She paid it no mind and sat down in her seat without looking to either side.
Jiang Jinran had a single seat. She was the only person in the class without a deskmate.
She had only just sat down when the classroom door was suddenly shoved open.
Everyone's attention was immediately drawn over-
The newcomer was none other than their homeroom teacher, Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan's eyes were red-rimmed, her gaze tinged with dejection. Her eyes wandered around the classroom before settling on Jiang Jinran.
She hurried toward Jiang Jinran's seat.
Everyone thought Xu Yuan had come to call Jiang Jinran to account. They watched with interest, their faces full of gloating.
Jiang Jinran's expression remained calm.
She could tell something was wrong with Xu Yuan. The woman before her was like a lion that had lost its fighting spirit, lowering its banners and silencing its drums as she approached, holding back her pain.
Just as Jiang Jinran was wondering whether someone in Xu Yuan's family had died or whether the woman herself was at death's door, Xu Yuan reached her and abruptly spoke-
"Jiang Jinran."
Xu Yuan's voice trembled slightly.
Sitting in her seat, Jiang Jinran raised her eyes and looked at Xu Yuan with unhurried composure, quietly waiting for her to continue.
Xu Yuan's shoulders shook. "As your teacher, I owe you an apology."
"I wrongfully accused you, and I... shouldn't have punished you..."
To everyone waiting to enjoy the show, those words were undoubtedly a thunderbolt out of a clear sky.
What was going on?!
Xu Yuan had actually apologized...
Everything before their eyes seemed like an absurd reversal from one extreme to the other.
Jiang Jinran's reaction, however, was fairly subdued.
She immediately guessed that her bargain brother, Jiang Qiche, must have intervened.
"Is an apology all you're offering, ma'am?"
Although Xu Yuan had apologized, Jiang Jinran had no intention of letting the matter rest. This was precisely the time to "take a mile when given an inch." She curled her lips, her eyes bright. "For the sake of fairness, you should find whoever played that prank."
The person who had put the prank toy on Jiang Jinran's chair had been hiding in the shadows, enjoying the show all along.
Xu Yuan froze for a moment.
Although she was unwilling, facing Jiang Jinran now, she no longer had the right to refuse.
"How do you want to find them?"
The smile on Jiang Jinran's lips slowly deepened. "Doesn't the classroom have surveillance cameras?"
The moment she said that, the atmosphere in the classroom changed.
The students finally looked nervous. They had been eating melons, only to find themselves becoming the spectacle.
"Ms. Xu, there's no need to check the surveillance footage, is there?" someone suddenly spoke up.
The others immediately chimed in. "It's not that big a deal. Checking the footage would be making far too much of a fuss."
"What if someone accidentally left it on Jiang Jinran's seat? It might not have been deliberate..."
Jiang Jinran looked at those who had spoken, a languid chill surfacing in her eyes. Her tone was mocking as she said, "I'm the one who got hurt-"
"What gives you the right to say it's unnecessary on my behalf?"
Perhaps Jiang Jinran's expression was too cold and stern, or perhaps her words struck the ground with too much force. Everyone froze.
Some even began to feel panicked and guilty.
In the end, the classroom's surveillance footage was retrieved.
The footage showed that the person who had put the prank toy on Jiang Jinran's seat was a boy named Huang Junran.
He, too, was a young master from a well-off family.
Before Jiang Jinran had arrived in the classroom, he had brazenly placed the little paint-filled ball on her chair.
The onlookers had not only failed to stop him, but had even found it novel and exciting. They had all been looking forward to Jiang Jinran's eventual reaction...
Huang Junran had done it, but weren't the others accomplices too...?
"So what if it was me?"
Huang Junran did not stubbornly deny it. He readily admitted it, but there was not a trace of remorse on his face. Arrogance and contempt filled his eyes. "It was just a harmless joke."
"I'm not apologizing."
Xu Yuan felt caught in the middle, unable to please either side.
The principal had ordered her to make sure this matter was properly resolved and brought to a satisfactory close before her transfer.
But now Jiang Jinran wanted an answer, while Huang Junran refused to apologize...
It was as though they had reached a dead end.
"You refuse to apologize, and you're actually proud of it?"
Jiang Jinran watched Huang Junran coldly, her voice crisp and icy.
Huang Junran had a blunt temper and immediately shot back, "Don't talk to me like that!"
"You're just an illegitimate daughter..."
Almost everyone believed that rumor-
Jiang Jinran was the illegitimate daughter of an Imperial Star employee.
Now Huang Junran had turned that rumor into a weapon to attack Jiang Jinran.
Of course, Jiang Jinran was not hurt.
People who believe I'm an illegitimate daughter will definitely get scammed into buying piles of health supplements when they're old...
Tsk, tsk. You even believe gossip like that.
You're all beyond saving!
"Huang Junran," Jiang Jinran abruptly called his name, then curled her lips into a faint smile. "Why do I remember that before your dad married your mom, he already had a lawful wife, but your mom couldn't wait to get pregnant with you? Then your dad's poor wife was forced into a divorce, and your mom immediately registered her marriage to your dad with her belly already showing..."
The onlookers: ???!!!
Huang Junran had always given the impression of a highborn young master who spent money lavishly. Who could have imagined such a story behind that glamorous facade...?
"Wait!" Jiang Jinran's unexpected words frightened Huang Junran so badly that his expression changed dramatically. His face flushed red at once, and he grew agitated. "Jiang Jinran, what nonsense are you spouting?!"
Jiang Jinran tilted her head, a smile curling her lips. "Just tell me whether I'm right!"
Thank goodness for the memories the original owner left me!
The original owner had not left her many memories, and some were even trivial and irrelevant.
Yet this particular memory about Huang Junran had become a sharp weapon for Jiang Jinran's counterattack.
Was the original owner's hidden trait being a little melon-eating sprite? She remembered that messy business in Huang Junran's family so clearly...
By now, Huang Junran had flown into a rage out of humiliation. His face bright red, he opened his mouth, wanting to argue but not knowing what to say.
Everything Jiang Jinran had said was indeed true.
With his sore spot struck, Huang Junran could only shout in flustered fury, "You... you're full of shit!"
With that, he left the classroom without looking back, practically fleeing and leaving behind a crowd of dumbstruck "melon-eating spectators."
For the time being, the matter came to a close.
When Jiang Jinran sat back down, someone gently poked her in the back with the end of a pen.
She turned around-
As it turned out, the person sitting behind her was Ji Qingying, who had just given her a pair of pants.
"Are you okay?"
The girl asked in a deliberately lowered voice, a faint trace of worry in her eyes.
Jiang Jinran shook her head. "I'm fine."
Ji Qingying's brows knitted slightly. As though talking to herself, she suddenly changed the subject. "Things haven't been very peaceful at the academy lately. You should be careful too..."