Chapter 2

At a vocational college like ours, missing exams and cheating were everyday occurrences.

During a single round of finals, at least several dozen students across our year would be caught cheating.

But when the next semester began, He Xiaorui’s case became the talk of the entire school.

People were astonished to discover that her name wasn’t on the disciplinary notice listing those caught cheating in the previous semester’s finals.

At the same time, a screenshot of a conversation began spreading like wildfire through the class WeChat groups.

With the messages before and after it cut off, the screenshot told a single story:

Did you hear? He Xiaorui let the director of academic affairs sleep with her to avoid being punished.

That semester, I arrived a day after classes were scheduled to begin.

As soon as I reached our floor, I heard a noisy commotion outside our room.

A crowd had gathered at the door. I pushed through and saw Wen Yanan yanking violently at He Xiaorui.

Xiaorui clung to the bed rail, half her body wrapped around it, her eyes bloodshot.

Wen Yanan had already dragged her trousers down by sheer force. She was in a terrible state.

Guo Yingying and Liu Lingling stood to one side without a word.

Our dorm representative, Wang Fang, showed no sign of intervening either.

I dropped my luggage and ran over. “Yanan, what are you doing?”

“Lili, haven’t you heard what He Xiaorui did?” Wen Yanan said. “She let an old man like the academic affairs director screw her just to avoid disciplinary action. She’s shameless! How is she any different from a whore? I won’t keep sharing a room with someone so disgusting. Just looking at her makes me sick!”

“Yanan, how can you believe a rumor like that?” I said.

Guo Yingying gave a cold laugh from beside us. “Then why don’t you explain why her name isn’t on the cheating notice? We all saw her get caught with our own eyes.”

“Maybe she didn’t cheat!” I said urgently. “Maybe it was a misunderstanding. Xiaorui, tell them what happened!”

He Xiaorui said nothing. She only clung to the rail while big tears rolled down her face.

Honestly, how could she clam up at a time like this?

Guo Yingying sneered again. “What do you want her to explain, Lili? How she serviced that old man in bed? You probably don’t know this, but I went to high school with the little bitch. I heard she was sleeping with her stepfather even then. Heh. Maybe that’s just what she likes!”

“Shut up!”

Xiaorui suddenly screamed, snatched a pillow from the bed, and hurled it at Guo Yingying.

Yingying dodged sideways, then said to Wen Yanan, “Yanan, that bitch just grabbed your pillow. You’d better be careful. A slut like her could be carrying any number of diseases.”

Smack!

Wen Yanan rushed forward and slapped He Xiaorui across the face.

“You filthy slut! How dare you throw my pillow! Are you moving out or not? Are you?”

Blood immediately began pouring from Xiaorui’s nose. She seemed stunned by the blow. It was a long time before she murmured:

“I—I haven’t done anything. I’m not moving.”

Wen Yanan raised her hand to hit her again.

Someone in the watching crowd couldn’t bear it anymore. I don’t know who shouted, “The dorm supervisor’s coming!”

I hurriedly urged Wen Yanan to let it go, too.

Yanan straightened, then suddenly grabbed He Xiaorui by the hair and slammed her hard to the floor.

She kicked Xiaorui in the stomach. “Stay, then. But I’ll make your life hell.”