Chapter 32: A Perfect Picnic

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After playing several outdoor games, Huo Zhanyan was already complaining that he was hungry.

Wen Xiao thought about how Huo Zhanyan had shouted his way through every activity along the road, seemingly bursting with boundless energy. It would have been strange if he were not hungry.

He took the pocket watch from his pocket and checked the time. It was nearly half past eleven, practically lunchtime.

“We can have a picnic here.”

Song Jingbai pointed toward the meadow ahead. Quite a few people were already sitting there, most of them picnicking or resting.

Wen Xiao tugged at the hat on his head and looked toward the meadow in the distance.

Since it was noon, the sun was strong, and the shade beneath some of the trees was already packed with people. However, there was still one empty tree where no one had gone.

“Do you want to have a picnic?” Wen Xiao asked. If they preferred to eat at the restaurant ahead, that was fine too.

“I’m sick of eating indoors every day. I want a picnic!” Huo Zhanyan declared.

Wen Xiao ignored him and looked at the other two.

“Picnic,” Leng Shucheng said.

He had never been on a picnic before and was curious about this way of dining.

Wei Nanxing gazed at the people sitting close together on the distant grass, a trace of envy in his eyes. In a small voice, he said, “I... want to have a picnic too.”

“Unanimous decision, then. Let’s go over there.” With that, Wen Xiao headed toward the tree.

Huo Zhanyan let out an excited shout and skipped around Wen Xiao all the way there. It was impossible to tell that he had been so frightened in the haunted house moments earlier that he had not dared open his eyes.

When Wen Xiao reached the tree, he took a picnic blanket out of his backpack.

Wen Yu had asked the nanny to prepare boxed lunches, egg rolls, and salad for their autumn outing, and had even packed a blue-checkered picnic blanket.

There was far too much food for him to finish alone, so he had never intended to eat it all by himself.

Seeing the things in Wen Xiao’s backpack, Huo Zhanyan could not help saying, “Why did you bring so much food for me? But why aren’t there any chicken drumsticks?”

“Who said I brought it for you?” Wen Xiao nearly rolled his eyes. Was Huo Zhanyan’s narcissism innate?

Wen Yu had prepared the food for Wen Xiao to bring on the outing, but in Huo Zhanyan’s eyes, everything had clearly been brought especially for him.

“You can’t eat that much by yourself. Who else could it be for?”

Huo Zhanyan refused to believe him. He looked Wen Xiao’s small frame up and down, becoming more convinced with every glance that Wen Xiao could never eat so much.

It had to be for someone else!

“For no one. It’s for me.” Wen Xiao snatched the backpack away and refused to let Huo Zhanyan touch it.

Just as Wen Xiao was about to spread out the picnic blanket, he discovered that Song Jingbai had already done it.

When he looked over, Song Jingbai smiled at him. “I’ve spread it out already.”

Suddenly, Wen Xiao noticed several tall boys walking toward them.

Looking at their expressions, he felt an ominous premonition rise in his heart.

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Sure enough, the tallest boy spoke the next second. He addressed Wen Xiao and the others, saying, “Hey, this spot was already claimed by us!”

Wen Xiao stared at them. They were all around five feet tall, impossible to tell whether they were elementary school students or junior high students.

The thought that he was being bullied by a group of elementary or junior high school students seemed absurd no matter how he looked at it.

“We got here first,” Wen Xiao said expressionlessly.

But they were at a serious disadvantage in terms of height. Even when he stood up, he barely reached their chests, and he had to tilt his head back to look at them.

The tallest boy pointed at a half-full bottle of mineral water beneath the tree and said arrogantly, “I already told you, we claimed this spot first!”

Wen Xiao looked at the half-full bottle beneath the tree and almost picked it up to smash it over the boy’s head.

But he was not reckless. In a situation like this, the best thing to do was ask an adult for help, find a staff member, or call their teacher.

They were all barely four feet tall. If they really got into a conflict with these boys, who were nearly five feet tall, they would certainly come off worse.

The difference between them was simply too great. There was no need to force the issue.

Fortunately, Wen Xiao spotted several Moon God Valley performers passing along the main road beyond the meadow. They were the same people they had encountered earlier.

He was thinking about how to attract their attention when the boys grew impatient. They came over and immediately pulled up the picnic blanket.

Just as they were about to throw it away, Wei Nanxing suddenly grabbed the other end and refused to let go.

“No...” Wei Nanxing glared at the tall boys, but he was not as strong as they were. One of them shoved him, sending him tumbling onto the grass, while the blanket was flung far away.

Wen Xiao quickly helped Wei Nanxing to his feet. A surge of anger rose in his chest. He stepped in front of the others, blocking the boys from coming any farther, and said coldly, “We got here first.”

“Little brother, you need to understand that the first people here get the spot. We already told you we claimed it first. You’re stealing our territory.”

The tall boys laughed among themselves, treating the five little runt-like children before them as no threat at all.

The tallest one had just placed a hand on Wen Xiao’s shoulder, intending to shove him aside, when a shadow suddenly slammed into his stomach.

The boy cried out in pain and was knocked to the ground by the tremendous force. Huo Zhanyan sat directly on top of him and punched him in the face.

“I’ll teach you to bully Wen Xiao!”

He was about to throw another punch when the other boy seized his wrist and yanked his hand away, then drove a knee into Huo Zhanyan’s stomach.

“What’s wrong with you, brat?”

But Huo Zhanyan clung to him like a strip of adhesive plaster. Even after being kicked and punched in the face, he continued glaring at the boys and shouting, “Wen Xiao is under my protection! You’re not allowed to bully him!”

The other boys had not expected this little runt to challenge them first. They immediately surrounded Huo Zhanyan.

The tallest boy rolled over and pinned Huo Zhanyan to the ground, after which they all began hitting him.

Huo Zhanyan, however, was extraordinarily strong. It took three of them just to hold him down.

Wen Xiao had no time to think and no chance to worry about whether he might get hurt. At that moment, all the reservations in his heart seemed to vanish.

Even so, he could not help thinking that the next time Huo Zhanyan decided to act recklessly, perhaps he could think things through first instead of charging in without regard for anything. Otherwise, he was only getting himself beaten for nothing.

Especially while shouting that Wen Xiao was under his protection.

Huo Zhanyan was truly something else. His idea of protecting someone was to take a completely unnecessary beating—and who had asked him to protect Wen Xiao in the first place?

Wen Xiao instinctively grabbed the hand of the boy in front of him and stopped him from hitting Huo Zhanyan. He felt as though he had used all his strength—the same strength he used to unscrew a bottle cap.

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Song Jingbai moved quickly. The moment Wen Xiao saw him, he understood how Song Jingbai had once managed to pin Huo Zhanyan down and beat him.

Huo Zhanyan possessed nothing but brute strength. Song Jingbai was not particularly tall, but he knew how to use his mind and where to apply his strength.

He crouched down and tripped one of the boys with his foot. Since they were crowded together, the falling boy knocked another one down as well.

Song Jingbai then raised his foot and stomped several times on the boy’s chest, making his face turn a dark purplish red.

Seeing this, Wei Nanxing grabbed one of the boys by the hand. For some reason, the boy suddenly cried out in pain, snatched his hand away, and slapped Wei Nanxing aside.

Someone moved to strike Leng Shucheng’s plastered arm. Wen Xiao instinctively raised his hand to block the blow and was punched in the stomach.

A wave of nausea swept over him. He now had a much more direct understanding of how Huo Zhanyan could take so many punches and still remain full of energy.

When Song Jingbai saw what happened, he immediately swung a fist into the boy’s chin. The blow knocked the boy’s head backward. As the boy lost his balance, Song Jingbai kicked him in the stomach.

“Are you all right?” Song Jingbai asked, unable to keep himself from looking at Wen Xiao.

His face was dark, utterly devoid of his usual gentle, approachable expression. A cold fury radiated from him, barely held in check.

The commotion quickly attracted the attention of the others, and people began gathering around them.

“What happened?” Several staff members were surprised to see Wen Xiao and the others. Then they noticed Huo Zhanyan lying on the ground after being beaten.

Huo Zhanyan’s face was bruised and swollen, and he still looked furious. He glared viciously at the tall boys and shook his fists at them.

“You’d better not run away!”

“We got here first, but they said they had already claimed this spot.” After speaking, Wen Xiao glanced at the bottle beneath the tree. “They used this bottle as proof.”

The others immediately understood what had happened. Their gazes toward the tall boys grew unfriendly.

“Such bullies at their age. I wonder whose children they are.”

The performers they had encountered earlier helped Huo Zhanyan to his feet and straightened his clothes.

“We’ll handle this for you. We won’t let those bad children bully you without consequence.”

The security staff from Moon God Valley arrived together with Wen Xulai. As soon as Wen Xulai reached them, he first examined their injuries. Only after confirming that none of them were seriously hurt did he finally relax.

Huo Zhanyan looked the worst of them all. His face had swollen, but fortunately his injuries were only superficial.

Wen Xiao pressed a hand against his shoulder and immediately heard Huo Zhanyan suck in a sharp breath.

“Ow, ow, ow! Let go!”

“If you knew it would hurt, why did you charge in?”

“Because they were going to bully you! You’re under my protection. I won’t let anyone bully you!” Huo Zhanyan shouted.

“Who asked you to protect me?” Wen Xiao glared at him. Huo Zhanyan was not only narcissistic but also skilled at moving himself.

Leng Shucheng suddenly reached out and placed his hand on Wen Xiao’s stomach. Wen Xiao was caught off guard. He had no idea why Leng Shucheng had suddenly done that.

The boy’s palm gently rubbed his stomach, his movements so light that it seemed he was afraid of hurting him.

“Does it hurt here?”

Wen Xiao remembered that he had been punched in the stomach earlier. He had not felt much at first, but after Leng Shucheng touched the spot, a dull ache surfaced.

When Leng Shucheng remembered how Wen Xiao had taken that blow for him, it felt as though a heavy stone had been pressed against his heart, blocking his breath.

For the first time, he wanted so badly to tear off the plaster that was getting in his way. Even when Huo Zhanyan had called him a cripple, he had never felt this way.