The students from Nanshan Class behind them were both envious and jealous of the two underperformers from East Sea Class. When Xi Ruzhu reminded them, they suddenly remembered the missing manuscript incident.
Without Xi Ruzhu needing to say more, they immediately began clamoring:
"Principal, we want to report Zuzi!"
"Neither she nor anyone from East Sea Class deserves the guaranteed placement!"
"She stole our manuscript before the competition!"
"A thief taking first place, we won’t accept it!"
The principal felt like his head was going to explode. These troublesome kids, couldn’t they just behave in front of the dignitaries from the imperial capital?
However, theft involved the school’s ethos and rules, so he couldn’t ignore it.
Patiently, he asked about the story’s ins and outs, then asked Zuzi, "Did you really steal their manuscript?"
Zuzi smiled slightly, "That kind of lousy manuscript, is it even worthy for your ancestor to take?"
The students from Nanshan Class: "..."
Look at that fool acting so arrogant!
Fang Yumei put her hands on her hips, "Stealing our manuscript, Zuzi, you need to be seriously reprimanded, forget about getting into university!"
Without Xi Ruzhu having to say a word, so many people stood up for her.
She lightly pressed her lips together; a bit more calmness was added to her heart.
The calmness lasted less than three seconds.
Zuzi propped her chin and lazily glanced in Xi Ruzhu’s direction, saying faintly, "Are you certain... the manuscript is missing?"
Everyone’s gaze naturally gathered on Xi Ruzhu.
Causing Xi Ruzhu to feel nervous: "Of, of course, I’m sure!"
She had personally torn the manuscript to shreds and flushed it down the toilet, so it was indeed lost beyond a doubt.
The students from Nanshan Class also added, "We saw it with our own eyes before the competition; the manuscript was gone!"
Before their words even fell.
Wu Minghao sneered, "Gone? Then what’s in Xi Ruzhu’s pocket?"
Everyone focused, and indeed, wrinkled scraps of paper were sticking out of Xi Ruzhu’s pocket.
Xi Ruzhu was horrified and tried to hide it.
But someone quickly stepped forward and snatched it away, opening it to see that it was the script for this speech competition.
Furthermore, there was not only one sheet from Xi Ruzhu herself but also one from her partner.
The male classmate partner, Zhao Yi, was furious, clutching his own speech manuscript, trembling with anger, he slapped Xi Ruzhu: "Xi Ruzhu, you’ve gone too far, hiding my manuscript and accusing Zuzi!"
A crisp sound turned Xi Ruzhu’s face red and shattered the good-girl image she had painstakingly built in everyone’s mind.
A male classmate hitting a female classmate, this kind of thing was not common.
Yet, not a single person from Nanshan Class stood up to stop it.
The former teacher’s pet, now everyone wanted to avoid her like the plague.
It was terrifying; she had pretended so well, so pitifully, that everyone was deceived. It turned out the missing manuscript was all her self-directed drama.
An incredible drama queen!
Who would dare associate with such a person?
Seeing everyone wary of her, no longer surrounding her like stars around the moon, Xi Ruzhu was both panicked and horrified:
The manuscript, it was clearly shredded and flushed down the drain, how did it end up intact back in her pocket?
Was it Zuzi who did it?
She looked up to find Zuzi smiling at her.
As if saying, yeah, it was your ancestor who did it, so what?
Yet she, at this point, had no way to argue, even if Zuzi explained it publicly now, no one would believe her—this was the most terrifying part.
She thought she had pushed everyone into a carefully crafted trap, unexpectedly she herself had fallen into it!!!
Zuzi’s gaze lingered on Xi Ruzhu for just a moment.
She glanced briefly, then continued to lower her head to play with her smartwatch.
Oh, this watch was so much fun.
Xiao Chenger sent her pictures now and then—
"Got first place again?" (Attached image of a cat wearing cool sunglasses.jpg)
"Xiao Chenger, how did you know?"
"Aren’t you going to thank your tutoring teacher?" (Attached image of a wolf looking arrogantly at cat food.jpg)
"What does Xiao Chenger want as thanks? I’ll satisfy whatever you wish..."
The man on the other side swallowed and sent back a message—