10
“Hey, you. Come here.”
The basketball guy provocatively crooked his finger at Mo Li. “You tell me yourself, do I need to apologize to you?”
Mo Li’s face turned pale.
Her hands tightly clutched the hem of her clothes, and she stammered, “I… I…”
Pei Jiamu turned around and looked at her calmly.
His expression was completely different from how he had looked at the basketball guy. Anyone could see the words “Don’t worry, I’ve got your back” written in his eyes.
Maybe because he lacked confidence, the basketball guy suddenly raised his voice and barked at her, “Speak up!”
Mo Li flinched and immediately said, “I’m sorry! It’s okay… you don’t need to apologize.”
“You heard her. She said she doesn’t need an apology. I don’t have time to mess around with you guys. I’m leaving.”
The basketball guy, having gotten his way, strutted off.
Murmurs of discontent rose from the crowd, but no one stepped forward to confront him.
Pei Jiamu had been in a pretty good mood.
Wu Jiao had finally said something nice about him, and he now knew who the female lead was.
He knew Mo Li—a particularly well-behaved and sensible girl.
As the student council president, even if it was more of a title than an actual role, many student-related matters still passed through his hands.
Every time Si Xiuyuan gave him the lists for financial aid for underprivileged students and scholarships for top students, her name was always on them.
In the photo column, the girl smiled shyly.
The application form for financial aid made it very clear: her mother had passed away early, her father had been in a car accident when she was very young, and he had been bedridden ever since, unable to work. All these years, she had supported her father on her own while still working hard to get into No. 1 High from a small county town.
At first, Mo Li hadn’t actively applied for financial aid. When Si Xiuyuan approached her, she had even blushed and said she wanted to give the spot to other classmates who needed it more.
But in a class where almost everyone came from comfortable, well-off families, who else could possibly need it more than her?
He had stumbled upon this situation by chance.
At the time, he had secretly glanced at Mo Li’s back and thought that her fragile shoulders shouldn’t have to be hunched over like that every day. This strong, kind girl should be prouder than all of them.
After hearing Wu Jiao’s thoughts, Pei Jiamu was happy to learn that Mo Li was the female lead.
He was happy for her. He also felt a sense of “if not her, then who?”
But at this moment, Pei Jiamu uncharacteristically kept quiet and let the guy go.
If her strength was just about passively letting things that shouldn’t happen to her happen… then forget it.
A gust of wind brushed past him, and something bumped into Pei Jiamu’s arm—not too hard, not too soft.
Even though she had been the one to run into him, she stumbled and lurched forward, her movements exaggerated.
Pei Jiamu’s body reacted faster than his brain. He grabbed her by the collar to stop her from falling. But then—
Wu Jiao twisted her head around like an owl and shot him an annoyed look.
[Let go, you idiot! How am I supposed to help you save face if you don’t let go?!]
Pei Jiamu was stunned. He let her go instinctively.
Wu Jiao lunged forward like a ball. When she was one step away from the basketball guy, she “accidentally” splashed water all over his back.
Not only that, but she also “accidentally” didn’t stop in time, kicked the basketball guy, and both of them tumbled to the ground.
Wu Jiao had really fallen hard to make her acting convincing. Tears welled up from the pain.
[Oww, oww, oww! Why is this guy harder than the floor?!]
Si Xiuyuan heard her thoughts and instinctively took a step forward. Pei Jiamu frowned, his eyes quickly scanning Wu Jiao from head to toe.
But Wu Jiao had already wiped away her tears in a flash and sprang to her feet.
The basketball guy, confused and angry after being knocked over, pointed at Wu Jiao. “What the hell is wrong with you?! You got my clothes all wet! Either wash them for me or apologize!”
But Wu Jiao acted as if nothing had happened. She looked him up and down with her nose, then made a move to leave.
“You think you can leave without apologizing? You—”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s not your turn yet. Just wait a second!”
Wu Jiao cut off the basketball guy, then stormed over to Pei Jiamu. “What’s wrong with you?! Why did you bump into me?! You made me spill all my water! Either get my water back for me or apologize! Hurry up!”
Pei Jiamu, completely innocent and caught in the crossfire: ?
But the two of them seemed to have developed an unspoken understanding at No. 1 High. Pei Jiamu immediately understood.
He suppressed a smile, put on an indifferent expression, and shrugged. “I warned everyone earlier. I was just standing here.”
“I didn’t hear you!”
Pei Jiamu: “So you didn’t hear or see me, and that’s my fault?”
Wu Jiao looked furious. She turned to the basketball guy and asked, “You heard that, right? He’s twisting my words and refusing to apologize.”
The basketball guy’s expression changed.
The exact same situation. The exact same words. He had just said them himself a moment ago.
At this point, even the densest person would realize she was mimicking his behavior—giving him a taste of his own medicine.
And Wu Jiao looked even angrier than he was.
She demanded of the onlookers, “Everyone be the judge here—does Pei Jiamu need to apologize or not?”
The crowd answered in unison: “No!”
One of the guys shouted at the basketball guy, “Everyone move aside, I’m about to flip the bird! Don’t blame me if you get pointed at!”
“Hahahahahahaha—”
Amidst the roaring laughter, many people chimed in and raised their middle fingers toward the sky in unison.
The basketball guy’s face turned dark. Amidst the crowd’s bright laughter, he slunk away in disgrace.
No one had expected things to be resolved in such an unexpected way. And even more unexpectedly, the person who did it was Wu Jiao.
From that day on, No. 1 High unofficially established a commemoration day—
Middle Finger Apology Day.
Long, long after the story ended, this commemoration day persisted year after year. The male leads who had made their dashing rescues that day were long forgotten, but Wu Jiao’s name, accompanied by laughter, became a classic legend passed down through No. 1 High.
Wu Jiao really became famous.
People in her class would smile at her with newfound warmth. Classmates who had previously avoided her now took the initiative to say hello.
Cao Haotian, who sat in front of Wu Jiao, also gained some attention.
That day, Cao Haotian had been one of the onlookers. He hadn’t expected Wu Jiao to step up and defuse the situation. He thought she had been especially cool that day.
When he had been the first to say those words and raise his middle finger, the smile Wu Jiao gave him made his heart race.
Something had ignited his heart.
People in the class started shipping him and Wu Jiao as a couple. Even students from other classes came specifically to see them.
Wu Jiao herself had no idea about any of this. Because the monthly exam was approaching, and she was incredibly nervous.
That evening during self-study, Class 7 took an English test. Wu Jiao had guessed her way through the listening section based on keywords, made too many mistakes on the cloze test, and hadn’t had time to organize her thoughts for the essay.
Wu Jiao felt a little sad.
Xiao E comforted her: “Host, don’t be sad. You’ve already worked so hard. I’m sure you’ll improve by 100 points on the monthly exam! Xiao E believes in you!”
After self-study ended, Wu Jiao packed her bag to go home but was unexpectedly stopped.
Yan Yixin had appeared outside the classroom at some point, clearly waiting for her.
Seeing that Wu Jiao had finally noticed her, she beckoned her over.
[I need to have it out with Wu Jiao tonight.]
Wu Jiao’s body jolted.
Have what out?
Did the princess know something?
She hadn’t dared to report anything lately, but today Mo Li hadn’t talked to Si Xiuyuan either.
Wu Jiao followed Yan Yixin through the hallway, across to the opposite teaching building, and into a secluded, dark corner.
“Come here. What are you standing over there for?”
The princess leaned against the railing, arms crossed, and lit a cigarette.
A tiny red ember flickered on and off in the darkness.
The international division didn’t have many students, yet the teaching building was huge. This floor wasn’t usually used, and this corner happened to be a blind spot for the security cameras.
If the princess wanted to do something to Wu Jiao, there would be no evidence.
Wu Jiao obediently walked over.
She spoke first. “Today, Si Xiuyuan didn’t initiate conversation with any other girls—”
“I didn’t ask about that,” Yan Yixin exhaled a puff of smoke and got straight to the point. “Last time I told you not to like Pei Jiamu, and you immediately went and tried to win over another guy?”
Wu Jiao: ?
“That guy who sits in front of you—Cao Haotian, right? He’s not bad-looking, he’s smart, and he’s pretty funny, isn’t he?”
“…Yes.”
“I heard he often brings you breakfast, and you’re always discussing problems together. When you run into each other in the cafeteria, you sit together to eat?”
“Yes, but—”
But the two of them were just having normal friend interactions.
She brought Cao Haotian breakfast too. They took turns—it saved time that way!
And as for discussing problems, that was just because Cao Haotian always turned around to compare whose solution was faster. Every time she used the method Si Xiuyuan taught her, she could one-up him. Cao Haotian was just too competitive.
As for sitting together in the cafeteria, that went without saying!
The cafeteria was packed with people, and there were only so many seats. She even sat with teachers to eat all the time!
“Alright, stop explaining. Find someone else. A friend of mine has her eye on this guy.”
Yan Yixin didn’t let her explain. She cut her off.
She finished her cigarette quickly, stubbed it out in a nearby succulent pot, and left.
Wu Jiao let out a breath of relief.
She thought it was something serious. She had been so scared.
Even though she really had no interest in Cao Haotian, at least now the princess wouldn’t think she liked Pei Jiamu anymore, right?
As for Cao Haotian… that was indeed a bit of a headache.
He didn’t like her, so she couldn’t just walk up to him out of nowhere and say, “I don’t like you,” could she?
Wu Jiao was mentally and physically exhausted.
She just wanted to study hard. Why were there so many complications?
…
After that incident, Pei Jiamu had just wanted to say something to Wu Jiao, but she didn’t even look at him. She turned around and walked into the classroom, chatting and laughing with another boy.
Pei Jiamu: “…”
It dawned on him belatedly that he had actually really wanted to talk to Wu Jiao.
They were always arguing—so much so that he had never noticed how fun Wu Jiao actually was.
And… she was kind of cute, too.
As Pei Jiamu recalled Wu Jiao’s smile, he didn’t even realize that he had also curled his lips upward.
She was completely different from before.
Even though she still bit him when she couldn’t win an argument, she no longer did Yan Yixin’s bidding to mess with him like she used to. On the contrary, last time she had even helped him save face.
Every time Pei Jiamu remembered that scene—when everyone had spoken up for him and fought back—he felt an incredible rush of satisfaction.
It provided a much higher emotional payoff than playing video games.
He wanted to ask Wu Jiao: how did her brain work so fast? She had been even cooler than him.
Of course, he would never actually ask that last part out loud.
Even though he had sworn that whoever spoke to her first would be a dog, that day, she had been the one to talk to him first!
So, it didn’t count!
Pei Jiamu tried to fool himself into believing he hadn’t completely lost face.
Several times, after the morning exercises, Pei Jiamu’s first move wasn’t to go to the bakery. Instead, he would quickly walk to a spot not far in front of Wu Jiao, then slow down.
Surely, when Wu Jiao saw him, she would have something to say, right?
But the slower he walked, the more nothing came from behind him.
By the time he turned around, all he could see was Wu Jiao’s back as she took the long way back to the classroom.
Was she avoiding him?
Even if she didn’t want to see him or talk to him, why go through all that trouble?
Pei Jiamu felt a strange emptiness.
He hadn’t gone to listen to Wu Jiao’s thoughts for several days.
In the past, he wouldn’t have cared whether she avoided him or not—he would have bothered her rain or shine. He only felt happy when she was unhappy.
But now, he inexplicably feared her being unhappy, feared her giving him that look of disgust, feared her ignoring him forever like this.
That evening, the international division’s Class 2 had an English movie for self-study.
The movie was Little Women. Pei Jiamu had seen it at least ten times. He could recite some of the lines off the top of his head.
After the self-study end bell rang, the lights in the classroom remained off. Everyone was still sitting in their seats, watching intently.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Pei Jiamu saw two familiar figures flash past the window.
Why would Wu Jiao come here? And why was Yan Yixin walking with such an attitude?
That direction led to empty classrooms. It was dark over there. What were she and Yan Yixin going to do?
Thinking of how Yan Yixin bossed Wu Jiao around, Pei Jiamu frowned.
He quietly slipped out the back door and followed them.
When he heard Wu Jiao start reporting to Yan Yixin, Pei Jiamu turned to leave.
So, it was just that kind of thing. No need to listen further.
Given how Yan Yixin had been walking—like she was storming off—he had thought she might do something to Wu Jiao.
But the moment he moved his feet, he heard his own name.
Yan Yixin’s casual words made him stop breathing.
His breath stopped, but his heart suddenly pounded wildly. The tips of Pei Jiamu’s ears felt like they had been set on fire.
No way—
Wait.
Scenes involving Wu Jiao from these past days flashed rapidly through Pei Jiamu’s mind, along with something he hadn’t been able to figure out: why was Wu Jiao avoiding him?
If that was really the case, then everything made sense.
So, Wu Jiao… liked him?
Pei Jiamu was dumbfounded.
**