Read Novel Full Chapter 80 – Handful Kids
Chapter 80 – Handful Kids
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After the fierce, satisfying spar with Ning Shaobai, Xia Mian managed to release all the pent-up frustration. At last, her body and mind felt completely at ease.
By the time dusk fell, the zoo group returned home. Each of the three kids had fluffy animal headbands on their heads, holding hands and hopping along. Xiao Feng was clearly in high spirits; upon spotting Xia Mian, he ran over happily. “Auntie!”
“Had fun?” Xia Mian asked with a smile.
“It was great! Elephants, giraffes, and pandas! I’m going to draw a panda tomorrow!”
“Alright,” Xia Mian laughed. As expected, pandas had a magical effect on children.
When night fully set in, Xia Mian took Xiao Feng to the crossroads to burn paper offerings. By then, the strange, suffocating pressure in her chest had disappeared. Though she still felt sadness, she could now calmly recall Xia Chun’s life.
Xiao Feng leaned quietly in her arms, her steady emotions helping him feel much more at ease.
After burning the offerings, they returned home and lay together under the same blanket. Xia Mian held the child close, telling him stories about his mother—gentle ones, funny ones, mischievous ones; and tales about loved ones becoming stars after they pass away…
After a peaceful night’s sleep, Xia Mian felt as though some deep-seated obsession inside her had dissolved, leaving her whole body light.
…
The life of a high school student might seem dull beyond studying, but in reality, plenty was going on. Especially now that the thugs from No. 14 High had become more active, it wasn’t uncommon to hear about students being extorted—mostly first-years. The most notorious among them were the gang Eight Vajras, who had once tried to extort Xu Fei, the first-year boy Xia Mian had rescued before.
The dean’s deterrence had worked for a while, but he couldn’t watch the place every second. The Eight Vajras had also gotten smarter, splitting up to act. The dean couldn’t be in two places at once, so they always managed to get away with it. And since students usually only carried a few yuan or a dozen at most, there wasn’t much the police could do.
Of course, while they were extorting others, they hadn’t forgotten to look for Xia Mian, planning to teach her a lesson. Thanks to Tian Xueya’s big shout, her name was now on their list.
But before Xia Mian could act, Zhao Cheng—who had promised to cover her—took a bunch of his buddies to No. 14 High to “negotiate.” There, he happened to run into Han Haoyan.
After that incident, Zhao Cheng and Han Haoyan became fast buddies and got along like old friends. When Sun Yuexin expressed her distaste for him, Zhao Cheng quickly explained, “He’s actually a good guy, just likes to show off a bit.”
Then he sighed, “Han Haoyan’s really blessed by the heavens—good-looking, smart, and can fight. If I were he, I’d like to show off too. You don’t know, but that day he was ferocious.”
Li Lizhen glanced at the bandage on his head. “More ferocious than you?”
“About the same,” Zhao Cheng said.
Xia Mian, flipping through her exercise book without much interest, said, “Then that means he’s better than you.”
Zhao Cheng: “…”
Han Haoyan strolled into the classroom, grinning at Xia Mian. “Talking about me?”
She glanced at the bruise at the corner of his mouth. “Fighting with thugs doesn’t make you look like a good student.”
Han Haoyan was choked speechless.
Li Lizhen and Sun Yuexin both burst out laughing, and Zhao Cheng suddenly felt much better.
Sun Yuexin chuckled. “Han Haoyan, don’t tell me you think that just because you fought a few thugs, our Xia Mian will be so touched she’ll want to pledge herself to you like Tian Xueya.”
She’s way fiercer against thugs than you are!
Han Haoyan, unaware of that fact, could only reply helplessly, “Come on, sis, I at least did something—can’t I get a word of praise?”
Xia Mian sighed. “I can only say I’m very grateful, but I still hope you won’t take risks like this for me. If something happened to you, I’d feel guilty.”
Han Haoyan said, “So you expect me to just stand by and watch them come bother you?”
Zhao Cheng chimed in, “We’ve already fought them once. If they dare come again, you have to tell us. Until we beat them into submission, this won’t be over.”
“As you said, it won’t be over,” Xia Mian sighed. “But settling this with a street fight is the least efficient, most dangerous, and most short-sighted approach. It doesn’t solve the root of the problem—it’s practically useless—so I strongly advise against it.”
“Especially you, Zhao Cheng. You’re planning to apply to the police academy, right?” Xia Mian glanced at the injury on his forehead. “Their physical exam is extremely strict. You can’t have scars in many places. Are you going to ruin your future for a bunch of thugs?”
“Why do you sound exactly like our homeroom teacher now?” Zhao Cheng said, exasperated. “Then tell me, what can we do?”
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t understand.” Xia Mian looked like she was carrying the weight of the world. “I’ll take care of it. You just focus on your studies. You’ll know when the time comes.”
Zhao Cheng: “…” Who’s protecting who here?
Han Haoyan: “…” Why does it feel like I’ve done something pointless?
Regardless of Xia Mian’s persuasion, the two boys secretly decided to keep fighting the Eight Vajras behind her back.
But less than a week later, news spread that the Eight Vajras from No. 14 High had been arrested!
Zhao Cheng and Han Haoyan rushed over one after the other to tell Xia Mian the news. She looked up at them. “You can see this is the best solution and solves the most fundamental problem, right?”
Seeing her calm expression, Han Haoyan asked in disbelief, “You mean… this was your doing?”
Zhao Cheng, on the other hand, had a flash of realization—wasn’t this exactly how Hao Jian got dealt with before?
Still, he was curious. “What did you do to get them arrested?”
“They’re thugs with bad behavior. Robbery and extortion are crimes. Is it strange they got caught?” Xia Mian replied.
Just then, Xu Fei came running in happily. “Senior.”
Han Haoyan said, “Isn’t this the ‘fat sheep’ you said the Eight Vajras were targeting? Don’t tell me you two…”
Xu Fei nodded, his eyes lit up as he looked at Xia Mian. “Senior, I want to study hard and become a lawyer!”
“Studying law is so much fun!”
Xia Mian patted his shoulder. “I think you really could become an amazing lawyer. Keep it up!”
It wasn’t lip-service—this kid was genuinely impressive. She had only casually given him a few pointers, but he had gone and researched the relevant laws himself. Then, to make sure the matter got enough attention, he had brought out his father’s gold watch and even gone hungry for several meals.
The watch was valuable, and since they had to find a place to sell it, the Eight Vajras couldn’t keep it all to themselves—so all eight shared in the loot. Meanwhile, Xu Fei had fainted from hunger right there in the police station while making the report.
When his father rushed over and found out his son’s meal money had been stolen and his gold watch extorted, of course he wasn’t having it.
As mentioned before, Xu Fei’s family was fairly well-off, and with an expensive item involved, the thugs without powerful connections were easily arrested.
Robbery, extortion, assault—they were guilty of it all…
Oh, and it also got the attention of the parents.
All in all, a clean sweep.
“So… we fought for nothing?” Zhao Cheng muttered.
“Right. The injuries on your head and arm were for nothing,” Xia Mian said gently. “So, study hard. Otherwise, you’ll just keep doing stupid things.”
Zhao Cheng was quick this time. “That has nothing to do with grades, right? Han Haoyan’s grades are pretty good, but what he did here was just as stupid.”
Han Haoyan: “…”
Usually, these were things he boasted about. Why did it sound so foolish when she said it?
But honestly, it really was a bit foolish…
“Of course it’s related!” Xia Mian said righteously. “If you don’t study and get into fights, that’s gang brawling, which is illegal. But if you study hard, get into the police academy, and fight, that’s heroic deeds—you’d be praised!”
“Which one do you want?”
Watching Zhao Cheng sling an arm around Han Haoyan’s shoulder and suggest they study hard and apply to the police academy together, Xia Mian quietly let out a breath.
These kids are really a handful!