The bystanders finally understood the reason behind Yao Tang’s actions, or lack thereof.
“I see, so Yao Tangwas waiting for the people from the infirmary to come and handle the situation. That makes sense.”
“I knew it! Yao Tangisn’t cold-blooded at all. In fact, she’s one of the nicest people I know. There’s no way she wouldn’t help an injured classmate.”
“Besides, she didn’t do anything to him. He got hurt by himself. Why are they trying to push the blame on her?”
“All things considered, Yao Tangwas just doing the right thing?”
Yao Ran was struggling to keep her face neutral. She took a deep breath and smiled atYao Tang. “Sister, couldn’t you have just helped him up? Why did you bother the staff at the infirmary? Isn’t it just a waste of the school’s resources?”
“He can’t get up,” Yao Tangreplied indifferently. “He shouldn’t be moving around.”
Her words almost made Yao Ranchoke on air.
Another round of murmurs came from the onlookers. “That’s right, it might do more harm than good if they insisted on moving him.”
“Yao Tang is really clever to have considered these things.”
“Oh, for sure. As expected, she thought of everything. Just imagine what would happen if she moved him and his injuries got worse. How is she going to explain that to the teachers?”
Yao Tang said nothing and just let them talk.
Meanwhile, the injured boy was growing flustered as he kept lying on the ground.
His body was definitely fine, with nary a scratch. If the school doctor did come and examined him, his lies would be exposed.
Yao Ran also withdrew her hand and took a step back. For all her righteous speech just now, she didn’t seem eager to help the boy any longer.
At this point, the boy thought of something. He grimaced and pretended to be in pain as he stretched out his supposedly injured leg. Then, with much effort, he slowly pulled himself up. “I feel better now, Yao Tang. It doesn’t hurt as much.”
“O-Oh!” the boy who had been crouching next to him exclaimed. “That’s good. Then, there’s no need for the medical staff to come anymore, right?”
As soon as he said this, the other students immediately realized that these boys had been lying all along.
Yao Tang smiled brightly. “Oh, I was just joking. I didn’t call for anyone from the infirmary.”
Mortified, the boys fled the scene. Their faces were burning a fiery red as they pushed past the crowd and bounded down the stairs. The students kept shouting for them, but they didn’t look back even once.
“Sister, wait,” Yao Rancalled just asYao Tangwas turning to leave.
She reached out a hand, as if to stop the other girl, but her fingers just ended up brushing against Yao Tang’s hair.
Yao Tang glanced sideways atYao Ranand raised an eyebrow.
“What’s the matter?”
“Oh, never mind.” Yao Ranshook her head sheepishly, but her heart was pounding violently inside her chest. The momentYao Tangwas gone,Yao Ranturned around and followed the boys downstairs.
Her lips were stretched into a sinister smile. Tucked inside her palm was a few strands of Yao Tang’s hair.
In the back garden of the school.
The two boys who had been slumped on the ground shot up to their feet when they spotted Yao Ran.
“Forgive us, Ranran. We were quite useless. We didn’t get Yao Tang’s hair like we planned. It’s our fault for being so stupid. We even made a fool out of you back there.”
This came from the one who had faked his injury. Guilt was written all over his face.
His friend, on the other hand, was scowling. “Yao Tang is really sharp,” he grumbled angrily. “It wasn’t easy approaching her in the first place, and she didn’t even fall for our tricks! What an awful girl…”
“Ranran, you should just forget about her. So what if she never finds her biological parents? Her problems are not yours to carry.”
“Exactly! You were kind enough to be so considerate toward her, but she doesn’t appreciate your generosity at all. What’s more, she’s always so mean to you.”
Yao Ran milked their frustrations by lowering her head like she bore the weight of a thousand grievances. Then, she made a show of mustering a small, timid smile.
“It’s okay, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine, even if Sister misunderstands. She never liked me, anyway. I’m just so sorry that I dragged you both into this…”
The boys quickly shook their heads and waved their hands, telling her she did nothing wrong. They spent the next few minutes reassuring her.
Earlier that morning.
The boys happened upon Yao Tang, who was standing by the window with a worried expression. They didn’t hesitate to walk up to her and ask what was wrong. What she told them next was rather shocking. Never had they expected to learn such explosive news.