Chapter 61 Please Meddle in More Affairs

Chapter 61: Please, Stick Your Nose in More Often

He Angxiao drove the black Aston Martin like it was about to take off. As he stepped into the administrative building, he tugged at his tie, thinking smugly to himself that his entrance at this moment really deserved some theme music.

Meanwhile, inside the disciplinary office, Ren Ling’s thuggish arrogance was running wild.

This kid had been a bully since childhood, always got his way. In junior high, where most kids hadn’t yet hit their growth spurt, he was big and fat. Relying on his imposing, little-tank-like physique and his family’s dirty money, he considered himself invincible, looking down on everyone like they were dirt.

Young as he was, he was already full of crude bully behavior.

Sometimes, just his size alone was a form of bullying.

Ren Ling was the only child in his family, spoiled rotten, getting whatever he wanted on a silver platter.

His father reeked of booze and the arrogance of a rich jerk. Growing up around that, Ren Ling naturally copied the adults’ nasty habit of pushing around the weak and sucking up to the strong, perfectly mastering every nasty trick.

He formed cliques in class, gathering a group of spoiled brats with nothing better to do. During lessons, they’d deliberately yell out irrelevant nonsense. Worse still, they’d tell the dirtiest, nastiest jokes in front of female teachers and classmates.

The previous subject teachers and homeroom teachers had all played it safe. None wanted to tangle with a local bully with connections. Some young female teachers even went out of their way to avoid him, pretending not to see him on the podium. As long as he didn’t cause a huge scene, they turned a blind eye to get through the day.

After all, what could be done?

Kids this rotten to the core wouldn’t listen to a word of oral education. The school couldn’t expel a student in compulsory education, either. Everyone just hoped he’d muddle through to graduation and go plague society elsewhere.

The students felt the same.

The well-behaved ones saw him like a pile of mud, steering clear from afar. Meanwhile, those who disliked studying and had crooked minds were eager to join his ranks.

In Ren Ling’s eyes, school rules were a joke, and teachers had zero professional authority.

Wu Jia, the math class representative, had been bullied by him in various ways countless times over the past year.

They’d surround him, push him around, spewing the foulest words, calling him a pretentious bookworm, a bootlicker wagging his tail for the teacher.

Good kids who were heartbreakingly sensible always thought, “I’ll just endure it, it’ll save the adults at home and school some trouble.” Sometimes, it wasn’t the bullied child who was weak, but the indifferent adults around them who looked the other way.

Insults of a degrading nature—he could endure them. Being forced by Ren Ling to do even more dirty work—he could grit his teeth and bear it. Even the occasional fist threat—as long as nothing too major happened—he could swallow it down.

But Wu Jia couldn’t help wondering sometimes: What had he done wrong?

He still felt wronged, but his shoulders were too narrow, burdened with heavier things: his mother’s eager hopes, the teacher’s trusting attention, the heavy pressure of schoolwork.

He had no time to wrestle with filth.

But the new Teacher Chi was just too kind, especially to Wu Jia. That gentleness touched Wu Jia’s sensitive heart, and he wanted to do something for this new teaching assistant.

As the math class representative, the only thing he could think of was to collect all the homework neatly and deliver it to Teacher Chi’s desk.

When he used to collect assignments from Ren Ling and his gang, Ren Ling would still curse him under his breath, eyeing him sideways. But Wu Jia didn’t want to argue with such scum—it was a waste of life.

Today, though, that bullying bastard dragged Teacher Chi into the mud.

Ren Ling sneered, “A sissy teacher deserves a sissy class rep.”

Wu Jia got angry: “How dare you say that about Teacher Chi! What right do you have!”

Ren Ling acted as if he’d heard the funniest joke. He rammed Wu Jia hard with his wide, fat chest, looked down, and spat, “Did I say anything wrong? He’s a big sissy, and you’re his little sissy raised right under his hand!”

The moment the words left his mouth, the sycophantic lackeys around Ren Ling burst into harsh, grating laughter.

Wu Jia clenched his fists: “Take it back! Take back your foul words!”

Instead of backing off, Ren Ling stepped closer aggressively.

He used his sturdy figure, a full head taller than Wu Jia, to block the aisle between desks. Looking down at the frail boy, his face full of disgusting thuggery, he said, “What if I don’t? What can you do about it?”

As he spoke, he extended a thick finger, poking Wu Jia’s thin shoulder with a vengeful jab. “You’re just a dog kept by the teacher, a bootlicker wagging your tail every day.”

Wu Jia stumbled half a step back, then snapped his head up and shouted hoarsely, “I am not!”

“You are. Not only are you a dog, you’re a coward.” Ren Ling rolled his eyes. “Little turtle bastard. Your own dad doesn’t even show up—he must be out there being a big turtle king, right? Why else would he abandon you?”

“Turtle” was the nickname Ren Ling’s gang had given Wu Jia.

That Wu Jia came from a single-parent family wasn’t a secret in class. Twice a year, rain or shine, the school conducted family background surveys, and some busybody had snooped through them.

His most hidden scar was torn open and exposed to the public. Wu Jia’s mind went blank. He could no longer hold back, charging forward and shoving Ren Ling hard.

That shove lit the fuse. The two half-grown kids immediately started scuffling and wrestling in the narrow gap between desks.

Ren Ling’s father was Ren Bohong, a local entrepreneur in Jiangzhou. To get his incorrigible son into this key junior high, he’d thrown down over a hundred thousand yuan to replace all the classroom desks and chairs with brand-new solid wood ones. With that kind of interest involved, the school always pandered to their family.

At this moment, Chi Luoxi shielded Wu Jia behind him.

Chi Luoxi stood straight-backed, meeting Ren Bohong’s almost murderous gaze. “I never laid a hand on your son. But your son is truly bad—lying at such a young age, forming cliques to bully classmates, showing no respect for teachers. Seeing you now, I finally understand the saying: ‘If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will be warped.’”

The grade director, who was mediating on the side, quickly stood up to smooth things over. “Teacher Chi! Say no more! Parent Ren, please calm down—our school absolutely does not mean that…”

“You little punk, you’re finished!” Ren Bohong, who had roamed Jiangzhou for years, couldn’t stand being publicly humiliated by a young assistant. His fat face turned purple with rage. He pointed at Chi Luoxi’s nose and thundered, “Check the surveillance! I’ll use my connections to get you blacklisted in this industry! You’ll be jobless!”

“Go ahead and check,” Chi Luoxi shot back with a cold glare, his stubbornness flaring. “Check the surveillance to see who started the name-calling and the fight. Today, I’m going to say what needs to be said. The problem is that some rotten adults produce rotten kids, all bullying the weak. They gang up on honest, good people.”

Ren Bohong was enraged. He swung his thick, short arm wide, reaching to attack Chi Luoxi directly.

Chi Luoxi raised his hand and caught Ren Bohong’s fat wrist.

Ren Bohong was horrified to realize that his two-hundred-jin frame couldn’t muster an ounce of strength to break free from the other man’s grip.

Chi Luoxi stared at him coldly. His usually gentle voice carried a hint of intimidation in the silent office. “I said I didn’t hit your son. I was in the classroom stopping him from bullying a classmate.”

Ren Bohong winced in pain, humiliated, his face flushed crimson. He struggled frantically, using all his strength to pull his hand back.

Chi Luoxi hadn’t intended to hold him forever anyway. He released him casually, and the momentum sent Ren Bohong stumbling backward several steps. His hip slammed into the edge of the desk behind him, almost causing him to fall flat on his ass.

Ren Bohong clutched his waist, trembling with fury. “You’re finished… You’re thoroughly finished today!”

Just as the chaos reached its peak, the office door was pushed open from outside.

The principal entered, accompanying a tall, well-built man.

The man wore a perfectly fitted deep black custom suit, exuding a cold, arrogant air of authority.

He Angxiao had arrived.

Ren Bohong rubbed his wrist and turned around. Seeing that his backup had arrived, he immediately started making a racket, accusing the other side first like a classic bully: "...Principal! Perfect timing. Take a look—is this the kind of manners your school hires? Look at this! Not only did he hit my son just now, but now he dares to lay hands on a parent! Are you going to do something about this or not?"

He Angxiao treated the hopping mad Ren Bohong as if he were nothing but air.

He walked up to Chi Luoxi, looking him up and down: "Did you get hurt anywhere? Did this fat pig touch you?"

Chi Luoxi obediently shook his head.

Ren Bohong, publicly humiliated as a fat pig, was about to explode. He was a man of some stature in Jiangzhou, so he stepped forward and pointed at He Angxiao's nose, roaring: "Who the hell are you? Who gave you the right to speak here? Who do you think you are?"

He Angxiao turned his head and looked at Ren Bohong as if he were nothing more than a worthless, stinking piece of garbage.

"Principal, it seems the bar for this key middle school is getting lower and lower. Even riffraff with the quality of thugs can be parents here? With a face like that, from a distance, I thought a pig head from the market had turned into a spirit and come here to run wild."

The principal stood to the side, cold sweat immediately trickling down his wrinkled old face.

He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped his face haphazardly, and quickly squeezed between the two, forcing a smile as he introduced to Ren Bohong: "Mr. Ren, please say no more. This is Mr. He Angxiao, the helm of Xiaoheng Technology. You move in business circles in Jiangzhou, so his name should be thundering in your ears. President He is also our Teacher Chi's brother."

Ren Bohong's foul language, already on the tip of his tongue, froze when he heard the words 'Xiaoheng Technology.' His expression turned colorful.

In today's business world, right at the golden boom of the tech explosion, Xiaoheng Technology was an absolute behemoth galloping ahead of the pack. Its industrial reach extended into nearly every vital point of the entire industry chain. In Jiangzhou, anyone doing business in Jiangzhou absolutely knew He Angxiao's name.

He was a ruthless player who could turn the tables with a flick of his hand in the world of fame and fortune.

On any normal day, Ren Bohong would have been calling out 'President He' repeatedly.

But with school leaders and teachers watching, he couldn't back down without losing face. He could only grit his teeth and, with a bluster that belied his fear, snort: "...So what if he is?"

Beside him, Ren Ling, still oblivious to the shift in the wind, tugged at his father's sleeve and bellowed: "Dad!"

Hearing his son's voice, Ren Bohong found a bit of his nerve again: "No matter who shows up today, even the Jade Emperor himself, as a parent, I won't let this go easily. Your brother is a teacher, yet he openly hit a student at school. There's no way this ends here, no matter where you take it!"

He Angxiao's gaze drifted down, lazily scanning the tall, sturdy, iron-tower-like Ren Ling, then landing on the thin little beanpole that Chi Luoxi was protectively shielding behind him.

He didn't need to guess – he knew instantly what had happened.

This little fatty must have done something awful to make the do-gooder hothead in his family so furious.

He Angxiao let out a low laugh, his narrow eyes filled with undisguised contempt: "Parent, when you speak, you need evidence and take responsibility. If he hit someone, there are ways to handle it. But in my opinion, some rotten goods are born needing a lesson. A whole nest of beasts, old and young, crawls out together. No wonder anyone who sees them gets angry."

"Our family has always been reasonable. My brother is serious and responsible at school every day, lively and adorable. He mixes well with the students, and he's always been harmonious and friendly with his colleagues in the office, right, Dean?"

The grade director, caught off guard, nodded repeatedly and chimed in: "Yes, yes, yes. Teacher Chi is always the most steady worker."

"See, even the school leaders say so. Your son looks like a real rotten egg. Would my brother lower himself to hit your son?" He Angxiao said, picking up Chi Luoxi's fair hand and rubbing his thumb over it, shifting his tone, "Tonight, we're going back to wash these hands thoroughly. Touching something so unlucky—it affects our family's feng shui."

Ren Bohong had never been mocked so openly and sarcastically in his decades in Jiangzhou. His fat face turned purple with rage: "What do you mean by that?!"

In that moment, He Angxiao's aura expanded fully, the warmth in his eyes dropping to freezing point. He stared coldly at Ren Bohong: "What do I mean? President Ren isn't stupid, is he? I'm putting this out there today: if my brother suffers even the slightest grievance here—even a scratch on his nail—I won't let any of you off."

"Oh, and by the way, what exactly is your family's main business again? If I remember correctly, it's industrial gases, right? Your factory serves most of the old industrial district in Jiangzhou. The profits are decent. It would be a real shame if this business you've built up over time suddenly disappeared."

This was a blatant business threat and encirclement.

Meeting He Angxiao's eyes, Ren Bohong couldn't squeeze out a single threat or curse word. He knew that Xiaoheng Technology could crush his little industrial gas factory as easily as squashing an ant.

He Angxiao looked down at him from his height, speaking slowly and deliberately: "...Did my brother hit your son just now?"

Ren Bohong's face was ugly. Before the absolute pressure of power, his lips trembled: "...No, no, it was a misunderstanding. Teacher Chi didn't hit him."

Beside him, Ren Ling, seeing his father, who usually ruled the roost at home, back down, felt deeply wronged and cried out in disbelief: "...Dad! He pressed me down on—"

"You shut up!" Ren Bohong, as if finding an outlet for his anger, turned and slapped Ren Ling hard across the body, sending him stumbling. "All you do at school is cause me trouble instead of studying! If you don't want to study, then get the hell to work in the factory workshop and stop disgracing me here!"

The school decided to put Ren Ling on probation, sending him home for a few days of reflection before returning to class.

As Ren Ling was about to step out of the office door, he glared hatefully at Chi Luoxi. But before he could fully display that rebellious, vicious look, his father's sharp, solid slap landed squarely on the back of his head from behind, making him stumble and immediately tuck his head in like a beaten dog.

And as for Ren Bohong's company, in the following days, it was, unsurprisingly, given a mild but pointed warning by Xiaoheng.

Chi Luoxi bent down and told Wu Jia to go back to class, comforting him gently: "Don't worry. That kid won't dare bully you in class anymore. Listen to the teacher—wipe your tears and go back to class now. Study hard."

Wu Jia's big eyes still held traces of unspent tears. He looked up with his pale little face, his voice timid: "Teacher Chi, really? He won't bother me again?"

Seeing the little boy shaking like a startled bird, Chi Luoxi's heart ached. "You know what? In this worldly society, people say big fish eat small fish, and shrimp fear big fish. But above the big fish, there are even fiercer sharks."

As he spoke, Chi Luoxi pulled over the tall, cold, and arrogant He Angxiao, who had been standing by with his hands in his trouser pockets: "But don't be afraid, because the most powerful shark is on our side now. A shark that belongs to justice, exclusively for us."

Wu Jia followed Teacher Chi's gaze and saw the tall, upright, handsome man who seemed strong enough to hold up half the sky. He nodded heavily, his eyes full of gratitude.

He Angxiao took Chi Luoxi away first and asked if he wanted to switch his internship school.

"No, why should I switch?" Chi Luoxi said at once. "That arrogant little brat—this time, I'm going to make him see me at school every day, make him afraid from the bottom of his heart, and let him personally experience what Wu Jia went through. Honey, do you think if I become the principal of this school one day, I'll personally step in and really put a stop to this bad atmosphere?"

He Angxiao: "...That's the spirit, babe. Ambitious."

But talking about this, Chi Luoxi felt a bit troubled: "Honey, do you think I'm useless? Having to trouble you to come all the way here to clean up after me over such a small conflict at school. But the moment something happened, the first person I thought of was you. I just can't live without you."

He Angxiao nodded, his expression thoroughly pleased.

"In fact, my first instinct was to hit him with my fists, but then I remembered what you warned me before—no violence outside. So I held back."

This sentence just hit He Angxiao's sweet spot again.

Listening to this confession of complete dependence, He Angxiao was thoroughly satisfied.

His heart softened uncontrollably. He leaned over and planted a loving, fierce kiss on Chi Luoxi's porcelain-like cheek, hugging him and saying: "Stop overthinking it. The thing I love most in this life is following behind you and cleaning up your messes, you little troublemaker."

Honestly, the sheer satisfaction he felt coming here today to protect and shield his own was even more exhilarating than closing a huge business deal.

Chi Luoxi could tell that He Angxiao seemed really happy, having shaken off his gloom from the past few days. Curious, he asked: "You don't find me annoying? A busybody?"

He Angxiao shook his head, pressing close to Chi Luoxi: "Not at all. Please, meddle in more things. Then I'll meddle in your affairs."

Chi Luoxi laughed: "I'll try."

A few days later, Ren Ling returned to school after his suspension, slinking back in disgrace.

When he ran into Chi Luoxi in the hallway, he no longer had his former arrogance.

Chi Luoxi, on the other hand, stopped leisurely. He narrowed his beautiful almond-shaped eyes slightly, raised his right hand, and with two long fingers, first pointed at his own eyes, then pointed across the air in Ren Ling's direction. The meaning was crystal clear: Behave. I'm watching you.

Ren Ling's face flushed bright red under that gaze.

Already humiliated by the scandal at school, he wished he could find a hole to crawl into.

The longer Chi Luoxi lived in the human world, the more he unconsciously picked up a harmless little trick—turning things into radishes.

He could conjure radishes out of thin air or turn objects in his hands into radishes. He Angxiao called it 'turning stone into radish.' The latter usually didn't last long.

Chi Luoxi had tried it—half an hour max.

He Angxiao, whom he had transformed, said they could sunbathe together as radishes in the future, leaves intertwined, a radish romance—super romantic.

Even as a radish, He Angxiao was bigger than Chi Luoxi, with wider leaves.

Chi Luoxi praised, "Honey, you look so handsome even as a radish."

He Angxiao proudly swayed his leaves.

He Angxiao asked Chi Luoxi to bury him in the soil so he could feel what it was like to be a radish. But just as Chi Luoxi had buried him and was about to water him,

he turned around and saw that He Angxiao had been dug out by the dog's paws and nearly ended up in its mouth. Alarmed, Chi Luoxi threw down the watering can, shouted "Bad dog," grabbed Radish He Angxiao from the dog's mouth, and hugged him tightly.

After He Angxiao turned back into a human, he hugged Chi Luoxi and said, still shaken, that he thought being human was better.

The first time Chi Luoxi used the spell to conjure radishes out of thin air, He Angxiao stared at the several baskets of radishes that had inexplicably appeared in the house, fell silent for a long time, and asked Su Yi to prepare radish dishes every which way for days.

In the end, the leftover radishes were sun-dried into radish strips covering the entire yard.

From then on, their family never lacked radishes to eat.

Although Chi Luoxi's spell was largely useless in serious matters, it was perfect for messing with humans.

Just as Ren Ling brushed past Chi Luoxi, Chi Luoxi gave a subtle flick of his fingertips.

In that instant, a round, slippery little radish popped into existence out of nowhere under the sole of Ren Ling's sneaker.

"Ouch—!"

A dull thud echoed through the corridor as Ren Ling lost his balance, stepped squarely on it, slipped hard, and fell onto the concrete floor tiles in a ridiculous face-plant, grimacing in pain.

After that, Ren Ling slipped and fell wherever he went. Amid the undisguised laughter of the well-behaved students, the campus bully who usually threw his weight around finally understood the meaning of utter humiliation. Covering his face, he fled in disgrace.

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Author's note: Little Radish: The champion of justice—Chi Luoxi.

He Angxiao: The champion of justice's personal bodyguard.

Probably two or three more chapters until the main story ends, then we'll have extras. First, let's write pseudo-father-and-son, okay? Then a little tea boy selling tea, then a countryside style—a little radish selling radishes.