Lin Huai calmly pushed Liu Meiqi—who was leaning against him—away. He acted like nothing was amiss and walked toward Wei Qimian. “Mianmian, you just arrived?” he smilingly asked with a casual wave.
“Yup, I passed by and saw you walking with Fairy Qi here. You two even hugged,” Wei Qimian said with a faint smile. “Am I interrupting something?”
“Absolutely not!” Lin Huai’s eyes widened and he replied with agitation. “Didn’t you see that although her hands were all over me, I refused to yield? Fortunately, you came at the right time and saved me. Otherwise, I would’ve lost my virginity.”
Wei Qimian could not help but laughed. “She is one of the four goddesses of the freshman year. And yet, she’s not up to your standard? So what kind of girl do you fancy?”
Lin Huai smiled and said, “I fancy you—the leader of the four goddesses.”
Wei Qimian cracked a smile. Then, she said, “Let’s go, class is about to start.”
Although Liu Meiqi could not hear what Wei Qimian and Lin Huai were talking about, she could tell that they were close. They walked toward the dormitory building of the computer science major, chatting and laughing.
Liu Meiqi gritted her teeth and stomped her feet. She angrily proclaimed, “Wei Qimian, Lin Huai exploited your close friend and yet you tolerate him. A girl that values sex over friendship! She has no principles at all! Sigh, how am I supposed to beat her? This has only made Lin Huai more interesting.”
Wei Qimian and Lin Huai walked into the building together. Along the way, they shocked bystanders with their proximity. However, although everyone was surprised, nobody dared to approach or clarify their relationship. So, the onlookers just talked behind their backs，obviously bewildered over the fact that these two had suddenly made up.
As they walked into the classroom, the noisy room turned silent. Everyone stared at them with wide eyes and disbelief. Nobody could figure out what was going on.
Song Tingting even ran up to them. She glanced at Lin Huai with hatred in her eyes. She then grabbed Wei Qimian’s arm and said, “Come with me for a moment.”
Wei Qimian looked at Lin Huai and said, “Please excuse me.”
“Sure.”
Song Tingting was furious when she saw that Wei Qimian was getting close to Lin Huai right in her face. She dragged Wei Qimian out of the classroom and asked angrily, “Mianmian, what is going on? Is our sisterhood worth nothing? Lin Huai exploited Jiaojiao, and you’re buddies with him?”
Wei Qimian smiled and replied, “That was a misunderstanding. Hear me out.”
“I don’t care. You have to choose between him and I. Mianmian, no matter what, we’ve been roommates for nearly two months. If our friendship means nothing to you, then let’s not hang out anymore. You are breaking my heart.”
Wei Qimian shook her head and questioned, “Do you really think that of me? I finally understand how Lin Huai feels. I understand how it feels like to be misunderstood now. How about this, I will not explain but you will eventually learn the truth.”
“Alright. I don’t think there is an acceptable explanation for your behavior. Let’s see how things go.”
Upon completing her sentence, Song Tingting furiously stomped back into the classroom. Her personality had always been like this and didn’t mean any harm. She had always been a straightforward person—black was black and white was white—and Wei Qimian did not mind her free expressions. She smiled bitterly and walked back to her seat in the classroom.
Lin Huai whispered, “I can tell that Tingting is really mad at you.”
“Yup, but it’s okay. The truth will prevail soon.”
Lin Huai thought about it and agreed. He kept quiet too.
After some time, the morning self-study period had begun. The class teacher walked in through the door and the class immediately went silent, waiting for the class teacher to speak.
The class teacher, Hu Zhiqiang, glanced across the class of students. Eventually, he fixed his gaze on Lin Huai and produced an envelope from under his arm. He said, “I would like to make an announcement.”
Lin Huai could guess what was coming next.
Sure enough, Hu Zhiqiang announced in a loud voice, “Niu Haijiao has requested a transfer to another college. Therefore, from today onward, she will no longer be attending classes here.”
All the students in the class exploded into an uproar.
Song Tingting was the first to stand up and shout, “Teacher, Jiaojiao must have transferred because she had almost been defiled. Since the one at fault was Lin Huai, he should be the one transferring, not Niu Haijiao!”
The other students kept quiet. In this college, the one with the largest fist was the boss. Lin Huai had the largest first. Therefore, even if the other students shared her sentiments, they did not dare to voice their opinion.
Zhang Chunyu’s eyes glinted with excitement, as if this was the revenge he had been waiting for. Lin Huai, looks like your luck ran out. You took advantage of the girl and scared her to another college. Lets see how you’re going to survive here.
Hu Zhiqiang was startled. He continued, “Who said that it’s because of Lin Huai. Song Tingting, please take a seat. Lin Huai should not be blamed for the incident. In fact, Niu Haijiao should apologize to Lin Huai.”
Everyone was bewildered. The entire classroom fell silent. The excitement in Zhang Chunyu’s eyes also disappeared. He was also dumbfounded.
Song Tingting was in shock. “Wait… what?”
Hu Zhiqiang sighed. He said, “Niu Haijiao personally wrote this apology letter. Although she made a mistake, she also regrets her actions. In the letter, she explained that she was threatened into staging an act that caused the misunderstanding that Lin Huai had harassed her. In reality, that day, a scene was staged so as to make it seem like a group of guys were going to rape her. As a result, Lin Huai came to her rescue and chased the guys away. Niu Haijiao then seized the opportunity and accused Lin Huai of attempted rape.”
There was another uproar. Frantic discussions flooded the room. Before this, everyone thought that that Lin Huai had attempted to rape Niu Haijiao. Yet, all of a sudden, an alternate narrative had surfaced. Jaws dropped all around the classroom.
Zhou Yuanyuan sighed and nudged Song Tingting who was sitting in front of her. Then, she said, “Now you understand why Mianmian reconciled with Lin Huai, right? All of us have misunderstood Lin Huai.”
“How could that be possible… that’s impossible…” Song Tingting said loudly. “Lin Huai must have coerced Jiaojiao into writing that letter. Jiaojiao is our close friend, and she wouldn’t do something like this.”
Everybody quietened down once again. It was apparent that the class had pondered upon this possibility.
Hu Zhiqiang dropped another bombshell. “As of this morning, Xuan Yuzhai had also requested a transfer to another college. He is not around today either. Niu Haijiao mentioned in the letter that he was the person who threatened her.”
Everyone finally believed this to be the truth. It made some sense if Lin Huai would oppress Niu Haijiao, but Xuan Yuzhai was from a powerful family. Unless there was solid evidence against him, pressuring him to transfer out was impossible.
By this point in time, Song Tingting had no choice but to believe that this was the truth.
Hu Zhiqiang sighed again. “No matter what, Jiaojiao was threatened and coerced into taking the actions she did. On the other hand, although Lin Huai had to live through false accusations, he did not blow things out of proportion. This attitude of his is worth emulating. Lin Huai, this is the apology letter. You may keep it.”
Lin Huai acknowledged, walked over, and accepted the letter. Then, he returned to his seat.
Hu Zhiqiang continued with a heavy sigh, “We are sad that an incident like this had transpired. However, I spoke to Niu Haijiao over the phone and she insisted on transferring to another college. Her parents have decided to respect her wishes. Therefore, we should respect her wishes too.”
Song Tingting stood up. She could no longer control herself after trying to for a long time. She caved and ran out of the room. Once she was through the door, she burst into tears. Then, the sound of her footsteps faded away.
Wei Qimian sighed and told Lin Huai, “Don’t take it personally. Tingting is not attacking you per se. She has always been an emotional person. She has obviously been greatly affected by an incident like this and is sadder than all of us. Let me go and check up on her.”
“Sure, go ahead.” Lin Huai sighed.
Wei Qimian stood up and addressed the class teacher politely, “Teacher, I would like to keep Tingting company.”
Hu Zhiqiang was very understanding. He said, “Go ahead. There is nothing much going on now anyway. Take your time.”
“Thank you, teacher.”
Wei Qimian left the classroom and found Song Tingting sitting on the school field. Wei Qimian sat next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She said with a slight smile, “Are you still mad at me?”
“I am sorry!” Song Tingting apologized as soon as she opened her mouth. “Soon, I will apologize to Lin Huai too.”
“It’s okay, he wouldn’t mind anyway. Even while I was previously duped, he didn’t say much.” Wei Qimian thought of how Lin Huai had punished her—how he wanted her to kiss him on the cheek—and her heart skipped a beat. However, there was no reason to go there as Lin Huai would not ask the same of Song Tingting.
Wei Qimian did not realize that she had subconsciously classified Lin Huai as her own. She naturally assumed that Lin Huai would only ask her to do certain things, but not other girls.
Song Tingting shook her head and said, “I must apologize. I made a mistake and I have to own it. However, I still feel very sad. Mianmian, never would I have thought that Jiaojiao might betray us. Although she knew of your close relationship with Lin Huai, she still chose to sabotage him. I cannot stand her actions.”
Wei Qimian consoled her, “Jiaojiao was also coerced into that. Xuan Yuzhai had a lot of control in this college, and all of us are very well aware of this. Xuan Yuzhai must have forced her to do it, and she had no choice.”
“Yes, that must be the case.” Song Tingting felt better at this explanation. However, Wei Qimian knew the truth was otherwise. The lust for money and power was her motivator. However, they were best friends once, and she did not want to ruin her friend’s reputation. Therefore, she had settled for an explanation to back up Niu Haijiao’s behavior.
They chatted for a while and Song Tingting eventually felt better. Then, they stood up and walked back toward the classroom. Just as they were about to enter the building, the ground began to tremble, as if an earthquake had happened. It turned out to be a large group of students running around the building.
Song Tingting and Wei Qimian were bewildered. Then, they heard a shout, “Hurry, go take a look! Teacher Pu Yingxue smashed her head into a wall and committed suicide!”
Wei Qimian’s head hummed as if her brain were struck by lightning. Her heart thumped so hard it was as if the heart was about to jump out. What happened? The cute, sweet and beautiful teacher who gave full dedication to the students had committed suicide?