Return of the Antagonistic Lady Boss

Chapter 601: Chapter 575: Unsheathing the Blade and Self-Esteem

Zhiming, the son of the agritainment owner, was pinned to the ground by several young men. The snake basket he always carried around was overturned, and when Yu Minglang approached, he intervened to stop the violence.

”Stop!”

Zhiming curled up on the ground, holding his head, while Qian ran over and squatted down to ask him.

”Are you okay?”

Zhiming didn’t answer, just held his head, his shoulders trembling.

”Who are you?” The young men gave Yu Minglang sidelong glances. Judging by their attire, they seemed to be staff from other agritainment places in the area. One of them was wearing a white apron covered in oil stains.

”Who I am doesn’t matter. What matters is we’re all from the same village. We should talk things out instead of resorting to violence.”

Yu Minglang’s words didn’t stop their violent actions. The leader sneered and pointed at the twitching Zhiming on the ground, mocking him.

”Stay away from this lunatic. His grandfather was a lunatic, and so is he! Going to high school made him so arrogant he doesn’t even greet anyone in the village when he comes back. Puh!”

The leader tried to kick Zhiming again, but Yu Minglang blocked him.

”Buddy, I suggest you don’t use violence in front of me. I can’t stand it.”

The leader’s hand was held by Yu Minglang, which made him lose face in front of so many people. Being used to ruling here as a local bully, it was the first time someone dared to publicly disregard him. So, when Yu Minglang intervened, the bully’s first reaction was—

”We’ve been tricked!”

After he shouted this, they all rushed towards Yu Minglang.

But as quickly as they charged at him, they were sent flying. In almost the blink of an eye, Yu Minglang swept two to the ground with his leg.

The remaining two were also knocked down by his fists and legs.

”Violence is a blind beast, so to deal with mindless, impulsive beasts like you, I have only one weapon, and that is fighting fire with fire!”

Yu Minglang clapped his hands, and disdainfully addressed the fallen village bully.

”Get lost!”

Back when Lang was a teenager, these guys were still little brats. Trying to bully him, getting beat up was already lenient!

The group fled in disorder.

Qian squatted on the ground, patting the trembling Zhiming.

”It’s okay now, they’ve all left. No one will hurt you anymore.”

Seeing Zhiming was a grown young man, Qian wondered how he could still be bullied. She always thought such behavior only happened to kids her brother’s age.

”They hit me and bullied me. It’s always been like this...” Zhiming said, his face buried in the ground, crying.

”It’s okay now, they’ve left, and no one will come to bully you again.” Qian patiently comforted him, sensing with her professional instinct that this young man was really scared.

This fear might not be new; those guys seemed experienced in bullying Zhiming.

”They laughed at me for not passing the exam, they laughed at my name, they even couldn’t tolerate Cui’er... Cui’er!” Zhiming suddenly lifted his head, frantically searching his basket.

The little green snake inside was already near death, its body unnaturally bent, its head drooping. Zhiming shook with his pet in his hands, but the little snake would no longer coil around his hand as it used to.

Yu Minglang saw right away that this snake couldn’t survive.

Its spine was broken. When this happens to a snake, it’s only a matter of waiting for death.

Everywhere, the strong prey on the weak. Bullying happens not only in villages but also in cities. However, in this relatively rustic place, such behavior is more direct.

”Cui’er!” Zhiming cried out loud, and Qian frowned upon seeing this.

”Those people were too much!”

Yu Minglang nodded, ”Actually, they’re just teenagers. Their parents neglect to guide them, so even as adults, they act foolishly. Foolish people exhibit shameless violence, and this vicious cycle breeds bullies in villages or riff-raffs in cities, all scum of society.”

Though Yu Minglang had great physical strength, he never misused it. His abilities were always used to protect the people he wanted to protect, not to bully those weaker than him.

”If my brother were here, he wouldn’t let them bully me like this... I can’t do anything right.” Zhiming held the dying little green snake, tears still on his face, his eyes full of hatred as he looked towards the direction the bullies left.

”Come on, let’s go back. You have some injuries that need dressing.” Qian said to Zhiming.

But Zhiming just stared in the direction those people left, muttering, ”If Zhihu were here, I definitely wouldn’t have been beaten. My brother would protect me, my brother...”

He scratched a clear mark on the ground, his eyes turning red, looking utterly not right.

Qian sensed something was not right and wanted to further offer him psychological guidance. But Zhiming, clutching the dead snake, suddenly dashed off in the opposite direction, so fast even Yu Minglang was astounded, like a wild beast.

”This kid won’t be in trouble, will he?” Qian asked.

”I’ll go and check.” Yu Minglang was also worried, noticing Zhiming’s reaction was quite abnormal.

Just as Yu Minglang was about to give chase, the old man from the agritainment house approached.

”Sir, Zhiming from your house got into a fight and ran off in that direction. I was just about to have my fiancé follow.” Qian pointed in Zhiming’s direction.

”Ah, I’ll go find him. You guys should head back; you’re not familiar with these mountain paths.” The old man frowned but didn’t seem surprised, as if he was already used to his son being bullied.

”Are you sure you don’t need my help?” Yu Minglang asked.

The old man shook his head, a touch of defensiveness in his eyes as he looked at Yu Minglang, saying rather rudely.

”This is our family’s business; you outsiders shouldn’t meddle!”

An old man who was usually friendly suddenly spoke so rudely, and Qian and Yu Minglang exchanged glances, deciding to give up. When the person’s father is so insistent, persisting in helping might only cause more trouble.

On the way back, Yu Minglang asked Qian.

”From a psychological perspective, how do you interpret the old man’s excessive reaction just now?”

”High self-esteem personality and low self-esteem personality.”

”What do you mean?”

”If you graph self-esteem as a line, then a normal person’s self-esteem should be in the middle. Low self-esteem is below normal, and high self-esteem is above. Both extremes are abnormal mental states. People with high self-esteem are fragile and can’t easily have their boundaries touched, or rather, they are self-conscious. Many people around us are like this; say one thing and they immediately have a small heart, their self-esteem is very strong. How many times have we heard the old man criticize Zhiming while we were here for just one day? Almost every time he emphasized that Zhiming is not as good as his brother.”