Hua Tong’s whole body tensed under the stare—she could clearly feel the burning gaze from behind her.
No one noticed the little exchange between the two of them.
Jiang Xianshu had just been about to keep chatting with Mu Xuewei when he caught sight of Sister Xue’s eyes at the front door, locked dead on him. It was as if one more word out of his mouth and she’d beat him to death.
He chickened out and pointed at the homeroom teacher up front. Mu Xuewei understood instantly—she whipped her head around and picked up her book, reading aloud with total devotion, so absorbed you’d never guess she’d been gossiping a minute ago.
Jiang Xianshu was dumbfounded. That smooth a transition?!
Jiang! Xian! Shu! Are you going to study or not? Do you want me to call your dad down here so you two can have a nice chat?!
Sister Xue’s voice carried from the front door all the way to the back, scaring Jiang Xianshu into picking up his book and reading at the top of his lungs. The last thing he wanted was to see his dad’s face at school.
Hearing the loud reading, Gao Xue nodded in satisfaction.
The moment the homeroom teacher left, the noise in the class died down. Jiang Xianshu held up his textbook as a shield and nudged Wen Yan’s arm with his hand, his face full of worry. “Ah Yan, how are we going to get little sister to forgive us?”
Wen Yan, who had been racking his brain for ways to coax the girl, was interrupted by Jiang Xianshu. He frowned in irritation and shot him a fierce glare. “No idea,” he said coldly.
Jiang Xianshu felt his good buddy’s unfriendly gaze and his brain finally came home. Ah Yan must be even more anxious than he was right now, and here he was pestering him. He was lucky Ah Yan hadn’t punched him dead already. Better just read his book obediently.
As soon as morning reading ended, Hua Tong went out. She had no desire to sit at the center of the story—she’d come back when class started.
Wen Yan had planned to talk to the girl during the break, but she was avoiding them. Watching her retreating figure, his face grew even darker.
When Mu Xuewei turned around, she was greeted by a face blacker than black ink. She raised an eyebrow. Looks like His Highness here had run into some thorny trouble!
Nothing in the world mattered more than gossip. She’d hear Jiang Xianshu’s story first before deciding whether to get involved! By a woman’s sixth sense, the center of this gossip had to involve her little deskmate and these two.
Who knew what these two had done to make the adorable little deskmate avoid them?
Mu Xuewei tapped on Jiang Xianshu’s desk. “Spill it. Maybe I can help you two.”
Jiang Xianshu’s eyes lit up. Right—girls understood girls better. So he told Mu Xuewei, in full detail, everything that had happened yesterday.
After listening, Mu Xuewei frowned. Her little deskmate’s health was that frail—no wonder she always carried a faint smell of medicine. Then it dawned on her: the girl must have been hurt before, which was why she didn’t want her condition known to outsiders. Now these two had accidentally let it slip. Of course she was angry.
She was the little deskmate’s good friend now—coaxing her back was their own problem! Let them learn a lesson.
Watching Mu Xuewei’s face grow darker and darker, Jiang Xianshu’s heart lurched. He asked anxiously, “Xuewei, is there a way?”
Mu Xuewei gave a cold snort. “No. You made this mess, you fix it.” Then she turned around and refused to look at them anymore.
“What’s going on? Why is Xuewei angry too after hearing the whole story?” Jiang Xianshu scratched his head.
Thinking of the bond of growing up together, Mu Xuewei still turned around to offer a reminder. “A girl’s feelings are definitely very sensitive. Something she wanted to keep hidden has been spread across the whole school by you all. Have you considered her feelings? Have you thought about the looks she’ll receive—pity, contempt, or mockery?”
After hearing Mu Xuewei’s words, Jiang Xianshu lowered his head in shame. Wen Yan had already thought of all this; his heart ached so badly he could barely breathe, but hearing it again still hurt. He was such an idiot.
Seeing that both of them now understood where they had gone wrong, Mu Xuewei nodded in satisfaction. Her gaze shifted, and she spotted Hua Tong walking in through the back door. She immediately smiled and called out, “Tongtong, class is about to start. Come in quickly—I’ll save you a seat.”
Hua Tong had been a little afraid that her newly made good friend, having heard others’ judgments of her, wouldn’t want to hang out with her anymore. She hadn’t expected Mu Xuewei to treat her exactly the same as that morning, full of warmth. She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness—the first friend she’d made at her new school was a wonderful one.
She smiled back at her, revealing two little dimples. “Okay.”
Watching Hua Tong smile so sweetly at Mu Xuewei, the jealousy in Wen Yan’s eyes was about to burst through. No—he had to make it up to her. He wanted her to smile at him like that too.
The morning classes passed.
At noon, Hua Tong and Mu Xuewei walked hand in hand toward the cafeteria, chatting and laughing. Now that she had Weiwei, she didn’t need anyone else.
Behind them followed two boys with woeful expressions, their eyes fixed straight ahead on the two girls.
After getting their food, Mu Xuewei and Hua Tong were carrying their trays looking for seats when a girl carrying a tray passed in front of them.
In a moment of carelessness—or so it seemed—the girl slammed hard into Hua Tong. Just as Hua Tong was about to fall to the ground, Mu Xuewei moved with lightning speed, wrapping an arm around Hua Tong’s waist and keeping her from hitting the floor.
But the tray clattered to the ground with a loud crash, drawing everyone’s attention, including Wen Yan and the others. The three of them rushed over immediately.
After steadying Hua Tong, Mu Xuewei fixed a cold gaze on the girl crying on the floor and said without courtesy, “You’re the one who bumped into us. We’re not even crying—what are you crying for? And the hallway is so wide. You just had to crash right into us.”
The girl sobbed quietly. “I didn’t. I just accidentally bumped into her.”
Mu Xuewei looked utterly unconvinced. One look and it was obvious the girl had done it on purpose.
Wen Yan and the others took one glance and immediately understood what had happened. Lin Zixuan hurried to Hua Tong’s side and asked with concern in his eyes, “Tongtong, are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
Hua Tong, just recovering from the shock, shook her head. “No need, I’m fine. Weiwei caught me. I didn’t fall.”
Hearing Hua Tong say this, Wen Yan’s tense body finally relaxed. Thank goodness nothing had happened. If something had happened to her, he didn’t dare imagine what he might have done.
The girl on the floor watched Hua Tong being fussed over by everyone, and jealousy flashed through her eyes. Why should a sickly girl receive so much care and attention from everyone—including Wen Yan, the boy she liked?
Wen Yan glared at the girl on the floor, his eyes full of hostility. “Apologize to her.”
The girl lifted her face defiantly. “Why should I? I just accidentally bumped into her. Is she really that fragile? Don’t tell me it’s true what they say on the forum—that she’s a sickly girl who needs to go to the hospital after one little bump, and that it took her twenty minutes to climb four flights of stairs.”
As expected, the students who heard these words all turned their eyes to Hua Tong. Wen Yan’s heart tightened, and he turned to look at her, finding her small face pale.
Mu Xuewei looked at her small deskmate’s pale face and said sharply, “I clearly saw you crash straight into my best friend. It was completely deliberate.”
The girl on the ground felt a little guilty, but she still retorted, “Do you have any proof? Without proof, you’re just slandering me.”
Looking at the girl who refused to admit it, Hua Tong’s eyes darkened. She was only in poor health, not a saint. If someone bullied her, she wouldn’t just sit there and take it.
She slowly stood up and walked over to the girl. “You want proof? Fine, I’ll give you proof.”
She pointed at the surveillance camera overhead. Wen Yan immediately ordered someone to pull the footage.
Sure enough, the girl on the ground panicked. At the time, jealousy had simply gotten the better of her, and she had only wanted to knock Hua Tong down—she had never thought about the cameras. Now that Hua Tong had pointed them out directly, she panicked.
Seeing the girl’s panicked expression, everyone present knew she had done it on purpose.
Some students who knew the girl on the ground shouted, “He Yu, hurry up and apologize to Hua Tong! I never thought you were this kind of person. You knew perfectly well she’s in poor health, and you still crashed into her. How vicious can you be!”
Surrounded by people pointing at her, with accusing, contemptuous, disgusted, and malicious gazes all surging toward her, she broke down. She immediately got up and ran out of the cafeteria, crying.