Zhang Shutong still hadn't returned to the classroom until the extended break of the second period in the afternoon.
The building block incident from the morning was not over. Teacher Song had started a large-scale screening in the office.
Therefore, the hallway was noisy, but all the students in Class 4-1 were in a self-study session, being watched by the class president.
But this bespectacled girl had a severe lack of authority. She was already trying her best just to keep the students from running out. As for people whispering to each other?
Let them. She couldn't control them.
So the most arrogant clique in the class had openly changed their seats.
Du Kang grinned and greeted a boy. In exchange for a box of student milk, he moved to the third-to-last row by the window.
Right behind him was Qingyi. The other person sat in the second-to-last row. In Qingyi's words, this was a strategically important spot.
And the person who had already squeezed in next to Qingyi was none other than Ruoping.
The three of them were ready to hold an emergency meeting.
"What's going on with Shutong? Why did he make Gu Qiumian angry?"
"Unfortunately," as the only one in the know, Qingyi motioned for them to express their condolences. He said mournfully, "Shutong has been exposed."
"Exposed?"
"He's the one who instructed Li Yipeng to smash the building blocks," Qingyi whispered.
"What?" Du Kang and Ruoping were shocked.
"Du Kang, keep your voice down, or I'll have to write your name down..." At this time, the class president's faint voice came from the podium. She only dared to pick on the weak.
"My apologies, my apologies," Du Kang turned and cupped his hands. He was no longer in the mood to joke around and immediately asked, "Explain it clearly. How is Shutong involved?"
"I'm just kidding," Qingyi seriously observed them for a moment, finding it very amusing. He then slowly revealed the answer and stylishly tilted his head, dodging Ruoping's "demon claw." "Don't get so worked up, hey..."
In the end, he only dodged the claw but not the foot. His shoe was stepped on hard by the girl.
"Hurry up and tell us. Stop being so mysterious," Ruoping glared.
Meng Qingyi handed her his phone and went to wipe his sneakers. They were white, and it pained him to have them stepped on. They were something a man valued just as much as his hairstyle.
A moment later.
The chat history on the phone was passed around, and the emergency meeting turned into a gossip session.
"I knew something was going on with them. The top ten best deskmates of the year. They're already working together," Du Kang raised an eyebrow.
"Since when are they so close? Weren't they ignoring each other just a while ago?" Ruoping was shocked.
Du Kang patted Ruoping's shoulder and said earnestly, "There's nothing we can do. Your Shutong's wings have grown hard. You can't control him. I advise you to let go."
"Get lost. Who are you calling old?" Ruoping retorted angrily. She then asked Qingyi, "So what are they doing in the office now?"
"Shutong said, 'Still fishing.'"
"What do you mean, 'still'?"
"Maybe we just finished fishing last night," Qingyi also said, confused.
While they were talking, students were going in and out of the classroom. Teacher Song's name was on the list, and it was soon Du Kang's turn. The three of them discussed it and wanted to go together as a support group. They had the face to do so with their homeroom teacher.
But Qingyi stopped them:
"Shutong specifically told us to go one by one."
"Is this also part of the plan?"
"This is also part of the plan."
Ruoping was frustrated by this mysterious behavior. She waved her hand and said, "Then Du Kang, you go and check it out." Du Kang saluted in a theatrical manner and said, "Understood. I'll bring back good news."
After that, he turned and ran.
Not long after, Du Kang returned with a sigh.
"It's over. Everything's over." He started shouting as soon as he entered the classroom. "Shutong has really been caught..."
"What's going on? Hurry up and tell us. What did you see?" Ruoping asked anxiously.
"As soon as I went in, I saw him standing in front of the cabinet, and Teacher Song and Gu Qiumian were sitting next to him, their faces colder than ice. I even heard them say that they were going to call his mom over...
"Oh, and they said they were going to switch classes. We won't be able to see him anymore..."
"Du Kang, Feng Ruoping, keep it down," the class president weakly reminded them.
Du Kang didn't seem to have heard. He just sighed and returned to his seat.
It was soon Ruoping's turn.
Ruoping also came back shortly. She didn't sigh. She was angry:
"I think Shutong has been framed. Isn't Gu Qiumian just making false accusations because her family is rich? And what about Teacher Song? Why does he believe whatever Gu Qiumian says? I think it was someone else!"
She became more and more angry and was about to go to the podium to speak up for Zhang Shutong. Du Kang went to pull her back and whispered, "Please don't cause any more trouble."
"Am I bothering you?" Ruoping turned around sharply.
"You're scaring her..." Du Kang weakly pointed at the class president. The class president had already consciously packed her books and was ready to move for the "female warrior."
Qingyi also ran over to mediate. The two boys tried to persuade the unhappy girl for a long time and finally managed to pull her down from the podium.
The people in the class were originally confused, but after the three of them made such a scene, they finally realized—
It seemed that Zhang Shutong was the suspect in the castle incident during the extended break this morning.
No wonder he and Gu Qiumian hadn't returned since last class.
At this time, someone who had been to the office whispered:
"They must have confirmed it. The teacher is probably asking if there were any witnesses."
As soon as these words were said, it was like a big rock had been thrown into a pond, causing a huge splash. The class was filled with discussions:
Some were confused;
Some were surprised;
And some were eager to gossip and watch the show.
Even some smart students had already figured it out:
"I knew it. I knew Zhang Shutong suddenly becoming Gu Qiumian's deskmate was no good. I thought they had made up. Do you remember the scarf incident last time? Gu Qiumian falsely accused him, and now, he actually did it."
"It's really Shutong. I didn't think he was that kind of person..."
"I also think Zhang Shutong was framed..."
"Even if it's true, it's not all his fault. Gu Qiumian falsely accused a good person last time. If it were me, I'd want to get some revenge too."
It was usually the girls who spoke up for him.
Even the class president didn't try to stop them. She just symbolically patted the blackboard with a blackboard eraser and then perked up her ears to listen.
Some boys also wanted to express their opinions, but Ruoping's glare sent them back.
The sentiment in the classroom started to lean one way.
Until a boy rushed back, patted his deskmate on the shoulder. It was a boy with slightly dark skin:
"When you go in, don't say much. Teacher Song is about to explode..."
Zhou Ziheng nodded and left the classroom.
It was finally his turn.
But at this moment, he was only confused:
Why was it Zhang Shutong?
If he was the one who did it;
Then where was Li Yipeng?
And where was he?
It was probably during the first class in the afternoon that he heard someone say that Gu Qiumian went to get water and then suddenly ran out with red eyes. Zhang Shutong also chased after her. Everyone was talking about it a little, but how did the other person suddenly become the suspect?
But whether it was Zhang Shutong or Gu Qiumian, he only felt disgust. So after the confusion, there was more schadenfreude.
Didn't Gu Qiumian refuse to listen to his "warning" this morning? Now she couldn't take it anymore and was making false accusations?
And that boy named Zhang Shutong, too. Weren't you trying to be her bodyguard and asking me all sorts of questions this morning? Well, karma is coming for you. You should be thinking about how to clear your own name.
Thinking of this, he slowed down his pace.
He had always been a person who could keep his cool. He knew that he absolutely couldn't show his schadenfreude on his face later. As the only person who knew the truth, he, of course, knew the real story.
If he were to describe how he felt now, it was probably like watching a group of people being fooled, all because of a small, minor detail he had arranged.
He looked down from his high position and sneered in his heart.
Zhou Ziheng walked into the office.
As soon as he entered, he almost laughed. It was exactly as Du Kang had said. The boy named Zhang Shutong was standing in front of the cabinet, reflecting on his mistakes. And on the other side, by the desk, the homeroom teacher had a sullen face. Gu Qiumian was sitting next to him. To Zhou Ziheng's disappointment, the girl just had a cold face and wasn't crying.
The office was filled with a sense of gloom.
A sense of superiority welled up in him.
But even so, Gu Qiumian was indeed the most beautiful and dazzling girl he had ever seen. Even if the other person was just sitting there silently, it made him subconsciously look away. This inexplicable sense of inferiority made him gnash his teeth.
Even though he was the mastermind behind the revenge, and they should be enemies, sometimes he wished that the other person would pay more attention to him.
But Gu Qiumian never looked at him.
He felt a little angry for no reason. In fact, his emotions toward Gu Qiumian were very complex. It wasn't the kind of deep hatred his father had for their family. At first, when his father told him to do it, he was hesitant. "If you burn someone's house, won't someone get hurt?" But his father said that the weather forecast predicted rain that day, so it would just be a deep lesson and nothing serious would happen.
A lesson.
This thought gradually grew as the two of them became deskmates. This was what he originally thought:
Gu Qiumian had no friends in class and was always alone. If he became her deskmate, he could take advantage of her vulnerability. It was not impossible for them to become friends, or even have a deeper relationship. When that time came, he wouldn't have to do what his father said. Instead, he could convince her, and then she could convince her father. Wouldn't that be a better outcome?
However, the reality was that the girl named Gu Qiumian never took a single serious look at him. Even when he smiled and went to her to ask about her well-being, she would only give him a perfunctory nod. When she was impatient, she wouldn't even say anything, just like the cold face she had now... He originally didn't want to teach her a lesson until a deep sense of inferiority and shame enveloped him.
If she had treated everyone like that, it would have been fine. But as her deskmate, Zhou Ziheng noticed that she had a different attitude toward the boy named Zhang Shutong. So a month ago, he had a dress rehearsal for today:
A perfect opportunity, a stained scarf, and a malicious slander. As expected, it successfully turned the two of them against each other.
Since that was the case, he still had a chance. He had been thinking this way until yesterday;
However, for some reason, these two had made up!
Just yesterday!
They became deskmates!
That should have been his seat.
The girl was like a delicate flower on a high, unreachable mountain. If he couldn't pick it, then it would be just as enjoyable to crush the petals into mud and destroy something beautiful.
Just thinking about this made his hands tremble with excitement.
So Zhou Ziheng never thought he had done anything wrong—
Right. He had already made an effort.
He also wanted to use a gentle approach at first.
To reconcile the conflict between their two families.
But it didn't work.
But could he be blamed for that?
It was your fault.
It was your family's fault.
You can only blame yourself.
He took one last look at Gu Qiumian.
I already gave you a chance.