Chapter 30

The school uniform had clung to Qin Heng's arm from the friction, riding up with a "shhk" and exposing Chi Ning's pale waist.

Qin Heng hurriedly grabbed his arm and clumsily pulled him back to his feet. Then he tugged down the oversized school uniform shirt, which had nearly ridden up to his chest, covering his rounded navel.

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

Damn it, how could someone even have such a beautiful navel? It was indented, a neat vertical oval with a cinnamon tint, with faint muscles visible around it.

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

Probably... around sixty centimeters.

Qin Heng forcibly 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 startled 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 especially disheveled Yue Yaozong and Zhang Qiuwen, whose lips were slightly bruised, then finally looked at Qin Heng, the only one who still looked presentable.

"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?!"

Class 18's homeroom teacher strode over. "You've really gone too far! Fighting outside school was bad enough, but now you dare fight on school grounds too! Completely lawless—have you no regard for school rules?"

The male teacher stormed up to them. When his gaze fell on Chi Ning, he paused, his expression suspicious. "Group fights aren't enough for you anymore? Have you started bullying students too?"

Chi Ning:?

Not really.

"Teacher, 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 and brushed off the dust. "Your bag even fell on the ground, and you're still saying nothing happened?"

Chi Ning:...

This was a misunderstanding.

"I threw the bag down myself."

Class 18's 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 group.

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

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

He stared at Wang Quan for a moment before honestly saying, "Today, I saw a lot of reporters crouching by the school gate. I was afraid they would block me, so I didn't dare enter through the front gate. I asked my driver to help me climb over the wall, but when I jumped down, I ran into them fighting."

Wang Quan felt that climbing over the wall to skip school was still understandable, but climbing over the wall to attend school was somewhat absurd.

But when it came to Chi Ning, the absurdity lessened considerably.

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?

And there were exactly seven of them.

Thinking of that, Wang Quan felt a complicated mix of emotions.

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

Their grandpa?

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

Wang Quan took out his thermos and slurped some tea. If the enemy did not move, neither would he.

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

Wang Quan said, "Oh?"

I'm interrogating you right now. How did it become you giving me advice?

"What does that have to do with you fighting early 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 that his conduct was improper, and even deliberately getting 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. Hearing this, he immediately 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 stiffened his neck. "So what if I did? I'm not like some people who dare to do it but not admit it! The day before yesterday, I personally 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 carefully for the first time.

This person did not look wealthy.

He wore a brand-name casual jacket, new and from the current season, probably bought not long ago. But the jeans that went with it were old, with frayed edges and loose threads.

Both of his pants pockets bulged with distinct shapes that looked like phones. His sneakers were very gray and covered in mud spots.

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

Chi Ning had a rough idea now.

Yue Yaozong was most likely doing temporary work at construction sites, but no matter how capable a day laborer was, he could not afford a current-season new release. Someone must have suddenly given Yue Yaozong a large sum of money.

And that money was most likely connected to this incident.

Chi Ning withdrew his gaze, the corner of his lips curling up as he asked, "You reconstruct the truth entirely through imagination?"

Yue Yaozong froze, unable to react in time.

Chi Ning was too calm.

Instinctively, Yue Yaozong panicked. "What?"

Chi Ning said, "You make it sound convincing, but it's all just your own claim. How can you prove that you actually saw it? You have a phone, right? Did you take pictures? Take it out and show Teacher Wang."

Yue Yaozong thought, How the hell could a Little Smart phone take pictures? Rich young masters really know nothing about the real world. Why did Chi Ning sound so certain that I had a phone capable of taking photos?

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

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

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? Doesn't that make no logical sense?"

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 helped you hire the paparazzi too, didn't they?"

It was not that Chi Ning looked down on Yue Yaozong.

Most people in Class 18 had limited social connections and lacked the means to hire 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 between his fingers. "The real thing. Did you go buy this jacket the moment you got the money? You were pretty eager, huh?"

His thinking was meticulous and his logic clear, every word landing like a nail. Yue Yaozong, meanwhile, was riddled with holes and did not dare respond.

Wang Quan tapped 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 suddenly slammed the desk. The English teacher grading papers at a workstation nearby jumped in fright.

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

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

Chi Ning's ears twitched.

That tone—he knew it far too well!

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

Playing weak, currying favor, displaying sincerity—the classic three-step routine.

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

Chi Ning thought, Just as expected.

The prodigal son had turned back, and the bad student wanted to improve.

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

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

Was he wrong for being too warmhearted?

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

No one had expected that rather than participating in competitions, Chi Ning would raise Class 1's average scores.

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

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

It was not the shallow sort of popularity either. They practically worshipped him like the God of Literature. Amid their devout yet materialistic problem-solving and note-reading, there was even a faint trace of superstition.

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

Wang Quan said dazedly, "Realizing that studying is important is a good thing. If there are questions you don't understand, you can go directly to your homeroom teacher."

Qin Heng said, "Okay."

Yue Yaozong was nearly angered to death by the two of them. How had things become so noble after they explained them like that?

"Teacher, you believe him just like that? He—"

Wang Quan clicked his tongue. "Whether Qin Heng is telling the truth will naturally 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 trembled.

Chi Ning had run out of patience. He gave a light, mocking laugh. "It's fine if you don't talk. If you don't, I'll directly hire a lawyer to sue you for infringing on 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 had not known that. If he had known, he never would have done this.

If there was a lawsuit, he could never afford the money he would lose!

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