Chapter Fifteen: Declaration of War

  During the 10-minute break, I had just washed my hands and was about to leave the women's restroom when several unfamiliar faces blocked the doorway. The blonde-haired girl at the front crossed her arms over her chest, staring at me with gleaming eyes. Big literary movement.

  "Are you Lumi, looking so sloppy!" She snorted disdainfully, "Pfft, I heard you're Yuge's girlfriend? Thought there was something special about you."

  "Sorry, I'm just two eyes and a nose, nothing special. If you have something to do, go find Yu, don't bother me." I said tightly, with no expression, these words I've heard many times before, my ability to withstand blows isn't comparable to ordinary people's.

  "What are you grabbing?! Do you think we're Li Xiaoyan's good-for-nothing gang?!" A girl with small eyes behind me yelled at me in a raised voice.

  "Let me teach her a lesson!" another chubby girl gritted her teeth, ready to pounce, but was blocked by the blonde.

  "What? Are you guys going to help Li Xiaoran steal someone too?" With a hint of mockery, she curved the corner of her mouth, "Don't say I didn't warn you, Ze Yu is very fond of me. The consequences of offending him, you're more aware than me. This is just between me and Li Xiaoran, think carefully before intervening."

  It's better to make the most of valuable resources, and it's always more cost-effective to talk than to fight. Although I feel a bit hypocritical saying this, at least I've used it once before and it sounded pretty smooth. Besides, they have more people, if we were to fight, I'd end up with a bloody nose and bruised face. It's not worth it after all these years of being the big sister, those fancy tricks and petty schemes won't be of any use anyway.

  The only benefit of being coerced by Ji Yu is that I also learned to remain calm in the face of adversity. When the enemy is strong and we are weak, at least we cannot lose in terms of momentum.

  The blonde girl made a thoughtful expression, and the girl behind her looked at me and I looked at you, but I just quietly waited for her response.

  "I'm not afraid of you, it's not worth offending Yuge for Li Xiaoran." Huang Toufa said in a deep voice and turned to leave, the others also gave me a white eye and followed behind.

  He let out a slow sigh, this trick really works every time. But if I continue to struggle like this in the future, I'll go crazy. He took out his phone from his pocket and dialed that devilish number after pressing a few buttons. After a long and difficult wait, the other end finally picked up before he gave up.

  “……”

  "Hey! Hey?" The silence around me was deafening, like a cut-off line.

  "What's up." A lazy voice, possibly just waking up, with a slightly hoarse tone.

  "About Li Xiaoyan, your ex...” I took a deep breath and continued, “Please explain things clearly to her, can you? Ask her not to take it out on me for no reason?” Having just one of you is enough for me to bear, I thought silently in my heart, but didn't dare say it out loud.

  The voice on the other end of the phone let out a playful laugh: "Are you jealous?"

  "This is just a deal, don't mention it and forget about it." Ignoring his nonsense, she got back on topic, "A great man's word is as good as gold, you have to protect me completely."

  "Hmph, did I ever say I was a great man?" He actually became shameless, indeed the devil's promise is unreliable!

  "I can help you, but tonight your time is mine." He said lightly, "No conditions."

  It took him a while to react, as if he had just heard something in English. His tone was still tough, and it seemed that the evening self-study session was going to be ruined again. In order to live peacefully from now on, he had to sacrifice another night, so he wrote a fake note for Teacher Bai.

  Standing at the office door, I knocked three times lightly and waited for a while, but no one came to open it. I knocked a few more times with greater force, putting my ear against the door and listening carefully, but there was not a sound inside. Maybe Teacher Bai is not in the office; maybe I should come back later.

  Without warning, I turned around and was startled. White Teacher, wearing a white sleeveless short skirt, was standing right behind me, looking at me with complex eyes.

  "Come in, I have something to say to you too." She opened the door and a refreshing jasmine fragrance wafted out, instantly dispelling her inner unease.

  "Is there something wrong with the teacher?" Enjoying the calm moment before the storm arrives.

  I stood in front of her desk, watching her rummage through something on the table. She finally pulled out a sheet of A4 paper from a stack of neatly folded files and handed it to me. I took it with a puzzled expression, only to find that there were just a few lines of text on it. As I furrowed my brow to read on, my heart began to beat faster. The paper had written in elegant handwriting:

  To the teacher,

  We, as representatives of Class 1, Grade 1, would like to report that our class monitor, Lu Mimi, has been engaging in improper behavior. Not only does she fail to set a good example, but also frequently wears heavy makeup and enters bars, her behavior is unbecoming and she has ambiguous relationships with multiple men. She was once seen kissing a boy in a bar and also has close ties with people outside of school. During evening study sessions, she skips class and gets into fights with others behind the trees on the playground, causing serious injury to someone.

  We request that you punish her for her misbehavior and remove her from her position as class monitor, otherwise, it will lead to public outrage.

  — Representative Li Xiaoyan of Class 1, Grade 1

  Pale-faced after watching, she lowered her head and stole a glance at Teacher Bai. She either sighed or shook her head, not daring to face her eyes.

  "Teacher, this isn't..." He stopped mid-sentence, although he was exaggerating to death, it was also the truth.

  Li Xiaoran's report is also of high standard, written smoothly, why can't her composition be as good. Can't complain, after all I'm still the one who's in the wrong, blaming myself for boarding the wrong boat.

  "Xiao Mi, Teacher has always been very fond of you, thinking that there are not many good kids like you who are so well-behaved...” White Teacher looked at me for the first time with a gaze full of maternal love, making my heart feel sour. “You can be excused from your class monitor position for now, as for punishment… we'll talk about it later.”

  She waved her hand at me, indicating that I should leave. I raised my head and she had already started working on other things, silently watching her, the originally warm and gentle face became exceptionally worried and helpless. I bowed to her, and her gaze fell on me again, looking very puzzled.

  "Teacher, I'm still me, it's just that there are some things I have to go through, I don't want to escape, please don't worry, and also trust me." I looked at her eyes seriously, speaking firmly in the same way I communicate with my mom.

  This is the first time I've told her my true thoughts. The past without conflicts and troubles no longer exists, isn't there an old saying that goes: "When one is poor, they change, when they change, they become open-minded." Now I can only strive for a relatively stable living environment, what others think of me is not so important to me, I just hope some people can understand me, and Teacher Bai is one of them.

  "This is my excuse, please approve it!" I handed over the prepared paper note, which was full of lies. In fact, the better the student, the easier it is to lie, and this unspoken bad habit also exists in me.

  When did I become so hypocritical? Telling her to believe me, and immediately setting up a scam. Sorry, White Teacher, this is just a white lie, and I hope you don't think too much about it. Getting Semu's help is important to me, otherwise one day I won't even know how to get away with it.

  Teacher Bai glanced at the note, a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she sighed softly, saying: "Mimi, you really are very understanding. Actually, I knew it was Ji Dong and Zhang Shuyu who were bothering you, but they... Ah, never mind, go ahead, I can understand."

  It turns out that the teacher knew everything, and nothing could escape her eyes! It seems that even if she knew the truth, the teacher also had her difficulties and had to pretend to punish me to calm down the anger of others. Fortunately, she didn't really lose all hope in me, perhaps this was also something she couldn't help but do.

  After thanking him, I walked out of the office and found a row of onlookers leaning against the railing outside the classroom, their eyes following me as I approached. As I passed by them, I didn't dare to glance sideways, but I could feel many pairs of eyes staring at me intently.

  "Is it her?"

  "My goodness! What poor eyesight!"

  "Hum! You usually pretend to be like a fairy."

  "They say he's a good student, but who knows what he's doing behind people's backs."

  "Hehe......"

  Try to maintain a steady breath, walk quickly back to the classroom. Both hands support the forehead, placed on the desk, eyes closed, brain in a daze: I didn't hear...I didn't hear...

  "Haha! The taste of being asked to drink tea by the teacher is not bad!" A clear and pleasant voice, "Weren't you very pleased last time? I see how you can continue to be pleased!"

  Xiao Ruan hugged her arms, standing in front of my desk, with a bright smile like a flower. I glanced at her direction, too lazy to speak, maintaining the original posture.

  "Hey! Are you deaf or mute? Can't understand human language, what's wrong with you?" Xiaoran raised her voice and shouted at me, seeing my nonchalant attitude.

  Listening to her voice, I didn't even want to lift my eyelids. She can say whatever she wants, and being sarcastic a few times won't make me lose any flesh. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her trembling with anger, and she slammed her fist on the table in front of me. I looked at her with some anger: Do you still think I'm that soft persimmon?

  "Stop while you still can, or don't blame me for being rude!" Ji Dong's cold voice entered her ears as he grabbed Xiao Ran's wrist, stopping her next action.

  Li Xiaoran vented all her grievances on me, it's really absurd. I looked at her calmly and said: "You said to rely on one's own abilities, but it turns out that you're just resorting to tricks and schemes. I'm not even bothered to compete with you."

  "Mind your own business!" She shook off Ji Dong's hand, her eyes gleaming with malice as she gritted her teeth and said: "As long as you don't leave Su Yu, I won't let you have a good time!"

  "If that's your declaration of war, then I accept." After carelessly scanning the faces around me with the corner of my eye, I gave her a faint smile. "You can come at me with all you've got, I'm waiting."