11/Rumors

Chen Mian gave all the money to Song Ai, and this way of repaying her made Song Ai smile immediately.

The woman, who had been looking gloomy, suddenly smiled brightly, "You're quite interesting."

Song Ai is not a typical stepmother. At least, her tone of voice is not like that of an elder. Eight out of ten residents in the building who have witnessed their relationship think that Song Ai is a typical vicious stepmother.

A dutiful stepdaughter meets a wicked stepmother; it's like a Snow White story unfolding before your eyes.

Ten thousand yuan was laid out on the table. Song Ai counted it once, without asking where it came from. She just looked at Chen Mian with her glamorous makeup on her face, the heavy foundation covering the bruises on her cheekbones.

"Not leaving yourself a single cent?" she asked Chen Mian.

"I can't keep him." Chen Mian's voice was very calm.

Song Ai was silent for a moment, then subconsciously reached for a cigarette. Chen Mian did not stay in the living room any longer.

In some ways, they have similar personalities; neither of them is good at saying nice things. Chen Mian has never said things like the children in other apartments in the hallway who whine to their parents that they want to go out and play. And Song Ai is not the kind of person other adults would ask if she has finished her homework.

They stood coldly within the confines of a victims' alliance, struggling to breathe.

Chen Mian heard Song Ai leave the house.

She took out her workbook from her bag, turned on the desk lamp, pulled out a chair, sat down at the table, and began to work on the problems.

When Chen Mian first entered high school, she was pretty and was pursued by many boys. Some were straightforward and boldly confessed their feelings to her, while others were shy and secretly put pink love letters and chocolates in her desk.

Zhao Lili once told her that she envied Chen Mian, feeling that Chen Mian's campus life was bright and cheerful, like the heroine in a campus novel, where people would turn around and look at her wherever she went, and she could be liked and loved, making her youth bright and cheerful.

The most romantic scene back then was when Zhao Lili dragged Chen Mian to the convenience store during break. When they came out of the building, a group of boys were standing by the railing on the second floor. Someone shouted Chen Mian's name, and Zhao Lili turned around and saw the boys pushing and shoving each other. The exaggerated cheers hid the budding crush of the boys.

Time slowly stretched from the first year of high school to the third year.

Chen Mian remained the center of attention, and new students still approached her to chat.

However, Chen Mian's consistently indifferent attitude made Zhao Lili change her mind.

The boy's love never ceased, and Chen Mian's pen never stopped.

She had never seen anyone before and was considered a model student who studied diligently by her teachers.

Zhao Lili said, "Mianmian, you are so awake."

Knowing clearly what I want, I resolutely pursue my goal without stopping for anyone or anything.

*

The next day at school, she had just sat down when her homeroom teacher called her out.

It wasn't time for morning self-study yet, and people were passing by in the corridor on their way to the toilet. They were all dazed and hadn't even opened their eyes.

Chen Mian followed her homeroom teacher to the office, where the teacher handed her a new registration form.

It is often said that the campus is the ivory tower of life.

But hidden within the ivory tower are unseen pyramids.

Just like how some rules actually vary from person to person.

For example, the school rules that say no cell phones are allowed actually mean that ordinary students are not allowed to bring cell phones.

The grade leader's words don't actually carry that much authority; a revoked competition qualification can be regained by someone else's words.

When Chen Mian came out with the registration form, she saw Qiao Zhiwan standing in the corridor, holding onto the railing and looking up at the sky. Hearing footsteps behind her, she smiled and turned around to say to Chen Mian, "Hello, my name is Qiao Zhiwan."

Qiao Zhiwan is a different type of girl from Chen Yin. She exudes gentleness from the inside out, and being with her is like a breath of fresh air.

Their class was upstairs from Chen Mian's class, on the fourth floor, and Qiao Zhiwan's class was on the sixth floor, but their art studios were in different teaching buildings.

Chen Mian thought Qiao Zhiwan was looking for her because of Shen Yu's matter, but it turned out not to be.

Qiao Zhiwan seemed to simply want to be friends with her. She chatted with her for a few minutes about the essay competition before going upstairs.

Lin Lin, who had just come out of the restroom, happened to see Qiao Zhiwan talking to Chen Mian. She walked up to Chen Mian warily and asked, "What does she want with you?"

Chen Mian thought for a moment and said, "We've all signed up for the essay competition."

"Didn't Chen Ke say you weren't going to participate?"

Chen Mian chuckled but didn't answer.

Lin Lin sighed and said to Chen Mian, "You don't understand Qiao Zhiwan. She seems gentle, but she's actually quite cunning. She doesn't have many friends, and Chen Yin and the others don't like to hang out with her."

Chen Mian glanced at her, remembering what Zhao Lili had said about Lin Lin infiltrating Shenyu's scheme, and asked her, "Are you hanging out with Chen Yin and the others?"

Chen Mian rarely cared about such trivial matters.

Lin Lin only had one close friend, Zhao Lili, and they only became familiar with each other after they changed seats.

At most, the two of them would help each other record data during PE class. Chen Mian wasn't interested in gossip, and the two of them couldn't find common ground in conversation.

Chen Mian's words now made Lin Lin somewhat dissatisfied.

She felt that Chen Mian was reminding her that she and Chen Yin were not on the same path.

Chen Yin and You Huai were good friends; the group consisted entirely of handsome men and beautiful women, making them a well-known clique on campus.

In terms of family background, Lin Lin can only be considered middle-class.

In terms of appearance, Lin Lin was merely pretty.

It was precisely because of these obvious mismatches that she was so sensitive, her thorns standing on end, and she subconsciously retorted, "Chen Yin and I have known each other for a long time. We were classmates when we entered high school and had a good relationship back then. Later, we were separated into different classes and didn't hang out much at school. Chen Yin and I have always been very close."

Chen Mian was too lazy to say anything more, so she nodded and said in a somewhat perfunctory tone, "I see."

That concludes the discussion.

Once inside the classroom, Zhao Lili noticed Lin Lin's unusual expression and whispered to Chen Mian, "Did you guys throw gunpowder outside?"

Then, realizing that Chen Mian wasn't the type to hold a grudge against Zhao Lili, she pointed to two tables that were far apart and shared some gossip with Chen Mian.

"Things have been a bit turbulent up ahead lately. It seems Liu Junjie confessed his feelings to Lin Lin, but got rejected. That idiot Liu Junjie has a problem with his judgment of people. He can't even find the right approach when pursuing someone. If he were even slightly more familiar with Shen Yu and the others, Lin Lin wouldn't have rejected him so decisively."

It's also strange.

The name Shenyu usually appears quite frequently, but never as often as it did today.

The kiss from last night still felt like it was still on her lips, making Chen Mian feel a little uncomfortable. Even after real sex, she never felt this way the next day.

Somewhat dulled, I thought, no wonder everyone says the first kiss is important. The warmth of the body embracing and the exchange of saliva during a kiss are so entangling that it's impossible to clear your mind and separate yourself from it.

"Mianmian?"

Zhao Lili nudged her, "Are you listening?"

"What?" Chen Mian looked apologetic, her lips pursed, and she seemed innocent, like a little kitten trying to run into someone's arms. Her unaware cuteness was the most endearing quality.

Zhao Lili couldn't resist pinching her cheek and then snuggling over to hug her arm.

"You're so good at being cute, Mianmian~"

"..." Chen Mian, who had just been told last night that she didn't know how to act cute, was unusually bewildered.

Zhao Lili is a master at veer off-topic; she can steer the conversation back on track no matter how far it goes.

"What I was saying was that she's been hanging out with Chen Yin lately. Did she tell you not to hang out with Qiao Zhiwan anymore? I heard her say that Shen Yu drove Qiao Zhiwan home the other day, and I actually believed her. If I hadn't run into my old classmate on the way back, I wouldn't have known she was just making things up."

Zhao Lili felt that everyone around her was absolutely amazing.

First, there was a class monitor named Chen Ke.

He liked Chen Mian, but couldn't have her, so he went and reported her for bringing a cell phone.

Then there was Lin Lin, who sat in front of me.

She liked Shen Yu, but when she failed to win him over, she spread rumors everywhere.

She scratched her head with a hint of melancholy, her tone sounding rather confused, "Can't we all be normal? What are we all striving for?"

Shen Yuhua's reputation has been known for a long time.

There are all sorts of rumors about him, saying he changes girlfriends faster than clothes, and even more outrageous ones, like he gets someone pregnant and takes her to have an abortion.

These scandals alone could be made into a melodramatic novel.

Chen Mian opened her textbook and quietly answered Zhao Lili's question.

"You'll be fine when the countdown to the college entrance exam is thirty days."

At that time, no one had time to care about these romantic relationships anymore; the sadness of parting ways would be trapped under the heavy pressure of the college entrance examination.

No matter how popular a student is, they can't compete with the scores on the monthly exam papers.

Rumors don't stop with the wise; they only stop when they come into contact with events that affect us.

/

I couldn't resist taking a look at the story chapter.

If you like, could you leave a bead? If not, that's fine too. Asking for beads for this innocent storyline is a bit much (I'm quite self-aware).