Chapter 282: The One Who’s Rotten… Maybe It’s Her?

Cai Xiangxiang said, her voice trembling, with a hint of tears in her tone.

Hearing what Cai Xiangxiang was complaining about, Chi Qingya grew even more irritated.

‘I apologized to Su Li, but she didn’t even respond to me.’

‘And now they want me to make Su Li apologize?’

‘I don’t think I can do something like that.’

“If there’s a problem, just take it to the teacher. What’s the point of telling me?”

“Su Li’s mouth is on her own face. I can’t force her to apologize.”

Watching the three of them keep talking about Su Li right in front of her, Chi Qingya felt extremely annoyed.

For a moment, she even lost her appetite.

Chi Qingya noticed Chi Qingyao beside her eating with great relish, and her eyes were filled with envy.

Her younger sister had been carefree since childhood.

It seemed like nothing could ever trouble or worry her.

Even now, if it were herself at her sister’s age, seeing the exorbitantly priced dishes on the menu, she would definitely be reluctant to order them.

But her sister was eating happily, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

Seeing that her sister had finished the lemon water in her hand, Chi Qingya handed her own lemon water to Chi Qingyao.

“Yaya, talking to the teacher about this kind of thing is definitely useless.”

“Su Li is rotten through and through. The teacher can’t pull her back. It’ll take you, Yaya, to influence her and set her straight.”

Chen Tangguan felt Cai Xiangxiang nudge her with her elbow, quickly stopped the motion of eating, swallowed what was in her mouth, and said.

“Rotten?”

Chi Qingya murmured softly, scenes of her life together with Su Li continuously surfacing in her mind.

‘Is Su Li rotten?’

‘Maybe the one who’s rotten is me?’

‘Back when I was with Su Li, not that many people disliked her. But not long after Su Li left, a whole bunch of people started hating her.’

‘Without realizing it, I’ve caused so much trouble for others.’

‘If I hadn’t rotted…’

Chi Qingya realized that the version of herself who had once studied hard and strived toward her goals was slowly fading away.

‘I’ve already rotted.’

‘Just like the leftover scraps on the table.’

“Su Li is not rotten. And what she thinks has nothing to do with me, right?”

Chi Qingya said very seriously.

“Yaya, what’s wrong with you?”

Wei Yanxi looked at Chi Qingya, somewhat puzzled.

Chi Qingya was being far too serious now.

And if they were discussing Su Li, Chi Qingya should be joining in, not acting like this.

What was that expression supposed to mean?

Could Su Li have actually made up with Chi Qingya in private?

Impossible!

If the two of them had reconciled, the person eating with Chi Qingya right now would be Su Li, not them.

“Yaya, are you feeling unwell? Have you gotten dizzy from a fever?”

Wei Yanxi thought that the only possibility was that Chi Qingya had lost her mind.

Otherwise, why would she be defending Su Li?

“I’m fine.”

“Su Li didn’t do anything wrong. I’m the one who did something wrong.”

After saying that, Chi Qingya stopped paying attention to them.

She lowered her head and looked at the lavish meal in front of her, but she couldn’t feel happy.

‘Su Li probably never had such expensive food, right?’

‘It seems like I never really went out to eat with Su Li. She always worried about money, didn’t want to waste it, and preferred to cook at home.’

‘Even when I wanted to introduce my friends to Su Li, she was the one doing the cooking.’

‘Making a whole table of dishes must have been really tiring, wasn’t it?’

Chi Qingya felt a tightness in her chest, an indescribable discomfort.

‘When I ate with Su Li, we never gossiped about anyone.’

‘So why is it that when I eat with Cai Xiangxiang and the others, we always end up talking about other people?’

‘Is this… the same kind of topic those people who bullied me talked about when they sat together eating, like they’re talking about me now?’

Chi Qingya suddenly felt a little nauseous.

Chi Qingyao shoved duck meat into her mouth, listening to the chatter, watching Chi Qingya who had lowered her head and was eating silently. She didn’t say anything.

She just continued stuffing duck meat into her mouth.

Not far away, Cai Xiangxiang saw Chi Qingya’s low mood. They exchanged glances, quickly decided, and prepared to stand up and leave.

“Yaya, Xixi isn’t feeling well. She needs to go to the restroom. We’ll go with her.”

Cai Xiangxiang stood up, and together with Chen Tangguan, each took one of Wei Yanxi’s arms, ready to head out together.

“Sisters, do you need any help? I’m pretty strong!”

Chi Qingyao, who was eating, suddenly looked up at the two of them and spoke.

“No, no, it’s okay. Your little sister is here for a rare visit— just enjoy the meal happily.”

Wei Yanxi pretended to be weak and shook her head.

“Oh, is that so?”

“Sisters, you’re not thinking of skipping out on the bill, are you?”

Chi Qingyao asked in confusion. Beside her, Chi Qingya’s expression was not very pleasant.

“Yao Yao.”

“What is it, Sister?”

Chi Qingyao put on a blank look.

“Sister, I’ve just seen a lot of people like that when I help Mom and Dad collect money, so I was worried they might dine and dash. That’s why I asked.”

“I believe that since they are Sister’s friends, they definitely won’t skip out on the bill. Right?”

Chi Qingyao’s gaze turned to Cai Xiangxiang and the others, a sweet smile curling at the corner of her lips.

For some reason, when Wei Yanxi felt Chi Qingyao’s gaze on her, her legs really began to go weak.

The girl looked very cute.

Her smile was also very cute.

But that smile gave off a creepy feeling.

“How could we possibly skip out on the bill? We’re Yaya’s classmates, her good friends.”

“Right, Yaya?”

Cai Xiangxiang’s eyes shifted to Chi Qingya, and she winked at her.

As for whether they would actually pay or not, even if Chi Qingya ended up covering the bill, she probably wouldn’t say anything about it anyway.

That was just the kind of person Chi Qingya was.

This was a society governed by law. It wasn’t like they could do anything to her.

“Yao Yao, they are my… good friends.”

“They won’t… skip out on the bill.”

Looking at her sister staring at her, Chi Qingya felt inexplicably guilty for some reason.

Her gaze shifted to Cai Xiangxiang, who was looking at her with expectation, and she herself began to wonder whether the three of them would skip out or not.

After all, every time she had eaten with them before, she was the one who ended up paying.

“I see. Sister, you don’t know this, but before, when Mom and Dad were selling fruit, a customer skipped out on the bill.”

“Then I secretly called someone and had his legs broken, then threw him into the dry toilet on our mountain.”

“Sister, guess what happened in the end?”