Chapter 20

It was already ten-thirty at night when Lu Chenyu returned to her dorm room.

She swiped her school card to enter the bathroom for a shower. As the sound of running water filled the air, the scene she’d witnessed earlier in the dark teaching building still echoed in her mind.

Because of Wen Feixi, she hadn’t gotten a clear look at the two girls embracing inside the door. All she’d seen was the Student Council President grabbing a broom, kicking the door open, and standing there like some righteous heroine blocking the entrance.

In the steamy bathroom, Lu Chenyu subconsciously lifted a hand to touch the corner of her eye. It felt as though a soft, cool sensation still lingered there.

She squeezed out some body wash in a daze, an inexplicable irritation bubbling up inside her.

What was Wen Feixi’s deal?

Was there something she wasn’t allowed to see? Was she mocking her like some little kid?

Even so, the image from that dim stairwell refused to leave Lu Chenyu’s mind.

She must have seen it wrong.

Intimacy between girls was always so ambiguous anyway. Lu Chenyu often saw classmates hugging and cuddling around her.

Two girls? Impossible.

While showering, she had to take special care to avoid the wound on her knee. Holding the showerhead in her palm, she scalded herself. A stinging pain shot through her hand.

Lu Chenyu frowned and spread her palm open. Angry red welts marked the skin.

It was from Ms. Song’s ruler.

After her shower, Lu Chenyu stepped out in her pajamas and heard Jiang Chang calling, “Little Fish, someone’s here for you.”

She pulled open the door and saw Song Yuemin standing in the hallway.

Lu Chenyu’s skin was so fair that fresh from the shower, her cheeks glowed with a soft peach tint. Her slippers revealed slim, straight legs beneath her shorts, and her damp black hair framed a pair of sparkling amber peach-blossom eyes. She looked impossibly sweet.

Song Yuemin took one look at her doll-like cousin—stunning enough to topple cities and countries—and then lunged forward in excitement, wrapping her arms around her. “Little Fish, we’ve got work! Eight love letters this time!!! Eighty bucks, eighty bucks!!!”

Lu Chenyu’s gaze fell on the bills in Song Yuemin’s hand, then shifted to the stack of colorful envelopes.

“With so many people confessing to Wen Feixi every day, we’ll be rolling in it before long—hahaha!” Song Yuemin crowed.

She chattered on in her excitement for a moment before realizing the girl in her arms wasn’t responding at all.

Lu Chenyu was usually so reserved, never one for roughhousing, so Song Yuemin often felt like she was hugging a wooden post whenever she got a hold of her.

But rarely as stiff as this.

Song Yuemin looked at her curiously. “Little Fish, what’s wrong?”

“Sorry,” Lu Chenyu said softly. “I don’t think I can help anymore.”

Song Yuemin blinked in surprise. “Why not?”

Lu Chenyu lowered her eyes. “It just doesn’t feel right.”

–

It was Wednesday afternoon.

“Class, we’re doing a little quiz during tonight’s self-study, so make sure you get back to the classroom early,” the physics teacher announced.

A chorus of groans erupted from the students below the podium as soon as he finished. “Teacher, we just had a math quiz yesterday, and chemistry the day before!”

“Monthly exams are next week. How will you know your baseline without a practice run? It’s the darkest hour before the dawn,” the physics teacher said with a grin. “Class dismissed!”

The room erupted in chatter the moment he spoke, and several students headed for the door.

Lu Chenyu had finished the homework the teacher assigned long ago. With self-study underway, plenty of people skipped out to hang on the sports field, leaving only a sparse handful of dedicated studiers scattered around the classroom.

She flipped the crumpled in-class quiz paper over and over, folded it neatly, and tucked it into her textbook. Restless, she left the classroom and somehow found herself on the fifth floor without realizing it.

This was where Fourth High School held its remedial classes.

Ever since that day when she’d been caught eavesdropping by the teacher, thin-skinned Lu Chenyu hadn’t dared return to this heartbreaking spot. But today, for some reason, here she was again.

She pressed her lips together, listening to the teacher’s lecture from inside the classroom, her fingertips lightly tapping the wall.

She recalled what the teacher had said to her that day, took a deep breath, and turned to leave.

There were no regular classes on this floor—only tutoring rooms. The hallway was deathly quiet, her footsteps echoing around her.

As Lu Chenyu passed the large trash bin by the restrooms, something caught her eye, and she froze.

Inside the blue cylindrical bin lay a discarded exercise book emblazoned with the words Sophomore First Term Intensive Exercise Book.

It was the exercise book from her cousin’s remedial class!

The book lay forlornly in the trash, its pages curled at the edges.

Lu Chenyu stepped closer and fished it out. It was for math, and flipping through it revealed tons of problems she hadn’t seen before, complete with chapter-by-chapter practice sets.

She quickly wiped it down with a tissue. Fortunately, it wasn’t too dirty—just a yogurt stain at the bottom of the pages.

She dampened another tissue with lukewarm water from the window tap and cleaned off the smudge, then spread the book open on the sill to air-dry.

Her gaze drifted back to the trash bin.

This exercise book should have come with solutions, but she’d only found the problems themselves. No sign of the answer key…

It had to still be in there.

The cleaning auntie had just swapped out the trash bag, so the bin held mostly leaves and dust, no real filth. Lu Chenyu hesitated for a second before leaning in to rummage around.

She was so focused that she didn’t notice the footsteps drawing closer behind her.

“You really threw out that exercise book?”

“I’ll just buy a new one. Who asked Zhang Dog to spill yogurt all over it?” Xia Weiwei said with a grimace of disgust.

“You don’t have time for that—tonight’s the review session!” Han Yi pointed out.

“What, you want me to dig it back out? Ew, I think I’d float away if I touched that thing again! We can share mine for now.”

“Hey—”

Before Han Yi could say more, Xia Weiwei halted and jerked her chin toward the side, signaling her to look.

Not far off, Lu Chenyu was digging through the trash bin.

“Perfect timing—818 Gossip Section was running dry on material,” Xia Weiwei said. She pulled out her phone, opened the camera, and snapped a shot of Lu Chenyu crouched by the bin, cleaning off the exercise book.

The loud click startled Lu Chenyu.

She whipped her head around. Spotting Xia Weiwei, her heart sank.

“Hey, that’s my exercise book you’re holding. Having fun stealing from people?” Xia Weiwei called out.

“Is something tossed in the trash still yours?” Lu Chenyu replied coolly.

“Oh, so now you’re righteous about taking other people’s stuff?” Xia Weiwei shouted. “That book was right on my desk—you must’ve grabbed it and brought it here. Denying it?”

Lu Chenyu pointed overhead. “There’s a camera right there.”

Xia Weiwei faltered. “?”

Lu Chenyu met her gaze steadily, her clear, bright amber eyes unwavering. “I don’t think the school rules say anything about students not being allowed to check the trash bins.”

Xia Weiwei’s lungs nearly exploded with rage. Lu Chenyu just stood there, utterly composed—it felt like punching a bag of cotton.

It was exactly this attitude from Lu Chenyu that Xia Weiwei hated most.

She opened her mouth to retort when a voice sounded from behind her. “Found it yet?”

Xia Weiwei went rigid and spun around. Wen Feixi approached with her bag slung over one shoulder, hands stuffed in her pockets.

“Wen Feixi…” Xia Weiwei stammered.

Without a word, Wen Feixi walked right past her.

She stopped beside Lu Chenyu and asked softly, “Mm?”

Lu Chenyu looked up to see Wen Feixi standing next to her. For some reason, the tension that had gripped her suddenly melted away.

In its place came a flood of shame.

Wen Feixi stood before her, her fair skin almost translucent, her school uniform impeccably pressed without a single wrinkle. Her short skirt fluttered in the breeze, revealing perfectly proportioned calves.

Clean and pristine, like a princess fallen to earth.

But Lu Chenyu’s own hands were filthy right now…

Then she watched as a pale, slender hand reached into the trash bin.

Wen Feixi stood beside Lu Chenyu and started rummaging through it.

Lu Chenyu blinked. “?”

“Wen Feixi?” Xia Weiwei said uncertainly.

Wen Feixi glanced at her, and a cold sweat broke out on Xia Weiwei’s back. Wen Feixi usually came across as gentle and approachable, but without her smile, those narrow phoenix eyes cast downward, exuding an aura of regal authority like a queen.

Han Yi asked awkwardly, “Wenwen, what are you doing?”

“I lost a necklace earlier,” Wen Feixi said. “Classmate Lu was helping me look for it. Now I’m helping too—is there a problem?”

She turned and nodded to Lu Chenyu. “Thanks, Classmate Lu.”

Lu Chenyu: …

Han Yi shot Xia Weiwei a look, and the two of them hurriedly joined in the search.

“Wenwen, what’s the necklace look like?” Han Yi asked.

The two girls dug through the front of the bin in a flurry of activity.

Wen Feixi tugged Lu Chenyu back a step, then pulled out her phone and snapped a photo.

“Let’s head back to the classroom,” Wen Feixi said, holding the grimy exercise book as she spoke to Lu Chenyu.

Lu Chenyu glanced at the book, then at Wen Feixi. Wen Feixi curved her lips in a faint smile toward her.

Once Lu Chenyu had gone, Xia Weiwei’s expression soured, but she still asked, “Feixi, did you find your necklace?”

Wen Feixi fixed her with a look. “Delete the photo of Lu Chenyu.”

Xia Weiwei gritted her teeth, flushing. “I didn’t take any photo.”

Wen Feixi held up her phone, screen facing out. There was Xia Weiwei, captured mid-dig in the trash bin.

Xia Weiwei’s face drained of color.

“If you don’t want this photo showing up under a post about Lu Chenyu digging through the trash, hand it over and delete it,” Wen Feixi said, stepping closer with a faint smile. “I’ve even got the title ready: 【School Trash Bins Turn into Treasure Hunts, Students and Teachers Stunned】. Sound good?”

“…”

–

The setting sun bathed the classroom in a warm orange glow.

Wen Feixi stepped through the door, and Lu Chenyu approached her right away. There was no trace of her earlier standoffishness—instead, she seemed a little tense.

“It’s fine now, that photo…” Wen Feixi started.

“What about the exercise book?” Lu Chenyu interrupted.

Wen Feixi paused. “…”

This girl really didn’t play by the rules. Everyone else would worry about getting slandered and exposed on the forum, but all she cared about was that filthy exercise book.

Wen Feixi smiled faintly and dangled the book from her fingers.

Lu Chenyu reached for it, but Wen Feixi stepped back, leaving her grasping at air.

Lu Chenyu met her eyes, a bad feeling stirring. “Give it here.”

“Grab it if you can,” Wen Feixi teased.

Grinning, she tucked her hands behind her back and retreated toward her, forcing Lu Chenyu to chase. Wen Feixi’s back hit a chair, and Lu Chenyu lunged, pinning her waist. Her knee slipped between Wen Feixi’s legs. Both wore skirts, and their skin brushed together.

Wen Feixi stiffened, her waist going soft against the wall as she pressed a hand to Lu Chenyu’s shoulder.

Lu Chenyu might have been an ice queen, but her body burned hot. The calluses on her fingertips rubbed against Wen Feixi’s thigh, holding her pinned without escape.

Wen Feixi looked up into those devastatingly beautiful peach-blossom eyes. The girl’s amber pupils shimmered with mist, her rims reddened as if she might cry.

Wen Feixi pressed her lips together, her ears suddenly burning.

She gave Lu Chenyu a push. “Get up. Don’t crush me.”

Lu Chenyu realized the position was awkward too, but she was desperate for the book. As she rose, she lunged again for it.

Wen Feixi reacted swiftly, grabbing Lu Chenyu’s hand.

Her grip landed right on the wound in Lu Chenyu’s palm. A sharp pain lanced through it like an electric shock. Lu Chenyu hissed, yanking her hand back as her face went pale.

Wen Feixi froze and pried Lu Chenyu’s hand open to look.

The palm was covered in swollen, bloody welts, angry red streaks mingled with bruises spreading across the pale skin—shocking to behold.

Wen Feixi frowned. “Who hit you?”

Lu Chenyu pulled her hand away. “No one.”

Wen Feixi let out a soft laugh that faded into a sigh. She glanced out the window, then back, her smile vanishing. “Who was it?”

“I fell,” Lu Chenyu mumbled.

Wen Feixi arched a brow, amused. “Onto a ruler?”

Lu Chenyu’s ears flushed crimson as if dripping blood. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill.

Wen Feixi’s expression cooled.

She’d fallen yesterday, and now her palm was swollen today.

Was Lu Chenyu here to go to school or to get tortured?

Lu Chenyu changed the subject, extending her hand. “Give it to me.”

Wen Feixi tossed the wrinkled exercise book straight into the trash bin.

Lu Chenyu glared at her in fury, curses nearly spilling from her lips. Then Wen Feixi bent down, pulled a pristine new exercise book from her drawer, and held it out.