This was Xie Tao’s sixth day back at school after her suspension.
Perhaps because she had spent the year of her suspension studying high school courses during her free time, and even often visited a retired high school teacher living next to the Fu family’s cake shop for tutoring, many of the first-year high school subjects were not unfamiliar to her.
She did not find her studies particularly difficult.
Regarding Zhou Xinyue,
Since it had only been a little over a month since the incident of a second-year student falling from a building, there were still many discussions about it in the school.
Although the school leaders claimed it was an accident and forbade students from discussing it privately, many people would occasionally bring up the incident.
Moreover, since Xie Tao’s deskmate, Shi Cheng, was a gossip-lover, Xie Tao learned a vague overview of the incident through her.
Words like “second-year student,” “fell from the second floor,” “rumored to have been bullied” were occasionally heard by Xie Tao in the cafeteria.
Apart from Zhou Xinyue, the focus of the topic was on three girls suspected of long-term violence against her.
One was named Song Shiman, another Xu Hui, and the third, Zhao Yixuan.
It was said that they had bullied many people.
However, since Song Shiman and Xu Hui came from wealthy families, most incidents that could be resolved with money did not escalate into serious issues.
Regarding this fall incident, although there were many speculations about their involvement, the school’s surveillance did not capture any useful evidence, so the matter remained unresolved.
Because Zhou Xinyue kept silent, Xie Tao did not know why Song Shiman and the others targeted her.
Everything seemed to be covered with layers of fog, leaving only an utterly vague outline that made it even harder to see the truth.
What exactly did they do to Zhou Xinyue?
Xie Tao’s anger had not subsided at all; just thinking about Zhou Xinyue’s dim eyes made her feel especially uncomfortable.
But what should she do?
“Know yourself and know your enemy. To deal with someone, you must first know where to strike with your blade for the most pain,”
Xie Tao suddenly remembered that someone had told her this one night.
He didn’t just leave behind a light-hearted suggestion of “reporting it to the authorities.” After Xie Tao angrily put down her phone and woke up from a night’s sleep, she found that he had sent her this message.
When the bell for the end of class rang, everyone in the classroom started packing up, then one by one, they rushed out of the classroom.
“Xie Tao, I have something urgent today, so I’m leaving first!”
Her deskmate, Shi Cheng, patted her shoulder and then disappeared in a flash.
When Xie Tao came back to her senses, there were only a few people left in the classroom.
She packed her things, put on her backpack, and walked out of the classroom.
Since it was time to leave school, the path from the teaching building to the school gate was crowded with people, and there were even girls running and playing, accidentally bumping into her shoulder.
As Xie Tao walked out of the school gate, she was searching for her bus card.
While she was searching and about to turn right, she heard someone call her name:
“Xie Tao.”
This voice, it sounded somewhat familiar.
She instinctively turned around, her gaze resting on a slender figure under the shadows of a tree not far away.
It was a young man wearing a blue and white school uniform.
On his chest was the school badge of Chengyuan High School, which was just across the street from Tiancheng Private High School.
That was the best high school in the Nan City.
The young man’s excessively handsome features and tall stature made him stand out, attracting many people’s attention just by being there.
The moment Xie Tao saw him, she was frozen in place.
It was as if her mind instantly rewound like a film, pulling the timeline back to more than a year ago.
She remembered this young man’s malice.
She remembered his contemptuous gaze, and even more, she remembered the gloomy expression on his face when he pointed at the door and told her to “get out of my house” that night.
Zheng Hejia.
Xie Tao silently repeated this name to herself.
When she came back to her senses, she looked up and saw the young man waving at her.
Xie Tao tightened her grip on the shoulder strap of her bag, turned around decisively, and walked towards the bus stop on the right.
“Xie Tao!”
Seeing Xie Tao turn and walk away, Zheng Hejia’s expression changed slightly, and he quickly ran over, blocking her path.
Xie Tao tried to walk around him, but he grabbed her wrist.
She frowned, trying to shake off his hand.
“Xie Tao,”
Zheng Hejia held her wrist tightly, not caring about the various looks cast their way, he just stared at her intently, “Let’s talk.”
Xie Tao pursed her lips, finding him strange.
She silently struggled free from his grasp, not saying a word, and walked past him.
“Xie Tao, I’m sorry.”
She had only walked a few steps when she heard the young man’s clear voice from behind.
It was no longer the malicious tone of a year ago, nor did it carry a hint of arrogance or contempt; his tone sounded very sincere.
It was as if the once tumultuous and unrestrained sea had finally experienced a day of calm without waves.
But Xie Tao, always felt like she was hearing things, a hint of astonishment hidden in her eyes.
Gripping the shoulder strap of her bag, Xie Tao lowered her eyelids and walked directly towards the bus station.
While Zheng Hejia stood there, silently watching her gradually distant back, his bright eyes dimming slightly.
“Brother Jia, what’s going on? Who is that girl?”
When a boy with a buzz cut came running over, chewing gum in his mouth, his gaze at Zheng Hejia carried a hint of teasing.
Zheng Hejia kept watching the girl’s retreating back until she gradually became a smaller and blurrier figure, disappearing around the corner.
His expression was always complicated.
“She’s my sister,” he said softly, as if answering someone next to him, yet it seemed like he was also speaking to himself.
She is his sister.
But he had not been good enough to her.
—
Xie Tao went to the dessert shop first to make the day’s batch of crispy heart candies, then helped another store assistant make a custom cake, and finally learned to make a new dessert from the shop’s owner.
By the time she returned to her rented place, it was already eight o’clock in the evening.
Eating the takeout spicy hot pot, Xie Tao found it not spicy enough and added some homemade chili sauce that Auntie Fu had sent her.
After finishing her meal, Xie Tao sat at her desk, turned on the small desk lamp, and did her homework.
By the time she finished her homework and washed up, it was almost ten o’clock.
Xie Tao casually placed her phone on the bedside table, not noticing that one corner of the phone was resting on a piece of crispy heart candy she had carelessly placed there earlier.
Perhaps because she was too tired from making desserts in the afternoon, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Xie Tao didn’t know that just as she closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep, her phone emitted a very faint glow, and in an instant, the candy under the phone had vanished into thin air.
At that moment, Wei Yun, who was studying by lamp light, saw the square object wrapped in kraft paper and tied with a small hemp rope, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, and the light in his amber eyes dimmed slightly.
After a moment, he put down the cipher in his hand, reached out, and picked up the square object, undoing the hemp rope.
The stiff kraft paper unfolded to reveal a small piece… of candy?
Wei Yun stared at the piece of candy in his hand for a long time before finally, expressionlessly, tossing it aside.
When he looked down, his gaze steadily fixed on the copper pendant placed on his desk.
Wei Yun had originally thought that the woman hidden behind this copper pendant should be the mastermind behind these strange phenomena, but now it seemed she was more likely completely unaware?
Was she disguising it well, or had he overestimated her from the start?
What exactly is the connection between the copper pendant and those mysterious light screens? And what role does she play in all this?
The next day, Xie Tao was awakened by sneezing, rubbed her nose in a daze, and stayed in bed for a few minutes before yawning and getting up.
After she finished washing up and got everything ready, she went to pick up her phone from the bedside table and blinked at the empty bedside table.
“Huh? Where’s my candy?”
She remembered placing a piece there yesterday.
Could it be that I remembered it wrong?
Xie Tao was a bit doubtful of herself.
Seeing that there wasn’t much time left, Xie Tao didn’t think too much and hurriedly left the house.
On her way to the bus station, she bought a pancake and fruit, considering it her breakfast for the day.
When she arrived at school, it was almost the moment she stepped into the classroom, the class bell started ringing.
“Good morning, Xie Tao.”
The moment Xie Tao sat down, Shi Cheng tilted her head and winked at her.
Xie Tao smiled at her, “Morning.”
The class teacher, Liu Meiyu, was a very serious woman. When she walked in, all the sounds in the class almost instantly disappeared.
“Today, our class has a new student, let’s welcome her.”
After Liu Meiyu finished speaking, a figure walked into the classroom from outside.
It was a girl.
With short hair, slightly dark skin, plain features, and seeming a bit unhappy at the moment.
Her self-introduction was also very brief, “Hello everyone, I am Zhao Yixuan.”
“…Isn’t she from the second year? How come she is in our class now?”
At that moment, Xie Tao heard her deskmate Shi Cheng’s surprised voice.
“Isn’t this a demotion?”
People whispered among themselves quietly.
“Alright, shut up!” Liu Meiyu hated this kind of whispering sound in the class the most. She frowned and looked at Zhao Yixuan, “You go sit over there.”
Liu Meiyu was pointing at the empty seat behind Xie Tao.
At that instant, Xie Tao and Zhao Yixuan’s eyes met, one full of complex surprise, and the other’s meaning unclear.
Xie Tao stared at the girl standing on the podium.
She was Zhao Yixuan.
Her knuckles tightened repeatedly, Xie Tao clenched the pen in her hand, pursing her lips.
And Zhao Yixuan was also sizing up Xie Tao.
Wasn’t she the girl who was pulling and tugging with Zheng Hejia from Chengyuan High School across from them at the school gate yesterday, seen by her along with Song Shiman and Xu Hui?
Remembering Song Shiman’s gloomy face.
Zhao Yixuan’s eyes rolled, and the smile on her lips deepened.
Now… there would be a good show to watch.
