The previously cheerful, lively atmosphere in the corner occupied by the four of them gradually cooled.
Feng Ruoyu and Zhou Qin vigilantly supported Yu Mo, afraid Sun Qi would stir up trouble again.
Yu Mo steadied her heaving chest and countered, “I don’t see what there is for Sun Qi and me to discuss.”
Sun Qi took a light breath, her tone sincere, completely devoid of yesterday’s arrogance. “What happened yesterday morning was indeed my fault. I apologize. Please let this go.”
Sincerity, however, was one thing; perfunctoriness was another.
Yu Mo detected no trace of genuine remorse in Sun Qi’s tone, nor did she see any regret on her face.
Yu Mo knew that sometimes, a person’s apology doesn’t come from the heart.
Sun Qi was only bowing her head out of pressure from public opinion, desperate to resolve this matter for her own relief.
Yu Mo hadn’t expected a sincere apology from her in the first place.
She was no saint, and she knew she couldn’t reform Sun Qi.
What she wanted was for Sun Qi to pay the corresponding price for her actions, to seek justice for herself.
“So how do you intend to apologize to me?” Yu Mo asked.
“What?” The expression on Sun Qi’s face froze.
This wasn’t what she had envisioned.
Sun Qi had assumed that just by coming to Yu Mo and saying those words, she would receive forgiveness.
After all, Yu Mo was just a Lower City resident.
She would give Yu Mo face by apologizing, and Yu Mo would happily give her a way out. That should have been enough.
“Surely, Sun Qi, you didn’t think everything you did could be settled with a simple ‘sorry’?” Yu Mo smiled faintly.
It didn’t matter if Sun Qi didn’t know how; she could patiently teach her what constituted a sincere seeking of forgiveness.
“I want a written apology from you for this incident, pinned to the top of your personal social media account for one week.”
“Impossible!” Sun Qi immediately rejected the demand.
Such humiliation—how could the ever-arrogant Sun Qi agree to that?
“If you’re unwilling to apologize sincerely, then there’s nothing more to discuss.” Yu Mo swept a cold glance over Sun Qi and beckoned to Feng Ruoyu and Zhou Qin to leave.
Sun Qi watched Yu Mo’s retreating figure, unconsciously clenching her fists.
She was now desperately anxious to resolve this matter.
Sun Qi had no idea how Sun Mingyi had found out about last night’s events at school.
Already tormented physically and mentally by what had happened, plagued by nightmares, she had been summoned to Sun Mingyi’s study first thing in the morning and reprimanded harshly.
Though Sun Qi was Sun Mingyi’s daughter, she was neither his only child nor the most favored.
Sun Mingyi, burning with fury, had pointed at her forehead and warned her that if she didn’t handle this properly, he would send her back to the old house in District C.
Sun Qi’s mind buzzed.
That was the Lower City she despised most!
She would rather die than go back there.
Clouds drifted over Sun Qi’s head, stealing the last glimmer of light from this corner.
Anxious and uneasy, Sun Qi lifted her foot and chased after the departing Yu Mo.
“I agree. Please, show some mercy.”
She compromised.
Compared to returning to the Lower City, pinning an apology statement was nothing at all.
“Once you’ve posted the apology, I’ll naturally keep my word as well.” Yu Mo didn’t relax just because Sun Qi agreed.
She wouldn’t easily relent until she saw an outcome that satisfied her.
“…Fine… I’ll post it now. Will that do?” As she spoke, Sun Qi took out her phone and, right in front of Yu Mo, opened her personal homepage on the campus forum.
Yu Mo watched Sun Qi’s fingers tap furiously on the screen, her brow furrowing with dissatisfaction.
She stopped Sun Qi, whose entire draft was filled with excuses for herself, and stated her demands: “I have only two requests. One: Admit that you caused the accident by suddenly running onto the track and apologize to me. Two: Clarify the rumors you spread about me last night and apologize to me and the classmates you deceived.”
Sun Qi’s fingers paused on the keyboard.
She looked up at Yu Mo, still wanting to bargain.
But Yu Mo’s eyes were icy, filled with an unyielding finality.
Sun Qi swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue, gritted her teeth, deleted her prepared text, and replaced it with the apology statement Yu Mo had just dictated.
“Does this suffice?” Sun Qi held the typed statement out to Yu Mo.
Yu Mo read through Sun Qi’s apology carefully, then gave a satisfied nod. “Remember, seven days.”
“I know,” Sun Qi replied.
As she spoke, Sun Qi’s tightly clutched phone began buzzing incessantly.
Ridicule and onlookers swarmed in like a tidal wave, just as she had anticipated.
But so what? She had brought this on herself.
Yu Mo felt not a shred of pity for Sun Qi. She spared her no further glance and lifted her foot to leave.
Sunlight, carrying a sense of released relief, greeted Yu Mo as she emerged from the corner, washing over her as if in absolution.
Yu Mo had never felt so gratified as she did just now.
Using her own methods, she had fought for justice for herself, forcing those Upper City residents who looked down on her to bow their so-called noble heads.
Li Qingqing was massaging the shoulders of Wei Lai, who was sprawled on the grass, exhausted. From a distance, she saw Yu Mo and the others walking back and quickly asked, “Where did you all go? How come you disappeared right after the 3000-meter run?”
“Yeah, Qu Wenyao was just here. She waited quite a while for you, but you didn’t show, so she left. Tsk tsk tsk…” Wei Lai teased Yu Mo but received a slap on the head from Li Qingqing.
“Guess who we ran into just now?” Zhou Qin teased mysteriously.
“Sun Qi!” Feng Ruoyu, incapable of holding back, blurted out before Li Qingqing could even ask. “She came to apologize to Yu Mo!”
“Huh?!” Wei Lai shot up from the ground as if she’d been resurrected. She looked at Yu Mo, finding it somewhat unbelievable. “So soon?”
“Check her campus homepage pinned post,” Zhou Qin said, showing Sun Qi’s page to the two who didn’t know yet.
“I gotta say, this battle of ours was beautifully fought! Let’s celebrate!” Feng Ruoyu still felt a thrill remembering Sun Qi’s barely suppressed resentment.
“Great, then let’s sneak out later to celebrate!” Wei Lai slapped her phone down on her leg, her previously dull eyes now brimming with life.
“The sports festival continues this afternoon, though. You’re the Sports Representative,” Li Qingqing reminded her.
“No problem, I’ll just say the 3000-meter was too exhausting and I need to go home to rest. Everyone saw how I looked like death earlier anyway.” Wei Lai didn’t find collapsing in Li Qingqing’s arms embarrassing at all now.
“So where should we go to celebrate?” Yu Mo asked.
“Let’s go to the Lower City! You can show us around for once! Let’s see how the Lower City has developed!” Feng Ruoyu proposed.
Yu Mo thought for a moment, decided it was a good idea, and agreed. “Then I’ll take you around where I live first, and we can have dinner at my family’s hotel tonight. How does that sound?”
“Sounds great!” Wei Lai nodded eagerly.
“Speaking of celebrating, shouldn’t we invite the Head of the Media Department to dinner? If she hadn’t paved the way for us, we couldn’t have pulled this off so smoothly,” Zhou Qin asked.
“I think we should. She must have faced a lot of backlash for what she did.” Yu Mo nodded in agreement.
“Then I’ll call her right now and ask when she’s free.” Zhou Qin took out her phone and dialed Jiang Chen.
A ringtone chimed from not far away just as Zhou Qin dialed.
Zhou Qin looked up, puzzled, in the direction of the sound, and saw Jiang Chen looking around as she walked toward them.
“Jiang Chen?” Zhou Qin called out, both surprised and delighted.
“Oh, Zhou Qin!” Jiang Chen immediately quickened her pace, arriving in front of Zhou Qin and the others.
“Are you looking for someone?” Zhou Qin affectionately took Jiang Chen’s hand, noticing the small box of desserts she was carrying.
“Yes, have you seen Department Head Shen… Shen Shuyu?” Jiang Chen figured Shen Shuyu must be friends with Zhou Qin’s group, so she asked around.
“Shuyu was just called away by her department members. Is there something you need? I can pass the message along,” Li Qingqing offered.
“I just wanted to thank her. It’s all thanks to Department Head Shen coming to talk to me yesterday about your situation. If it weren’t for her, I’d probably be getting cursed out by our classmates along with Sun Qi and Director Wang today.” Jiang Chen spoke with immense relief about the matter that had already passed.
“You mean to say the Academic Representative convinced you?”
“It was really Shen Shuyu? How did she convince you?”
…
Zhou Qin and the others were genuinely taken aback and surrounded Jiang Chen with questions.
Li Qingqing watched as the truth was unveiled, keeping a straight face as she shifted her gaze to Yu Mo.
Yu Mo didn’t display the complex expression Li Qingqing had imagined. Instead, she was unusually calm.
Yet, it was like the seemingly calm surface of the sea.
In Yu Mo’s heart, these words had already stirred up towering waves and undercurrents.
She had clearly refused Shen Shuyu’s kindness twice yesterday. So why did Shen Shuyu still help her?
This had nothing to do with Shen Shuyu; it wouldn’t even affect her interests.
Why did she do it?
If they hadn’t run into Jiang Chen today, would she have kept this hidden forever?
This wasn’t Shen Shuyu’s style.
Or rather, the things Shen Shuyu did in this life didn’t seem like something the Shen Shuyu Yu Mo knew from her previous life would do.
Over the past few days, fragments of her interactions with Shen Shuyu surged into Yu Mo’s mind.
The image of Shen Shuyu’s usually cold, expressionless face suddenly breaking into a smile as she crossed the finish line froze in Yu Mo’s memory.
As noon approached, the sun blazed white-hot over the sports field.
An indescribable emotion churned inexplicably within Yu Mo’s heart.
Just then, the main subject of the incident was approaching slowly across the green field, carrying six cups of milk tea.
Her posture was upright, her long, slender legs moving gracefully.
Beneath her skirt, black stockings gently hugged thighs with a hint of youthful plumpness, her snow-white skin as alluring as a glutinous rice dumpling.
“The Academic Representative is back.”
“Quick, let’s go thank her properly.”
With that, the group walked over to Shen Shuyu and helped her carry the milk tea.
Each face was alight with touched smiles.
Shen Shuyu was momentarily bewildered. Then, spotting Jiang Chen standing beside Yu Mo, she understood.
Her actions had likely been fully disclosed by Jiang Chen.
“Academic Rep, how come you did good deeds without leaving a name?” Wei Lai asked.
“A simple effort,” Shen Shuyu replied lightly, her peripheral vision stealing glances at Yu Mo.
Yu Mo wasn’t looking at her like the others were.
But she also wasn’t showing that icy, heart-palpitating coldness she had displayed the previous times.
She knew, and she didn’t reject or despise her.
For Shen Shuyu, that was enough.
“In that case, why don’t the Academic Rep and Jiang Chen join us for our celebration later?” Wei Lai proposed.
“No, no, no. I’ll pass. I have some things to take care of in my department. I need to go now.” Not naturally sociable, Jiang Chen decisively chose to flee at the thought of being with people she wasn’t familiar with.
“What about you, Academic Rep?” Zhou Qin asked.
Shen Shuyu readily accepted. “Alright.”
Yu Mo was surprised that Shen Shuyu would agree to celebrate with people like them.
She pressed her lips together thinly and said coldly to Shen Shuyu, “We’re going to the Lower City, you know.”
It served both as a dismissal and a warning.
“I know. I’ll go.”
Shen Shuyu looked directly and unguardedly at Yu Mo’s profile.
Her voice was like plum wine striking glass—crisp, clear, and resonant.
As long as Yu Mo was there, Shen Shuyu was happy to go anywhere.
