The principal and homeroom teacher watched their prized students being manhandled, shouting for them to stop. But they'd long lost their authority - no one listened. Even as they tried to intervene, students 'accidentally' elbowed them, leaving the adults grimacing in pain. The suffering they'd inflicted on the original host was finally rebounding on them.
Perched on the rooftop, I gleefully enjoyed this chaotic spectacle. Marvelous. Far more entertaining than any TV drama. I nearly clapped - this was the grand showdown I'd been waiting for!
11.
It was Zhou Ting who finally stopped the melee. When the Xu siblings and teachers emerged from the mob, their hair stood wild, uniforms filthy, faces bruised - a far cry from their usual pristine arrogance. I nodded in satisfaction. Worth braving the rooftop chill for half an hour.
Zhou Ting tried again: 'Come down now, Zhou Wei. You've seen their punishment.'
I remained unmoved. 'It was the students who disciplined them, not me. They still owe me an apology, don't they?'
With a sigh, Zhou Ting turned to the Xu siblings. 'You know what to do.'
Xu Zhaoyuan assessed the hostile crowd. No way out without kowtowing. The golden boy knelt without hesitation.
'Brother?!' Xu Qianqian stared in shock. Her proud brother, kneeling before everyone?
'Apologize.' His icy glare brooked no argument. Trembling, Qianqian knelt beside him.
I called down: 'Don't just kneel. You need to kowtow too.'
Qianqian sprang up. 'Zhou Wei! Don't push your luck!'
I smirked. 'Push? I'm just returning your favors.'
'You deserved it!'
'Oh?' I raised an eyebrow. 'How so?'
As Qianqian opened her mouth, Zhaoyuan yanked her arm. The crowd's anger visibly flared at her words.
'Enough!' Zhaoyuan's voice cut like winter steel. 'We were wrong. This apology is owed.'
Whether convinced or intimidated, Qianqian knelt again. Then began the ritual - each kowtow accompanied by mechanical 'sorrys', exactly as they'd forced Zhou Wei to do.
Tears streaked Qianqian's cheeks midway. The spoiled heiress had never endured such humiliation. I gazed at the leaden sky. Zhou Wei, see? They're paying. But this is just the beginning.
After a dozen kowtows, Qianqian snapped. 'We're done, right?'
'Oh no,' I chirped. 'You made me do a hundred.'
'You bas-'
'Continue.' Zhaoyuan's command froze her protest. 'We owe her this.'
And owe they did. Zhou Wei paid with her life. These empty apologies couldn't atone. Don't worry, Zhou Wei. Their torment has only just begun.
12.
When the hundredth kowtow ended, their foreheads bled. Stumbling upright, they nearly collapsed into the teachers' arms.
Zhou Ting tried again: 'Will you come down now?'
'Fine.' I stepped back, untying the safety rope around my leg. Calculated risks - no point dying before settling all scores. The principal and homeroom teacher still awaited their reckoning.
13.
In the office, the cowed educators stood like scolded children before Zhou Ting, the school's major shareholder. Their fates hung on his word. They knew his history - how he'd destroyed a teacher who neglected his bullied son.
'Well?' Zhou Ting's voice could frost glass.
Thud! They knelt. 'Mr. Zhou! We were fools! Give us another chance!'
Pathetic grovelers. Zhou Ting's gaze remained glacial. 'Am I who you wronged?'
The implication hung clear: Apologize to her. They hesitated, unused to bowing to a 'mediocre nobody'. But survival instinct prevailed...
