Chapter 557: Chapter 546: Did I Block Your Way, or Did I Offend You?
After this incident, during mealtime, Shen Hua slipped the heavy gold bracelet onto the wrist of Xu Qingqing, the most inconspicuous girl at the academy who could not refuse the gift, and everyone saw it and envied her, whether they admitted it or not.
Zhang Qiu pulled at her handkerchief, full of anger.
She used to speak ill of Shen Hua behind her back, simply because she didn’t dare to provoke her, but Zhou Zhizhi—she was not afraid of her.
At this moment, who could still care about eating? Zhang Qiu walked swiftly over.
"Really bold of you, Zhou Zhizhi, you still have the appetite?"
"Not to mention anything else, Mr. Xue adores you the most among all the students. Now it seems, he has raised an ingrate."
The girls whispered among themselves and suddenly all turned to look with curiosity.
This statement was true.
Mr. Xue indeed cared for her the most.
But... isn’t that expected?
She is the most outstanding little girl in the female college.
Wouldn’t it be unreasonable for Mr. Xue not to treat her well!
It was only the old man who was confused, treating everyone equally, even cheerful with the ignorant Shen Hua every time.
Moreover...
Zhou Zhizhi was sensitive, feeling that the old man liked Shen Hua a bit more. Every time the old man praised her, it was merely a teacher expressing his approval and satisfaction with a student. But every time he scolded Shen Hua, it carried an unspeakable affection, like an elder reluctantly chiding a mischievous junior.
She thought, surely the Shen Family must have given the old man many benefits.
Otherwise, why would he bother with a difficult girl like Shen Hua?
Under everyone’s scrutiny, Zhou Zhizhi’s eyes reddened. She choked up, saying: "I... I believe the teacher is innocent, and I trust the County Magistrate can see through to the truth."
"Ah Qiao, today’s incident has affected you, and I must apologize right here. Had I known earlier the ink would lead to so much trouble, I would have thrown it away and never mentioned it."
She dabbed at the tear that was about to fall from her eye with the handkerchief.
"Anyway, it was my mistake. Can you not hold it against me?"
In the past, as much as Zhang Qiu admired her, now she despised her equally.
She finally understood why Zheng Qianyu privately called Zhou Zhizhi ’Little White Lotus’!
Crying for what! Did she bully Zhou Zhizhi?
And what’s this about ’as if throwing it away’?
Zhang Qiu sneered, saying if Shen Hua was the undisputed tyrant of the female college, then she was the one constantly suppressed as the second tyrant.
She declared on the spot.
"From today onwards, whoever befriends Zhou Zhizhi is making an enemy of me, Zhang Qiu."
Immediately, someone echoed her sentiment.
"I don’t want to speak another word to her. Playing the victim, if it weren’t for Shen Hua’s luck, who knows how she would have been wrongly accused by now."
"Exactly, if it were me, I’d be too scared to do anything but nod in agreement to avoid being expelled from the academy."
"Zhou Zhizhi as well, how can she eat so heartily. As if she hasn’t eaten in several lifetimes, truly heartless, I think she’s mostly pretentious normally."
Even some people began to take this seriously, bringing up other matters.
"Now that I think about it, everything seems suspicious. Last year during Shen Hua’s birthday, she was dressed extremely beautifully, her skirt and jewelry were so expensive, and even her hair was styled exquisitely, do you remember?"
How could they forget.
They were so jealous at the time.
But it wasn’t unexpected.
Jealousy aside, with aesthetic appreciation intact, after all, being girls of similar age, even if they didn’t say it out loud, they couldn’t help but praise her inwardly.
What did Zhou Zhizhi say at that time.
—Luxurious and indulgent, so many poor people in the world suffer hardships. She really shouldn’t, if I were Shen Hua, I’d use these to aid the people.
Back then, they thought Zhou Zhizhi was so selfless!
Now, they just find it shameful.
At that moment, someone said.
"The Shen Family is rich, what’s wrong with her wearing gold and silver, eating snacks that cost ten taels or fifty taels each? Is she blocking your way or hindering you? Is it a crime now to come from a wealthy family?"
Zhang Qiu sneered: "You can’t blame her for that. Who asked her family to be poor, it’s just a matter of speaking up."
"And I thought she was so noble."
Zhou Zhizhi was dumbfounded.
She had already lowered herself, why won’t Zhang Qiu let her go?
Her eyes brimmed with tears. Subconsciously, she looked for Ah Qiao, who had always been closest to her.
However, due to the incident on the street last time, Ah Qiao harbored a grudge against her and turned away, conversing with someone else.
Zheng Qianyu was watching with keen interest.
"What a scene!"
"That Little White Lotus was so pretentious earlier; now she’s getting her comeuppance."
Shen Hua watched with great interest.
It was always like this in this world.
Zhou Zhizhi had gone through so much trouble to be lifted high, and now falling down took but a moment.
The intriguing part, however, was this:
When a person stands at their highest, everyone’s expectations and demands of her exceed those of ordinary people.
In the eyes of outsiders, even a slight flaw in such a person might lead to nitpicking every aspect of her. Therefore, Zhou Zhizhi could not afford to make any mistakes; the slightest slip could plunge her into an abyss.
But, on the contrary, if such a thing were to happen to Shen Hua.
What of eating? No one would care.
Because, that’s typical of Shen Hua; nothing surprising.
Zhou Zhizhi had to be flawless, she could not afford to be mediocre.
Shen Hua was flawed, but any slight good in her would cause a sensation and receive praise.
So after encountering such an event, everyone subconsciously thought:
Shen Hua, a person who never suffers the slightest loss, how could she encounter these things?
"Why aren’t you talking?"
Zheng Qianyu: "What mischief are you thinking of now?"
"Just thinking of a line from an opera, full of melancholy and misery."
"What line?"
Shen Hua slowly: "Seeing him build his high tower, seeing him host his guests, seeing his destruction."
————
This place was quite far from the hall, and the quarrels of the girls were isolated.
Cui Yun’s cold voice methodically spoke.
"So, the paint that the Zhou Family girls originally took to the back hill, was it you who seized the opportunity to trap Shen Hua back in the hall?"
Mr. Xue still didn’t dare to rise. The taut string had completely snapped.
"So what if it was!"
"She has neither talent nor virtue; she shouldn’t stay in Chengde Academy!"
He had never considered the appearance of Cui Yun, resulting in consequences he couldn’t bear.
He merely wanted to teach Shen Hua a lesson, to keep her strictly compliant.
Keeping her close was also a way to vent his frustration.
However, Shen Hua stubbornly refused to admit it.
Her defiant demeanor was loathsome.
He then harbored the thought of driving her away, to avoid discomfort every time he saw her.
This statement changed the expressions of the three people in the room.
Cui Yun sneered at him contemptuously.
Shen Zhi looked furious.
"I haven’t even approached the Xue Family, and yet you come to me."
"It’s laughable how the Xue Family dares to act this way in front of me!"
Though it wasn’t in a public courthouse, Shen Zhi knelt before County Magistrate Liu.
"My daughter Yangyang is just an innocent eight-year-old girl, and Mr. Xue falsely poses as a teacher and misleads the youth. Through his malicious deeds, the Shen Family will never reconcile."
"What do you know?"
Mr. Xue, no longer caring that County Magistrate Liu was present, burst out cursing.
"Your Shen Family is a den of rats; how many of you are good!"
"What about Shen Wei? Does he not have the face to show up?"
