Li Mingyan’s face instantly burned with humiliation; she was no fool and could tell that these words were meant to insult her.
"Brother Jian, how... how could you speak to me like that?" she protested indignantly.
"Why not?" Jian Zhiqing looked Li Mingyan up and down, "A perfectly good girl, skipping school to block a man’s way, do you think that’s appropriate? Does your mother know about this? I don’t even acknowledge you, what could Nuannuan possibly have to say about you? She hasn’t even mentioned your name once. If you’re really not feeling well, I suggest you go check yourself into a hospital. And..." He narrowed his eyes, his words piercing Li Mingyan’s heart and face like a cold north wind.
"Classmate, I don’t want to see you again, otherwise, don’t blame me for having a good talk with your principal. What kind of students is he raising?"
Jian Zhiqing has always been this way: whatever he says, he can do. If this woman doesn’t cause trouble, that’s fine, but if she really stirs up trouble, sorry, he won’t be soft-hearted. If he was a good person, he wouldn’t be sitting in that position; without real skills, he’d have been swallowed whole by now.
It’s a lucrative spot, but it also easily offends people.
He enjoys such challenges, yet, let’s not forget his methods, they are no less formidable. Against a female student, with just a flick of his finger, he could ruin her entire life right here.
Li Mingyan’s face turned red with anger and shame. She stood there, dim-witted, as Jian Zhiqing had long since walked away. Now, even his retreating figure was untouched by her.
On the way back, Li Mingyan started bawling into her quilt, looking as though someone had ripped out her heart, or his heart. Others came to console and inquire, but Li Mingyan just cried without speaking, occasionally glaring malevolently at Qin Xiangnuan.
"Xiang Nuan, did you offend her or something?"
Li Li stealthily pulled Qin Xiangnuan aside to ask, since she kept glaring at you. She pointed to her own eyes, then to Li Mingyan still sobbing under the quilt. But that shouldn’t be the case; Qin Xiangnuan had been together with them all day today, eating, sleeping, even going to the restroom together. Today, Li Mingyan took a leave of absence, claiming that her family sent her something and she was absent all day. How could Qin Xiangnuan have offended her without any apparent reason?
Qin Xiangnuan shrugged her shoulders and sighed.
"A young girl, who’s tasted sorrow, wants to talk yet holds back, wants to speak yet refrains, instead says what a cool autumn we have."
"What does that mean?" Li Li was baffled by Qin Xiangnuan’s sudden poetic flourish. It seemed all too cultured.
Qin Xiangnuan sighed again.
"You know I have a husband, and yet you gave me pearls as a gift. I felt your lingering affection and tied them to my silk jacket.
I live in a high tower connecting courtyards, my good husband shining in the guardhouse.
You love me as constant as the sun and moon; we vowed to face life and death together.
Now I return your pearls with tears, regretting that we didn’t meet before I was married."
Li Li blinked, seemingly understanding—it was a blatant love triangle.
"No wonder," she said thoughtfully, touching her chin. "Recently, Mingyan has been asking you about Brother Jian quite often, daydreaming and grinning like an idiot, obviously smitten. But you can’t be blamed for that. I’ve noticed that Brother Jian is just an aloof guy; he has no feelings for Mingyan. That time we went, he didn’t even glance at us once. Clearly, Mingyan has unrequited love. If he doesn’t like her, she can’t force him to, right?"
"It seems like there’s something fishy about this outing. Maybe she approached him, and because he wasn’t interested, that’s why she’s here crying?"
"Shush..." Qin Xiangnuan placed her finger on her lips. "Now that you know, don’t tell others. Let’s leave her with some dignity."
"I got it," Li Li really thought Li Mingyan was being ridiculous. Although it was true that it’s fine for unmarried men and women to get into a relationship, they were still students about to take university entrance exams. Their whole future depended on this, and instead of studying hard, she was occupied with those thoughts all the time. If the teachers found out, it’d be a disaster...
So she covered her mouth and zipped it shut, vowing to keep her lips sealed tight and not to spill a word no matter what.
All Qin Xiangnuan could do was smile silently. The small boat of friendship with Li Mingyan had capsized, turned completely upside down.
Li Mingyan now behaved oddly all the time, making sour comments about Qin Xiangnuan at every opportunity—essentially accusing Qin Xiangnuan of not being a decent person, of stealing her friend’s man. Qin Xiangnuan was at a loss—when had she ever poached Li Mingyan’s corner?
She truly felt she couldn’t stay at the school any longer. Continuing to stay here would not only affect her but others as well. Therefore, next semester, she definitely could not stay in this dormitory; better yet, she might as well not live there at all, if possible.
She tapped gently on the stone tabletop.
Jian Zhiqing picked up today’s newspaper as usual, flipped through a page, then set it aside,
"What’s up? Do you need something?"
Qin Xiangnuan’s gaze drifted across Jian Zhiqing’s face. With thick eyebrows, large eyes, a good height, and face, plus his family’s favorable conditions, it’s no wonder that Li Mingyan would overturn her boat of friendship with Qin Xiangnuan for him.
"Brother Jian, it capsized." She propped her cheek in one hand, pulled out a newspaper, and tossed it on the table, uncertain whether she really took in the words or not.
"What capsized?" Jian Zhiqing brought the paper to his eyes.
"Oh... What kind of boat?" Jian Zhiqing continued to read the newspaper, his gaze calm. His youthful face carried an air of vigor, yet also the maturity and stability of a successful man.
Qin Xiangnuan sighed more times than she could count.
"The boat of friendship capsized."
Jian Zhiqing put down the newspaper.
"It didn’t drown you, did it?" He was good at understanding such pseudo-indifferent conversations.
"That’s unlikely," she thought to herself; the boat was not big, and its loss was not a pity. Almost time for university, she had transferred schools and had little in common with these classmates. Her introduction to most of them was only recent, during their time living at the school. Her good friends from high school were just Li Li and Mao Xiaomei. With the others, once the high school exams were over, they would all go their separate ways, and it was quite likely that she would never meet them again in her lifetime.