Toying with the classmates trying to frame her

Forget it. Considering how badly Xu Mingyue will deceive him later, I'll forgive his idiotic behavior for now and let it slide.

Shen Banxia began packing her schoolbag, ready to go out for some fresh air before her afternoon classes.

Pei Yu looked away. By now, he was certain that what he had just heard was Shen Banxia's inner voice.

As for why he could hear her thoughts, he had no idea.

What also puzzled him was this: Xu Mingyue would deceive him? And badly at that?

Slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder, Shen Banxia strolled out of the classroom.

She hadn't attended school in eight hundred years, yet now she was a high school senior cramming for the Gaokao. That sounded miserable enough; actually finding herself in that situation was even worse.

Still, now that she was here, she might as well make the best of it.

Following the original owner's memories, Shen Banxia walked along the school's perimeter wall. The campus was too large to circle in a short time.

She settled for the stretch between the teaching building and the school gate.

At last, she found the perfect spot to avoid the surveillance cameras and climb over the wall. Her stint as a campus patrol officer in the midday heat hadn't been wasted after all.

After making her rounds, Shen Banxia returned to the classroom just before lessons began.

Most of her classmates were already seated.

Shen Banxia had just reached her seat and hadn't even had a chance to sit down.

A classmate in front of her gave a startled cry.

"Oh no, my pen's gone!"

"Cheng Li, do you mean that diamond-studded pen you brought in today?"

"Yes! I remember leaving it in my drawer at lunchtime. How could it have disappeared?"

"Someone must have stolen it. Who came into the classroom at lunch?"

"When I passed the classroom door, I saw Shen Banxia in here alone."

Watching the girls play off one another, Shen Banxia nearly laughed.

Wasn't it obvious they were trying to frame her?

She had been alone in the classroom at lunchtime. Although other classmates had come in during that time, someone else had always been present. She was the only one who had spent a long stretch in the room by herself.

"Shen Banxia, did you steal Cheng Li's pen?" Yang Danya immediately stood up to accuse her.

"What evidence do you have that I stole Cheng Li's pen? If you don't have any, I can sue you for defamation!" Shen Banxia asked with a faint smile, neither flustered nor angry.

"You were the only one here. It had to be you!"

With that, Yang Danya walked over to Shen Banxia's seat, opened the drawer, and peered inside. She pulled out a black velvet pouch, held it high, and shouted,

"Look, everyone! I told you Shen Banxia stole it!"

Xu Mingyue had been watching from the sidelines without saying a single word in Shen Banxia's defense. Only now did she speak up, adding fuel to the fire.

"Banxia didn't mean to do it. Maybe she thought Cheng Li's pen was pretty and took it by mistake!

Cheng Li, please don't hold it against her."

Damn. How can she even say something that fake and manipulative?

What does she mean, 'took it by mistake'? Either I stole it or I didn't. What the hell is 'by mistake' supposed to mean?

I didn't steal it, but even if I had, I wouldn't be stupid enough to leave it in my own drawer. That's such a rookie mistake.

Pei Yu turned to look at Xu Mingyue. She really shouldn't have jumped in with those remarks now. On the surface, she seemed to be helping Shen Banxia, but she was actually lending weight to the accusation that Shen Banxia had stolen something.

He had never noticed this side of Xu Mingyue before.

When Xu Mingyue noticed Pei Yu looking at her, she instantly grew smug and bashful, convinced that he must have come to like her even more.

Just then, Charlotte, their foreign teacher, entered the classroom to begin the lesson. A student immediately reported,

"Miss Charlotte, Shen Banxia stole Cheng Li's pen!"

Realizing this was a serious matter, Charlotte asked what had happened, then turned to the transfer student, Shen Banxia.

"Banxia, did you take Cheng Li's pen?"

"No," Shen Banxia denied calmly, shaking her head.

"Then why was Cheng Li's pen in your drawer?" Charlotte blurted out.

"Because someone put it there!" Shen Banxia smiled.

"Isn't that obvious? If you didn't put it there, did the pen grow legs and walk into your drawer?" Cheng Li rolled her eyes.

"I think a ghost put it there!" Shen Banxia replied with a perfectly straight face.

"Shen Banxia, what nonsense are you spouting?" Yang Danya shouted, agitated.

"I wasn't talking about you. Why are you getting so worked up?

The pen was in my drawer, but I didn't put it there. Did you?" Shen Banxia asked with a smile.

"Of course not!" Yang Danya retorted, her face flushed red.

"Then did you put it there?" Shen Banxia turned to ask Cheng Li.

"How could it have been me? Why would I put my own pen in your drawer?"

"Since it wasn't me, and it wasn't either of you, was it one of our other classmates?

Look, everyone's shaking their heads. That means none of us put it there.

And it certainly wasn't Miss Charlotte.

The only explanation is that a ghost put it there!" Shen Banxia reasoned, making every point sound perfectly logical.

Pei Yu burst out laughing.

If he still couldn't see that Shen Banxia had never been in a hurry to prove her innocence and had been toying with the classmates framing her all along, he would have to be an idiot.

Their classmates turned to look at the star student, but Pei Yu said nothing and continued watching the show.

"Shen Banxia, admit you took the pen and apologize to me. Since we're classmates, I'll let it go.

But if you keep refusing to see reason, I'm calling the police.

This pen cost over ten thousand. Anything over three thousand is enough for them to open a case. By then, even getting on your knees and begging me won't help!" Cheng Li looked away from Pei Yu and threatened Shen Banxia.

"The pen's that expensive? Then we really should have the police come and investigate properly.

If I took it, I'll get on my knees and apologize. Stealing such an expensive pen from you would be absolutely unforgivable.

But if I didn't take it, all of you will have to call me Great-Aunt whenever you see me. You'll also have to stand in the corridor and shout three times, 'I, so-and-so, deliberately framed Shen Banxia.'

Otherwise, I'll sue you for defamation!" Shen Banxia said enthusiastically.

She was as excited as if everyone were playing house with her.

The teacher and students stared, dumbfounded.

What was going on?

"You! I'm calling the police!" Furious, Cheng Li picked up her phone and made a show of calling.

"I already called them for you! Judging by the time, the officers should be here any minute.

We'll soon find out whether it was me or a ghost who took your pen!" Shen Banxia replied cheerfully.

The police had a duty post by the school gate. The moment Shen Banxia realized she was being framed, she had reported it through WeChat. So, just as she finished speaking, two officers arrived at their classroom door.

The girls' expressions changed when they saw the police. Cheng Li and Yang Danya, in particular, lost every trace of their earlier arrogance.

But there was no turning back now. After exchanging a glance, they could only grit their teeth and keep up the act.

"Officer, she stole my pen!"

"I can testify to that. The pen was found in her drawer. She stole it," Yang Danni immediately chimed in, nodding.