Yi Ming Private Academy’s field was quite big, it even had a spacious gym with many exercise equipment. In terms of infrastructure, the school had done well.
‘Why did Zhang Guanxing bring me here?’ The field was empty and it offered nothing to hide behind. Walking into the field would definitely expose Han Fei to Ma Manjiang. Han Fei stopped. Realizing that, Zhang Guanxing surprised Han Fei by turning around and barking as if urging him to follow him.
‘You have something to show me?’ After Zhang Guanxing was turned into this form, he was unable to speak but he seemed to retain his human mind and personality. Sticking close to the wall, Han Fei took the risk of following Zhang Guanxing through the field and towards the gym. When they arrived, Zhang Guanxing suddenly raced forward as if sniffing something in the air. His target was clear, it was a pile of equipment at the north-eastern corner of the room. Hidden inside this small corner, a girl whose body was cracked, was silently crying. She hugged her knees and curled behind the furthest corner of the equipment. Fractures ran through all her body, a small touch and she’d break.
Her face was buried deep inside her knees and the tears kept falling. She did not want to show her tears before others so she chose this secluded corner to cry herself out.
Zhang Guanxing wagged his tail as he circled the girl. He even used his head to brush against her arm. In this school, Zhang Guanxing was a rabid dog who was hated by everyone. However, this girl student did not seem to harbour any hatred towards Zhang Guanxing. She allowed him to get close to her even in her vulnerable state.
Zhang Guanxing tried his best to cheer up the girl by making funny faces but the girl ignored him. She continued to cry and did not once lift her eyes to look at him. Sensing the girl’s pain, Zhang Guanxing whined sadly. He wanted to share in her pain but he was just a stray dog, he could not understand what had happened to the girl. The only thing he could do was to bark to get a response from her. The louder he called, the harder the girl cried. Zhang Guanxing wanted to comfort the girl but he ended up making her feel sadder. Perhaps Zhang Guanxing’s barks were too shrill for the girl’s ears or his small bumps were injuring her body.
The weeping girl gently pushed Zhang Guanxing to the side. Zhang Guanxing yelped pleadingly, wanting to stay with the girl but that only made the girl’s tears flow harder.
“Perhaps we should give her a moment.” Han Fei reached out to pat Zhang Guanxing on his head. The image of the porcelain girl and the man-faced dog was strangely realistic. The girl with the fragile body had to be Wild Hound’s girlfriend, Chuxia. In real life, Zhang Guanxing probably sensed the pain in Chuxia as well. He wanted to help Chuxia share in the pain but he was himself a child deprived of love, therefore, he too did not know how to love and heal someone. He was unable to connect with his girlfriend no matter how hard he tried. He did his best to make the girl happy but the effort only ended up hurting both parties.
‘Chuxia was taken advantage of by Ma Manjiang. Zhang Guanxing probably did not know about that at the start, he only knew that Chuxia was constantly feeling under the weather. Han Fei guessed Zhang Guanxing did not handle the situation well. Sensitivity was not a virtue he’d see the young man possess. Zhang Guanxing probably pushed Chuxia to tell him the problem and that had only exacerbated her pain. It was most likely Jin Sheng who later told Jin Sheng the truth. It was why Zhang Guanxing had sneaked back into school at night. Perhaps he wanted to apologize or take revenge on his girlfriend’s behalf, in any case, it ended with his own death. In Jin Sheng’s world, Zhang Guanxing was indeed like a homeless stray who had been through various kinds of hells.’
Holding Zhang Guanxing back and silencing him, Han Fei walked to stand before the girl. Her skin was covered in small fissures. Just as Han Fei approached, the girl involuntarily curled her arms protectively around herself. She was like a baby who had been spooked. She balled into herself, the action giving her some semblance of security.
Chuxia was a student who was violated, her body was literally cracked. Empty words of consolation and brusque demand for the truth would only cause a second layer of damage. Zhang Guanxing did everything he did out of concern but in these moments, Chuxia had to be handled with care. What she needed was support and company. She needed to understand that no matter what happened, there would be someone standing beside her, giving her strength.
“I’m a new teacher here at the school, no matter what happens, I will help you.” Han Fei said in a gentle voice. This was not his nature but to calm the girl, he could play the role. “There is no need for you to say anything now. If you ever feel afraid, or need to talk, you can come and find me at any time.” While Han Fei said that, he was closely watching the girl.
Chuxia’s body was cracking in many places, it represented her pain and fragility. She was in a very insecure place, the fear had literally splintered her skin.
Han Fei did not want to put too much pressure on Chu Xia. He was patient, kind and gentle.
About 10 minutes later, Chuxia finally stopped crying. She used her arms to wipe at her tears. When Chuxia lifted her head, Han Fei saw something that made his heart tremble. Under the girl’s cracked skin, chaos, fear and self-deprecation flowed. However, wrapped underneath all these emotions was a pair of scissors that radiated an immense amount of hatred. It sat right around her heart.
The heart pumped weakly as Chuxia’s body was too fragile to need any support anyway. The only thing solid within her was the scissors that were pointed and sharp.
Han Fei had a guess why the hatred in Chuxia would appear in the form of scissors. Jin Sheng’s world was highly symbolic yet still suffocatingly real.
‘I was unable to find any weapon so far. Even though the goal was to kill Ma Manjiang, I had no weapon to do so, but now…’ Han Fei studied the scissors inside the girl’s heart. The scissors gave off an intense hatred that was directed at Ma Manjiang, it was molded into being just to kill Ma Manjiang!
‘Chuxia was violated by Ma Manjiang in real life, so to bring the animal his deserved punishment, the best solution was to have Chuxia expose his crimes! Therefore, in Jin Sheng’s memory, Chuxia carries the weapon that can injure Ma Manjiang! However, this weapon is stuck deep inside Chuxia’s heart. To gain access to this weapon, it will definitely cause a deeper injury on Chuxia.’
If Chuxia was to stand forth and pinpoint the culprit, then it would mean she’d have to face the trauma again. In a world rife with victim-blaming and where the offending party was also the party with authority, many things could go wrong for Chuxia.
It explained why Chuxia did not take out the scissors in real life and allowed Ma Manjiang the freedom to harm other people. However, this was naturally not Chuxia’s fault. Ma Manjiang was related to the Butterfly, he had plenty of resources to toy with these kids, they were not even on the same level.
Everything made sense in a grotesque manner. Reality and memory overlapped. Before Han Fei started this manager mission, he had no idea this would be how Jin Sheng viewed the world around him.
