Chapter 6: 06
Chapter 6
When Ling Hui heard Zhao Youyou admit that she was the one who helped someone, she excitedly grabbed her hands and said, "Ah, it really was you! They were all guessing if it was the school beauty Jiang Mengqi, but they should have known someone as proud as her wouldn't help others."
Zhao Youyou smiled.
Yesterday, a little boy had fallen and hurt his knee. She had helped him up and used tissues to cover his wound. The boy's parents were very grateful, but she hadn't expected them to write a thank-you letter to the school.
In the last row, Lu Zhe put down his backpack and placed the rabbit from his bag into the desk drawer.
After kissing Lu Zhe yesterday and briefly turning human, Su Ci had given up on the idea of going to school with him. After all, she couldn't kiss him in front of so many people to transform back into human form.
But unexpectedly, Lu Zhe had put her in his backpack before leaving.
From his actions of closing the window and placing a strand of hair by the door before leaving, Su Ci knew that Lu Zhe must have suspected someone had broken into his place yesterday.
Fortunately, the residential complex was so old that there weren't any security cameras in the building, so Lu Zhe wouldn't discover that she was the one who had entered his place.
"Lu Zhe, no, Brother Zhe!" Li Dongliang had just reached his seat when he saw Lu Zhe taking out something snow-white from his bag - it was a rabbit!
"Brother Zhe."
Li Dongliang tossed aside his pink backpack and quickly moved his desk closer to Lu Zhe's side. Shamelessly, he leaned in closer, "You brought the little rabbit? Brother Zhe, let me see it. I won't touch it, just want to look."
Su Ci poked her head out from the drawer, then hopped onto Lu Zhe's lap. She didn't want to stay in that small dark space anymore, and now she could appear openly.
Lu Zhe held her small, soft body, letting her rest on his legs.
"Ahh!"
Li Dongliang opened and closed his mouth, holding back his exclamation. He enviously looked at the white bundle on Lu Zhe's blue uniform pants. "Just one day apart, and the little bunny has become even cuter!"
It was absolutely killing him with cuteness!
Li Dongliang resisted the urge to reach out and pet the rabbit, staring at it adoringly.
Heavens above, even the way the bunny closed its eyes to sleep was adorable.
Su Ci ignored the creepy Li Dongliang beside her. She could hear people around them discussing whether it was Zhao Youyou or the school beauty who had helped someone. Some analyzed that since the school beauty had arrived early yesterday, it must have been Zhao Youyou who helped.
Su Ci thought that Zhao Youyou truly lived up to being the female lead - helping someone and receiving a thank-you letter from parents, becoming known throughout the school. She really did have that main character's halo.
During break time, Zhao Youyou was called to the Principal's office.
Seeing school beauty Jiang Mengqi standing to the side, she could guess why the Principal had called them.
"You must have heard about the thank-you letter the school received from a parent?"
The Principal didn't maintain a serious face, but smiled warmly. "The school takes this matter very seriously. This spirit of helping others deserves to be promoted, so the school has decided to put the student who helped on the Honor Board for a month."
Usually, only outstanding achievements or major awards would earn a place on the Honor Board. Letting a student who helped someone be featured for a month showed how much the school valued this incident.
Hearing this, Zhao Youyou couldn't help but feel surprised.
Meanwhile, Jiang Mengqi felt a tightness in her chest. She hadn't helped anyone, so it must have been Zhao Youyou.
This Zhao Youyou used to wear heavy makeup and had an unreasonable, brainless personality. She had been quite ugly. Who would have thought she would suddenly change, not only going bare-faced but also becoming gentle and elegant in demeanor. Jiang Mengqi knew that recently many people had been comparing Zhao Youyou to her, some even saying Zhao Youyou looked better than her!
Now Zhao Youyou had helped someone and could be featured on the Honor Board - such an honor made her extremely upset.
Jiang Mengqi shook her head at the Principal: "I didn't help anyone."
The Principal's gaze shifted to Zhao Youyou.
Knowing she could be on the Honor Board, Zhao Youyou couldn't help feeling secretly delighted. "I did help a little boy yesterday, and his parents already thanked me."
The Principal smiled, "The parent specifically wrote a thank-you letter to the school, clearly very grateful that you risked your life to save their son. Please prepare to share your story at next Monday's flag-raising ceremony. Someone will also be responsible for putting your photo on the Honor Board."
The Principal said, "Alright, you can go back to class now."
Risked her life to save their son?
That wasn't right.
She had only helped a child who fell on the street and cleaned his knee.
Zhao Youyou's smile froze, and she had an ominous feeling. Had she misunderstood?
"Is there something else?" The Principal noticed the student standing there in a daze.
Zhao Youyou couldn't smile anymore. She quickly shook her head, opened her mouth wanting to say something, but didn't know how to explain. Now it wasn't just her who had misunderstood - everyone had misunderstood, right?
She felt very uneasy, but then thought that the parent probably didn't know the name of the student who helped, which was why everyone was guessing between her and Jiang Mengqi.
Besides, she had indeed helped a little boy, so she shouldn't feel guilty.
Thinking this way, Zhao Youyou's racing heart calmed down a bit.
After Zhao Youyou and Jiang Mengqi returned from the Principal's office, news that Zhao Youyou had helped someone quickly spread throughout the school.
The Principal reported Zhao Youyou's name to the Headmaster.
Recently, First High School had been in the running for an advanced school award. A student risking their life to save someone would add points to their application, which was why the school was taking this so seriously.
The Headmaster thought that if the leaders saw parents thanking their student in person, it would be perfect for promoting First High School students' noble character, letting the leaders know their school fully qualified as an advanced school.
Boss Fang received a call from the school saying they had found the student who helped his son, and asked him to come to the school that afternoon.
Boss Fang breathed a sigh of relief.
Yesterday's events were still vivid in his mind. Last night he had even had a nightmare where his son wasn't saved. The heart-wrenching feeling from the dream still made him shudder after waking up, covered in cold sweat.
After waking up, he immediately wrote a thank-you letter, wanting to thank that kind young girl who had helped without leaving her name again in person.
Thinking of this, Boss Fang touched his son who was quietly solving a Rubik's cube beside him. "This afternoon, dad will take Kuaile to meet the sister from yesterday, okay?"
Little Kuaile really liked the sister from yesterday. Hearing his father's words, his round big eyes immediately lit up, and he replied in his childish voice: "Okay, I want to give sister candy too."
In the afternoon, while the Headmaster and Principal were welcoming the visiting leaders, Boss Fang arrived at the school pushing Little Kuaile.
This time, Third High School was a strong competitor. From the leaders' tone, the Headmaster felt this evaluation was somewhat precarious. Seeing Boss Fang's arrival, he couldn't help showing a pleased expression, hoping it would add some more points for the school.
The Headmaster sent someone to notify Zhao Youyou.
When Zhao Youyou, who had been called out to the classroom door by the teacher, heard that the parent who wrote the thank-you letter had come to thank her in person, she was so shocked her whole body trembled.
"Teacher, I... I need to attend class."
"It's fine, it will only take a moment. The parent brought their child specially to thank you at school. Come with me," the teacher said.
Zhao Youyou really didn't want to go. She hadn't expected the parent to come to school. Once they met face to face, everyone would know she had falsely claimed to be the rescuer.
She couldn't go.
"What's wrong? Don't worry, the homeroom teacher has approved, and the Headmaster is also present. Don't keep everyone waiting." This was a good thing - the teacher didn't understand why this student was being so hesitant.
Hearing that the Headmaster was there, Zhao Youyou's face turned pale. Despite the hot weather, she was breaking out in a cold sweat.
Boss Fang was describing yesterday's dangerous situation to the Headmaster and leaders in the break room when the teacher who had left earlier returned with a student.
The person wore First High School's uniform and was slender, with their head lowered.
Boss Fang quickly stood up.
The teacher watched as Zhao Youyou kept her head down without making a sound. She quietly pushed her from behind - what was going on? This timid behavior made it hard to imagine her decisive action of rushing onto the road to save someone.
Zhao Youyou's shoulders trembled as she slowly raised her head, her eyes filled with tears.
She was crying from fear.
Boss Fang looked at the student in front of him and frowned unconsciously, "This isn't my lifesaver. Did your school make a mistake?"
The appearance of the student in front of him was far different from his lifesaver.
"It's not the pretty sister."
From the side came a small milky voice. Little Kuaile, holding two candies in his chubby hands, hadn't seen Su Ci. His little mouth slightly pouted.
The Headmaster noticed the leader's glance and his expression became awkward, embarrassed to the extreme.
......
In just one afternoon, the rescue incident completely turned around.
Zhao Youyou's false claim of being the rescuer was posted on the school forum, causing public mockery.
Her deskmate Ling Hui looked at Zhao Youyou's reddened eyes and sighed, not knowing how to comfort her, only able to hand her tissues.
"Yesterday morning, I did help a little boy. He fell down, I helped him up and stopped his bleeding. When you asked me this morning if I had saved a little boy, I thought you meant that incident. I didn't know it would be such a coincidence," Zhao Youyou explained to Ling Hui, her voice loud enough for surrounding classmates to hear.
"Anyone with a brain would know that just helping a little boy up wouldn't make parents write a thank-you letter to the school," someone sneered.
"Didn't she go to the Principal's office? I don't believe the Principal didn't verify her story."
"They must have asked, she probably just wanted to take credit."
"I heard there were not only reporters today but also leaders from above. Being exposed for falsely claiming to be the lifesaver on the spot is really embarrassing for our school."
"I feel so ashamed too. That parent said right there that the school got it wrong. Just thinking about it makes my toes curl with embarrassment."
"Wasn't it said this morning that Zhao Youyou would be on the honor roll? She must have been driven by vanity to make this false claim."
Hearing the discussions around her and feeling the mocking gazes, Zhao Youyou's face turned red. She began crying softly again in shame.
"What's she crying for? The person she impersonated is the one who should feel wronged."
"The Headmaster should be the one crying. I heard his face was still pale when he was seeing the leaders off."
"I feel so bad for our Headmaster."
"Poor Headmaster."
......
Later, Su Ci lay in Lu Zhe's arms. Several people noticed her presence and just gave a few surprised looks without saying anything.
After all, Li Dongliang was sitting next to Lu Zhe. Anyone who dared to say a word about the bunny would immediately face the little tyrant standing up ready to fight, acting like a dedicated bunny protector. No one dared to make a sound.
Su Ci wiggled her little feet, the small jade gourd on them looking even more delicate. She was perking up her ears, happily listening to the gossip about Zhao Youyou.
Who would have thought that in just one afternoon, the female lead would fall from grace?
When she heard them say that the parent came with a wheelchair-bound son, Su Ci didn't expect to be eating melon seeds about herself - turns out she was the lifesaver they were talking about.
Thinking about how she had secretly worn Lu Zhe's school uniform yesterday, it's no wonder they mistook her for a student from First High.
Zhao Youyou claiming to be her, tsk, she deserved to be exposed and humiliated on the spot.
Hmph.
At such a dangerous moment, she even fell while saving someone. If Zhao Youyou had really taken credit for her deed, she would have been absolutely furious.
Su Ci was being gently scratched on her back by Lu Zhe's slender fingers, making her so comfortable that she hummed softly, her body remaining relaxed.
During class earlier, while he was listening to the lecture, his hand had been gently pinching and playing with her ear tips, making her body constantly weak.
She had told him not to play with her ears!