Chapter 34: I mean it when I say I like my stepbrother. I will pursue him...
Ye Yuying's gaze froze on the alley entrance for a moment, and her heart tightened.
That was Li Ying, Ge Jie's die-hard fan. The Li Ying who always loved stirring up trouble and creating problems.
Before she hurriedly left, she glanced in this direction, her eyes filled with excitement, as if she had caught some spark that could ignite gossip.
Ye Yuying didn't say anything more, but just lowered her eyelids slightly, as if she hadn't seen anything.
Lin Zhiyan, seemingly oblivious to her unusual behavior, didn't press the matter, but simply said softly, "Let's go, I'll walk you part of the way."
*
The classroom was unusually lively early the next morning.
The girls huddled together whispering, while the boys pretended to be reading, but their eyes kept drifting towards Ye Yuying.
People used to subtly mock her for cheating on exams, otherwise, given her weak foundation, it would have been impossible for her to make such significant progress.
Ye Yuying didn't care about this, because as long as she took the exams enough times, she could prove her innocence. She stuck to her own opinion and ignored these rumors.
Later, someone investigated Jiang Xinxue's affairs and started saying that her mother's position in the Cheng family was illegitimate and that she was trying to have a second child at her age in order to solidify her position.
Another so-called "insider" said that her mother and Cheng Jianian have not married or made their relationship public, and it is likely that it was just a passing fancy. She also has a child with her, and she will be kicked out of the house soon.
When Ye Yuying entered the classroom, these sounds were like annoying green flies in the toilet—they wouldn't harm her, but clung tightly to the back of her ears, impossible to shake off or get rid of.
She sat in her seat for a while at first, without showing any unusual behavior.
She was already used to the rhythm of these rumors—first seizing on a vague clue, then amplifying and embellishing it infinitely, until it became a "fact" that everyone believed, turning into a self-indulgent activity for a small group.
The target of rumors is like a mouse in a cage. Countless people want to see you lose control, get angry, and lose your composure, running around in the cage but unable to escape. This will excite and thrill them.
On the contrary, Ye Yuying's cold treatment did not satisfy anyone, which is why they persisted so persistently.
The school bell rang, but the teacher was late. This brief silence felt like the three minutes of death before the Spring Festival Gala began; no one dared to speak, for fear of being caught red-handed by the teacher.
The two boys at the table behind her gently poked Ye Yuying's back with their pens. She didn't like the gesture and turned around, giving them a hostile look. "What are you doing?"
One of the boys lowered his voice and asked, "I heard your stepbrother is very handsome. Do you like him?"
Another boy went even further, saying, "If your mom can't get the position, you can always find a way to achieve your goal by going through your stepbrother..."
The light in Ye Yuying's eyes turned completely cold the next second.
She stood up abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor with a screeching sound.
The entire classroom erupted in an uproar.
Without hesitation, she raised her hand and threw the water glass on the table at the table behind her, hitting the boy who had said "taking a roundabout way to achieve one's goal" squarely on the forehead. Water splashed all over him, and the boy screamed and stood up, covering his face and glaring at her.
"Say one more word and I'll tear your mouth apart right now." Ye Yuying's voice wasn't loud, but her enunciation was extremely heavy, each syllable like a fist pounding down.
The whole class was stunned.
This wasn't the first time she'd given a cold shoulder, but this was the first time she'd erupted so unrestrainedly and directly.
"You think you're funny?" She approached the boy step by step, her eyes showing no fear, but rather as if she wanted to devour him whole. "If you really want to hook up with rich people, then go ahead and do it yourself, instead of spewing filth out of your mouth."
"I just heard it from someone—" The boy's tone immediately became aggrieved, but before he could finish speaking, Ye Yuying grabbed his collar and pulled him up.
"Who told you that? Come on, tell me." She sneered, her eyes like a loaded gun, her grip so strong that the two boys were powerless to resist. "You bunch of scoundrels, do you think talking nonsense is so great? Do you think I've reformed and won't dare to beat you up?"
The classroom suddenly fell silent, as if chilled to the bone.
The teacher, already at the door with textbooks, glanced at the classroom atmosphere, frowned, and asked, "What's going on?"
No one dared to speak.
Ye Yuying pushed him away forcefully, returned to her seat, threw down the chair, sat down, clasped her hands together and pressed them on the table, forcing herself to calm down, but her knuckles were still slightly white.
The boy dared not say another word, and could only frantically wipe the water off his body, his face flushed red but he dared not utter a sound.
"Ye Yuying, you've caused trouble again? You've only been quiet for a few days," the physics teacher said sternly.
Ye Yuying had already picked up her textbook, stood up, and left the classroom with a cold face before the teacher could speak, standing at the door.
She was already very familiar with this kind of punishment of standing in the corner.
However, at this moment, her heart grew colder and harder, inch by inch.
She still couldn't hold back her outburst. She stood outside the classroom, her back against the wall amidst the morning's lessons, head down in thought, her knuckles unconsciously gripping the textbook cover, her nails digging into fine lines, as if scraping the edge of her sanity.
She still couldn't explain why she had endured it for so long, but just now she couldn't hold back anymore.
Those words about "liking her stepbrother" were something she had never considered, words that never crossed her mind even in her most unrestrained and immoral moments.
But to have it said so easily, and even embellished, allowed her to strike again after being silent for so long.
"Hiss..." A sharp pain shot through her finger. She looked up and saw that her finger had been cut by the page of the book, with a little blood seeping out.
She stared at the wound thoughtfully, but then the real pain jolted her awake, and she finally snapped out of her rage...
Even in her heart, she was unwilling to admit that none of the rumors could hurt her in the slightest, unless... it was the truth.
She was furious because when those words actually came out of people's mouths, she felt a strong sense of self-loathing—their thoughts were dirty and vulgar!
The bell rang, and Ye Yuying composed herself and returned to the classroom. Those who had witnessed her outburst half an hour earlier dared not utter another word.
But she also felt uneasy, because it was obvious to anyone that the next step in the rumor would be to analyze her abnormality—why other rumor-mongers couldn't tolerate the rumor that she "liked her stepbrother."
We need to think of a solution quickly.
The atmosphere in the classroom returned to normal during the afternoon self-study period.
A weak voice rang out amidst the murmurs of the crowd, seemingly casually mentioning, "You're probably mistaken. She met with Lin Zhiyan alone yesterday, and Xiao Zhou and I just happened to be passing by."
Although he spoke softly, it was enough for those around him to hear him clearly.
Some people laughed out loud, some silently continued working on their problems, and some had complicated expressions, but everyone more or less turned their attention to Ge Jie, wanting to observe her reaction.
Everyone knows that Ge Jie went to great lengths to pursue Lin Zhiyan a while ago. Although no one has mentioned it recently, probably because they think she gave up, but right now...
Ge Jie's expression, which had been watching the show, froze for a moment, and her face turned very ugly.
She was casually organizing her notes, pretending to be indifferent, but her movements paused for a moment when she heard the name "Lin Zhiyan".
Although she quickly regained her composure, those around her noticed a hint of hesitation.
She raised an eyebrow, a disdainful smile still playing on her lips. "Ye Yuying, you were in charge of delivering the messages before. Were you the one who was secretly causing trouble?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but it heightened the tension of the whole situation to a certain degree, making it as taut as a rubber band nearing its elastic limit, ready to snap at any moment.
Ye Yuying's expression remained unchanged, and she didn't look at Ge Jie while sitting in her seat, but her heart was already racing.
Her mind raced. This misunderstanding was extremely sensitive and could have labeled her as evil or sinister, but she was fearless compared to the rumors of her "liking her stepbrother."
I even felt a surge of excitement, as if a ray of dawn had appeared in the thick darkness before me.
She put down her pen, slowly raised her head, looked directly at Ge Jie, and spoke calmly yet with an undeniable authority, enunciating each word as if afraid Ge Jie might misunderstand:
"I do like Lin Zhiyan."
The air was heavier than ever before, because this matter concerned Ge Jie, and no one dared to discuss it lightly.
Ye Yuying's lips curled up in a mocking smile. Looking at the crowd cowering like chicks, she suddenly understood a certain principle.
When you're in deep trouble, you might as well muddy the waters, the muddier the better, the more people involved the better... because chaos is the beginning of breaking the established power structure, and innocence is never a shield for the weak.
When the rules are against you, it's better to destroy the game itself. Use chaos to cloud the enemy's judgment and use uncertainty to gain the initiative.
She paused, glanced at the expectant gazes, and added, "I mean it. I will pursue him."
This statement is full of provocation and defiance.
Ye Yuying looked at the whole class and said in a calm tone:
"Liking someone is nothing to be ashamed of. And I know very well what I like."
She kept adding fuel to the fire, and then, unwilling to give up, she put the lid on the pot and cooked it over a raging flame.
Ge Jie's smile finally faded, a brief shadow of gloom flashing in her eyes, followed by anger. She could no longer remain aloof and pretend to be a good person.
Ge Jie slowly turned her head, her smile faint but like poison on a blade, and said sarcastically, "I knew it. How could someone cut their hair and change their style for no reason? Turns out, they're just having a crush. If I can't win them over, do you think you're good enough?"
The people around him chuckled in agreement.
Ye Yuying let out a soft breath, a slight smile finally appearing on her face, having finally regained control of the conversation:
"Whether you're good enough or not is none of your business. Has Lin Zhiyan ever met with you alone? Besides, he was standing right in front of me when he tore up your love letter..."
She deliberately provoked Ge Jie; to kill someone, you must first destroy their spirit.
The air in the classroom seemed to freeze instantly.
The students watching had a wide range of expressions on their faces, as if they had just witnessed an unexpected juicy story: shock, schadenfreude, and breathless observation—but no one dared to laugh.
Unexpectedly, Ge Jie, who was so arrogant, was not only rejected by Lin Zhiyan in front of everyone, but also had her love letter torn to pieces and thrown into the trash can by Ye Yuying before she could even hand it over.
This is truly a great disgrace.
"You think you're so great now?" Ge Jie's voice rose, her lips trembled, her eyes were venomous, and she gritted her teeth as she said, "You think you can beat me? You think Lin Zhiyan would really look at a country transfer student, a burden, an ill-mannered lunatic like you?"
She finally dropped all pretense, and her carefully maintained "persona" collapsed along with it.
Ye Yuying remained seated, only smiling slightly, feeling refreshed.
She finally made Ge Jie unable to sit still.
“Don’t think I wouldn’t dare—” Ge Jie’s voice carried a warning.
"What don't you dare to do?" Ye Yuying raised her head, her voice suddenly rising a octave. Her speech was slow, but every word was sharp and succinct. "You dare to spread rumors that I like my stepbrother, but you don't dare to admit it directly, do you? You dare to spread my family's private affairs with your group of girlfriends, but you don't dare to clarify things to my face, do you?"
"You think that since you didn't say a word, no one would know that you were behind this?" Her eyes were sharp and filled with fighting spirit.
No one dared to breathe.
Ge Jie, cornered by her, stared at her through gritted teeth, her face so dark it was almost black.
She won with that sentence, but the feud was now firmly established, and her life would be difficult from then on.
But when she looked at the blazing sun after school tonight, she felt much more relaxed.
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Author's Note: 50 red envelopes [Cat emoji]
The plot is about to unfold, you guessed it! [Sprinkling flowers]
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