Under the gaze of all the Haixin students, she turned back and bowed deeply to Xing Tuo: “I’m sorry…”
In the shocked eyes of Tang Qiqi and Zhong Mingjie, she maintained her posture, her long hair covering her face.
“I’m sorry! Please forgive us.”
The cold air brushed against everyone’s cheeks.
Xing Tuo’s lips were pressed tightly together, his voice as cold as iron: “Too late!”
She raised her head, staring at him in a daze.
Dusk was falling.
Qian Zhi pulled open the bedroom curtains, staring blankly at the street lights turning on one by one. The dim yellow light softly enveloped her face, giving her an unusual beauty, her eyes hollow and lost.
“Too late!” Xing Tuo’s cold voice still echoed in her ears. A faint worry surfaced in her eyes, an uneasy feeling creeping into her heart and spreading through her limbs.
This night, she had a nightmare again, a dream that had haunted her for years, returning once more.
In the darkness, a beautiful and noble woman stood before her and her mother, her phoenix eyes coldly glaring at them.
“Bitch… Xia Xinwei… Slap—”
“…Mom… Don’t hit my mother!”
“Get lost! You little bitch!” The young her was slapped, falling heavily to the ground, helplessly watching her mother being bullied.
“Mommy… Mommy… No!” She woke up crying from the dream, instinctively touching her face, realizing it was just a dream. She desperately told herself she was grown now, no longer that weak, helpless little girl. Now, she would absolutely not let anyone bully her!
“Knock knock… Qian Zhi? What’s wrong?” The knocking sound came, and her mother Xia Xinwei entered. In the darkness, she hurriedly wiped away her tears and turned on the bedside lamp.
Xia Xinwei walked to her side, worried: “What’s wrong? Another nightmare? Sleep with me?”
“Nothing, Mom, just a dream. Go back to sleep, don’t worry. I’m an adult now.”
Xia Xinwei touched her face, sighed, and nodded.
Qian Zhi gave her a faint smile. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
Since the restaurant incident, Qian Zhi noticed her classmates’ changed looks towards her and Qi Qi. The classroom atmosphere had become strange. Whenever she and Qi Qi entered, the previously lively room would fall silent. She understood why, given Xing Tuo’s influence in the school. What worried her was Zhong Mingjie – on the surface, everything seemed calm, but the more it seemed so, the stronger her unease became.
Xia Qianyi stood up at a loss, and Tang Qiqi pushed the textbook in front of her, whispering, “Third paragraph…”
She took a deep breath, steadied herself, and began reading. Fortunately, her English was still decent; otherwise, she would have had to go to the office for a “chat” after class, as this English teacher was known for being strict. Qianyi finished reading smoothly, and the English teacher nodded for her to sit down. Tang Qiqi couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Finally, it was time for class to end.
“Were you thinking about random things again?” Tang Qiqi grabbed her and asked.
“No, I wasn’t,” she denied.
“Stop lying! Please! The middle school entrance exam is coming up!” Qiqi’s voice rose involuntarily.
“I know, I know!” In fact, she didn’t want to think about it, but she just couldn’t help herself!
Tang Qiqi looked her straight in the eye: “Listen to me, Qianyi. What’s done is done.
No matter how things will evolve, it’s not something you or I can control! So please stop thinking about it, okay?”
“I understand, thank you…”
“How about this – after school, we’ll go find Zhong Mingjie and tell him everything about you and Xing Tuo!”
“Is that okay?” Qianyi asked worriedly.
“There’s nothing not okay about it. Let’s just do it and give him a heads up.”
Qianyi sighed and nodded.
Qianyi and Qiqi stood in the spectator seats of the indoor basketball court, searching for Zhong Mingjie among the crowd in basketball uniforms, but couldn’t find him.
“Excuse me, where is your team captain?” Qiqi asked a male student in a basketball uniform passing by.
The person pointed to the basketball court, and they looked in the direction he was pointing, only to discover that the captain he mentioned was not Zhong Mingjie.
“He’s the captain?” Qiqi asked in disbelief.
“Yes!”
“Where’s Zhong Mingjie?”
“Him? He’s already been kicked out of the basketball club!”
“When did this happen?”
“It’s been several days!”
Qianyi and Qiqi exchanged a glance, suppressing their unease, and asked, “Why?”
The male student said, “I’m not entirely clear about the specifics! But I heard he committed a serious mistake!”
“Is that so?” Qianyi stood there in a daze, her mind blank.
“Xia Qianyi, the homeroom teacher wants to see you,” the class monitor came over and said coldly.
“Oh! I understand,” Qianyi responded, standing up.
Just as Qianyi turned to walk out of the classroom, Tang Qiqi grabbed the class monitor and asked, “Do you know what’s going on?”
The class monitor, Zheng Yuling, glanced at her dismissively and said arrogantly, “I don’t know.” Then she ignored her.
Tang Qiqi looked at the class monitor and made a face behind her back: “Hmph! If you don’t know, then you don’t know! What’s so great about that!”
Coming out of the teachers’ office, Xia Qianyi’s mind was in chaos. She couldn’t comprehend what the homeroom teacher had said, but the conversation between two teachers next door was crystal clear in her ears.
She raised her head, her eyes sparkling brightly. “You… know?” she asked in disbelief. He nodded, calmly saying: “I know this is not a coincidence, but deliberately arranged to embarrass me. I think you also know who that person is – Xing Tuo. I certainly know what kind of person Xing Tuo is. Ever since that incident at the restaurant, I knew something would happen. But I don’t regret confronting him at all, because his actions were truly excessive. So even if it wasn’t you that day, I would have still spoken up. You don’t need to blame yourself.”
Qian Qi stood there, gazing blankly at his face, unable to speak for a long time, a thought slowly forming in her mind.
“Excuse me, where is Xing Tuo?” Xia Qianqi asked a male student about to leave the third-year class.
The male student looked at her strangely and said, “Seems like he’s on the rooftop.”
She ran towards the rooftop without looking back.
On the teaching building’s rooftop, two figures were leaning – Xing Tuo and Lei Xi. Xing Tuo was holding a crystal wine glass, with a bottle of red wine beside him.
“How is it? Tastes good, right?” Lei Xi asked. “This was air-shipped from France. Knowing you like it, I specially brought it for you to try.”
Xing Tuo took a sip from his glass and said, “The texture is good, just a bit mild. Which vintage is it?”
“1987.”
Xing Tuo put down his glass, stretching lazily and looking bored: “What’s Hao been up to lately? He’s always nowhere to be seen.”
Lei Xi smiled slightly: “As student council president, he’s naturally busier than us.”
Xing Tuo was about to say something when a timid voice interrupted: “Hello… hello!”
Xing Tuo turned back and saw two girls standing behind him.
He glanced at them casually and asked, “Are you talking to me?”
A tall girl shyly nodded: “I, I’m Li Na from second-year class three. I’ve liked you for a long time. Please go out with me!” She handed over a pink-blue envelope.
Lei Xi looked at her with a playful expression: “This junior, your envelope is quite cute.”
Where did you buy it?”
“Uh…?” Li Na seemed unprepared for his question, stunned and blushing even more, embarrassedly saying: “I made it myself.”
Xing Tuo and Lei Xi exchanged a glance: “I never read letters.”
“Then…” Li Na took out an exquisitely packaged small gift box: “Please accept this. I made it myself!”
Xing Tuo grew impatient: “How many people say the same thing every day! How annoying!”
“I truly like you.”
