Chapter 9
Xun Zhou had arrived at the most perfect time. Her gaze moved back and forth between Ding Xueyao and Feng Qingyu several times, and her thoughts uncontrollably slid toward the worst possibility.
She truly could not understand how there could be such an infuriating Alpha in this world, one who insisted on making an Omega cry again and again.
Was she psychologically twisted? Was she that unable to tolerate others? How was that any different from being a pervert?
The more Xun Zhou looked, the angrier she became. That gaze of hers, always sharp, cut straight toward the person standing in front of the tree. “Are you sick or something, Feng Qingyu?”
Hm?
Feng Qingyu, who knew she was about to have dirty water splashed on her but did not know she was about to have gasoline poured over her too, froze. “You’re the one who’s sick, Xun Zhou. You came up and started scolding me right away. Exactly how much do I offend your eyes?”
When love rivals met, their eyes naturally burned red with hatred. She could understand that. But now that this love-rival identity was unstable and about to be replaced, Xun Zhou still could not tolerate her this much. What did that mean? Was targeting her addictive?
Had they really reached the point of being utterly irreconcilable?
And the system still wanted them to fall in love?
Mutual destruction sounded far more reasonable.
Xun Zhou snapped angrily, “If you’re not sick, why do you keep making Xueyao cry? What did she ever do to you that you have to bully her like this?”
Good question. Feng Qingyu wanted to know too. She turned her head and looked at Ding Xueyao, who was trying to hold her tears back. “Come on, tell her. Did I bully you? How did I bully you?”
When had Ding Xueyao ever been questioned so coldly by Feng Qingyu? The tears she had barely managed to force back swelled until her eyes turned red. She held back her sobs and shook her head. “Xun Zhou, you misunderstood. Qingyu didn’t bully me. I felt guilty and was apologizing to her. It was my fault in the first place. It’s only right that she’s angry and won’t forgive me.”
“Xueyao, you’re still speaking up for her?” Xun Zhou’s heart ached at the sight. She took a tissue from the pocket of her school pants and handed it to Ding Xueyao so she could wipe her tears. Then she turned back and continued picking at Feng Qingyu. “Are you even an Alpha? You don’t even have this bit of magnanimity? Didn’t you keep saying you were willing to do anything for Xueyao? How long has it been, and now you don’t admit it anymore?”
“Feng Qingyu, the shelf life of your promises is truly short.”
Feng Qingyu firmly believed that a mature person would not fall for provocation. She had always used this sentence to warn herself. Therefore, this kind of gender-based moral kidnapping had no destructive power against her at all. But promises were different.
Promises represented a person’s character.
So she cautiously asked the other person involved in this “promise,” which was Ding Xueyao. “Did I ever make that kind of promise to you?”
Every sentence Feng Qingyu said today had gone beyond Ding Xueyao’s expectations. She stood there blankly, not daring to move, nor daring to answer.
How could Feng Qingyu let that slide? She immediately pressed, “Why aren’t you speaking? Either I did, or I didn’t.”
Being stared at by two pairs of eyes made Ding Xueyao deeply uncomfortable. She braced herself and stayed silent for a while, then finally could not stand it anymore and shook her head. “No.”
Feng Qingyu let out a breath of relief and spread her hands as she looked at Xun Zhou. “See? I never said it.”
Xun Zhou’s anger flared from nowhere. “How did you not? You clearly told me with your own mouth. You said you promised Xueyao.”
Feng Qingyu gave a disapproving “hey.” “Student Xun, have you ever considered the possibility that I said it specifically to piss you off?”
“Were you so full you had nothing better to do?” Xun Zhou reacted greatly. “Feng Qingyu, can you be any more shameless?”
Definitely not, because Feng Qingyu did not think she was shameless.
But since this was an argument, and as someone who had once taken an online training course on arguing, she knew that according to the normal steps of an argument, right now she should be sprinting wildly down the path of angering Xun Zhou to death without having to pay compensation.
However, looking at the positions and expressions of the two people in front of her, once her vision pulled higher and farther away to look down upon this scene, she realized that it was truly not a wise move.
As for why, one reason was that anyone who had been to school knew theory was theory and practice was practice. In real life, she had never actually fought a stranger for three hundred rounds over a war of words. With no practical combat ability for reference, rushing into battle would be very irrational.
The other reason was that she was hungry.
So hungry that her stomach felt as if it were on fire, burning so fiercely that all her organs felt restless and irritable.
To put it plainly, compared with entangling herself with these two in front of her in a dispute that might not even lead to any result, she wanted to go home and eat right now.
Looking at the floor tiles beneath her feet, patterned like waffles, Feng Qingyu absentmindedly swallowed. Compared with the detached indifference from before, her tone now carried threads of urgency and anticipation. “Are you done? If you’re done, I’m going home to eat.”
“What did you say?” Xun Zhou had not expected that she had spent all this time playing music to a cow. The expression on her face almost failed to hold. “Feng Qingyu, what do you mean? You made Xueyao cry, and now you’re just going to pat your butt and walk away?”
Feng Qingyu could not understand her anger. “What do you mean? Didn’t we already clear it up just now? She cried on her own. It has nothing to do with me.”
“No. You can’t just leave like this.” Xun Zhou’s chest felt terribly blocked. Seeing that Feng Qingyu really was going to leave after saying that, she stepped forward twice and blocked her.
Feng Qingyu looked levelly at the person who was about the same height as herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she followed the car that was slowly stopping by the roadside and asked speechlessly, “Then what do you want?”
Xun Zhou said without the slightest shame, “Apologize to Xueyao.”
Oh, my. She seemed to understand why this person could become her ex’s female lead—the absolute model example of helping the person you were close to instead of the one who was right whenever a conflict arose.
She understood. She respected that. Fine.
But she had done nothing wrong. What was she apologizing for?
“I’ve discovered something, Xun Zhou. You really do have something wrong with you,” Feng Qingyu concluded. “If I don’t apologize, are you planning to keep blocking me like this and stop me from leaving?”
Xun Zhou did not speak. Ding Xueyao, who had been hiding behind her for a long while, poked her head out and advised, “Xun Zhou, don’t be like this. We’re all in the same class. Let Qingyu go home.”
After going around and around, she still would not say that there was no need to apologize.
Feng Qingyu was utterly impressed. She thought, What is all this nonsense? Even the novel plots she read when she was in school had not tortured people like this. Of course, at that time, she had never inserted herself into the perspective of a female supporting character either, so objectively speaking, there was nothing to compare.
Fine.
Do not waste time with fools.
She said sincerely, “Fine. I’ll reflect on what happened just now. I wasn’t wrong, and you weren’t right. Everything was me being right, and nothing was you being right. Is that good enough?”
The two people in front of her were stunned. Only after she had stepped sideways and walked several steps did Xun Zhou react. “Feng Qingyu, do you even want to hear what you’re saying?”
Amid her anger-laced questioning laugh, Feng Qingyu had already reached the car. She stopped. Before getting in, she turned back into the sunset and asked in return, “Before that, why don’t you first savor what you yourself said?”
Ha. She had lived for so many years and had seen plenty of double-standard people, but one this double-standard really was the first.
No wonder she could not snatch first place away. Feng Qingyu would have to be even more careful on future exams and anger her to death.
Stinky pufferfish! Serves you right for pricking people!
After sitting in the car, Feng Qingyu cursed wildly in her heart and blew out a breath with a whoosh, too lazy to look at those two again.
Xiong Jie, who was sitting directly in front, deliberately glanced sideways through the car window and swept her gaze over those two faces. Only then did she gently step on the gas and drive back against the sunset.
Leaning against the back of the seat, Feng Qingyu finally managed to smooth out the anger that had surged into her chest. She blinked and remembered that when she was confronting Xun Zhou, that invisible panel had seemed to flash.
She had not had time to look closely then. She would try now…
Oh. It was gone.
The panel could only be triggered and opened when she was facing those two.
Sitting in the back row, Feng Qingyu turned back regretfully. Xun Zhou and Ding Xueyao had long since disappeared from her view.
If she could not see them, she could not open it. Tsk. This was a problem.
Although looking at them from the front or the back both worked, staring at either Xun Zhou or Ding Xueyao for a long time would be trouble for her.
Was there a less blatant way to trigger it?
Worrying. The system was like a corpse and gave her not the slightest response. Truly worrying.
The more she thought, the more worried she became. And the more worried Feng Qingyu became, the more uncontrollably her brain spun in circles. Depressed, she thought that if there really was no other way, she would secretly take two photos tomorrow and test it. If that truly did not work, then she would think of another method.
Since Grandma Heaven had allowed her to come here, surely it would not leave her with no path forward, right?
After comforting herself, she took out her phone and opened the new voice message she had just received. Between playing it directly and converting it to text, she chose the latter.
[Grandma Meng: I just got home. Have you gotten home yet? What are we going to study tonight? You should have homework, right? I forgot to tell you at school, but Grandma has to sleep at nine-thirty tonight. Will there be enough time?]
Feng Qingyu: “…”
After getting out of the car, Feng Qingyu immediately pressed the voice-recording button. “There’s no homework. There’s enough time. We’ll video call at eight.”
Xia Lu and Feng Chongan were talking in the living room. Seeing Feng Qingyu return, they stood up together and walked toward the dining room.
After dinner, the family of three dispersed on the spot. Feng Qingyu returned to her room and sat at her desk, tilting her head as she recalled the things she had learned when she had first started school.
After briefly categorizing them, she decided what she would teach tonight and hurried to wash up before eight, changing out of her school uniform.
Wearing plain-colored pajamas, she sent the video invitation right at eight. A crooked face appeared on the vertical screen. After waiting half a minute, Grandma, who was video calling with someone for the first time, barely managed to adjust the angle.
Feng Qingyu looked at the familiar expression on that plump face, and a faint smile spread across her serious features. “Ready? Then we’re starting?”
“Okay.” A crisp voice came from the phone. Feng Qingyu took a deep breath and began trying to teach.
An hour and a half later, the people inside and outside the screen were both exhausted. Before hanging up, neither of them had any strength left to speak, so they simply waved at the camera.
After ending the video call, Feng Qingyu pushed her phone down and leaned back against the chair, not wanting to move. Recalling the expression Grandma had worn while seriously reading after her, she belatedly realized that Grandma actually wanted to study more than she had imagined.
This was quite easy to understand. Feng Qingyu herself had transmigrated here from her twenties, so in terms of age, she had only moved backward by six or seven years. Grandma, however, had returned from her seventies, almost eighties, to fifteen or sixteen.
From the age of seventy back to the best years of her life—if she did not want to study, that would be even more frightening.
Having the desire to study was good. Very good.
No matter how tiring it was, it was worth it!
Time to sleep.
Feng Qingyu went to the bathroom to wash her face, then lay down on the bed and prepared to sleep. When she turned over, she suddenly noticed that the phone charging by the headboard lit up. It was a notification that someone had sent a message.
She reached out and took it over. Seeing the two characters “Xueyao” across the darkened screen, her movement to tap it open paused. She was not very willing, but since she had already seen it, she might as well finish reading it.
The screen with automatic brightness adjustment was not too glaring in the darkness. The green bubbles unfolded as the chat window changed, and the instant the text filled the screen, it gave her a small shock.
Ding Xueyao had sent her a whole mini-essay?!
What did it say?
She needed to sit up and read it properly.
The bedside lamp switched on. Feng Qingyu leaned against the headboard and read through it word by word. She discovered that it was another apology regarding the apology from the afternoon. The curiosity that had originally faded suddenly whooshed back to life.
Why was Ding Xueyao so determined to seek her forgiveness?
On the day of the car crash, what exactly had Ding Xueyao done?
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