At this, the youth started crying again.
"Wu-wu."
"Ah? I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it, come on now, stop crying."
"Wu-wu, it's not your fault senior. I just- wu-wu."
"It's okay, it's okay, stop crying alright?"
Hmm. Why did this situation seem so familiar...?
After a little while, the youth finally managed to calm down, and he explained that his name was Fu Hao Xin.
"Ah, Xiao Fu, so what lead you to you crying?" Di Tou paused, feeling a little concerned if he'd hurt Xiao Fu's pride reminding him that he was crying.
"Well…" Hao Xin's eyes dimmed.
"Ah, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but I figured I could offer some advice considering my… seniority." Di Tou blushed a little saying seniority, but luckily for him it was hard to see through his wrinkles.
"Ah, it's nothing major really. Just those three bandits Da Niu, Er Niu, and Shan Niu beat me up earlier."
"Hah? How is this nothing major?"
With a surprisingly casual look on his face, Hao Xin replied, "Those three hooligans are considered on the better end of things normally. As long as you give them some money they'll go away. As for the rest, hmph."
"The rest? Are they not the only one's bothering you?"
At this, Hao Xin deflated a bit more, "Ah. Well. It's not really them who's bothering me, they're just doing it under Xia Qi Shan's influence."
"Wait what, who?" Di Tou felt a little faint, where were all these names coming from?
"Huh? Senior, you haven't heard of Xia Qi Shan? He's the son of the Qi Shan monastery leader, he can be considered a mini tyrant here on campus."
"Er…"
"Oh, you must have come out of seclusion recently."
"Yes, something like that, haha..."
"Well, Xia Qi Shan himself isn't anything all that special, his family's force can be considered second rate, but Qi Shan himself is good at not offending the real big fish." Hao Xin had a somewhat disdainful look on his face, "But that's enough to let him play as a little tyrant in front of the students in a lower class like ours. I happened to offend him at the beginning of the semester and he's been using me as a stepping stone to try to establish his reputation."
"From the way you speak you don't seem to think much of this fellow, why do you let him bully you then?"
"Che, if you gave me another five years there's no way I'd be beaten by the likes of him." Hao Xin paused, "But right now… there's really nothing I can do in front of people like him who grew up eating treasures."
"What about your classmates?"
"There were a few at first who tried helping me a bit, but they were the minority and Qi Shan made sure they shut up soon enough…"
"Ah? So cold?"
"Hmph, they were already the better ones, the worse ones are like the three brothers I mentioned earlier. They hope to gain some limelight from following Qi Shan and come and bother me on a regular basis. One on one I'm sure I could beat some of them, but when they come in groups…"
"What do you plan to do about it then?"
At this Fu Hao Xin let out a sad chuckle, "What can I do senior? The fact of matter is that right now because we're still in the Academy at the very least he can't cripple me or kill me, as for a couple of years from now he'll be back in his sect and I can't touch him there either. All I can do is accept the beatings and hope he'll forget about me."
Seeing Di Tou's pitying expression Fu Hao Xin tried to cheer up, "It's really nothing to worry about senior, there's no need to look so worried. I'm fine really, it's just a beating, my bones are strong I'll be fine. They know what line they can't cross too anyways… It's just this time…"
Fu Hao Xin's eyes dimmed again, turning his eyes to the cracked pendant in his hands.
"Ah, I'm really sorry Xiao Fu, I didn't mean to…"
"No, it wasn't you senior. The three Niu brothers like asking for money, I didn't have much on me this time, so they tried to search me, and they found the pendant and tried to snatch it. I fought back and it cracked in the scuffle. When they saw it was low quality and cracked, they gave up and left after beating me a few more times…"
"Ah I see." Knowing that he hadn't caused greater unintentional harm with good intentions Di Tou let out a sigh of relief. "Ah, right, Xiao Fu, why were you saying that you'd pay your parents back in your next life anyways? You don't seem like you're the type to make rash decisions."
"Ah… Well…" Fu Hao Xin hesitated for a second, "it doesn't really hurt to say it, it's true that this pendant is rather shabby, but it's one of the last things my parents left for me. I had promised them once I made it big, I'd place it on top of the tallest mountain in the Xi'an north mountain range to honor them. But now it looks like I can only pay them back in my next life."
"Ah? I'm sorry Xiao Fu, I didn't know."
"It's alright, I know you were acting out of good intentions senior, if there's nothing more I should get going."
"Hah? You're just going to leave it at that? What about your class teacher? Haven't you told him?"
"It won't help senior, he'll just tell me that it's because I'm weak."
"Xiao Fu, even if you don't have faith in your teacher, that's a little too far isn't it? Look, telling the teacher in this situation can't hurt you, they're already beating you up, stealing your possessions, and broke your family heirloom. You said it yourself, they can't cross the line, so you might as well try?"
Fu Hao Xin hesitated for a second, "But…"
"No buts, let's go, let's find your teacher, I'll vouch for you if he asks for proof."
"Right now? But…"
"What? Are you going to wait until your bruises are gone and those scoundrels have figured out an excuse? Strike while the iron is hot, go, lead the way."
"Ah, al- alright."