A video automatically started to play when she tapped on it.
“10 seconds left…”
The voice of a woman came through.
Sun Huihui quickly realized that it was Ning Li’s voice.
She tried to get a closer look but the screen was dark. Something was covering the camera lens which had only allowed for the sound to be recorded.
“10, 9…”
Nothing showed on the screen but Ning Li’s voice grew cold.
Thud!
A heavy thud sounded all of a sudden. It sounded like someone dropping to their knees.
Smack!
The noise of the slap that followed rang out extra clear in the quiet room.
The slap also caused Sun Huihui’s heart to skip a beat.
“I’m sorry, Ning Li!”
The fear that she heard from the voice in the video stunned her.
“This…this is…They told me they would teach her a lesson, but they knelt and apologized to Ning Li instead?!”
“7.”
Ning Li’s voice sounded as indifferent as ever. The icy cold tone of her voice could send chills down one’s spine even without her physical presence.
After a vigorous shake of the camera, the screen revealed something shocking.
All of Sun Huihui’s friends were kneeling on the ground one by one.
The thud that had sounded as their knees hit the ground felt as heavy to Sun Huihui as rocks pounding on her heart.
There was also a glimpse of a Second High uniform followed by a pair of legs and half of a black bag.
Sun Huihui could tell that the person was Ning Li.
It proved that the one who had done the countdown was indeed Ning Li.
Before Sun Huihui could react, the sound of slaps and apologies were heard from her friends.
“I’m sorry!”
“I’m sorry!”
The whole bunch seemed terrified as they slapped themselves with all their might. It was painful to watch and listen to.
Ning Li said evenly, “Three…”
Her flat tone was a stark contrast to the trembling apologies.
“Two.”
The group finally stopped slapping themselves.
Ning Li nonchalantly made the final announcement, “One.”
The video stopped abruptly.
Sun Huihui’s legs turned to jelly, her face as pale as paper. She fell limply onto the chair.
Until her phone automatically went dark, she was still drowned in fear.
“How did it… What exactly happened? Why did they kneel and slap themselves in front of Ning Li?”
The video had been unintentionally taken by someone present at the scene. It might not have shown Ning Li’s face but judging from the voice and the glimpse of the pair of legs and uniform, Sun Huihui was certain it was Ning Li.
More importantly, who had sent her the video?
It could not have been her friends because it was humiliating to them.
Therefore, it must have been…Ning Li!
This video was a warning to her!
Sun Huihui trembled uncontrollably.
She finally knew what her friend had meant and why her friend had blocked her.
Her friends had been humiliated in front of Ning Li and of course, they blamed it on her.
She could not figure out what Ning Li had done to force them to do this, but there was nothing she could do about it now.
She was drowning so much in her own fear that taking revenge was no longer the priority. Now, she only hoped that she could escape Ning Li without suffering too much.
A while later, she mustered up enough courage to check the mail for clues.
Unfortunately, it had been sent anonymously. There was nothing there other than the video.
Sun Huihui spent the night in fear. She could barely sleep, the sound of someone counting continued in her head and she could almost feel the slaps on her own cheeks throughout the night.
On the second day, she caught a fever again.
…
Sun Huihui skipped the Saturday morning class again.
Ye Ci frowned at the empty seat behind her.
After the short reply last night, Sun Huihui had gone silent and had even skipped class this morning.
“Xiangxiang, do you know why Huihui didn’t show up today?”
Cheng Xiangxiang glanced at the empty seat. “She’s sick, I think. Who knows?”
She did not want to have anything to do with Sun Huihui.
Ye Ci was silenced by her reaction.
Everything had been fine until this morning.
She then turned her attention to Ning Li.
She asked Cheng Xiangxiang about Sun Huihui because she tried to find out what happened last night.
If she was right, Sun Huihui must have attempted to do something to Ning Li but failed.
Ning Li looked as normal as always but Sun Huihui was absent.
It was strange.
Ye Ci took out a piece of paper.
…
Cheng Xiyue arrived at Yunding Fenghua.
“Second master? Second master?”
There was no one on the first floor.
Lu Huaiyu lived by a different clock compared to normal people. Usually, he would already be awake at this time, so it was rare to see no one in his mansion at this hour.
He went up the stairs and stood in front of the bedroom door.
Just as he was about to knock, the door opened.
Lu Huaiyu’s hair was disheveled. He looked rather tired, but it did not detract from his handsome looks.
“What?” The hoarse voice was proof that he had just woken up.
Before Cheng Xiyue could say a word, he picked up on the faint scent in the air.
He widened his eyes in shock. “Did… you use scented candles last night?”
Lu Huaiyu kept a lot of scented candles in the house to aid his sleep, but it was only used when he had a tough time sleeping.
“No.” Lu Huaiyu closed the door slightly to prevent Cheng Xiyue from peeking in.
“It’s only a few pieces of lemon.
“Lemon?” Cheng Xiyue showed disbelief. “Since when did you like this scent?”
The scent of whatever it was, was quite obvious. If it really was lemon, how many slices had he cut?
Lu Huaiyu paused. He smiled and said, “Only recently. I find it quite… sweet.”
…
Fever troubled Sun Huihui for a whole day and night, she only got better on Sunday night.
She had lived her weekend in fear. She was worried that something bad might happen to her.
Fortunately, other than her friend blocking her, nothing else had happened over the weekend.
Her anxiousness gradually lessened.
Her friends would never reveal this humiliating experience to anyone, and neither would Ning Li.
She had placed first in the city for the midterm, and she was highly valued by the teachers of Second High.
Fighting outside the school premises would only stain her unblemished record.
Perhaps the video was only meant to be a warning, telling Sun Huihui to mind her own business.
She should be fine for now but if Ning Li tried to hurt her, she could release the video and ruin Ning Li’s future and reputation!
With that thought, Sun Huihui decided to put the matter aside.
…
At 6 a.m., a barrage of notifications woke Sun Huihui up.
She searched for her phone with blurry eyes. The third-year chat group of Second High was flooded with messages.
There were 99+ unread messages from the group.
“What had happened so early in the morning?”
Sun Huihui tapped on the group and saw that the messages were still spamming. The more she looked at it, the more uneasy she felt.
She scrolled up and saw something that horrified her.
The video had been released by an anonymous user!
