Chapter 26

During the midday break, some of the classmates had gone to eat, while others had returned to their dormitories. Only Shen Yu, Bai Muyu, and a few others remained in the classroom.
Since Bai Muyu had never been friendly toward Shen Yu and only approached her to pick a fight, Shen Yu had developed a habit: whenever Bai Muyu came near, she would immediately switch to a state of combat readiness.
At that moment, the atmosphere in the classroom was tense, ready to ignite at any second.
"What video?"
The sudden, cool male voice startled the group of girls, and they all turned to look.
They discovered that the newcomer was the incredibly handsome man who had accompanied Shen Yu to class that morning!!
Shen Xiao stood with one hand in his pocket, a jacket draped over his wrist, and the other hand holding a half-smoked cigarette. He tilted his head slightly as he spoke, exuding a carefree, roguish aura.
When they all turned to look at him, Shen Xiao didn't even blink before pinching the cigarette in his palm to extinguish it. He then crumpled it into a ball and tossed it into the trash bin near the back door.
"What video?" he repeated with immense patience, his gaze sweeping over their faces before finally settling on Shen Yu.
Shen Yu’s face was pale, and she instinctively hid the phone Bai Muyu had handed to her behind her back, afraid that Shen Xiao might see it. She had assumed he would only come to pick her up after school in the afternoon, never expecting him to show up at noon, and at such an inconvenient time!
That night at the event, he had only seen her dancing in that dress, and the next day he had tried to confine her. If he found out now that the video of her dancing had been posted online, wouldn’t he lock her up for life?
As soon as this thought crossed her mind, she hurriedly hid the phone.
But Shen Xiao was not someone easily fooled. When he entered, he had overheard them discussing something about a phone. Now, seeing Shen Yu trying to cleverly hide it, he didn’t need to guess to know that the problem must lie with that phone!
So he dropped his casual demeanor, tossed his jacket onto a nearby table, and without waiting for their response, strode forward to snatch the phone. "Hand it over."
Shen Yu, still seated, had initially intended to hide the phone behind her back. Seeing his approach, she could only clutch it to her chest, putting up a futile struggle. "No!"
When Bai Muyu saw Shen Xiao, she was completely stunned. She only knew that her sister had some connection to this man, but she wasn’t clear on the specifics. That night in the auditorium, she had only caught a fleeting glimpse of him and hadn’t gotten a good look. That morning, when Shen Xiao entered the classroom, he had been standing at an angle to her, so she hadn’t seen him clearly either.
At this moment, Shen Xiao stood just a few steps away from her, allowing her to see his appearance clearly for the first time. Her heart couldn't help but flutter slightly, how could Shen Yu's brother be this handsome? The siblings looked nothing alike!
Watching him sternly demand Shen Yu hand over her phone, Bai Muyu chimed in with a playful, teasing tone, "That's my phone, why are you hiding it?"
Shen Yu: “…”
Shen Xiao glanced sideways at Bai Muyu, his gaze so icy it seemed to freeze her in place, making her forget what she was about to say next.
After shooting her a glare, Shen Xiao turned his attention back to Shen Yu. Under his cold, penetrating stare, Shen Yu finally gave up resisting and handed him the phone, murmuring softly, "I don’t know who uploaded it!"
Shen Xiao took the phone, tapped on the video, and as the strange drumbeat started, the girl on screen, wearing a cool, alluring dress, began swaying her hips and twisting her waist on stage. Long silk ribbons twirled and danced in her hands, making her look like a celestial being.
Pursing his lips and frowning deeply, he watched the video intently from start to finish, then scrolled down to the comments section.
A wave of restless energy washed over him.
"Ahhhh... Where did this fairy come from? I want her, I want her, I want her... Coordinates, please!!"
"Oh, that slender waist! I'm dead!!!"
"Help, I can't stop replaying this!"
"By my calculations as an old monk, this truly is a Feitian descending from Dunhuang."
"Ahhh, I want to go steal her away."
"Hey, upstairs, if you're going to steal her, take me with you!"
"Take me too..."
"Let's form a team and go!"
"Group mission to steal her, ahhhh..."
Shen Xiao took a sharp breath and viciously closed the video. Now, not only were his eyes shooting icicles, his entire body seemed on the verge of freezing solid!
"Who did this?" he asked, glancing sideways at the others.
Those caught in his gaze shrank back fearfully, shaking their heads repeatedly. "N-no idea."
Finally, Shen Xiao turned to Bai Muyu, raising the phone slightly. "This is your phone. Explain."
Bai Muyu felt the weight of his stare like a mountain pressing down on her, making it hard to even lift her head. For a moment, resentment surged within her, this man was her sister's escort, so why was he being so harsh? She’d definitely complain about him later!
In the end, she yielded to his overwhelming presence and replied, "I don’t know either. Someone else saw it and told me about it."
Shen Xiao narrowed his eyes thoughtfully and asked, "Is this video on other websites too?"
Bai Muyu answered, "It's on the school forum."
Shen Yu: “…”
Why didn’t she know about this?!!
So far, Shen Xiao’s expression had remained relatively calm, with no signs of immediate anger or one of his episodes.
Truthfully, Shen Yu wasn’t too worried about the video itself. What concerned her more was Shen Xiao’s reaction to it. She feared that even if he seemed fine now, he might suddenly turn hostile later. Once he had an episode, he became utterly unreliable, her foot injury still throbbed as a reminder!
After hearing Bai Muyu’s response, Shen Xiao nodded and began fiddling with the phone. "Alright, I’ll handle this. But there’s one more thing I need to ask."
His previously frozen expression softened considerably, replaced by a faint, ambiguous smile.
Seeing his sudden change in demeanor, Shen Yu inwardly panicked: Oh no, he’s about to have an episode!
Sure enough, the next moment, his deep, pleasant voice slowly spoke, "Before I came in, you all surrounded my sister, were you planning to bully her?"
Shen Yu: “…”
The others: "..."
Shen Xiao leaned back against a desk behind Shen Yu, one long leg propped on a chair and the other lightly touching the floor. He smiled at Bai Muyu and continued, "With the way you were just gathered around, you were clearly planning to gang up on her, right? That kind of childish game, I wouldn’t even bother playing it back in elementary school."
After saying this, Shen Xiao paused, creating an unspoken pressure, then gradually let his smile fade and said coldly, "There’s one thing you all need to understand clearly: my sister, only I can bully her, got it? From now on, if anyone dares to be harsh with her..."
At this point, he weighed Bai Muyu’s phone in his hand, suddenly raised it high, and fiercely smashed it to the ground...
Crack!
The latest model phone shattered instantly, the sound like a thunderclap that left everyone present trembling in fear.
Shen Xiao raised an eyebrow and smirked wickedly, "The outcome will be just like this phone, crack, shattered."
Shen Yu: “…”
The others: !!!
Whimper whimper... Mom, there’s a bad guy here!!!
Shen Xiao straightened up, picked up his jacket from the side, and tossed it to Shen Yu. "Let’s go, time to eat."
Shen Yu was still dazed by his words, not even daring to breathe loudly. When he threw the jacket at her, she immediately caught it without a word, then hugged her backpack tightly, sat up straight, and obediently waited for him to carry her.
Seeing her timid demeanor, Shen Xiao let out a disdainful snort but still bent down, effortlessly picked her up, and after standing steady, hoisted her a bit higher before turning around. He arrogantly stepped on the shattered phone screen and left.
He left behind a room of silence and several utterly terrified girls.
It wasn’t until Shen Yu was placed in the car that she found her voice again and asked him, "Brother, how did you know to come here?"
Shen Xiao got into the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car right away. Instead, he leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms, and stared at her without saying a word.
Shen Yu grew increasingly flustered under his gaze and gradually lowered her head.
Her cowardly reaction annoyed Shen Xiao once more. He reached out and slapped her head, not too hard, but the smack was loud and clear.
Shen Yu winced in pain, her face scrunching up as she rubbed her head and protested, "Why did you hit me?!"
Shen Xiao glared, "I hit you because I wanted to. Now tell me, before this, had they been bullying you all along??"
Shen Yu stopped rubbing her head, her eyes darting around as she stammered, "It's... it's all in the past."
Before she arrived, the original owner had indeed been bullied constantly. But after she took over, she learned to fight back and hadn’t suffered much.
She just couldn’t figure it out, there were so many inconspicuous classmates in the classroom, so why did Bai Muyu single her out to bully? Could it be that there was some unresolved conflict between Bai Muyu and the original owner before all this?
Shen Xiao’s brows furrowed so tightly they seemed knotted. He turned and pulled out his phone, dialing Secretary Du. "I’ll send you a video later. Have someone delete all the reposts online. Also, check the film academy’s forum, hack into it if you have to, and find out who uploaded this video and whether there’s malicious intent. Trying to sneak around and steal someone right under my nose? They’re asking for death!"
After firing off that long string of words without waiting to see if Secretary Du had fully grasped them, he hung up and tossed the phone to Shen Yu. "Find that video and send it to Du Hui," he said, then went to start the car.
Shen Yu obediently took his phone, quickly located the video, and sent it off. She didn’t dare to look at anything else on his phone and hurriedly handed it back to him.
Shen Xiao didn’t take it, instead driving straight out of the school.
Shen Yu sighed inwardly. Was her eccentric brother’s controlling nature a bit too much? He wouldn’t even allow others to see a video of her dancing. What would happen after she graduated and pursued a career in acting? Would he really forbid her from this line of work? But she loved dancing and acting. The thought of not being able to do either in the future filled her with despair!
Not long after they drove off, Shen Xiao’s phone, which Shen Yu was holding, lit up. She glanced at it and said, "Brother, Bai Muqing sent you a WeChat message."
Shen Xiao, steering the wheel, said, "Read it."
Shen Yu cleared her throat and said, "Xiao, are you free for dinner tomorrow?"
After reading it, she shuddered internally. Hadn’t Bai Muqing been calling him "President Shen" before? Now she was using his given name? And "Xiao" at that, how nauseating!
Shen Xiao didn’t ask her to reply, leaving the message unanswered.
After some thought, Shen Yu decided to come clean about one thing. "Brother, the person whose phone you smashed earlier, she’s Bai Muqing’s younger sister, Bai Muyu."
Upon hearing this, Shen Xiao’s brows unconsciously furrowed again.
At noon, the two went for Japanese cuisine, but since Shen Yu had an injury on her foot, Shen Xiao forbade her from eating many things.
Shen Yu felt that Shen Xiao was finding new ways to torment her!
While eating, Shen Yu unexpectedly received a WeChat message from Yuan Yue, asking if she was free to meet over the weekend. Yuan Yue said she had something very important to discuss.
Shen Yu frowned and replied, "Okay."