Xu Manman's words—"Just wait until Qingli comes back, you'll get what's coming to you"—were spoken loudly enough.
Quite a few people had already gathered around the small plaza.
At this, the onlookers' eyes lit up even more.
Shen Zhi looked at her.
Completely calm.
She even felt like handing her a glass of water.
After all, this girl had been going at it for so long—her throat must be tired.
Seeing that Shen Zhi wasn't speaking, Xu Manman assumed she was scared and immediately regained some of her swagger.
"Why aren't you talking?"
"Shen Zhi, weren't you so arrogant before?"
"Now that you know the real daughter of the family is coming back, you're feeling guilty?"
Shen Zhi blinked.
"I'm thinking about something."
Xu Manman sneered.
"Thinking about how to beg the Shen family not to throw you out?"
Shen Zhi said earnestly, "No."
"I was thinking, with how good you are at standing up for justice on other people's behalf, it's truly the school broadcasting station's loss that they didn't make you a host."
Laughter rippled through the crowd again.
Xu Manman's face darkened.
"You—!"
Shen Zhi walked around her and headed straight for the teaching building.
She didn't want to argue.
Really.
Arguing drained energy.
Right now, she just wanted to quietly get through today, then go back to the Shen family and continue building her escape fund.
But Xu Manman clearly had no intention of letting her go.
She clattered after her in her little leather shoes, deliberately raising her voice.
"Everyone, take a look at this."
"Some people have spent all these years enjoying someone else's identity, and now that the real one is about to return, they still act all self-righteous."
"If it were me, I'd be too ashamed to even show up at school."
Quite a few people in the hallway stopped to listen.
Some murmured among themselves.
"The real daughter is really coming back?"
"Seems like it. Xu Manman's well-connected."
"Then isn't Shen Zhi in an awkward position?"
"She certainly played the Shen family princess a lot before."
Shen Zhi's footsteps paused.
She turned to look at Xu Manman.
"Are you done?"
Xu Manman lifted her chin.
"What, did I hit a nerve?"
Shen Zhi said seriously, "No."
"I'm just afraid that if you keep going, you'll make yourself look really bored."
Xu Manman: "…"
Shen Zhi sighed.
[Xu Manman has this level of intelligence and she's the Female Lead's best friend?]
[At best she's a pearl in green tea bubble tea—hard to chew on.]
[If the real Female Lead's entourage is all this caliber, then for the original owner to have lost so badly to them, that's quite an achievement.]
[Still, the fact that she's jumping around so eagerly means someone's already made moves on Shen Qingli's side in advance.]
[Tsk, the campus mini-map really isn't friendly territory.]
She stepped into the classroom.
The room went silent for a second.
The next second, the whispers started like someone had flipped a switch.
"She's here."
"Doesn't look like she's been crying."
"She's faking it."
"Didn't Xu Manman say Shen Qingli is coming back soon?"
Shen Zhi walked through a sea of stares and sat down at her seat.
She had barely settled in when Xu Manman followed her in.
Two girls trailing behind her.
Aggressive.
Like debt collectors coming for protection money.
Xu Manman deliberately stood beside the podium and swept her gaze across the whole class.
"There are some things I didn't want to say."
Shen Zhi: "…"
[People who say that always really want to say them.]
Xu Manman continued, "We're all classmates, and I don't want the atmosphere in our class to turn ugly."
"But Qingli is truly pitiful."
"She suffered out there for so many years, while Shen Zhi enjoyed a life of luxury in the Shen family."
"Now that Qingli is about to come back, shouldn't we show more care for the one who was truly wronged?"
Some people in the classroom nodded.
Some stayed silent.
Some people also looked at Shen Zhi, their gazes carrying a hint of something subtle.
Shen Zhi took her textbook out of her backpack.
Her movements were slow and unhurried.
As if Xu Manman hadn't been talking about her, but about some tree outside the window.
Seeing that she still wouldn't take the bait, Xu Manman got so angry her voice rose higher.
"Shen Zhi, shouldn't you say something?"
Shen Zhi looked up.
"Say something about what?"
Xu Manman said, "You've stolen Qingli's life for so many years. Shouldn't you apologize to her?"
Shen Zhi thought for a moment.
"Is she here?"
Xu Manman choked.
"Not yet."
Shen Zhi nodded.
"Then what are you rushing for?"
"The person herself hasn't even arrived, and you're already collecting apologies on her behalf."
"Are you her agent, or her legal representative?"
Another wave of suppressed laughter swept through the class.
Xu Manman's face turned green.
The girl beside her immediately chimed in.
"Shen Zhi, don't go too far!"
"Manman is just standing up for Qingli."
Shen Zhi propped her chin on her hand.
"Oh."
"Before you stood up for her, did any of you call and ask whether Shen Qingli actually needed it?"
The girl froze.
Shen Zhi continued, "Or is it that you just needed an excuse to attack me?"
The air suddenly went still.
Those words were too blunt.
So blunt they were like a small knife, slicing right through that thin layer of hypocritical sympathy.
Xu Manman gritted her teeth.
"Stop changing the subject!"
"You're clearly guilty!"
Before Shen Zhi could speak, a male voice suddenly came from the front row.
"Shen Zhi."
The class monitor, Zhou Yue, stood up.
He wore silver-rimmed glasses, his uniform buttoned all the way to the top, radiating the sense of justice of a model honor student.
"Everyone is just discussing the matter at hand."
"There's no need for you to speak so harshly."
Shen Zhi looked at him.
Zhou Yue frowned, his face full of disapproval.
"Manman isn't wrong either."
"Shen Qingli really is the victim."
"As the one who benefited, you should at least maintain a basic sense of remorse instead of being so aggressive."
Quite a few people in the classroom nodded along.
Xu Manman's eyes lit up.
With someone backing her, she immediately turned even more aggrieved.
"Class monitor, I don't want to bully her either."
"I just feel so sorry for Qingli."
"And then she talks to me like this."
Watching the two of them perform their little duet, Shen Zhi suddenly understood.
[Oh ho.]
[Green tea bitches in training, serving up the appetizer first.]
[One fans the flames, the other stands on the moral high ground sprinkling cumin.]
[Pretty well-rehearsed, too.]
Seeing that she wasn't speaking, Zhou Yue assumed she felt guilty.
His tone grew more severe.
"Shen Zhi, you should apologize to Xu Manman."
Shen Zhi put down her textbook.
"Class monitor."
Zhou Yue: "What?"
Shen Zhi smiled. "Did you memorize the school rules well?"
Zhou Yue was taken aback.
"What do you mean?"
Shen Zhi said leisurely, "Since you love upholding justice so much, please recite Chapter 3, Article 17 of the school rules."
"The regulations on spreading rumors, slander, disseminating unverified information, and inciting classmates to isolate others."
Zhou Yue's expression shifted slightly.
Xu Manman froze too.
Someone in the classroom immediately pulled out their phone to look up the rules.
"Chapter 3, Article 17?"
"Let me see…"
Shen Zhi continued, "It's fine if you can't recite it."
"I can remind you."
"For minor offenses, public criticism."
"For serious offenses, a formal disciplinary mark on your record."
"And in cases causing reputational damage, the school will cooperate with the victim to pursue legal liability."
Her voice wasn't loud.
But it landed clearly in everyone's ears.
Zhou Yue's face turned ugly.
"Are you threatening a classmate?"
Shen Zhi looked utterly innocent.
"No."
"I'm just helping the class monitor study the school rules."
She paused, then turned to Xu Manman.
"And you."
"You just said I was usurping someone else's place, that I should step aside, that I was too ashamed to come to school."
"May I ask—do any of these conclusions come with an official statement from the Shen family?"
"Is there a police report?"
"Has the person involved confirmed any of it?"
Xu Manman stubbornly insisted, "Everyone's saying it!"
Shen Zhi nodded.
"Great."
"A classic opener for spreading rumors."
"'Everyone's saying it.'"
Someone in the classroom couldn't hold back a laugh.
Xu Manman was so furious her eyes reddened.
"Shen Zhi, don't get too cocky!"
Shen Zhi sighed.
"I don't want to be cocky either."
"But when you keep shoving your faces over here, I can hardly pretend not to see them."
Zhou Yue said in a low voice, "Shen Zhi, that's enough."
Shen Zhi looked at him.
"Class Monitor, when you were telling me to apologize just now, why didn't you say 'that's enough'?"
Zhou Yue was left speechless.
Shen Zhi took out her phone, opened the recording interface, and waved it around.
Of course, she hadn't been recording.
But that didn't stop her from scaring people.
"How about this—we all go to the academic affairs office together."
"You repeat everything you just said."
"I'll let the teachers judge who's right."
Xu Manman's face went pale.
She obviously didn't dare go.
She had only wanted to humiliate Shen Zhi in public, not actually blow things up.
Shen Zhi added leisurely, "And if the teachers aren't professional enough, my lawyer's letter can recite the law too."
"Want to hear it?"
The entire classroom fell dead silent.
The ones who had been whispering just moments ago all lowered their heads.
Some buried themselves in their books.
Some took sips of water.
As if everyone had suddenly developed a passion for studying.
Xu Manman stood there, her face alternating between green and white.
Shen Zhi was satisfied.
Good.
No internal turmoil.
Externalize it onto others instead.
Sure enough, her mental state felt much better.
She reopened her textbook, ready to be a low-profile temporary student.
Xu Manman bit her lip, unwilling to accept it, but no longer dared to charge forward.
Zhou Yue returned to his seat, his expression extremely dark.
The atmosphere in the classroom was eerily quiet.
Until two voices from the back row, hushed, suddenly drifted into Shen Zhi's ears.
"Did you hear?"
"Shen Qingli is coming to school today to process her paperwork."