My sister never calls me brother.

With a sharp "smack," Wang Qianqian forcefully slapped Zhou Han's hand away.

“Uh…” Zhou Han was stunned and speechless.

"Now that things have come to this..." Wang Qianqian lowered her head, then suddenly raised her voice and shouted, "What are you still pretending to be a good person for—!"

"Stop... saying it..." Gu Bai frowned, trying to stop Wang Qianqian from speaking, but he was too weak to do so.

"Whose fault is it that things have turned out like this? It's all your fault!!!" Wang Qianqian angrily rebuked Zhou Han through tears, "If it weren't for you in the class, how could anyone have gotten hurt?"

Zhou Han looked away, avoiding eye contact with Wang Qianqian.

Wang Qianqian is right. It all started because of Zhou Han. Without him, how could this have happened?

"Why are we in the same class as someone like you? Leave us alone..." Wang Qianqian complained, her head down.

Zhou Han opened her mouth, as if to explain something.

“Go back…” Wang Qianqian said in a low voice.

Zhou Han was stunned, not hearing clearly.

"Go back now—!!!" Wang Qianqian glared at Zhou Han with extremely hostile eyes.

Zhou Han took a few steps back, somewhat fearful. Of course, Wang Qianqian herself wouldn't want him to be afraid, but at this moment—

The whole class was looking at Zhou Han with hostility and resentment.

Miyazaki Airi, standing in the crowd, sensed something was off. She frowned, thinking, "This idiot didn't hit anyone, so what's with this attitude? On the contrary, this idiot came all the way here to save you, even while he was sick..."

Looking at everyone's gaze, Zhou Han broke out in a cold sweat, feeling as if she had fallen into an ice cellar.

If looks could kill, Zhou Han would probably be lying dead on the spot right now.

People's words and actions have real power. For example, a lie becomes the truth if many people tell it.

For Zhou Han, the cold stare of one person is not terrible; what is terrible is the cold stare of a group of people. It is only a difference in the number of people, but there is a huge difference in power. The cold observation of a group of people is enough to make Zhou Han begin to doubt himself.

Often, the life and death of a minority are in the hands of the majority, because the majority believe they are righteous, while the minority are heretics who should be eliminated.

Just like in the Middle Ages, most people pushed heretics to the stake to prove that they were righteous, without considering the correctness of their actions.

At this moment, Zhou Han was no different from a heretic in everyone's eyes, someone who should be eliminated because he seemed out of place and could not integrate into the "everyone" group.

Every group has a common enemy. Perhaps he has never done anything bad, but everyone hates and rejects him. However, he also has his own role—attracting hatred and bringing harmony to the group.

Unfortunately, Zhou Han was the unlucky one, but the reason for this was that he had a bad reputation and a criminal record, making him easy to be demonized without any reason.

Perhaps Zhou Han really doesn't belong here. Just as Sun Qi said, being surrounded by a retinue and swaggering around is the right way for Zhou Han to live.

Zhou Han's face gradually darkened, and he silently turned and left. There seemed to be an insurmountable chasm between him and everyone else.

Gu Bai watched Zhou Han's retreating figure with some worry as she walked further and further away.

Lin Nianwei didn't say anything and went back to reading, completely detached from the world. Her emotional fluctuations just now seemed to be just a fleeting moment.

Zhou Han passed by Sun Qi without looking at him.

It was still raining outside. Zhou Han looked up at the gloomy sky, which mirrored her own depressed mood.

“Young man, you were in a fight too, you can’t leave.” The security captain grabbed Zhou Han’s shoulder.

Zhou Han didn't say anything, but shook off the security captain's hand and walked into the rain without hesitation. He didn't want to stay here, not even for a second.

"Tch!" Sun Qi was a little angry when she saw Zhou Han's somewhat disappointed look.

Miyazaki Airi frowned, placed her hand on her chest, and looked at Zhou Han's battered and bruised back with a pang of heartache.

It turns out that the initially annoying self-introduction wasn't just a casual attempt to show off; it was all genuine, albeit from the perspective of others.

Miyazaki Airi thought of some things about herself that were similar to Zhou Han's, but their reactions were completely different.

Zhou Han let the wind and rain lash her without turning back.

Lilith walked towards me with an umbrella. She had just bought a bunch of snacks from the convenience store, planning to sneak them around during class.

"Senior Zhou!" Lilith saw Zhou Han, shook her ahoge (cowlick), and ran over, laughing, "What are you doing!? Are you acting out zombies? Pfft pfft pfft..."

Zhou Han didn't say anything and walked away on her own.

"Hmm!?" Lilith sensed something was wrong and immediately called out to Zhou Han, "Senior Zhou!"

"Senior Zhou!"

"Senior Zhou!?"

"Senior Zhou..." Lilith handed the umbrella to Zhou Han, flashing her little tiger teeth with a grin, and said, "My grandma said that getting wet in the rain will make you catch a cold..."

Zhou Han looked at the umbrella, shook her head, and said, "I don't need it anymore..."

Zhou Han returned the umbrella to Lilith and left with a slender gait.

Lilith, clutching her snacks, watched Zhou Han limping in the rain, lost in thought.

The gazes of everyone were still echoing in Zhou Han's mind, and he thought to himself—

When exactly did I become... a stepping stone for everyone to mature?

Chapter Seventy-One: A Chance Encounter

This incident was a big blow to Zhou Han, and she even had the idea of ​​dropping out of school and going home.

Because he once again witnessed the so-called reality: no matter how hard he tried, things always seemed to go against his wishes.

Those hostile stares filled Zhou Han with fear time and time again.

Although he usually appears fearless, he is surprisingly sensitive at heart.

After the brawl at the gymnasium, Zhou Han was given a demerit and suspended from school for the month.

At this point, he had locked himself in his room for more than a week, and he didn't leave his room every day. Every time Miyazaki Airi heard no sound from the room, she felt a little anxious.

In the morning, Miyazaki Airi brought the freshly prepared meal to Zhou Han's room, but frowned.

Zhou Han hadn't eaten the food she made yesterday; it was neatly placed at the doorway.

These past few days, Miyazaki Airi has been getting up very early to prepare meals and placing them in front of Zhou Han's door before going to school, but he hasn't eaten any of them. Strangely, there are far fewer instant noodles in the refrigerator.

Miyazaki Airi put down the hot rice, picked up the cold rice, and said, "Yesterday... I made too much rice again. Eat it if you're hungry. I didn't make it especially for you, hmph!"

After saying that, Miyazaki Airi deliberately waited at the door for a while, but Zhou Han did not respond. She stomped her foot in anger, threw away the cold rice, and went to school in a huff.

Even Miyazaki Airi couldn't bear to see Zhou Han like this, so she spoke harshly to him, something she would definitely do normally.

inside the room.

Zhou Han lay on her side on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, her eyes glazed over, looking listless and dejected.

There were many instant noodle paper bowls on the ground, about thirty or so.

Elizabeth flew out of the phone and landed in front of Zhou Han, squatting down to hold her face.

"Are you still feeling down?" Elizabeth asked, somewhat helplessly. "Miyazaki seems really worried about you..."

Zhou Han remained silent.

“You did nothing wrong, don’t take it to heart,” Elizabeth comforted her.

Zhou Han remained silent.

“What a worrisome master…” Elizabeth shook her head and said.

Zhou Han remained silent.

Elizabeth could only sit on the edge of the bed, swinging her shiny little leather boots, quite content. She had been keeping Zhou Han company alone for several days.

Time flies when you're lost in thought, and before you know it, it's afternoon. Zhou Han sat up.

"Hmm?" Elizabeth flew up. "Are you going to eat instant noodles again? Miyazaki has already made you a meal, just have a bite!"

Ignoring Elizabeth, Zhou Han went to the refrigerator, only to find that he had already eaten all the instant noodles inside.

Elizabeth flew over and said, "See! There's no more instant noodles. Let's eat something else!"

Zhou Han acted as if she hadn't heard, scratched her head, put on her shoes, and left home to go out and buy them.

"That's enough!" Elizabeth pouted angrily and shouted, "You idiot master!!!"

Zhou Han, who had just come downstairs, frowned and shielded his eyes with his hand because he hadn't been out for several days and the sunlight was too bright and uncomfortable for him.

The sky has stopped raining today; it's cloudless and the clear sky is like a bottomless blue ocean, making people feel warm and cozy.

After getting used to it for a while, Zhou Han walked towards the nearby supermarket.

As soon as Zhou Han arrived at the supermarket, he stopped because he unexpectedly saw a familiar person—Song Mingyuan.

Song Mingyuan, who was sitting on the bench, naturally saw him as well.

"Oh~ What a coincidence~" Song Mingyuan waved.

Zhou Han paused for a moment, then walked over.

"Come on, sit down!" Song Mingyuan said with a smile, patting the bench.

Zhou Han hesitated for a moment, but still sat down next to Song Mingyuan.

"The weather's so nice today! I haven't been out for a long time, I'm always cooped up at home playing games and watching anime. Coming out once in a while feels pretty good..." Song Mingyuan looked up at the sky, stretched, but suddenly remembered something, rummaged through his bag, "Oh right... this is for you!"

Song Mingyuan took out two cans of cola, tossed one to Zhou Han, and said, "I heard from Miyazaki that you like to drink cola."

Zhou Han caught the cola, glanced at it but didn't drink it, while Song Mingyuan didn't care at all, took a sip directly, and his expression instantly became conflicted as he shook his head.

"Ugh~" Song Mingyuan looked at the cola in his hand and sighed, "This irritating feeling in my throat is really not for me, it hurts a bit. Black tea is much better for me."

"What are you doing here? It's not time for school to end yet, is it?" Zhou Han asked.

"I just happened to take the day off, just happened to be sitting here, and just happened to run into you..." Song Mingyuan glanced at Zhou Han and said, "Would you believe that?"

“There can’t be that many coincidences…” Zhou Han said.

"Haha..." Song Mingyuan chuckled and said, "I asked for leave from school without telling my family. Didn't you see I hadn't even changed out of my school uniform? And I've been sitting here for ages, from morning till afternoon, because I knew you'd be coming out today..."

"Are you so sure?" Zhou Han asked, somewhat surprised.

“I asked Miyazaki Airi how many packs of instant noodles you have left at home. I’m an expert when it comes to eating instant noodles, so I know exactly when you’ll run out and go out to buy more,” Song Mingyuan said, as if to say, “I know you perfectly well.”

“Really…” Zhou Han lowered her head, but immediately realized something was wrong and looked at Song Mingyuan in surprise.

Song Mingyuan smiled faintly and said, "Don't be surprised. I've known for a long time that you and Miyazaki Airi are living together. I just didn't guess that she's your adopted sister. The day before yesterday, after I kept pestering her, she finally told me."