He gave a faint smile, walked up to Pei Qiuxu, and patted her head.
“Be good.”
Pei Qiuxu broke into a smile and tugged at Zhong Sinian’s sleeve, as if acting coquettish.
“I’ll come cheer you on at the basketball game.”
“Okay.”
Zhong Sinian stared at her face for a moment. “Why are you wearing a mask?”
Pei Qiuxu blinked, her heart suddenly tensing. Her lip was still injured—if it was discovered, she could say she’d accidentally bitten it.
But the location was rather suggestive, and it might well spark some unpleasant rumors.
She touched her lip through the mask. ”I was eating too fast yesterday and bit myself by accident.”
“Sinian, what are you two talking about?” He Jiaojiao spotted the two of them and came over.
“Nothing, just chatting.”
The moment he saw her, Zhong Sinian’s gaze glued itself entirely to her.
Pei Qiuxu loosened her grip on Zhong Sinian’s hand. “Class is about to start. Hurry back to your seats.”
Watching the two of them walk away, Pei Qiuxu rested her chin in her hands, feeling that something was off somehow, but she couldn’t put her finger on it, so she simply stopped thinking about it.
Preparations for the sports meet went into full swing.
As members of the cheerleading squad, Pei Qiuxu and the others spent two hours every afternoon learning new dance moves and rhythms.
To everyone’s surprise, He Jiaojiao—who had no dance background whatsoever—pulled off the moves without looking awkward at all.
Perhaps because she was quite clever, He Jiaojiao picked up anything she learned right away.
Pei Qiuxu couldn’t help feeling envious. Her brain wasn’t great, and when it came to learning things she was hopeless.
After days of practice, Pei Qiuxu was exhausted.
The day before the sports meet, to improve the squad’s overall image, the cheerleading team selected a few pretty girls who also danced well to stand in the front row.
Without question, Pei Qiuxu made it to the front row, and naturally became the cheerleading captain.
She was beautiful, and her dancing skills were genuinely strong.
Once the positions were set, the rehearsal began.
The cheerleading uniforms had been ordered uniformly by the class. The red-and-white color scheme was bright and eye-catching—the fitted short-sleeved top fell just above the waistline, outlining slender waists, while the lower half was a pleated short skirt in matching colors, its hem fluttering lightly with every step, radiating youthful energy.
The music started. Pei Qiuxu stood still and lifted her head, revealing a face small as a palm.
Her lovely hair was tied into a high ponytail, the ends trailing behind her, tracing a perfect arc through the air with her movements.
The rehearsal went perfectly, and Pei Qiuxu breathed a sigh of relief.
But on the day of the sports meet, when Pei Qiuxu went to the changing room to get dressed and saw her cheerleading uniform in her locker, she froze on the spot.
Someone had written several large characters reading “ugly” on the back of her uniform in marker.
Pei Qiuxu picked up her uniform. The black ink had already dried. She trembled all over with rage.
She had never encountered anything like this. Did this count as being bullied?
A nearby cheerleader gasped at the sight. “Who did this? How could anyone be so vile?”
“Qiuxu, don’t get angry. We’ll check the surveillance footage later—we’ll find out who it was.”
“Is there even a camera inside the changing room?”
“Well, there must be one outside, at least. Last night we didn’t finish tidying up the uniforms and leave until after ten. Whoever wrote on the uniform must have done it after we left.”
“So what do we do now?”
With the cheerleading squad about to line up, Pei Qiuxu looked at the people behind her and said with a smile, “You all go ahead, you’ll be entering soon. I’ll go talk to the teacher and see what can be done.”
There was nothing else to be done now, so everyone could only nod, change their clothes, and leave.
Pei Qiuxu followed them out and explained the situation to the teacher.
The teacher was clearly furious as well, but each member of the cheerleading squad had only one custom-made uniform—there were no spares.
And Pei Qiuxu stood in the front row, the most conspicuous spot.
“For now, someone will have to take your place. Qiuxu, go rest for a bit. Don’t worry—once the sports meet is over, I’ll report this to the school. We will find out who did this.”
Pei Qiuxu sighed. She had already sensed that she wouldn’t be able to perform.
But she had trained for so long, after all, so she couldn’t help feeling upset.
In the end, the teacher chose He Jiaojiao to fill Pei Qiuxu’s spot.
This made Pei Qiuxu feel even worse.
Her face puffed up with anger, and not wanting to watch how He Jiaojiao danced, she turned and went to the changing room.
When she closed the door, it caught the hem of her skirt, and she furiously kicked at it a couple of times.
The men’s and women’s changing rooms were located at the front left and front right of the building, with a large common hall in the middle for people to rest.
At the very center of the hall, on a huge table, gift bags were arranged.
These gift bags were all exquisite, tied with bows and labeled with boys’ names.
Pei Qiuxu smiled knowingly. Some girls, if they had a boy they liked, would place a gift bag they’d prepared here, filled with things the boy liked.
Most of them here were for Qin Muyao, Zhong Sinian, and the other two of their group.
Pei Qiuxu stood there, bending down to look carefully.
She thought to herself—she had never prepared a gift bag like this for Zhong Sinian. Should she give it a try?
Just as she was hesitating, the phone in her bag rang.
She hurriedly took it out and, seeing an unfamiliar number from City A on the screen, answered anyway: “Hello?”
The other end was silent for a long while. Pei Qiuxu thought it was a wrong number and was about to hang up when a cool, low voice came through the phone: “School gate. Come out now.”
Hearing that voice, Pei Qiuxu instinctively flinched. She curled her fingers and glanced around: “Our school is having its sports meet. I still have a performance to finish.”
“Hm?” The man gave a soft hum, and Pei Qiuxu’s legs went weak, her voice trembling.
“I really don’t have time today. Can we meet another day?” As if afraid of angering the man, Pei Qiuxu softened her voice, adding a coquettish lilt.
“Heh.” Huo Yu leaned back in the back seat of the car, lowering his eyes to look at the unmoving little red dot on his phone screen. The location displayed was the changing room.
“Fine. I’ll come find you.” With that, he hung up.
Hearing the busy tone on the other end, Pei Qiuxu stomped her foot in anger. Remembering what the man had said before hanging up, she pressed her lips together, looking somewhat worried.
But then she remembered she was at school right now. Besides, no matter how powerful that man was, could he really sense where she was?
With that thought, half her worry eased, but somehow she still felt uneasy.
In the end, she simply hid inside the women’s changing room.
The changing room here was divided into small individual compartments, each with a door to block the view.
Pei Qiuxu sat on the small stool in her own compartment, planning to wait a while before going out.
The other girls had all gone off to keep busy, and she was the only one left in the changing room. She rested her head lightly against the wall beside her, playing on her phone.