Chapter 110

Page Three The上学之路 Concealing Hidden Dangers

The urgent alarm of the alarm clock rang sharply by my ear. Through the gap in the curtains, part of the morning sun shone into my room, flashing right on my eyelids, making everything appear red.

Reluctantly waking up, I rubbed my sleepy eyes and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

September 1st, 7:35 AM.

I had set the alarm for 7:30 last night. The alarm had already gone off five minutes ago but failed to wake me up, so it rang for the second time now.

The doormat at the entrance was still wet, indicating that last night’s events were real, not a dream.

After washing up and changing into the long-unworn school uniform, I found that my shirt was slightly tight due to recent weight gain, and the school trousers were too narrow for my plastered right leg. I had to put on a wide-legged pant instead.

Actually, I could have taken a long leave to recover at home, but I didn’t think it was necessary since it was just a minor fracture.

Most importantly, if I stayed home any longer, I would turn into a fat ball!

With a backpack slung over my shoulder, I hopped down the stairs on one leg, finishing the breakfast porridge left by my father. Leaning on a crutch, I stepped out of the house.

This was the first time I had left home in these past few weeks, feeling like I was being released from prison. The sky had never been bluer, and the September sun was gradually waning, its heat still youthful. The cicadas on the trees were less noisy than usual, and even the red-haired gorilla by the roadside looked more pleasant.

This gorilla was waving at me.

Zhao Zhao was waiting outside as usual. The highlights he had dyed during his haircut were removed, so he had dyed his hair again, turning it even redder, like a rooster’s comb.

“Good morning, Chairman. Look what I brought for you?”

He moved aside, revealing a foldable wheelchair leaning against the corner. Zhao Zhao unfolded the chair skillfully and patted the seat, signaling me to sit.

“Come, I’ll push you to school.”

It was 7:50 AM. As an injured person with a broken leg, there was still some urgency if I wanted to walk to school.

So, I didn’t hesitate and sat down on the wheelchair, retracting my crutches.

“Not bad, where did you get this wheelchair?”

Underneath the wheelchair was a footrest that could be raised, perfect for resting my fractured right leg, making it very convenient.

“My mother got this from the hospital after hearing about your injury. She asked me to use this to push you to class.”

I nodded in response. “Thanks to your mom then.”

Surprisingly, this wheelchair was quite comfortable. I reclined, propping up my leg and playing with my phone, with someone pushing me from behind. It felt like riding in a rickshaw.

Zhao Zhao was the rickshaw driver.

“Comfortable?” the driver asked.

“Very comfortable, why don’t you give me a shoulder massage?”

Zhao Zhao really gave me a tap, but not on my shoulder; he hit my head, nearly knocking off my glasses.

“What are you doing?” I looked up at him, noticing the mischievous smile on his face.

“Since it feels so good, how about we add some excitement?”

Then he pushed me onto a pedestrian downhill path. There were guardrails on both sides, as bicycles also went down here, so there were no steps. I had seen many skateboarders fall here before.

“Hey! Don’t mess around! My leg isn’t healed yet!”

He ignored me and hummed a tune while fastening the restraints on me and my hands.

“Damn, this wheelchair has restraints?”

“My mother got it from a mental hospital.”

So Zhao’s mother works at a mental hospital?

Clearly, this was a premeditated murder attempt. As soon as he let go, I felt the wheelchair lurch forward uncontrollably.

“Aaaah!! What?!”

I screamed with my eyes closed, only to find that the wheelchair had stopped abruptly, not rushing down the slope as expected.

“Pfft, Chairman, your expression is amazing. Let’s take a couple of pictures for Xiao Hai Tang.”

Zhao pointed at my face and laughed while taking photos with his phone.

How come I didn’t roll down when he wasn’t holding the wheelchair?

Turns out, the wheelchair had a brake lever that locked the rear wheel. With the wheel immobilized, it wouldn’t roll down. Zhao was just trying to scare me.

I glared at him resentfully, trying to calm my startled heart while cursing, “You [bleep]! Stop messing around!”

Was scaring me really that amusing?

Then came a click, and the wheelchair started moving downhill.

Looking sideways, I saw the brake lever had popped back.

My hands were restrained to the armrests, unable to reach the brake lever.

Zhao was putting away his phone and reached out to grab the handle, but he missed.

…

Oh no, this is really bad.

My dear mother who disappeared, how did I end up with such a useless teammate?

“Aaaaah!! Get out of the way!”

At seventy miles per hour, my mood was far from free.

With inertia, I rushed down the slope at breakneck speed, jumping onto the pedestrian path. I yelled loudly, my tongue quivering. People on the sides dodged left and right, but the bus stop sign ahead wouldn’t move.

Hitting it wouldn’t just result in a fracture; it would be as dangerous as a collision on a highway.

As the bus stop sign drew closer, and no bartender in a suit appeared to move it, I closed my mouth and eyes, unable to protect my head with my bound hands.

In despair, I waited for the impact.

But at this critical moment, the wheelchair suddenly slowed down. Reluctantly, I opened my eyes to see the bus stop sign right in front of me. Looking back, I realized someone had grabbed the wheelchair handle.

It was two people, two familiar ones.

On the right side was Bei Qiaojue, holding the handle with one hand and her bag with the other, a baguette sticking out of her mouth.

Truly wild. I’ve seen people with bread slices in their mouths, but never a whole baguette.

“Qiaojue, you really helped a lot!”

She shifted her single-shoulder bag back onto her shoulder, freeing her hand to hold the baguette in her mouth, finally allowing her to greet me properly.

“Bonjour! You’ve broken your leg, and you’re still playing extreme sports, wheelchair sliding?”

That seemed to be an event in the Paralympics.

“Don’t mention it, I was tricked…”

And on the left side, holding the handle was Senior Li Jianlian. He looked a bit winded, his originally pale skin now slightly flushed.

“Thanks, Senior, you really saved my life this time.”

He waved dismissively, “It’s nothing to thank me for, it’s what should be done.”

Then he spat out blood.

“Whoa? Are you okay?” Not only me, but Bei Qiaojue was also startled.

Indeed, his health was poor. Considering his workaholic tendencies, it was no surprise he was overworked.

“It’s fine, don’t worry, I’m used to it.”

This is something that shouldn’t be normal.

Zhao finally ran down, his gaze flickering, seemingly too afraid to look at me.

“Sorry, Chairman, it was really an accident. I didn’t expect the brake lever to be broken.”

“Stop explaining! Pay up!”

I tried to swing my crutch at him, but he caught it effortlessly.

“You two, stop fooling around.” Li Jianlian checked his watch and reminded us, “We need to hurry or we’ll be late.”

Because of the near-miss incident, Zhao had become much more obedient, pushing me forward without arguing. Li Jianlian occasionally chatted with me, mentioning things like seeing my younger sister at the bookstore and Water World.

Zhao and Bei Qiaojue were stunned, with the latter reacting quickly and blinking, understanding the situation.

But Zhao was an idiot, expecting him to understand was like expecting a gorilla to be smart.

He dumbly asked, “What younger sister? Chairman, do you have a younger sister?”

“It’s Ling Meng Little Sister! Haven’t you seen her before?”

Only after Bei Qiaojue provided support did Zhao finally understand.

“You and your younger sister look alike. My brothers and sisters don’t look that similar.”

From this, it seemed his life was quite difficult. With seven siblings, his father sick, the family depended on his mother and older sister, and he violated school rules to work, not only to help the household but also to save for college tuition.

However, his mother seemed to want him to stop schooling.

Unfortunate indeed.

Undoubtedly, he was an unfortunate person, fitting perfectly as the September quota.

I looked at his mottled hair, pondering how to make him willingly become a girl.