"Xiao Lian, tell me, are you sure no one has bullied you? Please tell me the truth."
Only the two of them remained in the office, but Xia Lian's expression remained unchanged, as if she were hiding something.
"No, don't worry, how could I be bullied? I have a great time at school every day." As she said this, her smile widened, but her gaze remained fixed downwards.
"Teacher, do you have any other questions? If not, I'll go home now, I have something to do later."
Looking at the smile on her face, the homeroom teacher could easily tell that Xia Lian was hiding something. She rubbed her forehead, waved to Xia Lian, and let her go home.
Xia Lian's schoolbag was still in the classroom. As she walked down the corridor outside the classroom, about to go in to get it, she heard soft laughter coming from inside the classroom. The students inside were still there.
"Do you think Xia Lian is mentally ill? She always has that smiling face on her face, I don't know who she's trying to impress."
"To be able to laugh after being bullied like that is truly something else. If it were me, I probably would have wanted to die, haha."
"I really don't know what kind of parents could raise such a daughter, tsk tsk tsk."
"Haha, maybe her parents are all dead by now!"
"Pfft! How can you be so sarcastic!"
A burst of laughter came from inside.
Xia Lian lowered her head, her eyes hidden by her bangs, revealing no expression. After waiting a few seconds, she opened the classroom door and walked in quietly.
Seemingly not expecting her to hear their words, the people inside froze, watching silently as she slung her backpack over her shoulder and then closed the door and left as if nothing had happened.
A few seconds after she left, noises broke out in the classroom again.
"Did she hear that?"
"That guy is disgusting. Was he hiding outside eavesdropping?"
"Hey, what if she actually hears what we say? Will she tell the teacher?"
"Oh well, so what if she heard us? What can she do to us? Haha."
"You're really wicked! Speaking of which, she was smiling when she came in just now."
Ignoring the discussion that followed, she left the school.
As she walked home, Xia Lian carried her schoolbag, her smile still lingering on her face, and she even hummed a song, though her steps felt much heavier.
"Hmph, going to school is so much fun, going to school is so much fun..." Humming an unnamed self-composed song, but a look of weariness was evident in his eyes.
After walking for several tens of minutes, Xia Lian arrived at a rented room in an alley, which was her home in the county town.
After finding the key and inserting it into the lock, the door creaked open, and the girl shouted loudly into the quiet living room, "Mom, I'm home!"
But there was no response.
Only the ticking of the clock echoed incessantly.
But the house was empty.
As if she had gotten used to the scene before her, she didn't linger but went straight into the bathroom.
After taking a shower, Xia Lian went to the balcony, humming a song as she washed her clothes, but no matter how she washed them, the smell of expired milk just wouldn't go away.
"Oh dear, this is giving me a headache. I have to go to the hospital later... I don't have time to wash up." She laughed, trying to sound carefree, but her tone made even herself feel disgusted.
Seemingly feeling that the pants couldn't be washed properly, Xia Lian didn't waste any more time and changed into another set of clothes to go to the hospital.
"Hmph, so many things happened today, I'm so happy to go to school."
As she changed her shoes, all the experiences of the day flashed through her mind, and sharp words filled Xia Lian's mind.
"Is that guy out of his mind?"
Xia Lian had a smile on her lips as she hurriedly changed her shoes.
"If it were me, I'd probably want to die too."
"Maybe both parents are dead, hahaha."
Gradually, her hands stopped moving, the corners of her smiling mouth began to tremble slightly, and before she knew it, the scene in front of her began to blur, and her eyes, which were usually devoid of emotion, were covered with a layer of mist.
"That laugh is disgusting, you bitch."
For some reason, the girl's eyes were already red, her smiling lips began to droop, and a single crystal tear gently spilled from the corner of her eye.
"What's wrong with me...?"
Rubbing her reddened eyes, she couldn't hide the sadness and helplessness welling up inside her. At that moment, all the grievances in Xia Lian's heart were revealed along with that one tear.
More and more tears streamed down her face, and she gradually found it difficult to control her sobs, as if she were venting her sorrow.
"Waaah..."
He was always smiling, but he was never truly happy.
She was unhappy, in fact, not happy at all.
Xia Lian didn't know why her classmates were treating her like this...
Why can't my pants get clean after washing...?
I hate my disgusting smile.
"I...I'm not happy at all..."
Sobs echoed around the shoe cabinet for a long time. She hugged her legs, which had only been partially changed, buried her head between her legs, and let out muffled sobs.
The living room was quiet except for the girl's sobs. It seemed that she hadn't cried in a long time, and her tears flowed without stopping, as if she wanted to cry out all her grievances and sadness.
After a few minutes, seemingly exhausted from crying, she wiped her red and swollen eyes, changed her shoes, and stood up.
Pushing open the old door, Xia Lian's lips did not curve into a smile as before. She still had things to do, and crying occasionally to vent her emotions was already her limit. This girl had no time to rest.
The moment she stepped out of the house, something seemed to change about her; perhaps from that moment on, the girl's smile would never be seen again.
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