Lin Xin's words seemed to hit the mark in Zhao Qiang's heart; he wasn't actually foolish, since he was just as intelligent as any child his age. In the past, he had been jealous of Lin Xinyu, but now he only had sympathy for the boy. At this time, Lin Xin's words caused his heart to beat heavily as he considered the situation anew. On one hand, he felt that the Dean was an abominable beast while on the other, he thought that Lin Xin was overreacting to the situation while trying to frighten him with no reason. He never considered that the Dean would actually harm them; the worst that could happen was getting punished, while murder was out of the question.
Seeing Zhao Qiang's hesitation, Lin Xin continued on to say, "Whether you believe it or not, you should help me unlock the door. I'll escape by myself, so when the Dean returns and sees you alone, just tell him that I ran away by my own efforts."
Zhao Qiang did not immediately agree, but he asked her, "If the Dean finds out that I helped you, what should I do?"
Lin Xin thought to herself,'He's wavering right now. With just the right push, he'll definitely agree to help me.'She laughed and said to him confidently, "Zhao Qiang, you and I are friends now. There is a word called 'trust' between friends. You refuse to help just a little, and yet you speak of trust." The last word 'trust' seemed to strike a soft spot in Zhao Qiang's heart.
Children without parents and relatives will always look for a kind of trust and commitment. The word 'trust' was something that Zhao Qiang highly valued.
Zhao Qiang looked up and, seeming to have mustered much courage, he bit his lip and said, "Alright, I'll help you."
Lin Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief; things will much smoother with Zhao Qiang's help. The two of them sat down to discuss how to unlock the door. The first priority was to untie the ropes that bound them. Lin Xin observed the ropes and found that they weren't tied securely, meaning they could use their teeth to solve the knot.
She proceeded to untie Zhao Qiang's ropes. The boy stood with his back facing Lin Xin, while Lin Xin sat on the ground, using her teeth to bite and tug at the knot bit by bit. It wasn't as simple as she initially thought. A few minutes later, she was sweating heavily and was about to take a break when suddenly, she heard footsteps from outside the door.
The two children gasped in fear and quickly sat back to back. Soon enough, the door opened wide and the Dean stood in front of them, wearing a clean white shirt and jeans. The light from outside seemed to create a glow from behind him, making his gentle smile appear angelic.
Lin Xin dared not move. She lifted her chin and glared at the hypocritical man.
The Dean squatted down to her level and raised the girl's chin with his index finger. He scrutinized her left and right before commenting with displeasure, "Such an ordinary face, how can Lin Xinyu like you?"
Lin Xin felt so disgusted that she wanted to tear his face apart and remove his disguise.
'Pei!'She spat on the Dean's face.
The man's brows furrowed slightly as he squinted at Lin Xin. Suddenly, he raised his hand and heavily slapped the left side of her face, then raised the other palm and smacked the right side.
Lin Xin felt as if her vision was blinded by stars, and her face burned painfully.
Afterwards, the Dean's feet continuously kicked Lin Xin, landing heavily like rain upon her face, waist and legs. She hugged her head and shrank into a ball. The girl was beaten so hard that she couldn't even talk back. After he kicked her for more than ten minutes, he finally stopped when he noticed that the girl no longer made a sound. The Dean pushed back his black-rimmed glasses and said with a sinister smile, "This is just a small punishment for you. You better watch your tongue later."