Saving the Obsessive Villain Boss [Quick Transmigration] (GL) - Chapter 33

The repeated incidents of theft, truancy, and injury led the homeroom teacher to desperately urge this little troublemaker over the phone to straighten out, nearly talking his mouth dry.

“It’s almost the Gaokao (college entrance exam). Can we please stop causing trouble?”

Shi Qingyi covered one ear with her hand, finally hearing the concluding sentence after a full ten minutes. She quickly nodded and promised, which finally prompted the teacher to hang up.

She wanted to just hang up, but the teacher had been in direct contact with her family. If she hung up, it would be uncertain whether she could return to school anytime soon.

Her family had recently been planning to send her abroad. Since she couldn’t pass the Gaokao anyway, it was better to go early and get some prestige. Her family had long had this intention, and their urgency might be due to the rumors from school reaching them.

Shi Qingyi rubbed her brow, cycled around the vicinity to buy some food, and then returned.

The clinic was hidden in a small alley. Being on the ground floor, the lighting wasn’t great. The dappled morning sun fell on the girl. She was huddled in a corner of the long bench, sipping soy milk in small gulps. Light and shadow shifted on the faded corner of her skirt. Her eyes were cast down, and she looked so quiet and well-behaved that it was heartbreaking.

Perhaps the more docile and weak one is, the more likely they are to be bullied. By the time she became ruthless and unruly later, no one dared to bully her anymore.

Shi Qingyi walked over and snatched the cold bun from her hand. Jiang Zhiyi seemed to be spacing out and was suddenly startled by the action, shrinking back.

She had probably been hit too many times. Shi Qingyi’s heart softened. She walked over and put the hot black rice porridge into her hands: “Eat this.”

The doctor, who was slurping noodles, glanced at the two girls, finished the last sip of noodle soup, and kept his intended advice to himself.

As they walked out, Jiang Zhiyi quietly tugged at her sleeve and offered the rice porridge back: “You eat this. This is hot. I’ll just have the bun.”

The bun bought earlier was long cold. She hadn’t eaten a single bite while waiting for Shi Qingyi to finish her phone call, only having two sips of soy milk because her stomach hurt from hunger.

Shi Qingyi wanted to tap her forehead but stopped her hand when she saw the conspicuous white bandage on her head.

“Are you stupid? This bun is lamb, which is a ‘fire-inducing’ food. Are you still going to eat it?” She took a bite of the bun herself, then pushed the rice porridge back, “Always eating cold food, you’ll get stomach problems eventually. You’ll cry then.”

Who wants to eat cold food? But her family didn’t have extra money for her. She brought her own lunch, but the lunchbox was broken, and the food would be cold by lunchtime. If she didn’t eat, she would starve.

“Mm.” Jiang Zhiyi nodded, secretly taking a sip of the black rice porridge. The taste was very bland and not very sweet, but she felt something spreading from the bottom of her heart. Every mouthful was frighteningly sweet.

She looked so obedient, like a small kitten following behind her, agreeing to everything she said. Shi Qingyi suddenly stopped and reached out, tapping her forehead: “Does it hurt?”

The spot was slightly warm, the residual heat from the applied medicine. Shi Qingyi’s hand was cool, and when it touched her, she shivered slightly. She should have dodged, but she only tilted her neck slightly, handing over both her injury and her very life to Shi Qingyi’s touch.

“You need to be kinder to yourself, you little fool.” The voice sounded like a helpless sigh, but if one listened closely, a subtle hint of affection could be heard.

Her gaze was fervently hot. Shi Qingyi didn’t know why she couldn’t look directly, only pushing aside her hair a little and examining her carefully for a moment. Jiang Zhiyi’s heart was beating exceptionally fast. Just when she thought Shi Qingyi was about to say something, Shi Qingyi spoke.

“Your bangs are too long—”

“……”

Since class had already been skipped and leave had been requested, Jiang Zhiyi was a top student who got in on her own merit, so her grades weren’t a concern. She decisively chose the latter between returning to listen to the math teacher drone on and going out with her crush to relax.

Shi Qingyi’s grades were abysmal, beyond help. She took Jiang Zhiyi to the mall. Since she had her mother’s membership card, she led Jiang Zhiyi to the most expensive salon and pushed her forward: “Give her a new haircut.”

Finally, she touched her forehead and instructed: “Don’t touch the wound.”

This wasn’t a difficult request. The Tony stylist gestured a few times on her head and tentatively asked, “What style do you like, little beauty?”

Jiang Zhiyi secretly tugged at Shi Qingyi’s sleeve, feeling a little nervous.

Her hair used to be cut by an old lady in the alley. Later, she cut it herself. She had never been to a hair salon before.

“Don’t be afraid.” Shi Qingyi comforted her and carefully selected a hairstyle. Finally, she regrettably settled on a student cut. For a senior high school student, long hair was a waste of time. It was more practical to get some extra sleep than to spend time styling it.

“Just this? I think a chestnut color would definitely look good on her hair.” The Tony stylist sighed regretfully, flipped a page to Shi Qingyi, and pointed at a style.

It indeed looked very good and suited her. Shi Qingyi paused slightly. Seeing her silence, Jiang Zhiyi also leaned forward from the chair to look, tilting her head slightly against Shi Qingyi’s shoulder.

“The school doesn’t allow hair dyeing in the senior year,” Shi Qingyi’s jaw moved closer to her temple. The pleasant clean scent carried a hint of bitter medicine, “We’ll dye it later.”

She said we and later. Jiang Zhiyi’s eyes lit up, and she obediently nodded: “Okay.”

We’ll come together later. I’ll dye whatever color you like. As long as you don’t leave me, I’ll listen to everything you say.

Shi Qingyi didn’t understand the deeper meaning of her words, only turning back to stroke her head. She sweetly rubbed up against her hand, like an obedient and soft kitten.

The Tony stylist instantly felt a bit redundant.

Jiang Zhiyi’s bangs were trimmed shorter, revealing the eyes and forehead that had been covered. Perhaps due to the change in hairstyle, her original gloomy demeanor had lessened considerably.

She shared a similar bloodline with Jiang Zhiqing and actually bore a slight resemblance to her, appearing somewhat delicate and pitiful even when she was just quietly looking at someone without speaking. Shi Qingyi noticed for the first time that she even had a widow’s peak.

A widow’s peak, a melon seed face, and big eyes. Aside from her timid expression, she was indeed a little beauty.

For some reason, she felt inexplicably familiar.

She suppressed the strange look in her eyes and led her to buy clothes, but Jiang Zhiyi was absolutely unwilling. She held Shi Qingyi’s hand, not letting go or speaking, just quietly looking at her, her expression uncharacteristically resolute.

Since they couldn’t buy clothes, they could only go back to school. The bicycle couldn’t be carried onto the bus, so Shi Qingyi cycled her back to school. Jiang Zhiyi initially just carefully held her waist, but gradually became bolder, wrapping her arms around her waist, and whispering an excuse in her ear: “It’s so cold…”

How cold could it be in the early autumn morning? Shi Qingyi didn’t bother exposing her lie. The expensive bicycle traveled on the bumpy roads of the urban village, suddenly plunging into a pothole. There was a stumble, but luckily Shi Qingyi’s balance was good, and she managed to stabilize the bike just in time.

Jiang Zhiyi took advantage of the stumble to close the last bit of gap, tightly wrapping her arms around Shi Qingyi’s waist, and quietly resting her chin closer to her shoulder.

Jiang Zhiyi always remembered that day. The wind seemed especially gentle. The leaves of the plane trees by the roadside hadn’t fallen yet. She sat on Shi Qingyi’s back seat, holding her waist, and they rode for a very long, long time.

At one point, she even prayed that the school would never arrive.

That was the first time she had been so close to Shi Qingyi. The girl’s body was soft and warm. For many years later, she always dreamt of that scene: Shi Qingyi taking her through streets and alleys, all the way to the end of their lives…

Unfortunately, good dreams are easily broken and rarely come true.

—

Shi Qingyi was caught and lectured in the office as soon as she returned. She was used to being scolded, so she listened obediently, the words going in one ear and out the other. She was finally released after half an hour of scolding. When she returned, a cup of warm water was already on her desk. Jiang Zhiyi looked at her thoughtfully: “Your throat must hurt, right?”

Shi Qingyi: “……”

She silently took a sip. The poor little thing had luxuriously added sugar to it—a rare treat.

She returned shortly before it was Jiang Zhiyi’s turn. It was another half-class period of heartfelt advice about how she shouldn’t be willful in her senior year, and everything should revolve around studying. Finally, the homeroom teacher looked at her with a complex expression and sighed.

“You are different from Shi Qingyi.”

Jiang Zhiyi’s hands, hidden in her sleeves, suddenly clenched, and her breathing felt momentarily constricted.

They were different. One was born a favored daughter of heaven, living in the clouds. The other was born in the mud, stained by all darkness. Just as Jiang Zhiqing had said, they were not people from the same world.

When she returned, it was math class. Old He was lecturing endlessly on the September monthly exam questions. Shi Qingyi was already asleep. Jiang Zhiyi quietly tiptoed back to her seat, afraid of waking her.

She felt a little disappointed.

When Shi Qingyi came back, she had made sugar water for her. When she returned, Shi Qingyi was asleep.

A disappointed Jiang Zhiyi secretly glanced at the person next to her. After confirming that she was asleep, she quickly took a sip of the sugar water.

“Did the old man scold you?” The person who seemed fast asleep suddenly turned her head to look at her, cocking her head and yawning bonelessly. She had already confessed to the old man that it was her fault. How could Jiang Zhiyi have been scolded?

Jiang Zhiyi, holding the cup, froze for a moment, then quickly shook her head: “You sleep. I’ll write your homework later.”

“Oh.” Shi Qingyi scratched her head, feeling that something was off. In the past, the little pitiful girl would always gather her courage to urge her to study hard. Why was she letting her sleep today?

But she was genuinely sleepy. Other classes were fine, but Old He’s incomprehensible lecture would make her sleepy even if she wasn’t.

After confirming she was asleep, Jiang Zhiyi straightened her back and took another sip of the sugar water. She made the cup of sugar water herself, and drinking the water in her own cup was only right!

Perhaps her guilty yet deliberately righteous manner was too attention-grabbing. Old He pushed up his glasses and pointed at the blackboard: “Come, you stand up and tell us the solution to this problem.”

Top student Jiang Zhiyi: “……”

That day after school, Shi Qingyi left first. Jiang Zhiyi walked behind, secretly watching her.

It had always been like this. She waited for Shi Qingyi to leave first, then followed her silhouette from behind. At that time, she didn’t even dare to walk up and say another word to her, just feeling happy to walk under the same sunset as her.

But there were occasional moments of unhappiness, such as when random male students would stop the tall girl to confess, give gifts, or ask for contact information. She would watch from behind, feeling inadequate and melancholic.

Her mood would be exceptionally bad that day. Shi Qingyi had a striking beauty that couldn’t be hidden. Her cool demeanor only made people more eager to pluck the flower from the high mountain, which was different from Jiang Zhiqing’s delicate beauty that evoked a desire to protect.

Well, she couldn’t blame Shi Qingyi for being beautiful, nor could she blame those people for having good taste like her. She could only blame herself for not having the confidence to step forward and shield her.

The sulky girl was about to take out her notebook to make a note when she suddenly realized she had left something in the classroom.

Later, Jiang Zhiyi always wondered what would have happened if she hadn’t gone back and heard those words. But perhaps fate insisted on her hearing it, on her seeing it. She stood by the back door of the classroom, looking through the dappled sunlight to see the two people embracing inside.

The usually gentle class monitor, Song Zhiming, was leaning against the window. The fingers that habitually held a pen skillfully held a cigarette. Smoke curled up in the sunlight. Beside him was Deng Sisi, sitting on a desk.

She had an unnoticeable perm that showed a hint of dazzling gold in the sunset. She didn’t have Shi Qingyi’s courage to dye her hair bright gold but was unwilling to be inferior.

“What about that six hundred yuan? That’s a month’s worth of my allowance. I was going to buy the new lipstick. It was all your rotten idea.”

The girl’s voice was filled with complaint, yet it sounded like a mere whine, as she meticulously traced her lipstick with a small mirror in her hand.

Song Zhiming slowly exhaled a smoke ring, flicking the ash with his ring finger: “What’s the rush? It’s just six hundred yuan. Look at Shi Qingyi’s necklace. It’s at least three million yuan, and she didn’t say anything.”

Deng Sisi snorted, her voice unconsciously filled with envy: “How can I compare with her? But that necklace of hers is really beautiful.”

“Of course it’s beautiful? It’s worth millions,” Song Zhiming scoffed, “I originally planned to find a random piece to replace it, but I was afraid she’d act stubborn and fight back, so I had it broken. She lost millions but didn’t dare to speak up. I think she might actually be a lesbian, otherwise, why would she protect that little b1tch Jiang Zhiyi so much?”

“Disgusting,” Deng Sisi frowned in distaste, “What are they saying at school? This was almost a police matter. Didn’t your uncle say that the recommendation spot was between you and Jiang Zhiyi? With such a big incident, her chance is gone, right?”

“I don’t know what will happen yet. My uncle only hinted at it. But causing such a big scene will definitely have an impact.” The cigarette had burned down. Song Zhiming tossed it and lowered his head to kiss the girl’s lips.

Deng Sisi tilted her head up slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck. The two quickly kissed. Song Zhiming reached out his hand, moving down Deng Sisi’s waist and under her school uniform to fondle her.

Jiang Zhiyi stood outside the classroom, suddenly feeling the bl00d in her body turn cold. She raised her head in a daze.

It was clearly around five or six in the evening, and the sunset was gentle, yet she suddenly felt a chilling shiver.

The tiny necklace still hidden on her neck had a crack—a fissure that could never be mended.

—

Outside the school, Shi Qingyi was sucking on a piece of candy and looking at her phone, occasionally glancing towards the school. The basket in front of her bicycle was filled with many candies of various colors. The plastic wrappers glittered in the sunset.

She leaned against her bicycle, looking toward the school, and talked to the system out of boredom: “Why isn’t she out yet?”