Chapter 38 Is a Storm Brewing?

As Lian Yi and Xu Qingyao walked into the classroom one after the other, she could clearly feel the heads buried in their books lifting up one after another.

Then, curious gazes peered through the gap.

The classroom, which was originally filled only with the rustling of writing and the sound of turning pages, was now filled with a lot of restless noise.

Lian Yi walked to her seat, glanced at Xie Ling who was sitting upright with his head down writing something, and then looked at the paper in front of him. She clicked her tongue in her heart, thinking that the academic genius really knew how to put people down.

While everyone else was studying hard for their final exams, he was looking at advanced mathematics textbooks.

"I brought you milk and a small cake." Lian Yi opened her small backpack and took out a glass bottle of unlabeled milk, as well as a small, exquisitely packaged box that was also unlabeled.

She sat down slightly closer and, without waiting for Xie Ling to react, stuffed two items into his desk.

Although it's the break between the second and third periods, it's practically the same as class time. Everyone is diligently reviewing and practicing problems, and the only sound in the classroom is a faint, barely audible hum.

Xie Ling stopped writing, her clear voice lowered, "I don't need it."

"I didn't bring it because you needed it." Lian Yi grabbed his hand as he reached into the desk drawer to take something out, firmly pressing and squeezing his hand.

She didn't think too much about it; she was just having a novel experience with this different touch. Just as she was about to continue speaking, Xie Ling suddenly pulled her hand away as if she had been burned.

Xie Ling turned her gaze to the side and lowered her voice, saying, "Lian Yi, could you please not be like this..."

The strange feeling lingered where Lian Yi had held my hand, refusing to fade away.

The delicate, soft touch, carrying her body heat, made Xie Ling inexplicably want to clench her fist to suppress the itch that was spreading between her palms and fingertips.

Lian Yi let out a soft "ah" in confusion, and only after seeing Xie Ling's seemingly translucent earlobes flushed red did she belatedly realize what was happening.

She immediately became interested, placed her hands on the desk, leaned her head down, and stared at Xie Ling without giving him a chance to look away.

Are you shy?

"...I just want to tell you to take your things back, keep quiet, study hard, don't bother me, and don't affect yourself."

"But I'm pursuing you. When you're pursuing someone, don't you usually send them drinks and desserts to show your feelings?"

"Well, thank you for your kindness, but I don't need it," Xie Ling said softly in refusal.

"oh--"

Lian Yi rested her chin on her arm, a faint smile in her eyes, and said slowly, "If you don't accept it, I'll tell the classmates that you touched my hand just now and blushed."

Xie Ling looked somewhat surprised. He turned his head to look at Lian Yi, who blinked innocently.

"Lian Yi, can't you be reasonable?"

"No way, is this the first time you've met me?" Lian Yi paused slightly as she spoke, then couldn't help but yawn, her hands half-buried in her arms.

Not only did I get up early, but I also had to make empty promises to two people in a row. It was a really busy morning.

She said somewhat impatiently, "The cake might not look very appealing, but it tastes great. The cream melts very easily, so you'd better eat it before class. If I wake up and find you haven't eaten it, I'll..."

The classroom was warm and cozy, with various white noises to help her sleep, so she simply stopped thinking and dozed off.

When pursuing someone, you have to have the right attitude. Even though she doesn't like milk, just grabbed the cake, and forgot to bring her little backpack along the way, she was still very sincere.

She said she fell asleep easily, looking relaxed and without any pressure.

Xie Ling felt somewhat helpless, but also had an indescribable feeling in her heart.

He lowered his eyes, and the characters on the pages seemed to suddenly lose their appeal, making it difficult for him to concentrate.

To save time and money, Xie Ling hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. His gaze unconsciously fell on Lian Yi's seemingly unguarded sleeping face—or perhaps it was just his imagination.

Lian Yi always noticed his shortcomings and expressed her concern in this almost forceful way.

Xie Ling pursed her lips, restraining herself from thinking any further.

He eventually took out the square box from the drawer and opened it. Just as Lian Yi had said, the cake, about the size of a palm, looked really bad.

The cream on the round cake had smeared into a mess, and a few pieces of strawberry pulp had rolled to the bottom, but because it was wrapped in a transparent plastic sheet, it was still relatively intact.

Xie Ling looked slightly taken aback, her gaze drifting absently to the small, not-so-pretty cake that exuded a sweet, creamy aroma.

Did she do it herself?

Xie Ling's rationality told him that if he wanted to refuse, he should pack the cake box now. Even if Lian Yi would throw a tantrum and do some unreasonable things, some things should never have started in the first place.

But this rational thought fell silent when he saw the open cake box.

A beginning that shouldn't have been started was already begun the moment it was opened.

"...Holy crap, Xie Ling really ate what Lian Yi gave him!"

"Help! I always thought Xie Ling and Xu Qingyao were a couple!"

"How could Xie Cao not escape Lian Yi's clutches? He's crying."

The students around them seemed to be engrossed in doing practice problems, buried in their books, but their eyes and ears were focused intently on what was happening in front of them.

Until they saw that upright figure make a move, they were instantly shocked and their eyes widened, their voices lowered to whispers.

Even worse, some people, disregarding the risk of being arrested by the teacher at any moment, immediately pull out their phones to quickly share the latest gossip.

In the monotonous routine of daily life, ambiguous topics involving puppy love and those related to popular figures on campus obviously arouse everyone's curiosity to a great extent.

Unlike previous instances where there were reasonable and justifiable reasons for appearing together in the same frame.

Over the past two years, not a few people have confessed their feelings to Xie Ling. Some have quietly sent love letters and gifts, while others have openly, confidently, and boldly expressed their love. However, Xie Ling has always rejected them decisively.

Although Xie Ling gives people the impression of being unapproachable and aloof.

However, people's actual impression of him is that he is easy to talk to, willing to answer questions patiently, and so on. Whenever there are activities on campus, people often ask him for help, and he is almost never refused.

Therefore, it's as if he truly became an unattainable beauty in everyone's hearts, someone to admire from afar, but no one could possess him.

And what about Lian Yi?

Poor grades and an even worse temper—the various rumors surrounding her have left people with the impression that even a dog passing by would get kicked by her.

Everyone who heard that Xie Ling had eaten the things Lian Yi had given him was shocked and speechless.

It's absolutely stunning from any angle.

The surrounding commotion seemed to be escalating.

Xie Ling noticed it, but didn't realize that the commotion in the classroom was all caused by him.

He put the last bite of the cream-covered cake into his mouth, then closed the cake box again and put it back in the drawer. Suddenly, as if sensing something, his gaze shifted to the side.

The girl, who should have been asleep with her head resting on his arm, had opened her eyes and was looking at him. There were faint shadows in her eyes, but against the background of these shadows...

His calm and composed expression was reflected in her eyes.

"...You're not asleep?" Xie Ling felt a sudden, inexplicable panic.

"Please, how can anyone sleep with this much noise? On the contrary, I saw you." Lian Yi smiled, her eyes narrowed, with a wicked air of triumph, like a smug fox.

"Teacher Xie is really saying one thing and meaning another."

"Since you like it, I'll bring you some more tomorrow."

"No need." Xie Ling withdrew her gaze, lowered her face slightly, and looked intently at the pages of the book on the table. Beneath her black hair, her long neck between her collar and her hairline was slender, and the slight movement of her Adam's apple seemed to carry a hint of helplessness.

Lian Yi smiled, completely unconcerned by the other party's cold attitude.

She noticed the gazes peeking out from behind Xie Ling from the side, hidden by the pile of books. She frowned, narrowed her eyes, and looked over threateningly.

These scrutinizing gazes quickly subsided.

It wasn't until the bell rang for the end of the last class in the morning that the whole school came alive with a lively, bustling atmosphere.

This time, Lian Yi was too lazy to make excuses to get Xie Ling to eat with her in the cafeteria. She stood up and simply waved her hand in front of his eyes, saying confidently, "Come on, let's go eat."

Xie Ling lowered her eyes resignedly. She didn't keep Lian Yi waiting for long. She tidied up the things on the table a little, then got up and walked out of the classroom with her.

As soon as the two left, the noise in the classroom instantly increased.

Even more, some students crossed several desks and gathered around Xu Qingyao's desk, where she was writing with her head down.

"...What are you doing?" Xu Qingyao closed the notebook containing the mind map. Although her classmates might not be able to understand it, she still maintained the necessary caution.

Looking at the several girls she had interacted with and who she could call acquaintances, Xu Qingyao's eyes were full of confusion.

"Qingyao!"

Everyone looked on with curiosity and excitement, but after standing there for a while, no one spoke first. Finally, a short-haired girl lowered her voice, leaned closer to her, and asked mysteriously, "Is Lian Yi with Xie Ling?"

"...?"

Xu Qingyao looked bewildered; her already overloaded brain didn't quite catch on for a moment.

She was initially startled by this statement, but quickly realized that these classmates were prone to spreading rumors based on hearsay, and would spread unsubstantiated stories whenever two people of the opposite sex got close to each other.

Although Xu Qingyao was somewhat annoyed that Xie Ling was not worthy of Lian Yi's attention, she also knew that Lian Yi only regarded this as a new toy that she had just acquired.

If Lian Yi had even a little understanding of love and romance, Xie Ling wouldn't have had a chance.

But it wouldn't be good to deny it directly, since Lian Yi was still playing around. Thinking of this, Xu Qingyao carefully considered her words, "I'm not too sure either. I've been studying for my final exams recently, so I haven't been paying much attention to other things."

"……oh."

They all exclaimed "Oh!" in unison, but their faces were filled with disbelief.

"Qingyao, you and Xie Ling used to be quite close, didn't you?" someone whispered. "Be careful, what if Lian Yi makes things difficult for you again because of this?"

"Yeah... But we're all in the same class, so Qingyao, you don't need to worry too much. No matter what happens, we'll all be on your side."

"What do you do after school?"

Someone whispered, "I heard that there was a boy in the first year of high school who accidentally splashed water on her clothes when he came out of the toilet, and she had someone ambush him after school."

"I've heard about this too. It's about Gao Xianren, right? His brother is quite famous at No. 9 Middle School, but he didn't dare to say a word after being beaten up."

Xu Qingyao was surrounded by several male and female classmates, her expression shifting from confusion to shock and then back to bewilderment.

"Um... it seems you've misunderstood something quite a bit," she tried to explain.

"If all else fails, can we talk to Xie Ling?"

"I really don't know why he's with Lian Yi. Was he being threatened? Ah—"

"No, Lian Yi is a very nice person, you've really misunderstood." Xu Qingyao was already very angry, her fingers tightening slightly as she frowned and said, "Can you please stop making such malicious assumptions about her?"

"Um……"

The passionate discussion, with its back-and-forth banter, abruptly ceased with her soft, slightly angry voice.

"Hey, we all understand."

They looked at Xu Qingyao with some sympathy and understanding. In fact, everyone knew that her parents were working for Lian Yi's family.

However, because Xu Qingyao was academically excellent and had an approachable personality, although there were some rumors about her at first, they all inexplicably faded away in the end. After that, many people witnessed the scene of the excellent student Xu being bossed around by Lian Yi.

So he sympathized with her, but felt increasingly indignant towards Lian Yi.

Seeing their behavior, Xu Qingyao's eyes turned cold, and she simply picked up her notebook and got up to leave. She could finally understand why Lian Yi usually didn't care about the distorted voices and opinions from the outside world.

"Actually, if I were Xu Qingyao, I wouldn't be able to do anything either," someone sighed empathetically as they watched her leave.

"Sigh." They firmly believed what they had seen, shaking their heads and sighing with pity.

…

…

As this scene unfolded in the classroom, dramatically, Lian Yi was also stopped by someone on her way to the cafeteria with Xie Ling.

"Lianyi".

The girl with a ponytail, her face cold and slightly angry, hurriedly caught up with her, stopped in front of her, and called out her name in a loud voice.

Lian Yi's smile hadn't faded, but a hint of impatience had already surfaced in her eyes.

As the girl called out to Lian Yi, she glanced quickly at Xie Ling beside her, then met Lian Yi's gaze without flinching. "I'd like to talk to you about something alone. Would it be convenient for you to come over there with me?"

"It's inconvenient. Can't you see I'm going to eat?" Lian Yi found it somewhat amusing and clicked her tongue lightly.

The girl seemed to have ill intentions, but she didn't know why and had no interest in finding out.

But her attitude really surprised Lian Yi.

Xie Ling frowned slightly. He could tell that the girl's attitude was somewhat directed at Lian Yi. Regardless of his reasons, he still spoke up.

"Is this Zhao Yannan? I wonder what brings you to Lian Yi?"

His distant question made Zhao Yannan's imposing aura involuntarily weaken a bit. She didn't look at Xie Ling, but stared at Lian Yi and said, "It's a private matter, um... I believe that classmate Lian Yi wouldn't want you to know."

"ha."

Lian Yi raised an eyebrow, intrigued, and said, "I really don't know what I have that I can't let others know. Tell me about it."

If she weren't in a pretty good mood right now, she wouldn't have been so patient.

"Lian Yi, once you've done something, don't think you won't be discovered." Zhao Yannan pursed her lips, glaring at her unhappily. Lian Yi's reaction was arrogantly irritating in her eyes.

"..."

Xie Ling frowned and looked at Lian Yi, "Should I go ahead and wait for you?"

Seeing that Zhao Yannan seemed genuinely serious, he realized that this was Lian Yi's private matter, so he took the initiative to make room for them to talk.

Lian Yi glanced at him without saying a word, then turned her gaze to the girl named Zhao Yannan.

"Tell me, what did I do that made you come here to interrogate me?"

Zhao Yannan waited until Xie Ling had walked a little further away, watching his figure standing and waiting. Then she slowly withdrew her gaze and said to Lian Yi, word by word, "I hope you break up with Xie Ling."

"Huh?" Lian Yi was genuinely surprised this time, and found it amusing.

“Someone like you doesn’t deserve to be with him. You’ll only drag him down. If you had any self-awareness, you would know what to do.” Zhao Yannan’s face was filled with disgust.

"Someone like me?" Lian Yi scoffed, looking at her with a mocking gaze, completely baffled as to what she was trying to express with this whole charade.

Instead, she became curious as to why Zhao Yannan thought she and Xie Ling were already together.

Why didn't you tell me about something this big sooner? You should have at least informed her first.

“If you knew what kind of person I am, you would understand even better why you speak to me with this attitude.” Lian Yi’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “Instead of worrying about whether Xie Ling will be dragged down, you should worry about your own situation first.”

"You!" Zhao Yannan glared at her angrily.

"I'll give you one more chance to speak properly, stop playing games." Lian Yi took a step forward, smiling as she met her gaze, her clear voice slightly cold, "I really don't have much patience, you know."

Zhao Yannan gritted her teeth slightly, staring at her defiantly, "Fine, do you want a reason?"

"...You haven't forgotten about the Qinghe Club so easily, have you?"

Qinghe Club?

Lian Yi narrowed her eyes slightly. Of course she remembered. It was just a place she often went to with her friends. It was also in that place that she first met Xie Ling.

A lot has happened here, but not little either; who knows which incident she's referring to?

"What, did I bully you at the club?" She chuckled lightly, her eyes nonchalant.

Zhao Yannan stared at her in disbelief, shocked by Lian Yi's shamelessness, and angrily said, "Song Qiqi, can you remember now?!"

"Oh, her." Lian Yi didn't really recognize the name. After thinking for a while, she found the memory in a corner of her mind. She was the girl who was half-coaxed and half-forced to go to Qinghe by those good-for-nothing playboys.

"Back then, it was you who arranged for Qiqi to be taken to Qinghe by Cai Dongming and Li Zhou, am I right?"

Zhao Yannan raised her voice slightly, attracting the attention of passing students, but she ignored them and said, "Because you know Xie Ling is working part-time there, you deliberately arranged this scene, knowing that Xie Ling is kind and will definitely help Qiqi."

"You were able to be with Xie Ling because you used these schemes and tricks."

"Otherwise, why would he like you?"

Zhao Yannan was holding back her anger, not only because she had once liked Xie Ling, but also because she felt indignant on behalf of her friend.

Some time ago, she noticed that Song Qiqi's emotions were very strange. She always seemed to be deep in thought and fearful, and even her monthly exam scores dropped by many places.

After repeated questioning, Song Qiqi broke down and cried in her arms. Only then did Zhao Yannan realize that her best friend was actually the person involved in the club incident that had been circulating privately at school recently.

But she refused to say why she was taken to the club by those people.

They simply told Zhao Yannan that they hadn't had time to do anything yet, because when they saw that the person who came in to deliver the wine was Xie Ling, they all shifted their attention.

Finally, Lian Yi happened to pass by and saw what happened, so she stepped in to help her, as well as Xie Ling, who was being maliciously humiliated by Cai Dongming and others.

Zhao Yannan realized that Song Qiqi was obviously hiding some of the facts. Why would someone like Lian Yi help her and Xie Ling for no reason? She was also shocked that Xie Ling, who was academically excellent, aloof and upright, was actually working part-time at the club.

She wanted to ask more, but Song Qiqi seemed still shaken and begged her not to ask any more questions, so she had no choice but to give up.

This morning, she saw Song Qiqi secretly looking at her phone, her expression a mixture of shock and something else. Curious, she asked her what she was seeing.

Song Qiqi casually handed her the phone from under the table and whispered, "Everyone's saying that Xie Ling and Lian Yi are together."

Zhao Yannan even saw a very blurry photo, which didn't even capture the two people in their entirety.

The scene where Xie Ling turned her head slightly to look down at Lian Yi, who was lying on the table, unexpectedly gained a lot of atmosphere due to the blurry pixels.

Zhao Yannan felt a buzzing in her head, and in an instant, she felt that she had figured out the truth of the matter clearly.

"Ha, are you done?" Lian Yi crossed her arms and smiled leisurely. "You have quite the imagination, but I'm more curious about something: does Song Qiqi know you came to me to talk about these things?"

She glanced at the people coming and going around her, even though the students were instinctively avoiding her.

Hearing Lian Yi say this, Zhao Yannan became even more certain of her guess.

Song Qiqi naturally disagreed with her coming to see Lian Yi. After Lian Yi stated her logically clear conjecture about the truth, she kept denying that things were not like that, but she hesitated and refused to say what really happened.

“Qiqi is afraid of you, but I don’t think you have anything to be afraid of.” Zhao Yannan said righteously, “You know what you’ve done. If you don’t take the initiative to break up with Xie Ling and apologize to Qiqi, then I will tell the school what you’ve done.”

Lian Yi glanced at Zhao Yannan speechlessly and scoffed, "Whatever."

"Even if all the classmates find out, you don't care, do you?" Seeing that she was about to leave, Zhao Yannan gritted her teeth and said, unable to control her voice.

"Of course I don't care."

Lian Yi chuckled, feeling puzzled. "The one who's really concerned is your good friend. She probably never expected that her good friend would be so righteous as to use an experience she didn't want everyone to scrutinize as leverage to blackmail me."

"Don't you realize how much of an impact this could have on her if word got out?"

"Actually, you might as well be more open and say what you really think. If you like Xie Ling, just go after her. I won't stop you. But threatening me with other people's privacy, do you really think you're so righteous?"

Lian Yi paused, then smiled and said earnestly, "Actually, what I wanted to say was, are you alright?"

Zhao Yannan was furious. She didn't think she had done anything wrong. Why didn't Song Qiqi dare to speak up? Wasn't it because she was afraid that Lian Yi would retaliate?

But on what grounds?

Why should Lian Yi be allowed to use such scheming and vicious methods and still get what she wants without any scruples?

"Is it because of this that you act so recklessly?" Zhao Yannan's eyes turned red with anger, and she felt that Lian Yi was shameless even more. "Xie Ling... don't bring up things like liking or disliking, distort my original intentions, and smear me."

"Zhao... Zhao Yannan, right?"

Lian Yi had lost all interest in communicating with her. "What does this have to do with you in the end? I suggest you get a checkup when you have time. I feel like you might really have some mental issues."

"This is my kindest advice, and it is absolutely free of personal emotion."

After she finished speaking, she ignored Zhao Yannan's expression and walked straight past her towards Xie Ling, who was waiting not far away.

Watching their retreating figures, Zhao Yannan felt both angry and resentful. If she hadn't guessed the truth, why didn't Lian Yi dare to confront her? She clearly had something to hide.

"Nannan!"

Song Qiqi rushed over from the direction of the teaching building, almost out of breath, and it took her a long time to catch her breath.

She had just seen Zhao Yannan and Lian Yi talking face to face on the second floor. There was a clear tension between them. She remembered what her best friend had said that morning and suddenly felt a headache coming on. She was so scared that she ran over quickly.

“You…” Song Qiqi took a deep breath. “What did you just say to Lian Yi? I’ve told you many times that what happened back then really had nothing to do with Lian Yi. She didn’t need to do that.”

It's even less likely that Cai Dongming and his group would transfer to a third-rate private middle school with terrible conditions to help Lian Yi do such a thing.

Moreover, Song Qiqi clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm.

The reason she went to Qinghe Club was because she was caught up in what she thought was a passionate relationship with Cai Dongming and wanted her boyfriend to take her to see the world. That's why she changed the date location from another karaoke bar at the last minute.

"Qiqi, I didn't say anything to her." Zhao Yannan calmed down and looked at Song Qiqi, who was covered in sweat in this weather, and her expression turned serious.

"Don't worry, I know you're afraid she'll be angry, so I just asked her if she's really with Xie Ling."

Song Qiqi breathed a sigh of relief and complained, "You really scared me to death, but you're so brave. Did you really just ask directly? What did Lian Yi say?"

“She said a couple of things to me.” Zhao Yannan lowered her eyes. “But it seems to be true. Xie Ling and she seem quite close.”

"Sigh..."

Song Qiqi knew that she had a crush on Xie Ling for a while, but to be honest, with a boy like Xie Ling's looks, even without the halo of being a top student, who wouldn't have a bit of a crush on him?

Previously, quite a few girls from other schools even came specifically to see him.

But most unrequited loves end without a trace. Relieved, Song Qiqi comforted Zhao Yannan, "If you ask me, Xie Ling and Lian Yi are actually a good match..."

Before she could finish her sentence, "We actually have quite a few misunderstandings about Lian Yi," she fell silent under the intense gaze of Zhao Yannan, whose eyes were red with anger.

"……What’s wrong with you?"

"It's nothing, I'm just a little sad." Zhao Yannan rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Qiqi, I know you've been hiding a lot from me, but it's okay, everything will pass."

She wouldn't let Lian Yi do as she pleased.

Song Qiqi's face darkened at her words, then she forced a smile, "Yes, it will all pass."

"Don't think too much about it. Come on, let's go to the cafeteria for lunch. It's on me!"

She was so close to truly believing that her life was about to plunge into darkness, but thankfully, she was lucky.

With a light sway of her youthful ponytail, Song Qiqi smiled and pulled the silent Zhao Yannan along the route Lian Yi and Xie Ling had taken, heading step by step toward the cafeteria.

…

Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Lian Yi took out her meal card, slapped it onto Xie Ling's hand, raised her chin, and said generously, "Swipe my card."

“…Tell me what you want to eat this time.” Xie Ling caught the meal card that was about to fall to the ground without saying no. He was already used to this way of getting along with Lian Yi.

Refusal often only spurs Lian Yi to come up with more bizarre and troublesome methods.

"I don't know, just order whatever you like. I don't really like the food here anyway." Lian Yi wrinkled her nose as she smelled the various aromas of different dishes in the air. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. "I smell sweet and sour pork ribs. Order more of that."

"Okay." Xie Ling nodded and walked towards the window with her meal card.

He glanced back and saw that in the crowded cafeteria, Lian Yi had found an empty seat, put her hands in her pockets, and was already looking around at the people with some boredom.

Those students who were diligently eating were completely innocent. At first, they just looked up at each other in confusion, but then almost choked, silently looked away, and continued to eat more diligently.

Lian Yi, on the contrary, smiled mischievously, her eyes crinkling with a smug look.

"Hey, student! What would you like to eat?" the employee at the window called out twice.

"...One serving of sweet and sour pork ribs." Xie Ling ordered three meat dishes and two vegetable dishes. After the employee quickly read out the dishes he ordered, he was about to hand over his meal card when he paused slightly.

"Another serving of sweet and sour pork ribs, please."

"Hey, young man, how many classmates are eating here?" The employee took the meal card, swiped it, and then knocked on the glass partition to summon the unused chef next door.

Unlike the regular food service windows, there was hardly any queue at the stir-fry window. Soon, Xie Ling was carrying a tray in each hand and steadily walked to the seat occupied by Lian Yi.

After Xie Ling sat down, she unbuttoned her sleeves and rolled them up a bit.

Then he suddenly remembered that Lianyi's meal card was still with him, so he took it out of his pocket and handed it to her, saying, "Here's your meal card back."

Lian Yi took the meal card and moved all the dishes on her rice plate, except for the sweet and sour pork ribs, to Xie Ling's plate.

Looking at the mountain of food, Xie Ling's hand holding the chopsticks paused helplessly. Seeing Lian Yi's matter-of-fact expression, he lowered his head slightly to pick up some food and eat.

"Is what Zhao Yannan asked you about related to me?" It was out of basic politeness not to listen to their conversation, but while waiting, Xie Ling noticed that Zhao Yannan's gaze kept glancing at him.

His intuition told him that there might have been a subtle conflict between Zhao Yannan and Lian Yi at the time, which seemed to be related to him.

"Teacher Xie is quite narcissistic. Just because a girl is speaking, does it necessarily have to do with you?" Lian Yi slowly gnawed on the ribs. The school cafeteria didn't use the middle section of the ribs specifically for cooking, and some of the meat on the bones was only a thin layer, but she still gnawed on them with relish.

"That's not what I meant." Xie Ling was used to her way of speaking and didn't ask any further questions.

"She's standing up for her friend, saying I bullied her friend," Lian Yi said nonchalantly.

Xie Ling paused in her chopsticks, then frowned slightly. "Have you ever bullied her friend?"

"If I say no, would you believe me?" She asked casually, not expecting Xie Ling to answer, or rather, not expecting his answer to be one she would like to hear.

“Since she said it, she should bear the burden of proof,” Xie Ling said calmly. “Before this, I believe you haven’t done anything like this.”

"Ha." Lian Yi had a piece of pork rib in her mouth and made a muffled sound until her teeth deftly bit off the meat from the rib. She chewed on the meat that was stuck to the bone and coated with sweet and sour sauce, and a big smile appeared on her face.

"It seems my strategy of bribing people with milk cakes was quite correct."

Hearing her still nonsensical tone, Xie Ling didn't take it too seriously. He knew that Lian Yi could sometimes be misunderstood because of her words and actions.

Perhaps that girl felt the same way.

"Stop talking and eat properly first. You still need to finish the questions I gave you this afternoon." Xie Ling lowered her eyes and said, "Before school ends, I will give you a new test paper. If you are not at school during evening self-study, you can take it home to do."

"..."

Lian Yi suddenly quickened her chewing motions, staring at Xie Ling's face, which had been handsome and otherworldly just a second ago, but now appeared extremely mean, and chewed fiercely.

"Oh, thank you for your hard work, Teacher Xie!"

"You're welcome, it's what I should do."

Xie Ling's lips curved slightly, then she looked at the rice plate, which still had a little bit of food left after eating for a while, and frowned as she felt a little stuffed.

…

…

Tuesday, a day that seemed no different from any other.

Whether you're an office worker or a student, you have to wake up to the sound of your alarm clock at different times, turn it off with sleepy eyes, lament about who stole your sleep, and resignedly get up to wash up.

Some people are holding their phones, paying attention to the stock market, or checking whether their funds of a few hundred or a few thousand have been affected by the fluctuations today.

Some people hurriedly brushed their teeth, slung their backpacks over their shoulders, rushed out of the house, bought two steamed buns at random, and stood at the bus stop, munching on the buns while scrolling through their phones.

While most students at Wanghai were still lamenting about tomorrow's final exams and complaining that they hadn't had time to review, some people raised a different topic.

Do you guys remember that scandal from a while back where a girl from our school was taken to a club by several guys?

I know who that girl is.

Moreover, this whole affair was indeed instigated by Lian Yi.

[I'm telling you, please don't tell anyone... Do you know why Lian Yi did this? It's because the young lady is just making fun of people...]

…

…

At roughly the same time, Jingyun was experiencing a completely different kind of liveliness.

Qin Duo stood somewhat helplessly in front of Vice Principal He and the Dean of Students, calmly reporting the opinions from many students in the school over the past two days.

"...Many students heard rumors from somewhere and believed that the school and student union's decision was unfair and that Meng Er should not have replaced Tang Anru's program. Among them, 36 students protested by letter, 51 students protested through our school's official email channel, and several student union members also approached me privately to express their opinions."

Vice Principal He frowned. It was the day before the final exams, and there was less than a week left before the party. Why did this happen out of nowhere?

"This is absurd! Schools are places for teaching and nurturing students. How could they create hype for just one student?" the dean of students said in a deep voice. "Moreover, the invitation to Meng Er was issued by the student council itself. Why has it been spread like this?"

Qin Duo smiled slightly, "Yes, even though I clarified it in the name of the student council, and Tang Anru also explained it, but because of the special nature of Tang Anru's trip this time, we cannot tell you the reason directly for the time being."

"I think that's why students inevitably have doubts."

One was a student representative who was parachuted in and only made a brief appearance at the conference; the other was a goddess-like figure whom everyone had long admired.

It's obviously difficult to expect them to give up now.

The head of teaching scratched his forehead and said simply, "Then cancel Meng Er's performance and replace her with a backup, so that no one will have any objections."

"No," Vice Principal He was the first to express his disagreement.

"He Xiao..." The head of teaching frowned in displeasure.

“I think the students’ complaints about Meng Er are not solely due to this incident.” Vice Principal He shook his head. “Director Qiu, this is not the way to solve the problem, and it will only make Meng Er’s situation at our school more difficult in the future.”

Director Qiu found it absurd. "Then what should we do? Since when have we been so concerned about one student and ignored the thoughts of other students? Principal He, you know that if the students all have opinions, they will only take more extreme actions to protest."

"At that time, it will no longer be a question of Meng Er's situation."

If those students were pushed to the limit, they might even band together and refuse to attend the party altogether.

Vice Principal He glanced at Qin Duo, who had a faint smile on his face, and frowned slightly. "For now, let's ignore what's going on in the school. I'll talk to Meng Er and see what she thinks before making a decision."

"Yes." Qin Duo nodded slightly.

"Didn't Meng Er take leave?" Director Qiu said with dissatisfaction. "The final exams are just around the corner, and she promised to perform, so why is she still being so perfunctory?"

"He Xiao, she is a student you specially recruited. I think you should pay more attention to her upbringing so as not to affect Jingyun's image in the students' eyes."

"Yes, thank you for the reminder, Director Qiu." Vice Principal He's cold expression remained unchanged, as if he couldn't understand the implied meaning in his words.

After Qin Duo and Director Qiu left the office one after the other.

Vice Principal He lowered her head helplessly, rubbed her temples, and dialed the new number that Meng Er had temporarily given her yesterday.

The call took a while to connect, which made her frown even more.

However, after the call connected, the receiver was filled with a cacophony of screams and wails, as noisy as a marketplace, or even worse. A tidal wave of foreign languages ​​assaulted Vice Principal He's ears.

She suppressed her emotions and said in a deep voice, "Meng Er, find a quiet place, I have something to tell you... Where are you now, and what are you doing abroad all of a sudden?"

She finally asked the question she had wanted to ask Meng Er when she asked for leave.

A moment later, Meng Er's slightly hoarse, cool voice came through the receiver, and the noisy shouts and irrational screams were instantly blurred into background noise.

"Ah... Vice Principal He? It's nothing, it's just..."

Meng Er raised his eyelids and calmly looked at the screens on the exchange.

She just came here to casually assume the identity of a billionaire.

“Just here to see my teacher, you know, Mr. Teberney.” She chuckled softly, so fleetingly that it seemed like an illusion.

He then calmly asked, "Vice Principal He, is there something you need?"

"..."

Teberney?

Vice Principal He's hand, which was resting on the solid wood desk, suddenly moved, and his furrowed brows gradually relaxed. "I just wanted to remind you not to forget the final exams."

"OK."

Meng Er withdrew her gaze, stood up, and looked at the manager who appeared to be surrounded by many employees.

She calmly raised her hand to indicate that she was on the phone, and the other person nodded knowingly and waited patiently to the side.

"Thank you for reminding me, Vice Principal He. If there's nothing else, I'll go take care of my own business now."

Meng Er smiled slightly, "I'm also looking forward to the day I return to China."

"Hello, we have prepared a VIP trading room for you..." The manager bowed slightly, offering a professional smile. "Would you like it?"

"Of course." She put away her phone, the smile fading from her lips.

Her expression was calm, almost indifferent. Surrounded by them, she left the hall with composure and confidence, a place where countless people lay with bloodshot eyes, wailing in despair.