Li Yaxin's face turned red as tears fell again. "Teacher, he's lying."
But besides this, Li Yaxin couldn't say anything more, while Wang Jiayao maintained his nonchalant, carefree attitude.
Hao Leyun wanted to rush over and punch him right there, but her mother held her back.
"How about this: since Hao Leyun and Gu Zhijing didn't hit anyone, they can return to class now. It's not good to keep them here wasting time," Principal Ge said. As for Wang Jiayao and Li Yaxin's situation, the school would need to investigate further.
"Zhijing, what do you say?" Gu Junxing asked Gu Zhijing.
Hao Leyun's parents also looked at their daughter.
"I can go back to class, but his dad insulted me earlier. I want him to apologize to me."
"I agree with Gu Zhijing!" Hao Leyun chimed in.
"Why should I apologize?!" Wang Jiayao's father protested, unwilling. The idea of a grown man apologizing to a couple of kids seemed ridiculous to him.
"Are you going to apologize or not?" Hao Leyun's mother stepped forward, cracking her knuckles menacingly.
Wang Jiayao's father shuddered at the sound. She had pressed down on him earlier, and he wasn't sure where exactly, but his shoulder was both painful and numb. Reluctantly, he apologized to the two students.
Wang Jiayao and his father, along with Li Yaxin and her homeroom teacher Cen Xi, remained in the office while everyone else left.
"Mom, I really didn't hit him," Hao Leyun said to her mother as soon as they were outside.
"Mom believes you. If you had actually hit him, would he still be in the state he's in now?"
"Li Yaxin is also at fault. She should have just explained things clearly. All she does is cry, cry, cry. She almost got me and Gu Zhijing wrongly accused."
Hao Leyun's mother interrupted her daughter, "Enough, don't say such things. Do you know why she didn't speak up? If you don't know, don't make assumptions about others. When you go back, don't spread rumors about what happened in the office, understand?" The situation between Li Yaxin and Wang Jiayao was unclear, and high school students were already sensitive about relationships between boys and girls. If rumors started spreading, even a non-issue could turn into something serious.
"I understand, Mom."
Gu Junxing, Nian Suian, and Gu Zhijing stood to the side talking after they came out.
Afraid his father might scold him, Gu Zhijing quickly said, "Dad, you have to believe me, I really didn't hit anyone."
"I believe you. Now go back to class." Gu Junxing knew better than anyone that his son wasn't the type to get into fights randomly.
Before leaving, Gu Zhijing didn't forget to remind his father, "Dad, Mom's phone got smashed. Remember to buy her a new one."
Hearing this, Nian Suian smiled and waved him off. "You hurry back to class now."
In the classroom, classmates had heard that the class monitor and Gu Zhijing had been called to the grade director's office for fighting with students from another class. Everyone was eager to know what had happened.
When the two returned to class, everyone started whispering and gossiping. The teacher had to bang on the desk twice before they finally quieted down somewhat.
As soon as class ended, everyone crowded around them, asking what had happened in a noisy clamor.
The question everyone cared about most was: "Why did you guys fight?"
"He provoked me, is that not allowed?" Hao Leyun couldn't be bothered to find an excuse.
Gu Zhijing added, "How could I let our class monitor fight alone? I went to help, of course."
"Alright, alright. So what did the principal say? Did you get punished? Why didn't Li Yaxin come back?"
"She had other things to deal with. Why are you all so nosy? Are you gossip addicts? The next class is English. You'd better cram some vocabulary while you still can." The English teacher's favorite thing was to randomly call on students to answer questions and recite vocabulary. It was completely random - both who got called and when - making every English class a nerve-wracking experience.
Hearing this, everyone scattered like birds and beasts. Even the juiciest gossip couldn't hold their attention now.
While others stopped gossiping, Qu Zizhou couldn't resist. He wasn't afraid of English class anyway - Zhijing was good at English, and whenever he got called on to answer, he relied on Gu Zhijing's hints.
He brought his phone over to Gu Zhijing and asked, "Zhijing, someone on the confession wall says you fought because of Li Yaxin. Is that true?"
"Are you crazy? Don't you know I've barely even spoken to her?" In fact, he couldn't even clearly remember what Li Yaxin looked like.
"Of course I know that. I'm not the one saying it."
"Then why are you asking?"
Qu Zizhou defended himself, whispering, "Well, I wasn't sure. Look at Ming Yan - he's never talked to Xu Yuan either, but he secretly tried to switch partners for the three-legged race to be with her."
Gu Zhijing snorted, "That's because he's a coward. I'm nothing like him."
-- During English class --
"Qu Zizhou, tell me the meaning of 'submission' from the second paragraph of the text."
"Uh... it means..." Qu Zizhou kept nudging Gu Zhijing's foot under the desk. Usually, Gu Zhijing would give him hints, but today he sat up straight, pretending not to notice.
"If you don't know, just say so. What's the use of kicking Gu Zhijing? Stand up for the rest of the class."
Qu Zizhou had to stand for two consecutive English classes, and he would be called on to answer questions in the next English class too.
That evening at dinner, Qu Zizhou complained to Gu Zhijing, "Why didn't you help me in English class today?!"
"You had time to believe the nonsense gossip on the confession wall, but no time to study?"
"I was wrong, I was wrong. I've already cursed out that person who posted about you. Please help me in tomorrow's English class~"
"What's going on? What gossip did you see?" Chu Mingyan and Qi Anlu were curious about how Qu Zizhou had angered Gu Zhijing.
Qu Zizhou didn't dare say, afraid of angering Gu Zhijing again and losing his help for tomorrow's English class.
He could only secretly pass his phone to the two across from him, letting them see for themselves.
"No wonder Zhijing is angry. This is pure nonsense."
Qi Anlu asked with concern, "Zhijing, I heard the school called your parents. Is everything okay?"
Gu Zhijing shook his head, "What could be wrong? I didn't lay a hand on him. He tripped and fell on his own. Once we explained, they let us go back."
"So was it your dad who came or Aunt Nian?"
"They both came, but my dad didn't have much to do. He just stood there the whole time."
"As long as he didn't scold you, that's good."
Mentioning this, Gu Zhijing clicked his tongue, "Come to think of it, my dad hasn't scolded me in a long time."
"Achoo!"
Gu Junxing, who was driving, sneezed.
"What's wrong? And this doesn't seem to be the way home, does it?"
"Zhijing must be talking about me behind my back, worried I won't buy you a new phone. This is the way to the mall. We're going to buy a phone."
Nian Suian looked down at her phone. Apart from the cracked screen, it could still turn on and wasn't completely broken.
"Just replacing the screen would be fine. It's not ruined."
"I think a new model just came out. Let's get you a new one."
"Alright then." Since Gu Junxing insisted on getting a new one, Nian Suian couldn't refuse. After all, she wasn't the one spending money - might as well accept it.
