Time began to flow backward………
“But in that case, it really would be best to separate in advance.” Yan Yanyan said.
“Why? Didn’t you just say that friends are precisely the ones you’re supposed to trouble?”
Xu Runhui asked in confusion.
“Because I carefully thought about the current situation and realized the timing really isn’t right yet.”
Yan Yanyan stroked her chin and continued, “Didn’t Classmate Runhui just say that the rumors about Classmate Siji don’t have much of a market in the class, but there are still a lot of people in the school who don’t know the full picture and believe them?”
Xu Runhui looked up and thought for a moment.
“That’s true.”
“So if we walk to school together with Classmate Siji and get seen by people who know us and believe the rumors…….”
“It would breed even more rumors.”
Zhong Siji finished the sentence.
“Bingo! As expected of Classmate Siji.” Yan Yanyan gave a small bit of flattery.
“So what should we do now?”
Xu Runhui looked at Yan Yanyan’s fawning expression and forcibly held back an eye-roll.
She couldn’t let Classmate Siji see her being so rude.
“We don’t need to do anything. Just chatting in the classroom will be enough.”
Yan Yanyan looked completely confident.
“And that will be enough to clear the rumors about Classmate Siji?”
Xu Runhui was still a little puzzled.
“It won’t. At least not for the time being.” Yan Yanyan wagged a finger.
“But this step is the first step toward clearing the rumors.”
Before Zhong Siji or Xu Runhui could ask, Yan Yanyan continued, “There’s no point in rushing to clear the rumors right now. Things like this always get worse the more you try to wipe them away.
“The most important thing is that we need to produce evidence proving Classmate Siji is not the person the rumors make him out to be.”
A measure of understanding dawned on Xu Runhui.
“Classmate Yan Yan means….. having the classmates in the class vouch for Classmate Siji?”
“Exactly! There’s no need to specially explain anything. As long as everyone naturally gets to see Classmate Siji’s true side, they will naturally start speaking up for him.”
“Every person has their own social circle, and the spread of rumors is also hierarchical. As long as they can proactively step forward to explain when they hear rumors about Classmate Siji, then we can achieve a reverse spread from point to surface, like ripples, gradually reducing the influence of the rumors to the minimum.”
“School has only just started, and most people are still in a state of half-believing, half-doubting the rumors. We have to properly seize this opportunity.”
“But how are we supposed to make the classmates stand up for him?”
“There’s no need to do anything special. Just let them understand Classmate Siji’s true side.”
“Why is Classmate Yan Yan so certain?” Xu Runhui was still half-believing, half-doubting.
“Believe me…… or rather, just believe Classmate Siji. The only problem now is whether Classmate Siji is willing to do this.” Yan Yanyan had not forgotten the words she had said to Siji the day before yesterday—those things about Zhong Siji that she still didn’t understand the reason for, yet which he could not let go of.
The two of them turned their gazes together toward Zhong Siji, who had remained silent the whole time.
He did not speak; he only slowly raised his head.
“Some moments, once you let them slip away, even if you can make up for them later, the feelings of that time can never come back, you know?”
“Big brother, although I have no intention of interfering in your interpersonal relationships, friends and the like are still necessary for a high school student, right?”
The words of Teacher Wu Di and his little sister kept echoing in his mind.
In truth, something like rumors had never mattered to him at all.
If not for the fear of involving Yan Yanyan and Xu Runhui, he wouldn’t have given a single damn.
But he also truly wanted to spend these three years lively and happily together with everyone in the class.
He remained silent for a short while before slowly opening his mouth.
“I…… I’ve done so many excessive things to everyone. How could I still have the face to beg for everyone’s forgiveness now?”
It wasn’t as if he had amnesia.
Although he hadn’t done it on purpose at the time, the absurdity brought by the world’s change had left him completely at a loss. Many of his actions had simply been instinctive stress reactions.
But so what?
No matter how understandable the reasons, they could not erase the harm that had already been caused.
“Ah, so Classmate Siji was worried about that.” Yan Yanyan suddenly understood. “In that case you don’t need to worry too much……. no no no, you definitely don’t need to worry.”
“Why?”
“Just trust me and it’ll be fine.” Yan Yanyan looked full of confidence.
“It absolutely won’t happen. You just need to be a little more enthusiastic and let everyone get to know you.”
……
……
……
“Classmate Siji, why do you keep your hair so short?”
“Because the weather’s a little hot……”
“Eh…… just because of that? Siji, you really have such a unique personality! So cool!”
Zheng Zipan’s eyes were full of stars as he looked at Zhong Siji with pure admiration.
“Haha…… it’s nothing special.”
Zheng Zipan’s enthusiasm left Zhong Siji a little overwhelmed.
He always felt as if Zheng Zipan had a particularly good impression of him.
Watching Zheng Zipan chatting so enthusiastically with Zhong Siji in the distance, along with the classmates who kept sneaking glances at him from not far away, Xu Runhui finally couldn’t help asking Yan Yanyan, “Classmate Yan Yan, how can you be so certain that everyone will definitely accept Classmate Siji?”
Although she herself also felt that everyone definitely wouldn’t blame Classmate Siji, if you asked her to explain why, she couldn’t say it either.
And she absolutely couldn’t be as certain as Yan Yanyan.
“Why, you ask.”
Yan Yanyan smiled with an air of mystery, causing the male classmates who had no idea what was going on in the distance to blush one after another.
Watching this scene, Xu Runhui really wanted to tell them that their Prince, their Big Sister, was actually a super black-bellied girl.
Unfortunately, if she really did so, not only would no one believe her—they would say she was just jealous of Yan Yanyan’s charm.
“First, just like the rumors, school has only just started. Although Classmate Siji’s behavior was a little exaggerated, it isn’t impossible to interpret it as psychological resistance caused by unease after arriving in an unfamiliar environment full of strangers.”
“As for the second reason…… does Classmate Runhui still need me to say it?”
Yan Yanyan suddenly smiled and leaned right up to Xu Runhui’s face.
Those eyes as deep as a secluded pool seemed to be peering into her heart.
Xu Runhui forcibly suppressed the discomfort in her chest.
This black-bellied girl was always like this—whenever the two of them were alone she would expose her true nature and lay her nasty true face completely bare.
“How would I know what Classmate Yan Yan is thinking?”
After several rounds of tempering she could already manage to keep a straight face in front of her.
As expected of you, Xu Runhui! Strong, strong!
Yan Yanyan didn’t mind Xu Runhui kicking the question back to her. Instead she gave a light smile.
“That’s because…… Classmate Siji is very beautiful, isn’t he? And in some ways he’s even more handsome than me. Don’t you think so, Classmate Run-hui~~”
“……”
On the other side, Zheng Zipan suddenly sneaked a little closer to Zhong Siji and lowered his voice to ask, “Siji, between Classmate Yan Yan and Classmate Runhui, which one do you like?”
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