Chapter 30

The school uniform had too much friction and stuck to Qin Heng's arm, sliding up with a "chua" to expose Chi Ning's fair waist.

Qin Heng hurriedly grabbed his arm, clumsily pulled him back to his feet, then tugged down the oversized school uniform shirt that had nearly ridden up to his chest, covering his round navel.

The instant his fingertips touched Chi Ning's skin, Qin Heng felt utterly dazed.

Damn, how could someone's navel even look so good? It was indented, a vertical oval, neatly tinged with cinnamon, with faint muscle definition around the edges.

Such a slim waist—not the weak kind of slim, but slender yet resilient, beautiful without lacking strength.

Probably... around sixty centimeters.

Qin Heng forcefully suppressed the strange urge to measure his waist with both hands and asked with restraint, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Chi Ning had been so scared that his heart had nearly stopped.

His shirt had almost been pulled all the way up to his chest just now!

He straightened his clothes, glanced at the particularly disheveled Yue Yaozong and Zhang Qiuwen, whose lip was slightly bruised, then finally looked at the only presentable one, Qin Heng.

"Why were you fighting?"

Chapter 30

Qin Heng said, "He..."

Just as he opened his mouth, an angry shout came from nearby. "What are you doing?!"

The homeroom teacher of Class 18, who had been passing by, strode over. "You've really gone too far! Fighting outside school wasn't enough, and now you even dare fight on school grounds! Absolutely lawless! You think the school rules don't apply to you?"

The male teacher stormed up to them. His gaze paused on Chi Ning, his expression turning suspicious. "Gang fights aren't enough for you anymore? Now you're starting to bully people at school?"

Chi Ning: ?

That really wasn't the case.

"Sir, I was just passing by."

Class 18's homeroom teacher clearly did not believe him. He bent down to pick up Chi Ning's backpack from beside the wall, dusting it off. "Your bag even fell on the ground, and you say nothing happened?"

Chi Ning: ...

This was a misunderstanding.

"I threw the bag myself."

The Class 18 homeroom teacher said, "Really? I don't believe you."

Five minutes later, the eight of them were escorted to the desk of Wang Quan, the head of the senior-year faculty group.

Wang Quan swept his eyes over them and chose Chi Ning, who looked the most reliable, to question. "What happened?"

Chi Ning thought: Good question. I'd like to know too.

He and Wang Quan stared at each other for a while before he honestly said, "Today, I saw a lot of reporters waiting outside the school gate. I was afraid of getting stopped, so I didn't dare enter through the main gate. I asked my driver to help me climb over the wall, but I didn't expect to run into them fighting when I jumped down."

Wang Quan felt that skipping school by climbing over a wall was still understandable, but climbing over a wall to get into school was somewhat absurd.

But when it came to Chi Ning, it somehow seemed far less absurd.

He turned to Qin Heng. "What about you?"

The seven of them were like mute gourds, and none of them spoke.

The Seven Calabash Brothers, huh?

There were even exactly seven of them.

The thought left Wang Quan with mixed feelings.

If they were the Seven Calabash Brothers, then what was he?

Their grandfather?

The senior-year faculty office was terrifyingly quiet. Only the clock hanging on the wall faithfully went tick-tock, tick-tock.

Wang Quan took out his thermos and slurped a mouthful of tea. If the enemy didn't move, neither would he.

Qin Heng decided to strike first. "Sir, I think the school should manage public opinion."

Wang Quan said, "Oh?"

I'm the one interrogating you. How did this turn into you giving me advice?

"What does that have to do with you fighting first thing in the morning?"

Qin Heng said, "We weren't fighting. I just wanted to ask Yue Yaozong privately why he was slandering Chi Ning, saying his conduct was improper and even deliberately sending paparazzi to block the school gate."

Wang Quan's gaze sharpened as he looked at Yue Yaozong. "What's going on?"

Yue Yaozong was not particularly calculating. The moment he heard that, he exploded like a lit firecracker. "The fuck you mean you weren't fighting—"

Wang Quan rapped the desk. "Watch your language. Did you bring those paparazzi here or not?"

Yue Yaozong lifted his chin. "So what if I did? I'm not like some people who dare to do things but won't admit it! The day before yesterday, I saw Qin Heng bring Chi Ning's backpack to school early in the morning. If they hadn't been together all night, why would Chi Ning's bag have been with Qin Heng?"

Chi Ning raised an eyebrow.

He turned his head and examined Yue Yaozong closely for the first time.

This person did not look well-off.

He wore a brand-name casual jacket. It was new, a new model for the season that he had probably bought not long ago. Yet his jeans were old and worn, with frayed edges and loose threads.

Both of his trouser pockets bulged with distinct shapes, seemingly phones. His sneakers were gray with dirt, covered in muddy specks.

Not the brown mud from dirt roads, but gray splatters, like the marks left when lime and cement splashed onto shoes.

Chi Ning had a rough idea of what was going on.

Yue Yaozong most likely worked odd jobs at construction sites, but no matter how capable a temporary worker was, he could not afford a newly released seasonal model. Someone must have suddenly given Yue Yaozong a large sum of money.

And that money was most likely related to this incident.

Chi Ning withdrew his gaze, the corner of his lips curving up as he asked, "You're reconstructing the facts entirely through imagination?"

Yue Yaozong froze, unable to react.

Chi Ning was far too composed.

Instinctively, Yue Yaozong panicked. "What?"

Chi Ning said, "You make it sound convincing, but it's all one-sided claims. How can you prove you actually saw it? You have a phone, right? Did you take pictures? Take it out and show the teacher."

Yue Yaozong thought, How the hell could a PHS take pictures? Young masters really didn't understand the world. Why did Chi Ning sound so certain that he had a phone capable of taking pictures?

Chi Ning tilted his chin toward Yue Yaozong's trouser pockets. "Take it out and let us see?"

Yue Yaozong said, "How could I have remembered to take pictures in that situation?"

Wang Quan frowned.

"Oh." Chi Ning nodded solemnly. "You didn't think to take pictures at the time, but afterward, you thought to have paparazzi block people at the school gate for interviews? Why? Isn't that illogical?"

Yue Yaozong fell silent again.

But Chi Ning did not let him off. "Your clothes aren't cheap. Where did they come from? Did you buy them yourself? If you did, where did the money come from? Did someone give you money? That person also hired the paparazzi for you, didn't they?"

It was not that he looked down on Yue Yaozong.

Most people in Class 18 had limited social connections and lacked the means to summon so many paparazzi at once.

The current Qin Heng could probably do it, but after knowing him for so long, Chi Ning had never seen Qin Heng frame anyone.

Chi Ning reached out and quickly rubbed the fabric of Yue Yaozong's jacket. "Genuine. Did you go buy this jacket the moment you got the money? You were pretty eager, huh."

His thinking was meticulous, his logic clear; every sentence struck like a nail. Yue Yaozong, meanwhile, was full of holes and was too thoroughly dismantled to dare respond.

Wang Quan knocked on the desk. "Yue Yaozong, tell the truth."

Yue Yaozong clenched his back teeth and did not dare say another word. His silence was no different from a full confession.

Teacher Wang was so angry that he slammed the desk. The English teacher nearby, who had been hunched over his workstation grading papers, jumped in fright.

Wang Quan ground his back teeth, then looked at Qin Heng. "And you. After learning about this, why didn't you report it to a teacher immediately? Why did you insist on handling it yourself? Regardless of your motives, fighting is not allowed!"

Qin Heng immediately lowered his head. "Sir..."

Chi Ning's ears twitched.

That tone—he knew it too well!

In his previous life, Qin Heng always spoke like that whenever he felt guilty and wanted to muddle through!

Playing weak, currying favor, and showing sincerity—the three-hit combo.

Qin Heng said, "Sorry, sir. I was too anxious. Mainly because Chi Ning recently lent me his middle school notes... I wanted to make up for my weak foundation, so I got a little angry when I heard my friend was being slandered."

Chi Ning thought, As expected.

The prodigal son returning to the right path. The poor student working hard.

With that three-hit combo, let alone Wang Quan, even if the Chi Ning from his previous life had been sitting at this desk, he would have softened.

He only wanted to seek justice for his friend. What had he done wrong?

Was his mistake being too warmhearted?

Wang Quan suddenly understood. "Ah... your motives were good, but your methods were a little too extreme. I'm not blaming you, but you can't do this again next time."

No one had expected that after Chi Ning stopped participating in competitions, he would instead raise Class 1's average scores.

Now, a peculiar trend had spread throughout No. 1 High School: "stealing" Chi Ning's notes to read.

Chi Ning, who no longer participated in competitions, had become even more popular among the students than before.

And it was not the shallow kind of popularity. They practically worshipped him as the God of Literature. Amid their devout yet materialistic practice of grinding through problems and reading notes, there was also a faint trace of superstition.

From this, it was clear that it was not impossible for Qin Heng to want to improve because of Chi Ning.

Wang Quan was still in a daze. "Realizing that studying is important is a good thing. If there are questions you don't understand, you can ask your homeroom teacher directly."

Qin Heng said, "Okay."

Yue Yaozong was nearly infuriated to death by the two of them. How had this matter become so noble after they explained it like that?

"Sir, you actually believe him? He—"

Wang Quan clicked his tongue. "Whether Qin Heng is telling the truth will become clear in the monthly exam at the end of the month. What about you? Still refusing to tell the truth? Do you think teachers are stupid? Who was the person who gave you money to do this?"

Yue Yaozong shuddered.

Chi Ning's patience had run out. He gave a light, mocking laugh. "It's fine if you don't say anything. If you don't, I'll hire a lawyer to sue you for violating my rights. If you do, I'll hire a lawyer to sue him."

Yue Yaozong became a little afraid.

This could actually go to court? He hadn't known that. If he had, he never would have done this.

If there was a lawsuit and he lost, he could not afford the money he would have to pay!

Yue Yaozong weighed his options, then nodded. "Yes. He's a student from Gangnan International High School. His voice was kind of shrill, and he spoke in an affected way."