Chapter 6: Spoiled until she finally deigned to turn back and look at him...

Do you know why I let you win the first round?

Jiang Xuchi's words were barbed, and Qin Man didn't want to listen, so she covered her ears with her hands.

Jiang Xuchi pulled her hand away, "Because this is your life. It's not pleasant to fall from the clouds into the mud."

These words struck Qin Man's most vulnerable spot, like a sharp blade cutting into her flesh, leaving her bleeding profusely.

She was very lucky to be born into a good family and lived a carefree life for more than a decade before plummeting from the heights to the depths of despair.

No one could bear this.

What she didn't want to face, what she feared others would know, was all ruthlessly exposed by Jiang Xuchi.

I don't know why Jiang Xuchi knows so much.

Qin Man gave a painful murmur and closed her eyes, refusing to look at him.

Jiang Xuchi, however, did not let her off the hook because of this.

"Qin Man, still dreaming?"

Qin Man opened her eyes and glared at him, "Shut up!"

“Your useless father sold his consecutive license plate number. Do you know who he sold it to?” Jiang Xuchi continued relentlessly, “You’re so poor you can’t even afford tuition. A poor family’s princess needs to learn to bow her head, understand?”

A snap.

Qin Manyang slapped him across the face.

Tears welled in her eyes, her cheeks burned, and a feeling of shame and indignation swept through her entire being. She wanted nothing more than to tear Jiang Xuchi's mouth apart.

The world went silent for a second.

Qin Man had never been offended like this before, and her tense nerves snapped instantly.

She didn't know where the brute force came from, but she suddenly pushed him backward, and the two of them were in opposite positions. Qin Man looked down at Jiang Xuchi with her eyes downcast.

Those few tears happened to fall onto Jiang Xuchi's face.

Backlit, her beautiful face flushed crimson with anger. She had been pampered and spoiled since childhood. Everyone said she was capricious and reckless in the industry. But they indulged her not only because Qin Chen doted on her, but also because she was too beautiful.

Being excessively beautiful means that one can easily be forgiven for any mistake, no matter where one goes.

Qin Man blinked, swallowing back the remaining tears.

"Bowing down?" Qin Man's voice was very soft. "I will never bow down to you."

At that moment, Jiang Xuchi only had eyes for Qin Man; even the lights seemed blurry.

Qin Man did not fulfill Jiang Xuchi's wish.

She's still the same haughty, arrogant, and spoiled young lady, she's never changed.

Jiang Xuchi stared at her, wanting to say something, but said nothing.

A familiar feeling from many years ago has returned.

Once again, he followed behind her magnificent dress like a disheveled boy in a run-down alley.

Until she finally deigned to turn around and look at him one last time.

It became a thorn in his side that had been pricking him for years.

...

Qin Man returned to her booth, still soaking wet, and pulled up her school uniform to put it on.

The group of people who had been chatting and laughing in the booth fell silent. Seeing her disheveled appearance and Jiang Xuchi, who had come over to change his clothes, no one said anything.

No one dared to say anything.

Qin Man knew that staying any longer would only make her a laughingstock.

She put on her school uniform, picked up her phone, and left.

Qin Man left the bar and walked onto the well-ventilated street, continuing to walk forward in a daze.

The clothes wrapped inside my school uniform were soaking wet and clung tightly to my body, making me feel sticky and uncomfortable. The wind, carrying a biting chill, seeped right in, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

At a traffic light, Qin Man removed Qin Chen from the blacklist and made a phone call.

It took several attempts before Qin Chen finally answered.

"You won't give me the money," Qin Chen said impatiently. "What else is there?"

Qin Man sniffed and suddenly burst into tears.

There was no movement from that side.

Qin Man thought he had hung up the phone, so she cried even more heartbreakingly. The red light turned green, but she didn't move forward.

Then Qin Chen's voice came from the other end: "Is someone bullying you?"

The word "bullying" hurt Qin Man's stubborn pride, so she denied it and immediately replied, "No."

"Why are you crying?"

"I just want to cry."

"What are you crying about?" Qin Chen asked fiercely. "Give me a reason. I can't just listen to you cry your heart out for nothing."

"...I don't have any money for a taxi home," Qin Man lied.

"..."

"…………"

This was probably the most speechless moment for Qin Chen.

He hung up the phone.

Qin Man wiped away her tears, took a taxi home, and bumped into Qu Lan who was about to leave at the door.

Qu Lan was carrying a huge blue sports bag, wearing a mask and scarf, and a sun hat on her head. She was completely covered up at night, which would make anyone who saw her suspicious.

Qu Lan had just pushed open the large iron gate at the entrance of her house when Qin Man caught her red-handed.

She stopped in her tracks, instinctively reaching out to pull on the strap of her bag, a hint of annoyance in her eyes.

"What's in this bag?" Qin Man asked, pointing to the bulging bag next to her.

Qu Lan simply stared at her coldly, without any intention of explaining.

A ridiculous thought popped into Qin Man's mind. She immediately grabbed the bag and zipped it up with a "whoosh," revealing it to be filled with jewelry and various bags.

She suddenly felt her blood run cold.

Qu Lan finally couldn't hold back any longer: "Qin Man!"

Qin Man spotted a familiar small bag, hooked the chain with her finger and pulled it out, asking Qu Lan incredulously, "You...you actually stole my bag?"

Her tongue was tied in knots, and even her hands were trembling.

Qu Lan pulled the bag back from her hand, "How can you think of your mother like that?"

"Then will you give me an explanation?" Qin Man roared.

Qu Lan opened her mouth, wanting to explain, but found there was nothing to explain. She raised an eyebrow, displaying arrogance, and said, "I can do whatever I want. Who are you to tell me what to do?"

"Mom," Qin Man almost pleaded, "Are you leaving too?"

"Where can I go?" Qu Lan sneered. "There's no place for me here. These things are useless to me. I might as well exchange them for money."

Qu Lan contacted several pawnshops to conduct private transactions. She was afraid of losing face by going out at night; she also cared about her reputation.

Qin Man gripped her bag tightly, looking at her with deep eyes.

"You really didn't run away?" she asked again, suppressing her temper.

She couldn't lose Qu Lan again, she couldn't.

Qu Lan was annoyed by her words and raised her voice, "I also want to run away. What will happen to you and Achen if I run away! It's one thing for Achen to be so depraved, but do you think I can just abandon you?"

Qin Man's eyes were red, she didn't say anything, and her hand gradually loosened.

Qu Lan shook off her hand, took out the exquisite little lambskin square bag from her bag, threw it into her arms, zipped it up, and walked out.

Qin Man returned to her room dejectedly, kicked off her shoes, collapsed onto the bed, and wrapped herself in the blanket.

As the air inside was gradually compressed, she found that the dark, cramped, and suffocating feeling actually made her relax.

The lights were still bright.

The phone next to her pillow beeped with a WeChat message.

Qin Man had only added a few people on WeChat: Qin Chen, Qu Lan, and Qin Weiguo, who was no longer active.

The rest are all groups, and they are all muted.

Qin Man picked up her phone and saw Qin Chen's message.

He transferred 30,000 yuan to her.

Qin Man's eyelashes trembled as she clicked on the transfer notification for 30,000 yuan.

My phone vibrated; Qin Chen had sent me two more messages:

"Once you've taken the money, you'd better be assertive."

Don't let anyone bully you.

He always spoke to her in that tone, as if she owed him money since birth.

Qin Man's eyes stung, and she couldn't bear it any longer, so she covered her eyes and curled up. She didn't want to cry; she had already cried once today, and her tears wouldn't be so easily shed.

...

It was another PE class, and the sun was blazing.

As usual, the coach pushed over a basket of tennis balls and told them to have free time. Then he glanced at the crowd and called out two names: "Pei Shiyu, Jiang Xuchi, come and practice."

Cille's tennis coach is a retired gold medalist with a keen eye for talent. He has trained several junior tennis champions for Cille, one of whom is now a national-level athlete, bringing glory to the country and making him very proud.

Therefore, any promising talents who catch his eye will naturally enjoy immense success, even if that success is limited to the high school stage.

Pei Shiyu took the racket and stood over there.

Qin Man glanced casually and suddenly noticed that Pei Shiyu was dressed exceptionally youthful and beautifully today. Her long brown curly hair was tied up high, she wore a white sun hat, and a light pink pleated skirt that swayed in the wind.

On the contrary, Qin Man was wearing sweatpants today, keeping a very low profile.

"Wow, that outfit is so stylish, is it a new style?" came the murmurs from the side.

“It’s not a new style. Pei Shiyu wore it specially for Jiang Xuchi today.” Another person drawled, “It’s really eye-catching. No wonder Jiang Xuchi dumped others.”

They were saying it on purpose so that Qin Man, who was standing next to them, could hear.

Qin Man turned her head and glanced indifferently at the faces of the two people. They were from other classes and she wasn't familiar with them.

"Who did he dump? Me?" Qin Man asked directly.

The two men were both taken aback, clearly not expecting Qin Man to be so direct. They then fell silent and left hand in hand.

Ever since that class reunion at Fusheng, rumors have been circulating that she was dumped by Jiang Xuchi. Through countless mouths, she's become the one who was dumped for no reason.

That's how schools are; rumors can easily escalate with just a single sentence.

Qin Man wanted to leave too, but just as she turned around, her coach called out to her from not far away: "Qin Man."

She should have run further away. Qin Man walked over, swinging her clapperboard in displeasure.

"You'll stay in my group and practice with them," the coach said with a smile, his tone gentle. "Play well this time."

"What about the other teams?" Qin Man was unwilling to be a sparring partner.

The coach said, "Let me adjust the schedule. You can play a few games with him these next couple of days. It'll be a good opportunity to improve your skills."

This last sentence is unnecessary to elaborate on.

Qin Man walked to the center of the court, carrying her racket.

After several games, Qin Man was once again thoroughly defeated.

But this time she was very calm, even somewhat relaxed.

The coach assumed she was just upset and didn't say much, but pointed out that the two opponents had a much bigger problem.

"Jiang Xuchi, can't you and Pei Shiyu have some teamwork? Don't try to take the ball when it's Pei Shiyu's turn. How can she practice if you keep taking it?" The coach, hands on his hips, gave Jiang Xuchi a stern lecture across the net.

The coach went on to discuss several issues, then pointed at Pei Shiyu with his paddle, "You need to be a little more quick-witted. If Qin Man were in your position, she wouldn't have missed that ball."

When she said the last part, Pei Shiyu looked up at her.

At that moment, Qin Man was squatting down to tie her shoelaces when she felt something glaring in her peripheral vision. She looked up and met Pei Shiyu's gaze.

The resentment hidden in her gaze vanished in an instant; when you looked again, you only saw her with her eyebrows curved and a faint smile.

Qin Man slowly tied her shoelaces and stood up.

Jiang Xuchi responded calmly, "I understand."

"You need to practice more with Pei Shiyu and communicate more. You are a transfer student and you are relatively unfamiliar with each other, but you can't always rely on the girl to accommodate you."

His tone remained emotionless as he simply said, "Okay."

After that, every evening after school, Qin Man would see Pei Shiyu carrying a tennis racket bag to the podium, calling Jiang Xuchi's name in front of the students, asking him to practice together.

Jiang Xuchi never wasted a word. Every time she called him, he would pick up his bag and walk forward, whether he was doing homework or playing cards with others.

They all say that Jiang Xuchi seems unapproachable, but he is genuinely kind to Pei Shiyu.

Qin Man was puzzled.

Is this what you call a good performance?

Jiang Xuchi and Pei Shiyu visibly became more familiar with each other, and the two gradually started going in and out together.

Originally, it was just Jiang Xuchi and Xi Yue going to the cafeteria together, but later Pei Shiyu and a few other girls joined them. Every noon, their class would make a big fuss as they headed to the cafeteria.

Qin Man and the others didn't like eating in the cafeteria, so they rarely interacted with them.

That noon, Qin Man, who rarely comes to the cafeteria to order food, noticed Jiang Xuchi at the next table as she put down her tray.

He sat there alone; everyone else had disappeared.

Qin Man was about to sit down and eat slowly when she caught Jiang Xuchi glancing at her from the corner of her eye.

Without saying a word, Qin Man picked up her plate and sat down opposite him.

"Jiang Xuchi," she began, "are you planning to never forgive me?"

Qin Man had only one reason for coming to the cafeteria today: Jiang Xuchi had messaged her, asking her to come over. Qin Man could have easily ignored his nonsensical message, but Jiang Xuchi kept sending messages:

Your father has already fled. Huike will declare bankruptcy in a few months. And Xilai's students are always opportunistic.

Imagine if you went bankrupt one day. How would your classmates, who have always been kind and tolerant of your personality, treat you then?

If you're not afraid I'll tell others, then continue ignoring me.

As Qin Man read these messages, her knuckles turned white as she gripped her phone, and she almost wanted to smash it.

She had been proud since childhood and would never accept being looked down upon or ridiculed by her classmates.

If Jiang Xuchi hadn't transferred here, it would have been fine. She could have continued to pretend, since most of the people at the school weren't close to her, and she could keep up the act until she graduated.

But then Jiang Xuchi transferred back to his school!

Qin Man was furious inside, but she stared straight at Jiang Xuchi without showing any emotion. She wanted to control her expression and not appear so embarrassed.

Jiang Xuchi's expression was very lazy.

He wasn't wearing a hat, and stray hairs brushed against his eyes, vaguely revealing a small scar on his forehead.

Some say that perfect things are boring, while things with a few flaws are more attractive, and Jiang Xuchi's face proves this point.

“As long as you listen to me from now on, I won’t tell them.” His voice was low.