A Cold Reception and a Brewing Storm

“Hello, classmate.”

Not knowing how to start, Liu Yinuo decided to greet them first. With her beautiful face and gentle, warm expression, this tactic almost always worked to bridge the gap with strangers.

However, Qin Haiyue merely glanced up at her, her gaze as if she were looking at a piece of trash.

No response came.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

Despite the cold reception, the young woman maintained her gentle expression, quietly raising her head to look at Qin Haiyue.

“If you don’t want a beating, then get lost.”

Not only did she receive no answer, but she was threatened—a first for Liu Yinuo.

Her expression stiffened for a moment. While she still wished to maintain her politeness, having her warmth met with such coldness made even the usually patient Liu Yinuo unable to feel pleased.

“…Forgive my impertinence, classmate. Class is about to start. If you’re waiting for someone here, or rather… planning to bully a classmate, it’s quite easy for others to notice.”

Qin Haiyue, casually scrolling through her newly bought phone, furrowed her brows.

“What do you mean?”

The seemingly harmless young woman blinked, her right hand idly toying with her waist-length black hair. She enjoyed these small gestures, as they gave her a sense of control over the situation.

“I mean… if student Qin continues to linger here, I might consider informing my homeroom teacher to pay a little extra attention to this spot, perhaps?”

Qin Haiyue put away her phone, her gaze toward Liu Yinuo growing even colder.

“Are you threatening me?”

“Not at all. I’m merely concerned for the students who might need to use the restroom here later.”

“Heh.” Qin Haiyue let out a cold laugh, a flicker of interest igniting in her eyes.

“I’m curious, we don’t have any grievances between us, do we? I don’t even know who you are, so why are you interfering with me?”

Liu Yinuo offered no answer to this question.

She remained silent, simply standing there, confronting Qin Haiyue.

“Hmm… let me guess, are you from this class?”

She gestured toward the classroom beside them.

There was nothing to deny about that, so the young woman nodded decisively.

“Yes, I am Liu Yinuo, class monitor of Class 14, student Qin Haiyue.”

From the moment she decided to confront Qin Haiyue, she had no fear of her identity being known.

“Oh, I see. Did that little bastard ask you to step out and protect her?”

“’Little bastard’?”

The word made Liu Yinuo frown involuntarily. She had heard the same term from Lin Ziyan yesterday.

‘Was she referring to Ye Xingmian?’

“Heh, well, it’s already this late, he probably won’t be coming anyway. Fine, I’m leaving. I wish you both a pleasant time together.”

Qin Haiyue’s words left the young woman utterly bewildered. What did she mean by that?

‘Judging by this, could she have mistaken me for a shield Ye Xingmian found to protect himself?’

For a moment, the young woman didn’t know whether this was a good thing or a bad one.

Her actions were born of goodwill, yet if they inadvertently brought him negative consequences, it would be terrible.

She pursed her lips, unsure of how to feel. After pondering for a moment, the young woman decided to enter the classroom first.

As soon as she stepped inside, she instinctively turned to close the door, then lifted her gaze toward the back corner of the classroom.

The bustling classroom was full of students, and amidst the throng of heads, she could only vaguely discern a small figure. Was he resting, his face hidden beneath a dark hat, sprawled across his desk?

In her memory, he always seemed to suffer from a lack of sleep, often catching up on rest. This might also be one of the reasons for his poor academic performance.

After some hesitation, Liu Yinuo decided it was best not to disturb him yet. After all, she still had another day; as long as he didn’t take another leave of absence, she would surely find an opportunity.

Thinking this, she returned to her seat. Just as she set down her schoolbag, Lin Ziyan, beside her, remarked casually, “Yinuo, you’re a bit late today.” This made Liu Yinuo’s movements stiffen for a moment.

“Hmm, I didn’t sleep well last night.” She continued to push her schoolbag into the desk compartment, while subtly observing Lin Ziyan from the corner of her eye.

Despite being Ye Xingmian’s younger sister, Lin Ziyan was significantly taller than him. She vaguely recalled that during a recent physical examination, Lin Ziyan’s height was just over 1.7 meters…

In fact, she was already taller than Liu Yinuo, whose height was only around 1.65 meters, making her seem not much different from the slender Ye Xingmian.

She noticed that while Lin Ziyan’s tone was casual, her gaze kept darting unnaturally toward Liu Yinuo, which made her slightly puzzled.

‘What’s wrong?’

Lin Ziyan shifted her posture, propping her chin with her hand.

“I noticed you looking around as soon as you entered the classroom earlier. What were you looking at?”

“Oh, I was looking at the trash can. It seems it hasn’t been emptied this morning; the class monitor will probably mention it during class later.”

“Hmm.”

Lin Ziyan lightly nodded, then opened her textbook.

“Something very annoying happened at my home yesterday.”

The young woman spoke without facing anyone, seemingly talking to herself, but Liu Yinuo quickly realized the words were directed at her.

“What happened?”

“It’s actually quite simple to explain.” The young woman’s eyes flickered, a hint of theatrical disgust flashing within them.

“Yesterday, my parents spent a lot of money to buy me a gift, but that gift later disappeared. I suspect it was stolen.”

“And then?”

“Later, I discovered it was stolen by my ‘brother’.”

“…”

“Yinuo, tell me, isn’t he a truly despicable person? To actually steal a gift given by someone’s parents to their daughter…”

“Indeed.” Liu Yinuo said blandly, clearly reluctant to offer a judgment.

Lin Ziyan took in her reaction completely. After that, neither of them spoke again.

Sketching random patterns on a scrap piece of paper, the young woman’s mind was completely elsewhere.

‘What’s going on? Liu Yinuo doesn’t believe me?’

‘And she’s lying! She wasn’t looking at the trash can at all just now, she was looking at…!’

‘Did she find out? Or did she sense something amiss? Has Ye Xingmian already told her? No, that’s impossible.’

“Snap!”

“Hmm? Ziyan? What’s wrong?”

The young woman beside her leaned over with concern. Lin Ziyan froze for a moment, then looked down to see the broken tip of her pen, snapped inadvertently from too much pressure.

“No, it’s nothing.”

Speaking nonchalantly, Lin Ziyan pulled out another pen refill from her schoolbag and replaced it.

Her mood remained unsettled until class began.

She realized she had to be much more careful.

****

Walking alone down the wind-swept corridor, passing students and teachers merely cast a fleeting glance her way. No one dared to stop her, nor did anyone scold her to return to class.

Moving through the school, she seemed to drift outside the world, belonging to no particular identity.

This freedom stemmed from the young woman’s family background.

However, her parents’ attention to her was limited. She could not act entirely as she pleased, for if she caused too much trouble, even being expelled would not be impossible.

It was precisely because she understood this so clearly that Qin Haiyue did not resort to violence against Liu Yinuo.

Her face was as cold as ice, yet her eyes burned with a rage like molten lava.

She had never imagined that Ye Xingmian—that timid boy who dared not speak loudly and only cowered before her like an ostrich—would actually dare to break their agreement. Even worse, to hide behind another woman and have her issue threats?

Never before had she been treated this way; yesterday’s expectations, coupled with this morning’s disregard, coalesced into the young woman’s fury.

That guy, how dared he?

Was he not afraid of her exposing his secrets? Was he not afraid of facing even more intense humiliation from her?

How dared he?!

Qin Haiyue wanted nothing now but to unleash her fury.

But with that so-called class monitor shielding him, she would have to find the perfect moment to act. At the very least, it needed to be a place free from other interfering wretches, without surveillance, and with sparse foot traffic.

“…”

She arrived at the school’s physical education changing room.

Retrieving the key she had obtained from a teacher, she unlocked the door.

Since her father had invested in the school, most teachers would not refuse her requests, as long as they weren’t too egregious.

Having been unused for a considerable time, the various facilities here had accumulated a thin layer of dust. She looked up, her gaze falling upon colorful lockers, cleaning tools in the corner, and… various sports equipment stored here by the school to save costs.

There were basketballs, ping-pong paddles, and soccer balls, along with more dangerous items like javelins.

Casually tossing a shot put, Qin Haiyue revealed an excited, expectant smile.

According to the class rotation schedule, Class 14 had a physical education lesson today. She wasn’t afraid Ye Xingmian would be absent; if he was, she would simply go to his classroom and drag him out.

And if he wasn’t absent…

She was simply itching to have a “competition” of shot put with the soft, pitiful student Ye Xingmian.