CHAPTER 8: A Fight Broke Out

“I’m saying you people jump to conclusions. Someone says one thing and you immediately think they’re trying to suck up to you.”

“You think everyone’s like you? That just because someone’s poor, they should be a bootlicker?”

“Forming cliques and looking down on others!”

…

Wang Yinfan rattled off several lines in a row. Yi Xiaoya wanted to applaud him.

“Birthdays are something you’re born with,” Yi Xiaoya said. “It’s on our ID cards too. What, you think someone’s going to beg the heavens and offer up their soul to transmigrate just to have their birthday match yours?”

She couldn’t care less what these people thought. Someone had finally spoken up for her—if she backed down now, she’d just be a laughingstock.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” a girl nearby rolled her eyes. In their minds, Yi Xiaoya was obviously lying. As long as they held firm, she wouldn’t be able to fool them.

“Sharing a birthday with any of you? What a cursed fate. You think people want that?” Yi Xiaoya retorted.

“Yi Xiaoya!” Xiao Caiyu said, clearly displeased.

The Xiao family was fairly well-off, and being locals, they often went out to fancy places. Whether or not she did well in school wasn’t her concern—she liked to have fun. Her plan was to marry well through family connections in the future.

Originally, Yi Xiaoya’s good looks had already bothered Xiao Caiyu. The two sat together, and people would say Xiao Caiyu was the ugly duckling while Yi Xiaoya was the beautiful swan.

Xiao Caiyu never said it out loud, but her actions made her dislike of Yi Xiaoya obvious. Yi Xiaoya, however, didn’t pick up on it—she thought it was just because she was a new transfer, so her classmates weren’t that friendly yet.

These people were all rich, after all. They didn’t care about students like her who got in through special admissions. Even if a special admit got into Tsinghua or Peking University, or went abroad, weren’t they still just going to be wage earners in the end? But those from rich families were different—they could work at their family’s company, or not work at all, and still have loads of pocket money.

Yi Xiaoya had never transferred before, but she’d seen other transfer students, and she knew it was always hard to blend in. Most students had been together from the start—shared classes, military training—that bond was different.

“I’m here,” Yi Xiaoya said deliberately. “What orders do you have, my lady?”

Group leader? If she kept calling her that, people might really think she was trying to kiss up.

“You… how hateful!” Xiao Caiyu snapped.

The moment she finished speaking, one of her lackeys knocked Yi Xiaoya’s books off the desk. No way was Yi Xiaoya letting that slide. Instead of picking on the lackey, she swept Xiao Caiyu’s books off her desk.

Don’t think she didn’t know—those lackeys were just watching Xiao Caiyu’s expression to act.

Yi Xiaoya shoved Xiao Caiyu’s books first, then went for the lackey’s.

Bring it on—she wasn’t made of clay. She wasn’t going to put up with this.

Hah. If they had the guts, they could try and bankrupt her family.

Not like she hadn’t lived through hard times before. Besides, threatening people with bankruptcy? You better have the skills to back that up.

Yi Xiaoya wasn’t going to back down. If she gave in now, they’d just bully her worse later.

She had to stand tall—no need to give these people any face.

One of Xiao Caiyu’s followers tried to hit her, but Yi Xiaoya wasn’t someone to mess with. Back then, when some guys tried to rob her lunch money, she’d kicked each one of them flying.

These rich princesses living in their ivory towers? Please. Today, Yi Xiaoya was going to show them what she was made of.

Chaos erupted in the classroom. Books flew everywhere. Desks and chairs toppled over.

In the end, they were all summoned to the office.

The homeroom teacher didn’t know Yi Xiaoya’s background—only that Xiao Caiyu and her friends were from wealthy families, with some even donating money to the school. While Xiao Caiyu’s family wasn’t the most prominent, Yi Xiaoya was just a mid-term transfer student. The teacher assumed she was from a poor background and had gotten in on special admission.

A poor special admission student actually dared to be so bold—was she not afraid of being forced out of school?

“Apologize,” the homeroom teacher said to Yi Xiaoya. “You were in the wrong this time. Apologize to them.”

“How was I in the wrong?” Yi Xiaoya was stunned. She wasn’t the one who started the fight.

“You were the one who mentioned your birthday was coming up,” the teacher said.

“It is my birthday in a few days,” Yi Xiaoya replied. “Are we not allowed to state facts now? Then why don’t you mention that they were the ones who first said it was Xiao Caiyu’s birthday soon?”

Yi Xiaoya was speechless. These people were clearly ganging up on her.

“Just apologize, and this matter will be put to rest,” the teacher threatened. “Or would you rather have your parents apologize on your behalf?”

“Sure,” Yi Xiaoya nodded. “If you’ve got the guts, go ahead and make my dad apologize. In fact, I’d love to see what he looks like when he has to lower his head.”

The teacher had only called Yi Xiaoya’s parents, not those of Xiao Caiyu and the others. In her opinion, those girls came from busy, important families. Their parents wouldn’t waste time dealing with such petty matters—it was better for her, the homeroom teacher, to handle it herself.

“…” The teacher hadn’t expected Yi Xiaoya to be so defiant. Wasn’t she afraid of getting punished at home?

“Where are their parents?” Yi Xiaoya asked again. “Let them come and ‘crush’ my dad! Let them say to him, ‘You’ve lost your job!’”

Back when she fought with Xiao Caiyu’s cronies, they had threatened her, saying they’d get her dad fired and sent to a construction site to haul bricks. They said she was destined to be a manual laborer too. They wanted her expelled from the school, ruining her life for good.

These people were just too vicious.

Yi Xiaoya felt that she was still too kind-hearted—she simply didn’t fit in with them.

Not only was her hair a mess, the other girls who had joined the fight also had messy hair. They never expected Yi Xiaoya to fight back. They thought she was all bark and no bite. After all, if she wanted to stay in this school, she couldn’t afford to offend anyone.

“It’s your fault—what’s the point of calling their parents?” the teacher said, still worried that the rich parents might criticize her for even allowing Yi Xiaoya into this class.

“Such a double standard,” Yi Xiaoya muttered, rolling her eyes.

“Stand still,” the teacher ordered. “If you won’t apologize, then wait for your parents to arrive!”

The teacher had the medical staff check the other girls first. The rest were allowed to sit, but Yi Xiaoya had to remain standing. Yi Xiaoya couldn’t be bothered—she dragged a chair over and sat down herself.

A girl almost fell when Yi Xiaoya pulled away the chair. A nearby teacher had been about to move the chair for her, so she started to sit down, thinking it was already in place. But Yi Xiaoya pulled the chair away, and the teacher moved too slowly. The girl didn’t react in time, and the mishap happened.

“Yi Xiaoya, you’ve gone too far!” the girl snapped.

“Yes, yes, yes—I’m awful, I’m the worst,” Yi Xiaoya said. “But that chair wasn’t even under your butt yet. It was nowhere near you.”

Was this even a school? Yi Xiaoya felt like she had walked into some pampered princess’s mansion, where everyone was busy catering to their little darling.

About ten minutes later, Yi Yao arrived at the school in a hurry—who dared to bully his daughter?