Gu Qili felt that she had nothing to say to Hu Jiaojiao. A friendship of over a decade had dissolved just like that. Although it was somewhat regrettable, she took comfort in realizing the true nature of a person during her downfall.
"Qiqi, are you still mad at me? Actually, it was Deng Feifei who approached me first, and I couldn’t refuse her," Hu Jiaojiao explained with an innocent face.
Seeing her just gave Gu Qili a headache. Her mood was utterly foul because of the scholarship, and she didn’t want to worsen it because of her.
"You don’t need to tell me about you and her, not now, not ever." She walked past her, intending to leave.
Hu Jiaojiao grabbed hold of her sleeve: "Qiqi, you came here because of the scholarship, didn’t you?"
"You too?" Gu Qili sensed something was off and stopped to look at her.
Hu Jiaojiao looked down, slightly embarrassed: "The director just informed me that I’ve been awarded the top scholarship. She asked me to come and sign for it."
Gu Qili couldn’t quite explain her complex feelings at that moment. If it had been in the past, she would have been happy for her, but with too many coincidences adding up, she couldn’t help but think the worst.
"I’m sorry, Qiqi, the scholarship used to always be yours, but I’ve worked hard too. The school finally recognizes me, and I’m really happy," Hu Jiaojiao said with self-satisfaction and looked at her with pity, "Don’t be sad; when I get the money, I’ll treat you to a meal."
"No need, I’m afraid you’ll poison it," Gu Qili shook off the hand wrapped around her arm, feeling an unspeakable loathing, and loathed herself just as much—if she hadn’t been blind in choosing friends, she wouldn’t have befriended such an ingrate who deceived her whole family. She was truly adept at pretending.
"Qiqi, is there some misunderstanding between us?" Hu Jiaojiao still had a pitiful look, seemingly as if Gu Qili was the one bullying her in the eyes of others.
Gu Qili tightened her grip and shook off Hu Jiaojiao’s hand with force again, and all of a sudden, Hu Jiaojiao let out a cry, falling clumsily to the ground, her palm scraped against the concrete and bleeding.
Gu Qili didn’t think she had pushed her, she just wanted to shake off her hand, but she didn’t expect that Hu Jiaojiao would actually take a real fall. This dive could be patented and sold to the national soccer team—guaranteed to break through Asia and go global.
Just then, the director and two teachers walked out. Seeing Hu Jiaojiao holding her bleeding hand and crying, and then looking at Gu Qili standing there, they immediately understood everything.
"Gu student, even if you didn’t get the scholarship, you shouldn’t resort to hurting others. I’m so disappointed in you," the director, who was usually kind to her, suddenly showed his true colors, his gaze filled with disgust.
The other two teachers quickly went to help Hu Jiaojiao, all while scolding Gu Qili.
Gu Qili didn’t want to defend herself; in such a situation, even with eight mouths, she couldn’t clarify things, and no one would believe her. Fortunately, Teacher Shang returned. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novel⚑fire.net
"Qili, what happened?" She rushed over and asked with concern.
Gu Qili looked up at her, suddenly feeling unbearably wronged, not because of Hu Jiaojiao, but because of the scholarship.
She bit her lip and forcefully held back the tears in her eyes.
Teacher Shang seemed to understand everything and took her hand, saying, "Let’s go, I have something to talk to you about."
Behind her, the director said discontentedly, "You’re just walking away after injuring someone? Really getting out of control."
Teacher Shang didn’t respond and continued to lead Gu Qili to the artificial lake outside, where the gentle breeze brought clarity to mind.