Chapter 199: My Name is Xiao Ran

My name is Xiao Ran.

I lied.

How could I possibly wait with a kid for their parents? Am I really that stupid?

But so what?

I ask you, so what if I lied?

It’s really interesting—is there anyone in this world who hasn't lied?

Facing a group of menacing strangers, anyone who bares their soul to them would be the weird one.

I'm not stupid; I know exactly what to do.

In my third year of junior high, my group of girlfriends and I were in the bathroom "greeting" a new girl from out of town. We'd already stripped her clothes off and were about to burn her arm with a cigarette butt when she suddenly lunged at me and knocked me down.

I'd never been so shocked in my life.

A girl from out of town—what gave her the right to touch me?

Seeing how fiercely she was beating me, not a single one of my girlfriends dared to step in and stop her. My heart turned ice-cold right then.

That "greeting" ended on a sour note.

The next few days, things took a strange turn.

I noticed the out-of-town girl wasn't isolated; gradually, a lot of my girlfriends started making friends with her, and no one paid attention to me anymore.

What the hell was that about?

What about our sisterly bonds?

After thinking about it all night, I finally understood the truth.

Whoever is tougher gets the friends.

But how could I become tougher?

The next day, I got on Qu Ge's motorcycle.

Qu Ge was the big shot hanging around our school gate.

He spent his days with a bunch of followers loitering outside our school, parking their motorcycles and standing around smoking. His bulky build and shiny bald head with all its folds made him stand out in any crowd.

I remember they often stopped passing students and demanded money.

In the whole school, no teacher or student dared to mess with him.

Wasn't he the perfect target for me?

When I climbed onto Qu Ge's motorcycle, I saw all the students at the school gate staring at me.

They were envious.

I could hang out with people from the streets, but they couldn't.

I was so smart—I figured that out right away.

That night, we had a blast. Qu Ge rounded up a bunch of his brothers, and we drank a lot. I didn't have to pay a cent—it seemed like Qu Ge really treated me like a sister.

Qu Ge asked me to sleep with him, and I agreed without a second thought.

The experience was unpleasant; I don't want to think about it again.

The next day, Qu Ge and his brothers helped me get my revenge big time.

That out-of-town girl, and those so-called girlfriends of mine, all ended up calling me "big sister" under the barrage of iron rods and fists.

Qu Ge had said sleeping with him would be comfortable, but this felt a million times better.

Seeing that Qu Ge and his guys weren't satisfied even after the beating, I understood what they meant.

I stepped forward, ripped off those bitches' school uniforms, and let everyone take photos. Then, I carefully selected a few and posted them on the school forum.

Now you're all big stars. That's what you get for messing with me, Xiao Ran.

From that day on, I was the "queen" of the school. No one dared to cross me, and no one dared to disobey me.

That's exactly the feeling I wanted.

Too bad good times never last.

When I saw my middle school exam score of 182, I knew my junior high days were over.

That day, I went home, and the old man and old woman, who usually argued all the time, were both sitting there looking miserable.

I didn't get it—it was just an exam, right?

182 was already pretty good. What more did they want?

I'd gotten worse scores before, and I didn't worry about it. Why were they?

"Xiao Ran... what are you going to do with your life?"

The old woman said to me, crying.

"So what if I can't get into high school?" I snapped back. "I don't want to go to school anyway. I'm planning to go into business with Qu Ge."

The old man slammed his hand on the table when he heard that.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he snarled at me. "I told you not to hang around that Qu Qiang. Is he any good? You're only fifteen! He can't even take care of himself—how's he going to help you with business?"

"Mind your own business!" I shot back, glaring at him. "Qu Ge is way better than you two. All you do is fight at home—what's the point of you?"

"You... you...!" The old man pointed at me, shaking all over.

I didn't bother with him anymore and stormed out, slamming the door.

From then on, I wasn't planning to go home. I was going to live with Qu Ge.

That summer, I was with Qu Ge every day. I ate his food, used his things, spent his money, and he didn't complain—as long as I slept with him.

Wasn't that great?

I didn't have to give anything, and I got so much in return.

I thought that tiny ten-square-meter rental room would be my whole life from then on.

But I was wrong again.

During my third abortion, Qu Ge got arrested.

He was sentenced to six years for intentional injury and robbery.

I stayed in the rental room for another half month until the landlord came for the rent, and that's when I realized I didn't have a penny.

My happy life was over.

I couldn't live on the streets, so I had no choice but to go back home.

The old woman didn't blame me; she just looked at me and cried.

She said they had borrowed a lot of money and pulled strings to get me into a vocational high school in town.

She said from now on, I had to fend for myself.

She said I needed to learn a skill so I wouldn't starve in the future.

She went on and on, and it was driving me crazy.

Didn't I make it clear? I don't want to go to school anymore!

What's the point of school?

But I really had nowhere else to go.

Qu Ge's followers had all scattered, and I couldn't contact any of them. I had no money, no place to stay, and no one to protect me.

On the first day of school, I went anyway.

Because the old woman said she'd only give me money if I went.

My major was early childhood education.

Those three years were pure hell for me.

After starting vocational high school, everyone seemed different. They weren't competing over who had more influence or knew more street people; they were just comparing whose phone was more expensive or whose makeup was better.

But I had none of that. My crappy phone had been around for four years.

"What's your name?" the girl sitting next to me asked.

"Xiao Ran."

"I'm Chen Ting," the girl said with a smile. "Do you like kids?"

"Like... kids?"

What a weird question. How could I possibly like kids?

I'd had three abortions; I hated kids more than anything.

"Sure," I said, forcing a smile and nodding.

"Kids are just so cute," she went on. "I've wanted to be a kindergarten teacher since I was little. I think it's perfect for me."

Chen Ting looked really happy, but I found her disgusting.

What was she pretending to be so nice for?

Soon, she pulled out her phone and started showing me pictures of her little brother, going on about how adorable he was. That's when I realized her real motive.

She was just showing off her phone.

I was so smart—I always saw right through things.

I played along for a bit, and when break time came, I waited until Chen Ting went to the bathroom, then I knocked her phone out of the desk hole onto the ground and pretended to be asleep.

Sure enough, expensive phones are fragile. When Chen Ting saw the screen shattered, she was heartbroken.

I comforted her while hiding my smile.

Serves you right—who asked you to show off in front of me?