Chapter 22: If I Go Bald, Will You Still Love Me? (22)

Gu Yue returned only after the group had left the dormitory where the incident had occurred. When he heard from Bu Zhongyao that Bai Yao was planning to go to the cafeteria, he spoke in a tone difficult to decipher, “Do you really think this method will work?”

Bu Zhongyao looked at Xuanyuan Mo. “Do you really think this will work?”

Xuanyuan Mo glanced at Bai Yao, who was walking ahead, hand in hand with Shen Ji. The two were engrossed in an animated conversation about what they would have for breakfast the next morning. He withdrew his gaze and replied, “We’ll know once we try.”

So Bu Zhongyao relayed the same answer to Gu Yue. “We’ll know once we try.”

Gu Yue pursed his lips in dissatisfaction.

Like many other boys, Gu Yue didn’t like Xuanyuan Mo. Xuanyuan Mo always wore an aloof, reticent expression, as though no one else could measure up to him.

Yet, Xuanyuan Mo was extremely popular among the girls. He was, without question, their favorite, and Gu Yue had always found himself overshadowed by him.

Bu Zhongyao asked, “Did the dorm manager catch you? You took quite a while to get back.”

Gu Yue’s mind immediately recalled what Wei had said earlier. He suddenly didn’t dare look at Bu Zhongyao and merely grunted a vague reply, tacitly confirming her suspicion.

There was some distance from the boys’ dormitory to the cafeteria. Although dusk had fallen, the summer sun was still fierce and hot.

Shen Ji, taking the initiative, rummaged through Bai Yao’s bag and pulled out a folding sunshade. He opened it and held it above her head, shielding her from the blazing sunlight.

Bai Yao clung to his arm. Suddenly, she remembered that they would be graduating next year, and there wouldn’t be many more opportunities to walk the campus together like this. Curiously, she asked, “Shen Ji, where do you want to go after graduation?”

Shen Ji’s expression turned peculiar, and for a moment, he didn’t reply.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Yao asked, feeling puzzled.

With his head lowered, Shen Ji spoke softly, “You can leave once you graduate, Yao Yao. But I can’t leave.”

Bai Yao tilted her head at him. Noticing his downcast look, a kind of unfamiliar vulnerability in his eyes for the first time, she reached out to touch his face. “That’s why I keep telling you to study hard. If you don’t, you won’t be able to graduate.”

Shen Ji pressed his lips together and said nothing.

“It’s all right,” Bai Yao said, holding his hand, her eyes crinkling with a sweet smile. “I can wait for you.”

Shen Ji lifted his gaze slightly and returned a gentle smile. “Okay.”

Beneath the sunlight, the group of young men and women bustled with their own lively energy.

Lu Zhi Zhi stood under a nearby tree. She saw Bai Yao and Shen Ji, as well as Bu Zhongyao and Gu Yue, and the most handsome boy in school, Xuanyuan Mo. Why, she wondered, were the best boys in school always walking with those two girls who bullied others?

The longer Lu Zhi Zhi stayed at this school, the stronger the troubling confusion grew within her.

She had nothing in common with her classmates, couldn’t fit in with them. She’d thought that her family’s sudden fortune would make her superior to many. After all, her old classmates had always envied her, and some boys had secret crushes on her. She was good-looking and did well academically; both teachers and students liked her.

But here, she was nothing.

She wanted to tell everyone that people like Bai Yao and Bu Zhongyao were in the wrong. If everyone stood together against injustice, neither Bai Yao nor Bu Zhongyao would be able to lord it over the school.

But her classmates called her crazy.

Lu Zhi Zhi had once summoned her courage to approach Lu Xiaoran from her class, speaking earnestly, “Bai Yao never saw you as a friend. All people are born equal; you don’t have to bow and scrape before her. No matter how much you try to please her, she’ll always see you as nothing more than a lackey. Xiaoran, if you just have a little courage, you can stand up to Bai Yao and stop her from bullying you.”

Lu Xiaoran only replied, “Are you sick?”

In this school, Lu Xiaoran’s family background wasn’t impressive, but with just a few kind words, she could gain all sorts of benefits from Bai Yao. If Bai Yao so much as mentioned it, her family’s business would flourish.

More importantly, since Lu Xiaoran had started hanging out with Bai Yao, no one dared to bully her because of her family background anymore.

If flattering Bai Yao every day made her Bai Yao’s lackey, then Lu Xiaoran was happy to do it. After all, Bai Yao was easy to please. All Lu Xiaoran had to do was praise Bai Yao as the most beautiful girl in the world and marvel at her and her boyfriend’s fairy-tale romance.

Lu Zhi Zhi sighed inwardly at Lu Xiaoran’s “slave mentality.” “Why is it that none of you dare defy Bai Yao? In the end, she’s just rich. If we all stand together...”

Lu Xiaoran finally understood why the new girl didn’t fit in. She laughed impatiently, “You’re really funny. Just mind your own business. That’s all you need to do in this school.”

Lu Zhi Zhi thought, everyone in this school had become accustomed to being ruled by the wicked. If nothing changed, more and more people like her would be bullied.

Standing in the shade, watching Bai Yao and her group disappear from sight, the feeling in her heart only grew stronger. People like Bai Yao and Bu Zhongyao didn’t deserve to be adored like stars in the sky. For the sake of everyone too afraid to resist, she had to find a way to change things at this school.

Lu Zhi Zhi looked at her phone. There was a message she’d received not long ago.

Wei: [I’ve found some new information about the rumored art room that can grant wishes. Are you interested?]

Lu Zhi Zhi: [Yes.]

The cafeteria doors were left open. The group slipped into the kitchen, and sure enough, among the food waste, they found animal entrails.

Bai Yao pulled Shen Ji aside—she didn’t want him picking up any strange odors.

Since it was Bu Zhongyao and Xuanyuan Mo who’d had the nightmares, it was only natural that they should do the work. Bu Zhongyao, a pampered young lady, found touching such things torturous. Xuanyuan Mo, always a man of action, didn’t want to touch it either, but his expression remained unchanged as he rummaged through the bins.

Bu Zhongyao held her breath and was just about to reach in when Gu Yue shoved her aside and started digging through the trash himself, his face twisted in distaste.

Bu Zhongyao spoke up in surprise. “Gu Yue, this is my problem.”

Without even looking up, Gu Yue replied, “I’m not the kind of guy who’d stand by and watch his girlfriend dig through the garbage.”

Bu Zhongyao’s face flushed red.