Sometimes, people really don't know how to appreciate what they have. Take, for example, the assistant principal who was standing in the hallway: if he had known what problem was weighing on Professor Wei at that moment, he probably would have coughed up blood.
Was it really such a terrible thing to be admired by an extraordinary girl? In fact, he would not only have found it anything but bothersome — he would have been proud of it.
By comparison, the situation he was currently in was far more unpleasant; he believed that having to humble himself before someone he considered intellectually inferior was not only an injustice to him, but also to the natural order of things.
However, the phone conversation he had with Zhang Mei's mother was not only a displeasing experience for him, but for her as well. Seeing that the school representative not only failed to rein in Liu Fengying but had even become her spokesperson made her feel as if she wasn't being taken seriously at all.
That feeling grew stronger the more she heard about the alternatives proposed by Liu Fengying; being asked to choose between her daughter's reputation and 180,000 ruans — a considerable amount of money even for her — what was the difference between that and the way extortionists threaten their victims?
Furthermore, even the 20,000 ruans supposedly intended for treatment had no real justification; it wasn't as if Liu Fengying had provided any hospital bill. Honestly, if the assistant principal hadn't assured her that the proposal really came from Liu Fengying, she would have suspected someone was trying to trick her out of money using her name, because such behavior didn't match the conduct of a girl who had grown up in a very wealthy family.
Anyway, noticing Liu Fengying's greed for money, Zhang Yan couldn't help wondering whether the rumors about her were completely disconnected from the truth — that her situation hadn't actually improved much. Did that mean she had worried all this time for nothing?
Still, no matter how dissatisfied she was or how many doubts she had, she couldn't turn down the chance to settle the issue once and for all, so she found herself forced to accept one of the two options proposed by Liu Fengying — namely, to give her 200,000 ruans.
Honestly, Zhang Yan was not happy about it. Even though she had married a wealthy man, she did not have access to his bank accounts at all — she only received 300,000 ruans per month as pocket money. As for the money she earned from acting and sponsorships, her average income over the last year was about 100,000 ruans per month, so this "deal" had cost her roughly half of her funds for that month.
But was the other option offered by Liu Fengying really something she could accept? Not only would it almost certainly jeopardize her daughter's future, but her own reputation would suffer as well. And her husband had warned her: he needed someone he could be proud to show in public, not someone who would make him a laughingstock.
She also still felt guilty toward Zhang Mei, who had grown up subjected to people's mocking looks because her father had never been officially confirmed. So, as long as it was within her power, she intended to protect her from ending up in a similar situation.
The assistant principal breathed a sigh of relief when Zhang Yan said she was willing to pay for the whole story to be swept under the rug. Frankly, that was the outcome he had been hoping for because it meant the school would no longer have to get involved — and therefore it meant less unpaid overtime work for him.
Afraid that with every passing second the chances of either side changing their mind might increase, he sent her a text with the bank account number provided by Liu Fengying before ending the call, and then continued urging her to transfer the money as quickly as possible.
"...?", Zhang Yan didn't know what to make of the assistant principal's attitude; was it possible that Liu Fengying had promised him a commission? Otherwise, why was he so impatient to see the money transferred into her account?
In the end, Zhang Yan lost her patience and told the assistant principal that it wasn't his place to tell her what to do, hanging up the phone on him right after. As for thanking him for his "help," the thought didn't even cross her mind — wasn't it her money that had solved the problem in the end? Besides, as a worldly woman who had met people from all social classes, how could she not perceive the contempt the assistant principal held toward her? So she truly saw no reason to maintain a good relationship with him.
"Ungrateful bitch…," the assistant principal couldn't stop himself from cursing her, momentarily forgetting where he was.
Fortunately, after looking left and right and seeing no one around, he realized no one had witnessed his uncontrolled outburst — thus preserving his gentlemanly image. Then he continued throwing a few more "epithets" at Zhang Yan under his breath until he finally calmed down.
.............
"I have good news, student Liu: Zhang Mei's mother has agreed to pay the compensation you requested — both for the treatment and for moral damages…" said the assistant principal as soon as he returned to the office, completely oblivious to the strange atmosphere that had settled in his absence between Liu Fengying and Professor Wei.
His suddenly friendly attitude caught both of them by surprise; it was as if he suddenly believed they were all on the same team.
Of course, it wasn't as though the assistant principal had suddenly had an epiphany and realized that, regardless of the risks, the right thing to do was to stand on the side of justice. Rather, the change in his behavior came from the mindset that the enemy of my enemy is my friend. More precisely, the good impression he now had of Liu Fengying stemmed from the memory of how furious Zhang Yan had been when she heard the options presented to her, which made him feel somewhat avenged.
However, his enthusiasm didn't sit well with Liu Fengying; in fact, she found it insulting.
She didn't consider this to be the end of the story — she was determined to take revenge with her own hands in the future — but the assistant principal had no way of knowing that. Didn't his attitude mean he believed she could be bought off so easily?
"I don't think this can be called good news — more like the bare minimum. For example, imagine someone slapped you in public; would any sum of money, no matter how large, help you forget that humiliation without the aggressor being held responsible and apologizing? Not to mention that the blow I received could have been fatal…" she said, making no effort to soften her words. After all, she had no use for someone so lacking in character on her side, so it didn't matter if he got offended. Besides, this was exactly how one should treat those who bully the weak and flatter the powerful.
Although he didn't like Liu Fengying's tone, the assistant principal had no choice but to swallow it; if he said her words were untrue, wouldn't that be the same as admitting that money was more important to him than his honor?
"…Yes, yes, you're right…" the assistant principal said, struggling to maintain his smile. Yet what else could he do? He wasn't standing in an empty hallway anymore, where he could let his temper take over freely.
Also, Liu Fengying's arrogance was easier to endure than that of Zhang Mei's mother; after all, there was a difference between a princess — even one in exile — from a wealthy family, and a middle-aged woman who married an old man.
"So I believe that's all, student Liu. We won't keep you any longer…" he continued. Now that the issue troubling him had been solved, he had nothing to gain by remaining in conversation with Liu Fengying.
Of course, it wasn't as though he was blind to her beauty, but given that Liu Fengying was clearly hostile toward him, that beauty was more of a weapon pointed at him than something to enjoy looking at.
But it seemed that he and Liu Fengying were destined not to see eye to eye that day; since she had no intention of leaving Professor Wei's office without saying goodbye to her properly, she quickly came up with an excuse to stay.
"Well, I don't know what to say about that. I still haven't received any notification that the money has been deposited…"
The assistant principal barely managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes; wasn't Liu Fengying the one claiming she didn't care about money? Of course, there was also the possibility that she had simply found another excuse to irritate him.
"Yes, I understand. But transactions of such large amounts usually take a few minutes while the necessary verifications are being processed…"
"If you have other matters to attend to or wish to leave, it's no problem. I'm sure Professor Wei won't mind if I stay with her for a few more minutes…" Liu Fengying interrupted him — she did not need a light bulb hovering over her shoulder, restricting her actions. And judging by what she had understood about the assistant principal's character, she was quite sure that he would be more than happy to accept her suggestion.
However, the assistant principal seemed to have chosen the worst possible moment to grow a conscience.
At first, relieved that he could finally escape the uncomfortable situation, he was fully prepared to follow Liu Fengying's proposal, paying no attention to its flaws. So he turned toward Professor Wei to tell her that he would be leaving Liu Fengying in her care.
But when he saw the discomfort on her face, he could no longer bring himself to speak; since he had already tricked her into getting involved in resolving the conflict between Liu Fengying and Zhang Mei, wouldn't it be utterly selfish of him to leave her alone with Liu Fengying while the situation was still uncertain? Especially since, in his view, Liu Fengying was in a very bad mood — what if Zhang Yan suddenly changed her mind? In that case, it would be like leaving her alone with a ticking time bomb.
Of course, if it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have been so attentive to details, but the person in front of him was Professor Wei — he didn't want to completely destroy his image in front of such a beautiful woman.
"I think it's better if I stay a little longer. In case there's a problem with the transaction, it would be too much of a hassle for Professor Wei to contact me to explain what happened, and then for me to call Zhang Mei's mother again…", the assistant principal eventually rejected Liu Fengying's suggestion.
And so, the three of them remained sitting there, silently staring at one another while waiting for a message that never came.
"......", for the third time, Liu Fengying opened her phone to check whether she had received a bank notification — and once again, nothing. Well, that wasn't surprising. In fact, it would've taken a miracle for anything to show up; the account wasn't under her name, so how could the bank possibly notify her? The only real way to check whether Zhang Yan had sent the money was to insert the card into an ATM or call her cousin to ask him to check his notifications.
Still, even if she couldn't stay alone with Professor Wei, Liu Fengying had decided to drag out the situation for a few more minutes. It wasn't that she had nothing better to do — she simply enjoyed watching the assistant principal becoming more and more stressed with every passing minute. Why did he have to ruin her plans? Couldn't he have just left and gone home peacefully? Now he had no choice but to endure the situation he had chosen for himself.
And this method worked quite efficiently; when the assistant principal saw Liu Fengying shake her head for the third time to indicate she still hadn't received a notification, he began to resign himself to the idea that he would have to call Zhang Yan again.
Fortunately for him, Liu Fengying couldn't continue prolonging the stressful mood for much longer, because a message from Hua Shu reminded her that the girl was still waiting for her.
Not because they were going home together — they lived in opposite directions. But suspecting that Liu Fengying had been summoned by the homeroom teacher because of the rumors circulating about her, Hua Shu insisted on waiting in case she needed someone there to support her statements.
'My behavior toward her wasn't very nice…', Liu Fengying felt guilty when she read the message and understood the concern behind it; in a way, her situation resembled a husband getting into a fight to impress another woman while his wife waits for him with dinner ready.
"Now that I think about it, since the account isn't under my name, there's no way for me to receive a notification even if the transfer has already gone through…" Liu Fengying finally addressed the assistant principal while standing up from her chair. "So I think we can leave things as they are for now. If by tomorrow I see that the transfer hasn't been processed, I'll contact you myself…" she added, completely ignoring the suspicious stares from the assistant and Professor Wei.
Could she have come up with a better excuse for leaving? Of course she could — but Liu Fengying figured she could gain some bonus points this way: irritating the assistant principal by making him suspect she had only wanted to toy with him, and sparking Professor Wei's curiosity about why she wanted to be alone with her again. After all, it wasn't like anyone could prove she was lying, no matter what they believed.
"Yes, no problem. These things happen sometimes…" said the assistant principal. Was he irritated by the thought that Liu Fengying had likely played him like a fiddle? Of course. But what could he do? Not only would he look unreasonable if he confronted her over something like this, he also didn't want to risk getting into another argument with her now that she was finally ready to leave. At the very least, he could now breathe a sigh of relief knowing he wouldn't have to contact Zhang Yan again — who was even more talented at getting under his skin.
"Have a good day, student Liu…" he added quickly — so quickly that Liu Fengying got the impression he was one step away from opening the door for her just to make sure she left.
"You too…" Liu Fengying replied before walking toward the door. Of course, she hadn't forgotten about Professor Wei. So she glanced back before exiting — her ponytail circling dramatically with youthful energy — and added in a charming tone: "See you tomorrow, Professor Wei…"
"Ahem, we don't have class tomorrow, student Liu…" Professor Wei hurried to say, although caught off guard by Liu Fengying's last-second attack, afraid she might add something inappropriate in front of the assistant principal.
Honestly, she had begun to worry about how she would get through the following weeks; since Liu Fengying seemed to have entered a "rebellious phase," she could expect anything from her.
"I know that…" Liu Fengying answered with a teasing smile, then closed the door behind her without offering any explanation about when or where she planned to see her next.
"...", silence fell over the office after Liu Fengying left.
"It seems the two of you have quite a good relationship…", the assistant principal commented after a few seconds, with a hint of reproach in his voice. If Liu Fengying had such a favorable attitude toward Professor Wei, why couldn't she have said a few more words to make her more obedient?
If Professor Wei had known what he was thinking, she probably would have rolled her eyes — but she didn't pick up on such subtleties. What she was worried about was preventing the assistant principal from becoming suspicious that there was something unusual between her and Liu Fengying.
Of course, she didn't believe she had done anything wrong; she hadn't done anything to give Liu Fengying false hope that their relationship could be anything more than a teacher–student connection. But it was best not to give people a reason to start letting their imagination run wild, because it would be a nightmare to prove her innocence afterward.
"Well, that's normal. She is the best student in my class…", she answered, trying to sound as casual as possible, and then began gathering her things from the desk. She figured that the more she tried to distance herself from Liu Fengying, the more suspicious she would seem — so it was better to say they got along and provide a reason that couldn't be used for gossip.
Hearing Professor Wei not only confirm it, but also express appreciation toward Liu Fengying, the assistant principal grew irritated internally, feeling deceived; he thought that if Liu Fengying was Professor Wei's favorite student, no wonder she had helped her get the upper hand in the earlier negotiation.
"Anyway, it seems student Liu is quite dissatisfied with the school, so I'd ask you to do everything you can to keep her happy until graduation. Setting aside the uncertainty about her family situation at the moment, she'll probably be among the highest scorers in the college entrance exam in our region; if she's interviewed or contacted by representatives from elite universities in the country, it would be very bad if she spoke poorly about our school. You could say the school's reputation is on the line…" he said, making his way toward the door to leave. As for thanking her for being dragged into the whole ordeal, he pretended to forget — no matter how beautiful a woman was, he simply couldn't maintain a friendly attitude when she didn't take him seriously.
"..." Professor Wei shot him a cross-eyed glare as he left; it was obvious the assistant principal had absolutely no idea what was good for the school's reputation.
Do everything possible to make Liu Fengying happy? Judging from the way Liu Fengying had looked at her earlier, she would probably be happiest if she packed herself up and sent herself straight into her bed. Now that would be a danger for the school's image.