Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Reaping the Bitter Fruit
Qin Fangmei and two of her male classmates were hiding outside Shen Ningning’s quarters.
They watched as Ren Yu left the room.
Qin Fangmei whispered, "We can go now. Ren Yu went to eat and won’t be back for at least an hour."
She had just taken a step forward when one of the male classmates behind her grabbed her sleeve.
He looked hesitant. "Are we... really going to search Shen Xuezhi’s room? This doesn’t feel right."
"Yeah," the other student said. "Even if we go, shouldn’t we get Shen Xuezhi’s permission first?"
Qin Fangmei was displeased, inwardly cursing the two of them. ’Idiots.’
But she feigned a righteous tone. "We’re not going to steal anything. We’re just confirming if Ningning has any other food. If she does, we can have her share it with everyone."
"Didn’t you two agree to this before we came? If you don’t want to go, fine. You can leave. When Ningning gets back, I’ll tell her that it was your idea to search her room!"
The two male students’ faces fell. "Don’t! We’ll go take a look. If there’s no food, we’ll come right back out."
They didn’t want to rummage through her things, but they were simply starving.
They had been swayed after hearing Qin Fangmei say how generous Shen Ningning was, giving her female classmates an entire bucket of food.
Qin Fangmei led them furtively into the loft.
Just then, Lu Shaoyuan was passing by and saw them, his brow furrowing.
Inside the loft, Qin Fangmei and her companions crept up to the second floor.
Sure enough, Shen Ningning wasn’t there.
The two male students immediately spotted five or six red fruits on the table.
Their eyes lit up. "There really is food!"
But that wasn’t what Qin Fangmei was after.
She walked toward Shen Ningning’s bed. Just as she was about to secretly place a poisonous bug she had captured onto the pillow, an angry shout came from behind—
"What are you doing!"
Startled, Qin Fangmei’s hand trembled, and the poisonous bug in the small box fell onto her instep, biting her fiercely.
It was excruciatingly painful, even through her sock!
She stomped her foot, crushing the poisonous bug and causing a thick, green fluid to ooze out.
Lu Shaoyuan didn’t notice the bug at her feet. He glared at them in fury. "You’re actually stealing! Come with me to see the teacher!"
「Night fell, a dark moon hanging in the sky.」
Mr. Huang stood outside Shen Ningning’s room with the housekeeper and several torch-bearing villa servants.
The two male students were kneeling on the ground, crying in terror.
"Teacher, we were wrong. We were just so hungry and thought there was food in Shen Xuezhi’s room, so we rashly broke in."
The other students gathered nearby, pointing and whispering.
Mr. Huang wore a stern expression. "No matter how hungry you are, what’s the difference between breaking into someone’s home without permission and being a thief?"
"I teach you the Four Books and Five Classics, and this is what you take from it? When we return, I will write letters of expulsion and send them to your respective homes!"
Expulsion?!
Terrified, the two students repeatedly begged for mercy and admitted their mistake.
Qin Fangmei, however, was not afraid.
She knew Landlord Du would protect her. ’If it weren’t for getting revenge on Shen Ningning, I would never have come to a private school in this tiny little county!’
’Besides, it’s a fact that Shen Ningning was hoarding fruit for herself.’
’If it was wrong for me to eat the pigeon, then how is it right for Shen Ningning to eat fruit behind everyone’s back?!’
’She has food but doesn’t share it, and she still pretends to be so generous? What a phony!’
Ignoring the pain in her instep, Qin Fangmei’s eyes darted about as she schemed.
"But Teacher, they went in to find food. I, on the other hand, went in because I was worried about Ningning’s safety."
"Ningning hadn’t appeared for a long time, so I was afraid she’d had some kind of accident."
Mr. Huang paused, his brow furrowed.
It was almost 7 p.m., and Shen Ningning still hadn’t returned.
He looked at Ren Yu. "Do you know where Shen Xuezhi went?"
Ren Yu shook his head. "I don’t know. She didn’t say."
Standing beside him, Qin Fangmei sobbed and wiped away her tears.
"Teacher, could Ningning have done something rash? What if she went into the mountains to find food and had an accident?"
Mr. Huang, sensing the gravity of the situation, quickly had the Protectors search the villa grounds, calling out Shen Ningning’s name.
Before long, everyone returned to Mr. Huang’s side one by one.
They all said they hadn’t seen the little girl.
Just then, a noisy clamor erupted in the distance.
The Mountain Villa Steward was taken aback. "What’s going on?"
Mr. Huang said, "Go and see!"
Arriving at the front courtyard, Lu Shaoyuan spotted a familiar little figure and immediately shouted with delight, "Shen Ningning’s back!"
Everyone looked toward the entrance to see the little girl walking toward them, using her clothes as a makeshift bag to carry a bundle of yellow fruits.
Not only that, but she was followed by a troop of monkeys, each one also holding fruit.
The students were amazed, but they stood at a distance, not daring to approach.
When Shen Ningning saw Mr. Huang, she beamed. "Teacher, I found food!"
She had walked for a full hour, round trip. Her dark hair, damp with sweat, clung to her fair cheeks, making her eyes look exceptionally bright and sparkling.
They shone like the morning star in the night sky.
Mr. Huang rushed forward eagerly. "Shen Xuezhi, this... where did you find all of this?"
Shen Ningning’s voice was soft and gentle. "I went to the back mountain this afternoon, hoping to find some food for everyone."
"But there were no wild vegetables to be found for miles around. Luckily, I met a group of kind little monkeys, and they led me to the fruit!"
With that, she emptied all the yellow fruits from the fold of her clothes.
The little monkeys behind her also began placing the fruits they had brought down beside her, one after another.
The lead monkey chittered twice at Shen Ningning, then led the troop away.
The sight left everyone present completely dumbfounded.
"Shen Xuezhi can actually command monkeys to find food for her?"
"It’s more than that. My relative knows someone from Xiangyun Village. I heard she can communicate with wolf packs and was even raised by wolves!"
"She’s really something else!"
Shen Ningning maintained her sweet, gentle smile, her dimples showing faintly.
’Thank goodness for this troop of monkeys.’
’They said that while they couldn’t help me get off the mountain, they could help with the food shortage.’
’So, they led me to a grove of wild trees where the troop often foraged, which was covered in yellow fruit.’
’The yellow fruits, also called sand fruits, were juicy but not very sweet. Still, they were definitely enough to fill a stomach.’
’And there were plenty of them, though they were small due to the lack of water.’
’To thank the little monkeys, I used some Spiritual Spring Water to water the sand fruit trees for them.’
Mr. Huang made a rough estimate.
Shen Ningning had brought back around two hundred fruits!
It would be enough to last them for two days, no problem.
The Mountain Villa Steward was so overjoyed he almost cried.
"Teacher, this Shen Xuezhi has been a tremendous help!"
Mr. Huang, however, looked apologetic. "Shen Xuezhi, just now, Student Qin and the others were looking for food in your room. That was without your permission, I presume?"
’Shen Ningning had braved the scorching sun to bring back so much food.’
’And they had the audacity to break into her room. It was completely out of line!’
After Mr. Huang spoke, Shen Ningning’s gaze shifted to Qin Fangmei.
Sure enough, she saw Qin Fangmei’s eyes dart away guiltily.
Shen Ningning calmly wiped the sweat from her forehead.
"Teacher, please deal with them according to the rules. I have nothing more to say on the matter."
The little girl couldn’t be bothered to say another word to Qin Fangmei.
Her tone was completely different from before. Although still gentle, it was merciless, causing Qin Fangmei to shiver involuntarily.
"Ningning, how can you be like this? I only went in with them because I was worried about your safety," Qin Fangmei sobbed, wiping her tears.
Before Shen Ningning could speak, Lu Shaoyuan stepped forward, his tone cold and severe. "Stop putting on an act. If you hadn’t eaten the carrier pigeon, we could have called for help long ago."
"Not only do you refuse to repent, you’re still out here stirring up trouble. Mr. Huang, I’d say you didn’t strike her hands nearly hard enough!"
Qin Fangmei burst into tears and ran off.
Fearing something might happen, Mr. Huang had two Attendant Students follow her.
Shen Ningning impassively averted her gaze and said quietly to Lu Shaoyuan, "Thank you."
Lu Shaoyuan coughed lightly. "It’s what I should have done. I can’t stand her either."
Mr. Huang had the Mountain Villa Steward collect all the fruit to be distributed the next day.
After returning to her room, Qin Fangmei locked herself inside.
She took off her sock and looked at her instep. Where the poisonous bug had bitten her, a pustule had started to form, looking like a blister filled with yellow pus!
’It’s over!’
’The one she had caught was a Three-Day Bug, and its venom was incredibly potent.’
’If an antidote wasn’t applied within three days, her foot would rot away!’
