Chapter 76: Chapter 74 Suspect
Huo Sining and Luo Jinzhi got on the bus later than others, and all the seats were taken.
Xue Jingjing, who was sitting in the front row, saw Huo Sining and Luo Jinzhi awkwardly standing onboard and couldn’t help feeling a bit smug. She pointed to another bus and said with schadenfreude,
“Class 3 doesn’t seem to be full. I think you two should just go sit there. After all, for you, it doesn’t make any difference whether you’re in Class 2 or Class 3.”
Huo Sining knew that Xue Jingjing’s words were referring to the camping incident last time.
On the day of camping, due to Zhao Jun leading them the wrong way, the whole team ran around chaotically in the woods and even got lost.
The group was exhausted and hungry, and it wasn’t until past seven in the evening that they finally found their way back to the campsite.
When they returned to the training camp, they learned that Huo Sining was the first among the trainees to reach the campsite, while they were the last batch to arrive.
Huo Sining’s team, for completing the task early, received a hearty lunch as an extra reward, while they, because of their delay, were punished by having to clean the toilets that night.
Following this incident, the classmates took out their anger about being punished on Huo Sining, and her reputation plummeted.
In their eyes, the reason they suffered so much during the outdoor activity was because of Huo Sining’s selfishness and lack of team spirit. If Huo Sining had offered to help, not only would they have avoided punishment, but they would have also enjoyed a delicious lunch.
As a result, everyone was displeased with Huo Sining. She was naturally ostracized in Class 2. Apart from Luo Jinzhi and Liu Yan, the others treated Huo Sining with indifference.
The military training was long past, but as soon as Xue Jingjing spoke those ironic words, everyone on the bus instantly thought of the camping event and looked at Huo Sining with anger and contempt in their eyes.
“Exactly, just go to Class 3. Aren’t there a lot of seats over there?”
“Hmph, didn’t you run pretty fast during the camping? How come you’re not the first ones this time? Sorry, but the seats have all been taken by us!”
Several boys said impolitely, giving Huo Sining and Luo Jinzhi unfriendly looks. If the instructor hadn’t been there, they probably would’ve actually told them to leave.
Huo Sining was mature-minded, and such matters had little effect on her, but Luo Jinzhi, who was following behind her, couldn’t bear it anymore. They were all from the same class, and not only were there no seats left for them, but those people were even taking pleasure in their misfortune. Luo Jinzhi’s face flushed red in an instant, and her eyes began to mist up.
Huo Sining didn’t want to bicker with Xue Jingjing, but seeing Luo Jinzhi’s expression, she couldn’t help frowning.
She was about to retort when she suddenly smelled a familiar scent. Huo Sining paused, her gaze sharply sweeping towards Du Yanlin, who was sitting next to Xue Jingjing.
In fact, the higher-end the skincare product, the subtler its fragrance tends to be. With something like Caudalie, which is a pure natural cosmeceutical, the scent is very mild, virtually undetectable once applied to the skin.
Perhaps it was exactly for this reason that Du Yanlin dared to use the stolen item so boldly in front of its rightful owner, without the slightest worry of being discovered.
Others might not smell the difference, but after her body was enhanced by the Water-Repelling Pearl, Huo Sining’s physical condition had drastically improved, and her sense of smell had become much sharper than ordinary people, with a sensitivity to scents several times higher.
She merely stood beside Du Yanlin and took a light sniff, detecting the same scent that lingered on Luo Jinzhi.
Huo Sining’s eyes grew colder, and she looked at Du Yanlin and the bag clutched in Jingjing’s lap with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
Du Yanlin’s body froze, and she glanced at Huo Sining with shifty eyes.
At this moment, Liu Yan and the others at the back of the bus waved at Huo Sining, probably having arrived earlier and saved seats for Huo Sining and Luo Jinzhi. Huo Sining didn’t want to make a scene in front of so many people, so with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, she walked toward the back of the bus.
Du Yanlin, sitting at the front, felt somewhat guilty, constantly feeling as if there was a gaze fixed on her back.
She felt uncomfortable all over and couldn’t help but sneak a peek at Huo Sining.
Seeing that Huo Sining was looking out the window and not paying any attention to her, Du Yanlin finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.
The journey passed in silence. Upon arriving at the dorm, everyone began to unpack. Huo Sining glanced at the shoulder bag locked inside Du Yanlin’s suitcase and narrowed her eyes with a smile. “What skincare product did you use today, Du Yanlin? Your skin seems much whiter than before,” she asked with a smirk.
Du Yanlin’s body tensed up again, and seeing Huo Sining staring at her, she panic-strickenly turned her head away, unable to meet Huo Sining’s gaze.
Xue Jingjing was confused by the discussion, but when she heard Huo Sining mention skincare products, she remembered how everyone else had tanned from the strenuous military training while Huo Sining’s skin remained fair, showing no change. Xue Jingjing thought Huo Sining was bragging and suddenly became angry:
“Yan Lin and I use brand-name skincare products, of course the effects are noticeable. Our skin will whiten in a few days too! There’s nothing impressive about your fair skin that doesn’t tan.”
Xue Jingjing’s words were directly ignored by Huo Sining. Seeing the flicker in Du Yanlin’s eyes, Huo Sining was now very sure that the set of cosmetics belonged to Luo Jinzhi was stolen by Du Yanlin. She sneered, “Oh really? I’m curious, what kind of skincare brand smells just like Caudalie? Would Student Du mind bringing it out for me to have a look?”
Du Yanlin’s face immediately turned a few shades paler, her hands clutching the hem of her clothes tightly, her lips bitten, her face full of nervousness and grievance, and her eyes quickly reddened as if she were about to cry at any moment.
“What do you mean? What cosmetics Yan Lin uses is none of your business, why should she show them to you? Only a country bumpkin like you would use counterfeit goods bought for a few dozen dollars from a farmers’ market!”
Xue Jingjing couldn’t stand to see Huo Sining targeting Du Yanlin and stood up to defend her friend.
Here was yet another naive fool being manipulated by a white lotus. Du Yanlin really knew how to play her part, merely putting on an act of grievance and immediately someone would stand up for her.
Watching Xue Jingjing burst out like a firecracker, Huo Sining looked at her with pity.
She now finally understood why Du Yanlin could be friends with Xue Jingjing; with her simple-mindedness, she was indeed easier to control. When necessary, Du Yanlin only had to pretend to be innocent to arouse Xue Jingjing’s sympathy and competitiveness, willing to be used by Du Yanlin without even realizing it.
“Xue Jingjing, if you want to stand up for someone, at least figure out what’s going on first instead of humiliating yourself,” Huo Sining chided.