Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Ms. Li had wanted to protect Qin Lu because, after all, she was one of the top five students in her class. She was still hoping that Qin Lu would get good grades during the national examination to raise her KPI.
However, when she saw Gao Yanchen and the rest, Ms. Li became timid instantly and kept her mouth shut.
Old Liu frowned. “Gao Yanchen, why aren’t you guys attending class and coming here?”
Gao Yanchen crossed his arms and looked impatiently at Qin Shuang. “I heard that someone is framing a member of our Roaring Flame Society, so I came to see who is so daring.”
After saying this, he turned to look at Qin Lu and the latter shuddered.
She frowned in confusion.
Isn’t the leader of the Roaring Flame Society Xue Xi now? Gao Yanchen should be harboring resentment now, but why is he helping Qin Shuang out?
Gao Yanchen casually looked at Xue Xi before staring at Ms. Li. “Since Qin Lu admitted to it, how should she be punished?”
Before Ms. Li could even speak, Mrs. Qin took a step forward. “A small matter like this doesn’t need punishment. We can fork out ten times the amount of the class fund!”
Gao Yanchen raised his chin. “Stealing 3,000 yuan and framing her classmate; if both crimes were to be punished… Mhm, according to the school rules, a serious offense needs to be recorded. Ms. Li, don’t worry about this, I’ll talk to the Director of Teaching about it.”
Every high school had school rules and did not condone dying hair, but Gao Yanchen’s Roaring Flame Society was able to do as they pleased because Elder Gao was a member of the international school’s board of trustees!
After speaking, he moved aside and gave way. “Sister Xi, are you going?”
Xue Xi: “…Oh.”
As the only witness, she had been in the office and missed a period.
When she brought Qin Shuang to the door, Mrs. Qin shouted in agitation, “Qin Shuang, do you really want to ruin Qin Shuang? How can you be so selfish and heartless?!”
Qin Shuang closed her eyes in pain upon being blamed.
This time around, a confused voice rang. “…This matter, isn’t it her own mistake? Why must you say that Qin Shuang ruined her?”
Mrs. Qin froze.
Everyone in the office turned to look at Xue Xi.
She had always been unemotional, so she looked at Mrs. Qin with confused eyes as though she was waiting for an answer.
Mrs. Qin could not reply.
Two seconds later, Xue Xi retracted her gaze and left.
When they left the office building and headed back to the academic building, Xue Xi was walking at the front while Gao Yanchen lifted his chin and followed beside her.
After settling this matter, Xue Xi finally took out her phone and read Ji Silin’s reply.
Ji Silin: “Xixi, you have a boyfriend?”
Xue Xi paused momentarily and realized what had happened in hindsight. She pressed the voice message that had been sent previously. Xiang Huai’s “Girlfriend, you can speak now” was heard first, followed by her “What’s the matter, Brother Silin?”
Feeling shocked, she paused in her footsteps.
Gao Yanchen was taken aback by the voice message too.
Girlfriend?
The people behind did not sense that something was off. After hearing Qin Shuang narrate what had happened, he asked, “Sister Xi, why didn’t you call the police right away? If that’s the case, Qin Lu can go to jail!”
Xue Xi slowly said, “Oh,” and continued, “‘Little talkative’ touched that envelope.”
Flame Number One: “Huh?”
After thinking for a moment, he understood that “little talkative” referred to Qin Shuang.
Xue Xi: “…So, fingerprint matching won’t work.”
Qin Shuang and Qin Lu were twins who looked really similar. Moreover, Qin Shuang loved to put on thick makeup and it would be easier to pass off as her. They would not be able to differentiate between the two of them through the CCTV footage.
Flame Number One was enlightened. “Sister Xi, it turns out that you’re faking it earlier! Powerful!”
After saying that, he scratched his head and looked at Xue Xi. “Sister Xi, since you like to give others nicknames, what did you give me? Did you give Brother Chen one too?”
Xue Xi looked at his hair in silence and felt guilty. “…No.”
After saying this, she tried to cover up as she dipped her head to reply to Ji Silin. “Yes, the situation is slightly special. I’ll tell you in detail next time. Brother Silin, I’ll go to class first.”
The moment that message was sent, her phone rang again.
She left the chat room and found another friend request. Upon clicking on it, she found the person’s profile picture to be black and the profile name to be “X” while the comment read, “It’s me.”
Who are you?
Xue Xi was sure that she did not have a friend like this. Maybe the person added the wrong person?
She pressed “reject” and put the matter behind her mind as she placed her phone in her pocket.
In the provision store, someone stared at the word “rejected” for a moment and chuckled.
Lu Chao, who was squatting at one side and playing his game, was shocked by his chuckle. He silently distanced himself away from his boss…
…
Six periods of classes ended very soon and it was time for the Math Olympiad class again. No, today was the Physics competition class.
She carried her books, and as she walked to the lecture theater, she saw Qin Shuang and Mrs. Qin standing not far away. Her mother’s eyes were red, and she said something before putting a bank card in Qin Shuang’s hands.
Qin Shuang shook her head and took a step back. Passing the card back to her mother, she turned around and left.
After looking on for a while, Xue Xi went to attend class.
When she entered the physics classroom, she realized that there were fewer students here—only seven of them.
She found a random seat and sat down. Then, she heard Xue Yao’s voice. “Xue Xi, you have the Mathematics Star Competition this weekend, right? Can you really attend the physics class today?”
Xue Xi ignored her.
The boy beside Xue Yao asked, “She enrolled in two Olympiad classes?”
Xue Yao nodded and tidied her fringe as she said in pretense, “That’s right. An Olympiad class has a heavy workload and she studies until late at night every day. I don’t know if she can handle both classes well.”
That boy was baffled. “No, you have to give it your all for just one competition and she enrolled in both to play?”
Xue Yao: “…Who knows what she’s thinking?”
The rest looked at them but kept quiet.
Not more than five minutes later, an anonymous thread in the school forum became wildly popular. “Is someone being complacent, enrolling in two Olympiad classes just because she topped in one exam?”
Soon, the thread had tens of replies:
Who? Senior year’s Xue Xi?
She is from my Math Olympiad class. Let me shed some light. Xue Xi scored the lowest for the two mock exams in the Math Olympiad class. I really don’t know why Old Liu recruited someone like her in. Is it to be a mascot?
Perhaps she cheated to get first in the level. The Xue family’s eldest young mistress wants to create a curve wrecker image and plate herself with gold in order to mix with the higher echelons of society. Isn’t she going overboard?
The Math Star Competition is around the corner. Let’s wait and see. She can’t cheat during this kind of competition, and all the ghosts and monsters would return to their original form!
Xue Xi had no idea about the internet news, and this time around, her phone rang again.
Upon fishing it out, she found that it was another friend request and opened it. The profile picture was a confident selfie as the person smiled widely and showed off his two canine teeth. His profile name was “Big Lu” and the comment read, “It’s me!”
At the provision store.
Lu Chao fawned on Xiang Huai and smiled. “Boss, she definitely won’t accept a stranger’s friend request. Wait and see, she’ll definitely reject me too!”
As he said it, his phone vibrated. Both of them dipped their heads and saw WeChat’s notification “‘Learning’1 has accepted your friend request.”
Lu Chao: “…”
