“Hello, classmate.”
Not knowing how else to start, Liu Yinuo decided to greet first.
With her pretty face and gentle, warm expression, this trick of hers almost never failed to break the ice with strangers.
Yet Qin Haiyue just lazily looked up at her, the look in her eyes as if she were staring at a pile of garbage.
No response.
“Are you waiting for someone?”
Despite the cold shoulder, the girl still kept her gentle expression, quietly raising her head to look at Qin Haiyue before her.
“If you don’t want to get beaten up, you’d better get lost.”
Not only did she not get an answer, but was even threatened—something Liu Yinuo had never experienced before.
Her face stiffened for a moment. Although she still wanted to maintain her own politeness, having her warm approach met with a cold response, even the usually patient Liu Yinuo couldn’t feel happy.
“…Forgive me for saying so, classmate. Class is about to start. If you’re waiting here for someone, or… preparing to bully a classmate, it’s very easy for others to see you.”
Qin Haiyue, idly scrolling on her newly bought phone, frowned.
“What do you mean?”
The seemingly harmless girl blinked, fingers twirling her waist-length black hair—she liked this little habit, it gave her a sense of control over the situation.
“I mean… If you keep lingering here, Qin, I might consider telling my Teacher to keep a closer eye on this place, you know?”
Qin Haiyue put away her phone, her gaze at Liu Yinuo growing colder.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, I’m just worried about classmates who might want to come to the restroom later.”
“Heh.” With a cold laugh, Qin Haiyue’s interest was piqued.
“I’m curious, have we ever had any grudge between us? I don’t even know who you are. Why are you interfering?”
Liu Yinuo didn’t answer this question.
She kept silent, just standing there confronting Qin Haiyue.
“Hmm… let me guess, are you from this class?”
She pointed at the classroom beside them.
There was nothing to deny here, so the girl nodded decisively.
“Yes, I’m Liu Yinuo, the Class Monitor of Class 14, Qin Haiyue.”
From the moment she decided to step up to her, she hadn’t been afraid of her identity being known.
“Oh, so that’s how it is. Did that little brat ask you to stand up and protect her?”
“Little brat?”
That term made Liu Yinuo frown. She’d heard the same words from Lin Ziyan yesterday.
Was she referring to Ye Xingmian?
“Heh, it’s about time anyway, she probably won’t show up now. Fine, I’m leaving. Hope you all get along.”
Qin Haiyue’s words left the girl utterly confused. What did she mean?
Was she being mistaken for some shield Ye Xingmian sent for herself?
The girl couldn’t tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
Clearly, she had acted out of kindness, but if it ended up causing trouble for him, that would be bad.
She pursed her lips, not sure what to think. After standing in place and thinking for a while, she decided to go into the classroom first.
As she stepped inside, she instinctively turned to close the door, then looked up toward the back corner of the classroom.
The lively classroom was packed with people, and through the sea of heads she could only faintly spot that small figure. Wearing a jet-black cap, lying on the desk—was he resting?
In her memory, he always seemed sleep-deprived like this, often catching up on sleep. Maybe this was one reason his grades weren’t good.
Hesitating a moment, Liu Yinuo decided not to disturb him for now. There was still a whole day left; as long as he didn’t ask for leave again, she would definitely find a chance.
With that thought, she went to her seat. No sooner had she set down her backpack than Lin Ziyan beside her said, seemingly offhandedly, “Yinuo, you’re a bit late today.” This made her freeze for a moment.
“Mm, I didn’t sleep well last night.” She kept pushing her backpack into the desk while glancing at Lin Ziyan out of the corner of her eye.
Though she was Ye Xingmian’s younger sister, Lin Ziyan was actually much taller than Ye Xingmian. She vaguely remembered during the last Physical Fitness Test, Lin Ziyan’s height was just over 1.7 meters…
In fact, that already made her taller than herself. Liu Yinuo was only around 1.65 meters, not much different from the slender Ye Xingmian.
She noticed that although Lin Ziyan sounded casual, her eyes kept darting unnaturally toward her, leaving Liu Yinuo puzzled.
What was going on?
Lin Ziyan changed her posture, propping her chin with her hand.
“I noticed you were glancing around the moment you entered the classroom. What were you looking for?”
“Oh, I was looking at the trash can. I think it hasn’t been emptied this morning, so as Class Monitor, I have to mention it in class later.”
“Mm.”
Lin Ziyan nodded lightly and flipped open her textbook.
“Something really annoying happened at my house yesterday.”
She didn’t seem to be talking to anyone in particular, almost as if muttering to herself, but Liu Yinuo quickly realized it was aimed at her.
“What happened?”
“It’s actually pretty simple.” Lin Ziyan’s eyes flickered, a faintly performative disgust flashing through them.
“Yesterday, my parents spent a lot of money to buy me a Gift, but then it disappeared. I suspect someone stole it.”
“And then?”
“Later I found out my ‘brother’ stole it.”
“……”
“Yinuo, tell me, isn’t that just awful? To steal a Gift that someone else’s parents gave their daughter…”
“Mm, it is.” Liu Yinuo replied blandly, clearly not wanting to comment further.
Lin Ziyan noticed her reaction but said nothing more, and neither did Liu Yinuo.
Doodling random scribbles on her scratch paper, Lin Ziyan’s thoughts were far away from her work.
What’s going on, does Liu Yinuo not believe me?
And, she’s lying! She wasn’t looking at the trash can, she was looking at…!
Did she realize something? Or notice something strange? Had Ye Xingmian told her? No, that’s impossible.
“Snap!”
“Hm? Ziyan? What’s wrong?”
The girl next to her leaned over with concern, and Lin Ziyan, after a brief daze, looked down to see she’d broken the tip of her pen by pressing too hard.
“No, it’s nothing.”
She acted as if nothing had happened, pulling a spare pen refill from her bag and replacing it.
Even as class started, the girl’s mood couldn’t settle.
She realized she had to be more careful from now on.
Walking alone in the cold wind of the corridor, the students and teachers she passed just glanced at her in passing. No one tried to stop her, nor did anyone scold her to return to class.
Roaming through the School, it was as if she was drifting outside the world, belonging to no one and nowhere.
This freedom came from her family’s influence.
But her parents’ attention was limited; she couldn’t do whatever she wanted. If she caused too much trouble, even being expelled wouldn’t be impossible.
It was precisely because she understood this so clearly that Qin Haiyue hadn’t gotten rough with Liu Yinuo.
Her expression was as cold as a block of ice, yet her eyes burned with a lava-like fury.
She couldn’t believe it—Ye Xingmian, that weakling who didn’t even dare speak up, always lowered her head like an ostrich in front of her, actually dared break her promise. She even hid behind another girl, letting that girl threaten her?
She had never been treated this way. Yesterday’s anticipation, together with today’s snub, all turned into burning anger.
That girl—how could she?
Didn’t she fear her secret being revealed? Didn’t she fear even stronger humiliation?
How dare she?!
Qin Haiyue didn’t want to think about anything now—she just wanted to vent her anger.
But now, with that so-called Class Monitor protecting her, she had to find the right opportunity. It had to be somewhere with no other pests around, no surveillance, and few people.
“……”
She came to the Changing Room for PE class.
Taking out the key she’d gotten from a Teacher, she opened the door.
Because her father had invested in the School, most of her requests—so long as they weren’t too outrageous—were never refused by the Teachers.
Since this place hadn’t been used for a while, everything had gathered a thin layer of dust. Looking up, she saw rows of lockers, cleaning supplies in the corner, and… all sorts of sports equipment the School kept here to save on costs.
Basketballs, Ping Pong Balls, Soccer Balls, and even larger, somewhat dangerous equipment like Javelins.
Qin Haiyue casually tossed a Shot Put in her hand, her face breaking into an excited, expectant smile.
According to the class schedule, Class 14 had PE today. She wasn’t worried Ye Xingmian would skip—if she did, she’d just go to class and drag her out.
And if she didn’t skip…
She couldn’t wait to have a “competition” in Shot Put with the soft and pitiful Ye Xingmian.
She’s just napping, and everything keeps messing up, Poor her.