revenge

Revenge

Li Ran was cornered in the restroom once again. Wang Qiang grabbed his collar and slammed him against the tiled wall. A chill crept up his spine. "Poor bastard, how much money did you bring today?" Harsh words were accompanied by the laughter of his cronies. Li Ran looked down at his washed-out school uniform and clenched the voice recorder in his pocket.

This kind of scene had been going on for three months. Ever since his father's business failed and the family's financial situation took a nosedive, Li Ran had become a "cash cow" in the eyes of Wang Qiang and the others. But this time was different. Before coming to school, he had backed up the content of the voice recorder and anonymously sent it to the principal and the local education bureau.

The next day, in the dean's office, Wang Qiang and the others turned pale in the face of the evidence from the voice recorder. Standing aside, Li Ran watched as they were scolded, and the long-suppressed anger in his heart was finally released. But it wasn't enough. He turned on his phone and played a video – it was footage he had recorded with a hidden camera, showing Wang Qiang and the others smoking and fighting outside the school.

The day Wang Qiang was expelled from school, Li Ran passed him in the corridor. "You're ruthless!" Wang Qiang said viciously. Li Ran stopped and replied calmly, "The truly ruthless ones are you. Don't let me see you again from today on."

After that, the campus returned to peace. Li Ran still wore simple clothes, but there was a firmness in his eyes. He knew that in the face of bullying, silence would only prolong the harm, and it was only by bravely counterattacking that he could truly protect himself.