"Works of Ye Wei Lan Chapter 20 Love Knows No Borders"

  Emotional healing is like scabbing over a wound, it takes time. If you peel it off too early, all you'll see is pink new flesh with threads of blood still flying about. But one day, it will naturally fall off on its own and become a complete piece of skin that's a different color.

  Chris walked in the campus, his tall figure set off by a peach blossom face, attracting frequent glances from girls. Finally, two girls plucked up their courage and walked to him: "Excuse me, classmate, could you tell us how to get to the Physics College?"

  "Chris showed them the way, one of them blushed: 'Thank you. Please, may we be friends?'"

  "Of course, it's my honor." Chris slightly bowed his head, smiling in a way that was bewildering.

  "Hmm." A deliberate cough sounded, no need to guess, it was obvious who it was. The two girls took a glance at the person behind him and hastily left. Ji Hua Ning walked up beside him: "Our Chris is indeed a ladies' man everywhere he goes?"

  "It's my duty to serve ladies." Chris bowed elegantly like a true British gentleman, earning a glance from Ji Huaning.

  Two people walked into the classroom, only to feel that the gaze was like a sword slashing over, the atmosphere was tense. Ji Hua Ning and Chris looked at each other in confusion, just as a Chinese classmate walked over:

  "Queenie, it's a good thing your teacher usually praises you, but how could you do something so shameless!"

  "Mary, my face is still here," she said, pointing to her cheek. "I don't recall saying I didn't want it."

  The classmates who understood Chinese burst out laughing, Mary's face turned red with anger, and she pulled out the brown-haired girl behind her, "Susan, you say it yourself, didn't she plagiarize your survey report?"

  Susan nodded timidly and looked at her with some trepidation. "T-the professor said the results of our reports are exactly the same..."

  "What's wrong with being similar? This time, I conducted market research and analyzed consumer data independently. Everyone has different materials to work with, so why say I plagiarized others?"

  "Oh, that's hard to say." Another Western girl Ada walked out, many people knew she had a crush on Chris, "Despicable Chinese, nothing they do is surprising."

  "Who are you calling a lowly Chinese?" Ji Huaning finally showed a hint of displeasure, her clear and beautiful eyes staring at Ada with an intimidating gaze. "Please mind your manners when speaking, don't insult me or my country."

  In a foreign country, the status of Chinese international students is often not high, but with hard work, they can still be recognized, such as Ji Hua Ning. But precisely because she was too outstanding, it led to many people being secretly dissatisfied and finding opportunities to suppress her.

  Ada said bluntly, "Everyone knows that Chinese international students will steal things, do the lowest-level work in restaurants washing dishes, and many Chinese women who can't make a living abroad become prostitutes. And," she looked at Ji Huaning, "they will also shamelessly snatch other people's boyfriends! You probably haven't experienced the pain of heartbreak, have you?"

  "You're going too far!" Along with a crisp sound, Ji Huaning's palm had already slapped Ada's face. She started to say that she could endure herself, but the last sentence unintentionally dug into her heart's deepest wound. If it wasn't what she said, why would she have to drift across the ocean alone?

  Thinking about it, his breathing became more and more urgent. Ada raised her hand to hit back, but was caught by Chris: "Enough!"

  Everyone was too afraid to speak up, seeing Queenie lose her temper for the first time. It was hard to associate this person with the gentle and cheerful Eastern girl they usually saw. Ji Huaning realized she had lost control in front of her classmates. She took a deep breath and said, "Yes, many Chinese international students are doing jobs that you consider lowly. But they have left their homes and come to this unfamiliar place, relying on their own hands to make a living. What's wrong with that? Compared to those who rely on their parents for everything, aren't they more noble?"

  "Moreover, selling sex and theft, I admit that such people do exist. But we Chinese have a historical anecdote about Yanzi's envoy to Chu: Yanzi once said, 'An orange tree growing south of the Huai River is an orange tree, but north of the Huai River it is a trifoliate orange tree - they look similar in leaf, but their flavors are different. It's because of the difference in water and soil conditions.' This person didn't steal things in Qi State, but once he arrived in Chu State, he did. Is it that the water and soil of Chu State made him like stealing? Such despicable behavior can be found in any country. But we cannot say that Chinese people are not good because of this. The vast majority of Chinese students here have made many friends and left behind beautiful memories - this is an irreplaceable friendship."

  "What Queenie said is right." Nisha, who had come in at some point, smiled and took Ji Huaning's hand, "I agree with you, friend."

  A simple sentence from a friend can bring two people's hometowns and countries, which are thousands of miles apart, to within arm's reach. The two will share a knowing smile, all without saying a word. However, Ada still wouldn't give up, "You stole Kathy's boyfriend, how dare you deny it?"

  Ji Hua Ning smiled incredulously: "When did I snatch Kathy's boyfriend? I don't even know who her boyfriend is."

  "It's him!" Ada pointed at Chris, "Kathy told me herself!"

  Wang Xianjun! Ji Huaning turned around and glared at him, but the rotten peach blossom had already dragged her into the water as well. Chris looked at her with an innocent face, "I have nothing to do with Kathy," he then turned to Ada, "Go back and ask clearly before coming to accuse people, I and Kathy are just friends, you shouldn't insult Queenie with your words, you should apologize."

  "Chris, you!" Ada was so angry that she couldn't speak. Being spoken to like this by the one he loved must have been unbearable. Ji Huaning's anger dissipated by half, "Forget it, Chris, a misunderstanding."

  "Don't pretend to be innocent, don't think I'll apologize to you!" Ada turned and walked away. Ji Huaning noticed that Mary, who had started the argument in the first place, was also nowhere to be found, and he couldn't help but feel a little relieved.

  It wasn't until the professor arrived that everyone understood what had happened. It turned out that Ji Huaning and Susan had coincidentally used the same fast food restaurant for their sampling survey, which was why their data and report conclusions were different. Moreover, Ji Huaning's report had been submitted two days earlier than Susan's, so there was no possibility of plagiarism. Afterwards, Susan sincerely apologized to her, and she realized that Susan had not intended to pursue the matter, but everything had been stirred up by Mary's provocation, leading to this whole commotion.

  "Unexpectedly, as a Chinese herself, she actually squeezed you so much." Nisha sighed.

  "It's precisely because they are both Chinese that Queenie is favored, yet she remains low-key, which is why jealousy arises." Mary, although Chinese, never mentions her Chinese name and insists on using only her English name. "She doesn't take pride in her own country at all." Chris furrowed his brow, speaking with an unusual seriousness that was almost comical.

  "It's all your fault, rotten peach blossom!" Ji Huaning threw a "iron fist", Chris exaggeratedly cried out in pain and retreated three steps. "I'm innocent, Your Honor! June snowflake!"

  Ji Huaning and Nisha burst out laughing. "Come to think of it, Queenie has never let anyone call you by your Chinese name either," Nisha said softly.

  "My Chinese name is Ji Hua Ning," Ji Hua Ning pronounced with a standard and rounded tone, "I don't mind being called that, it's just that when you're in a foreign country, it's better to follow local customs."

  "Alright, I'll call you Xiao Ning from now on!" Chris grew up in the UK but was fluent in Chinese and had a deep appreciation for Chinese culture.

  "No!" Ji Hua Ning blurted out, and the two of them looked at her in surprise. She then felt like she had misspoken, "I, I mean, it's not good. Let's just keep calling you Queenie instead, I'm already used to it. Otherwise, Hua Ning is also fine."

  Looking at her unnatural expression, thinking of her sudden loss of control earlier, Chris remained silent. Queenie wasn't the kind of person who liked to reveal her true emotions in front of outsiders, Ada must have said something wrong that stimulated her. He had also seen the sorrow on her face before, what was it that was pent up in her heart, unable to withstand being touched?

  Ji Hua Ning calmed down. If it weren't for Ada's words, she would have almost thought that she had completely forgotten those years. As the page of "Little Ning", it should have been turned over three years ago. But she forgot, scars need time to heal, and opening them too early will only reveal pink new flesh, mixed with blood threads fluttering about.