AAISBMEBF Chapter 53: Consider It Compensation
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Perhaps, if they hadn't broken up, there might have been a better way to deceive that counselor, and it wouldn't have caused Cui Xisheng to become so frail.
This person's jealousy was intense, and as soon as his body improved a little, he refused his care.
When he came back, there was no food around Cui Xisheng, and it was unclear how many days he'd gone without eating. He was already anemic, and not eating properly posed a deadly risk.
The more Meng Jiangtian thought about it, the more frightened he became, and his expression darkened. He looked up and saw Zhao Jiake standing nearby, grinning foolishly at him.
Meng Jiangtian's face grew cold. He had seen this guy hide when the student council president came over earlier, clearly not intending to protect Cui Xisheng.
But now he still had questions for him, so he could afford to keep him around for a bit longer.
"Come with me, I need to ask you something," Meng Jiangtian said in a low voice, leading Zhao Jiake a little further away to avoid waking Cui Xisheng.
Liu Anna called out to Meng Jiangtian from behind: "Brother Jiangtian, where are you going? Aren't you supposed to get me some food?"
"Ask the student council president for it. Tell them I asked you to," Meng Jiangtian said coldly, and left with Zhao Jiake.
Liu Anna stood in place, stunned. Was Meng Jiangtian no longer hiding his relationship with Cui Xisheng? Was he going to break up with her? He wouldn't even get her food now?
"Meng Jiangtian, I need to talk to you." Zhao Jiake stopped and spoke up.
Rather than being questioned by Meng Jiangtian, he decided to take the initiative and report everything. It wasn't like he hadn't been on Cui Xisheng's side before, and Meng Jiangtian probably hadn't noticed it.
In the past, he had done his best to protect Cui Xisheng, and his efforts should be recognized.
Besides, against ability users, he was no match. Even if Meng Jiangtian had seen him dodge, with all the work he'd done in the past, he likely wouldn't do anything to him.
If he confessed more, maybe his life would be spared.
"What is it?" Meng Jiangtian asked calmly, waiting for Zhao Jiake to explain. From his expression, it seemed a lot had happened during his three-day absence.
"You probably noticed that all our food is gone. The night before yesterday, the student council president and Zhao Huanrui didn't bring food back, and came to ask Cui Xisheng for some. They said they'd return the food once they found more, but Cui Xisheng didn't give it to them.
Then your girlfriend Liu Anna stepped up and said she would share the food with everyone. She also said when you came back, she would tell you, and you wouldn't blame them for taking the food.
She's your girlfriend, so when she spoke, we didn't dare stop her. After you left, the student council president and those three ability users didn’t bring any food back. After the food was taken, Cui Xisheng went without food for a day and a night.
He was already anemic, and after so long without food, his anemia must have worsened. I saw his face looking terrible, but I was powerless to do anything.
So many people came to take food, and I could only protect Cui Xisheng, but couldn’t protect the food."
"Has Cui Xisheng been vomiting lately?" Meng Jiangtian asked, seemingly unmoved, and shifted the topic.
"No, not anymore. He just sleeps a lot," Zhao Jiake answered respectfully, not sensing any emotion from Meng Jiangtian.
Meng Jiangtian remained calm and expressionless, seemingly unbothered. Zhao Jiake grew anxious, wondering if he had misunderstood. Perhaps Meng Jiangtian actually preferred Liu Anna, which is why he wasn’t angry with her?
"I see. Keep protecting Cui Xisheng," Meng Jiangtian said, no longer asking about the food since Zhao Jiake had already volunteered all the information. He dismissed Zhao Jiake with a calm "Go on."
"Okay," Zhao Jiake said nervously, before returning to Cui Xisheng's side and keeping a close eye on Meng Jiangtian.
Meng Jiangtian stood quietly, watching the student council president and Liu Anna busy nearby, lost in thought. After a while, he went to the student council president, spoke to him briefly, and left with him and Zhao Huanrui.
Qi Tianshan sat back down beside Cui Xisheng, exchanging glances with Zhao Jiake. Neither said a word. Both had previously abandoned Cui Xisheng, and now seeing Meng Jiangtian again, they both felt uneasy.
Meng Jiangtian came back shortly, this time with a large haul of food, dragged by Qingfeng. The crowd on the rooftop erupted in subdued cheers when they saw the food. However, before they could celebrate, they saw the student council president and Zhao Huanrui being tossed into the crowd, nearly losing their balance.
Meng Jiangtian then dropped the food behind a water tank, neatly stacking it out of sight, with only a portion visible.
The student council president could barely contain his fury, his face darkened with anger as he took deep breaths, trying to calm himself.
Meng Jiangtian had taken the initiative to help, saying he would go back to find more food, and the student council president was overjoyed to guide him to the supermarket.
At the supermarket, Meng Jiangtian kindly asked them to wait outside.
The student council president watched as Meng Jiangtian created countless tiny wind blades with his hands, effortlessly cutting down the zombies inside the store. The ferocity of the wind blades was so overwhelming that even from the outside, it felt like a crushing pressure. If those wind blades had been aimed at him, the student council president thought of countless ways to avoid them, but all of them ended in certain death.
The zombies they couldn’t deal with for three days were effortlessly dealt with by Meng Jiangtian in moments.
The vast difference in power made the student council president nervous. He remembered when they had gone food hunting together, Meng Jiangtian had never been this kind. He had always been more self-sufficient and never let them stand by idly.
But today, Meng Jiangtian was unusually generous—this wasn't kindness, but a clear threat.
Meng Jiangtian continued to act considerately, going inside the supermarket alone, clearing it out, and bringing all the usable items back.
The student council president and Zhao Huanrui tried to help but were blocked by Meng Jiangtian’s wind barrier, unable to enter.
Previously, Meng Jiangtian's wind ability could only lift about 30 square meters of things, but this time, the entire supermarket was cleared out, and the items he carried could fill over 100 square meters.
In the three days Meng Jiangtian had been absent, his abilities had grown at an astonishing rate.
This person had been gone for three days, and his powers had grown far too quickly.
"These supplies should be enough for us for three days. Your wind abilities are really convenient," the student council president said, trying to be friendly as they flew through the sky, carried by Meng Jiangtian's wind.
"I heard that while I was away for three days, neither of you brought back any food," Meng Jiangtian said with a harmless smile, casually adding the comment.
The student council president's expression changed, and he forced a smile. He then tried to downplay the situation: "We aren't like you, with wind abilities that can carry so much food. Our powers are too heavy to manage."
"If you couldn't carry back a lot, you should have at least brought some. At the very least, you could have made sure no one went hungry," Meng Jiangtian still smiled, not dropping the subject.
"There were too many people. If the food wasn't distributed fairly, it would have caused chaos. Rather than an unfair distribution, it's better for everyone to be hungry, that way no one would complain."
"So, the food you left for Cui Xisheng, would it have been enough to evenly distribute to over a hundred people?" Meng Jiangtian asked with a smile, looking directly at the student council president.
The student council president's face stiffened. He was now extremely cautious, watching Meng Jiangtian. The smile on his face was too terrifying—was he going to hold him accountable for this now?
He glanced down at the shrinking ground, realizing they were already about 500 meters high. If they fell from this height, even ability users wouldn’t survive.
The student council president’s mind was racing as he scrambled to find an excuse.
"Meng Jiangtian, we couldn't deal with those zombies, that's why we couldn't bring the food back."
"That day, all of us went hungry for two days and nights. The food that Cui Xisheng had was like a ticking time bomb. If over a hundred people had fought for it, we wouldn’t have been able to stop them."
"Therefore, dividing up the food was also a way of protecting Cui Xisheng. Also, it was Liu Anna who told us to distribute it. She said she would explain things to you."
Zhao Huanrui, sensing the tense atmosphere, feared that if Meng Jiangtian was displeased, he might toss him out too.
The student council president was very proud, and Zhao Huanrui could only accompany him with a smile, attempting to explain.
The student council president had hesitated earlier, avoiding admitting that the zombies, which they had struggled with for three days, were easily dealt with by Meng Jiangtian in a matter of minutes. For someone who had always been first in everything since childhood, this was a humiliating defeat. Now, with Zhao Huanrui openly acknowledging it, the student council president felt his face burn with shame and shot a reproachful glare at Zhao Huanrui.
"Don’t worry, I’m not blaming you," Meng Jiangtian said with a smile, trying to ease the tension. "I can imagine what it must have been like with over a hundred people starving. You did the right thing by dividing the food; it was the best way to protect Cui Xisheng."
"We're glad you don't blame us. We had always left the protection of Cui Xisheng to Qi Tianshan. Dividing his food wasn’t something we could control. We really didn’t want to make things harder for him," Zhao Huanrui sincerely explained again.
"I understand," Meng Jiangtian said with a friendly smile. "I heard you promised to return the food you took from Cui Xisheng?"
"Yes, we didn’t steal his food; we just borrowed it. I promised him that once we got more, we’d return it," Zhao Huanrui answered, but the student council president cut in before he could finish.
This kind of thing, emphasizing honesty, was something he instinctively wanted to claim credit for. After all, it was he who had promised Cui Xisheng.
"Then consider this food as returning what you owe to Cui Xisheng. It should all go to him," Meng Jiangtian said, looking at the student council president with a pleasant smile.
"All of it?" the student council president asked incredulously.
The food behind him could amount to five or six times what Cui Xisheng had. He had been planning to stretch it out over two or three days without going out. How could he possibly give it all to Cui Xisheng? Would he even be able to eat that much?
"Yes, didn’t you say you’d return it to him?" Meng Jiangtian said, looking at the student council president as if he were being unreasonable.
The student council president, feeling the pressure of Meng Jiangtian’s gaze, took a deep breath and tried to calm himself before replying, "At that time, we didn’t take so much food from Cui Xisheng. We probably only took about a fifth of what he had."
"The extra is just interest and compensation. Cui Xisheng is already anemic, and you took his food, making him go a whole day and night without eating."
"You study traditional Chinese medicine; you should know the consequences of anemic people not eating."
"An innocent man has nothing to fear, but possessing a treasure makes one a target. We only took his food to protect him. Also, if we give it all back to Cui Xisheng, what about the other hundred people?" The student council president tried to make one last defense.
"What about them? Let them go hungry. If they ate Cui Xisheng’s food, then they should suffer a few days of hunger for him."
"Since you really protected Cui Xisheng for a few days, if you're hungry, come find me, and I'll give you something to eat."
Meng Jiangtian saw that the student council president wanted to say something, so he interrupted him, saying, "If you want to starve like those people, you can keep talking."
Meng Jiangtian stopped smiling, his tone turning serious. The threat in his words was clear.
The student council president had a lot to say, but he swallowed it all.
Meng Jiangtian smiled faintly, and the three of them fell silent. Soon, they arrived back at the rooftop.
Once the food Meng Jiangtian brought back was placed by the water tanks, even Cui Xisheng’s sleeping area was taken up. The mat was dragged in front of the water tanks, and Cui Xisheng was sleeping so soundly that Meng Jiangtian could drag the mat without waking him.
Over a hundred people were watching the pile of food eagerly, but the pressure from Meng Jiangtian was so great that no one dared to act like last time and rush forward to grab it.
Some people, unable to resist the temptation of the food, went to the student council president and, with a flattering smile, said, "President, the food that you three brought back, how did it end up being monopolized by Meng Jiangtian?"
"Stay back, it's none of your business." The student council president, already in a bad mood, was now angry at being confronted with this question, which made him lose his usual facade of humility. He snapped at the person, his face stern.
The person was stunned by the student council president's unexpected dark expression. Though they were angry at being scolded, they were still hungry and had to rely on the student council president for food.
So they kept smiling and said, "It’s not like it’s none of my business. We’re all hungry too. If you need us, we can help.
Even though we’re just ordinary people, the power of over a hundred people shouldn’t be underestimated."
"You?" The student council president looked at the dirty crowd, realizing his previous attitude wasn’t quite right. He couldn’t throw away all the effort he’d invested in taking care of these people.
He felt helpless against Meng Jiangtian now, and seeing that the person in front of him seemed to have some ideas, he suppressed his inner frustration and responded with forced politeness. "Sorry, I was thinking about some unpleasant things earlier, so I was rude. What ideas do you have? Go ahead and share."
"It’s okay, it’s okay. You’ve been working hard for us, and we haven’t been able to ease your worries. I just have a small idea.
I feel like Meng Jiangtian is currently monopolizing the food simply because he relies on his higher rank.
Cui Xisheng looks like a useless person, and Liu Anna—I've noticed—she’s the type to stand with whoever has the most power. Zhao Jiake is just a muscle man; the three or four of us could easily take him down.
Over there, the only person with real fighting ability is Meng Jiangtian. If you three ability users join forces, you can definitely defeat him.
As for the other three, we don’t need to involve all of us; just a few people can control them.
If we work together, we can definitely grab the food. Do you think this plan could work?"
The person said this with confidence, eagerly looking at the student council president.
T/N: Please give support on my ko-fi page, thank you🌸🌸🌸
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