Before entering, Lu Xinyi stood by the door with Tang Lilou. Even their classmates were talking about the rumors about her, forgetting what Meng Jiao did back at the campsite. When Lu Xinyi stepped inside the room, her gaze clashed with Meng Jiao’s. She went on her assigned seat, without paying Meng Jiao any more attention.
Upon seeing her, everyone stopped gossiping. Some lowered their heads from shame while the others look away as if they didn’t do anything wrong. Lu Xinyi hated this kind of person. They could easily be swayed by the crowd’s opinion, afraid to stand up for the truth despite the fact that they knew about it.
They’d never understand how it felt to be cornered. They would never realize how strong a person was until being strong was the only choice that a person had.
Seeing Lu Xinyi not affected at all, Meng Jiao sneered in her heart. Her face burned with anger and envy. How could Lu Xinyi be that lucky?! She thought by leaving her in the wilderness would finally give her some peaceful days and brighter future when Lu Xinyi wasn’t around anymore.
Why did President Shen help her? What did Lu Xinyi had that she didn’t? Meng Jiao thought.
For President Shen, she was lower than an insect. After their initial meeting, he refused to meet her or see her face. The last time she attempted to talk to him, she was chased away by a wild animal Lu Xinyi adopted as a pet.
Remembering about it, Meng Jiao sat uncomfortably, the color on her face draining and making her pale and white as a paper.
Although Lu Xinyi wasn’t as charming as her, her sharp tongue could make one’s heart bleed. This devil was a force to be reckoned with. However, this was also the reason Meng Jiao hated her down to her core!
Since high school, she was Gong Yijun’s side chick while Lu Xinyi was the one he revered as some kind of goddess. He had this huge crush on her, but Lu Xinyi didn’t take him seriously. Lu Xinyi had been his perfection while she was left begging for scraps.
Even when the two became a couple, Gong Yijun had kept her. While he was dating Lu Xinyi, they enjoyed the thrill of hiding and fucking behind her back. It was always like that, with him being rough on her on the bed while she pretended to be the concerned best friend of Lu Xinyi.
She enjoyed the years of having an affair, but once Lu Xinyi found out about it, Meng Jiao wanted more. She refused to be his hidden lover. She wanted him all for herself. With Lu Xinyi leaving him, Meng Jiao thought that she finally won against her.
In her heart, she could not accept that Lu Xinyi was happy and was able to surpass her. That was why when they applied for Silver Leaf’s entrance exam, she didn’t pass Lu Xinyi’s application form and requirements. However, she never expected that President Shen would help her to enter Silver Leaf.
“Lu Xinyi, Meng Jiao. Headmistress Han summons you to her office.” A member of the student council arrived at the door, calling their attention. He left immediately after announcing his purpose, not giving both women a chance to question why they were being called.
Lu Xinyi stood at once, striding outside the room while Meng Jiao hesitated. Her eyes looking around to ask for help, but none bothered to give her a hand. She chewed her lower lip and followed Lu Xinyi outside.
As Lu Xinyi walked ahead of her, Meng Jiao was given a chance to look at her. She’d noticed that Lu Xinyi changed a lot. Her movements were refined now unlike her previous brash actions that men find unattractive. Her hair was longer and silkier compared to her untamed hair that refused to be kept on a neat bun.
Lu Xinyi was more like a proper third miss of the Sun family now, which disturbed Meng Jiao. Since she befriended Lu Xinyi, Meng Jiao never found herself inferior to the latter until now. Looking at her, Meng Jiao begrudgingly admitted to herself that the difference between them was like oceans.
“Annoying bitch,” Meng Jiao muttered to herself but was loud enough for Lu Xinyi to hear it.
Lu Xinyi stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder to see Meng Jiao behind her.
“I’m glad you’re finally aware of what you are now.”
“You!” Meng Jiao clenched her jaw tightly and gritted her teeth as she seethed with anger. She’d always knew Lu Xinyi’s straightforward and blunt personality, but she’d never been subjected to her verbal abuse until now.
“Meng Jiao, I know you are smart, but how come you lowered yourself like this? Or this is your true self that you tried to hide from me…”
This was something Lu Xinyi couldn’t understand about Meng Jiao. She was prettier and smarter than her, but how come Meng Jiao didn’t use her head correctly and schemed against her. Then again, just like what Yuan Jin told her repeatedly, there was nothing uglier than a beautiful face with an ugly heart. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
When the two arrived at Han Zhiling’s office, the woman instantly felt the tension between Lu Xinyi and Meng Jiao. One was seething in anger, the other calm and relaxed as if she couldn’t be bothered by the other person.
“I assumed both of you know the reason I called you here,” Han Zhiling started. Her eyes scanned Lu Xinyi’s face, trying to deduce what was going on in her mind; but with Lu Xinyi’s RBF in place, the older woman couldn’t tell her current mood.
“Yes,” Lu Xinyi affirmed.
“No…” Meng Jiao shook her head, confused as to why they were called together.
“You don’t?” Han Zhiling was surprised at Meng Jiao’s answer. With the way Lu Xinyi stared back at her, Han Zhiling realized that Meng Jiao was oblivious to the problems she was facing right now.
Lu Xinyi looked away but crossed her arms in front of her. It was time for Meng Jiao to face the consequences of her action back at the mountain.
“Miss Meng, President Shen and Miss Lu filed an official complaint against you for breaking the protocol during your last activity. You are requested to provide a satisfying explanation as to why you did it.”
Horror shot through Meng Jiao. Among the students of the Silver Leaf Academy, who hadn’t heard about Proctor Xuan’s expulsion? The board of directors came into a unanimous decision to fired Proctor Xuan from the academy.
After all, it was President Shen and Tian Lingyu’s request. They couldn’t accept what Proctor Xuan did during Lu Xinyi’s disappearance. Now, it was Meng Jiao’s turn to explain herself.
“I…” Meng Jiao felt that she lost the ability to speak at that moment. Her mind was screaming to her to flee from Lu Xinyi’s watching eyes. She could feel her heartbeat racing, nearly exploding in her chest.
“Miss Meng, please prepare your written statement now,” Han Zhiling said before turning to Lu Xinyi. Just like her father, Lu Xinyi was capable of giving her a headache.
“Miss Lu, if you are to give Miss Meng a punishment aside from expulsion, what will you suggest?”
Narrowing her eyes, Lu Xinyi gave Meng Jiao an intense look. If she was a regular student, there would be no question that Meng Jiao would be kicked out from the academy, but since she has Sun Feiyan as her backing, Silver Leaf wouldn’t easily give expulsion to her.
“Deduct 300 points from Meng Jiao’s credit points,” she said without batting an eyelid.
“Lu Xinyi!” Meng Jiao exclaimed. For her, losing three hundred credit points would be as good as expelling her from the academy.
“What?” Lu Xinyi snapped back on her, “You think it’s unfair? Now, you are concerned about your future, but have the thought crossed your mind if I didn’t survive three painstaking days at the wilderness without proper food and safety gears?”
At the moment, Meng Jiao had 945 points while Lu Xinyi garnered 1,030 points, enough to accept Han Yixin’s cooking challenge. If she had to lose 300 points, Meng Jiao would fall down from the ranks. Even if there would be a remedial exam later, who knew if the points allowed to earn would be enough to cover her loss?
Meng Jiao glared at Lu Xinyi. She shouldn’t have survived at all!
‘It was all Lu Xinyi’s fault!’ she screamed in her mind. If she were truly expelled from the academy, Sun Feiyan would force her to pay back everything she spent twice! It was a part of their deal to make sure Meng Jiao wouldn’t blindly make a mistake and betray Sun Feiyan.
If she couldn’t deal with Lu Xinyi, how would she able to face Sun Feiyan?
