Thirteen Wonders (ShíSānYāo) : Chapter 14 - Winning with the Red Dragon

February 28, 2025 Oyen 0 Comments

Happy Reading~

Chapter 14: Winning with the Red Dragon

In the afternoon, Zhou Yao sat alone in the quiet, multi-cornered pavilion when Liang Li suddenly came looking for her.

Climbing the steps, Liang Li got straight to the point. “Can we talk?”

Zhou Yao countered, “Talk about what?”

“Anything. You’re not exactly busy, are you?”

Zhou Yao couldn't be bothered with her sarcasm. “Have you been looking for me for a long time?”

“No.” Liang Li gave a forced chuckle. “I just happened to see you here, so I came over. Is that a problem?”

“I saw you questioning people all the way from over there,” Zhou Yao smirked. “Stopped three classmates, didn’t you?”

Liang Li was caught off guard by the jab, but she dismissed it as unimportant—until Zhou Yao suddenly said, “Do you realize how often you take people for fools?”

“And you?” Liang Li shot back, unrestrained. “Playing the weak little white flower, acting like you don’t know anything, hiding behind others’ protection while humiliating and attacking people—feels good, doesn’t it?”

“I think you’re mistaken about something. I’ve never humiliated or attacked anyone. On the other hand, you—”

Zhou Yao's amused expression made Liang Li’s anger flare.

Liang Li shot to her feet. “Let’s just lay it all out today. Enough with the pretenses, it’s boring!”

Zhou Yao lazily replied, “You want to ask about Chen Xuze?”

Liang Li locked eyes with her. “You like Chen Xuze, don’t you?”

“This matter—” Zhou Yao let out a soft chuckle. “—has nothing to do with you.”

“You!”

Liang Li's gaze suddenly turned venomous. “People like you never feel guilt, do you? So dark and filthy inside. If you were ever exposed under the blazing sun, you’d be nothing but a rat scurrying through the streets, despised by all!”

“Have you ever heard this saying?” Zhou Yao didn’t look at her. She casually picked up a plastic tube meant for folding paper stars and began to fold. “Some people will never acknowledge any faults or shortcomings in themselves. In their eyes, the world revolves around them. If something goes wrong, it’s always someone else’s fault—this vast, complicated world that fails to appreciate them—never themselves.”

Liang Li’s eyes widened, and she took a step forward, only for Ying Nian to approach, holding two drinks. Seeing them, Ying Nian frowned. “What are you two talking about?” She cast a wary look at Liang Li. “What are you doing here?”

Liang Li’s smile appeared hurriedly, stiff, and barely controlled.

Chen Xuze, Jiang Jiashu, and Da Xiong also walked into the pavilion.

Chen Xuze carried a bag of drinks and handed them out to everyone—except Liang Li.

Da Xiong grinned at Liang Li. “What were you guys talking about? I saw you and Zhou Yao chatting for ages.” Noticing that she didn’t get a drink, he scratched the back of his head apologetically. “Uh, I can give you mine if—”

“Zhou Yao and I were discussing something.” Liang Li didn’t care about the drink; she was more anxious to explain, worried that things would get out of hand.

Zhou Yao didn’t even spare her a glance, continuing to fold her star meticulously. “Me and Liang Li? We were arguing.”

Her calm statement took everyone by surprise.

“Arguing?!” Jiang Jiashu was shocked. “About what?” He looked at Zhou Yao first before turning to Liang Li, his gaze slightly displeased.

Between the two of them, even aside from his connection with Chen Xuze, he was clearly closer to Zhou Yao.

Liang Li hadn’t expected Zhou Yao to just blurt everything out. Given her usual personality, she wouldn’t have done this. Panicking, Liang Li hurried to explain, “Zhou Yao, you… Did I speak too harshly just now and make you misunderstand…?”

Ying Nian, who had been silent, suddenly slammed the two drinks onto the stone table. “Oh, give it a rest already! Had enough of your act yet?”

Meeting Ying Nian’s cold, knowing gaze, Liang Li instantly suspected she might know something. Her whole body stiffened, but she still refused to admit it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Da Xiong awkwardly tried to mediate. “Maybe there’s some misunderstanding…?”

Zhou Yao finished folding a star. Chen Xuze, who hadn’t spoken, sat down beside her. She handed him a plastic tube, and to her surprise, he actually knew how to fold as well. She picked up another, and the two of them started folding together.

It was only then that Liang Li suddenly noticed—their movements, their folding technique, even the order in which they folded—every tiny detail was identical.

“You transferred from your private school because of me, didn’t you?”

Zhou Yao kept her gaze lowered, speaking casually as she worked on her origami. She didn’t seem to place much importance on the person in front of her. “From the start, I thought you looked familiar. The second time we met, I recognized you. I’ve just been waiting to see what you’re trying to do.”

Ying Nian spoke coldly, “Liang Li, do you actually like Chen Xuze? And you, hanging around with us—are you sure you really want to be friends with us?”

Da Xiong blinked, confused. “What’s everyone talking about…?”

Jiang Jiashu also didn’t understand. He tugged at Ying Nian’s sleeve. “What do you know?”

Ying Nian gestured for him to stay quiet, and he reluctantly shut his mouth.

“Actually, you and Gao Yu are quite alike,” Zhou Yao said. “Even though you’re fraternal twins—he took your father’s surname while you took your mother’s—and he doesn’t look nearly as good as you, since you inherited all of your parents’ best features… But your eyes, the two of you have the exact same eyes.”

“You have no right to mention—”

Liang Li suddenly lost control, about to yell, but Zhou Yao lifted her gaze and shot her a glance—deep and heavy with emotion.

“And why wouldn’t I mention him?” Zhou Yao said. “My first year of high school at No. 5 High School—he was the one who turned my peaceful life upside down. If anyone has the right to talk about him, or even curse him, it’s me.”

“Just because he liked me, he thought he could stand outside the back door of our classroom with a group of people, shouting my name. Our teacher turned black in the face with anger on the podium, and the whole class watched me as a joke. That time, he cost me my scholarship.”

“In winter, I was walking home at night and saw an old man begging on the roadside, shivering pitifully. I just gave him a coin, but Gao Yu insisted on exchanging with him. The old man was hard of hearing and didn’t understand, so Gao Yu kicked over his begging tin, took the coin anyway, and even kicked him in the back.”

“And when I was just talking to the new biology intern teacher, Gao Yu brought people to ambush him in an alley that afternoon, beating him so badly he was severely injured. The poor guy had just graduated from university and hadn’t even been assigned a staff dorm yet. He was renting a place with another intern. A grown man in his twenties sat in the hospital crying his eyes out, and his hospital fees had to be pooled together by the other teachers.”

“—And yet, Gao Yu still went around saying he treated me well?”

For the first time, an expression of deep disgust appeared on Zhou Yao’s face. The others listening in the pavilion were equally filled with repulsion.

What kind of person was this?

Only Liang Li screamed, “Bullshit! My brother just has a straightforward temper, he never—”

“Say whatever you want. The fact remains that he handed me a love letter in front of the principal, which got me forced onto the stage to apologize at the next week's flag-raising assembly. And your dad went to talk to the school leadership to get him off without punishment—also true.”

“A person like him confessing to me—would I ever accept it?” She laughed.

Zhou Yao stared at Liang Li, deliberately twisting the knife. “Do you know how I rejected him? In front of everyone, I told him: ‘Stop embarrassing yourself. I will never like you—you're trash!’”

“Even if you didn’t like him, you didn’t have to say it like that!” Liang Li completely lost control, shouting, “He liked you so much! Every day, he was in front of me talking about you! He was always thinking about what to buy for you! How could you be so cold-hearted—”

“And when he kicked over that old man's begging tin, did he spare a thought for others? Because of him, I lost my scholarship and had to work part-time over the holidays to earn my own pocket money. How many books did I miss out on reading? How many practice questions did I not get to do? How many dishes did I have to wash in the back of a restaurant? Does he know?”

“Where was his kindness then?”

“And another thing,” Zhou Yao would never forget, “That teacher he injured came from an incredibly poor family. His entire family pooled their money to send him to teacher’s college. That year, he was supposed to be assigned a dorm at our school, which meant he could send a few hundred more to his little sister for her education. But too bad—your brother broke his hand! That beautifully written chalkboard handwriting, which our whole class loved—he could never write like that again!”

Zhou Yao’s voice rose slightly, carrying an edge of lost control. Chen Xuze, who had been silent, gently patted her back. Ying Nian couldn't help but glance at her with concern, catching the faint shimmer of tears at the corner of her eyes.

Zhou Yao rarely cried. Moments where her eyes held tears were just as rare. Even if it was just a single drop.

“I hate people like you the most. You, Liang Li, and your brother, Gao Yu. You selfish people are the real garbage, the ones rotting in the dark corners—!”

Zhou Yao spat out the words at Liang Li, then took a long breath to steady herself.

Liang Li, completely provoked, lunged at Zhou Yao, but Jiang Jiashu was quick to block her.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll fight you to the death! It’s all your fault! It’s all your fault—”

Jiang Jiashu held her back while saying, “What are you blaming her for? Are you crazy?” Then he called for help, “Hey, come on, don’t just stand there watching!”

Da Xiong stepped in to pull Liang Li away.

Zhou Yao finished folding another star, placed it lightly on the table among the others, and finally stopped.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at Liang Li, and deliberately asked, “So, you blame me?”

In the entire pavilion, her voice was the only sound. Chen Xuze knew about all of this, and Ying Nian had heard about it recently too, but neither of them stopped Zhou Yao from speaking in this strangely cold manner.

Zhou Yao slowly began to smile, sweeping her gaze over Liang Li’s tear-streaked face.

“I know you hate me. Gao Yu is dead, so you hate me, right?” She smiled carelessly. “I don’t care.”

Those who trample on the suffering of others—no matter how powerful, no matter how high they stand.

To her, they were all nothing but ugly trash.

—Trash.

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