Chapter 7

Yao Yulian was completely confused by Su Xiaoxiao’s question. She didn’t know who Su Xiaoxiao was referring to as having done something wrong.
But Yao Yulian liked to deliver moral lessons in class.
So she smiled and explained gently, “Of course, if someone does something wrong, they should apologize. Everyone should be a good student.”
Su Xiaoxiao turned back, her tiny white hand pointing at Feng Zihao. She tilted her head and, trying to look innocent, asked in a sweet, coaxing voice, “Then why doesn’t he apologize if he did something wrong?”
Yao Yulian froze. “Feng Zihao, what did you do wrong?”
Feng Zihao, realizing he was being talked about, immediately blushed and stood up, stiffly protesting, “I, I didn’t do anything. I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“But you threw the paper ball at Jin Qishan’s head,” Su Xiaoxiao countered, turning to Yao Yulian. “Teacher, if someone accidentally hits another person with paper, shouldn’t they apologize?”
Su Xiaoxiao’s voice was childish, but every word landed firmly.
After she spoke, the entire class went silent.
Everyone knew that whether it was intentional or not, if you hit someone, you should apologize. But because the person hit was Jin Qishan, no one felt the apology was necessary.
It was contradictory, yet realistic.
Apologize to Jin Qishan?
He was so annoying, did he really deserve an apology?
Yao Yulian hesitated for a few seconds. Although she didn’t like Jin Qishan, as a teacher she had to instill the right values in her students.
So she lectured seriously, “Feng Zihao, you hit someone, and that’s wrong. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, you still need to apologize, it’s a matter of manners. After class, apologize to Jin Qishan.”
Yet, Yao Yulian couldn’t hide her dislike for Jin Qishan.
She quickly shifted her tone, speaking sternly: “Jin Qishan, you’re disrespecting the teacher and disrupting the class. Stand for the entire lesson.”
The classroom fell silent. Su Xiaoxiao was stunned. Why was Yao Yulian so lenient with Feng Zihao, but treated Jin Qishan as if he had committed an unforgivable crime?
Before Su Xiaoxiao could react further, Yao Yulian said, “Alright, that’s settled. Su Xiaoxiao, Feng Zihao, sit down. Let’s begin the lesson.”
Yao Yulian opened her textbook and started teaching.
Su Xiaoxiao wasn’t satisfied with the outcome. She glanced at Jin Qishan. He kept his head down, long messy hair covering his face, hiding his expression.
The third-grade material was far too simple and dull for Su Xiaoxiao. Combined with her distraction over Jin Qishan, she couldn’t focus.
Her eyes unconsciously tracked the textbook, while her fingers kept spinning her pencil.
Yao Yulian noticed Su Xiaoxiao’s small fidgeting and felt a twinge of annoyance.
She tapped the blackboard three times, glancing at Su Xiaoxiao: “This character is important for exams. It’s easy to write incorrectly. Everyone, make sure you memorize it.”
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t move her pencil. Yao Yulian felt like she was about to explode with frustration.
This little girl, she looks pretty and quiet, but she stirs up trouble and isn’t serious in class. No wonder she defended Jin Qishan, they’re the same kind of person.
In her mind, Yao Yulian labeled Su Xiaoxiao a “bad student.”
Su Xiaoxiao didn’t know that just a few words had already made Yao Yulian dislike her.
Some people are just that shallow, quick to like, quick to dislike, all based on appearances.
After class, Jin Qishan dragged his tired body back to his seat. No sooner had he leaned down than Feng Zihao approached.
Feng Zihao pinched his nose and shouted, “Oh my god, the trash can stinks! Didn’t today’s janitor clean up?”
Today, Wang Xiaoxia was on cleaning duty. Hearing someone accuse her of not keeping things tidy, she rushed over indignantly: “What are you talking about? How could I not clean?”
She held the empty trash can up to Feng Zihao. “See? It’s empty. Smell it, does it stink?”
Feng Zihao stretched his neck and sniffed, then grinned foolishly. “Not stinky, not stinky. The trash can doesn’t stink. So what does?”
He waved his hand in front of his nose as he spoke.
“How should I know? I cleaned very thoroughly,” Wang Xiaoxia said. Suddenly, realization hit her. “Could it be Jin Qishan who stinks?”
In fact, Wang Xiaoxia hadn’t actually smelled anything foul; she just remembered Feng Zihao’s classroom remark that Jin Qishan smelled.
Feng Zihao got the reaction he wanted and loudly proclaimed, “What? Wang Xiaoxia, you mean the stink is from Jin Qishan? Oh, so it’s not the trash can, it’s Jin Qishan! He’s even dirtier than the trash can!”
The class erupted into laughter again.
Jin Qishan buried his head in his arms. He wasn’t asleep, he heard everything.
Their laughter and mockery pierced his heart like sharp knives.
He clenched his fists, wanting to fight back, but he didn’t even know where to start. Could he fight the whole world?
He shook with anger.
Wang Xiaoxia, though she sometimes talked about Jin Qishan behind his back, wouldn’t dare say it to his face.
At first, she hadn’t intended to mock him.
But seeing everyone laugh at Jin Qishan, she hurriedly tried to explain, “No, no, I didn’t mean.”
Her voice was too low, and no one heard her.
Suddenly, smack! Su Xiaoxiao slammed her book on the desk. The entire class jumped in surprise and went silent.
Su Xiaoxiao said, “My nose is sharp. I’ll help you all check.”
She ran to the back of the room and sniffed the trash can: “Not stinky.”
The classmates laughed again at Su Xiaoxiao’s amusing antics.
Then, Su Xiaoxiao lowered her head and cautiously leaned close to Jin Qishan.
Jin Qishan felt her approach. His long eyelashes twitched ever so slightly, and his heart raced.
Su Xiaoxiao sniffed hard, then lifted her head and said loudly, “Hmm, not stinky.”
For a moment, everyone was a bit stunned.
Not stinky?
With Jin Qishan looking so dirty, shouldn’t he be stinky?
Before anyone could react, Su Xiaoxiao leaned over to Feng Zihao and sniffed him.
Then she pinched her nose and ran off like a gust of wind.
Caught off guard, she called out as she ran: “Ah! So it’s Feng Zihao who stinks!”
“Oh, so it’s you who stinks,”
Wang Xiaoxia, seeing Su Xiaoxiao flee in panic, thought Feng Zihao must be horribly stinky, and ran away in the same way.
Everyone laughed at how ridiculous Su Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiaoxia looked as they ran.
Soon, many classmates started teasing Feng Zihao.
“Su Xiaoxiao and Wang Xiaoxia both ran away, Feng Zihao must be super stinky!”
“Feng Zihao probably stinks himself unconscious.”
“From now on, Feng Zihao is the stinkiest in our class!”
“I, I’m not stinky!” Feng Zihao sniffed his own clothes. “It’s not me!”
The classmates burst into laughter again, caring little whether Feng Zihao actually smelled bad.
Luo Zhi shouted, “Feng Zihao, did you take a bath yesterday?”
The laughter grew even louder.
Feng Zihao got so angry he wanted to hit Luo Zhi. “You didn’t take a bath either! I’ll beat you to death!”
Luo Zhi chuckled and ran off like a flash.
Luo Zhi ran, Feng Zihao chased, circling the classroom a few times.
Wang Xiaoxia, confused that she hadn’t smelled anything foul herself, asked, “Xiaoxiao, does Feng Zihao really stink?”
Su Xiaoxiao looked back, smiling faintly. “Nope, I was just playing a joke.”
“Alright, never mind whether he stinks or not, let’s go to the bathroom,” Dai Lainan tore a few pages from her homework notebook. “I need to poop.”
Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. “Classmate Lainan, please try to speak more gracefully.”
“Huh?” Dai Lainan looked puzzled. “Graceful? What’s that?”
Su Xiaoxiao sighed helplessly. “Forget it, go ahead.”
After the commotion, they went out to play or to the bathroom. No one remembered the incident.
Only Jin Qishan, feeling like he had been on a roller coaster, knew he would never forget that moment of steady landing.
He hadn’t seen Su Xiaoxiao’s expressions or actions, but he smelled her fresh scent.
By normal standards, he was indeed stinky.
But why had Su Xiaoxiao helped him?
Jin Qishan thought: the old lady from the Su family was aligned with Dong Xiaohong, so he couldn’t trust Su Xiaoxiao.
The only person he could trust was himself.
…
The school rules stated that no student could leave campus at noon, and lunch had to be eaten in the cafeteria.
At 11:30, everyone rushed to the cafeteria.
Su Xiaoxiao had no interest in competing with the kids for food.
Yet Wang Xiaoxia and Dai Lainan, fearing she wouldn’t get any, insisted on dragging her along.
Today, Set A’s main dish was chicken drumsticks, Set B’s was braised pork. Most of the class queued for Set A.
Su Xiaoxiao and her friends arrived early. By the time they finished serving themselves, the Set A line had already stretched to the door.
Jin Qishan arrived late. He first queued for chicken drumsticks, just as he reached the front, they were all gone.
He tried for braised pork next, gone as well.
The cafeteria lady gave him two cups of yogurt. “Student, the main dishes are all gone. Here are two yogurts. Come earlier next time.”
From the moment Jin Qishan entered the cafeteria, Su Xiaoxiao had noticed him. Watching him miss out on both the chicken drumsticks and the braised pork, she thought, poor guy, how unlucky.
Coincidentally, Jin Qishan sat one row ahead of her.
Seeing the uneaten chicken drumsticks in her own tray, Su Xiaoxiao thought, I’ll take responsibility for this.
From today onward, she would try to change Jin Qishan’s miserable fate.
She placed a chicken drumstick on Jin Qishan’s tray. Jin Qishan looked up, astonished.
Su Xiaoxiao generously said, “I don’t like chicken drumsticks. You can have it.”
Jin Qishan, always suspicious and sensitive, immediately wondered why she wasn’t eating it herself.
Did the chicken drumstick fall on the floor? Is she deliberately messing with me?
Before Jin Qishan could process it, Su Xiaoxiao happily hummed a tune and walked away.