Ji Yuning nodded: "Mm."
Fang Bai said to him, "It's alright, you should go to class now, don't be late."
The car window slowly rolled up.
When the car window was halfway up, Ji Yuning turned and walked towards the school.
Many students who knew Ji Yuning had already seen the car that brought her here, but they hadn't seen who brought her. When Ji Yuning passed by them, they would whisper among themselves.
He Ziyan also witnessed Ji Yuning getting out of the luxury car, but unlike the others, she knew who had brought Ji Yuning there.
Stopping Ji Yuning who was walking beside her, He Ziyan asked sternly, "Why did Fang Bai send you to school?"
Ji Yuning first looked down at the hand blocking her way, then glanced at He Ziyan, and remained silent.
He Ziyan was already used to Ji Yuning's silence, and she didn't expect Ji Yuning to reply. She sneered, withdrew her hand, crossed her arms, and said arrogantly, "Why do you think she spoke up for you on Friday? It's because if you were really falsely accused of stealing, she would be the one who would lose face."
He Ziyan sneered: "She's just helping herself. You don't actually think she's being nice to you, do you? Someone like you who has nothing is nothing more than a dog of the Fang family. The only reason she's keeping you is to save face for the Fang family. Once Fang Bai gets married... or maybe once you come of age, when the Fang family has no obligation to support you anymore, you'll definitely be kicked out of the Fang family."
The events that happened backstage at the school anniversary celebration had spread throughout the entire school over the weekend. Everyone knew that He Ziyan had instructed Yu Mimi to slander Ji Yuning. Now that they saw He Ziyan stop Ji Yuning, many people gathered around to watch the spectacle.
He Ziyan did not lower her voice when she spoke, and many people heard what she said.
He Ziyan glanced to both sides, then moved closer to Ji Yuning and whispered, "In that case... you'll go from being a house dog to a stray dog."
He Ziyan admitted that what she said was very harsh because she did it on purpose.
He Ziyan didn't want to see Ji Yuning's expressionless face. Whether she was getting first place in the exam, playing the piano on stage, or being accused of stealing, Ji Yuning always remained calm.
He Ziyan wanted to see a different expression on Ji Yuning's face, and wanted to know what a ferocious expression would look like.
But the result was not to He Ziyan's liking. Ji Yuning simply took a step back, widening the distance between herself and He Ziyan, and then said softly, "Is the self-criticism written?"
After saying that, Ji Yuning walked towards the teaching building.
He Ziyan was left alone, enraged by her words.
"Ji Yuning!"
Watching Ji Yuning walk further and further away, He Ziyan stomped her foot heavily.
When the school bell rang, He Ziyan turned around and looked at the school gate, but the car that had been parked there was nowhere to be seen.
Fang Bai thought that after rejecting the original owner's friends, they would stop messaging her, but Fang Bai did not expect that those people would come knocking on her door.
When Fang Bai returned home and saw three or four people sitting in the living room, he was stunned. After retrieving the original owner's memories, he realized that these people were the same ones who often hung out with the original owner.
One of them sat elegantly on the sofa with his legs crossed. When he saw Fang Bai enter the house, he put his legs down, placed his teacup on the coffee table, and asked slowly, "The busy man is back?"
It felt as relaxed as being at home.
Fang Bai sneered inwardly, "Why are you here?"
Seeing that Fang Bai's expression was not good, the person stood up and said softly, "It's been so long, you didn't come to the sisters' gathering, so we had to come to find you ourselves."
The families of these women all relied on the Fang family to establish themselves in Hushi. Their approach to Fang Bai was also at their family's behest. At first, they pretended to be ingratiating with Fang Bai, but as Fang Bai treated them better and better, they had long forgotten their original purpose, and their contempt for Fang Bai would sometimes show on their faces.
These past few days, unable to contact Fang Bai, they went from being indifferent at first to feeling nervous and panicked, and finally unanimously decided to go find Fang Bai.
After finishing speaking, the man asked suspiciously, "Your nanny said you went to take that brat to school?"
The most effective way for them to curry favor with Fang Bai was to scold Ji Yuning.
Every time I scold you, it's very effective.
But this time things didn't go as planned. The man saw Fang Bai frown and repeated coldly, "You brat?"
Noticing Fang Bai's change in demeanor, the speaker's expression stiffened for a moment, then he smiled relaxedly: "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? Didn't you always say that Ji Yuning is a brat?"
Fang Bai frowned: "Don't say that again."
One of them asked, "What? You're not actually planning to take care of her seriously, are you?"
Fang Bai: "Mm."
The man continued, "So you haven't been playing with us these past few days because of this?"
"No," Fang Bai said, "I just find it boring to hang out with you guys."
"If you don't hang out with us, what else can you do? Keep that bastard as a pet?"
"This has nothing to do with you. Leave my house."
Fang Bai suddenly realized that she shouldn't have cared about the original owner's feelings and chatted with them calmly. She kept calling them "dogs" and wondered what kind of good people they could be.
Another person exclaimed in surprise, "We've been friends, and now you're cutting ties with us for that bastard?!"
I really shouldn't have said a single word to these "friends".
"Sister Wu, see the guest out."
After saying that, Fang Bai turned around and went upstairs without looking back.
The sudden arrival of these people disrupted Fang Bai's otherwise good mood. Especially when he heard how they called Ji Yuning, Fang Bai knew that they must have called her that in front of the original owner quite a few times.
Fang Bai felt sorry for Ji Yuning once again.
However, one sentence the man said caught Fang Bai's attention.
What else can she do?
Now all she has to do is get Ji Yuning's forgiveness, but what if she doesn't get it?
She couldn't just sit there and wait to die; she had no choice but to leave quietly and escape Ji Yuning.
At that time... she will have to start all over again.
Wednesday evening study session is over.
Ji Yuning and Mu Xuerou returned to their dormitory together. After washing up, Ji Yuning sat on the edge of her bed and read a book.
The phone next to me is showing the startup screen.
Three days passed, and Ji Yuning turned on her phone for the third time.
On the first day, Ji Yuning followed her "deal" with Fang Bai, turning on her phone and staying on until 10:30 PM, when she finished reading and went to bed before turning it off.
My phone is quiet; there are no new messages.
The next day, Ji Yuning kept her phone on until 10:30 as agreed, just like the day before. During that time, she received a friend request from Mu Xuerou. After accepting Mu Xuerou's request, Ji Yuning changed her profile picture to a completely black photo.
She accidentally pressed the shutter button and took the picture.
The third day…
Ji Yuning did not close the data before shutting down the computer, and it automatically connected to the internet after powering on.
Ji Yuning was reading a book and was about to turn a page when she subconsciously glanced at her phone screen.
A red dot has appeared on the green app, showing two unread messages.
Ji Yuning hesitated for a moment, then instead of picking up her phone, she reached out her finger from the book and tapped the green square.
The unread message was sent by someone whose contact name was Aunt Fang, at 8 PM, which is when she is in evening study hall.
As for the notes, they've been like this from the beginning; it seems Fang Bai changed them himself.
Ji Yuning sat upright on the edge of the bed, but her gaze was diagonally downwards onto her phone.
Aunt Fang: [Changed your profile picture?]
Aunt Fang: [How was your study today?]
Ji Yuning tapped the screen with the same finger again: [Hmm.]
The person on the other end seemed busy and replied about seven minutes later:
Aunt Fang: [That's good.]
Aunt Fang: [How are things going with that girl in your dorm? Is it awkward?]
As the message notification sounded, Ji Yuning picked up her phone with one hand while holding a book in the other.
Ji Yuning: [She changed dorm rooms.]
Fang Bai nestled on the sofa and took a bite of a strawberry.
Aunt Fang: [How's the new student doing? Do you know him?]
Ji Yuning: [He Ziyan.]
Fang Bai sat up, staring at the three words Ji Yuning had sent, unable to understand them.
Aunt Fang: [?]
Aunt Fang: [She moved to your dorm?!]
Ji Yuning glanced at the person lying in the opposite bunk, applying a face mask, and replied: [Mm.]
Fang Bai replied quickly this time: [Can I make a phone call?]
The person sitting on the bed saw the message, paused for a moment, then got up, went to the balcony, and closed the door.
Fang Bai waited a while with his phone in hand, and then saw Ji Yuning's message: [Okay.]
Author's Note:
Xiao Ji's Diary, Part Two:
Monday: Aunt Fang told me to check my phone tonight. I thought she would send me a message. I waited and waited, but I didn't receive a message from Aunt Fang until I went to bed. The only message on my cold phone was Aunt Fang's previous message, "Do you know how to use it now?" Should I treat this as a new message and reply to it?
Tuesday: I changed my profile picture today. Of course, the main reason I changed it was because it was the first time I took a picture, and I thought it looked good, not because Aunt Fang wasn't messaging me and I wanted to get her attention. Definitely not.
Chapter 16
Ji Yuning stood in front of the locker. She had just sent the word "okay" when Fang Bai called her with a voice message less than a second later.