Chapter 67 Green Tea 1
On Monday morning, after eating the breakfast that Xie's mother had specially brought, Jiang's father took her back to school, where she spent the whole day studying.
As she prepared to go home after school, Jiang Yining carried a thick stack of textbooks and hurried through the noisy corridor of the School of Foreign Languages and International Studies at S University.
“Hey, transfer student,” a female voice, clearly hostile, slashed sharply through the crowd beside her.
Jiang Yining paused, looking in the direction of the sound. Several people stood in the shadows of the stairwell. Jiang Yining vaguely recognized the girl in the lead; she was Su Qingyao from her class, the undisputed beauty of the department.
At this moment, she crossed her arms, her chin slightly raised, her pretty face displaying undisguised contempt and disgust. Three or four girls with equally unfriendly gazes surrounded her, forming a human wall that blocked Jiang Yining's path and retreat.
The light streaming down from above the stairwell cast their shadows in a somewhat menacing way.
Passing students glanced sideways, their eyes filled with curiosity, sympathy, and mostly, a sense of detachment as if it were none of their business. The air instantly tensed.
Jiang Yining's heart sank; something bad was about to happen. She tightened her grip on the book, but her face remained calm, only her brows furrowed slightly, and her voice was so calm it was almost innocent: "What's wrong? I don't think I know you."
"What are you pretending to be, all high and mighty, innocent flower?" Liu Wenhui, a short-haired girl next to Su Qingyao, stepped forward first, almost poking Jiang Yining's nose. "Why did you suddenly barge in? Who knows what shameful things you did at your old school that got you expelled?"
Su Qingyao sneered and stepped forward, her meticulously manicured nails almost scratching Jiang Yining's cheek: "That's right, you've been attracting attention since you arrived, making all the boys in the class stare at you. Pretty shrewd, huh?"
A torrent of vulgarities rained down on her. Jiang Yining listened quietly, her face expressionless, but her mind racing. A head-on confrontation? She was a new transfer student, outnumbered and outmatched.
Showing weakness and begging for mercy? That would only embolden them and make them even more aggressive next time. His gaze swept over Su Qingyao's well-maintained hand, adorned with delicate nail polish, which she extended towards him.
In a flash, a thought clearly emerged.
Just as Su Qingyao and Liu Wenhui thought she was terrified and moved even closer, and the other girls were also itching to shove her shoulders.
Jiang Yining moved
She suddenly raised her left hand and, with lightning speed, grabbed Su Qingyao's outstretched wrist, her movement forceful and ruthless, leaving no room for escape.
"Ah, what are you doing?" Su Qingyao was caught off guard, her wrist was gripped painfully, and she instinctively screamed and struggled.
Upon seeing this, "Sister Yao" Liu Wenhui and several other girls immediately rushed over, trying to pull away Jiang Yining's hand that was holding Su Qingyao and pry her fingers open.
Right now.
Jiang Yining had been waiting for this moment when their attention was drawn, their bodies leaned forward, and they scrambled around her in a flurry of activity. A resolute glint flashed in her eyes, and taking advantage of the chaotic pushing and shoving by the girls, she used all her strength to slap Su Qingyao's wrist hard and without hesitation across her own left cheek.
"Smack—"
A crisp, loud slap echoed through the quiet stairwell.
The force was so great that Jiang Yining's head snapped to one side. A searing pain instantly spread across her cheek; she could clearly feel the swelling from the ruptured capillaries beneath her skin. Five bright red finger marks were clearly visible on her fair cheek, a shocking sight.
At the same time, Jiang Yining seemed to be completely "awakened" by the slap, and also seemed to be seized by a huge fear. She suddenly released Su Qingyao's wrist, used all her strength to push away Liu Wenhui and the others who were still in a daze in front of her, staggered out of the shadow of the stairwell, and plunged into the bright corridor outside where people were coming and going.
The next second, a piercing cry for help, choked with sobs and filled with terror and helplessness, echoed throughout the entire floor, even drowning out all the noise:
"Help! Someone's hitting me! School bullying! Help! Someone help me!"
The sound was shrill and filled with fear, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
Time seemed to freeze for a second.
Immediately afterwards, the entire floor erupted in chaos.
"Oh my god, someone was hit?"
"It was Su Qingyao and the others who surrounded that new transfer student."
"Look at that girl's face, there's a huge handprint!"
"That's too arrogant!"
"Call the teacher! Quickly call the teacher!"
The crowd instantly swarmed around them, trapping Su Qingyao and her companions, who had just emerged from the stairwell, pale-faced and completely bewildered. Countless gazes, like searchlights, fell upon them, filled with shock, disdain, and anger.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
