Chapter 13: The School Bully

Of course, Xining pretended not to know and continued, “Once was the funniest—there was a woman pretending to be harassed by a thug, acting like she was escaping danger and got into my car. But when she saw it was me, she immediately opened the door and walked away without even a ‘thank you.’ Truly ridiculous!”

The driver didn’t respond but glanced at his employer’s son through the rearview mirror. Not long ago, a girl had used the same trick to get in the car. What a coincidence in this city known for its safety—yet there were always reports of harassment. Every time these women faced trouble, a luxury car just happened to pass by.

Even though the young lady was as beautiful as a flower, this city didn’t have that many thugs lurking around to harass her.

Hua Zeyun smiled silently; he wasn’t one to disparage women. As a refined playboy of good character, all women were merely objects of flirtation to him, not subjects of criticism.

Leng Heming said nothing and kept gazing out the window.

Xining fell silent, knowing when to stop—any further words would be excessive.

Arriving home, Xining thanked the driver and got out. She certainly wouldn’t be like the black lotus—thanking over and over, inflating herself to the extreme, basking in admiration, and seeing herself as the great hero who saved the poor girl.

Once upstairs, Aunt Li approached. “Qingqing, why didn’t Prince Long bring you home today?”

It was the mother’s worry showing, ever vigilant, no matter the moment.

“Prince Long had a club event today. There’s a competition next month, so he asked someone else to bring me back.” Xining poured herself a glass of orange juice. After such a tense day in the car, she was quite thirsty.

“Who brought you back then?”

Looking into Aunt Li’s sparkling eyes, Xining smiled bitterly. “Leng Heming, his father is President Leng.”

“Oh, I see!” Aunt Li thought for a moment. “I’ll call Mrs. Leng to thank her.”

“No!” Xining was exasperated. In business circles, connections mattered most and people leapt at any chance to cozy up. Given Leng Heming’s personality, if he found out, he’d surely have his own ideas, and all the effort in the car might be wasted.

She quickly found an excuse: “If anyone should thank, it’s Prince Long. Otherwise, he might think I’m blaming him for not bringing me back. Mom, just pretend you don’t know—it’s better that way.”

Aunt Li considered it and agreed, then shifted to asking about her feelings toward Prince Long and Leng Heming.

Xining answered appropriately, knowing she was just here to complete a mission; feelings had nothing to do with it.

During the two days off, Xining organized everything that would happen in the coming month. She couldn’t afford to become complacent over a small advantage; winning a battle didn’t mean winning the war.

Those blind fools were seriously ill; until they recovered, the eye drops had to continue without pause.

No matter how skilled the black lotus was, she couldn’t withstand Xining’s foresight and efforts to disrupt her. Since handsome men were rare, and the black lotus had monopolized four of the top school heartthrobs, Xining was determined to cure each one’s blindness, one by one, for the good of the school and society.

Meanwhile, what was An Xiyan doing these two days? According to memory, she should be hanging out with female classmates and club friends—watching movies, shopping, dining. As an orphan, those girls never let her pay.

It was amusing—so poor, just turned eighteen, yet not taking a part-time job to save money. Hanging with those girls, perhaps envying their new clothes, bags, and cosmetics, hoping they might gift some to her.

Really, the principal was a fool to keep supporting her through university, expecting her to marry one of the four top heartthrobs and become a wealthy lady. What a perfect life plan: Cinderella rising to become a noblewoman.

But why? Even if Cinderella was naive and sweet, she wasn’t black-hearted. If it was that black lotus, she’d be monopolizing the hunter, the seven dwarfs, the prince—every male creature—and having a blast.

Because of her injury, Xining stayed cooped up in her room, resting well for two days, then returned refreshed to face Monday.

Prince Long came to pick her up. Since he didn’t speak first, she remained silent, knowing no words could compete with the black lotus’s tearful, choked, stammering outburst.

After getting out of the car and walking toward the teaching building, Prince Long looked around but didn’t see An Xiyan. He seemed a bit lonely but forced out, “See? An Xiyan isn’t here.”

Xining rolled her eyes—did he really think An Xiyan had so much time to wait every day at the school gate?

“I’ve told you before, she’s not that kind of person. She didn’t come to find me Friday afternoon either!”

Prince Long’s words confirmed to Xining that the eye drops were working. He must have pondered deeply these past days, beginning to suspect the black lotus, or he wouldn’t have spoken like that.

Then it was time for more treatment! Xining laughed, “She went to see President He, of course she didn’t have time to look for you.”

Prince Long frowned slightly. “She went to see He Yuxuan?”

“Yeah! She saw me behind President He and thought I was going to do something to him!” They were nearly at the classroom door. Xining’s smile was forced and loaded with meaning. “Don’t know how President He persuaded her. Why don’t you ask him later? Thanks for having Leng Heming bring me home that day—otherwise, I really wouldn’t know how to explain it.”

With that, she left Prince Long standing there, still analyzing her words and dazed, and returned to her class.

Coming out of the restroom, heading to wash her hands, four girls blocked her path.

The leader wore a cold sneer—clearly not here for friendship.

The most restricted place on campus wasn’t the homeroom teacher’s office, but the restroom. It was almost claimed as the hub for schoolyard bullying, midnight hauntings, and even clandestine encounters.

Instantly recalling her own memories, these four girls had come to pick fights before. They were friends of An Xiyan in the club and often hung out together. Perhaps after yesterday’s shopping trip and An Xiyan’s instigation, they had come today to cause trouble.

In her memory, though these girls hadn’t physically beaten her, they had verbally humiliated her enough to make her furious, returning to class to complain—and predictably, the black lotus got “bullied” once again. The matter escalated to the dean, with many classmates as witnesses, officially kicking off the process that would lead to her expulsion.

Ridiculously, these four girls each had their favorite among the four top heartthrobs. Instead of targeting An Xiyan, who was already surrounded by them, they came to pick on her, clearly losing their minds under the heroine’s spotlight.

A brave soul can’t fight four hands—Xining knew she couldn’t take on four girls alone. As long as she didn’t fight, it would just be a war of words.

Sure enough, the first words from them were exactly as remembered: “Miss Li! Do you know why we’re here to see you?”