Chapter 4: The Campus Bully, Part 4

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Faced with such mockery, Xining sat down without offering a word of defense. Anything she said would only be twisted into proof that she was at fault again.

She decided to keep her arm in a sling for the entire month. With one arm injured, how could she possibly bully that peerless innocent flower?

The moment class ended, Xining walked straight out, deliberately keeping her distance. Thus, in the corridors of the teaching building, on the sports field, and in the little garden, people could see the eldest daughter of the Zhao family wandering around with her arm in a sling.

At last, the bell rang for lunch. Xining had barely risen when An Xiyan, seated beside her, called out.

“Sister Qingyu!”

An Xiyan lowered her head slightly, biting her lip so nervously that she nearly tore it open.

Pretending not to hear or see her, Xining dashed straight outside. She absolutely could not let anyone see them together, or they would once again assume she had bullied An Xiyan.

As she ran, An Xiyan’s soft voice floated after her.

“Sister Qingyu, don’t run! Wait for me!”

Good heavens—she was actually chasing her!

Xining lengthened her stride and sprinted toward the cafeteria as though competing in a hundred-meter dash.

Suddenly, an arm reached out from the side and grabbed her, nearly sending both of them tumbling forward from the momentum.

Fortunately, the other person had enough strength to steady her.

Even so, the pain made her grimace. Thankfully, her arm had not been dislocated.

When Xining looked up, she saw an absolute beauty. His narrow, phoenix-shaped eyes tilted upward at the corners, and beneath his left eye sat a tiny beauty mark. When he smiled, it felt as though spring had arrived all at once—butterflies danced through the air, and flower petals drifted across the sky.

Wonderful. Another campus heartthrob—Hua Zeyun, the notorious playboy!

Apparently, wherever there was an innocent flower, there was always a handsome man nearby. Xining truly could not understand why the presence of a female lead attracted so many beautiful men. All the exceptional men one never saw in ordinary life seemed to gather under unnatural circumstances.

Hua Zeyun smiled with dazzling warmth, as though pink petals were fluttering all around him.

“What’s wrong?”

Xining glanced behind her. An Xiyan had already run over from the distance.

Of the four men, Hua Zeyun was the most broad-minded. Anyone who flirted ambiguously with so many girls naturally had to possess both magnanimity and emotional intelligence. Yet for some reason, the moment he encountered the female lead—the world’s most innocent flower—one tear from her was enough to reduce his intelligence to a negative number.

Wang Zilong’s collision before class had dislocated her shoulder. All she wanted now was to preserve her life—and, above all, avoid being expelled from school.

With no other choice, she grabbed Hua Zeyun with her uninjured hand and pleaded in a painfully tragic voice, “Please, take An Xiyan away. She’s going to make the entire world think I bullied her again!”

Hua Zeyun froze, though his bewitching smile remained at the corners of his lips.

“You don’t want to bully her?”

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Who had nothing better to do than spend all day thinking about bullying someone?

Xining grew even more helpless and miserable. “Please help me. I’m begging you—I’m afraid of her.”

Then inspiration struck.

“She probably has a masochistic streak. She follows me around every day, and I’m terrified. Just look at what she’s done to me!”

If making people uncomfortable was the only option, then she might as well make everyone uncomfortable together.

Masochistic streak… Hua Zeyun was speechless.

By then, An Xiyan had reached them.

Panting so hard she could barely speak, An Xiyan gasped, “Sister Qingyu, why—why did you run? I only wanted to have lunch with you.”

Xining immediately hid behind Hua Zeyun, trembling like a frightened rabbit.

“No, I don’t want to eat with you. I like eating alone.”

An Xiyan’s expression darkened at once. Tears welled in her large eyes again. She sniffed, looking so pitiful and heartbroken that anyone would be moved by her fragility.

“Sister Qingyu, when all is said and done, you still blame me…”

“Help!”

Xining spun around and shouted at the top of her lungs before racing toward the cafeteria without even looking back.

An Xiyan stood there in stunned silence, crystalline tears circling her eyes as she watched Li Qingyu flee as though she had encountered a ghost. Then she turned to Hua Zeyun.

His face still wore that devastating smile, though it was inevitably a little stiff now. He shrugged. Heaven only knew what had gotten into Li Qingyu.

At the cafeteria, Xining joined the line to collect her meal. The food consisted of four dishes and a soup—two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes—with generous portions. After all, this was an elite school. Of the hundred thousand yuan charged each month, one thousand went toward meals. Poor food would damage the school’s reputation.

“I’ll carry hers.”

A pleasant, gentle voice sounded above her. A hand with long, fair fingers reached over and took her tray.

Although Zhao Qingyu’s reputation was no longer what it had once been, the Zhao family’s business was still substantial, and she had retained a certain amount of influence. Seeing her injured and pitifully wearing a sling, someone was naturally willing to help.

Though the original owner was tall, Xining still lifted her head slightly to look.

At once, she recognized him: the gentle, universally adored heartthrob and president of the student council, He Yuxuan.

He Yuxuan was tall and slender, with a fair, immaculate face and features so perfectly arranged that he looked computer-generated. The twenty-thousand-yuan boys’ uniform somehow looked on him like something from a magazine cover.

“Thank you,” Xining said.

The envious and jealous gazes surrounding them nearly pierced straight through her.

At an empty table, He Yuxuan set down the trays and sat across from her.

Xining had just picked up her chopsticks and stuffed a mouthful of food between her lips when He Yuxuan spoke in his gentle voice.

“I heard there’s been some misunderstanding between you and An Xiyan. As student council president, I hope you can let go of your prejudice and get along amicably with your classmates.”

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Xining nearly choked on her food.

No wonder he had approached her. Anyone who came with such concern either had ulterior motives or was simply meddling. He claimed to care, but deep down, he still believed everything was her fault.

She inhaled deeply.

Do not get angry. Absolutely do not get angry. The moment she lost her temper, she would lose.

Xining forced the corners of her lips into a smile. “Are there rumors going around that I bullied her?”

He Yuxuan sat there, his handsome and gentle face utterly unmoved, like sunlight spreading evenly over the earth.

His silence was as good as an admission.

Fine. She would not lower herself to argue with people like them.

Xining glanced at her injured arm. “But I’m the one who got hurt. Doesn’t that strike you as strange?”

Again, he said nothing, sitting there as though frozen in place and radiating sunlight.

This man really was out of his mind.

Xining drew a deep breath. “I don’t want to say anything. No one would believe me anyway. I’m going to ask to transfer classes when I get back, so I can stay as far away from her as possible. I really can’t take it anymore. She approaches me every time, and I can’t even escape her.”

She lowered her head and continued eating. She needed to finish quickly and leave. She had no desire to sit around with these fools whose eyes had been blinded by love.

Transferring classes was a good idea. She would ask as soon as she returned.

He Yuxuan looked puzzled. “What exactly is the misunderstanding between you?”

What misunderstanding? It was a colossal one. Either An Xiyan would die, or she would. In any case, Xining absolutely could not be the one to die this time.

Just then, An Xiyan and Hua Zeyun approached. Hua Zeyun was carrying both trays, one for An Xiyan, while she kept thanking him and apologizing profusely.

If she felt so embarrassed, why did she not carry her own tray? Why all the fuss?

When An Xiyan saw He Yuxuan eating with her, a fleeting disappointment crossed her eyes. Xining immediately began shoveling food into her mouth.

He Yuxuan stared at her as though watching a starving ghost devour a meal, completely unable to understand what was happening.

“Hey!”

As expected, Hua Zeyun came over and placed the trays on the table.

“You don’t mind if we join you, do you?”

Having noticed Zhao Qingyu’s strange behavior earlier, Hua Zeyun wanted to take advantage of An Xiyan’s presence and test her reaction.