Chapter 59 Injury: Were you wronged at school?
Before the start of the new semester, Ye Yuying learned that the police had criminally detained Ye Jianguo and applied to the procuratorate for approval of his arrest.
She was unaware of the complex legal procedures and the final sentencing.
But before leaving, Cheng Mingdu said, "His crimes are extremely serious. There is absolutely no way he can be released on bail or easily. At least for the rest of your life, you will never see him again."
That's enough.
The nightmare that had haunted her entire life was finally brought to a complete end.
She can now return to the classroom with peace of mind and prepare well for the high school entrance exam.
The first day of the second semester of the third year of junior high school was sunny.
When Ye Yuying stepped back into the school with her schoolbag on her back, almost everyone around her fell silent.
But Ye Yuying's heart was calmer than ever. She politely responded to the greetings from her teachers and classmates, then quietly returned to her seat, took out her textbook, and began her morning reading.
Before the bell had even finished ringing for the end of the first class, the homeroom teacher called her to the office. Her expression was somewhat complicated, and her eyes held a hint of regret and heaviness that she could not hide.
"Ye Yuying..." The homeroom teacher sighed, her tone heavy, "Your grades last semester... to be honest, were very poor. You were ranked outside the top 200 in the grade, and you failed several subjects on quizzes. These grades will drag you down..."
Ye Yuying listened quietly, offering no explanation. Those scores were handwritten by her during her moments of lucid slumber, the price she had to pay to protect that secret.
"Let me tell you something, Director Zhao from the admissions office of Rongcheng No. 1 High School came to me specifically to inquire about your situation, but given your academic scores and your poor performance in the recent small competitions, they are hesitant..."
Upon hearing the words "Rongcheng No.1 High School," Ye Yuying's previously lifeless eyes lit up as if revived. "Is it Rongcheng No.1 High School?"
The homeroom teacher's tone became earnest, "To be honest, what does No. 1 High School value? Even though you won the provincial championship before, your academic performance is so poor, how can they dare to accept you? This will affect their school's overall college entrance examination results, and it will also cause complaints from other parents and students. Director Zhao means that they need to... wait and see."
The phrase "wait and see" is already an extremely tactful way of putting it.
Ye Yuying's mind went blank for a moment, and many times she thought she was hallucinating. This was a school she had never dared to imagine before.
This is the most prestigious high school in Chengdu and even the entire province. It's a century-old school; just looking at its name makes it shine with prestige...
But for Ye Yuying, Rongcheng No. 1 High School was sacred and untouchable—it was Cheng Mingdu's alma mater.
What makes her so special that she deserves to be noticed by such a school?
But disappointment followed. She lowered her head, looking at her somewhat worn shoes, and only one thought remained in her mind—
She probably ruined herself.
But if we could turn back time a few months, she would be willing to risk the secret being leaked.
She simply raised her head, met Teacher Wang's gaze, and asked the most crucial question in an unusually calm voice:
"Teacher Wang... what can we do to make them stop hesitating?"
Upon hearing this, the homeroom teacher, who was about to express her grief and sigh, was slightly taken aback. She seemed to have never expected that this fourteen-year-old girl's first reaction after hearing such bad news would not be frustration or giving up, but rather to calmly and directly seek a solution.
Those eyes, deeper than those of people their age, revealed a chilling tenacity.
The homeroom teacher looked at her, took a deep breath, and stated, "There is still hope...."
"There are still more than three months left until the high school entrance exam. If you can guarantee that you will not fail any exams this semester, no matter how big or small, and prove that the collapse last semester was just a 'temporary mistake', then I can swallow my pride and plead with Director Zhao on your behalf!"
Ye Yuying did not find the task difficult; she understood perfectly well that the request was reasonable.
She understands better than anyone else.
But she knew the real story perfectly well: catching up on the score was never the hardest part. Given her current dedication to learning, she was absolutely confident that she could return to her peak grades within three months, provided she could fully commit herself to her studies.
What truly suffocated and powerless her was the root cause of all this disaster.
It was Ge Jie, the one who held her most fatal secret.
As long as Ge Jie's threat exists, she will never achieve true peace.
She was like a prisoner with the sword of Damocles hanging over her head, unable to escape the fear of being disgraced and falling into the abyss no matter what she did.
This fear is the real shackle that prevents her from giving her all.
Just as the homeroom teacher was waiting for Ye Yuying to express her opinion, there was a knock on the door, and Teacher Yang walked in.
She walked to the desk and placed the special recruitment transfer letter, stamped with the bright red official seal of the Provincial Sports Bureau, in front of Ye Yuying.
"The provincial sports school has sent an official letter." Teacher Yang looked at Ye Yuying, his eyes serious but unable to hide his excitement. "They can be exempted from the high school entrance exam and can complete the team admission procedures immediately, becoming registered athletes of the provincial professional team."
"The next step on this path is the national competition. But... you're still not the first choice until you defeat Sun Ying."
She was implying that Ye Yuying's mistakes in the competition last semester had already had an impact. If it weren't for the provincial competition, she would have been abandoned by the sports school long ago.
"However, that's a story for another time... Right now is a good opportunity, it all depends on your performance in the remaining six months of the competition."
Teacher Yang withdrew the grand narrative that belonged to professional athletes, radiating brilliance, and threw the most realistic problems back at the bewildered Ye Yuying.
Before making a decision, she had to try to solve her current problems, otherwise she wouldn't be able to go down any path.
*
After several days of careful consideration, Ye Yuying finally decided to take the initiative.
She stood quietly under the huge redwood tree, waiting for Ge Jie.
Ge Jie and her companions walked out of the teaching building laughing and joking. When they saw Ye Yuying waiting there alone, they were all stunned.
Perhaps because Ye Jianguo's influence was still there, Ge Jie hadn't actively caused trouble since the start of the semester.
"Could you please give me back my things?" Ye Yuying suppressed her strong dissatisfaction with the other party and tried her best to make her tone neither humble nor arrogant.
"Are you begging me?" Ge Jie stood on the steps, arms crossed, looking down at her sideways.
Ye Yuying was about to blurt it out, but she held back and swallowed those unkind words.
She took a deep breath: "If you say so, then so be it."
Ge Jie sneered: "Is this the tone you use when you're begging?"
"..."
"If you want something, that's easy. Just obey me and I'll give it back to you after the high school entrance exam." Ge Jie glanced at her, then stretched her shoulders. It had been a long time since she had ordered people around, but she was still quite adept at it.
"Now, you take all five of our schoolbags home first, then we'll go shopping."
Ye Yuying stood motionless, expressionless.
"I can't wait until the high school entrance exam is over."
Ge Jie shrugged. "Fine, you carry our schoolbags for a week, and I'll return one to you, how about that?"
Ye Yuying took the schoolbag handed to her, hung it on her arm, and said in a deep voice, "You keep your word."
Ge Jie's smile deepened. "Of course."
The seven-day period passed in the blink of an eye.
Early in the morning, Ye Yuying waited quietly at the school gate before morning reading. After Ge Jie strolled over, she got straight to the point: "Seven days have passed, where's the letter?"
Ge Jie chuckled, rummaged through her pink backpack for a bit, and handed her a white letter.
Ye Yuying didn't even need to open it before rejecting it outright, saying, "This is not the original."
At this moment, Ge Jie calmly took back the white envelope: "Take it or leave it. I only promised to give you the letter, but I didn't say whether it would be the original or the printed version, right?"
Ye Yuying's eyes turned cold, and her voice sharpened, "You're playing me?"
Just as she was about to explode, Ge Jie whispered in her ear, "My mom just had afternoon tea with your mom's friend yesterday, and she said Cheng Mingdu is currently in the country, you know..."
Ge Jie's voice was like a cold, silvery krait, slowly injecting the most deadly venom into Ye Yuying's ears.
Fear, guilt, and panic overwhelmed her once again, leaving all her anger and punches feeling like they landed on cotton.
Ge Jie was very satisfied with the look of extreme unease on Ye Yuying's face, which instantly drained all color from her face.
"So? Have you figured it out?" Ge Jie's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Now, do you still think I'm playing you? Next week, not only will you have to carry your schoolbag, but you'll also have to do all my homework..."
Before she could finish speaking, Ye Yuying turned around and walked away without looking back.
In the instant I turned around, I caught a glimpse of a figure in the corner of the wall.
Ji Zi, who had disappeared for several months, reappeared at the school gate with her schoolbag on her back, and witnessed everything with a pale face.
Ye Yuying thought she was seeing things, so she looked again, and their eyes met.
Ji Zi's eyes were filled with overwhelming guilt as she looked at herself cautiously.
She noticed Ye Yuying looking at her, her lips trembling, and instinctively wanted to run towards her.
"Yu Ying..." she called out her name, her voice trembling with tears.
However, Ye Yuying's reaction froze all her subsequent actions and words in place.
Ye Yuying's eyes revealed lingering anger and extreme hatred as she coldly said, "From now on, don't bother me."
Behind her, Ge Jie watched this scene and smiled.
She walked to Ji Zi, who was already stunned and in tears, and whispered:
"See? Right now, she wouldn't even want to look at you, so why bother staring at her?"
After Ge Jie finished speaking, she strode past the distraught Ji Zi and headed towards the classroom.
The news that Ye Jianguo had been formally arrested and was about to face a heavy sentence spread like wildfire throughout the school.
Ye Yuying then realized why Ge Jie had perked up again, completely forgetting the fear Ye Jianguo had instilled in her. It turned out that she knew Ye Jianguo was powerless to change anything.
That day, when Ji Zi returned to school, Ye Yuying moved her desk away and sat alone in a corner against the wall. Ji Zi's eyes were red all day, and she didn't dare to say a word to Ye Yuying.
*
It started to drizzle on the way home from school.
Ye Yuying walked slowly home, but each step broke up the puddles on the ground.
All sounds were far away from her; in her world, there was only a cold, almost vacuum-like silence.
In this dazed state, she accidentally slipped and fell on the steps.
I didn't feel anything at the time, except that my right hand hurt a little, which I just assumed was a normal scrape.
To his surprise, when he reached the door, his hands became increasingly wet, and when he raised them, he realized that they were covered in blood.
She stared blankly at her blood-soaked hands, her mind a complete blank.
Aunt Zhang, who was tending the garden, happened to pass by. She hurriedly changed out of her raincoat, walked over through the drizzle, took Ye Yuying's hand, and said with heartache, "You're bleeding so much, come inside and I'll take a look at you."
Feeling lost and disoriented, Ye Yuying was led into the lounge in this dreamlike state.
Aunt Zhang settled her on the sofa and went to fetch the first-aid kit.
The intense pain from the hydrogen peroxide jolted Ye Yuying back to reality. Looking down, she saw a wound about two centimeters long at the spot that was hurting. It was a bit deep, which explained the pain.
Outside, Cheng Mingdu's figure flashed past on the corridor.
It was clearly a presence like moonlight, yet at this moment it was connected to her life, which was manipulated like a clown's, and like a poisonous vine, it slowly crawled all over her heart, which had long been shrouded in darkness.
Cheng Mingdu was like a mirror, always reflecting the unease on her face.
She winced in pain, pulled her hand back, and got up to leave.
"It'll be ready soon..."
Ye Yuying rushed out as if possessed by a reckless donkey, her expression indifferent.
People who feel helpless in the face of life may subconsciously flee from crowds and all kindness that might bring pain.
Just as I opened the door to rush back into the room, I almost bumped into a wall of people.
It was a warm figure, carrying a cool, faint fragrance.
She took a step back abruptly, looked up, and met a pair of unfathomable eyes that were now filled with complex emotions she couldn't understand.
It is Cheng Mingdu.
"How did you get this injury?"
"It's nothing." Her voice was dry and cold, as if she were talking to a stranger. "I just fell by accident."
She turned to the side, trying to squeeze past him and return to her only safe haven, the attic.
However, her wrist was gripped firmly by a colder and stronger hand.
"Let me see."
Cheng Mingdu didn't use much force, but he made her unable to move an inch.
He forcibly pulled her injured right hand, which had been hidden behind her back, to his face.
Fresh blood mixed with hydrogen peroxide covered the fresh wound.
Cheng Mingdu's gaze lingered on the wound for several seconds.
The surrounding air, with its chilly pressure, made the oxygen seem thin.
"This injury needs to be treated."
His voice was not loud, and it carried a hint of worry.
His voice always worked on her, making her temporarily forget her anxious struggles and reveal a tremor she herself was unaware of—a fierce but cowardly tremor.
He glanced at her, picked up his medicine box, and led her directly to the study next door.
With a bang, the heavy wooden door to the study closed behind him, completely isolating the vast space from the outside world.
He pressed her down onto the large leather sofa in the study, which was used for entertaining guests, and knelt on one knee in front of her. In this position, his usually imposing height didn't seem so sharp for the first time.
However, the aura hidden beneath his humility did not disappear; on the contrary, it made his presence even more pronounced and imposing.
He held her injured hand firmly with one hand, and with the other hand, he used iodine to clean the blood and dirt around the wound.
After switching to a different medication, the pain wasn't as intense.
I cleaned her hand, applied medicine, and then carefully and properly bandaged it with clean white gauze, wrapping it around and around.
When he tied the last knot and finally let go of her hand, Ye Yuying almost immediately wanted to stand up and run away.
She was afraid of being questioned, and right now she was so nervous that she was seeing threats everywhere, especially since Cheng Mingdu was in China, and that huge secret was right in front of him.
She was terrified; Ge Jie had stirred up a hornet's nest.
"Did you suffer any injustice at school?" he asked slowly.
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Author's note: 50~
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