When Su Yao heard Zhang Li say they were disbanding to return to the self-study classroom, she slipped away quickly, determined to get ahead and grab a secluded corner spot.
Normally, no one would willingly sit next to her.
One reason was unfamiliarity—Su Yao rarely communicated with classmates unless necessary, and that sense of strangeness made people instinctively avoid sitting near her.
So the seats beside Su Yao were usually empty.
The second reason was that there were quite a few empty seats in the classroom—over fifty seats for just over thirty students.
Plus, today, more than half the students weren’t even in class.
With so many available spots, no one was going to squeeze in next to Su Yao.
Classmates trickled in and sat wherever they pleased.
About five minutes after Su Yao sat down, just as she expected, Zhang Li came in holding the attendance roster.
At that moment, the students near the front all wore smug, gleeful smiles.
Haha, looks like someone’s in trouble!
The instant Su Yao saw the roster, she silently mourned for those who were either struggling in internet cafes or off enjoying some private time.
Zhang Li walked to the teacher’s desk and placed the roster down.
She glanced at the class and sighed inwardly—only a dozen or so students remained, not counting those involved in the performance, meaning over ten had already skipped.
The ones left were the usually obedient, quiet students, while the lively, energetic bunch had all taken off.
Though annoyed, Zhang Li kept a calm expression, concealing her frustration.
“Now, let’s start the roll call. Zhao—”
“Here!”
One by one, names were called, and voices answered.
Zhang Li checked off the names as the students responded, leaving blanks for those absent.
No one was going to answer for others.
With so few people present, and the class advisor calling out names, no one wanted to risk being caught and punished by helping others out.
“Su Yao.”
“Ah? Here!”
Su Yao was startled when Zhang Li suddenly called her name loudly.
Her body trembled slightly as she caught the suppressed anger in Zhang Li’s voice.
Because she answered hurriedly, her voice came out a little raw, more feminine than usual.
A thin sweat broke out on Su Yao’s forehead at that moment.
Fortunately, Zhang Li quickly moved on to the next name, and few paid her any real attention.
She managed to bluff her way through.
Thinking about her current situation, Su Yao sighed again.
She knew that if anyone paid closer attention, they’d figure out she was a woman.
Although her “little invisible” buff helped her go unnoticed, someday her fragile disguise would be pierced.
Su Yao felt she ought to prepare for that eventuality…
After the roll call, Zhang Li sent the list of nine boys and girls who had skipped the evening self-study to the class group chat.
Having finished, she left the room without sticking around to supervise.
After Zhang Li left, Su Yao glanced around at the remaining students and saw no one looking at her.
It seemed everyone was deliberately ignoring her.
She rested her head on the desk, bored and zoning out.
Suddenly, she sensed someone sitting beside her.
Su Yao jerked upright and looked over to see the woman with the two signature braided pigtails and big glasses.
Su Yao internally groaned—why did it have to be Yun Qing, that relentless ghost?
Yun Qing sat beside her, a knowing smile playing on her lips.
She stared into Su Yao’s eyes and said,
“Come outside with me, I have something to discuss.”
“…”
Talk to me?
What do you want to talk about?
Why outside?
Afraid of witnesses?
Su Yao’s instinctive dislike made her want to avoid Yun Qing altogether.
It wasn’t personal—she just hated the layers of pretense and scheming Yun Qing carried.
That calculating nature for personal gain was exactly what Su Yao despised most because she had been hurt badly by people like Yun Qing in the past.
Besides, Yun Qing had connections to Hua Mingye.
Mu Nanqiu had warned her to stay away from Hua Mingye and anyone connected to him.
Yun Qing combined the traits Su Yao hated with her ties to Hua Mingye, making Su Yao keep her at arm’s length.
But Yun Qing was like chewing gum stuck to her shoe—no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t shake her off.
When words didn’t work, Yun Qing resorted to a little provocation.
“I read your book. Not bad.”
“?!”
Su Yao tensed instantly.
Writing romantic stories on the side for some extra cash was her little secret—no one was supposed to know.
So how did Yun Qing find out?
Sitting up straight, Su Yao put on a fierce glare, as if she could kill Yun Qing with her eyes.
But no matter how fierce she tried to look, her appearance wasn’t exactly intimidating.
She quickly dropped the expression and mimicked Mu Nanqiu’s cold, indifferent look instead.
Seeing Su Yao’s reaction, Yun Qing knew her tactic had worked and didn’t bother arguing.
“I’m heading out now. Follow if you want.”
With that, Yun Qing stood and walked toward the classroom door.
Su Yao hesitated, then decided to follow.
Last time it was some KTV thing, what could it be this time?
They exited and walked to the lecture hall at the back of the teaching building.
Yun Qing pushed open the door and entered, choosing a random seat and gesturing for Su Yao to sit anywhere, not to be polite.
Su Yao felt speechless.
She sat down about a meter and a half away across the aisle.
“I’ll get straight to the point,” Yun Qing said once Su Yao was seated.
“The script for the performance needs rewriting.
I told them you have the skills, we discussed it, and finally decided to give you the job of rewriting the script.”
“Wait a minute, you didn’t even ask me about this!”
Su Yao stood abruptly, anger flaring.
Majority rules doesn’t mean I have to obey your unreasonable demands.
She wouldn’t agree to such an impolite request.
Even as Su Yao stood to show she wasn’t playing along, Yun Qing remained calm.
“Su Yao, you saw the scripts they put together—so clichéd, so uninspired—they might’ve been rejected right in the first round.”
Su Yao admitted Yun Qing wasn’t wrong.
But what did it matter if she wasn’t even on the organizing list?
She was just a helper.
Zhang Li had told her she only needed to participate a little, nothing more.
So Su Yao asked bluntly,
“What does this have to do with me?”
“I never mentioned you to them.
I took on the rewriting task myself,” Yun Qing said before Su Yao could speak.
“I’ll pay you a thousand yuan. You write the script.”
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