Su Xiaomei felt uncomfortable inside but still agreed. She took the initiative to hold Ruanruan’s hand.
“Teacher, don’t worry.”
Only then did the teacher relax. After all, Su Xiaomei had always been obedient and sensible, and she still had plenty of work to do.
As soon as the adult left, Su Xiaomei shook off Ruanruan’s hand.
“So annoying. You even had to follow me to school!”
Ruanruan could tell Su Xiaomei didn’t like her, so she immediately stepped back, creating some distance between them.
Liu Qianqian was also in the same class as Su Xiaomei and had arrived earlier. She was currently playing with building blocks.
Su Xiaomei went over to her and noticed the slap mark on her face.
“Did your mom hit you? It’s all because Ruanruan talked nonsense and got you into trouble.”
Liu Qianqian instinctively clenched the block in her hand. Thinking about the beatings from her parents, she glared hatefully in Ruanruan’s direction.
“Lin Ruanruan is such a scheming little green tea! My mom used to beat me every three days. Ever since she showed up, my mom beats me every single day! Boohoo…”
Su Xiaomei felt a little disgusted by her snot and tears, but remembering her purpose, she forced herself to endure it. She handed Liu Qianqian her handkerchief and said casually,
“Sigh… you’re just too straightforward. How could you ever be a match for someone like Ruanruan? If only someone who disliked her could teach her a lesson!”
While wiping her tears, Liu Qianqian suddenly brightened.
“How about we teach her a lesson and show her how to behave!”
“That wouldn’t be good…” Su Xiaomei lowered her head, hiding the excitement she couldn’t suppress.
“What’s wrong with it?” Liu Qianqian thought of her own suffering and felt even more dissatisfied with the fair and chubby Ruanruan.
“Come on. The teacher told us to show you around.”
Ruanruan felt something wasn’t quite right, but since the teacher had indeed given that instruction, she followed them.
Besides, she was a lucky little koi. She wouldn’t run into danger!
Because Liu Qianqian and the others were familiar with the area, they deliberately took a detour, successfully leading Ruanruan into the small woods beside the school.
Ruanruan was short and couldn’t keep up with their speed. With so many trees blocking the view, she soon lost track of them.
“Xiaomei… Su Xiaomei… Qianqian… you’re walking too fast… Oh no, what should I do now?”
Ruanruan looked around blankly.
She could only rely on her instincts and keep walking forward. After an unknown amount of time, she finally spotted a figure ahead.
She quickly hurried after them.
“Wait! The person ahead, wait! Oh—it’s you, Brother Zihao!”
“Ruanruan?”
Chen Zihao glanced curiously at the woods and asked, “Why are you here?”
“The teacher asked my sister and the others to show me around, but I got lost in the woods. Luckily I ran into you. Brother Zihao, where are you going?”
“I’m going home to get my lunchbox.”
Chen Zihao looked troubled. He glanced toward the school, then at the little girl in front of him, unsure what to do.
If he escorted Ruanruan back to school, he wouldn’t have time to go home for his lunchbox, and he’d go hungry at noon.
But if he went to get the lunchbox, he wouldn’t have time to send Ruanruan back to school. A tiny kid wandering around alone might run into danger.
“Brother Zihao, why don’t I go with you to get your lunchbox, and then we can go to school together?”
Chen Zihao’s eyes immediately lit up.
“Ruanruan, you’re so smart! Let’s go get it quickly.”
“Okay!”
The two kids thought this was the perfect solution and happily went home together, completely unaware that the school was already in chaos.
The teacher had realized that class was about to start but Ruanruan was nowhere to be seen.
“Xiaomei, where did Ruanruan go?”
Su Xiaomei lowered her head and stayed silent.
But Liu Qianqian couldn’t sit still. With the slap mark still on her face, she said,
“Teacher, I saw Ruanruan crying and saying she didn’t want to come to school. We tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. She even hit me!”
When the teacher heard this, she immediately assumed the slap mark on Liu Qianqian’s face was caused by Ruanruan.
And now Ruanruan was missing!
“What?! This child is too willful! I have to inform your families. How could she just run away without saying anything?”
Once the teacher left, Su Xiaomei began crying softly.
“Xiaomei, why are you crying?” Liu Qianqian said. “Isn’t this giving that troublemaker a lesson? You should be happy. Once your dad finds her, he’ll definitely beat Lin Ruanruan badly.”
The more Liu Qianqian spoke, the more excited she became.
“What if Dad and Mom find out I knew about it? Will they hate me even more? They already dislike me because of Ruanruan…”
Liu Qianqian thought about her own situation at home and suddenly empathized with Su Xiaomei.
She assumed Xiaomei must be like her—always forced to give in to younger siblings, and beaten whenever their parents were unhappy.
Xiaomei had been sickly since childhood. She needed to protect her!
She immediately smiled.
“Xiaomei, I did this. What does it have to do with you?”
Only then did Su Xiaomei smile happily.
Meanwhile, Lin Dayong received a call informing him that his daughter was missing. He immediately asked his superior for leave and rushed out to search for her.
Su Ting was also notified that Ruanruan had gone missing.
Her face darkened as she went to look for the girl.
That unlucky child must have skipped school and run off somewhere!
There was still a pile of work waiting for her at the hospital, and now she had to search for a naughty kid who skipped school to play. The more she thought about it, the angrier she became—and the less she wanted to search.
Lin Dayong grabbed a passerby and asked anxiously,
“Hello, have you seen a cute, chubby little girl?”
Most passersby waved their hands and said no.
But one person frowned thoughtfully after hearing the description.
“I think I might have seen her. There was an adult with her. I even wondered how such ordinary parents could have such a pretty little girl!”
Lin Dayong’s heart suddenly turned cold.
Could Ruanruan have encountered a child trafficker?!
“Oh dear, could it be human traffickers?” a nearby gossiping aunt chimed in. “I heard a child from the neighboring village went missing and still hasn’t been found!”
Lin Dayong nearly went mad with panic.
“Comrade, do you remember which direction they went?”
…
“Brother Zihao, are you done yet? Let’s hurry back to school!”
Ruanruan watched Chen Zihao, who was about to turn on the television, and couldn’t help urging him.
“Ruanruan, let’s watch TV together. You probably haven’t—”
Ruanruan shook her head.
“Brother Zihao, I don’t want to watch TV. Aren’t you afraid your parents will come home and beat you if they see you here?”
Chen Zihao immediately shrank his shoulders nervously, then laughed.
“Well, if we’re not at home, they won’t see us! Why don’t we go out and walk around? Anyway, class has already started—we’re already late.”