Villain: Suppressing the Protagonist and Stealing the School Belle at the Start - Part 3

"But..."

Su Lin shook his head. "No buts, Xiao Wan. Right now, you're the one making the choice. The other classmates will be here soon. Decide quickly."

"I..."

"Fine. If you won't help, I'll take it home."

Lin Xiaowan pressed down on Su Lin's large hand. "I'll help, I'll help, alright?"

Feeling the delicate hand on the back of his own, Su Lin smiled. "That's more like it. I, Su Lin, have been brilliant all my life, and graduation is right around the corner. There's no way I'd let rumors spread at a time like this."

"Hmph, I really can't figure out what's going on in your head."

Lin Xiaowan's confusion and indignation!

Lin Xiaowan put the money into her schoolbag, zipped it shut, glanced around to make sure no one had seen, then patted her chest in relief.

Su Lin had already returned to his seat, picking up a book and reading with focus.

They say a focused man is at his most charming, and right now, Su Lin was exactly that.

For the first time, Lin Xiaowan thought Su Lin looked kind of handsome when he was seriously reading.

She shook her head, driving the thought from her mind.

"What kind of person is Su Lin, really? Could his usual arrogance and contempt for everything be an act? But what would he gain from that?"

"Doesn't he like me? But I hate arrogant, self-important men the most. Isn't he deliberately trying to disgust me? Or maybe he doesn't actually like me—maybe he likes Xia Shiyu instead?"

"But a person's eyes don't lie. Just now, Su Lin was genuinely set on not donating if I didn't help. How do you explain that?"

"If he really just wanted to donate money, then why does he treat the poorer students in class like that?"

The more Lin Xiaowan thought, the more her head spun. She was still lost in thought when the morning self-study bell rang.

But Lin Xiaowan could never have guessed that Su Lin had done this on purpose.

Given Lin Xiaowan's personality, a storm must be raging in her mind right now.

As someone from Earth, Su Lin's emotional intelligence wasn't exceptionally high, but he wasn't clueless either.

When dealing with a school belle like Lin Xiaowan, he knew ordinary methods wouldn't work. It wasn't about fearing a bad impression—it was about making sure she had any impression at all.

Not long after the bell rang, Wang Yi walked in carrying a simple donation box.

The students in the classroom immediately stopped reading and looked up at him.

Wang Yi cleared his throat, then said, "The donation box is right here. I'll be organizing this donation myself. Starting from the first row—Wang Yue, you go first."

Wang Yue, sitting in the first seat of the first row, didn't say a word. She stood up and walked to the podium.

"The rest of you, get your donations ready. This is anonymous and uncounted—just drop the money straight into the box."

With that, Wang Yi stepped aside. Wang Yue pulled out a one-hundred-yuan bill and, in full view of everyone, dropped it into the donation box.

Seeing Wang Yue finish, Wang Yi nodded and gestured for the next person to continue.

One by one, the students went up to donate, orderly and harmonious.

When it was Su Lin's turn, he took out two hundred yuan and walked to the podium.

Whispers broke out in the room.

"Tch... this Su Lin is still the vice class monitor, acting all high and mighty, looking down on everyone, and when it's time to donate, he only gives two hundred."

"Exactly. Even Feng Yifei, whose family just runs a restaurant, donated three thousand. I heard Su Lin's dad is the boss of Su's Construction Group, and he only gives two hundred."

"So what if he's good at tests, good-looking, and has money? What's there to be cocky about?"

Chatter like this came from every corner. Su Lin could catch bits of it, but he didn't care. He still wore that imposing, arrogant expression.

Seeing him act like that only made everyone angrier. Their voices grew louder, not caring whether Su Lin could hear them.

"What's all this? You think school is a marketplace? I already said the amount is up to each person's heart. Why are you all making a fuss?"

Under Wang Yi's authority, the noise in the room died down considerably.

Only a few people in the entire classroom weren't discussing Su Lin.

One was Xia Shiyu, sitting in the front. Another was Chen Yang in the back row, and Lin Xiaowan, sitting across the aisle from Su Lin.

"Xiao Wan, this Su Lin is really disgusting. His family is so rich, and he only donates two hundred. I used to think you two were a good match, but now I'm glad you didn't fall for him. Otherwise, you'd be in trouble."

Hearing her deskmate Yang Yan's mockery, Lin Xiaowan felt a pang of discomfort. She was the only one in the class who knew Su Lin hadn't just donated two hundred—he had donated a full two hundred thousand. But she had promised Su Lin she wouldn't tell, so she had to bottle it up inside. There was no describing how awful that felt.

Lin Xiaowan frowned. "Xiao Yan, the teacher said the amount is voluntary."

"Of course I know it's voluntary, but look at Su Lin's attitude. It's infuriating."

Lin Xiaowan followed Yang Yan's gaze to Su Lin. He had that "poor people, stay away from me" look on his face. For some reason, she found this version of Su Lin kind of cute and cracked a small smile.

"This Su Lin guy~!!"

"Xiao Wan, you think Su Lin is disgusting too, right?"

Lin Xiaowan shook her head without speaking. By then, Su Lin had already walked down from the podium amid a chorus of jeers.

When it was Lin Xiaowan's turn, the classroom buzzed with excitement again.

The two stacks of cash in Lin Xiaowan's hands were simply too eye-catching.

Wang Yi's mouth twitched when he saw the money in Lin Xiaowan's hands. He spoke up to remind her, "Lin Xiaowan, are you donating all this money to Xia Shiyu?"

Lin Xiaowan instinctively glanced at Su Lin, but that guy was reading a book and didn't even look at her, which left her feeling a bit bitter.

She shouldn't have agreed to Su Lin.

But if she hadn't agreed, he really wouldn't have donated the money.

"Teacher Wang, yes."

Wang Yi nodded and didn't ask further.

He knew Lin Xiaowan's family situation better than anyone. Her father was the city mayor, her mother ran a trading company, and her family was much better off than Su Lin's. Pulling out two hundred thousand for a donation was indeed no big deal.

Besides, Lin Xiaowan had always been the type to help others.

Only Su Lin knew that while Lin Xiaowan seemed nice to everyone, she didn't have any real friends. She just wanted her school years to be simple, without too much interest or scheming mixed in.

"Whoa, those two stacks must be two hundred thousand, right? And she donated another twenty thousand, that's two hundred and twenty thousand total. That's insane."

"Tsk~!! No wonder the School Belle doesn't look at anyone else. With that kind of money, besides Su Lin, no one in the class can compare."

"Come on, Su Lin donated two hundred, Lin Xiaowan donated over two hundred thousand. How can you even compare?"

"Really no comparison. Su Lin is rich but stingy, while Xiaowan is generous and kind. Both are class monitors, but the gap is huge. No wonder she's my goddess!!"

Xia Shiyu, sitting in the front row, widened her eyes. She thought raising a few thousand from this donation drive would be good, but she never expected Lin Xiaowan to drop a bombshell—over two hundred thousand in one go. If a couple more people did that, the money for her father's kidney transplant would be covered.

Soon she shook her head. That kind of greedy thinking was no good.

Right now, she should be thinking about how to thank Lin Xiaowan. After all, this was over two hundred thousand, not twenty bucks.

Su Lin glanced at Lin Xiaowan with some surprise. She'd donated twenty thousand herself too. He knew this girl had money, but he didn't expect her to give so much. Was she influenced by him?

Revealing the truth, shocking Xia Shiyu.

After the last person finished donating, Wang Yi looked at the students below and said, "Continue morning reading. Once the teachers tally up the school's donations, Xia Shiyu, get ready. After the flag-raising ceremony on Monday morning, the principal will hand the money over to you."

Xia Shiyu nodded, tears in her eyes.

She used to have a happy, complete family, but two years ago, illness took her mother, and now it was about to take her father. For any high school girl, that was a devastating blow.

She had already lost all hope in life.

She never expected that when relatives and friends turned their backs on her, the school would step in.

Especially the classmates who donated—they gave her new hope for life.

"Don't stress. Study hard."

Wang Yi finished speaking and carried the donation box out of the classroom.

The homeroom teacher from the next classroom also walked past the hallway with a donation box.

"Do you think this donation drive will raise enough money?"

"I think it's possible. Our class alone has over two hundred thousand. Even if each class donates ten thousand, that's hundreds of thousands."

"Come on, take away Lin Xiaowan's money and try again. Our class only raised a few thousand."

"True. Most of it was ten or twenty bucks. Only a few people gave over a hundred."

"..."

Only Su Lin knew that this donation drive didn't raise that much money. While there were plenty of wealthy families at the school, that didn't mean they'd donate generously.

Some parents refused to give money, and some students took the money their parents gave them and pocketed most of it, donating only a tenth.

As soon as the bell rang, Xia Shiyu called Lin Xiaowan out of the classroom.

Lin Xiaowan had donated so much money in one go—she definitely had to thank her properly. But she didn't know how.

As the two golden flowers of Jiangning No. 1 High School, they were often compared.

Xia Shiyu was gentle as water, Lin Xiaowan was aloof as an immortal.

The two of them walking together drew a lot of attention, but Su Lin wasn't among those watching.