the school is teetering on the edge of abandoning us too. So, whether we come to class or not, no one cares. If you don't want to come, just don't. You don't even need to ask for leave."

"Oh, and another thing—you should know that our class used to have more than twenty people. There were thirty-five, but after all the dropouts and transfers, now there are just twenty left. All boys, too."

"Now that you're here, just like Old Jiang said, you're the flower of our class."

"That's pretty much the situation."

"And since you've transferred in, you should get to know everyone. But since not everyone is here, it's impossible to introduce everyone at once. I'll introduce you to the ones who showed up today."

"My name is Ye Wuqi, as I've already said. This one..." Ye Wuqi pointed at the blond-haired boy, "is Yan Baba—Yan as in strict—"

Yan Baba immediately pulled the lollipop from his mouth and chimed in cheerfully, "Ba as in king!"

"And that one..." Ye Wuqi pointed to another boy in the classroom.

Ye Luo followed his finger and saw a boy sitting in the last row, the same row as her, but in the very middle, with two empty seats separating them.

He was broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, with a face full of muscle, thick brows, large eyes, a buzz cut, and nearly two meters tall. Even sitting down, he was taller than some people standing.

At that moment, the boy was completely absorbed in copying homework at lightning speed.

"That's Gorilla," said Ye Wuqi. "His real name is Lei Xingxing, but because he looks like a gorilla, we all call him that."

Ye Luo, however, wasn't interested in the class or anyone's names. She cared only about why her ancestor was always bullied, and by whom.

She asked bluntly, "Who bullied you?"

"Huh?" The topic changed so quickly that Ye Wuqi was caught off guard and had no idea what she was talking about.