Wen Linfeng was a coward.
Every time he provoked the wrong girl, it was always Wen Tingxue who ended up cleaning up the mess.
She would never forget the expressions on their faces as the boys stormed into her classroom with sticks, smashing her desk and textbooks to smithereens.
Just like Yu Yahe, they wished she were dead.
Clearly, she wasn't the one who did wrong, but she was always the one who bore the brunt of their anger.
Even after changing environments, nothing had changed.
Wen Tingxue felt like laughing, but she tugged at the corner of her lips, and no laughter came.
Deep down, she was still afraid.
She had been through too much of this: the school bathrooms, the sports equipment room, the teaching building after school, the small path home.
She was cornered by a group of boys and girls, demanding to know Wen Linfeng's whereabouts.
If she told them, she'd be beaten by her grandmother and aunt. If she didn't, she'd at most be verbally abused.
Thanks to Wen Linfeng, the school bullies in Lucheng practically all knew her.
Perhaps feeling pity, except for the first time when they nearly stripped her,
they hadn't laid a hand on her in subsequent encounters, only resorting to insults when they were furious.
But their words were truly vulgar and nasty.
Especially with a group of them surrounding her, one after another. Wen Tingxue would cry every time.
Then they would leave laughing, leaving her alone curled up on the ground, crying until she hiccuped.
Yu Yahe looked at her increasingly pale face and let go of her with disgust.
She spat out a curse.
"Just as I thought, a seductive vixen! You're really good at pretending. I haven't even done anything to you yet! No wonder Yu Wenli is so smitten with you!"
With such a pitiful appearance, what boy wouldn't soften their heart?!
Yu Yahe's eyes were practically spitting fire with anger. She snatched Wen Tingxue's pencil case, intending to smash it on the ground.
"What are you doing!"
Xu Kexin stood at the doorway, her eyebrows cold, a black backpack slung over her shoulder, exuding an aura of chill.
Yu Yahe and Xu Kexin didn't get along, but Xu Kexin was the class monitor and had some popularity within the class.
So, she usually didn't bother to fall out with her.
But now, her heart was ablaze, and she couldn't care about anything else.
Seeing that Yu Yahe was about to let go, Xu Kexin walked onto the podium and said coldly,
"Go ahead and smash it. After you're done, I'll go to the office and let the homeroom teacher take a good look at what kind of skin his favorite student is wearing."
Because of the bracelet incident, Wen Di already had reservations about Yu Yahe.
If something else happened, Yu Yahe's position as the physics representative would be jeopardized.
Considering this, Yu Yahe threw the pencil case back onto Wen Tingxue's desk.
With a clatter, pens scattered across the desk.
A few rolled onto the floor.
Wen Tingxue blinked sluggishly. Just as her thoughts returned, she heard Yu Yahe whispering in her ear,
threatening her word by word.
"I'll let you off this time, but wait for me after class!"
Wen Tingxue looked up blankly. Before she could say anything, someone's shoulder was slung around hers.
"Are you crazy? If you have the guts, go pick a fight with Yu Wenli! Why are you throwing a tantrum here?"
Xie Jinye placed the book she had picked up back on Wen Tingxue's desk with one hand, while shielding Wen Tingxue with the other.
She glared at Yu Yahe with displeasure.
Yu Yahe was so enraged she actually laughed. "Xie Jinye, are you out of your mind? You're arguing with me over some new transfer student?!"
Xie Jinye frowned slightly, looking troubled.
"You've gone too far."
"I've gone too far, and you haven't?"
Yu Yahe trembled with anger.
"Xie Jinye, you count how long we've been classmates! Three to four years of friendship, and you're immediately going against me?!"
As Yu Yahe spoke, she had an epiphany.
"Oh, I see. So your real intention isn't what you're saying. You know she has a good relationship with Yu Wenli, so you want to use her to get close to Yu Wenli.
"No wonder you're so eager to kiss her smelly feet! Xie Jinye, I really misjudged you! You're just a sycophant!
"Let me tell you, don't think your little schemes will work. Yu Wenli is incredibly arrogant. Even if he were blind enough to fancy some bumpkin, he would never fancy you.
"You've known him for so long. If he were interested, he would have shown it ages ago. What are you waiting for!"
Yu Yahe crossed her arms and sneered, as if she wanted to engrave her malice on her face.
Xie Jinye's lips turned pale with anger, and the hand on Wen Tingxue's shoulder trembled.
"Yu Yahe, you've gone too far! I'm helping Tingxue purely out of concern for her. Don't you think I know that those posts and photos on the forum were leaked by you!
"Before Tingxue even enrolled, you were slandering her online. Just because she easily obtained something you couldn't have, you're targeting her like this?
"Yu Yahe, being friends with you doesn't mean my values are as twisted as yours!"
Xie Jinye said with a cold face, "Even if I have a crush on Yu Wenli, I know it's his freedom to be good to whomever he chooses, and no one can control that!
"I'm good to Wen Tingxue simply because I like her and want to be friends with her. Don't use such dirty thoughts to speculate about others!"
Everyone in the class knew that Yu Yahe and Xie Jinye were good friends.
When they suddenly started arguing like this, everyone was stunned and completely forgot about mediating.
By the time they reacted, Yu Yahe was already sneering repeatedly.
"Fine, fine, fine! You're so noble, so pure. How could someone like me with such narrow-minded thoughts be worthy of being your friend!"
As she spoke, she took out her phone case and some small, girlish trinkets from her bag.
She threw them all onto Xie Jinye's desk.
Declaring their rift, "From now on, you are friends with Wen Tingxue, and a stranger to me!"
Xie Jinye's brows furrowed, and she remained silent.
Wen Tingxue hadn't expected the two of them to fall out because of her and frowned with annoyance.
Just as she was about to try and mediate, Xie Jinye said lightly, "Okay."
Then, ignoring everyone, she walked back to her seat and expressionlessly swept the items on the desk onto the floor.
Yu Yahe glanced at it and kicked the leg of the desk fiercely.
The surrounding people were stunned for about seven or eight seconds before they remembered to mediate.
But neither of them spoke, clearly not intending to back down.
It wasn't until Wen Di entered the classroom and yelled at everyone to return to their seats that this farce came to a brief end.
After the morning study session ended, Wen Tingxue quickly turned to talk to Xie Jinye.
She had been worried all morning.
She hadn't read much but had written plenty of notes on small slips of paper.
But Xie Jinye only looked at them without replying.
Wen Tingxue admitted she didn't like Yu Yahe.
But she didn't want the two of them to break off their friendship because of her.
Xie Jinye said with a faint tone, "Come with me to the restroom, it's a bit stuffy in the classroom."
She didn't respond to anything Wen Tingxue had been saying intermittently.
"...Alright."
Since she was being so evasive, Wen Tingxue didn't press the matter further.
-
The second-year teaching building had seven floors. Excluding the office on the first floor and the multimedia classroom on the top floor.
Each floor had five classes.
Class Four was relatively close to the restroom.
But it was a short break, and many people went to the restroom, so when Wen Tingxue and Xie Jinye arrived, all the stalls were occupied.
Coincidentally, Xie Jinye wasn't really there to use the restroom.
After coming out of the restroom, the two stood on the suspended balcony, gazing at the campus scenery.
"Actually, you don't need to blame yourself."
Xie Jinye suddenly spoke, her tone light, as if she had been holding it in for a long time.
"My relationship with her didn't deteriorate in a single day."
She couldn't even bring herself to say Yu Yahe's name.