Chapter 12: A Knife Hidden in a Smile

As soon as the words were spoken, the entire room erupted in commotion.

Some were shocked, while others were simply curious bystanders.

Some of the more well-informed students knew that Pei Jinyang had gone to the first-year class to look for her. They had also heard rumors about the mutual feelings between Pei Jinyang and Jiang Mingzhi.

They hadn’t expected the female lead to end up in their class.

The student who had asked the question had happened to see the two of them getting out of a car together that morning.

“He’s my adopted brother.”

Jiang Mingzhi took this opportunity to clarify the rumors.

Another wave of murmurs rose, and Mr. Yu spoke up to stop them. “Alright, what kind of questions are these? Let’s get back to morning study.”

He had hoped these students would ask about academic matters, but it seemed all they cared about was prying into other people’s privacy.

Jiang Mingzhi briskly walked off the stage. These classmates were all unfamiliar to her, marking the beginning of a life entirely different from her previous one.

Her new deskmate was a girl wearing round glasses, with a round face, round hands holding the pen, and even a round name.

Meng Yuanyuan was a bit introverted, the complete opposite of Lin Wan.

The entire morning passed, and the two had only exchanged two sentences.

Jiang Mingzhi: “Hi, new deskmate.”

Meng Yuanyuan: “Hello, my name is Meng Yuanyuan.”

Jiang Mingzhi: “Can I borrow your schedule for a moment?”

Meng Yuanyuan: “Sure.”

It felt like her new deskmate was a top student. The student sitting behind her, Guan Jingxu, was also a top student. Being surrounded by such academic elites gave Jiang Mingzhi a sense of reassurance.

Though she had entered the elite class, Jiang Mingzhi still had to prepare for her upcoming exams, making her academic workload heavier than that of her classmates. She made a slight adjustment to her study plan, but everything was still under control.

Days passed, one after the other. Jiang Mingzhi gradually became accustomed to waking up early for morning exercises, sometimes drifting off in class, staring out the window at the increasingly blue sky, and zoning out while the teacher continued lecturing as usual.

Jiang Mingzhi quickly became well-known at school, and for a couple of weeks, news related to her was posted on the school walls.

Just the title of being a transferred and accelerated student was enough to keep her classmates talking for a while.

Not to mention, she was also Pei Jinyang’s sister, though not by blood.

Some girls, after learning about their relationship, couldn’t help but daydream, as if they had been fed fish food like a koi, and each one eagerly approached her, begging Jiang Mingzhi to pass on love letters or small gifts to Pei Jinyang.

Jiang Mingzhi enjoyed staying in class reading during breaks, but lately, she had been constantly interrupted.

She wanted to tell them to leave her alone, but when she saw their shy and innocent faces, her heart softened.

They were all just budding girls in love, and she couldn’t possibly be as heartless as a school disciplinarian.

However, she also didn’t intend to be nice. She mocked a few of the girls who asked her for favors. “Are you all flies? So eager to land on a pile of crap?”

After mocking three of them, no one dared to ask her to deliver love letters anymore.

She threw everything the girls had given her into a bag and, the next day, when she bumped into Chen Zhanbei and another boy holding a basketball while coming down the stairs, she called out to him.

“Chen Zhanbei, can you help me deliver something to Pei Jinyang?”

The boy who had been called was stunned, his mouth slightly open as he pointed at himself. “Me?”

Chen Zhanbei, still a bit dazed, carried the bag of pink items toward the classroom.

When he reached the desk, he placed the bag down, still confused.

“Your sister gave this to you.”

Pei Jinyang glanced at him. “Your sister.”

Chen Zhanbei: “……”

“Really, your sister, Jiang Mingzhi. By the way, how does she know my name and call it so naturally? Have you two been talking about me behind my back?”

Pei Jinyang’s gaze lingered on the bag for two seconds before he sneered. “What would we talk about? That you wet the bed in the first year? Or that you confessed to a senior in the third year, only to be rejected because of your bad grades?”

“In broad daylight, don’t say such nonsense!” Chen Zhanbei cried, almost furious, as he tried to cover Pei Jinyang’s mouth.

Before he could touch him, his hand was ruthlessly slapped away. “Don’t touch me with your dirty hands.”

Chen Zhanbei turned to rummage through the bag containing all the girls’ love notes and trinkets. Inside were various love letters, some homemade cookies, and small charms, among other things.

He grabbed a packet of cookies and opened it. “With the internet being so developed now, why are these girls still writing paper love letters?”

In his opinion, it was much easier and more convenient to just send a message on QQ or WeChat.

Of course, not everyone had Pei Jinyang’s contact info, and even if they did, he wasn’t necessarily keen on accepting their friend requests.

Pei Jinyang handed the whole bag of items to Chen Zhanbei. “How would I know? Why don’t you ask them?”

Chen Zhanbei, experienced in dealing with these things for Pei Jinyang, began picking through the items. He kept the edible ones, throwing the letters into the trash can.

While he was busy, his mouth didn’t stop. “Didn’t you say your relationship with your sister wasn’t good? And she still acts as your messenger?”

The news that Jiang Mingzhi was Pei Jinyang’s half-sister had just spread, and the few of them who were close to Pei Jinyang were stunned.

They hadn’t heard about it before.

They had discussed Jiang Mingzhi several times. The sixth and ninth classes had physical education together every week, yet they had never seen the two of them greet each other.

Pei Jinyang’s explanation had been, “I’m not familiar with her.”

Chen Zhanbei thought this was nonsense. “How can you not be familiar with someone living under the same roof? Even if you’re not familiar now, you will be soon enough.”

At 4:30 p.m., Sun Shiyao and Sheng Qiaoxi from the International Department came over.

Sun Shiyao often came to the cafeteria to mooch food and was familiar with the boys he played basketball with.

Today, Sheng Qiaoxi had come along, clearly with something to say.

Chen Zhanbei asked, “Why are you here?”

Sheng Qiaoxi brushed his bangs. “I came to see Pei Jinyang’s famous sister.”

Sun Shiyao nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, yeah, when did you get such an awesome sister? Even my mom knows about it. She was going on about it last night.”

The wealthy ladies’ circle knew about it thanks to Qiu Tang’s promotion. They all had kids, and they often shared their children’s achievements on social media.

Jiang Mingzhi’s grade skipping had really given Qiu Tang some face.

Since they were all from the same social circle, word spread quickly, and everyone knew about it.

At this moment, Sun Shiyao still couldn’t connect the name Jiang Mingzhi with the face he had seen in the cafeteria.

Pei Jinyang darkened his face. “Can’t you tell the difference between the 6th and 9th classes?”

This was the 6th class, where did Jiang Mingzhi come from?

Sheng Qiaoxi leaned his palm on Pei Jinyang’s desk and said with a smile, “Jinyang, why don’t you call her over to meet us? I’m bored playing with you guys all the time.”

Pei Jinyang remained unmoved. “You can go call her yourself.”

In the end, it was Chen Zhanbei who dragged Sheng Qiaoxi along and put his arm around Sun Shiyao to go.

While Jiang Mingzhi was organizing her desk, someone knocked on the surface of her table. “Someone’s looking for you.”

She looked up toward the classroom door.

There stood Chen Zhanbei and Sun Shiyao, like two boneless figures, and there was someone standing with them, but they were blocked by the wall, so she couldn’t see who it was.

Sun Shiyao, looking like a fool, waved at her, probably trying to be friendly.

Jiang Mingzhi didn’t doubt for a second that if she didn’t go out, they would come in to find her the next moment.