Chapter 8

The news that Qi Yu had been pushed into the lake by Zhong Yao quickly spread throughout the school.

“Oh my god, Zhong Yao is just taking advantage of the fact that Qi Yu won’t hit girls!”

“She’s disgusting! The rest of us don’t even dare go near him, and she shoved him?!”

“Zhong Yao is so done for!”

“What a hypocrite—acting all righteous in the cafeteria, and then pushing someone into a lake? No one’s going to teach her a lesson?”

On Tieba, in class group chats, and school WeChat groups, Zhong Yao once again became the target of endless insults. Many students even claimed they were going to teach her a lesson after school—for Qi Yu’s sake.

When Qi Yu saw these messages on Tang Yiming’s phone, his frown deepened—deeper than it ever got even when paparazzi tailed him.

Bang—

He slammed the phone face-down on the desk and stood up abruptly.

“Yu-ge, where are you going?” Tang Yiming asked, alarmed, worried that Qi Yu might stir up more trouble.

Qi Yu licked his lips, looking more and more annoyed.
“Next door. I need to find someone.”

Tang Yiming grabbed his arm tighter.
“You’re going to find Zhong Yao? Bro, come on… Be a man—yeah, she pushed you into a lake, but you did throw a ball at her. That evens things out, right?”

Qi Yu gave him a sidelong glance.
“Let go. I’m going to apologize.”

“Huh?” Tang Yiming was stunned.
“You? Apologize? To the girl who pushed you into a lake?”

Qi Yu honestly didn’t have much experience apologizing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dragged it out until now, with only one period left in the school day.

On a normal day, he probably wouldn’t have lowered himself like this. But Zhong Yao’s red, teary eyes stuck in his mind all afternoon, bothering him more than he expected.

It’s just an apology, he thought. It’s not like I haven’t said sorry to her before.

With that, he shook off Tang Yiming’s hand and headed for the hallway.

But just as he reached the noisy corridor, he overheard a few girls chattering excitedly:

“Really? Shen Qingqing’s actually going to block her after school?!”

“She’s usually annoying and arrogant, but today she was totally badass! Haha!”

“She totally deserves it. After the way she acted all high and mighty in the cafeteria? So satisfying to see her brought down!”

“Isn’t this what books call ‘a villain getting their comeuppance’? Go Shen Qingqing! Let’s see those creepy fangirls try anything again!”

Shen Qingqing? That peacock’s getting involved too?

Qi Yu paused in his tracks and stared at the Class Nine placard next door, frowning in thought.

A moment later, he turned to those girls and said,
“Did your moms never teach you not to talk behind people’s backs?”

The girls looked up in shock—but Qi Yu had already turned and walked back into Class Eight.

They exchanged glances, expressions stunned. One of them whispered,
“That was really Qi Yu just now, wasn’t it? Was he… was he defending Shen Qingqing?”

Another nodded.
“It has to be. They’ve known each other forever. No way he’d defend Zhong Yao, right?”

And so, by the time the final class period began, the rumor mill had shifted:
Pink-tinted gossip about Shen Qingqing and Qi Yu replaced Zhong Yao at the center of the storm.

Qi Yu knew Shen Qingqing all too well.

She came from a wealthy family, had a spoiled older brother who indulged her, and carried a full-blown case of “princess syndrome”—willful, arrogant, and annoying. Normally, once she set her sights on something, she’d stop at nothing to get it. If she said she was going to block Zhong Yao after school, then there was a 200% chance she’d really go pick a fight.

Qi Yu’s headache deepened.

He could barely deal with that peacock Shen Qingqing, let alone Zhong Yao, who looked like she might cry at any given moment.

After mulling it over, he finally kicked Tang Yiming’s chair.
“After school, you go ahead without me.”

“What the—?!” Tang Yiming stared at him like he’d seen a ghost.
“No way, bro. You seriously gave in to Shen Qingqing? You’ve got a date with her after school or something?”

He couldn’t think of any other reason why Qi Yu would want to ditch him—except a date.

“Get lost.” Qi Yu didn’t even know how to explain it himself. He snapped impatiently,
“Less time online, more time with your textbooks. I’ve got something else to do.”

But Tang Yiming just looked even more stunned, clearly convinced that Qi Yu had finally been conquered by the peacock princess.

Damn it!

Qi Yu swore internally. All this—just to say sorry.

——

When Zhong Yao returned to class in the afternoon, her classmates’ stares grew even more complicated. She sat in her seat, struggling to resist the urge to skip class altogether.

She no longer had the strength to care about the rumors. She couldn’t concentrate in class, and her thoughts kept drifting to Aunt Liu and Shiwu. She missed them so much—so, so much.

Her mother had taught her to be brave, but ever since she came to Beijing, she felt weaker than ever.

Zhong Yao thought her school life would be forever shrouded in darkness—but to her surprise, a sliver of light broke through during the final period of the day.

While the math teacher cheerfully explained “odd-even transformations and sign based on quadrants,” the boy behind her, Panda, lightly kicked her chair. A moment later, a paper ball landed on her textbook.

Zhong Yao paused. She didn’t turn around, nor did she open the paper.

She thought of Shen Qingqing in the cafeteria earlier—how harmless she had seemed, and how vicious her words had been.

She was afraid Panda had written something cruel too.

Seeing her unresponsive, Panda kicked her chair a little harder and tossed another note. At the same time, her deskmate He Lingli gently nudged her and wrote on her notebook:

“Open it. Panda’s a good guy.”

Zhong Yao hesitated, then finally unfolded the note.

The first one read:
Everyone’s saying Shen Qingqing is planning to block you after school.

The second one said:
Want to go home together after class?

Zhong Yao froze. She blinked rapidly, afraid she’d misread it.

When she was sure it was genuine concern from a new classmate, she turned around and looked at Panda in disbelief.

The chubby boy had a few pimples on his forehead and looked like the kind of background character you’d see in a TV show. But he gave her the first smile she’d received all day.

Panda even looked a little shy. Somehow, he felt different from those boys who used to pick fights for her. His gaze was different—clear and sincere.

She stared at him in silence. The setting sun streamed in through the window, and it felt like it landed right on her heart, softening a corner of the day’s built-up gloom.

On the podium, the math teacher turned around to draw a graph. Panda leaned forward and whispered,
“Want to go home together?”

Zhong Yao didn’t answer right away. After a while, she finally pressed her lips together and replied softly,
“Thank you.”

Then she quickly turned back around.

Panda took that as a yes. He let out a quiet breath of relief. But then he thought of Shen Qingqing’s aggressive behavior again and felt a little nervous.

Still, a man’s word is his bond. He was determined to accompany Zhong Yao to the bus stop.

What he didn’t expect—

When the bell rang for dismissal, Zhong Yao tossed a note back to him.

Panda unfolded it. In neat handwriting, it read:

Thank you for telling me, but you don’t need to trouble yourself. A family member is picking me up later. You go ahead.

Panda paused, a little unsure of what she really meant.

He lingered at his seat for a bit, then asked one last time before leaving,
“You sure you don’t want to walk together?”

“Mm.” Zhong Yao looked up at him and gave her first smile of the day.

After the classroom emptied out, she pulled out her phone—no new messages.

It seemed like both Jin Chuan and She Rui had just assumed she’d find her own way home. Neither had reached out again.

“Looks like I’ll have to protect myself.”

Zhong Yao gave herself a mental pep talk, pushing away the rising sense of disappointment. Then she opened her phone to check the bus routes.

Even though Jin Chuan had transferred her a massive 10,000 yuan, she didn’t plan to use it. Her mom had left her with 520 yuan and a small bit of savings. Zhong Yao decided she would use her mother’s money first. When she was old enough to get a part-time job, she’d pay Jin Chuan back—fair and square.

She studied Beijing’s overly complicated transit system, head down, while glancing occasionally behind her.

The three girls behind her thought they were being sneaky, but they didn’t realize the setting sun cast long shadows. Zhong Yao had known for a while that three shadows were following her.

Finally, just as she figured out the most efficient bus transfer route, the girls made their move.

Shen Qingqing clamped a hand over Zhong Yao’s mouth while the other two each grabbed one of her arms and dragged her into a narrow alley next to the school.

Bang!
Zhong Yao was slammed into a wall, the pain sharp and jarring.

When she looked up, the first thing she saw was Shen Qingqing in her red dress. The girl on her right was dressed head-to-toe in pink—even her hair clip sparkled. The one on the left had pierced ears and a lollipop in her mouth—classic delinquent look.

“Shen Qingqing,” Zhong Yao said coldly, hands behind her back. “You’re not going home after school just so you can drag me into some alley? What exactly do you want?”

“Heh.” Shen Qingqing chuckled, stepping closer to pat Zhong Yao’s cheek lightly.
“You’re pretty good at putting on an act. If you beg for mercy now, maybe I’ll consider not hitting you in the face.”

The girl in pink sneered,
“Qingqing, why bother being so polite? A shameless girl who tried to use Qi Yu for clout deserves a slap to remember her place!”

Zhong Yao took a cautious half-step back, looking slightly panicked.
“Shen Qingqing, I just transferred here. We don’t have any personal conflict, do we? Are you seriously blocking me just because of those rumors about me and Qi Yu? Isn’t that a bit much?”

“Pfft.” Shen Qingqing laughed like she’d heard the funniest joke. Her laughter grew louder.
“Qi Yu is my future boyfriend. You’re just a filthy little fly trying to get close to him. And you ask what conflict we have?”

She tilted her chin toward the two girls beside her.
“Help me teach this classmate a good lesson. Make sure she remembers one thing— ‘Stay away from Qi Yu from now on.’”

The girl with the pink hairclip and the one with the earrings exchanged wicked smiles and were about to move in, when Zhong Yao suddenly raised her phone.

They both flinched, thinking she was about to hit them with it, instinctively dodging to either side—only for the next second to be filled with the sharp, clear sound of a recording echoing through the alley:

“Shen Qingqing, you’re not going home after school—dragging me into an alley, what exactly are you trying to do?”

“You’re quite the actress. If you beg for mercy now, maybe I’ll consider not hitting your face later.”

…

“Qi Yu is my future boyfriend. You’re just a filthy little fly trying to get close to him. And you ask what conflict we have?”

…

Zhong Yao had recorded everything they had just said. The three girls froze in shock.

Then they saw the timidity and panic vanish from Zhong Yao’s face, replaced with a cold, sharp gaze.

“Shen Qingqing,” she said icily, “I only exchanged a few words with Qi Yu, and some classmates started spreading stories. And for that, you bring people here to block and beat me up? You must really like Qi Yu.”

Shen Qingqing wasn’t sure what she was getting at, but she didn’t make a move just yet. With a sneer, she replied,
“And what? You think recording us is going to do anything? Planning to tell Qi Yu? We’ve known each other since kindergarten. Who do you think he’ll believe?”

Zhong Yao gave a cold, amused smile.
“What if I posted this online and said that Qi Yu incited his childhood sweetheart to commit school violence?”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Shen Qingqing’s eyes flew open wide. Furious, she lunged forward to snatch the phone.

But Zhong Yao had always been taller than most girls her age. She lifted the phone high out of reach, and no matter how Shen Qingqing jumped, she couldn’t grab it.

“Shen Qingqing,” Zhong Yao looked down at her coolly, “I already sent a backup of the recording to a friend. Even if you get my phone, it’s useless. If you dare lay a single finger on me, Qi Yu’s name will be trending tonight for school bullying. Believe it or not.”

Shen Qingqing froze in place, finally stopping her frantic grabs.

She stared daggers at Zhong Yao, her eyes full of hate—but the threat of the recording kept her rooted, not daring to act.

“If I were you,” Zhong Yao went on, still gambling that Qi Yu was Shen Qingqing’s Achilles’ heel, “I’d apologize and leave. Now.”

Shen Qingqing bit her lip so hard it left a mark. In the end, she stomped her foot and turned away.

“Zhong Yao, if you dare post that, you’ll regret it!”

“Still not leaving? Want to send Qi Yu trending or what?!” she barked at her two friends, then stormed off in fury.

She moved even faster than Zhong Yao had when she left the cafeteria earlier that day.

It was proof: Qi Yu might not be a good person, but he sure was lucky.

A girl came to bully someone for him—and ended up walking away humiliated, also because of him.

Only after Shen Qingqing and her crew had fully disappeared from view did Zhong Yao slide down the wall into a crouch.

She’d been absolutely terrified just now. She even regretted turning down Panda’s offer to walk her home. She’d already been thinking about how to explain her injuries to Jin Chuan.

Thankfully, she’d bet right—on how much a teenage girl would care about the boy she liked.

Zhong Yao hugged her knees and took deep breaths, trying to calm down.

The sun was setting, casting a warm golden glow through the alley entrance. Her gaze dropped blankly to the glinting stone tiles, and she suddenly remembered the note Panda had tossed her in class.

Maybe it was for the best, she thought. At least this chubby boy wouldn’t end up like Shiwu—shunned by the class just for being close to her.

The light around her seemed to dim. As shadow and sunlight blended at the alley mouth, someone appeared.

Zhong Yao was still zoning out when a familiar teasing voice cut in:

“Squatting there—is that how you plan to get me trending?”

In the fading light of the alley, the girl slowly lifted her head. A single tear fell and landed right in a patch of sunlight on the stone pavement.

---

Author’s note:
Qi Yu: This… isn’t how the damsel-in-distress rescue was supposed to go…
Zhong Yao: With that attitude? You don’t deserve to be anyone’s hero.
Qi Yu: QAQ