CHAPTER 185: 184: CATCHING IN THE ACT (THIRD UPDATE)

Xiang Weilai had his hands in his pockets, his usually smiling eyes now lost their gleam. He frowned at the girl in front of him. He knew she was Liu Rui’s classmate in first-year high school, from Ye Ling’s class.

What he didn’t expect was that she stopped him today to deliver a love letter.

"You know I’m taking the college entrance exam this year, right?" Xiang Weilai asked her blandly.

Ji Hong, seeing that he didn’t directly refuse, lifted her head excitedly. Her broad face would be considered beautiful in this era. She nodded with a flushed face, "I know."

"Then why still write me a love letter?" Xiang Weilai reckoned that the girl in front of him was either brainless or her mind was filled with fluff.

He’d be leaving school right after the exam, yet she wrote him a love letter. Was she thinking of starting a relationship only to maintain a long-distance connection afterwards?

With that thought, Xiang Weilai found it even more amusing. On what grounds did this girl think he’d maintain a distant connection with her? Her arrogance?

In a school with so few people, Xiang Weilai knew a bit about the girl. He didn’t know her name but knew she was haughty, with people in her grade backing her. She belonged to her own faction, and it was heard her family was in business, doing well. Her attire showed that too.

However, to a child coming from the compound, they naturally carried a superiority that ordinary kids couldn’t match since childhood. The facilities and the people they interacted with in the compound were superior to those ordinary kids. So, the superiority Ji Hong assumed she had looked like a flea to Xiang Weilai, hopping around like a clown. He never looked up to her.

Ji Hong hadn’t grasped the meaning behind Xiang Weilai’s question yet, and she stared at him blankly. Seeing her like this, Xiang Weilai inexplicably thought of Ye Ling. If Ye Ling heard him say this, she’d immediately understand his implication—he was calling her stupid, and her actions equally foolish. She wouldn’t be as confused as the girl in front of him.

However, Xiang Weilai couldn’t help but laugh again. Had it been Ye Ling, she wouldn’t have done such a thing. Someone as clever as Ye Ling wouldn’t do something so dumb.

"Keep your love letter; you can save it for someone else." Xiang Weilai glanced at her and walked away languidly.

This left Ji Hong standing in the wind, feeling chaotic. It was only then that Ji Hong realized what was wrong. Her face drained of its earlier redness, turning white, and then red again out of embarrassment. Xiang Weilai looked down on her.

That was the only thought in her head.

Yes, she had liked him since she saw Xiang Weilai right after enrolling. He had a peculiar laziness about him that left her unable to forget him. With him about to take his college entrance exam and leave, she mustered the courage to write a love letter, only to be rejected on the spot.

She had always known that compound kids were proud. Despite being from the countryside, she assumed with her family’s decent status—almost comparable to city kids—she had the courage to write Xiang Weilai a love letter, only to be looked down on.

Ji Hong hadn’t faced setbacks since she was young. Her family was well-off when she was in the village, making other kids envy her—none had better clothes or food than she. She studied well and was admitted to high school directly, becoming like a golden phoenix flying out of her mountain home. But when she got to the city for high school, things changed. First, Ye Ling rejected her on registration day. Then she realized that city people always acted superior. Ji Hong only regained her sense of superiority through clothes and money.

After so much effort, she realized she was nothing but a joke. Being from the countryside was inescapable; no matter the change, deep down, others still looked down on her.

At this moment, Ji Hong pondered if Xiang Weilai would reject her if she were from the city.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Ji Hong snapped back to reality, her face changed instantly, turning quickly to see Ye Ling approaching with books. Ji Hong stood on the small path leading to the campus on one side and the dorms on the other. Few people walked here usually, but Xiang Weilai and those from the compound liked to use it. This was where Ji Hong intercepted Xiang Weilai, only now Ye Ling appeared.

Did she see what happened just now?

Ji Hong’s face went pale as Ye Ling walked by. Ji Hong clearly saw Ye Ling’s disdainful expression. She wondered if Ye Ling witnessed everything. "If you dare spread this, don’t blame me for being rude."

Ye Ling stopped, looked around, confirmed Ji Hong was talking to her, and turned to face her. "Are you out of your mind?"

She just walked by, and suddenly Ji Hong blurted a threat. Couldn’t it be some secretive act she got caught doing? Her eyes landed on the envelope in Ji Hong’s hand.

Ji Hong shamefully hid the envelope behind her back. "Ye Ling, don’t pretend. You know what happened. I’m leaving this here today. We’ll see."

"Madwoman." Ye Ling replied, walking towards the dorms with her books.

She did nothing wrong, eager to see what Ji Hong could do. The next day, during self-study, Ye Ling was called to the office by the homeroom teacher. A love letter was slapped in front of her.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Ji Zhongjun slammed his hand violently on the table.

Ye Ling, confused, walked over and glanced at the paper filled with writing. Realizing it was a love letter, she couldn’t figure out what it had to do with her. "Mr. Ji, I don’t understand what this has to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?" Ji Zhongjun’s face grew darker. "Ye Ling, you’ve always been a good student. I wanted to give you a chance to come clean privately out of respect. Seeing that you won’t take that chance, don’t blame me for embarrassing you in front of so many teachers."

The teachers of the entire grade shared a large office. When Ji Zhongjun slammed the table earlier, everyone looked over. With Ji Zhongjun’s words, they were puzzled. Ye Ling had always been a good student, solitary. What could this be about? Yet they all looked curiously at her.

But Ye Ling wasn’t afraid. "In that case, please go ahead, teachers. I’m curious too. You called me here and slapped this in front of me. Are you suggesting I wrote this love letter? Just from the handwriting alone, you can tell it’s not mine." (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to qidian.com to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets, and your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)