School bullying is a problem that cannot be ignored.
If not handled properly, it can affect a person's physical and mental health for a lifetime.
Li Ran had finally managed to make this family a little more harmonious, and as a result, Li Ziyang had become much more cheerful than before.
However, if the bullying at school isn’t resolved, Li Ziyang’s mental and physical health would never improve.
"Dad, I hate going to school."
Li Ziyang cried, his pitch-black eyes filled with hatred.
Li Ran noticed that Li Ziyang’s strange power suddenly increased from 60 to 70, and he couldn’t help but feel surprised in his heart: "Does strange power grow with resentment, obsession, and negative emotions?"
This meant that the strength of the original residents in the neighborhood was not fixed.
With this thought, Li Ran became even more determined to quickly improve his own strength.
For now, his priority was to calm his son's emotions.
"When I was your age, I didn’t want to go to school either. In the end, Grandpa beat me up badly. Son, I understand you, but this isn’t the solution. Even if you don’t go to school, if you meet them in the neighborhood later, they’ll still bully you. So you need to understand the truth: good people get bullied, and good horses get ridden."
"Dad, what do you mean?"
Li Ziyang wiped his tears and asked.
Li Ran’s eyes flashed sharply, and he swung his fist at the air, the punch cutting through the air with a whoosh.
"It means... an eye for an eye!"
"Starting tomorrow, if Fat Tiger dares to bully you again, you’ll bravely fight back. If you win, I’ll reward you. If you lose, you’ll get punished. As long as you manage to beat him once, he’ll avoid you from then on."
Li Ziyang seemed encouraged, and immediately imitated Li Ran, his eyes becoming sharp as he swung his little fists at the air: "Win and get a reward, lose and get punished. Dad, I’ll remember!"
"Good. Let’s go out for dinner."
"Okay."
Li Ziyang’s head had healed, and there was a smile on his face.
At the dinner table, there was braised beef brisket, boiled prawns, steamed river crabs, ice plant salad, and borscht.
The dishes were vivid, with strong aromas, and the plating was stunning. The five dishes made Li Ran feel as if he was dining at a Western restaurant.
"Did you make all of this?"
Li Ran looked at Su Bingyao in disbelief.
He had always thought that Su Bingyao, because of her obsessive-compulsive disorder and cleanliness, would be unlikely to cook.
But this meal in front of him made Li Ran look at her in a new light.
Not only was her cooking good, but the presentation was also amazing.
Su Bingyao smiled sweetly and said, "I never said I couldn’t cook, did I?"
"Mom, it’s been so long since you cooked. Let me try."
Li Ziyang drooled and eagerly picked up a piece of beef brisket and stuffed it into his mouth.
"It’s just as delicious as before." Li Ziyang gave a big thumbs up.
"Really that good?"
Li Ran, still half-skeptical, picked up a piece of braised beef brisket and put it in his mouth.
Su Bingyao watched her son and Li Ran carefully, like a student waiting for exam results, nervous and expectant.
The moment the beef brisket touched Li Ran’s taste buds, he was stunned.
"This taste..."
"How does it taste?" Su Bingyao eagerly leaned forward, her eyes full of anticipation.
Li Ran looked as if he was enjoying it to the fullest: "Delicious, I love it."
"Really? You’re not lying to me, right? It’s been so long since I cooked."
Su Bingyao, still half-doubtful, carefully picked up a piece of beef brisket, blew on it, and then put it in her mouth.
When it touched her taste buds, her face changed dramatically, and she immediately spat the beef brisket out onto a napkin.
"Ha, you two are teaming up to fool me, aren’t you? It’s clearly so salty!" Su Bingyao pouted, glaring at Li Ran angrily, then casting a side-eye at her son.
Li Ziyang stuck out his tongue and giggled.
Li Ran, however, picked up another piece of braised beef brisket and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it eagerly, "Yes, it’s a bit salty, but overall, the taste is pretty good. I really like it."
With that, Li Ran picked up another piece and swallowed it in one go.
Seeing her husband so supportive, Su Bingyao’s heart actually warmed.
"Try the other dishes."
"Mom, did you put a packet of salt in the borscht?"
"Say that again and I’ll spank you."
"……"
Having been alone for so long, Li Ran truly enjoyed the warm atmosphere of his family being together.
…
At 11 p.m.
After washing up, Li Ran went to the master bedroom and told Su Bingyao about the bullying Li Ziyang had suffered at school.
Su Bingyao was visibly shocked, clearly unaware of how much her son had been bullied at school.
"Tomorrow, during the parent-child activity, I’ll secretly follow Li Ziyang and protect him in secret. At the same time, I also want to record the truth as evidence."
"You’re thoughtful as always. I panicked and didn’t know what to do," Su Bingyao sighed, patting her bulging belly.
Su Bingyao was wearing a silk slip dress that clung to her perfect figure, and Li Ran quickly looked away. If he stared any longer, he might lose control.
"I’m going to bed," Li Ran said.
Li Ran lay on the tatami by the window, his mind filled with the image of Su Bingyao lying in bed.
He had to quickly calm himself down and fall asleep, not only to have enough energy for tomorrow’s parent-child activity, but more importantly, it was almost midnight.
At midnight, if he wasn’t asleep, an invisible virus would enter his body.
He definitely didn’t want to turn into a horrifying monster tomorrow.
A flicker of reluctance flashed in Su Bingyao’s eyes. Her lips parted slightly, as if she was about to speak, but then she stopped herself, “Do you want to… get in bed…”
“Let’s just sleep, good night.”
Su Bingyao changed the topic quickly, immediately lying down and covering her face with the blanket. Her cheeks were flushed and hot, “Ah, so embarrassing.”
On the tatami mat, Li Ran’s lips curled into a meaningful smile.
If it wasn’t for the approaching dangerous midnight, he would’ve gone for it immediately!
“Good night.”
…
At a private clinic in Happy Homeland.
“Send the patient to the operating room, quickly!”
The nurse at the clinic handed the stretcher to Chen Jiabin.
Chen Jiabin nodded anxiously as he pushed the patient into the operating room.
He glanced at the time.
23:40
“Only 20 minutes left until midnight. I have to finish up here quickly.”
Chen Jiabin estimated the time. The surgery had to be completed within ten minutes. It would take him five minutes to run back, and another five minutes to prepare for sleep.
Once it passed midnight without sleep, the consequences were unimaginable.
He was still here in the middle of the night because he had agreed to Dr. Lan’s terms.
Yesterday, his arm had been broken, and if it wasn’t reattached within six hours, his arm would be useless.
It took him a long time to find Dr. Lan’s private clinic.
But he didn’t have enough points to pay for the surgery.
Thankfully, Dr. Lan was very easy to talk to. After some discussion, he agreed to reattach the arm on the condition that Chen Jiabin would work for three days at the clinic as a volunteer.
As long as his arm could be reattached, he didn’t hesitate and agreed without thinking.
Today was his first day working at the clinic.
Night shift, from 3:30 PM to 11:30 PM.
The work mostly involved moving goods, pushing patients to the wards, and doing some miscellaneous labor.
The doctors and nurses at the clinic treated him well.
“This is the last patient. We need to speed up.”
After pushing the patient into the operating room, Chen Jiabin turned around to leave.
“My assistant is off duty. You’ll help me with this surgery,” Dr. Lan, fully equipped with only his eyes visible, called out to Chen Jiabin.
“I... I don’t know how.”
Chen Jiabin was confused. He had no knowledge of surgeries. What could he help with? As long as he didn’t make things worse, that would be a win.
“Don’t you want to leave work early?” Dr. Lan shot him a glare.
A bead of sweat dripped from Chen Jiabin’s forehead, and he didn’t dare refuse.
He had seen too many consequences of disobedience in the last two days.
“Okay.” Chen Jiabin agreed.
Then, Dr. Lan made some pre-surgery preparations.
“The patient ate something bad and has been suffering from stomach pain and sleepless nights. Now we need to remove the food from the patient’s stomach,” Dr. Lan instructed.
Chen Jiabin didn’t care whether he understood or not. He just nodded. He only wanted to finish work and go home to sleep.
“Doctor, I don’t want to have surgery,” the patient lying on the operating table said.
The patient was a monster whose head resembled a frog and whose body looked like a little girl. Her mouth was unusually large, with bloodstains at the corners, and her eyes looked like tiny lightbulbs, bulging out unnaturally, giving her an eerie appearance.
After three days, Chen Jiabin’s mental endurance had grown stronger.
This level was totally acceptable.
“If you don’t want anesthesia and you don’t want surgery, you’ll have to bear with it.”
“I can do it, doctor.” The patient responded, her bulging eyes filled with determination.
Though the patient looked strange, her strong attitude made Chen Jiabin look at her with new respect.
“If we need to remove the bad things, would you prefer to do it from the top or from the bottom?” Dr. Lan asked again.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jiabin felt an inexplicable discomfort.
“From the top,” the patient said.
Dr. Lan nodded and told the patient, “You can open your mouth now.”
The patient “mm”-ed softly, then began to open her mouth wider and wider. Slowly, her mouth kept stretching, and the corners began to crack…
This scene immediately made Chen Jiabin’s scalp tingle.
“Open it wider,” Dr. Lan urged.
The patient’s mouth split all the way down to the back of her head, like a zipper being pulled open, and the entire head flipped backward from the mouth like a flip phone.
“Boom!”
Chen Jiabin’s head rang with a loud noise, and his scalp felt like it was going to explode.
What the hell?!
He was completely disturbed. His hands and feet began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Come over here.” Dr. Lan ordered in a commanding tone.
Chen Jiabin shakily walked over to Dr. Lan, turning his head away, not daring to look at the patient.
“Use your hands to take out the bad stuff from the patient’s stomach,” Dr. Lan said.
Upon hearing this, Chen Jiabin’s face drained of color.
“Stretch... stretch your hand in, and pull it... out?”
“Stop talking nonsense. The child isn’t scared, what are you afraid of?” Dr. Lan scolded.
A child?
Indeed… it was a child!
Time: 23:48
Chen Jiabin glanced at the clock on the wall. Beads of sweat poured down his face like waterfalls.
Less than twelve minutes left, and it would take him five minutes to run back. Time was running out.
Realizing this, Chen Jiabin steeled himself, slowly reaching his right hand into the patient’s stomach.
“God help me!”
(End of chapter)