When I woke up, it was already bright outside.
I stared out of the window for a while, and when I came to my senses, I realized I couldn't remember what I had dreamed about, only that I had indeed dreamt something.
I shook my head, got up, and stepped out of bed.
The moment the blanket was lifted, I shivered several times— it was so cold!
Shivering, I quickly put on my clothes and walked out of the room.
From the corridor balcony, I looked down.
In front of this teaching building was a large artificial green lawn.
A quick glance at it filled me with a sense of peace as the vast greenery instantly lifted my spirits.
At this moment, Zheng Rongrong was happily running around on the lawn, shaking her head.
Yangyang was following quickly behind her, looking displeased and saying something to her.
But clearly, Rongrong, who was running joyfully, wasn't paying any attention.
After running to the restroom and shaking from the cold water as I brushed my teeth and washed my face, I rubbed my face and ran downstairs.
The middle classroom on the first floor had been converted into a simple dining hall.
The main reason was that the school's original cafeteria was quite a distance away from the teaching building.
Also, the kitchen and backroom had been left in chaos after several students had lived there for months, making it impossible to clean up.
However, some of the unopened condiments from there had been used by us.
Looking at the lively dining hall, Shen Xue and the other older sisters were busily preparing breakfast, while the others sat nearby chatting and waiting for their meal.
It felt just like a big family, and the atmosphere was so warm.
I scanned the room, but didn't see Suo Tian's figure, and Mei Jing was also absent.
I left the cafeteria.
From a distance, I saw a group of students sitting together on the other side of the lawn.
In the past couple of days, because I had been busy with moving in, I hadn't spoken to or interacted with them.
As I walked over, I could hear their laughter from a distance.
Noticing my approach, they stopped talking and turned their heads to look at me.
"Hey~ what are you all talking about?" I smiled and greeted them.
"We were talking about..." One of the girls with a baby face began to speak, but was nudged by a more delicate-looking girl next to her.
The baby-faced girl glanced at her, probably receiving some hint, and stopped talking.
There were seven students in total, four boys and three girls.
The girl with the baby face was named Jiang Huanhuan, the delicate-looking girl was named Chen Luoluo, and the girl with a short haircut was named Zhao Qiuting.
As for the four boys, according to them, they were all sworn brothers, so they called each other Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, and Fourth Brother.
When I first heard this, I couldn't help but laugh.
But their situation was quite common in school—good friends, whether sisters or brothers, with so much enthusiasm that they didn't know how to express it, so they simply swore brotherhood and called each other brothers.
The friendship they shared at this point was very pure.
I sat down beside them and asked, "So, how's it been living with those aunties?"
"It's great! Compared to the months we spent hiding in the cafeteria, now it feels like we're living in heaven," the big brother of the group said nonchalantly, shrugging his shoulders.
But seeing the sudden change in the others' expressions, I knew that the few months they had spent there must have been really hard.
"Alright, alright, those days are behind us now. From now on, you'll be living with us, and we'll protect you," I comforted them.
"You're Chen Yang, right?" Jiang Huanhuan asked.
I was a little surprised that she knew me. "Oh, how do you know?"
"Hehe, Aunt Sun introduced you to us in private. She said you're very capable," Jiang Huanhuan wrinkled her nose and said.
"Oh~ that's how it is." After Mei Jing, this was the second time I had heard someone say that I was very capable.
Does this mean I'm really a 'tomboy'?
The others looked at me with curious expressions, as if they all had something they wanted to ask.
"Do you all have something you want to ask me?" I asked.
They all froze for a moment, and after a glance at each other, Chen Luoluo cleared her throat and said, "Sis Chen Yang, don't take this the wrong way, but we were just discussing some gossip about you, and after studying it for a while, we couldn't come to any conclusions... so we wanted to ask you..."
"My gossip?" I became interested.
Gossip has always been a favorite pastime of humans, especially women, who are especially sensitive and interested in it.
This was a trait that was quite evident in myself as well.
I used to love reading celebrity gossip online.
Now, learning that I'm the center of the gossip, it was only natural for me to be curious.
"Chen Yang, we were wondering... are you really Shen Feng's girlfriend?"
"What?" I was stunned.
Me and Shen Feng? What's going on here?
Everyone stared at me, eagerly waiting for me to reveal the answer.
It's one thing for the girls to be into gossip, but why are the boys so curious too?
Clearing my throat, I asked, "Why not guess if I might be Suo Tian's girlfriend?"
"Handsome Suo? Isn't he with Sister Song?" Chen Luoluo asked.
"Wait... did you just say Handsome Suo?" I felt a bit overwhelmed.
Jiang Huanhuan quickly explained, "That's the nickname we gave Brother Suo Tian. He's really handsome."
I burst into laughter.
These kids had completely amused me.
In their eyes, the world was basically a drama series.
My eyes accidentally glanced at Zhao Qiuting, who had been sitting next to me and not saying anything.
She had her head lowered, and our conversation seemed to not interest her at all.
Her bangs and the hair on both sides of her face almost completely covered her entire face.
"Zhao Qiuting?" I put away my smile and called her softly.
She still didn't respond, keeping her head lowered.
I looked suspiciously at the others and noticed that Chen Luoluo waved her hand at me, motioning with her fingers and mouthing, "She's scared silly."
So the student they were talking about who had been scared silly was her?
I looked at Zhao Qiuting again, and on the surface, she didn't seem to have anything unusual.
Just as I was about to call her again, Zhao Qiuting suddenly lifted her head, revealing a pale little face with large eyes. She was quite pretty.
"Qiuting, what's wrong?" Chen Luoluo, who had been sitting next to her, spoke, but her body instinctively shifted a bit to the side.
Zhao Qiuting didn't answer her.
Instead, she stared at the ceiling for a few seconds, then suddenly turned her head to look at me.
Her big eyes were glaring at me, and I felt uneasy under her gaze.
"Ah!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Zhao Qiuting suddenly opened her mouth and screamed, her wide eyes and gaping mouth making her face look especially terrifying.
Before I could react, she suddenly jumped up and knocked me to the ground.
My mind went blank instantly, the situation was too sudden.
I could only instinctively extend my arm to block her.
But the next second, a sharp pain shot through my arm, snapping me back to reality.
Zhao Qiuting had actually bitten down hard on the arm I used to block her.
The intense pain made me grunt involuntarily, unable to say a word, and I could only instinctively use my other hand to push her head away.
But she was incredibly strong, and I couldn't push her off at all.
Jiang Huanhuan screamed and hurried over with the others to try and pull Zhao Qiuting away, but Zhao Qiuting seemed to have lost her mind, staring at me with wide eyes, refusing to let go.
The spot on my arm where she was biting started dripping blood, and the pain made me gasp for air.
The boys, seeing they couldn't pull her away, decided to just grab her and pry her mouth open.
Though Zhao Qiuting had lost her sanity, she was still just a fragile girl, and with the combined strength of several boys, she eventually released her bite.
When I pulled my arm back, my entire arm felt numb.
The spot she had bitten on my forearm was still bleeding heavily, staining the whole area with blood.
"Quick, go get help!" I gasped, shouting to Jiang Huanhuan, who was standing nearby.
"Okay, okay…" Jiang Huanhuan, stunned by the shock, finally snapped out of it and ran towards the temporary cafeteria.
I don't know if it was because they failed to hold her down or what, but Zhao Qiuting, who had entered a crazed state, managed to break free.
She kept screaming, her movements exaggerated.
As soon as she regained her freedom, she lunged at me again.
I was furious at that moment!
This damn kid! She has no shame! She always picks on me, a soft target!
Unfortunately, my arm was still temporarily useless, and I didn't have the ability to fight back.
I was once again knocked to the ground by her.
This time, I fell flat on my back, instantly dizzy and with sharp pain shooting through the back of my head.
Fortunately, just before she could bite me again, those few guys managed to pull her off.
It seemed like she lost interest in me when she couldn't hurt me anymore.
Zhao Qiuting suddenly switched targets and lunged at one of the guys.
Caught off guard, he was pinned to the ground by her.
Before we could rush over to separate the now-insane Zhao Qiuting, we heard that guy let out a horrified scream, as though he was in extreme agony.
The next second, I saw a large pool of blood quickly spreading around his neck, and his screams continued.
No matter how we pulled or tried to pry her off, Zhao Qiuting wouldn't let go.
The people in the dining hall rushed over upon hearing the commotion and were shocked when they saw the scene.
Several middle-aged men came forward and managed to pull Zhao Qiuting away.
But just as they pulled her off the guy, I saw that she was holding a large chunk of flesh in her mouth.
I quickly turned to look at the guy lying on the ground, and saw that his head was tilted, revealing a large piece of flesh missing from his bloody neck.
A huge pool of blood had already formed around him, and his screams had long since stopped.
Only now and then did a large gush of bright red blood pour from his mouth.
It felt like I had been struck by lightning, standing frozen in place, unsure of what to say or do.
It was obvious—the guy on the ground was definitely going to die today.
Sure enough, the emergency responders who arrived later checked the guy and shook their heads, indicating there was nothing they could do.
The situation had unfolded so suddenly.
My brain didn't even have time to react.
Zhao Qiuting was locked in an empty classroom, where she had returned to her previous obedient self, her head hanging down, not looking up, not speaking.
However, her mouth was covered in blood, a grim reminder that she had just killed someone with her own hands.
The boy who was bitten to death was the youngest of the sworn brothers, born in late 1997, right in the prime of his youth.
To avoid affecting the other living people, we buried his body in the greenbelt in front of the school gate.
Jiang Huanhuan, Chen Luoluo, and the others cried until they were dry-eyed.
They had relied on each other for so long, hiding and running from everything, only for one of their own friends to kill him with her own hands.