Chapter 374: Chapter 374: The Naughty Child
The other students came back to their senses and began to voice their opinions in turn.
"No matter what, you shouldn’t resort to hitting people. We never heard about Feng Yijin instigating anything between you two."
"Yeah, we wouldn’t even know you two were dating if you hadn’t said anything. What does this have to do with Feng Yijin? Are you going to hit her?"
"Chen Shen, that’s so ungentlemanly of you. You hit a girl?"
"He pointed at Sheng Tang first."
Feng Yijin listened to the cacophony of voices, and they were all defending her. A strange emotion welled up in her heart.
She had always bullied them, yet at this crucial moment, they didn’t kick her while she was down.
Because Sheng Tang had helped her.
Sheng Tang had a lot of influence in the class; her words were always heeded. If she hadn’t stepped in today, the other students might not have been willing to speak on Feng Yijin’s behalf despite past grievances.
Thinking about this, Feng Yijin’s eyes grew hot.
When Chen Shen slapped her, she didn’t cry. But now, she really wanted to.
A foreign sense of gratitude filled her, making her very uneasy.
She pushed through the crowd and ran off.
"Feng Yijin!" The class monitor shouted anxiously from behind her, "It’s so late. Where are you going?"
He was about to give chase.
Night had already fallen.
On the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month in City S, there were few people around, and it was easy for a girl like Feng Yijin to encounter trouble.
Sheng Tang stopped the class monitor. "I’ll go after her. You stay here and calm everyone down."
With that, Sheng Tang quickly followed her.
She was in better shape than Feng Yijin and caught up to her within two minutes.
She grabbed Feng Yijin’s arm. "Don’t run around..."
Feng Yijin’s face was a mess.
Her eyeliner had run from crying, leaving black streaks all over her face. She looked absolutely dreadful.
When Sheng Tang came downstairs, she was wearing a down jacket. The tissues she had in the jacket’s pocket hadn’t been used in the restroom but were put to use now.
She took out the tissues and handed them to Feng Yijin. "Don’t go. If you get lost, we won’t be able to find you."
She forcibly pulled her to a flower bed by the roadside and made her sit down.
Feng Yijin took the tissues and covered her face with them.
"Don’t be sad," Sheng Tang comforted her. "What’s wrong with having a crush? From what I can see as an outsider, you didn’t seduce Chen Shen, nor did you sow discord between him and Bai Shaolin. You just secretly liked him. That’s not such a big crime."
Feng Yijin remained silent, holding the tissues to her face.
"Who hasn’t fallen for a few jerks when they were young?" Sheng Tang added.
After a moment, Feng Yijin’s emotions steadied slightly, and she mumbled, "I don’t need your schadenfreude!"
Sheng Tang laughed. "Look at you, who’s interested in taking joy in your misery?"
They both fell silent.
After a while, Sheng Tang remembered what Jiang Baocu had said about Feng Yijin’s stepmother spoiling her and misleading her. She now behaved recklessly because someone was encouraging her to do so.
Children are still minors, and their worldviews haven’t fully formed. It’s easy for them to be led astray.
For instance, did Feng Yijin really think her messy makeup looked good?
Maybe someone in her family had suggested that it was cool, that it made her unique; that bullying classmates at school was a show of strength and encouraged it.
Sheng Tang was mostly forgiving toward underage children.
"Don’t you think you might be a bit foolish?" Sheng Tang said with a smile. "Feng Yijin, maybe you should really consider who in this world treats you well."
Feng Yijin suddenly raised her eyes to look at her.
Sheng Tang’s words struck her heart.
She had been particularly confused these days because she saw impatience and even loathing in her stepmother’s eyes.
Everything she had known was turned upside down.
If her stepmother had always disliked her, and she had been following her stepmother’s preferences, then what sort of person was she now?
That’s why she no longer liked staying at home.
She knew her classmates didn’t like her much, but she still attended every gathering.
Now, with Sheng Tang saying this, Feng Yijin felt as if she had been punched. "What are you saying?"
"It’s something I heard," Sheng Tang replied. "People say that you and your brother are both troublemakers, and your father dislikes both of you too.
There must be a reason behind that. Behind every trouble-making child, there’s a problematic parent. Without someone indulging and misleading them, kids can’t turn out this way."
It felt like something heavy hit Feng Yijin in the chest.
A large teardrop slid from the corner of her eye. Feng Yijin was silent for two seconds before she suddenly burst into tears.