Chapter 28 She was overwhelmed by his gaze during the sweltering summer.
In the principal's office, Luo Yiqiu's father was yelling at them: "What kind of trouble are you causing at school? Do you even remember you're students?! Look at yourselves now!"
"Dad, we've already explained. It was clearly Tao Huchen who started this trouble!" she retorted, dissatisfied with her father's accusation.
"You have the nerve to say that? Didn't I say something to you? It's one thing to have minor squabbles, but to make such a big scene like this, aren't you ashamed?" Father Luo pointed at Tao Huchen, who was sitting next to him with bruises around his eyes and a bloodied face. "Even if there was some argument, you can't beat someone up like this! Who do you think you are? Some kind of petty thugs? You get angry and start hitting people!"
"Tch, I think you didn't hit me hard enough." Luo Yiqiu glanced at the other man following her father's movements, making a disdainful sound, but she didn't dare to say it out loud, and could only mutter it quietly.
The homeroom teachers of several classes stood to the side, looking at each other in bewilderment, not daring to utter a sound. Chen Wei glanced at his students and felt somewhat helpless.
In determining the nature of this matter, no matter how harsh Tao Huchen's words were, he is now the only one injured, making him the victim and everyone else appear to be in the wrong.
However, everyone has different judgments. Tao Huchen usually relies on his family's wealth and has often acted as a problem student at school. He would often talk back to teachers during class, and his disobedience caused many teachers a lot of headaches.
At this moment, Chen Wei was also struggling with how to say something for his three students. Just as he was in a dilemma, Lin Xiaqing, who had been standing to the side without saying a word since entering the principal's office, spoke up: "Principal, I was the one who hit the person, and it has nothing to do with anyone else."
Hearing his words about trying to distance himself from the other two, Shen Qingli suddenly looked up. She first noticed that his hand, hanging by the corner of his clothes, was scraped and red, looking painful. But Lin Xiaqing seemed oblivious, his expression remaining calm, completely different from the man who had rushed into the crowd without a care in the world.
She understood that Lin Xiaqing was afraid of implicating them, and was about to speak when Luo Yiqiu spoke up before she could, saying, "What do you mean it's not related? It's Tao Huchen who started this trouble. Even if Lin Xiaqing hit him, it's because he said some really nasty things!"
"Please, I'm the one who got hit, and you guys still think you're right?" Tao Huchen rolled his eyes when he heard this. He stared at his face, which was swollen to the brim, and said defiantly.
"you……"
"Are you sure you want to keep arguing?" Seeing that they were about to start arguing again, Mr. Luo suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his temples.
The two who had been yelled at immediately shut up. Tao Huchen looked at Luo Yiqiu, then glanced at Luo's father, and mustered his courage to say, "Uncle Luo, you can't be biased towards your daughter! I've been beaten like this, you have to give me an explanation!"
"Shut up too!"
"..." Finally, after being scolded, he finally lost his temper and shut up.
Seeing the atmosphere growing increasingly tense, Chen Wei stepped forward to try and mediate, "Principal, about this matter, I think..."
But before he could finish speaking, a large number of people rushed in through the door.
Hearing the sound at the door, everyone turned around. When Shen Qingli saw her parents looking at her with disappointed and angry eyes, she knew she was doomed. She hurriedly avoided her parents' gaze and dared not look at them.
Following closely behind were the men behind Shen Qingli's parents. The man was dressed in a suit and had a solemn face covered in wrinkles. He walked past Shen's parents without ceremony and went straight to Luo's father. When he saw it was him, Luo's father's expression softened slightly, and he greeted him, "Brother Lin, you're here."
"Hmm." The man nodded, then turned around, looked at Lin Xiaqing in front of him, and his face darkened.
Mr. Luo immediately realized what was going on and asked the teachers, students, and parents around him to leave first. He said, "I will give a result on this matter. Please wait for me outside for a moment."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xiaqing looked up and saw the man's expression. He stopped in his tracks and lowered his head, stiffening his back and remaining motionless. He knew very well what was about to happen.
Shen Qingli followed her parents out of the office, only to find that Shen Qingyun was already waiting for them at the door. She looked at her with concern and carefully checked her over inside and out, only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming that she was not injured.
Because of the teachers' arrival, the students who had been watching the show from the corridor had no choice but to reluctantly return to their classrooms.
Standing at the door of the principal's office, she turned around and realized that Lin Xiaqing, who was supposed to come out with her, was still standing there. Seeing this, she frowned and was about to speak when the door was closed from the inside.
Just as the door was about to be closed shut, Shen Qingli heard a crisp sound coming from inside.
With a "smack," she saw Lin Xiaqing's head turn to the side through the crack in the door. Her eyes widened in disbelief, and almost instinctively she reached out and pressed the doorknob to prevent the door from closing completely.
Her subconscious was telling her that she couldn't leave him alone inside, but another voice in her head kept warning her that Lin Xiaqing's affairs had nothing to do with her anymore. If she interfered, the other party might hate her even more, and she would definitely get another scolding.
But... Shen Qingli felt she couldn't care less about that right now. She lifted her foot and wanted to go back in, but before she could take another step, she met Lin Xiaqing's cold and resolute gaze.
He was shaking his head at her, the movement so subtle it was almost imperceptible, but Shen Qingli noticed it. She froze, stunned by his reaction, unsure of what to do.
The next second, someone covered her hand. Shen Qingli turned her head and saw that it was Luo Yiqiu. At this moment, Luo Yiqiu's face was also very ugly. But when she met her confused gaze, Luo Yiqiu didn't say anything. She just closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and used the strength in her hand to slam the door shut without mercy.
With a loud "bang," the door slammed shut. Shen Qingli didn't know if the others outside had noticed anything amiss, but the sound of the door closing made her heart ache.
Then, she watched as Luo Yiqiu withdrew her hand and said to her in a voice only the two of them could hear, "If you go in now, he will be beaten even worse."
One sentence completely relieved her. Upon hearing this, her already red eyes stung with tears again. She withdrew her hand helplessly, staring blankly at the dark blue iron gate in front of her.
She didn't know why Lin Xiaqing had ended up like this, but she was also devastated by his nonchalant expression after being beaten.
She could only bite her lip tightly, trying her best not to let the tears in her eyes fall.
Behind her, her parents were complaining about her.
"How could a girl like you cause such a scene at school? And who was that boy that person was talking about? You'd better explain yourself!"
In front of everyone, and under the watchful eyes of her classmates and several teachers, Shen's mother reprimanded her mercilessly, speaking so loudly that the entire classroom along the corridor could hear her.
Seeing his wife so angry, Mr. Shen felt a little embarrassed. After she finished speaking, he reached out and tugged at her, saying, "Alright, don't say these things at school..."
"What's wrong with saying these things? Does she dare to do them but not let others talk about them?" Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Shen's mother, who was clearly angry and started to speak recklessly: "Shen Qingli, your father and I could turn a blind eye to all the things you did at home before, but you are a high school student now, and you are being ambiguous with other boys at school. Don't you have any sense of shame as a girl?"
"I said I didn't!" Seeing that her mother's words were getting increasingly harsh, Lin Xiaqing, who had been feeling uneasy because of her worry, finally exploded. She couldn't help but turn around and yell at them, unable to control her emotions: "I've already said it. It was my sister who asked someone to bring me the notes. Zhao and I are just friends. There's nothing like the ambiguous relationship you're making up! Why do you always listen to what others say, but completely ignore what your own daughter says?"
No one had ever seen Shen Qingli lose her temper like this before, so everyone present was stunned. Even Tao Huchen stood beside his parents, not daring to say another word.
The teachers hesitated to speak, as they didn't want to comment on the students' family matters at this moment.
Seeing her younger sister trembling with anger, Shen Qingyun quickly stepped forward to comfort her. Luo Yiqiu also stood on the other side, grabbing Shen Qingli's wrist and telling her not to be so angry, as it would be bad for her health.
"I asked Zhao Yixiao to deliver these things. If you insist on blaming someone, then blame me!" She stood in front of Shen Qingli, determined to take the blame for her parents' anger.
When Shen's mother heard her eldest daughter say that, she immediately lost heart.
-
While it was noisy and chaotic outside, the office was unusually quiet.
Lin Xiaqing casually wiped her burning face, stood up straight again expressionlessly, and continued to await the judgment of the man in front of her.
Mr. Luo was stunned by what he saw. When he came to his senses, he quickly stopped him, saying, "Hey, Brother Lin, there's no need to hit the child."
"Unnecessary? Lin Xiaqing, I think you haven't grasped your current situation. Do you still think you're some country bumpkin? You represent the Lin family now! Don't behave like this." Ignoring Luo's father's advice, the man pointed at the man, who was half a head taller than him, and angrily shouted, "I don't care what you do normally, but you're my son now! So you'd better behave yourself in public, or you and your sickly mother can get out of here! Do you remember what you promised me when I provided your mother with the doctors and medical expenses for her surgery? If it weren't for me, your mother would have died long ago! Don't make me remind you a second time."
The insults rained down on him, so offensive that he felt utterly ashamed. Lin Xiaqing unconsciously clenched his teeth and his hand, which was resting on the hem of his clothes, tightened suddenly. But no matter how angry he was, he couldn't utter a single word of disobedience, because he knew that he and his mother depended on him for survival, and the man in front of him had never taken them seriously.
Seeing that he kept his head down and didn't speak, the man still didn't intend to let him go, and continued to nag, "Why did you hit someone today? Tell me, who was it for?"
His pressuring tone hinted at something, and Lin Xiaqing quickly realized that Wang Jing must have already told him about their encounter at the hospital. This was a test, but he couldn't say anything or reveal any flaws.
Fortunately, while he was racking his brains for a solution, Luo's father spoke first, taking the lead in explaining, "Hey, Brother Lin, who else could it be for? Xia Qing is definitely doing it for Yi Qiu. This whole thing started because of Yi Qiu. You know, these two kids don't seem to get along well normally, but when something really happens, they're both incredibly loyal, just like we were back then."
After saying that, Mr. Luo smiled and eased the atmosphere by bringing up their past. Hearing Mr. Luo's words, the man's expression finally softened a little, but he still stared at Lin Xiaqing, who was silent in front of him, and asked in disbelief, "Oh? Is that so?"
"..."
Lin Xiaqing dared not say no; he remained silent, and this silence was seen as tacit agreement by others.
Luo's father thought he was just being awkward and embarrassed to say it directly, so he said a few nice things for him. Only then did the man seem to truly believe him, and after a long time, he relented and let Lin Xiaqing leave.
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Author's note: This chapter can be considered a revelation TT.
Do you all actually think there's a misunderstanding between them? Sigh, it's not a misunderstanding, it's a dead end.
After all, neither Xia Qing nor Lin Xiaqing would blame Shen Qingli for breaking their promise due to an unexpected situation.
Most of the characters in this book are children bound by their families. Because they haven't yet grown up, they don't have the choice in many things.
Everyone can only make the decision they believe is the most correct and best for the other person at this moment. This may become more obvious later on. I also want to give you a heads-up that you don't blame anyone in this book.
They all tried their best, but they didn't have the power to make decisions when they were young. By the time they grew up and had choices, some things were irreversible, and it was too late. TT
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