Everything was going too smoothly.
Everything was going Duente’s way.
Indeed, what Duente wanted now was to make everyone hostile toward him, so he could more naturally become Ailisi’s enemy.
In this life, as long as he became Ailisi’s enemy, even if it meant falling to the side of “evil,” it was necessary.
This was the necessary method to reshape her life.
“Senior, everyone else is looking at you hostilely. What should we do…” Liweida looked at Duente with concern.
Fuermina stepped forward and commanded the students, “Continue training, just like I did with Lady Selina just now. Learn our techniques!”
Miqi raised his hand high and said, “Teacher! I request a sparring match with you!”
Fuermina: “Alright, come over.”
Hearing this, the other boys also raised their hands, “Teacher! Me too!”
“I’m in too!”
“Teacher! Count me in!”
Soon, the atmosphere in the class became lively again.
Miqi took the lead, ran in front of Fuermina, bowed deeply, and shouted, “Please instruct me, Teacher Fuermina!”
“Bring it on.”
“Aaaaaaah!”
Miqi used his second signature move, Phase Rush, charging at Fuermina with immense momentum, but she kicked him over, and he couldn’t get up.
“Who’s next?”
The remaining boys saw that Miqi had fallen, yet none of them were intimidated; instead, they grew even more excited.
“Why does he get rewarded! Teacher! Take this move!”
The boys lined up and used their signature moves: Roc Spreads Wings, Golden Rooster Stands on One Leg, Monkey Fishes for the Moon, Mantis Stalks the Cicada, Oriole Behind…
None could withstand Fuermina’s elegant yet powerful legs; they were almost all instantly defeated.
And for some reason, the boys who were hit fell to the ground with blissful faces, some even with nosebleeds, but they all smiled contentedly.
The girls watching this all shifted their attention away from Duente, and they unanimously thought the boys in their class were truly pathetic.
Duente gave Miqi a thumbs-up.
Miqi, lying on the ground with his butt sticking up, sensed Duente’s approval and also raised his thumb in response.
Liweida grabbed Duente’s hand and whispered, “Senior, let’s skip class!”
Duente: “You rascal, are you addicted to skipping class?”
Liweida said unhappily, “No way, it’s all because of you, Senior!”
Without caring about Duente’s feelings, she pulled him and ran out of the training ground.
Ailisi saw this and quickly followed.
Fuermina turned a blind eye; she knew this wasn’t the time for her to intervene.
Matters of young boys and girls should be left for them to resolve themselves.
Liweida pulled Duente all the way out of the training ground, through the alley outside the old teaching building, around the courtyard fountain, and stopped under the lush tree from the day before.
This was the place where Duente had met Liweida again after his rebirth.
“We’re here!” She let go of his hand, panting heavily, with a triumphant smile on her face.
“Now we can get away from those annoying people! Senior, have a seat~”
Duente smiled, feeling warmth in his heart, but he didn’t sit down.
Instead, he looked up at the big tree, lost in thought.
“Senior, what are you thinking about?”
“It’s uncomfortable inside. It’s nice to come out and get some fresh air.”
Liweida looked at the melancholy senior, and she grew more concerned.
She asked, “Senior, actually, you’re feeling very upset inside, aren’t you?”
Duente looked at Liweida in confusion and said, “What are you talking about? I feel very comfortable right now.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You’re not lying?”
“Why would I lie to you?”
“Alright, since Senior doesn’t want to talk about it, I won’t ask anymore.”
Liweida was as obedient as a little dog.
Duente couldn’t help but pat her head as a reward.
“Hehe, Senior’s hand is so warm~”
Footsteps came from behind the two.
Ailisi stood on the other side of the banyan tree, her fingers gripping the hem of her school uniform, her chest heaving slightly from running all the way here.
She watched this scene, and now she wanted to become Liweida again.
But she had something more important to attend to now.
“Duente… what my mother said earlier, she didn’t mean it. She doesn’t really want to hurt you.”
As soon as he saw Ailisi, Duente’s smile disappeared.
He said impatiently, “What are you following us for? This has nothing to do with you.”
Ailisi didn’t directly address Duente’s annoyance.
Instead, she said to herself, “She’s just too worried about me. She’s been like this since forever, not trusting anyone—”
Duente sighed and said, “You really haven’t improved at all. How your mother treats me is her business. How I am is my business. Why do you have to interfere?”
Ailisi’s hands gripped tighter, and she still spoke her own thoughts, “Those were just angry words. I’ll explain to her—”
Duente: “What else can you explain? I’ve already treated you that way, and you still act like this. A woman who clings on stubbornly is really annoying.”
Ailisi opened her mouth, her heart in fierce turmoil.
Should she choose the fact that he had already left, or continue to try to win him back…
Duente withdrew his gaze, looked at Liweida, and suggested, “How about we find another place to cool off?”
Liweida shook her head and replied, “Senior, there’s something I want to talk to her about.”
Seeing Liweida’s solemn expression, Duente silently acquiesced to her suggestion.
Liweida turned to Ailisi and said, “Ailisi, I’ve been wanting to ask you something.”
Ailisi was still in a state of low spirits.
Liweida didn’t intend to consider her feelings.
She directly asked, “You keep saying you care about Senior, but just now in the training ground, your mother scolded him for being ungrateful in front of the whole class. What did you say? Did you block for him? Did you stand in front of him?”
Ailisi’s expression changed, becoming even worse.
She tried to explain, “I…”
Liweida immediately said, “You didn’t. Not because you didn’t dare, but because you’re not qualified.”
Her tone was flat.
She continued, “You’ve always been hiding behind the identity of ‘mother’s daughter.’ When your mother gets angry, you stay silent. When Senior gets hurt, you stay silent. You don’t dare to do anything. You do nothing.”
Liweida kept pressing, “Then you come running to us and say your mother didn’t mean it. So what? What about the harm done to Senior?”
Ailisi’s eyes turned red, but she didn’t back down.
She clenched her fists and replied, “You’re right. I am cowardly. I don’t dare to disobey my mother, I don’t dare to speak for him in front of everyone. But what gives you the right…”
She looked up, staring directly into Liweida’s eyes, and demanded, “How long have you known him? How much do you understand him? You have no idea what happened between him and me. You just suddenly gained the right to be by his side. What gives you the right to speak to me in this tone?”
“Because I’m willing to bear everything for him.” Liweida looked at her without moving.
“Just now in the training ground, I was the one standing in front of him. When Selina kicked him, I was the one who knelt down to heal him. You say you understand him, care about him, but what have you done for him?”
Ailisi’s body swayed slightly.
“I don’t care what happened between you and him. All I care about is that Senior doesn’t want to see you. I’m asking you to disappear right now, okay?”
Ailisi had nothing to say and could only respond with silence.
But she wasn’t convinced.
She felt that Liweida’s words were wrong, definitely wrong!