"What’s going on here?" Wang Miaomiao looked at the situation in the room and rubbed her forehead in frustration, sensing trouble brewing.
"Wang Miaomiao, you’re back." Zheng Hongmei was frightened, and seeing Wang Miaomiao return felt like grabbing onto a lifeline. She excitedly grabbed her to recount the recent chaos.
Liu Yu, Chen Yuping, and Deng Sanmei from the third class saw the situation wasn’t looking good and had already slipped away.
According to Zheng Hongmei, after Wang Miaomiao left, Li Jiajia began questioning Liu Ying. They hadn’t exchanged many words before Liu Ying started crying. Ren Caihong then got into an argument with Li Jiajia, and it’s unclear who started it, but they got into a scuffle.
The commotion was indeed loud, and someone must have called the dormitory supervisor, as the three of them were taken away.
"I don’t know where they were taken. What should we do?" Zheng Hongmei had a mournful expression, at a loss.
"Have you washed up?" Wang Miaomiao replied with another question instead of answering.
Zheng Hongmei nodded, "Yes, I have."
"Okay." Wang Miaomiao bluntly said, "Then you should just do what you need to do. Don’t move anything in the dormitory, leave it as it is. I also need to go have breakfast and then head to school..."
While speaking, Wang Miaomiao went to pack her school bag, taking her lunchbox and water bottle, and left.
Zheng Hongmei watched her actions in astonishment. After realizing she had already left, she hurriedly packed her things and closed the door too.
For breakfast, she had a bun and a bowl of radish soup — truly plain broth lacking even saltiness.
Arriving at the first-year Class One classroom, both Ren Caihong and Li Jiajia were absent.
"Miao Miao, I heard something happened in your dormitory. What’s going on?" Lu Xuemei immediately asked when she saw Wang Miaomiao.
As soon as she asked, all the students who were initially talking stopped and looked at Wang Miaomiao, waiting to hear the scoop.
Wang Miaomiao could only sigh helplessly and was thinking of a way to answer and brush it off when she heard Mr. Xu’s voice from behind, "Wang Miaomiao, come with me for a moment."
"Alright." Wang Miaomiao, feeling discouraged, couldn’t avoid it after all. She knew she’d be dragged into this; those people really are burdensome.
She followed Mr. Xu into the principal’s office, just in time to see Zheng Hongmei coming out. Inside were the three troublemakers, along with three teachers: the principal, the dean, and the second class’s headteacher.
"Wang Miaomiao, please describe in detail what happened in the dormitory just now." The dean, with a stern look, made people nervous just by looking.
Wang Miaomiao very obediently said, "Okay, teacher."
She didn’t conceal anything, truthfully recounting the events without embellishment or injecting her subjective judgment.
In the room, Li Jiajia slightly raised her chin, with a face full of defiance and anger. Liu Ying bowed her head, silently sobbing. Ren Caihong frowned deeply, appearing very remorseful.
After Wang Miaomiao finished recounting the events, she was allowed to return to the classroom. But Li Jiajia, Liu Ying, and Ren Caihong were not seen back in the classroom for the entire morning.
If anyone else in the class asked about the dormitory incident, Wang Miaomiao simply smiled and said, "I came to Provincial High School to study, not to spread gossip." With that one sentence, her surroundings quieted down.
During lunch, Wang Miaomiao purposely found a secluded spot to eat, but unfortunately, the cafeteria was only so big. Seeing two people sit down across from her, she felt somewhat helpless.
"Miao Miao, this spot is nice. Let’s meet here from now on to avoid not finding each other," Lu Xuemei said cheerfully, thinking Wang Miaomiao had come early to save them a spot.
Wang Miaomiao forced a smile and ate silently.
Zhou Hu didn’t say a word the whole time. He seemed to know that Wang Miaomiao was not very willing to acknowledge him, but he just wanted to quietly stay by her side, content merely to be close and watch her.
After lunch, when returning to the dormitory, Wang Miaomiao found that the three involved in the fight were already there. Ren Caihong and Li Jiajia were setting the overturned tables and chairs upright, while Liu Ying was packing her things.
"Liu Ying, are you moving out of the dormitory?" Wang Miaomiao asked, puzzled.
Liu Ying halted her actions, glanced at Ren Caihong and Li Jiajia, and gave a mocking smile, finally looking at Wang Miaomiao with a slight insinuation, "I’m going home, not staying in the dormitory. I didn’t need to stay here in the first place, if not for... Ha, never mind. My home isn’t like someone else’s where multiple families squeeze into a fifty-square-meter small house."
"Liu Ying, shut up." Li Jiajia said angrily, her eyes wide open.
Liu Ying looked at her with a scornful smile, "Stop using a commanding tone with me. I’m not your subordinate. You only bully me because your dad’s position is higher than my dad’s. From now on, I won’t hold back anymore, huh..."
Li Jiajia’s face turned deathly pale at her words.
Liu Ying stood there like a proud peacock, completely different from the fragile appearance she had before.
"Ying Zi, are you done? Let’s go." A middle-aged woman came in at the dormitory door.
"Mama, I’m ready." Liu Ying immediately turned back into a delicate flower.
"Alright, let’s go." Liu Ying’s mom helped her with the large bundles, and as she passed by Li Jiajia, she smiled, "Jia Jia, this time it was Ying Zi’s fault, but she’s been punished. Don’t take it to heart, Auntie knows you’re a good child."
Liu Ying followed behind her mom, giving Li Jiajia a blank look. As she passed by Wang Miaomiao and them, she softly said, "Wang Miaomiao, Ren Caihong, expect me back soon at Class One."
The two left one after the other, but Wang Miaomiao saw Li Jiajia’s face, drained of color, collapse entirely as if hit with a massive emotional blow, unable to support her body.
"What does she mean?" Ren Caihong asked Wang Miaomiao quietly.
Wang Miaomiao had some guesses but shook her head, "I don’t know, doesn’t matter what she means. The afternoon classes are starting soon, we better go."
Wang Miaomiao returned to her desk, tidied briefly, ignored the others, and was the first to leave.
"Hey, Wang Miaomiao, wait for me..." Ren Caihong called after her as she left without a word. She initially wanted to wait for Li Jiajia, but seeing her in a daze and not responding after being called twice, she decided not to wait anymore.
Ren Caihong caught up with Wang Miaomiao, gossiping, "I saw Li Jiajia and Liu Ying’s dads today. They went into the principal’s office, not sure what was said, but afterward, the principal decided on the punishment: Liu Ying got a minor demerit and left the dormitory. I do think Liu Ying’s roundabout speech was wrong initially, but Li Jiajia hit first, not even a minor punishment! So infuriating. Why..."
Wang Miaomiao listened quietly to Ren Caihong’s complaining all the way back to the classroom.
When the afternoon class bell rang, Li Jiajia just made it to the classroom. Her face still bore that arrogant expression, even more pronounced, leaving no trace of her earlier lost demeanor.
Wang Miaomiao shook her head, refocused on her studies, and paid her no further attention.