Chapter 15 – The Tattletale

Because of her injured palm, writing was extremely inconvenient for Jiang Mingzhi, and she didn’t manage to finish taking notes during class. She borrowed Meng Yuanyuan’s notes between periods and slowly copied them.

That evening after returning home, when Qiu Tang saw her injured hand, she immediately called the family doctor to come and redress the wound.

Jiang Mingzhi just said she had fallen by accident. Qiu Tang frowned and said, “You can even trip while jogging? Back then when I suggested you transfer to Class 6, you didn’t want to. At least with Jin Yang there, you’d have someone to look out for you, and I could be a little more at ease.”

The doctor removed the bandages on Jiang Mingzhi’s hand. She winced in pain and let out a hiss, her voice soft and aggrieved. “This afternoon, our PE class was held together with Class 6. He saw me fall with his own eyes and didn’t even offer a hand. It was the student behind me who took me to the infirmary.”

If Uncle Pei hadn’t been there, she wouldn’t have tattled.

But since she wanted Pei Jinyang to dislike her anyway, she might as well go all out and be a thoroughly annoying tattletale.

Sure enough, Pei Zhaohua’s expression darkened.

Just then, Pei Jinyang came downstairs for a late-night snack.

Pei Zhaohua asked disapprovingly, “You saw Zhi Zhi fall and didn’t help her up?”

Pei Jinyang came down the stairs with a cold expression, glancing at the girl sitting pitifully on the sofa.

“I didn’t see it,” he said while walking toward the dining table. “Besides, she didn’t need me to.”

Plenty of boys had been itching to carry her to the infirmary. If Guan Jingxu hadn’t gotten there first, even Chen Zhanbei was about to make a move.

Jiang Mingzhi stayed silent, keeping her head down and playing the weak and gentle girl.

Pei Zhaohua couldn’t do anything about his son, so he could only comfort Jiang Mingzhi a few times and promised to give her a small gift the next day.

Jiang Mingzhi looked up and smiled sweetly. “Thank you, Uncle Pei.”

Qiu Tang patted her head lovingly. “Should I call your teacher and ask for a leave?”

“The wound’s not deep. It’ll scab over in three to five days,” Jiang Mingzhi said, in turn comforting Qiu Tang. “It’s just that writing will be inconvenient these next two days. Thankfully, there’s an exam tomorrow, so I won’t need to take that many notes.”

Qiu Tang replied, “Then don’t let the wound get wet these next couple of days.”

Jiang Mingzhi waved her hand and stood up, walking toward the dining room. “Relax, Mom. You and Uncle Pei should go rest.”

Her late-night snack was a bowl of crab roe noodles and a sweet white fungus and peach gum soup.

For a high schooler using her brain all day, there was no such thing as nutritional overload.

Jiang Mingzhi naturally had the kind of physique that didn’t gain weight easily, so she could eat a late-night snack every night without a care in the world.

At the table, Pei Jinyang finished his noodles in a few bites and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

She thought he was about to leave—only to hear the boy’s slightly mocking voice: “You’re pretty good at tattling. What are you, a grade schooler?”

Jiang Mingzhi didn’t even look up, focused on eating her bright yellow noodles. Only after she swallowed a mouthful did she respond, “What, did I say anything wrong? Or weren’t you just standing there watching me fall and doing nothing?”

Pei Jinyang gave a short laugh. “So what if I did?”

He suddenly leaned in, bracing one hand on the table next to her forearm.

“You go around school telling people you’re my sister. Shouldn’t you see if I even acknowledge it?”

Jiang Mingzhi met his pretty, almond-shaped eyes and replied, “I don’t need your acknowledgment.”

Pei Jinyang leaned even closer. That still-youthful but undeniably handsome face moved two inches nearer. His eyelids drooped as he looked down at her, unable to hide the cold contempt in his gaze.

“So you’re deliberately getting close to Guan Jingxu?”

His sudden change of topic made no sense, but Jiang Mingzhi played along. “What do you mean ‘deliberately’? Guan Jingxu is excellent—he’s someone I look up to academically.”

The boy curled his lips in a light sneer, his tone indifferent and icy. “Only a backwater bumpkin like you would think he’s ‘excellent.’”

As if being good at school counts for anything.

Jiang Mingzhi rolled her eyes. “Psycho. I can’t be bothered to talk to you.”

Since he hated Guan Jingxu, she was determined to show how much she admired him.

Suddenly, the boy lifted the hand that had been resting beside him. Jiang Mingzhi thought he was so annoyed he was about to hit her.

But Pei Jinyang paused halfway and instead shot her a look of disdain.

“You’ve got food stuck on your mouth. Disgusting.”

Jiang Mingzhi: “……”

Would you like to continue with part (2)?

She instinctively stuck out her tongue and licked off the sauce from the corner of her lips.

That annoying Pei Jinyang finally left, and Jiang Mingzhi quietly finished her late-night snack.

Back in her room, she took out her phone to check her messages. Just then, Lin Wan sent one asking if she wanted to watch the basketball game this weekend.

Jiang Mingzhi remembered the conversation she had accidentally overheard before PE class the other day.

It seemed Guan Jingxu would be there too.

—

The early spring weather was warming up, and flowerbeds along the street were brimming with vitality. Jiang Mingzhi wore a pale yellow cardigan over a long white dress and made her way to the basketball stadium.

She met up with Lin Wan outside the arena. The cheerful girl bounced up like a piece of popping candy and waved at her.

Jiang Mingzhi quickened her pace to cut through the crowd and reach her. “Why are there so many people coming to watch a basketball game today?”

Was there some famous team playing?

Lin Wan tugged her toward the entrance, sounding both anxious and excited. “Yizhong’s Sunshine team is playing! It’s not just our school—students from several schools were scrambling for tickets! Didn’t you know? I was lucky to get mine two days ago.”

Jiang Mingzhi: “…”

She really didn’t know.

In this second life, so many things were different from the last one.

Aside from the knowledge in the textbooks, everything else had changed.

Lin Wan pulled her through the crowd, craning her neck to find their seats—only to see that two other girls were already sitting in them.

“Hey, these are our seats,” Lin Wan said.

One of the girls sitting down frowned. “Does it have your name on it? It’s first come, first served.”

They were in the front row, after all, and these girls had been waiting even before the doors opened. As soon as they got in, they rushed to grab these spots.

Lin Wan lifted the tickets in her hand. “You’re from No. 4 High, right? You probably know Lin Yifan then.”

She pointed at Jiang Mingzhi. “And her—she’s Pei Jinyang’s sister. These two seats were saved for us.”

The two girls exchanged a glance, looked at them again, then reluctantly got up and gave up the seats.

Lin Wan huffed and sat down triumphantly. She explained to Jiang Mingzhi, “Lin Yifan is my cousin. He’s in his second year at No. 4 High and he’s playing as a forward today.”

Jiang Mingzhi nodded and pulled a bottle of water from her crossbody bag, handing it to Lin Wan.

Lin Wan grinned as she took it. “I brought water too!”

She unzipped her backpack.

When the zipper came down, Jiang Mingzhi saw four bottles of water inside.

“Why’d you bring so much water?” she asked. “We’re not camels, are we really going to drink all that?”

Lin Wan held up a finger. “Ah, you don’t get it. This is to give to the players!”

Jiang Mingzhi: “…”

Then Lin Wan went on to share a lot of gossip about the match, including a few of the big names expected to shine.

The squeak of basketball shoes on the court mingled with the deafening cheers, stirring everyone’s blood.

“Brother Xu, the crowd’s huge today—make sure to put on a good show!”

Guan Jingxu glanced over with a death glare.

Zhuang Heyang quickly folded his hands in surrender. “My bad, my bad.”

Shouldn’t have called him Brother Xu.

“Guan Sweetie,” he added, teasing again, “No. 4 High’s Lin Yifan is playing today—don’t you dare lose to him and embarrass Yizhong!”

—