Xia Yao rode her bicycle and rushed to the intersection of Sanzhong. She turned the screen of her phone on and realized it was only 6 pm.

She had half an hour left until her scene and she scanned the environment first, before finding a clean place to squat down. She took out the test papers from her bag and started answering another set of questions.

At that time, the girls from the Third High School were at the barbecue stall. The leader of the group had dyed red hair and she wore a short skirt, exposing her legs to the autumn wind. She grabbed a handful of skewers and waved her arms as she shouted: "Sisters, go collect the protection fees!"

Six or seven girls with cool hairstyles followed her and they walked out with mighty momentum. Within a few minutes, they reached the place students all passed through at the end of school. They had chosen this dim alley where there was not much traffic to settle down to collect the protection fees. And sure enough, a girl with glasses was already obediently standing at the corner.

***

After Xia Yao finished her math papers and put them away, her legs were a little numb. She quickly got up and jumped twice, stretched her muscles and bones, and looked up at the sky. It was already getting dark and she looked at her phone only to see it was 6:30 pm.

Hm? Where was the delinquent group of the Third High School?

As she was starting to doubt she was in the right place, she saw a group of people pushing and shoving at the end of the alley, under the dim sunset. Xia Yao pulled on her bag straps and exceptionally placed them on both her shoulders. She wanted to reason with people first but if it didn't work, she couldn't let her bag hold her back again. And as she thought about what to say, she felt her plan was perfect.

Just when she was about to get closer to the crowd, a girl with glasses staggered out of it. Xia Yao quickly helped her and noticed she looked rather thin and weak. No, was it the level of the delinquent girls of the Third High School? That was a little pathetic.

Xia Yao helped her stand up on her own and asked lightly: "Are you alright?"

The girl held her bag and looked up at Xia Yao timidly, before answering in a low voice: "No, I'm okay."

"Okay. Then go home and pay attention to safety!" Xia Yao patted her shoulder, intending to move closer to the crowd.

The girl was about to run away but seemed to suddenly think of something. She paused and pulled Xia Yao: "Classmate, you should go too. You can't offend those people, they are collecting protection fees!"

Xia Yao glanced at her and realized that neither her hair was dyed nor her school uniform was altered; she looked like a good student. It turned out she was not one of the delinquents but the group was currently collecting money.

Xia Yao not only didn't listen, but she also leisurely whistled and looked at the girl with a smile: "Let's go, I will go with you."

The girl was startled but before she could react, Xia Yao was leading her forward. She tried to resist and pulled at her sleeves: "Classmate, I'm not kidding, let's run away!"

Her voice was shaking.

"I will go with you." Xia Yao patted the girl on the shoulder, "I will help you."

The girl with glasses was in a daze but when she saw the delinquent group come over, she was frightened and forgot to escape.

"Oh, sisters, look at the big beauty!" The red-haired girl looked up and down at Xia Yao, "Not just a big beauty, but a rich one too!"

The rest of the group's eyes lit up and they stared at Xia Yao too.

Xia Yao smiled: "Thank you, I know I am beautiful."

Her voice was flat and indifferent, but the girl next to her was shocked.

"..."

The redhead did not expect that girl would accept the praise so shamelessly. Although she was indeed really pretty, shouldn't she be more humble?

"Stop talking nonsense! You're so courageous, how about taking out your phone and handing over your wallet?" The redhead raised her eyebrows and knocked on the wall beside her with the stick in her hand.

"Hurry up and pay!" The purple-haired girl behind her glanced at her.

"Pay the money and leave, isn't that easy~"

"What's wrong, you're into the pretty girl?"

"..."

Xia Yao listened to the Rainbow-colored delinquent group chat and started feeling a little impatient.

"Hey, why are you talking so much? Can't you just give 500 yuan?"

The redhead was stunned. 500 yuan?

Xia Yao smiled and flexed her muscles. She threw her bag to the girl next to her and slowly said: "Protection fee. Today, this place is my territory but lucky for you I don't charge too much. I just wanted to be reasonable and encourage you to read more books but it's too troublesome. Ah, it's been so long since I last did this, if it gets too difficult, just bear with me, okay?"

The girls all raised their eyebrows.

—Who was this little beauty who spoke so brashly?

As they were about to curse, they saw the beauty pick up their boss.

Xia Yao kicked Red Hair's wrist and the wooden stick in her hand fell to the ground. Before she could react, she was lifted by the collar.

"Ahhh— You broke my wrist! Who the hell are you? Let me go!? The redhead screamed with a distorted face.

Xia Yao tilted her head: "I'm collecting the protection fee."

Seeing their boss controlled by the opponent, the other girls dared not come forward, looking at each other.

—You go first!

—No, you go first! Go rescue Sister Red!

—Let's go together, we are strong!

Xia Yao noticed the movements of the girls and with a flick of the wrist, she threw Red Hair back to the ground. Her leg moved and in a split second, the wooden stick fell into her palm. She sincerely said: "This stick is very easy to handle."

The leader happened to land on the feet of the other Rainbow girls and they all took a step back. She clutched her wrist and yelled: "Help me up, idiots!"

"..." The girls looked at each other again and after a while, the green-haired one carefully helped her up.

Xia Yao played with the wooden stick in her hand and said lazily: "Hey, I said I was collecting money. Can't you give me 1000 yuan? I am very open-minded and I accept WeChat and Alipay transfers."

"That was only 500 yuan a minute ago!" Blue Hair shouted.

"Time is money, the price has risen." Xia Yao lowered her head and kicked a stone next to her shoe. With her perfect accuracy, it hit Red Hair's knee who had just been able to get up, and she was knocked to the ground again.

"Tsk, you are delaying my study time." Xia Yao hummed.

"No, no, we are many and she's alone!" Red Hair yelled, "Sisters, rip her hair off and scratch her face!"

Xia Yao looked at the girl with glasses next to her and smiled as she gently instructed: "Stay aside and keep my bag safe. My homework is in it."

The Rainbow group rushed over and the girl took a few steps back, holding the bag in one hand and covering her eyes with the other. She was worried about the beautiful sister; she was super handsome against one person but now she was facing a whole gang— The girl closed her eyes and prayed silently in her heart. Around her, the sound of a wooden stick striking thumped in her ears, then came a heart-piercing painful cry and a long whistle.

The girl slightly opened her fingers to witness the scene in front of her, of the girl in a high ponytail holding a stick in one hand and squatting on the ground with her head tilted.

The Rainbow girls were piled up on the ground and Xia Yao was staring at them, one hand on the stick and the other supporting her cheek. She lifted the messy red hair on the leader's face, revealing a pair of eyes full of tears.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you the truth."

"..." Wasn't she just robbing them?

Red Hair instinctively wanted to cover her chest but her hand hurt too much.

Xia Yao asked slowly: "Do you know Xu Shizhou?"

She wanted to spread that the boy liked the heroine.

"Ma—Master Xu?" Red Hair felt somewhat more alive when she heard the question. It turned out that the little beauty was also one of Xu Shizhou's suitors! She must have targeted them because they were all crazily pursuing him. She had beaten them up so hard so that they would never like him again! But everyone liked Xu Shizhou, they were all in the same boat. Why were they fighting each other?

Red Hair whispered: "I have a human-shaped pillow of Master Xu, I can give it to you!"

"..."

"No, you don't like it." Seeing that the little beauty didn't respond, Red Hair added to the bargain, "I have a naked one of him! I will reluctantly give it to you!"

"...naked?" Xia Yao wondered how the girl had gotten her hands on it.

As she seemed finally interested, Red Hair gave a lewd smile despite the pain: "It's photoshop, with Master Xu's smooth mermaid line, narrow waist, and long legs. His ass is amazing!"

"..."

Xia Yao ignored her: "I'm just here to tell you what kind of girls Xu Shizhou likes."

Red Hair was very cooperative and curiously asked: "What kind?"

—The little beauty was so kind, she was willing to share her knowledge with them!

"Girls who study well."

Xia Xi was a good student, Xu Shizhou liked girls who studied well, so Xu Shizhou must like Xia Xi. Xia Yao felt very proud of her own resourcefulness.

Red Hair didn't believe her: "Insane! If Master Xu likes good students, then I like women!"

Xia Yao snickered and patted the girl's face: "I am not lying to you, don't you know who I am?"

"Who are you?"

Xia Yao cleared her throat and put away the stick, so as to look less scary.

***

"So that red-haired bitch cheated you of 100,000 yuan? You should change your name to little fool."

"It's okay to cheat feelings, but you can't cheat money."

"Didn't this dog say she would be in this alley? I don't see anyone."

"Someone's squatting there."

"Are they taking a dump?"

"..."

Xu Shizhou and a group of friends stood under a dim street lamp. At their feet was a boy who had been beaten beyond recognition.

Xu Shizhou leaned against the wall in a gangly manner. His sleeves were rolled up, exposing the muscles on his arms, his face was sharp, his jaw-line well defined and his head was slightly tilted. As he was about to say something, he suddenly saw the back of a familiar figure.

Why was she here? Hadn't she said she was going home early? He glanced at his friends and shushed them with a finger to his lips.

Then he quietly walked forward.

Little theater:

Xia Yao: I am super smart, Xia Xi likes to study so they will all believe he likes her.

Xu Shizhou: I like girls who are first in the grade.