Chapter 29: The Submissive, Obsessive Top Student

“Cough cough cough—”

Shi Qingyi, who had just lied, seemed completely unaware that she had let something slip. Jiang Zhiyi was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath, her lungs struggling for air as she began to cough laboriously. Shi Qingyi gripped her wrist and gently patted her slender back.

“If you keep moving, the IV needle will slip out.”

It would have to be reinserted then, and just thinking about it hurt. She had finally managed to hold the IV bag steady, but when she turned back, the girl was already nestled in her arms.

Slender fingers clung to her shoulders, her shoulder blades trembling faintly. Shi Qingyi hesitated for a moment but still slowly helped her catch her breath, patting her back gently, one stroke at a time.

Once she finished crying and Shi Qingyi wanted to pour a glass of water to soothe her throat, Jiang Zhiyi tightened her arms as if afraid she would run away, only to realize she had no right to do so and anxiously loosened her grip.

Shi Qingyi brought over a cup of warm water and glanced at her own school uniform with an unamused expression. “One got soaked from the rain the other day because of you, and now this one’s ruined from your crying today.”

She only had two school uniforms to rotate between at school, and now both were ruined because of her.

Jiang Zhiyi was still trembling slightly. Hearing this, she sneaked a glance at her. The spot on the girl’s chest was soaked with her tears. She hadn’t meant to cry at all—hunger was nothing new, so what was the big deal? But for some reason, when she realized Shi Qingyi had awkwardly gone out of her way to buy food because she was worried about her starving, she just couldn’t hold back anymore.

All her grievances burst forth at once. She just wanted to bury her head in her arms. She had thought she would be pushed away, but in the end, Shi Qingyi awkwardly and stiffly let her hug and cry it out completely.

Jiang Zhiyi sniffled, her ear tips suddenly turning red as she thought of something. She spoke softly, “I can lend you my school uniform to wear.”

Shi Qingyi let out a scoff, her indifferent gaze sweeping over her body. Jiang Zhiyi’s flushed cheeks slowly drained of color, turning pale.

She had only been forced to buy two sets of school uniforms back in her first year when the school required them to enter. She had worn them for three years now, and even with the utmost care, they were worn out and faded from washing—not to mention Shi Qingyi’s germaphobia.

It was normal for Shi Qingyi not to want to wear them.

“Your school uniform? I’d be lucky if I could even squeeze into it,” Shi Qingyi said, stuffing a still-warm steamed bun into her mouth. “Eat more, or you really won’t grow any taller.”

The bun was still hot. Jiang Zhiyi instinctively bit into the corner and quickly took hold of it herself, sneaking a glance up at Shi Qingyi.

The girl was half-reclining against the bedhead, her shadow stretched long by the sunlight outside the window. Jiang Zhiyi nibbled at it bit by bit, a bit annoyed as she realized she was right—she was just a little over five feet tall, while Shi Qingyi was nearly five foot seven. Of course, her school uniform wouldn’t fit.

But if she grew too fast, she probably wouldn’t fit into her own three-year-old uniforms anymore either.

In that moment, Jiang Zhiyi suddenly felt the terror of poverty—even growing taller scared her because she might not have clothes to wear. Her heart stung, and suddenly someone nearby looked up and asked her, “Why is there an empty spot here?”

Shi Qingyi was idly flipping through the morning’s exercise booklet and glanced sideways at her.

“Cough cough cough—” Jiang Zhiyi coughed inexplicably after just one glance, coughing so hard she couldn’t lift her head, only a suspicious flush appearing on her ears.

The girl’s handwriting was neat and elegant, her notes complete throughout—except for a crescent-shaped blank space on the side where not a single word was written.

“Be more careful…” Shi Qingyi sighed as she brought over the water anyway. Jiang Zhiyi sipped it slowly, feeling as if the ordinary water had honey added to it.

—In the end, she never told her that the blank spot was just because her finger had once pointed there.

After the IV drip, Shi Qingyi naturally paid the bill. It wasn’t expensive—just the cost of one meal out for her—but for Jiang Zhiyi, it was an entire month’s worth of food money.

“I’ll pay you back later.” The sunlight was bright and blazing. She stepped on her shadow from behind, as if that would let her keep up with her pace. She never tired of it.

“Who asked you to pay me back?” Seeming to consider the short legs trailing behind, Shi Qingyi slowed her steps a bit involuntarily. She turned her cold face back like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “I only dragged you there to fake a medical record to fool my mom anyway.”

Jiang Zhiyi hurriedly nodded along with her words, smoothing her ruffled fur. “Mm-hmm.”

I know. It definitely wasn’t because she saw I was hungry and bought food for me, lying that she couldn’t finish it and giving it to me. And it definitely wasn’t because she saw I had a cold and specially brought me for the IV. And it couldn’t possibly be that she used a brand-new exercise booklet to bully me into doing notes for her.

She looked pure and innocent, as if she believed whatever you said without question. It made Shi Qingyi suddenly feel a bit stifled.

They had skipped nearly half a day of class. By the time they returned, it was naptime after lunch. As soon as Shi Qingyi sat down at her desk, the girl in front turned around.

Her gaze inevitably brushed over Jiang Zhiyi nearby, revealing a trace of disgust. She subtly pulled back a bit. “The homeroom teacher wants you to go see her when you get back.”

With that, she hurried away, avoiding her like something dirty.

Jiang Zhiyi pretended throughout as if she hadn’t seen anything. She was long used to it. But since it happened right in front of Shi Qingyi, she still felt a bit uneasy.

Shi Qingyi dumped the cold medicine the doctor had given her all over Jiang Zhiyi’s desk. “Take it early to get better early. Don’t cough all day so I can’t sleep.”

Jiang Zhiyi stared at the pile of cold medicine—various capsules, cough syrups, everything. As she tidied it up, she suddenly recalled her words.

Coughing keeping her awake—was that during the day in class, or… at night?

She shook her head vigorously, thinking she was getting too far ahead of herself.

—

The homeroom teacher was still grading papers in the middle of the day. When she saw her, she frowned and slowly admonished, “You sneaking out to skip class was already hard for me to explain, and now you dragged someone else along too. How am I supposed to approve the leave?”

Having such a delinquent in her class was practically shortening her lifespan.

There were few teachers in the senior-year office, making it feel empty. Shi Qingyi found a chair and sat down on her own. “Just mark it as sick leave. No one cares about her anyway.”

Even if she had a cold so bad her voice went hoarse and she couldn’t speak, coughing once in class was a crime. Who really cared about her life or death?

The homeroom teacher choked up. There was nothing she could say to that. She could only mediate, but in the end, it depended on the students themselves—she couldn’t decide for them.

“Fine, fine, let’s not talk about that,” the homeroom teacher said tiredly, rubbing her brow. “Change seats. If you don’t like the desk, I’ll have them bring a brand-new one from the next classroom. What’s the point of sitting in the back? You can’t even see the blackboard.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Shi Qingyi looked up, giving the homeroom teacher a puzzled glance.

Did she really expect her to pay attention in class?

The homeroom teacher: “…”

Late September weather was still muggy, the classroom stuffy. Shi Qingyi didn’t want to go in and leaned on the railing, peering inside.

Jiang Little Pitiful was still catching up on the morning’s lessons. Of course, no one was willing to lend her notes, so she copied from the blackboard and figured it out herself.

No tutoring materials, no cram school—yet she still held steady in the top twenty of the grade. Not bad for the villain boss; most people couldn’t match that intellect.

She was pretty too, with big, clear eyes, though her hair was a bit long, covering those particularly beautiful eyes. It needed a trim. Shi Qingyi was thinking this when she suddenly saw the girl, who had been sitting ramrod straight, sneak a glance outward—right into her eyes.

Jiang Little Pitiful froze, not expecting to get caught peeking. The blonde girl leaning on the railing couldn’t help but curve her lips and let out a pfft of laughter.

That laugh made Jiang Zhiyi zone out for a moment. By the time she snapped back, a tall boy had blocked the blonde girl from view in the hallway.

A tall, lanky boy, refined and handsome, facing away from Jiang Zhiyi with a rose in hand.

The awake people in the class immediately perked up, gossiping in whispers.

“Isn’t that the heartthrob from the next class? He’s pretty handsome.”

“He’s probably here to confess to Shi Qingyi from our class. Confessing right by the office—bold move, real guts.”

“They do look pretty compatible.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s mind went blank. She shot to her feet with a bang, too hasty—her uniform caught on the desk with a rip. Nearby classmates grumbled, but she didn’t care anymore, stumbling out.

There were a few boys from the next class huddled at the end of the hall, apparently there to help the guy strategize.

“Don’t crowd! Leave me some space!”

“It’s about to work, right?”

“He gave the flower—damn, it’s happening!”

The blood in Jiang Zhiyi’s body turned to ice inch by inch. A sour, unfamiliar emotion brewed in her heart. She clenched her teeth tightly, desperately suppressing the urge to rush up, grab Shi Qingyi, and drag her away.

Take her away. Make all those eyeing her get lost—far away. If anyone dares look at her with that lecherous gaze again, gouge their eyes out!

No one’s allowed to covet her—

Her mind screamed this unrealistic urge over and over, but her head hung lower and lower. As she passed the classroom door on her way out, a boy secretly watching shoved her disdainfully.

“What’re you doing? Moving so slow—good dogs don’t block the way, got it?”

She stumbled from the push, her chaotic thoughts making her lose balance and start to fall—until a hand caught her just in time.

Shi Qingyi’s gaze was sharp as a knife. “Who’re you calling a dog? Say it again.”

The several one-meter-eighty boys across from her shivered involuntarily under her icy stare and backed up a few steps. “N-Nothing…”

Jiang Zhiyi only felt bitterness in her eyes. She looked at the arm steadying her, then at her palm, as if confirming something. “The flower?”

Careful, with a hint of hope.

“Threw it away,” Shi Qingyi said curtly. “What’re you doing out here?”

Jiang Zhiyi turned back and sure enough, spotted the rose in the trash can.

Her heart finally stirred back to life, plummeting from the stratosphere. She replied, “I-I came to get medicine.”

Shi Qingyi gave her hand a complicated look. “So, where’s the medicine?”

“…”

Her hands were empty, nothing at all.

She lowered her head, voice tiny as a mosquito. “I forgot…”

She had been too panicked, too scared—so she hadn’t grabbed anything and just rushed out.

The girl lowering her head in the bright sunlight looked innocent and obedient, stirring something inexplicable in Shi Qingyi’s heart.

But who could have guessed that just moments ago, the system had blared alarms in near panic, warning her that Jiang Zhiyi’s blackening value had nearly maxed out—

Scaring her into tossing the rose and rushing over.