CH 10

Chapter 10: First Arc [9]

Jinke Duola Academy was a distinguished institution with a 200-year history, known for its aristocratic background. It was not the kind that a person could get into by just having money. Its founder strongly believed in the superiority of bloodlines and only accepted blue-blooded aristocrats as students.

However, as time passed and technology advanced, new industries emerged, created opportunities and new aristocrats emerged from various fields. Meanwhile, the old aristocrats were abandoned by the wheel of time and gradually became impoverished. Consequently, the school's income and operating funds dwindled.

To prevent bankruptcy, the management sought a new path and started to lower the admission standards by admitting ordinary wealthy children. Later, with the development of society, the government began to rate various schools. To avoid a low ranking, the school needed to increase its enrollment rate based on meritocracy (referring to admission to various universities through the college entrance examination, rather than through money), and started accepting students through special recruitment.

Nevertheless, class conflict arose due to the historical legacy of the school. Students with blue-blooded aristocratic backgrounds regarded themselves as the true owners of the school and labeled wealthy students as upstarts or mere guests, deeming them inferior and adopting a haughty attitude. Wealthy students, on the other hand, felt that the blue-blooded students were impoverished individuals with nothing to be proud of but their titles, and questioned whether they could even afford luxury cars or mansions.

In recent years, the rivalry between these two factions had escalated to the point where even specially recruited students became cannon fodders. Taking a side would result in being looked down upon by the other faction, while remaining neutral could lead to bullying from both sides. Thus, those who were unable to fight back against the upper class naturally used the specially recruited students as punching bags. As a result, the situation for specially recruited students in this school became extremely challenging.

The tennis court was bustling with activity. Jin Yao and Jin Yu's family were among the few old aristocratic families that had kept their wealth and status through the changing times. They held a dominant position in the school and were well-liked by both factions. In other words, no one would dare to challenge them.

Jin Yao had a habit of exercising during his lunch break, either on the tennis court or at the horse racing track. Consequently, many students would gather here at noon.

Ming Shu approached with a bold attitude but was immediately intimidated by the luxurious tennis court, which appeared capable of hosting world-class tennis matches. The surrounding audience seats were filled with students, and the slender waist cheerleaders resembled star-chasing girls, swooning over the players on the court. If she dared to rush up, she would immediately be surrounded.

She steadied herself and pulled out a jade pendant from around her neck, determined to make the most of her opportunity. Her team had come up with a script for a Cinderella campus idol drama for her, naturally finding a point of entry that could make this script work.

From the character information card of these twin brothers, it could be seen that they were kidnapped when they were young and later rescued by a family of three who were hiking in the mountains. The family's daughter who happened to pick up the jade pendant that Jin Yao had dropped, had been wearing it around her neck since she was young but forgot to return it.

The team spent money to buy the jade pendant from the program group, giving Ming Shu a way not to be killed by these twin brothers. For the sake of their saviors, even if these twin brothers were cruel, they would not harm her. And it can also give her a lot of room to perform.

With the jade pendant in her hand, Ming Shu gained some courage. She gambled that if she succeeded, she would gain fame and fans, but if she failed, she would lose everything.

Jin Yao's impressive tennis skills were on full display as he played on the court. The smooth and explosive lines of his arm muscles were exposed to the audience, and his muscles instantly tightened as he swung his racket, sweating profusely. However, his style of play reflected his unrestrained and rough personality, with his opponents only able to hold their racket with both hands to avoid being hit by the wild python-like onslaught of his balls.

It was estimated that getting hit by one of his balls would result in a fracture, but in most cases, the ball boys who picked up the balls on the court were in more dangerous situations than his opponents.

Due to Jin Yao's OCD, he couldn't stand having a ball on the ground in the way, so ball boys had to be there to pick up the balls during the game. This job was usually done by specially enrolled students, and two ball boys stand in the corners behind the two players, waiting to pick up the ball at any time.

"Clang!" The opponent's racket was hit away, and it happened to fly to the ball boy who was going to pick up the ball on his side, hitting his nose and causing him to bleed and fall to the ground.

"Bang!" The opponent failed to return Jin Yao's ball, and the ball hit the ball boy who couldn't dodge it.

Jin Yao didn't seem to care about the injured ball boys and continued playing, causing the audience in the live broadcast room to become outraged. It was at this moment that Ming Shu rushed out, shouting delicately to get Jin Yao's attention.

"Stop!" A delicate shout was heard.

All eyes turned to that direction as if suddenly under a spotlight.

Ming Shu burst onto the scene like a courageous Cinderella schoolgirl protagonist, rushing to the aid of the injured male student and glaring righteously at Jin Yao.

"How dare you mistreat others for your own selfish desires? Are their lives not worth anything? They also have parents. If their parents saw them like this, how heartbroken would they be?!" Ming Shu's eyes were ablaze with fiery passion, her voice was sonorous and powerful. She tried hard to hold her neck high with determination.

The students were stunned. The tennis court fell silent, everyone looking at Ming Shu with disbelieving, bewildered eyes. What happened to this woman who appeared suddenly? Has she gone mad?

【Ah ah ah! As expected of my idol, she's so great!】

【Thumbs up! Ming Shu has a strong sense of justice. That Jin Yao guy is really unpleasant. He treats people like they're nothing. If it wasn't for his good family background, this bastard would have been beaten to a pulp long ago.】

【Emmmm... why didn't she go to the toilet to save that girl?】

【Maybe she was criticized by someone in the student council and is taking her anger out on Jin Yao.】

【It seems a bit dangerous and scary.】

Unbeknownst to the live viewers, Ming Shu's body tensed as she watched Jin Yao approach her, feeling scared and anxious. Her mind raced as she thought about her jade pendant, hoping it would protect her. Jin Yao looked down on her, then turned to the male student who was injured and cowering behind Ming Shu.

"You special admissions students are going to rebel, huh?" Jin Yao sneered.

"No... I don't know her! Jin Yao, this has nothing to do with me, I've never seen her before!" The male student quickly denied.

Jin Yao continued to mock him, "Do you still think I'm not paying you enough?" Jin Yao sneered. As a ball boy, he did receive a salary. After all, it was dangerous work, so he had to pay some medical expenses, right?

"You're insulting people with money! Can every injury be healed? In the end, your job itself is unreasonable. How can you make people pick up balls on the court during the game? Is it worth it to pay a salary? Only special admissions students in this school are willing to do this job because among them nobody dares to refuse. It's heartless and outrageous that you can continue playing without even caring about the injured person. What's so great about you?" Ming Shu's voice trembled with fear under the intense pressure from Jin Yao, but she recited the script given to her by the team as best she could.

"Classmate, please don't say anything," pleaded the male student despairingly. The job of retrieving balls during games was usually not this risky, but today the sun was too bright and he forgot to wear sunglasses making it difficult for him to see the ball and avoid getting hit.

Jin Yao's smile sent a chill down everyone's spine. "Ah, it seems like the special admissions students are finally ready to rebel. A tough one has arrived, very good. Here are two options for you. First, catch my ball and I won't care about your rudeness this time. Second, kneel down and kowtow to me to admit your mistake."

Ahhhhhhhhh, things aren't going according to the script, spicy chicken team! The useless spicy chicken boss has nothing but money! Ming Shu panicked inwardly and her inner demons had already knelt down and begged for mercy, but in reality, she couldn't possibly kneel down and beg for mercy in front of so many viewers in the live broadcast.

Desperately, she nodded stiffly and forced a smile before touching the jade pendant around her neck. Quick, look at the jade pendant!

Jin Yao's gaze instinctively darted to the pendant, but his pupils contracted, his face darkened, and his expression turned dangerous.

It turned out to be her. Back then, he and his brother were kidnapped, and a family of three accidentally stumbled upon them and saved them. Later, they took advantage of the situation and made unreasonable demands on his family, with a greedy attitude that was not much different from the kidnappers. After returning to the Jin family, he realized that the jade pendant was missing. He sent people to look for it but couldn't find it. When he asked the family of three, they denied seeing it. In the end, he couldn't find it and had to let it go.

What a greedy thief! Other things don't matter, but this act of stealing the jade pendant was unforgivable!

Unfortunately, the character cards provided by the program team were not detailed enough to include every event. The brief mention of the kidnapping simply stated that "the twin brothers were kidnapped in their youth and saved by a family of three who were hiking in the mountains. Jin Yao lost the family heirloom jade pendant gifted to him by his grandmother in this incident."

Ming Shu's heart skipped a beat, and she felt a chill run down her spine. The feeling of fear made her face turn pale and her body cold. She mechanically took her tennis racket and walked to her position, her mind racing with fear and uncertainty.

......

When Song Juyao rushed to the tennis court, she met with an eerie silence. Despite the large crowd, there was no sound except for the "pop" of the tennis ball hitting the ground hard.

Song Juyao hurried over and pushed aside the cheerleaders blocking her view. Song Juyao saw Ming Shu in the center of the court, covered in bruises and wounds. Her legs, exposed outside her school skirt, were covered in countless overlapping wounds, as if the ball had scraped forcefully over her skin. Her face was swollen and battered. Struggling to get up from the ground, she was bleeding from her mouth, with her gums presumably severely injured. she had blood and tears streaming down her face, making her look utterly miserable.

"Still not begging for mercy?" Jin Yao squinted his eyes and extended his hand to the side. His hand was strong and slender, possessing a certain boyfriend-like charm as it could be wrapped easily around the girl's hand. Yet, in his grasp was a tennis ball that had been swiftly and respectfully delivered by the ball boy.

Ming Shu's tears continued to flow as she struggled with a dilemma. She desperately wanted to kneel and plead for mercy, but doing so would mean the end of her idol career. Even if it meant risking her life, she couldn't bring herself to beg….

Jin Yao's sneer deepened as he threw the tennis ball into the air and swung his racket with all his might towards Ming Shu. Since her bones were so hard, he intended to just break them directly.

Ming Shu was completely unable to move. She lifted her hand to protect herself and closed her eyes in despair. The viewers watching the live stream couldn't bear to witness the brutal scene, and the system automatically mosaicked the screens of underage viewers with intellectual brains.

"Bang!"

In midair, the yellow tennis ball collided with the basket, causing half of the balls in the basket to scatter in all directions.

Ming Shu opened her tear-filled eyes and saw the overturned basket nearby and the tennis balls flying like petals.

As if sensing something, she turned her head towards the direction of the basket. In the glaring sunlight, the girl retracted her foot, standing firm with a cool demeanor.

Ming Shu was taken aback, tears streaming down her face, her heart racing.

【Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!】

【Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah I'm going crazy!】

【F**k, f**k, f**k!!! So handsome!!!】

【Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!】

【Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah, Song Juyao is killing me!!】

Screen of the live broadcast room was filled with frenzied screams.

When two real people in the virtual world get close enough in the virtual world, their respective live broadcast rooms merge into one, allowing them to share each other's audience and expanding the live broadcast angle wider.

Just moments ago, all the viewers in the live broadcast room witnessed Song Juyao's quick and decisive reaction as she delivered a powerful spinning kick to the nearby tennis ball basket, knocking away the deadly tennis ball.

In the bright sunlight, Song Juyao looked effortlessly cool and handsome.

For a moment, the scene fell into a stunned silence before everyone in the stadium finally reacted. All eyes turned towards the stadium entrance where Song Juyao had appeared, causing a sudden stir of whispers among the audience.

"That's Song Juyao!"

"Is she going to meddle in our school's affairs?"

"She's merely a guest residing in our school. What right does she have to meddle in our school's affairs?"

"If Jin Yao strikes her, what will happen?"

"She's done for. Even though she's a member of the Olympiad Award team, she can't defeat a capital giant like Jin's family."

"......"