At that moment, the classroom had completely fallen silent. Even though Liu Zong spoke at a normal volume, her words stood out sharply in the room.
For a moment, all the students’ eyes fixed on her.
Liu Zong acted as if she couldn’t see them.
Ridiculous. In front of the Goddess, everything else had to be pushed aside.
Besides, having these people staring like this wasn’t entirely bad. It was a perfect chance to make an example out of someone. Today, she had to help the Goddess assert her authority, to make these people realize who they absolutely could not mess with! They couldn’t assume that just because the Goddess had a good temper and wouldn’t bother retaliating, they could take liberties.
But it didn’t matter. With her, a fan whose fighting power was off the charts, here, the Goddess only needed to handle looking beautiful, and all the battle-required tasks could be left to her.
Liu Zong cast a sidelong glance at Chi Nian. Good, the Goddess seemed a bit off her game. No problem. This household was now in her hands! Liu Zong felt the weight of responsibility on her shoulders.
She drew in a breath of the Goddess’s ethereal aura and straightened herself.
“Don’t just stay silent. Weren’t the first one or two of you pretty talkative just now?”
“I really don’t know how you guys got admitted here. Let me guess—did you take the exam with your mouths? Judging by how smooth you talk, a mere Capital Medical University—I almost feel it’s unfair to you.”
Liu Zong ignored the speechless expressions of the group. After a brief pause, she pressed on. “What did you just say about not wanting to be classmates with someone? Well, guess what—I don’t want to be classmates with you either! Having classmates who love gossiping behind others’ backs makes me ashamed. I was thinking, if one day you get caught gossiping about students from another class—oh, just like now—won’t I, as your classmate, also lose face?”
Sure enough, the effect was immediate. She felt she could punch every anti-fan she saw—effortless!
Liu Zong was very pleased with her performance.
Because Liu Zong made the situation sound exaggerated yet reasonable, some students who hadn’t understood the cause-and-effect yet began siding with her.
“Speak up! Weren’t you just chatting happily? You boys are really into gossip, huh!”
Her words were blunt, hitting everyone at once. Some of those who had remained neutral moments ago began to waver. This could ignite a war between the male and female students. Even though no one knew exactly what the guys had done, wearing such a label was unacceptable; once it stuck, it would be hard to remove.
With this in mind, a few boys started speaking. “It’s a misunderstanding, right? Don’t get too worked up. Come on, let’s sit down and talk this through. Everything will be fine.”
Over there, Lu Lin hadn’t expected Liu Zong’s fighting power to be so formidable. She didn’t even give him a chance to respond. Hearing someone defend his side, he exhaled in relief, just about to retort.
But Liu Zong was on a roll and wasn’t about to let anyone talk. She lashed out without mercy. “Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? This is between me and them. I warn you, don’t interfere—or I can’t guarantee I won’t attack indiscriminately.”
With her full force and intimidating presence, even those who had tried to mediate stayed silent.
Liu Zong’s strength was undeniable, and the few boys, all strangers to her, were only speaking out of same-sex solidarity. There was no reason to risk trouble for them. They didn’t want to be scolded harshly like misbehaving children. Besides, after hearing the previous exchanges, they realized they were in the wrong. After so many words from Liu Zong, they didn’t dare utter a word—they must have felt guilty. Thinking this, they had no intention of intervening further.
Seeing their restraint, Liu Zong decided not to bother with offending most of the class in the first week and focused her energy on the main culprits.
“Speak up! Can’t apologize?” Liu Zong slammed the table forcefully.
Caught red-handed, several boys who had participated in the discussion about Chi Nian earlier felt their pride wounded.
Indeed, gossiping behind someone’s back was unbecoming. They had received a proper education and shouldn’t speculate recklessly or jump to conclusions based on rumors. Even if the person was a celebrity, it didn’t justify their behavior.
Some had only joined the chatter for fun. Now that Liu Zong directly called them out, exposing their actions to classmates they would have to interact with for years, they felt embarrassed and began reflecting.
“I’m sorry,” one spoke.
“For who? Be clear,” Liu Zong demanded, still unsatisfied. That was no proper apology—nameless and meaningless. The person being slandered wasn’t apologizing, so what good did it do?
“Chi Nian, I’m sorry,” he said, taking a deep breath and directing the words to her again.
“It’s okay,” Chi Nian replied calmly.
Whether in her past life or this one, whether herself or the Original Owner, she had faced too much criticism. Chi Nian didn’t dwell on it. Her energy was limited and reserved for more meaningful matters and important people. Those who only gossiped behind others’ backs were clearly unimportant. Later, she would repay them with her strength. Talking now was just wasting breath.
With one person apologizing, more followed. Apologies rang out sporadically, some heartfelt, some compelled by circumstances.
Regardless of whether they apologized, their impression of Chi Nian as the “vase female actress” remained unchanged.
Chi Nian knew this too. As always, later she would repay them with her strength.
Watching the scene, Liu Zong felt very satisfied with her fighting power. There was still one more person, though. As the Goddess’s hardcore fan, she had always followed the principle of “sharing the rain and dew”—no anti-fan could escape her wrath. She swore by her fan status that not a single anti-fan would be spared.
“Why aren’t you apologizing?”
Seeing no reaction, Liu Zong made her words more pointed. “I’m talking to you—the one in the green clothes.”