Principal Lu understood her implied meaning, smiled awkwardly, and nodded in agreement, "Okay, okay."

After saying all this, Li Qingling turned and went upstairs.

At the corner of the stairs, the boy hid in a dark, sunless spot, his eyes following the girl's retreating figure as she went upstairs.

Watching her walk in the light, running up the stairs and jumping down them, every movement as graceful and beautiful as an elf, he felt for the first time that a beam of colorful light shone into his dark heart.

......

The arrival of Li Qingling and Li Qingtian quickly shocked the entire school. As soon as get out of class ended, children from other classes would rush to Li Qingling and Li Qingtian's classroom and stand at the window to watch them curiously.

Rumors said they looked like porcelain dolls, and were well-behaved and very polite. When they met the two girls, who were the same age, they found that it was all true, not just a rumor.

During the outdoor physical education class, Li Qingling changed into a white tracksuit, revealing her smooth and fair calves. In the sunlight, her skin seemed to glow and shone, making her instantly noticeable.

In a distant corner, a boy with a stern face sat alone in the shade, seemingly oblivious to the laughter and games around him. He wore custom-made headphones, and the music quickly drowned out the commotion on the playground.

But his gaze always followed Li Qingling cautiously.

Suddenly, the music in the boy's ears stopped abruptly. He turned around and found that his headphones had been snatched away and were being held up in his hand.

"Nie Yu, were you peeking at Li Qingling just now?" Nie Fansheng sneered, looking down at him.

"Give me back my headphones." Nie Yu didn't answer him, but simply spread her hands, wanting her things back.

Nie Fansheng raised an eyebrow with a cold smile. "If you want something, answer my question first."

Nie Yu remained silent, his cold face showing no anger, displeasure, or even the slightest extra expression.

"Heh, you won't talk? Why don't you dare to talk? Because you feel ashamed yourself, right? Nie Yu, do you even have the right to covet a rich young lady like Li Qingling? I'm warning you, she's someone you can't possibly be close to, and I won't allow you to look at her even once!"

Girls as dazzling as Li Qingling, as long as they exist, will attract many little boys to play with them, and Nie Fansheng is no exception.

"Give me back my things." No matter how much Nie Fansheng insulted him, Nie Yu remained indifferent, repeatedly telling him to return the things.

Nie Fansheng felt like he had punched cotton, and this sense of defeat infuriated him. He then transferred his pent-up anger to the headphones, throwing them forcefully away.

"You want it? Then go pick it up yourself!"

Nie Yu clenched his fists tightly, but ultimately remained silent. He walked to the broken headphones, squatted down to pick them up, and Nie Fansheng stomped on them hard.

Nie Yu frowned in pain, but gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound. The more silent he was, the harder Nie Fansheng stepped on him.

It wasn't until a teacher saw them and, worried about the negative impact of fighting in public, spoke up to stop them, saying, "What are you doing? You can't fight!"

This shout drew the attention of all the students on the playground to the two of them, including Li Qingling.

Seeing this, Nie Fansheng reluctantly withdrew his foot and whispered a warning in Nie Yu's ear, "You unlucky thing that nobody wants, if I find you peeking at Li Qingling again, I'll gouge your eyes out when I get home!"

After saying that, he walked away angrily.

Nie Yu raised his hand, which had been numb from being stepped on, and left the scene as if nothing had happened.

Li Qingling stood there, looking at Nie Yu's dusty clothes and lonely figure, and felt very puzzled.

"Why aren't any of you helping him? Can't you see that the boy is deliberately making things difficult for him?" She turned to question her classmates. Several classmates didn't say anything, shook their heads and walked away. A chubby girl who was secretly eating potato chips came over and began to explain to Li Qingling in a muffled voice.

“Ling’er, you’re new to our school, so you might not know the situation yet. The guy who got beaten up is named Nie Yu. He’s the jinx of our school. Nobody likes him. He’s always so cold and aloof, like we owe him money. On the first day of school, everyone happily chatted with him, but he ignored everyone. Everyone hates him and wishes he’d leave as soon as possible. Besides, the teachers and the principal don’t like him either. He has bad grades, often daydreams in class, never hands in his homework, always gets the lowest score on tests, and doesn’t like to participate in extracurricular activities. Many teachers say they can’t control him. My mommy said we should make friends with cheerful and academically excellent people. With him like this, it’s no wonder everyone dislikes him. He deserves it.”

"Yeah, yeah," another classmate chimed in, then quietly sidled up to the group and gossiped, "And I also heard he's an illegitimate child of a wealthy family. His mother and everyone who loved him died because of him. His father used to like him quite a bit, but ever since his mother and her family members all had misfortunes happening to them a few months after he was born, his father has really hated him. And, apparently, he even gouged out his uncle's eyes!"

"What? No way?"

"Aaaaaah, this is so scary! It's like listening to a horror story, it's terrifying!"

"I would never be friends with someone like that."

Listening to her classmates' comments, Li Qingling felt uneasy for some reason.

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