After I Died, The Little White Flower Heroine Went Mad - Chapter 3

The hazy drizzle slipped through the dense leaves and fell onto Li Zhu, dampening her brow bones and lashes. Her eyelashes trembled faintly from the ticklish moisture, and the raindrops rolled down like little beads of jade.

Fortunately, the rain soon stopped.

Because of that, the sky brightened.

The grove gained a little more light, illuminating Li Zhu’s face even more clearly.

At the same time, that light passed over her and brightened the scene inside the room beyond the window—the very scene that made Li Zhu freeze after just one look.

There really was someone inside, and it was precisely the person Li Zhu had been worried about.

But that person had not, as Li Zhu had imagined, immediately dried her hair and straightened out her clothes after entering the infirmary.

Bai Wei had done nothing. She had not cared about her drenched and miserable state, nor had she tidied up her disheveled appearance.

She was simply sitting there, in the left corner of the wall opposite the window. Her hair was wet, her clothes were wet, her back was bent, and her legs were drawn up. Her head was buried between her encircling arms, and she was curled up in that tiny corner on the cold floor.

She was not tall to begin with, and was so thin she could almost be called frail, as though she had grown up malnourished. In that posture, she looked even smaller—truly just a little ball.

Like a pitiful little mouse, temporarily unable to bear any more of the outside world’s hideous malice, trembling as if she wished she could shrink into the corner, hide herself away, and never wake up.

Li Zhu could not see whether she was crying, because Bai Wei kept her head buried the entire time. But the water dripping from her hair and clothes, flowing onto the ground and spreading out, looked so much like tears she could never finish crying.

So the instant Li Zhu came to the window and saw this scene, her heart shook, and she froze.

Earlier, when she had watched the game CG, no matter how furious she had been because of the plot, it had only been an animation in the end.

So although she knew Bai Wei had hidden in the infirmary, she did not know how vulnerable Bai Wei was inside it. Although she knew part of the plot, she had not known Bai Wei was this sad.

The animation had always emphasized how strong and brave the protagonist named Bai Wei was, how she could never be defeated, how she would never admit defeat.

But only at this moment, after personally seeing Bai Wei lonely and licking her wounds, did Li Zhu truly realize that everything before her was so real. She realized that being strong did not mean a person would not be hurt.

Even the bravest person would feel sorrow. Even the strongest person would feel pain.

She had transmigrated here and personally witnessed Bai Wei’s raw, bloody suffering.

The apology born earlier from good upbringing now turned into sincere, genuine pity. Standing before the window, Li Zhu looked at the figure curled up in the corner of the room. Her eyes lowered slightly, her gaze filled with tenderness and sympathy.

She would help her.

So she could clear the game and go home, yes—but also because she truly felt sorry for her.

She would protect her.

Because rationally, she needed to get close to her. And emotionally, she could not bear to leave her alone.

Li Zhu stood in the grove, watching the person inside the window. The person inside the window sat on the floor, lonely, holding herself.

I stood within the scenery, tenderly watching the scenery.

Just like that, a little while passed.

Then rain began to fall from the sky again.

The droplets were not large. They fell like a fine mist through the grove, so faint and ethereal they made almost no sound.

Because of that, the sudden movement inside the room, where there was finally a sound, became all the more abrupt and loud.

Creak.

Like a sudden thunderclap on flat ground, the infirmary door, which had been closed all this time, was opened from the outside.

Li Zhu, who had been watching and thinking attentively outside the window, was slightly startled. The girl sitting curled up in the corner with her head buried inside the room was also frightened. Both of them looked toward the doorway at the same time.

The person who pushed the door open was a woman. She was not tall, with pale, gentle features. She casually placed the dripping umbrella in her hand into the storage bucket by the entrance, then raised her hand and switched on the infirmary lights.

With a click, light covered the room, making the interior bright.

It illuminated the school doctor’s uniform hanging on the coat rack, and also illuminated the work badge on the person’s chest. So it was Dr. Tian, who had returned after lunch break.

When Bai Wei, sitting in the corner, saw Dr. Tian, she hurriedly got up from the floor and stood there somewhat awkwardly.

Only then did Li Zhu see what she looked like. She had not cried, but both her eyes were red. Like today’s rainy weather, her gaze lightly held a pool of water that seemed about to fall but had not yet fallen. She no longer had the cold, resilient aura she had shown earlier in front of Li Zhu. She looked like a flower beaten by rain, delicate and pitiful.

Dr. Tian was surprised to see Bai Wei here. Once she looked more carefully and saw Bai Wei’s current state, she became even more astonished. Bai Wei’s hair was dripping wet as though it had just been washed, her school uniform was soaked through, and not only were her eye rims red, her eyes were threaded with red veins.

“Bai Wei! What happened to you? Are you all right?” Dr. Tian was startled and extremely worried. She raised her hand to close the infirmary door and hurried toward Bai Wei.

Bai Wei lowered her head slightly and rubbed her eyes hard with one hand, as if trying to stop her tears from falling.

Only then did she raise her head again. Facing one of the rare people at school willing to help her, she forced out a smile.

“I’m fine, Dr. Tian.”

“You’re lying. If you were fine, how could you look like this? If you were fine, you wouldn’t have run here.” Of course Dr. Tian did not believe her. Standing in front of Bai Wei, she looked her up and down carefully. The more she looked, the more worried she became, her brows lightly knitting together. “What exactly happened? The rain today isn’t heavy enough to soak you like this. You look like you’re about to cry. Someone bullied you again, didn’t they? Who?”

Faced with her concern, Bai Wei did not answer. Her head lowered again like a flower branch beaten down by rain, her teeth gently biting her lip, leaving a series of pale crescent marks.

It was not that she did not want to say it. Nor was it that she could not say it.

But even if she said it, what would change?

In this academy, class stood above all else, and power was supreme. And the people she had offended just so happened to be the most tyrannical ones at the very top of the pyramid.

No one dared to resist those people. No one could help her. No one would help her.

Dr. Tian probably thought of that too, and fell silent for a moment.

She was only a school doctor. Her family background was average—not bad, but not good either. Good enough for her to enter Nyx, but not good enough for her to be anything more than a small school doctor at Nyx.

When it came to those truly noble young ladies and young masters in the academy, what right did she have to stop them? Especially when the people Bai Wei had offended were those members of K Club. Not to mention that because of Bai Wei’s sharp resistance, more and more people were now dissatisfied with this special-admissions student.

If she got too close to Bai Wei, one careless step could drag her into trouble too. And if that ended up implicating her family, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Keeping the infirmary door open often, letting Bai Wei occasionally come in and hide for a while, was already the most she could do.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Tian said, her voice a little low. “I can’t help you more.”

“But you still have to tell me what happened today, so at least I know what’s going on.” As she spoke, Dr. Tian’s voice gradually lifted again. She looked at Bai Wei with concern. “Even if I can’t help you openly, I can still look after you in secret. If the other party happens to come here while you’re in the infirmary, I can remind you to avoid them.”

Bai Wei still had her head lowered. Her small chin was hidden in the dimness, and her lowered lashes trembled lightly in the halo of light like butterfly wings.

After staying silent for quite a while, she finally seemed to make up her mind and spoke. Her voice was no louder than the drizzle outside the window, extremely soft.

“It was Li Zhu and the others. They told me to stay away from Hua Yi and locked me in the restroom.”

She did not finish the rest, but Bai Wei was soaked to this degree. What the other party had done was obvious. They had simply locked her in a stall and dumped a bucket of water over her.

Dr. Tian looked at the girl before her and opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but nothing came out. She fell silent. Only after another two seconds did she speak again.

But Bai Wei was the one who spoke first. Facing Dr. Tian’s worry, her downcast mood lifted, and instead, she turned around to comfort her.

She raised her head and smiled lightly.

“Sister Tian, don’t worry.”

“I’m fine. I’m really fine.”

“Then why did you look like you were about to cry? You were bullied, after all. It’s normal to feel upset. But I’ve already gotten through it now.”

“I might still cry in the future, but no matter how fragile I am, I will absolutely never apologize to Gu Xing, and I will never lower my head to Li Zhu!”

“They’re the ones who are vile. They’re the ones who should be ashamed. I won’t be defeated by people like that!”

Outside the window, a certain Li who had suddenly been called out stood in the drizzle, watching the girl’s bright, vibrant appearance. She lifted a finger and rubbed her nose.

Then she saw Bai Wei smile again.

“All right, all right, let’s not talk about this anymore.”

“Class is starting soon. I can’t be late. I need to hurry and dry my hair. Can I borrow your break room, Sister Tian?”

Dr. Tian looked at the girl’s bright eyes. She did not know whether Bai Wei had truly come back to life, or whether she was only pretending to be strong. She sighed, nodded, then shook her head.

“I really don’t know whether I should praise your resilience or worry about it.”

Bai Wei smiled as she replied that of course she should praise it, then walked toward the break room inside.

They were currently in the central treatment room.

If one opened the door on the left side of the treatment room, inside were rows of fully equipped student rest rooms furnished with soft beds. Behind the door on the right side of the treatment room was Dr. Tian’s private break room.

Bai Wei entered the break room on the right, and Li Zhu could no longer see her. She could only occasionally hear the hum of a hair dryer drifting over, mingling with the soft sound of fine rain tapping the leaves and falling together into her ears.

Li Zhu suddenly felt that what she was doing was very inappropriate.

Standing outside the window, watching and listening to someone’s every move—she was practically acting like a peeping Tom.

Sigh. This was clearly a heart full of concern because she was afraid something might happen to Bai Wei. How had it turned into such petty behavior?

Should she leave?

But she was still a little worried about Bai Wei.

As she worried, she started thinking about how she should help Bai Wei in the future.

In the end, she still could not leave for the time being.

Partly because of the thoughts in her heart, and partly because Bai Wei came out very quickly. Clearly, she had only hastily dried her clothes and hair. After all, even Dr. Tian had returned from her lunch outing; class really was about to start soon.

But when Dr. Tian looked at Bai Wei’s tidied-up appearance, she instead became even more worried—because Bai Wei and Li Zhu, Miss Li, just so happened to be in the same class. She hesitated, wanting to speak.

“Bai Wei…”

Bai Wei understood what she meant and smiled softly.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen.”

“Thank you for today, Sister Tian. Class is about to start, so I’ll go first.”

After saying goodbye, Bai Wei prepared to leave.

Before leaving, the hem of her clothes accidentally brushed against a cup on the table. She instinctively reached out to steady it. Unluckily—or perhaps luckily—after she turned around, she was facing the window directly.

Li Zhu, who was crouched by the window secretly peeking in, was startled. Afraid of being seen, she quickly turned sideways and flashed to the right, wanting to press herself against the wall and hide.

Her movements were too panicked. She lost her footing, stumbled, and was jabbed hard in the butt by a slanting tree branch beside her.

Ow!!

Young President Li almost cried out in a very undignified manner.

Fortunately, her willpower was strong. In the end, she held it in and hurriedly covered her mouth, wilting like a sad green onion as she leaned against the wall and bent over to catch her breath.

Sob, sob, sob. She had never been this miserable in her life.

Thankfully, no one inside noticed the commotion on her side. No one made a sound, and no one came over to look.

However, the Li Zhu wilting against the wall did not know this:

Inside the window, Dr. Tian truly had not noticed anything.

But Bai Wei, who had grown up in the slums and had extremely sharp senses, suddenly lifted her head and looked outside the window right as Li Zhu dodged away. She stared at the shaking leaves for a moment, then after a short while, shook her head and let out a faint, mocking laugh.

After that, Bai Wei righted the cup and placed it properly on the table, apologized to Dr. Tian, then turned and left.

Dr. Tian stood in the room and watched Bai Wei go. She sighed again, sat down at the desk, took the phone from her pocket, and began tapping lightly with her fingertips.

The protagonist had left, and the room went quiet. Only then did Li Zhu release the hand tightly covering her mouth. She instinctively wanted to rub her butt hard, but then felt that it would not be very elegant.

In the end, she gave up. Her brows twitching slightly, she straightened, reached out her fingers, and elegantly smoothed the creases of her uniform skirt. Then she pushed aside the forest leaves and slowly left.

After silently leaving the grove, Li Zhu returned to the teaching building opposite and found “Li Zhu’s” exclusive lounge. She dried the traces of rain and mist on her hair and clothes, then sat inside for a while, deliberately waiting so she would not run into anyone, before finally going out.

Stepping in during the final minute before class began, Li Zhu returned to the classroom on the same floor: Class 3-2.

Almost everyone in the classroom had already arrived. Girls with exquisite makeup and boys with carefully chosen accessories gathered in twos and threes, chatting quietly without making much noise.

When they saw Li Zhu enter through the back door, some greeted her, some smiled, and no one dared ignore Miss Li.

Li Zhu did not speak. She only nodded slightly, her gaze secretly sweeping over the people in the class. This time, no character cards popped up when she looked at anyone. Only names flashed above each person’s head.

It seemed that only important supporting characters had personal introductions.

Thinking this, Li Zhu walked toward her seat.

And so, she saw the only person in the entire class who had not greeted her, and had not even lifted her head to look at her. In the last row by the window, Bai Wei sat there.

Everyone in the classroom had someone to talk to, but no one spoke to her. Ignoring and disregarding someone was also a form of isolation.

However, Bai Wei also did not want to bother with this group of noble students who defined people by money and power. She quietly read the book in her hands, one person isolating everyone else.

Li Zhu lowered her eyes lightly, then lifted them again. She walked over and, following the information she had learned from the animated CG earlier, sat down in the seat two places away from Bai Wei in the last row.

The seat between the two of them was the only empty seat in the classroom. It was also the seat of the ominous Gu Xing, one of K3, whom Bai Wei had offended.

However, Gu Xing had taken leave during this period. Li Zhu remembered that Gu Xing seemed to ask for leave often.

She did not know why Gu Xing took leave, nor was it certain when she would return.

This time was the same.

The person sitting in front of Gu Xing was someone familiar: Li Nali. In front of Li Nali was Qian Duo.

As for the other two top members of K Club, Hua Yi and Wen Yan, they were both in Class 3-1.

Li Zhu stopped secretly looking at Bai Wei. As she sat in her seat sorting through information, the class bell rang. Not long after, the teacher arrived.

The first class of the afternoon was mathematics. Professor Zheng Zhengrong wore rimless glasses, with a gentle appearance and a warm, refined aura.

In reality, however, she was extremely strict. No one dared make trouble in her class.

Only Li Zhu, who had just arrived here, had no mind to listen. She looked at the blackboard and kept sighing inwardly.

She had already gotten into university and taken over a company. Who would have thought she would be kicked back into her third year of high school?

She lowered her head and flipped through the textbook. She had learned everything in it before. Li Zhu counted as a top student, after all, and her memory was very good. She had not forgotten the key points, so listening again had no real meaning.

On top of that, she had just transmigrated, and her thoughts were in chaos.

That made it even harder to listen.

Her heart and mind were filled with only one person: Bai Wei.

The moment she thought of Bai Wei, Li Zhu’s feelings grew even more complicated—apology, worry, and pity all mixed together. So her heart moved according to her thoughts, and she could not help but glance quietly to the side.

Two seats away, by the window, Bai Wei sat upright in her seat, listening attentively. Sometimes she lifted her head to look at the teacher; sometimes she lowered her head to look at the textbook. Of course, she did not look at Li Zhu.

At that very moment, the rain had stopped. Sunlight revealed itself at the edge of the sky, a cool yet bright platinum color that spilled across the whole world. It also shone directly through the glass window and fell on the person by the window.

It lit her hair and feather-like lashes until they appeared almost transparent. The fine down on her face became clear, and her skin looked even paler, as though in the very next second she would melt into that cold light, fragile to the point of being magnificent.

Under the sunlight, she was so pale and beautiful.

Do not look where one should not.

She could not keep rudely stealing glances at her like this.

Li Zhu thought this and withdrew her gaze.

For the rest of the time, Li Zhu was indeed disciplined and proper. She did not peep at Bai Wei again, and remained sitting upright in her seat, listening carefully to class.

In reality, she only appeared to be listening. In her heart, she was thinking through and formulating her next action plan.

During the breaks, Li Nali and Qian Duo came to look for her. She truly disliked these two, so she casually found a few words to send them away.

After that, no one disturbed her again.

The entire afternoon passed peacefully.

Until—

Six o’clock in the evening.

The end of the school day.

The peace that had lasted for so long was finally broken.

Just as the students in the class were getting up one after another, and just as Li Zhu, still sitting in her seat, was thinking that since she had only just arrived, she should slow down for now before approaching the protagonist—

Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door, pleasant to the ear yet suppressing anger.

“Li Zhu!”

“What exactly are you trying to do?”