CHAPTER 19: CHAPTER 19 DILEMMA

"School? Haven’t taken the exams yet, don’t know," Sui Yi said as he slid a fountain pen into his book cover, while pulling out another pen he had clipped there.

"Ha, what school could you possibly get into?" Some of the other students with similarly poor grades mocked Sui Yi’s composure.

They just couldn’t stand Sui Yi! It was bad enough that his grades were poor, but to act so proudly alone, what the hell!

One of them sneered even more, "Even if you get in, it might not be a good thing... Going to college costs money."

Money, that was something even scarcer for Sui Yi than good grades.

Sui Yi turned his head to look at the person who was speaking. He remembered him.

Zhang Yang, the well-known delinquent of Class Two in the second year, had been proclaiming since the first year that "it’s better to mess around than to study hard, I’m going to start a business after I graduate."

But two years had passed, and Sui Yi had repeatedly seen this guy being ordered out of the school by the homeroom teacher, only to see him return and doze off in the classroom again and again.

It was somewhat tiresome to watch, but also somewhat amusing.

Zhang Yang was a rogue, a bad boy, not bad-looking, and that probably gave most girls the impulse to get close to him, but they absolutely wouldn’t dare to associate with him in public. So Ye Anan and the others took several steps back.

"Yo, you actually brought books home? Want to study seriously?" Zhang Yang chuckled, approaching Sui Yi with a teasing tone, "Hey Sui Yi, why pretend to be a good student... your grades aren’t that great, either. After graduation, just hang out with me, I guarantee you’ll have a much easier life than now, struggling to make ends meet."

A few of the boys surrounded Sui Yi.

Seeing this, Ye Anan grew anxious, but her friends held her back. Her eyes reddened, and she muttered weakly, stopping in her tracks.

From the crowd, at The Gate, Lin Chuxiao and his group sneered.

Heh, it’s Sui Yi! Caught by Zhang Yang? Makes sense, Sui Yi is good-looking and has no backup, it’s quite normal for these Second Rates to cling to him. That he held them off till now is already a miracle.

"Heh, Sui Yi, I’m actually quite nice to you, why are you so afraid of me!" Zhang Yang had already crossed his arms, ready to sling one around Sui Yi’s shoulder.

Sui Yi frowned, pivoted her foot, and moved his hand aside, gently pushing away Zhang Yang’s approaching right wrist and said softly, "I’m not pretending... I’m a student, after all. But are you sure you want to trouble me?"

Zhang Yang faced Sui Yi, and to be honest, their group wasn’t too different from Sui Yi in terms of their circumstances—they all came from dysfunctional families, already abandoned by the future.

But among them, Sui Yi stood out, always seeming studious and neat, even when wearing the plain uniform, which was always simple and understated. Even with poor grades, she always appeared calm and collected.

Such a person was perhaps envied by them but also intensely loathed.

How could she maintain such a life? Shouldn’t she be like them, corrupted, regarded by everyone as a scourge?

And where did her tuition fees come from?

She always slipped away as soon as class ended, never participating in group activities, shunning warmth from others, always alone.

Working a job? She never even skipped class.

No, today she did.

After coming back, however, she had changed into such nice clothes and suddenly had money.

What other situation could there be?

Zhang Yang felt society was truly fucking hilarious!

Laugh at the poor, not the prostitute, but someone who has both poverty and prostitution yet still appears so clean on the surface, Sui Yi was indeed an oddity.

"A student? Sui Yi, you must’ve sold yourself last night! Otherwise, where did the new clothes and money come from? Don’t think you’re any better than us! Bullshit, I don’t buy your act at all!"

Zhang Yang spit fiercely on the ground, while the other male students jeered and laughed coldly along.

"New clothes? I just realized, Sui Yi, that even if your outfit’s a knockoff, it still must’ve cost three or four hundred. I’m curious, you can’t even afford tuition fees, so buying this outfit is really strange..."

The sharp female voice was grating.

Qian Fengling had been watching at The Gate for a while and finally found the opportunity to strike back at Sui Yi. She smiled innocently while her eyes brimmed with the deepest scorn.

Students at The Gate made a commotion, and so did the people at the store’s entrance!

Ye Anan looked on dazedly at Sui Yi.

Was she really that kind of person?

"Sell," that word, sounded so filthy and sordid within the school, like a Demon that had scurried out from the filthiest part of a toilet, devouring all their innocence.

It also tainted the little good will that many held towards Sui Yi.

Jeering gazes brimmed with derision, pressing in from all around.

The besieged Sui Yi gathered her books and uniform in her arms and withdrew a pen from within her book, turning her body to the side, she reached out, her fingertips gripping the pen cap, and handed it to someone who had just walked through the store entrance. That person was about to speak, but Sui Yi beat them to it.

"Thank you for your pen, here it is back."

Yhan Qingwu’s eyes flicked with emotion but she did not accept it, merely saying softly, "Consider it compensation for my previous rudeness, or perhaps you can see it as a gift for our first day as deskmates."

Sui Yi glanced at her and saw not a trace of contempt in her eyes, only a bright, mirror-like shine reflecting her own face.

She felt a surge of interest, the corners of her mouth tugging into a faint smile.

To be deskmates with someone like her, Yhan Qingwu either saw her as insignificant as dust, or held her in too high regard.

The crowd was skeptical, especially Lin Chuxiao and others, who were completely shocked by Yhan Qingwu’s sudden friendly gesture towards Sui Yi!

Especially Qian Fengling, whose face looked very unpleasant,

But the ones with the most unpleasant faces were Zhang Yang and the rest of the delinquents.

Yhan Qingwu was someone they did not dare to provoke, even though they longed to, even if it was just a slight touch.

There she stood among them, next to Sui Yi, and yet somehow they looked compatible.

It was as if they were meant to be of the same kind all along.

"Yhan..." Qian Fengling wanted to speak but was interrupted by a sudden shout.

"Sui Yi!!!!!!"

A student, clutching his books, rode a mountain bike down the slide rail in a dashing pose, landed, and skidded around the corner with a snap! The thin tire screeched against the ground, his long leg planted firmly, he flung the messenger bag over his waist, his hair flying, his handsome and sunny face breaking into a smile, his teeth white as snow.

He soared past the students and appeared before her and Yhan Qingwu.

"Sui Yi, get on, I’ll take you home!"

His tone was as if they were very familiar with each other.

For a moment, Sui Yi was somewhat silent, and Yhan Qingwu also raised an eyebrow slightly.

Hmm, did these two really know each other?

"It’s Yu Hang!"

"How does he know Sui Yi..."

Sui Yi looked at Yu Hang and indeed saw the drastic change in expression on Lin Chuxiao’s group, sighed softly, tapped the bike’s head with her finger, and said to Yu Hang, "No need, thank you."

She had barely finished speaking when she frowned, her gaze resting on the main road in front of the school gate, where there were a few young people dressed in fairly flashy clothes.

They sauntered over, brimming with raw, ruffian charm, their presence alone frightening.

They were walking towards them.

No, rather, one of the young men with a cold face was heading towards Sui Yi.

Sui Yi’s heart skipped a beat. She walked forward a few steps, bypassing him, "Over here."

The young man was momentarily taken aback, glancing at Yu Hang and the others’ peculiar expressions—these were all students...

He almost forgot that Sui Yi was also a student.

With a frown, he followed Sui Yi and stopped a dozen steps away. Sui Yi turned her head, "What’s happening?"

"There’s a problem with our place... they say they’re going to redevelop the road..."

"Redevelop the road?" Sui Yi honestly hadn’t noticed such a policy recently, but this was definitely not good news.

"And then?"

The young man’s face darkened, his voice low, "Normally, this would be good news, residents could get a large compensation payout, but... we are all tenants, even after living there for over a decade, we are still tenants. Now the landlord, Boss Tian, has ordered us to move out of the building within two days, otherwise..."

They would naturally resort to violence to force them out!

Sui Yi’s brows locked tightly in an instant. Two days? Enough time to move, but where to?