Qiao Ying spending money to hire thugs to injure classmates was no small matter. Like pouring cold water into hot oil, Ye Jingning's affair caused quite a stir, and eventually even the police got involved. Ye Jingning and those hoodlums were taken away together, and even the principal went along.
The whole afternoon, everyone was discussing this matter instead of paying attention in class. School leaders were going in and out of the conference room holding meetings.
Qiao Yi's homeroom teacher also went.
With no one to supervise the class, everyone opened up and had a heated discussion, all guessing whether this matter was real or fake. If it was real, who was the victimized classmate?
Also, were those hoodlums really counter-attacked?
Which classmate was so amazing that they've never heard of such a martial arts master at their school?
In just one afternoon, the incident escalated out of control. Wherever they went, they could hear others discussing it.
With the internet so advanced in this information era, the teachers stood at the podiums urging students not to gossip excessively or create public opinion, so as not to negatively impact the school and students.
But this was unable to curb everyone's curiosity.
Ye Jingning cried as she was picked up from the police station by her father. As soon as they got home, her father slapped her.
She had always been the apple of her parents' eye, the pride they boasted about to friends and family. In other people's eyes, she was a good girl.
But now she had done this.
"Do you know I was getting ready to compete for the deputy director position? You've ruined it all!"
"I can't believe I gave birth to an extortionist like you."
Ye's father angrily cursed her out. Even Ye's mother, who always doted on and protected her daughter, couldn't escape his wrath.
The Ye family had no peace that night.
The one happiest about the Ye Jingning incident was none other than Qiao Lingling.
After class, she practically skipped home, humming a tune.
She always felt that although her looks weren't inferior to Ye Jingning's, she was looked down on by Ye Jingning due to her family's poorer financial situation.
All these years of resentment could finally come out today. She was extremely elated and didn't even mind seeing Qiao Yi doing housework for Qiao Ying.
The next morning, the school made an announcement over the broadcast system.
The principal spoke in person, clarifying that Ye Jingning hiring thugs to injure a classmate was a misunderstanding.
The few troublemakers had been detained, and the so-called evidence was all fabricated nonsense.
Sitting in her seat, Qiao Ying found it laughable as she listened to the principal urge everyone to be more careful going to and from school and say caring words.
It was obvious the Ye family hadn't spared any expense lobbying.
Qiao Ying felt utterly indifferent, having guessed there would be this outcome all along. But this would still be a huge blow to the Ye family.
Two days after the incident, Ye Jingning returned to school.
She looked haggard and no longer had her former arrogant and domineering air. She kept her head lowered and was quiet.
Although the incident had fermented for two days in school, it was still a hot topic that everyone gossiped about over meals. Seeing Ye Jingning, they whispered and pointed at her.
Ye Jingning had never been that popular with the girls at school to begin with, and now this gave them even more fodder.
Many rejoiced at her misfortune.
When she passed Qiao Ying in the hallway, she only dared to glare bitterly at her before quickly walking away with her head lowered.
Qiao Ying felt nothing about this. From start to finish, she had never taken Ye Jingning seriously. She wouldn't even choose someone like her to mess with, as Ye Jingning was far from qualifying.
When she was bored in the past with nothing to do, just for fun she had directly blown up the information tower of a certain country. That was her style.
When Xu Mingchen returned home, his father asked about Ye Jingning's affair - this showed how big of a deal it was.
Xu Mingchen repeated the principal's words to his father.
Having grown up immersed in the environment around his father, Xu Mingchen was adept at reading subtle cues. Of course he didn't entirely believe the principal's words.
After listening, Xu's Father said with a hint of a smile, "That old fox Ye Dongcheng has had his eye on the deputy director position for years, smoothing things over everywhere in preparation. He was just about to get it, but his precious daughter ruined it for him."
Xu Mingchen wasn't interested.
He had originally felt that although Ye Jingning was spoiled rotten at home, she still had decent grades.
A few days ago when he heard she wanted to apply to Peking University, he even thought that having her around as a familiar face in the capital in the future could be nice.
But after this incident, his budding good impression was gone.
People really couldn't be judged by their surface.
In any case, she was done for.
That night after self-study, Qiao Yi was walking home but got blocked by some ill-intentioned delinquents.
"Want us to get violent, or will you fork it over yourself?"
"I don't have any money."
"You bookworms always say you don't have money until we give you a beating and you cough it up." One thug grabbed Qiao Yi's backpack and dumped out all the books.
Seeing their actions, Qiao Yi clenched his teeth and kept silent.
When they didn't find any money in his bag, they grew impatient and started frisking Qiao Yi's pockets. "Where'd you hide the cash? Hand it over to me."
"I told you, I don't have any money."
"Oh, you've got a cell phone. That'll do."
"Give it back."
"F*ck off, you dare fight me for it? This piece of crap phone isn't even worth me taking." The thugs got into an argument with Qiao Yi over the phone in the pitch-black street.
The thugs didn't expect Qiao Yi to fight desperately for such an old phone. They got mad and were about to get violent with him.
"Hey!"
Suddenly, a girl's voice called out.
The thugs looked toward the voice and saw a female student in uniform. Although thinner than a few days ago, they recognized her at a glance.
Qiao Yi turned his head and saw Qiao Ying. He immediately became anxious and told Qiao Ying to hurry up and leave.
But not only did Qiao Ying not leave, she headed right over.
Hands in her pockets, she had a leisurely expression like she was just strolling through a backyard garden.
It was as if she couldn't hear Qiao Yi or see the situation here.
Qiao Yi was even more anxious.
But just as Qiao Yi was about to do something, those delinquents freaked out for some reason. Seeing Qiao Ying, each of them reacted as if they had seen a ghost. They threw down Qiao Yi's backpack and cell phone and madly ran away.
Some with clumsy legs almost crawled away in their scramble, while others ran screaming in an exaggerated manner.
This sudden comical and bizarre scene left Qiao Yi stunned for a moment.
Qiao Ying walked over. "Are you okay?"
Qiao Yi blankly shook his head. Coming to his senses, he quickly bent down to pick up his phone off the ground. The screen was cracked from being thrown.
Qiao Yi tried turning it on but it was broken.
Qiao Yi was silent for a bit before silently putting the books back in his bag.
Seeing this, Qiao Ying's brows knitted slightly. She looked in the direction the thugs had fled, considering whether to chase them down for compensation or something.
Qiao Yi stood up with his bag. "Why were they so afraid of you? They ran as soon as they saw you."
Qiao Ying shrugged. "Hurry home and get some sleep."
Qiao Yi was clever and guessed almost instantly, although still uncertain. "Ye Jingning hired thugs to injure a classmate. That was you, wasn't it?"
Qiao Ying: "I did run into them on my way home from school a few nights ago."
Qiao Yi couldn't believe it. "So their injuries were from you beating them up? It was also you who made them go to school and extort Ye Jingning for medical fees, causing this whole ruckus?"
Qiao Ying dismissively said, "I was already being merciful by not having them beat Ye Jingning to a pulp."
Seeing Qiao Yi continuing to stare at her, Qiao Ying brought out her usual line: "Like I said, I was too lazy to bother with them before." to brush him off.
"But..." But no matter what, how could a girl beat up those street thugs? And injure them so badly? Was this really the eldest sister he had lived with for over a decade? Although she seemed unfamiliar and strange at times, Qiao Yi really liked having such an amazing eldest sister.
Just as Qiao Yi wanted to say more, Qiao Ying asked: "Is there a bank around here?"
Qiao Yi didn't understand why she was asking, but still told her the location. Then he asked: "What do you need a bank for?"
"You go home first. I have something to take care of." After speaking, Qiao Ying immediately headed toward the bank.
It was an automated bank.
Qiao Ying took out the only bank card she had from her bag.
The card was issued by the school for paying tuition fees each semester.
Inserting the card into the machine, Qiao Ying checked the balance.
[Account Balance: 1,000,000]
One million?
That stingy Qin brat! Just for saving his life he only gave 100,000? Are Qin family lives that worthless in their own eyes? Or is it just Qin Yuqian who's worthless?
Fine, one million it is. Still better than nothing.
Qiao Ying put away the card and directly went to a mobile phone store nearby.
When the clerk saw she was a student, he didn't even bother to move his butt off the chair. He just sat there without getting up to greet her.
"Which is the most expensive mobile phone?"
Hearing this, the clerk was stunned for a moment. He looked Qiao Ying up and down again before standing up to welcome her.
When he heard Qiao Ying wanted to buy two phones, the clerk immediately put on a smile. He served her tea, packaged up the phones, and personally escorted her to the door with a smile that seemed would crack his face.
Qiao Yi looked at his phone with the cracked screen but it was unresponsive. He was distressed.
This phone was bought with money he had saved up over the years. It was a secondary phone he used to look up study materials and do test questions.
Given his family's financial circumstances, there was no way they could afford to buy him a new phone, even if it was a cheap secondary phone.
Qiao Yi wondered if he should get it fixed or not.
But that was a whole question in itself, whether it was worth fixing and if it could even be fixed.
Just then, there was a knock on his door.
Qiao Yi looked up to see Qiao Ying walk in and put a bag on his desk.
Qiao Yi looked inside curiously and saw a phone box.
He looked at Qiao Ying first, full of suspicion.
Then he took out the box, opened it, and inside was actually a brand new latest top-of-the-line expensive phone.
