Wen Tingxue wanted to die.
But under Yu Wenli's lukewarm gaze, she didn't dare to remain silent.
After a long, awkward pause, she mumbled out a number, "Three... three times?"
"Three times?"
A cold, clear voice, tinged with mockery, asked, "Are you sure?"
The young girl's lips trembled in a pout, "Don't be so fierce..."
He was truly frightening.
He had scared away her good mood.
"Fine."
Yu Wenli chuckled, suppressing his anger, the curve of his lips dangerous.
"We'll settle this properly in the study."
He reached out to pull her away. The young girl, desperate to avoid returning today, saw Xie Jinni emerging from an office and clung to her like a lifesaver.
"Jinni!"
Xie Jinni looked over. In the dim light, their posture appeared somewhat intimate.
Yu Wenli stopped, one hand resting on the young girl's shoulder, his expression lazily lifting his eyelids.
He was usually cool and indifferent, rarely displaying this relaxed, rebellious, chic aura.
Xie Jinni blinked for a moment before approaching, "What are you two doing?"
Yu Wenli said indifferently, "Settling accounts."
The young girl's face instantly flushed. She quickly changed the subject, "What did Teacher Wen keep you for?"
After dealing with the situation, Wen Di had kept Xie Jinni behind for a private talk.
Xie Jinni's eyes dimmed slightly as she said, "He asked if I wanted to call my parents. I said, no need."
Although she had been bullied, her situation was different from Wen's.
If Wen's parents learned their daughter had been bullied, they would only back her up and seek retribution.
If her parents learned she had been bullied, they would only criticize her for being useless and embarrassing them.
In her parents' eyes, she had to be perfect, to be first in everything, otherwise, she was a failure.
Her parents had lectured her countless times about her last exam failure.
She didn't want to go through that again.
"I'm fine."
Before Wen Tingxue could offer comfort, Xie Jinni smiled and cut her off.
"Anyway, it's all over. It doesn't matter if they know or not, especially at a time like this..."
Wen Tingxue immediately fell silent.
Yu Wenli had no intention of helping Xie Jinni resolve her inner turmoil; he was still seething himself.
So, after their chat, he directly hauled the little girl away.
No matter how much the young girl protested, he wouldn't let go.
Xie Jinni watched their departing figures, her lips pursed with a hint of envy.
...
Yu Residence, the study on the third floor.
Seeing the red sandalwood ruler again, the young girl's heart was a tangle of emotions.
She finally understood when he meant by "settling the overall account." It was now...
"Mmm..."
Overwhelmed by fear, the young girl couldn't help but whimper.
Her pitiful state, however, did not earn her even a shred of sympathy.
Instead, she was met with a cold sneer, "Still haven't figured it out?"
Yu Wenli sat in his swivel chair with his legs crossed, his posture elegant and noble, exuding an intangible aura of unattainability.
The young girl stood before him, biting her lip timidly, and stammered, "I... I don't remember..."
Who would remember such things?
Lying wasn't a good thing...
"You really don't remember?"
Yu Wenli lifted his eyelids to look at her, his icy gaze filled with pressure.
When he spoke kindly, he was almost approachable, but when he put on airs, it was truly terrifying.
Wen Tingxue vowed never to provoke him again. He wasn't like a brother at all; he was clearly an ancestor.
No wonder the top scholar of the third year called him Ancestor.
The young girl was on the verge of tears, nodding with a trembling voice, "I really don't remember..."
"Fine."
The red sandalwood ruler lightly tapped the desk, making the young girl flinch.
Then she heard him say, "Then big brother will calculate it for you. In the classroom, the second floor of the cafeteria, on the way home from school, at home, the school corridor, outside the arcade, the infirmary. A total of... seven times."
The deliberately emphasized number hung in the air like a knife, its fall imminent.
The young girl fearfully clutched the hem of her clothes, but still managed to look up at him, her eyes full of astonishment.
Even she couldn't remember, yet he recalled it so clearly. Then...
Before she could ponder further, the red sandalwood ruler lifted her chin, forcing her to look up.
The young man's voice, tinged with a cool playfulness, rained down on her.
"Little sister Yiyi, how should a liar be punished?"
This... this was too much!
He's going to punish her, and he wants *her* to say how?!
It was like killing someone without even a nod of the head!
He was truly skilled at torturing the heart!
The young girl glared at him, her face flushed red.
"Hmm?"
A light hum fell, and the young girl, admitting fault, lowered her eyes, dejected, "Hit... hit my hands."
Saying so, she obediently offered her hands.
Her frame was small, and her hands were small too.
Yu Wenli estimated that one strike would cover almost her entire palm.
Seven strikes, and she wouldn't be able to hold a pen for the next two days.
"Your mouth made the mistake, but your hands are taking the punishment. Isn't that unfair?"
Yu Wenli looked up at her, his dark eyes full of amusement, but also a newfound authority.
It made one afraid to joke with him.
A look of difficulty flashed across the young girl's face, her voice nearly cracking, "Then... I can't be punished on the mouth, can I?"
Yu Wenli curved his lips and coaxed, "If you're willing, brother isn't. I'm not willing."
Wen Tingxue cautiously observed him for a moment, confirming he was genuinely smiling, not sneering.
Her long-held anxiety eased slightly.
As long as he wasn't truly angry, everything could be handled.
Having spent these days together, she had come to understand his temperament.
He rarely got angry, but when he did, it was devastating. Even without being truly angry now, he was already frightening enough.
Wen Tingxue vowed again that she would provoke anyone but him.
She couldn't bear it.
Thinking this, the young girl proactively admitted her mistake, "Brother Yu, I was wrong. I shouldn't have lied to you or hidden Yu Yahe's matter from you. You can punish me however you want, just please don't be angry anymore, okay?"
She thought that by being submissive, she could earn his leniency.
To her surprise, the young man smiled slightly and said, "Okay, then lie down."
He gestured to the desk beside him, indicating...
Wen Tingxue's face flushed from head to toe, her heart pounding as if it would leap out of her chest.
"Brother Yu..."
The young girl looked up incredulously, her slightly tear-filled, dark pupils holding a flicker of last hope.
Yu Wenli chuckled and stood up, his tall frame completely engulfing her.
The sense of pressure intensified.
"Little Yiyi," his warm fingertips gently caressed her cheek.
His affectionate, lingering voice always carried a hint of unspoken danger.
The young girl's legs felt weak; if he hadn't held her waist, she would have surely fallen.
"Brother trusts you so much, yet you lied to me seven times. Tell me, should you be punished?"
His voice was so captivating, yet his words were like a death sentence.
The young girl, on the verge of tears, clutched his clothes in front of him.
The ruler lay across her waist, a clear threat.
After a moment of stalemate, the young girl gritted her teeth, "If... if you're going to hit me, then hit me. Just don't be angry anymore."
A hint of triumph flickered in Yu Wenli's eyes. He then released her, his expression nonchalant as he reminded her.
"Think carefully. Have you confessed everything that needs to be confessed? If I find out about anything else I shouldn't know, it won't just be a spanking then."
His long, jade-like fingers toyed with the red sandalwood ruler, possessing a unique charm.
Wen Tingxue stared blankly for a moment, then her mind exploded, "There... there is one more thing... I haven't confessed..."
Yu Wenli raised his eyebrows leisurely, "Speak."