Xu Mingchen happened to hear this and frowned as he turned to look at Qiao Ying, thinking to himself that she must be playing some trick again to try and get his attention.
Hmph, no matter what tricks she tries, they will all be futile.
Qiao Yi was distracted for the whole class, with the scene of Qiao Ying grabbing that male student's collar and forcing him to apologize to her dominating his thoughts.
Qiao Yi was secretly thrilled inside.
After class ended, several male students gathered around.
"Qiao Yi, is that fatso from class 8 really your sister? For real? How come we've never heard you mention having such a fat sister before?"
"Since your sis is so fat, your family situation can't be too bad right? Then how come there's no money to treat your lame leg? Are your parents playing favorites or what?"
"I bet his sister ate all the money for his medical treatment. You can tell from their clothes and shoes that she's probably eaten the whole family into poverty, hahaha."
Qiao Yi sat at his desk, clenching his fists tightly.
"Hey are you two really blood siblings? How come you get such good grades but your sis is so awful? I heard she only scores 5 or 10 points on tests. I could beat that blindfolded just filling in random bubbles."
Qiao Yi dug his nails into his palms, almost drawing blood.
"Come on, don't say that. We should say she could get a few right just by kicking the answer sheet on the ground, hahaha. How does your sis manage to score so low?"
"My sister's not stupid!" Qiao Yi could endure no more and raised his head angrily.
"This isn't about stupidity, it's pure idiocy, hahaha." The boys laughed as they walked away.
Qiao Yi's face was bright red, unable to tell if it was from anger or humiliation.
Qiao Ying sat at her desk distracted.
She didn't even have a phone on her. She needed to get her hands on some money first.
Without money, she couldn't do much.
After thinking it over, she realized all the ways she could get money involved skirting the law.
The teacher was droning on at the front of the class. Seeing Qiao Ying staring out the window lost in thought, she was immediately annoyed.
"Qiao Ying?"
"Qiao Ying!"
Seeing no reaction from her, the teacher lost her temper: "Some people come from difficult family backgrounds and have poor personal circumstances, yet they don't strive to improve themselves and just waste time and their lives all day long. Not only do they negatively impact the learning environment for the whole class, they also drag down the overall grades. They are simply pests in the classroom."
"Are you referring to me?" Qiao Ying turned to look at her.
With all eyes in the classroom on Qiao Ying, who else could she be talking about?
"It's good you're self-aware. Come up here and solve this problem." The teacher rapped the blackboard, not bothering to wait for Qiao Ying's reaction. She gave a derisive snort, "Given your intellect, nevermind. Stay seated."
Qiao Ying stood up.
"What are you doing? You can't really think you'll get it right? Hurry back to your seat, don't waste everyone's time."
"Just let her try, she's not afraid of embarrassment, why should we be?" The students were all eager to watch her make a fool of herself.
Qiao Ying ignored them and walked up to the lectern, taking a piece of chalk. She started writing as soon as her hand touched the board.
In stark contrast to Qiao Ying's delicate penmanship, Xue Ying's strokes were bold and decisive, energetic like a dancing dragon's tail, with sturdy bones and supple ligaments. Her calligraphy was like a work of art, at least ten times more beautiful than the teacher's writing by comparison.
Under the astonished gazes of the class, Qiao Ying filled up a whole blackboard, explaining the problem-solving method in an even simpler and clearer way than the teacher had taught. Each step was methodical and easy to understand. The students who had been waiting to watch her embarrass herself gradually fell silent, unable to believe their eyes.
The teacher stared at the blackboard and adjusted her glasses.
With the last stroke of chalk, Qiao Ying tossed it aside and left the teacher with: "As an educator, you should set a better example with your conduct." Then she returned to her seat.
The teacher's face flushed red, rendered speechless for the moment.
After a long pause, she managed to get out: "Even a blind cat can catch a dead mouse sometimes."
After evening self-study ended, Qiao Ying thought Qiao Yi would wait for her, but he didn't.
When she was close to home, she saw Qiao Yi walking ahead of her, limping along on one foot. From hearing him called "the cripple" at school today, it was clear the bullying Qiao Yi faced was no less than her own as "the fatso".
Unfortunately she currently had no money or silver needles on hand, otherwise she wouldn't mind giving her cheap little brother a free foot treatment.
Qiao Ying quickened her pace to catch up with Qiao Yi.
Seeing her, Qiao Yi glanced back then turned his head away again.
Qiao Ying didn't mind, since they were both the silent type to begin with.
"Will you do your best on the college entrance exams?" Qiao Yi asked suddenly.
"Of course." How could Xue Ying ever aim for the bottom?
When they got home, Qiao Ying changed clothes and was about to go out for an evening jog when Li Lilian called for her to come wash the dishes.
These were dishes Li Lilian left after dinner, waiting for Qiao Ying to come back from self-study and wash up.
Qiao Ying glanced back at her, completely ignoring her presence.
"You little brat!" Li Lilian cursed angrily.
Qiao Yi put down his schoolbag and quietly went to wash the dishes.
Even after stepping out the door, Qiao Ying could still hear Li Lilian scolding her son back to his room to do homework while she washed up and grumbled to herself.
Qiao Ying controlled her diet strictly every day, persisting in morning and evening jogs. After a few days, the results were shocking. She had slimmed down a full size, even her chin was sharper.
Her meal card had run out of money, so Qiao Ying simply skipped dinner. She had no intention of asking Li Lilian for money, unsure if she could control her temper listening to Li Lilian's swearing and nagging.
*
That night after her evening jog, Qiao Ying showered then went back to her room to sleep, pondering where she could quickly earn some cash.
Suddenly, Qiao Ying's ears pricked up alertly and she flipped out of bed.
A group of outsiders had infiltrated the rundown village compound under the cover of night.
A man with a bullet wound in his abdomen zigzagged through the dilapidated residential area, on the run.
Stumbling unsteadily, he collapsed on the ground.
His pursuers had momentarily lost track of him, so the man rested where he fell to catch his breath.
Bathed in moonlight, Qiao Ying passed through the front hall and emerged in the courtyard.
It was late April, and the courtyard was filled with the fragrant blossoms of the four seasons osmanthus.
Disregarding decorum, the man leaned against the enclosing wall and sprawled on the ground. There was a large bloodstain on his abdomen and his breathing was ragged.
Suddenly sensing something, the man jerked his head up alertly, just in time to see the door of this household swing open.
The moment Qiao Ying saw the man's face, she raised a brow.
It was familiar.
She swiftly sifted through her mental database to pinpoint this man's identity.
Qiao Ying then strolled out from the courtyard and squatted down beside the man.
Still clutching his wound, he growled hoarsely: "Get...inside if you don't want to die."
To his surprise, this chubby girl was extremely composed as she asked: "Need some help?"
The man looked at her warily, remaining vigilant.
"It's not fatal, you won't die. At least not for another half hour, if the bleeding doesn't stop by then I can't guarantee anything." Qiao Ying assessed his injury with a glance, speaking leisurely.
Measured footsteps sounded in the distance, clearly belonging to a well-trained troop.
With her sharp ears, Qiao Ying heard them approaching. The man heard it too, instantly on high alert.
He looked back at Qiao Ying, who seemed utterly unhurried as she fished a pen out from the man's suit inner pocket. Under the man's bewildered and warning gaze, she used the pen to lift his sleeve slightly, exposing a sliver of his wrist——seemingly displeased by the blood on his hand.
Qiao Ying jotted down a string of numbers on the man's forearm.
Capping the pen, she returned it to his pocket.
"Go in through here and leave from the back door. Don't forget to transfer me money if you live. " Qiao Ying said.
The man fixed his eyes on Qiao Ying.
But before he could think it over, the footsteps drew closer. He struggled to his feet and entered the Qiao family courtyard...
Just after he left, several men in black suits pursued him to the spot.
