At noon, Luo Qianqian still went to the sandbox, because someone cleverly took her backpack, leaving a note. Although the cellphone and wallet were in her pocket, it would be troublesome not to carry the backpack home after school and to go to school the next day without it. If she went to the teacher, it always felt like becoming the teacher’s informant, and she didn’t even know who had interfered with her bag, as Qian Yuling was always within her sight.
When she reached the playground, she saw her small backpack in the hands of a girl, heading toward the sandbox.
The sandbox was not on the playground, but around the corner of the academic building. Usually, apart from gym classes, nobody would come here–who would play with sand without reason? It’s not elementary school. The area around the sandbox was not only secluded but also deserted, making it a good spot for threatening transactions.
Luo Qianqian followed with a cold laugh.
Indeed, just as Luo Qianqian had thought, it was a good spot for a threatening transaction. There were already four or five girls standing there. She gently shook her head–true misfortune.
"Are you Luo Qianqian?" The girl leading had not worn a school uniform but a slightly long pullover sweatshirt with leggings underneath, and a short skirt half-hidden by the sweatshirt. Her hair was carefully permed into a high ponytail, and her lips shimmered with lip gloss. On a scale of ten, her looks could score a six.
Luo Qianqian nodded nonchalantly, "Are you the one who took my backpack?"
"Give her back the backpack." The girl said, "My name is Lv Huaxin, I’m the head of First Middle School Pei Yuhao’s support group. I hope that from now on, you’ll stay away from Pei Yuhao. Pei Yuhao can only belong to Sister Wei."
Luo Qianqian almost laughed out loud, what kind of name was that? Zinc chloride??? However, she still took the backpack and asked without showing any emotions, "Do you know who I am?"
"Aren’t you Luo Qianqian. Who else could it be, Zhang Qianqian? Xu Qianqian?" Lv Huaxin’s lackey scoffed.
"First, Pei Yuhao is my friend, and we sit close so we get along well. If you’re not satisfied about this, you can ask our class teacher to change my seat, I don’t mind. Secondly, I am the top of our grade and help several students, including Pei Yuhao, with their lessons, so naturally, we’re close. If you’re unsatisfied, you can find someone else to replace me–I don’t mind. Lastly, the type of person I like isn’t like him. You don’t need to worry about it; he’s not my match right now. To you, he might be a deity, but to me, he’s just a normal friend. I would stand by him through thick and thin, but I am not stupid enough to provoke your hatred. If him having me as a friend bothers you that much, then just tell him to stop being friends with me–I don’t mind. Do you understand?" Luo Qianqian said with a smiley face, but her eyes were icy cold. She needed all this hassle just for associating with a boy, and if she ever really got a popular guy as a boyfriend, wouldn’t that cause even more trouble? It seemed she would also need to add that he shouldn’t bring her any trouble.
"To dismiss Pei Yuhao so casually, you speak so lightly, then who would you even admire?" Qian Yuling couldn’t help but step forward and retort.
The figure at the corner also stopped its attempt to leave, quietly standing there in the shadows.
"My future boyfriend." Luo Qianqian chuckled lightly–she had just discussed this yesterday with her brother. She recited effortlessly, "Tall, handsome, smart, gentle, well-educated, witty, considerate, someone who can charm me, who can cook, who won’t cause me trouble, someone slim in clothes but muscular underneath, who treasures me as precious and cherishes me as life itself, one who can attract everyone’s attention just by appearing, a leader in his domain, someone so outstanding that others take notice, and who I can look up to."
"Pff, do we have such a person in our school?" Qian Yuling scoffed.
"Me? I’ve never said he was from our school. There’s no one in the school outstanding enough for me to look up to." Luo Qianqian said as she picked up her backpack and left. It’s not that she was choosy; this was just her ideal, merely spoken words.
The figure in the shadows also left.
Just as she reached the center of the playground, she ran into Pei Yuhao and a few others who were rushing over.
"What’s the rush?" Luo Qianqian frowned as she got up from the ground, brushing off her backpack.
"Are you alright?" Li Qi pulled Luo Qianqian from side to side, his concern clearly showing.
"What could be wrong with me? I’m fine, let’s go, let’s go back and eat some apples." Luo Qianqian smiled, patting her backpack.
"Your backpack was taken by them?" Shen Yan looked at the object in Luo Qianqian’s hand and, after a slight pause, said, "You should dump everything out here and check."
"There’s nothing important in the backpack, all the important stuff is in my pockets," Luo Qianqian shook her head.
Li Qi was startled, quickly grabbed the backpack, and dumped everything onto the playground, explaining, "You’re wrong. Shen Yan meant that she was afraid there might be something extra in your backpack."
Luo Qianqian was stunned. No way, this is middle school, she thought, "Isn’t that a bit too dramatic? Just because I’m closer to this guy, they frame me?"
"So, is this yours?" Shen Yan, rummaging through the backpack’s corners, found a bracelet which Luo Qianqian didn’t recognize—it didn’t look like it was made of silver.
She quickly shook her head: "I don’t wear those kinds of things." As she spoke, she touched the jade pendant close to her chest, a gift from her grandmother.
"This is platinum, isn’t it?" Xia Qi, looking at the bracelet, said softly, "My mom has a platinum necklace, and it looks quite similar."
"Throw it away," Pei Yuhao said as he was about to stuff it into the drain on the playground, his face full of disdain.
"Wait, let’s give it to a teacher," Luo Qianqian snorted, "Since it could have been stuffed in my things, there must be a further trick. Let’s see what they’re up to by giving it to a teacher."
Pei Yuhao paused, stopped his action, and nodded, "Then I’ll go to the teacher later; you don’t have to."
"If this were ancient times, you would definitely be the top courtesan," Luo Qianqian whispered to Pei Yuhao after looking at him.
"I have a silver bracelet here; I’ll stuff it back in for now," Xia Qi took off the bracelet from her wrist, "We must play the part fully."
"You guys are learning naughty tricks," Luo Qianqian shook her head.
"The worst is yet to come," Li Qi shook his head, "Do you know why we only just came? Because Pei Yuhao cut your apple earlier, and we shared it, afraid you’d find out. After finishing it, we returned to the classroom only to find you were gone, then we saw the note."
"That really is bad news," Luo Qianqian narrowed her eyes, "With your gluttony, you won’t maintain a good figure; be careful, or the brothel will send you to be a servant."
"It’s just an apple, look how stingy you are," Pei Yuhao looked at Luo Qianqian’s expression and trembled as he said, "I’ll bring you a big one tomorrow, okay?"
"Isn’t the main point about the brothel?" Pei Yutian whispered to a few people on the side.
"Luo Qianqian, you stop right there! You’re the real top courtesan of the brothel!" Pei Yuhao was about to chase after Luo Qianqian but realized that it was his own brother running away, while Luo Qianqian just stood there, staring at him steadily; he lowered his raised hand, "Alright, once again it’s my fault, shouldn’t have been born this handsome, causing you trouble."
"Your skin is thicker than the Earth’s mantle," Luo Qianqian, along with Li Qi, Shen Yan, and Xia Qi, laughed and chatted as they walked away, ignoring Pei Yuhao behind them; it was all his fault.
"Alright, I’ll go to the office first," seeing that everyone had left, Pei Yuhao shook his head and touched his face, "Am I not handsome?"
If Luo Qianqian were here, she would definitely say: "I’m handsome, Mencius is also handsome, Mozi is handsome too, even Sun Tzu is handsome. But as for you, Pei Yuhao, who are you exactly?"