chapter 6

chapter 6

That afternoon, Su Miaomiao and I happened to be assigned to clean the classroom after school.

But once Song Hansheng took her away, she never returned. I had to sweep up the mess alone until sweat soaked my hair.

After taking out the trash, I passed through the long corridor and heard excited thoughts near the stairwell.

[Ahhh, the plot is falling apart! How did the heroine and Hansheng end up fighting?]

[It’s fine. She’s about to be cornered and bullied in the bathroom. Hansheng still has a chance.]

[This rescue is where the heroine first falls for my darling. Come on, let’s go find Hansheng!]

Two figures wearing student-council sanitation armbands hurried away.

Warm, golden sunset light fell across my face. It should have been beautiful, yet an inexplicable chill crawled through me.

A redemption romance made me suffer for no reason at all, simply to give its male lead a chance to shine.

Was that really necessary?

Even so, I returned to the classroom.

Sure enough, while I was packing my schoolbag, the door crashed open.

“Wen Qiuyu. Come outside.”

“Be smart and come with us. Don’t make me use force in here.”

An imperious female voice poured down over me. Several shadows blocked the light.

Yang Yun grabbed my long hair and dragged me to my feet. Several girls clustered around her, neatly shielding us from the classroom camera.

It was the oldest scene in any school redemption romance. This world was one enormous vat of melodrama.

Of course the fragile, innocent heroine had to suffer some bullying. Otherwise, how could her relationship with the male lead reach a turning point?

Lunatics.

Now that I understood the routine, I did not struggle much. I rose obediently.

Before leaving, however, I slipped a sharp utility knife from my desk and hid it in my sleeve.

Yang Yun was notorious for bullying students at this school. Anyone she chose became her prey.

“Who are you trying to impress with that high-and-mighty act?”

“Are you taking those clothes off yourself, or should I do it for you?”

The deserted restroom was dim.

Yang Yun smiled wickedly, holding up a phone aimed directly at me. The heavy door had been locked from the inside, while her friends guarded the entrance.

“You do it,” I said.

I leaned against the tiled wall, arms at my sides, and met her eyes without a trace of fear.

Perhaps she had not expected the girl she considered a coward to be so composed. Yang Yun hesitated.

Her gaze moved over my delicate, pale face, and her expression twisted.

Then she stepped close, pinned me hard against the wall with one hand, and reached for the hem of my shirt with the other.

I went still and compliant. Inside my sleeve, one finger stroked the extended blade of the utility knife.

Outside the door, her followers began to panic.

Their thoughts reached me in broken snatches.

[The heroine is really being bullied! Why isn’t Hansheng here yet?]

[Ahhh, how can he fail us at the crucial moment? Darling, hurry up and save her!]

Those thoughts, that endless voyeurism—it was everywhere, worming into every corner of my life.

I was sick of it.