Chapter 45 The dust has settled, but not completely.

Thirty-six students, both boys and girls, were all wearing youthful and neat school uniforms with a sea view style.

Among them are many 'academic superstars' whom others have heard of and envied.

Or perhaps they were classmates or deskmates, maybe they had played around together, or maybe they had just nodded and greeted each other when they met.

Hundreds of eyes were fixed on them, watching them hang their heads like they had lost their parents as they went to receive the lawyer's letter, their gazes filled with nothing but contempt and disgust.

Until I saw Song Qiqi appear before me, and saw what she looked like.

Only then did they realize how those already excessive words had become knives, deeply embedded in Song Qiqi's body.

She almost died; she was driven to her death by those people's every single word.

And what about those people? Their future is their future, but isn't Song Qiqi's future also a future?

At this moment, when everyone looked at Lian Yi, who was standing alone in front of the long table, their gazes couldn't help but carry some complicated emotions.

They suddenly realized something very important: what if they were 'Song Qiqi' or 'Lian Yi' in this situation?

This question quietly surfaced in many people's minds, and the answer was soon found.

...

Lian Yi couldn't muster the energy to laugh, and watched listlessly as the group of people took away the lawyer's letter one by one.

Footsteps came from beside me and then stopped.

She couldn't be bothered to pay attention. Long ago, the matter had already been settled because of Song Qiqi's appearance, and Lian Yi instantly felt a sense of boredom.

Unfortunately, the head of the teaching department was very pragmatic and didn't continue arguing with her.

Xie Ling stood beside Lian Yi, maintaining a distance that was neither too close nor too far, her thin lips slightly pursed, looking somewhat hesitant.

"Did you already plan to stand up and make a statement at that time?" Although it was a question, Lian Yi's tone was firm.

"……Um."

Xie Ling hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

From the moment Lian Yi said those words to him, Xie Ling vaguely guessed some of Lian Yi's plans.

Lian Yi's philosophy differed from his from the beginning. She did not believe in the so-called "rumors stop with the wise," but rather believed in using the power she held to force those people to shut up.

Xie Ling figured it out the moment public opinion shifted.

He excelled academically from a young age, earning countless praises for his outstanding achievements that surpassed those of his peers.

During this process, Xie Ling did encounter slander, but he was able to ignore these people's voices only because the praise, admiration, and affirmation from his teachers drowned them out.

It wasn't until that moment that Xie Ling suddenly realized that she had never experienced the same misunderstanding and prejudice as Lian Yi, yet she had ridiculously made what she thought was the right decision.

So when Xie Ling guessed what Lian Yi might be going to do, her first thought was neither to stop him nor to persuade him.

He just didn't want to see Lian Yi face it alone.

"Are you sick?" Lian Yi glanced at him sideways, her anger finally finding an outlet.

"...I'm sorry." Xie Ling was taken aback by the unwarranted insult, then lowered her eyes with a hurt expression and pursed her lips.

Lian Yi scratched her head speechlessly, feeling inexplicably disconnected from him. She watched as the elaborate drama she had painstakingly built was abruptly brought to a close.

The key point is that many people still look at her with a strange gaze, a mixture of fear and gentle approval.

Fortunately, these people's attitudes weren't that important, otherwise Lian Yi would have really grabbed Xie Ling and given him a good beating, immediately turning their strange change of heart back on the spot.

"In the future, will we still be able to..." Xie Ling hadn't finished his sentence when the sound of the wheelchair turning came from afar, interrupting him.

Lian Yi's mood worsened when she saw Song Qiqi being pushed over.

On the left, the headmaster was rendered speechless by a rational argument; on the right, a group of people were crushed and shattered by an emotional one.

These two are really...

On the left and right, each single-handedly transformed her beautiful image of being unreasonable and unforgiving into a soaking water, making her radiate a subtle golden glow when she was pulled out.

Lian Yi snorted softly and turned her face away, not wanting to pay any attention to her.

When Song's mother saw Lian Yi's attitude, she was at a loss. In fact, when she came, her daughter had unconsciously held her hand and said a lot of things to her.

From Song Qiqi's somewhat incoherent words, Song's mother roughly pieced together an image of a proud but kind-hearted girl.

Seeing Lian Yi's reaction, she was momentarily worried that her daughter might be hurt by the other party's attitude.

"Lian Yi, thank you, and... I'm sorry." Song Qiqi's voice was very hoarse, and she spoke very softly when she said this.

His expression, however, was incredibly serious, making his sallow complexion seem to radiate a unique glow.

"I'm sorry that it took me until now to finally muster the courage to stand up and do what I should have done."

Lian Yi crossed her arms and glanced at her casually, as if she didn't care. "Did I ever say you were stupid?"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Song's mother looked at Lian Yi disapprovingly, frowned, and put her hand on Song Qiqi's shoulder.

Song Qiqi smiled, then her throat tightened, triggering a ticklish sensation. She coughed several times until her mother gently patted her, which calmed her down.

She nodded. "Yes, you said that a long time ago."

At that time, Song Qiqi was still trapped in the shadow of being deceived and hurt by her boyfriend whom she thought she loved. She was worried that he would use her reputation as leverage to blackmail her, and she lived in constant fear.

She even resented Lian Yi, thinking that Lian Yi could be so indifferent and proud only because her family was rich and no one dared to offend or bully her.

She was just an ordinary girl, and even though Lian Yi was capable, she refused to give her any help.

Thinking about these thoughts that now seem ridiculous and ugly, Song Qiqi's eyes dimmed slightly.

She forced a smile and looked at Lian Yi, "You've been protecting my reputation all along, but I just didn't understand. I thought you were too arrogant to care..."

“Even in the situation just now, you are unwilling to lay out the facts and let everyone know what kind of person I am in it.”

Even though they might misunderstand you and deepen their prejudice against you, you still did it.

As Lian Yi listened to her pouring out her heart, and especially noticed the increasingly obvious changes in the gazes of some people nearby, her slightly round eyes widened instantly.

"Song Qiqi, you'd better stop making things up." She gritted her teeth slightly, staring down at Song Qiqi, then gave a mocking laugh.

"Oh, I seem to have forgotten to tell you, your good friend Zhao Yannan should have been arrested by now, it's a bit of a pity, he can only be locked up for a few days at most."

Noticing that even Xie Ling's expression beside her had changed slightly, Lian Yi felt she had regained her composure and smiled with satisfaction.

Upon hearing this, Song's mother looked at her daughter with surprise.

She knew that Zhao Yannan was her daughter's very close friend, and for a moment she was a little confused about what was going on.

"...So it really is her?" Song Qiqi's gaze was somewhat unfocused, her face seemingly calm, but her tightly clenched, slightly trembling lips revealed her true feelings.

"Lian Yi, you're right, I was really too stupid."

Song Qiqi closed her eyes in pain and said in a hoarse voice, "Actually, I had already guessed it, but I just couldn't believe it. I kept trying to find reasons to explain and exonerate her, wanting to prove that these things had nothing to do with her."

"Little girl..."

While gently patting her daughter's back to comfort her, Song's mother looked at Lian Yi. Upon seeing the refined air that Lian Yi possessed, she subconsciously felt that the way she addressed her was somewhat inappropriate.

But she still forced herself to speak sincerely, saying, "My Qiqi is young and doesn't know what it's like when people are wicked, which is why things have turned out like this."

"I really want to thank you for taking such good care of her. I don't know much, but Qiqi never lies, based on what she's told me..."

Her eyes, surrounded by fine lines, were slightly moist. Looking at Lian Yi, she said gratefully, "If it weren't for your kindness, Qiqi would probably be... If you don't mind, if you have time, could your father and I treat you to a meal? We really need to thank you properly."

From their brief conversation, Song's mother finally understood why Lian Yi had said that to her daughter as soon as she came up.

I was already grateful to her, but now I felt even more ashamed.

"..."

Lian Yi lowered her eyebrows, and after a long while, she finally managed to utter a sentence, "I don't have time, I'm not eating."

Her expression, which should have been fierce, appeared completely devoid of any intimidation due to her delicate features.

She glanced at the lawyer's letters that were almost all collected and was already considering escaping. Otherwise, if she stayed any longer, the reputation she had built up over the years in Wanghai would be ruined in an instant.

Xie Ling stood aside and saw that Song's mother seemed a little embarrassed and hesitant, so she calmly said, "Auntie, Song Qiqi's body still needs to recover properly. There's no rush to express our gratitude. Please stay with her and help her get better first."

“…Yes, that makes sense.” Mother Song breathed a sigh of relief, finally understanding why her daughter had said that the elegant young girl in front of her was arrogant.

"Mind your own business!" Lian Yi said angrily, slapping Xie Ling's arm.

Xie Ling was taken aback when she was patted on the shoulder, but then her expression relaxed slightly, and she said "sorry" very naturally.

Lian Yi snorted coldly, looking down at Song Qiqi, "You don't need to be grateful to me. Whether you showed up or not made no difference to me."

"Someone is throwing mud at you, but you have to strip naked to prove you were originally clean. Why should you do that?"

"It's as if I need you to do this to solve things. Don't you think that's ridiculous?"

Lian Yi said with a hint of impatience, "Don't make decisions on your own like this in the future."

After she finished speaking, she didn't care how these people would react, and turned to leave.

Xie Ling glanced helplessly at Song's mother, whose expression was somewhat dazed, nodded politely in greeting, and then strode off to follow Lian Yi.

"This..." Song's mother hesitated, her tone somewhat awkward.

"Mom, don't misunderstand Lian Yi." Song Qiqi tilted her head slightly, her eyes still fixed on Lian Yi's retreating figure, and said softly, "She just... wanted me to be stronger."

In fact, Lian Yi is right. The one who is wrong is not her, nor is it her, but those people.

But she still doesn't regret laying bare those shameful past events in front of everyone today. If even she were to accept Lian Yi's protection with a clear conscience and choose to remain silent, it would be a different story.

How isolated and helpless must Lian Yi have felt?

"Mom, I already told you, don't think Lian Yi's words are unpleasant." Song Qiqi said to her mother in a hoarse voice, as if she were being coquettish. "She really is a very special person."

...

【picture】

【picture】

[Sure, Lian Xiaoyi, I thought you were going to teach them a lesson like before.]

It's funny, this morning a bunch of people were spouting conspiracy theories, and now a whole bunch of people are praising you.

[Old Pei and the others asked me to invite you out. Just so you know, they've already memorized all these compliments. For their safety, I'll try my best to persuade them not to do anything reckless.]

There's something else: someone in Wanghai is already using connections to put pressure on my mother.

[But you know my mom's personality. She just asked, "Are you trying to cover up a student's criminal activity?" and left the person speechless.]

Lian Yi got into the car and turned on her phone, and sure enough, she saw that Li Xilai had quickly sent her something that could cause her further harm.

The content in the picture is a chat log where Li Xilai's uncle's people were lurking in various group chats to intercept key information.

This left Lian Yi speechless.

It contains discussions about Xie Ling's debate with the head of teaching, as well as a lot of sympathy for Song Qiqi's experiences and current situation. It also tags out some people who have been following the trend in the group chat to confront them.

What frustrates her most and what she least wants to see is that more and more people are approving of her approach.

[In this whole affair, isn't Lian Yi the most innocent one? She kindly helped Song Qiqi, but because Song Qiqi was slandered, she inexplicably became the one being smeared. And to protect Song Qiqi's reputation, she remained silent. I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. Why should the person who spread the rumors have to prove they're innocent? If she has the ability to sue those idiots, I'd give her a standing ovation! An apology is enough to be forgiven? People who say things like that, stay away from me. I'm afraid my breath will burn a few relics out of you.]

Well said, but lacking a bit of aggression.

Am I the only one who thinks that Lianyi people are really nice...?

[This netizen, a self-proclaimed "sea dog" (a derogatory term for someone who enjoys a slang term for someone who enjoys a slang term for someone who is obsessed with the country), has to speak out. When I saw the young lady with a bunch of bodyguards and lawyers blocking the school gate, my inner thoughts were like: Holy crap? Holy crap! ...

[If you were there, you would know that what Lian Yi said was absolutely right, because there's no point in arguing with trash (here, trash doesn't include the head of the teaching department)].

[Ahem, does anyone have the young lady's contact information? I'd like to get to know her qaq]

【@Poetry and Culture?】

【@Poetry and Culture? ?】

…

…

Lian Yi gradually finished looking at the first picture with a blank expression, and lost interest in clicking on the second picture, which had been specially decorated with many heart effects.

This time it was her oversight.

Lian Yi's slightly round eyes were lowered, and even the corners of her eyes drooped listlessly.

She misjudged Xie Ling's pride and arrogance, which were not simply based on his excellence and perfection. His frankness in reflecting on his own ideas and the speed of his change were indeed beyond her expectations.

She also underestimated Song Qiqi's courage.

The girl was filled with anxiety, viewing those experiences as unbearable, worried that others would find out, and afraid that others would look at her with strange eyes and define her.

Thus, in this state of unease, these 'secrets' she tried so hard to hide became shackles, subtly leading her to accept that this was who she was.

Lian Yi couldn't quite describe her feelings.

Every day in the past, she looked at the people with names and surnames in the plot outline from inside this body, as if she were looking at puppets that seemed to have souls.

They have their own thoughts, joys and sorrows, greed or restraint, but they can't escape the development of the plot outline and do the same things they would do.

But Xie Ling and Song Qiqi made Lian Yi feel as if she were seeing two puppets breaking free of their taut strings.

"..."

"What are you doing here?" As soon as Lian Yi looked up, she saw Xie Ling, who had an upright demeanor, sitting opposite her, looking at her quietly with his cool and aloof eyes.

"In the classroom, you said..." Xie Ling pursed her thin lips, then changed the subject, "I just wanted to ask you, about the tutoring we agreed on... should we continue?"

"Heh, I get annoyed just looking at you now, what's the point of continuing?" Lian Yi said bluntly, her eyes narrowing slightly.

Xie Ling's eyes were somewhat dim; he didn't know why he had followed along and gotten into the car.

He felt a subtle joy welling up inside him when Lian Yi looked at him.

However, Xie Ling quickly missed this change in her mood because of her question.

He had a lot to say, but after Lian Yi spoke directly, his chaotic thoughts became like tangled yarn, impossible to unravel into a complete sentence.

"Xie Ling, you don't actually like me, do you?" Lian Yi asked suspiciously, noticing the change in his expression.

Lian Yi's eyes suddenly turned cold.

It's one thing to affect her early retirement, but are they trying to add more drama to her story?

Xie Ling was slightly taken aback, a suspicious blush creeping onto his usually cool face. His Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously, and his attempt to explain sounded a little rushed.

“I just…you said we’re at least friends, maybe I don’t deserve that…but I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

Looking at the bright, uneasy look in Lian Yi's amber eyes, Xie Ling couldn't tell whether those words were truly what he felt in his heart.

Lian Yi gave a soft snort, "That would be best."

She breathed a sigh of relief, and with this relaxation, she looked at Xie Ling's face again, barely managing to muster a little interest.

Just as he was about to take advantage of his 'friend's' guilt, the screen of his cell phone on the leather seat next to him suddenly lit up, showing an incoming call.

"Where are you now? Come back to the old house right away."

The call came from her father, who said one sentence and then hung up immediately, giving her no chance to refuse.

Lian Yi narrowed her eyes slightly, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.

The change in how others viewed her, while somewhat frustrating, ultimately carried little weight.

What Lian Yi wanted was the Lian family's reaction to this matter, and it seems that things are developing exactly as she expected.

Having come to this point, Lian Yi looked at Xie Ling, whose expression was suspicious and somewhat flustered, and suddenly smiled, as if she could add fuel to the fire.

"Xie Ling, we're friends, right?" she said with a smile. "Then as a friend, shouldn't you do me a favor?"

Even Lian Yi almost forgot that Xie Ling was her 'boyfriend' whom her parents had publicly acknowledged.

"...What do you need me to do?" Xie Ling looked at her smile and vaguely felt that Lian Yi was up to something.

but--

He sighed inwardly with a hint of helplessness, then said earnestly, "I will do my best."

...

Gyeongbuk is a city located in the north.

This city and Yunhai face each other from the south and north, respectively occupying the core economic positions in their respective directions.

Compared to the sea of ​​clouds that is merely a result of low temperatures, Gyeongbuk has been adorned with heavy snow for half a month, but this still cannot diminish the bustling vitality brought by the city's prosperity.

The city's unique historical heritage has given it a distinctive landscape where skyscrapers and ancient buildings coexist.

Dengke Lane in the city center is composed of a series of incredibly valuable courtyard houses. The ancient buildings covered in snow always make passersby feel as if they have traveled back in time to ancient times.

One of the five courtyards lies discreetly and unassumingly in the tranquil Dengke Lane.

The ancestral hall in the secluded courtyard was filled with the soft smoke of incense and the sound of chanting sutras. The chanting echoed softly in this ancestral hall that embodies the heritage of history.

Behind the offering table are rows of memorial tablets, seemingly standing there indifferently, receiving incense offerings from descendants. In the corner of the bottom row, one memorial tablet looks particularly new.

A young man stood tall and straight in front of the offering table.

His eyes, as warm and dark as ink beneath his black hair, were accentuated by two pale red beauty marks at the corners of his eyes, adding an indescribable charm to his already exquisite features.

Fortunately, the faint smile in his eyes and the upward curve of his lips gave him a gentle and refined look, which suppressed the bewitching aura that his appearance exuded.

"Young Master, this is, after all, a ritual performed for the Old Master..."

From the row of people behind me, someone hesitantly offered a reminder.

He ignored it as if he hadn't heard it, and simply inserted the three unworshipped incense sticks into the incense burner with one hand.

His smiling eyes held neither sorrow nor reverence, just as his slightly parted lips spoke.

"The old man's passing was a happy one, shouldn't we be happy for him?"

A joyous funeral...

The group of people dressed in black suits lowered their heads and dared not speak, even more afraid of revealing the slightest hint of what they were thinking.

Although the old man was already seventy years old, he had always been in good health and had never been known to have any illnesses. But then this young master, who had only been recognized two years ago, came...

"Didn't he love peace and quiet the most?"

The young man turned around and chuckled, "Remove these people from their positions. Don't disturb his peace down there."

"..."

"yes."

The crowd's faces were downcast, their eyes filled with horror, yet no one dared to utter a single dissenting opinion.

He looked at the ancestral hall, which had been slightly agitated before falling into a deathly silence. His gaze fell on the eaves outside, as if looking through the carved beams, painted rafters, and blue stone tiles into a distant direction.

"It's been so long, you've probably even forgotten how angry you were."

Her phoenix eyes were tinged with a helpless smile, which made even the two beauty marks at the corners of her eyes seem more vivid and radiant.