Michael's Healing Touch in a Broken World Chapter 5

As soon as he said that, Alex Tang regretted it.

Just threaten me, why emphasize Beta?

His teeth rubbed the tip of his tongue, and Alex Tang couldn't help but bury his head even lower. Fortunately, the man standing in front of the sink didn't say a word. He washed his hands, turned off the faucet, and left. When he passed by him, he didn't stop for a second, and his steps were so fast that they set off a gust of wind.

After pricked up his ears to make sure the footsteps were far away, Alex Tang heaved a sigh of relief and complained about the boy who couldn't even see his face clearly: "What are you trying to be cool about..."

He stood up and faced the mirror, and wiped his face a few times with tissue paper, but the dirt still couldn't be wiped off. Alex Tang had no choice but to give up, and picked up the pile of tissue paper that was wasted and threw it into the trash can beside him with a painful look.

He walked into the classroom with his class, and his friend Claire Su put his arm around his shoulder and whispered in his ear as they walked: "I had protected you well, but at the end of the first period, Old Sun came to the classroom to check the seating arrangements for the transfer students. He saw you were not there, so I told him you went to the bathroom. But you were still not here after the second period. When we lined up, Old Sun scolded the monitor, asking him how he had called the names and didn't even know someone was absent."

Alex Tang's expression was heavy with sorrow: "I will go and apologize to the squad leader later."

"Don't make that expression when the time comes." Claire Su advised, "It's so ugly with your clown face that it's unforgivable."

Alex Tang touched his face, which couldn't be wiped clean, and said more sadly: "...Okay."

Because of the opening ceremony, there were less than twenty minutes left for the third chemistry class.

On the stage, Old Sun was spitting all over the place, wishing he could finish explaining all the knowledge points in the book in just ten minutes. In the audience, Alex Tang was hiding behind a book and looking in the mirror. He moved the palm-sized small round mirror left and right to confirm that the unknown dye that his grandmother had applied covered her entire face, even her earlobes. He put the mirror down dejectedly and sighed.

Teacher Sun called the name on the podium: "Tang Mudong, repeat what I just said."

It was like a bolt from the blue. Alex Tang suddenly stood up and pushed Claire Su, who was sitting in the front seat, against the table.

However, Claire Su had been reading a novel all night last night and was still sleepy. He flipped through the book for a long time but was unable to give his friend who was following him clear directions.

Alex Tang thought he was unlucky and thought he was going to be sent out to guard the gate again. Old Sun stared at him for a while and frowned, "What's wrong with you? Is there solid combustible organic rock on your face? Do you have to come to school so sloppily?"

Whenever it comes to chemistry, Old Sun likes to use scientific names instead of common names. The whole class's eyes were focused on Alex Tang, and seeing that his face was indeed as gray and dirty as if it had been smeared with coal, they burst into laughter.

Old Sun slapped the podium and said, "What are you laughing at? You are no better than me." He turned to Alex Tang and said, "I asked you to repeat what I just said."

Alex Tang licked his lips and followed suit: "What are you laughing at? You guys are no better!"

When Old Sun's face turned pale, the classmates couldn't stop laughing.

After class, Alex Tang sneaked to the first group to find the monitor Max Qi, and held his hand and kept saying "Thank you for your kindness". Max Qi smiled shyly: "We are old classmates. It is fate that we can be assigned to the same class in the second year of high school. Mu Dongdong, you should skip classes less in the future. The undergraduate rate of our school is decreasing year by year. A new student transferred here today, and the competition is more intense. If you can't get into a good university, in the future..."

Alex Tang used "OK, OK, YES, YES, NO PROBLEM" to stop the monitor's chattering. When he was about to run away, he realized the point belatedly and asked, "New classmate?"

"Yes, the one in the last row of the fourth group..." Max Qi turned his head and pointed to Alex Tang, only to find that the chair was empty and the person had gone somewhere. "Strange, he was here just now."

Alex Tang asked casually, not really interested in the new classmate. He said goodbye to the monitor and returned to his seat. Before the bell rang, he patted Claire Su's shoulder and said, "The usual place for lunch?"

Claire Su gestured: "OK!"

After the third class, the sleepy Ethan Yin was called to the office.

"How is it, first day of class, are you used to it?" Teacher Sun, the head teacher, looked kind and pulled a stool for him to sit down. "The textbooks here are different from those over there, and the progress is faster. I have already told several main subject teachers that if you encounter any problems, you can ask them for help after class."

Ethan Yin didn't sit down: "It's a habit. Thank you, teacher."

"I noticed you dozed off during class. Did you not get enough rest last night?"

"no."

Old Sun had no experience in dealing with transfer students, and was somewhat embarrassed by Ethan Yin's overly brief answer. He flipped through the student records on the table and asked, "I heard that you had very good grades in the school in the capital. Have you ever been a class leader?"

Ethan Yin said expressionlessly: "No."

Old Sun turned the page and said, "I see it says here that you played on the school basketball team and won a prize in the city? Our school also attaches great importance to quality education. I will talk to the physical education teacher and arrange for you to join the school sports team?"

"No need." Ethan Yin said, "I am a terrible player, I got the prize by cheating."

Old Sun: ...

Unable to find a topic to continue the conversation, Lao Sun reluctantly took out a few A4 papers and a pen from the pen holder and handed them over: "Then fill out these forms."

It is a bunch of student information forms including personal information.

Now that he was much more awake than before, Ethan Yin unscrewed the pen cap and bent over the table to fill in the form line by line.

When writing the third family contact form, the pen tip paused for a few seconds in the "Father" column. Glancing at the words "Required Items" at the top, Ethan Yin curled the corners of his lips and drew a slash in the blank space to indicate deletion.

The weather was bad in the morning and it finally started to rain around noon.

As soon as the bell rang, the fifty-odd students in Class 2 (3) scattered like birds and beasts. Only three or two students who had brought their own meals stayed in the classroom.

Ryan He, who sat at the front table, was one of them. He brought food in a thermos box and enthusiastically invited his new classmate to have lunch with him: "My mom brought me a lot today, Brother Yin, let's eat together!"

Ethan Yin stood up: "No, I'm going home."

"Okay, I thought you were going to the cafeteria." Ryan He bit the spoon and took out a folding umbrella from the table. "Then take the umbrella. It's raining heavily outside."

Ethan Yin was walking past Ryan He's table and was about to refuse, but Ryan He tucked his umbrella into his hood and said, "I'll eat first, see you later, Brother Yin!"

Taking the umbrella out of his hat with his backhand, Ethan Yin thought for a moment, said "thank you", and went out with the umbrella.

In fact, Ethan Yin had no plans to go home.

When he was studying in the capital, he didn't have the habit of going home at noon. That answer was purely to get by and avoid the trouble of being asked questions like "Where are you going to eat?" or "Let's go to the cafeteria together?"

The geographical location of No. 15 Middle School is quite good. It is adjacent to the business district of the old city. There is a food street just across the street from the school gate, and there is also a primary school on the other side.

Ethan Yin entered a restaurant at the east end of the street, closest to the road. He glanced at the menu, ordered a signature set meal worth about ten yuan, and sat down at a random seat.

When the set meal was served, it turned out to be the legendary N City specialty duck blood vermicelli and xiaolongbao combination. Using chopsticks to scoop up a handful of vermicelli in the soup, Ethan Yin thought that since they were both from Beta schools, the difference in the portions of food in the surrounding restaurants was too big.

Apart from the moment he got off the train, this was the first time he felt the obvious differences between the north and the south.

The taste of the soup was hard to describe, so light that it seemed to save salt. A lot of MSG was sprinkled on it, and it was so fresh that Ethan Yin, who was used to eating strong flavors in the north, couldn't handle it. He picked up two chopsticks and pushed the soup bowl aside, barely finishing a basket of seven mini buns.

After we finished eating, paid the bill and left, it was raining even harder outside.

Ethan Yin didn't hold an umbrella on the way here. Now, looking at the passers-by running away along the way, he suddenly thought of the difference between having an umbrella but not holding it and having no umbrella to hold. He pressed the button with his thumb, and the umbrella opened up.

The rain in N City is also different from that in the capital. The autumn rain in the capital is accompanied by cold air, which is piercing. However, the rain in N City is fine and dense, with a touch of the softness and grace of the south of the Yangtze River. A few drops accidentally fell on the shoulders, making it difficult to tell whether it was spring rain or autumn dew.

While eating, Ethan Yin took off his coat and put it on his arm. Wearing only a single layer of clothes, he stepped on a sycamore leaf that had been knocked down by the heavy rain. When he was lost in thought about discovering the difference between the two places again, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a noise coming from the west end of the street.

"Run! If you run again!" the man with a rough voice shouted, "I'll see where you can run to!"

The noisy footsteps drowned out the sound of rain. Turning my head, I saw two male students leading the way, each carrying a huge nylon bag and running very fast. Behind them were three or four men carrying weapons, and judging from their body shapes, they were also Betas.

The food street is narrow and there are signs prohibiting motor vehicles from passing. As soon as these people appeared, the originally quiet road became chaotic.

There was a loud bang as one of the boys knocked over a beach umbrella that was set up outside a roadside shop for customers to use, and several plastic chairs under the eaves fell to the ground.

The fleeing and chasing groups were divided into two groups. A man holding a weapon in the back tripped and fell. His companions hurriedly turned back to help him, and there were constant cries of pain and curses.

The two students who had already distanced themselves from them seized the opportunity. One of them handed the nylon bag in his hand to the other, watched him turn into the alley, and then continued to run.

As an outsider, Ethan Yin only intended to watch this farce.

He walked over the sycamore leaf on the ground and headed towards the road. Just after he took two or three steps, he heard a burst of hurried footsteps approaching from afar, and before he could turn around, he was hugged from behind by someone.

To be precise, the man who got into the umbrella forcibly put his arm around his shoulders and pretended to be an acquaintance. When he turned his head and saw the school emblem on the uniform of No. 15 Middle School, Ethan Yin knew that this man was one of the two "desperate bandits".

"Brother, help me." The uninvited guest pulled the edge of the umbrella and pressed it down stealthily, "I will reward you handsomely later!"

Ethan Yin was tall, and this man was half a head shorter than him. He was also hunched over and dared not show his face. From behind, it seemed as if he was hanging on Ethan Yin, and their posture was very intimate.

It's a pity that he didn't know how much Ethan Yin hated getting close to people, especially strangers who showed up unexpectedly.

Ethan Yin moved his shoulders, and with his elbow holding the umbrella, he easily pushed the person half a meter away.

Who would have thought that this person was so thick-skinned that he leaned over and clung to me before I could even stand still, and shouted, "Brother, there is only one umbrella at home, wait for me and come with me!"

It was thought that the group of people behind him had come to their senses and caught up with him. This man was quick-witted and knew that there were students wearing the uniform of No. 15 Middle School everywhere around him. He could find a place with his back to them and hide safely.

Ethan Yin frowned when he was recognized as his brother again. Just as he was about to get angry, an arm suddenly grabbed his neck: "It's fate that we met here. I said I'll thank you later. Don't be so stingy, okay!"

Ethan Yin was so angry that he almost laughed. This guy was not only shameless, but also had a lot of bandit logic.

He couldn't laugh anymore because the robber turned around and K!ssed him.

...

"Fcuk, it's raining so can't we just go home and K!ss?"

"Don't look anymore. Where did the person go?"

"It seems to be over there, chase it!"

A group of people ran past, splashing water all over the ground.

Two soft touches left Ethan Yin's left cheek, and he accidentally caught a glimpse of elegant fragrance wrapped in moist water vapor. Ethan Yin was stunned for a moment and tilted his head to look.

"Why do you have that expression? We are all Betas, and you are not at a disadvantage."

The person who was speaking had a small face and a pointed chin. He had just been caught in a lot of rain, and black water was sliding down the bridge of his nose, leaving streaks of white skin wherever it passed.

However, what made Ethan Yin recognize him was not his strange and dirty face, but his big and bright eyes.

Their eyes met. Alex Tang, who was about to argue a few more times, saw the face of the umbrella holder clearly. His face suddenly became hot. He raised his hand and rubbed his nose with his knuckles, then changed his words: "Well... just consider it a loss, okay?"

Seeing that Ethan Yin still didn't respond, Alex Tang, who vowed to repay the favor on the spot, pointed to his own muddy face and said, "Or... K!ss me back?