Director Zhang was absolutely furious and wanted to rush straight to the principal’s office to file a complaint.
Unfortunately, the principal was swamped with endless duties and had no time for such a minor issue. He simply instructed the Discipline Director, Director Qin, to deal with it.
By the time Director Qin arrived, Jiang Wan had already taken the initiative. She laid out the entire sequence of events crystal clear, holding nothing back and adding no embellishments whatsoever.
“Director Qin, I’m willing to accept my punishment. But by the same token, Director Zhang is a teacher—a servant of the people—yet he recklessly attacked a student’s parent, demeaned and insulted the student’s character, and even pinned fabricated charges on her head. For all that, I believe Director Zhang should face the appropriate consequences as well.”
The girl stood in the office, her eyes clear and bright. She showed no sign of intimidation despite the aggressive demeanor of the newcomer.
Her words rang out, each one precise and resolute.
Director Qin furrowed his brow in displeasure and shot a sharp glare at Director Zhang, who was standing beside him.
“Hmm, I’ve heard the full story. Director Zhang was indeed in the wrong here, but you girls shouldn’t have skipped class either. He only had your best interests at heart and let his words get the better of him.”
With an eye toward quelling the conflict, Director Qin tried to mediate.
“I think we can call it even and put this matter to rest…”
“Are you trying to play favorites?” Before he could finish, Bei Huai cut in coldly.
“What favorites? You think blowing this up will do you any good? Enough—let’s end it here. I won’t pursue the truancy too harshly this time, but don’t let it happen again.”
As Director Qin spoke, he whipped his head around and fixed Director Zhang with a vicious glare.
If it weren’t for the sake of the school’s reputation, he wouldn’t lift a finger to help this fool.
The man wasn’t cut out for any kind of leadership role. Without his connections at the school, Director Qin wouldn’t give him the time of day.
This classic “carrot and stick” routine left a sour taste in Jiang Wan’s mouth.
But when she glanced at Guanguan’s face, pale with tension, she pressed her lips together and silently went along with it.
She wasn’t the type to be rigid. Sometimes, a measured compromise—one that cost nothing substantial but helped those close to her—was the best outcome.
Even if it still grated on her a little.
Seeing Jiang Wan’s silence, Bei Huai understood her intent.
“I thought you had some real backbone, but apparently not.” With the issue resolved, Director Zhang couldn’t resist a parting jab.
Director Qin was still there, though, so he didn’t dare push his luck. After a few snide remarks to salve his ego, he slunk away in Director Qin’s wake.
Sure enough, once they were back, his “patron” would give him a proper dressing-down.
“I’m sorry… it’s all my fault.” Guanguan wasn’t blind to Jiang Wan’s concession on her behalf.
She desperately wanted to yell that she didn’t need the help.
But shamefully, the words wouldn’t come.
Her terror of her mother was carved into her very bones.
Outwardly, she came across as brash and fearless, quick to flare up at the slightest provocation. But at her core, she was nothing but a hopeless coward.
The girl clamped down hard on her lip, her eyes rimming red, her face etched with self-reproach—as if cursing her own weakness.
“It’s fine. I’d rather skip Director Zhang’s punishment altogether than see you get hurt.” Jiang Wan pulled the girl into a gentle hug, stroking her hair and speaking in soft, soothing tones.
She could empathize all too well with the fear churning in Guanguan’s heart.
Before Guanguan’s family had moved away, Jiang Wan had often witnessed Aunt Guan jabbing a finger in the girl’s face, unleashing tirades so vicious that the neighbors would intervene.
Back then, Jiang Wan’s home had become Guanguan’s refuge. Every time she got an earful, the little girl would come scampering over on her stubby legs, out of breath, throw her arms around Jiang Wan, and wail her heart out. Once the tears were spent, she’d scarf down a meal before huffing her way back home.
Guanguan might seem utterly carefree on the surface, but she craved a sense of security more than anyone. The silver lining was her persistence—she kept reaching out for it, no matter how many rejections she faced.
And in the end, she found it with Jiang Wan.
Even though Jiang Wan was a touch younger and appeared delicate as a reed.
There was no denying it: Jiang Wan gave her a safety she’d long forgotten.
Lost in those memories, Jiang Wan turned her gaze to the other girl, who hadn’t budged from her spot.
Bei Huai, like Guanguan, was desperately short on that same sense of security. The difference was, she refused to take even a single step forward—or let anyone come within arm’s reach.
She had locked herself away in an abyss with no hope of escape.
Bei Huai caught Jiang Wan’s look and met her eyes, her own gaze darkening faintly. “You two head back to class.”
“What about you? Where are you going?”
“To take care of something.” With that, she turned her long legs toward the door.
She had only taken two steps when her arm was seized in a firm grip.
She halted, glancing back to meet the girl’s eyes—black as ink.
“Don’t mess around,” Jiang Wan said softly as she stared at Bei Huai’s face, falling silent for a moment.
“Listen to class properly.”
Bei Huai merely gave a faint smile, answering a question she hadn’t even asked. She released Jiang Wan’s hand and turned to leave.
“Wanwan, what is Little Bei going to do? Why do you look so serious?” Guanguan rubbed her red and swollen eyes, pouting as she asked in confusion.
“I don’t know.” Jiang Wan gazed at the girl’s departing figure and slowly lowered her eyes.
She didn’t know what Bei Huai was going to do, but she had a gut feeling.
Whatever Bei Huai was about to do was definitely related to them.
A moment later, she lifted her head, her expression returning to normal.
“Guanguan, we should go to class. We’ve wasted so much time already—who knows how much we’ve missed.”
Since Little Bei had told her to listen to class properly, she would do exactly as Little Bei said.
~~~
“Tch, why’d you drag me out here? Can’t you see I’m seriously listening to class?” Cen Jin walked out of the classroom and looked at Bei Huai with clear impatience.
“Help me out with something.” Bei Huai didn’t beat around the bush and got straight to the point.
“Heh, you only come to me when you need something. I still haven’t settled the score with you for randomly blocking me last time. I’m telling you, no way—I’m not helping!”
Cen Jin grinned in a punchable way, her tone full of smugness.
She just wanted to knock this girl down a peg or two, so she wouldn’t act all high and mighty every day—only remembering her when trouble came up and ignoring her otherwise.
Bei Huai opened her mouth to speak, but Cen Jin cut her off: “I’m telling you, even Sister Ala’s wine wouldn’t work this time. If I say no, it’s no—even if the king of heaven himself shows up.”
“Oh.” Bei Huai’s reaction was utterly calm, which only annoyed Cen Jin more—like punching cotton, all her energy fizzling out.
“I thought you had some friendship with Jiang Wan’s little bestie. Guess not. Whatever.” She turned as if to leave.
“Wait!” Cen Jin was taken aback and quickly called out to stop her.
This time, Bei Huai was especially obedient, turning back almost the instant the words left Cen Jin’s mouth.
Cen Jin: “…”
She frowned and asked, “You’re talking about Guan Shaorong?”
“Yeah… I think that’s the name.” Bei Huai thought for a second and nodded.
Cen Jin was speechless. They’d played games together all night, and she couldn’t even remember the girl’s name.
“What’s wrong with her?” The girl’s expression turned uncharacteristically serious.
Bei Huai gave her a rough rundown of the situation.
“Fuck, guys like Zhang Tianfeng only put on airs in front of regular students,” Cen Jin said, her gaze cooling by three degrees.
For students with backgrounds, no matter how wild they got, Zhang Tianfeng would just turn a blind eye. But he was brutally harsh on ordinary students, ripping into them mercilessly at the slightest mistake.
Of course, Bei Huai was an exception. Back in her first year of high school, Bei Rong had already laid down the law.
As long as she wasn’t expelled, discipline her however.
But even with Bei Rong’s words, Zhang Tianfeng didn’t dare overstep too much with Bei Huai.
At most, he’d throw a few harmless scoldings her way.
Bei Huai chimed in with a few agreeing words, then naturally handed the task off to Cen Jin.
“Can you handle this or not? If not, I’ll find someone else.” She even added a half-doubting afterthought.
“Me, not able to handle it?” Cen Jin bristled immediately.
“Just wait—I’ll have it sorted for you by tonight at the latest!”
“Alright, I’ll be waiting.” Mission accomplished √
It wasn’t until Bei Huai had sauntered off into the distance that Cen Jin realized something was off.
The moment she stepped back into the classroom, her mind cleared, and she smacked her forehead.
Fuck, she’d been played by that sneaky bitch again!
And with so many people in the classroom, she still had to maintain her elegant and poised persona.
Cen Jin: So pissed. Smiling.jpg
Not long after, Zhang Tianfeng was demoted. He lost his position as grade director and was suspended for two months as punishment.
Guanguan was the one who told Jiang Wan the news.
When she learned that scum Zhang Tianfeng had been stripped of his homeroom teacher role, Guanguan was over the moon.
Not just her—the whole class was thrilled.
It showed just how much they all despised him.
This sudden demotion was clearly the school’s emergency measure.
Jiang Wan immediately thought of Bei Huai.
At that moment, the girl was sprawled over her desk, fast asleep.
Warm sunlight bathed her face, her curled lashes casting shadows on her eyelids, and the side of her cheek pressed against the desk bore a faint red mark.
Without her usual aloofness, she seemed more like a cute girl her age—playful and endearing.
Sleeping Little Bei was way cuter than when she was awake, Jiang Wan thought, propping her chin on her hands as she watched Bei Huai’s sleeping face.
She stared and stared until that stray hair under Bei Huai’s eye started to look really annoying, making her fingers itch to brush it away.
As the thought crossed her mind, her hand moved on its own.
But before her fingers could even touch, the other girl woke up.
Her fingers hovered in midair. The girl lay there with her eyes wide open, not bothering to sit up, just staring back at her with a blank expression.
The atmosphere froze for an instant.
Jiang Wan awkwardly withdrew her hand.
“What are you trying to do?” Bei Huai sat up straight, narrowing her eyes as she gave Jiang Wan a meaningful look.
“Nothing. I just saw something on your face and wanted to wipe it off.” Jiang Wan offered an embarrassed smile.
“Then why aren’t you doing it?”
“…Huh?” Jiang Wan blinked, momentarily thrown.
“Aren’t you going to help me?” Bei Huai pressed, her gaze locked on the girl.
But no one could see the hand she’d tucked under the desk, clenched so tightly that the veins bulged on the back—as if she were struggling fiercely to hold herself in check.
Jiang Wan pursed her lips, her earlobes flushing faintly pink. She never would have imagined those words coming from Bei Huai’s mouth.
Where had that tsundere ghost gone?
“Not helping you anymore.” The girl lifted her chin with haughty pride, mimicking Bei Huai’s cold huff before turning away.
Bei Huai’s fingers trembled faintly. She watched Jiang Wan’s back, the corners of her mouth curving upward despite her best efforts.
It was the clumsy innocence of youth.
The girl was bold and unrestrained, yet no match for the tender flutter of first love.
