Chapter 11: The People Who Hate Me

Their voices are so loud, how am I supposed to respond…

I still want to say something.

Glancing sideways, Su Xiaoxiao took in the surroundings and the people in front of her—nothing much had changed from before.

Then she noticed the ones making the biggest ruckus were the boys who used to mock her constantly.

Now, they all wore excited expressions, chatting in some strange way, their sharp gazes piercing and frightening.

Her heart was a mess of emotions, unable to express how she felt right now.

“Quiet down, quiet down, you all…”

The teacher seemed at a loss, wearing a helpless expression, as if she couldn’t calm the class.

Who knew this class had so many troublemakers.

“…”

Since introducing herself, Su Xiaoxiao had switched to silent mode, head lowered, eyes fixed on the floor.

She could feel dozens of burning stares on her—it was really uncomfortable.

Xiao Li must be here too…

Thinking this, Su Xiaoxiao sneaked a look toward Xiao Li’s usual seat.

Still there… and she was looking right at her!

Wow…

Suddenly, Su Xiaoxiao’s head felt even hotter, and she lowered it more and more, almost bowing.

“That’s enough, Xiaoxiao. You can go sit over there first.”

Because the class was so noisy, the self-introduction had to end, even though the girl had only said her name.

“Okay, thank you…”

Following the teacher’s direction, Su Xiaoxiao looked toward the first group, second row—a fairly front spot.

…Ah, her desk partner was a girl.

Well, of course, given how she looked now, no way would she be sitting with a boy.

The school usually paired students of the same gender.

“…”

And so, under all those eyes, Su Xiaoxiao went to her seat, hesitant to even lift her hands or legs.

“Uh…”

“Little sister, how old are you?”

The classroom was still noisy, and amid the mixed voices, she occasionally caught questions about her age or hobbies.

No one had ever looked at her like this in her past life.

So many people were watching her now—it was so embarrassing.

She would have to get used to it slowly…

“The new student is Su Xiaoxiao, transferred from another school. Everyone, please take good care of her from now on.”

After the class quieted down a bit, Mu Teacher introduced her again. It had been too noisy earlier.

“Another school? Which one?”

They eagerly kept asking the teacher and her, turning around fast—clearly, none of them had ever been this attentive to studying.

“Don’t worry about that. Get ready for class. If you keep making noise, you’ll have to copy all the Compulsory One knowledge points three times.”

“…..”

At the mention of copying, the class finally quieted down somewhat, because the homeroom teacher really meant it.

“Open your books to page 32, everyone. Let’s look at the preview section first. I’ll call someone up to explain later.”

After the teacher assigned the task, the students obediently took out their books, and the sound of flipping pages filled the room.

“Finally a bit of quiet…”

Seeing that they no longer turned around to giggle, Su Xiaoxiao began to calm down.

Though it seemed like some were still sneaking glances occasionally…

This felt a bit like how she used to act, except she was more experienced.

I get it, I get it.

After all, it’s comforting to look at, relieves stress.

“Hi, I’m Ning Xiaoyun.”

Her desk partner suddenly grabbed Su Xiaoxiao’s hand, smiling gently and greeting her softly.

A bespectacled girl with an air of literary grace, she hadn’t spoken much before, only a few words when reminding Su Xiaoxiao about homework.

Eh… her hand…

“Hi… I’m Su, Xiaoxiao…”

Stammering a little when speaking to the girl.

Every now and then, Su Xiaoxiao kept glancing at her hand, feeling like she might take off.

Girls’ hands were really soft, so pleasant to touch.

Unable to resist, Su Xiaoxiao gently stroked her palm with restless fingers.

“After class, I’ll introduce you to some others. For now, focus on the lesson. If you don’t understand anything, just ask me.”

Ning Xiaoyun slowly withdrew her hand, still a bit reluctant.

“Mm, thank you.”

Once she pulled back, Su Xiaoxiao suddenly realized how weird she’d been.

Ah, sorry, sorry, what was I just doing…

But Ning Xiaoyun said nothing further… okay, focus on class.

Su Xiaoxiao took out the biology book she had prepared last night from her book bag, placed it on the desk, and started paying attention.

But it turned out she just wasn’t cut out for studying; she couldn’t understand the teacher’s explanations, even the basics.

“Ding ling ling~”

And just like that, Su Xiaoxiao spaced out in confusion until the bell rang.

“All right, Xiaoxiao, come on. I’ll introduce you to some people nearby.”

“Okay.”

Thanks to the girl’s enthusiastic introductions and guidance, Su Xiaoxiao successfully spoke with a few girls she’d never talked to before.

They all had some interaction with her, but…

“Xia Bingrou.”

The last girl she met was this one—her tone icy cold, not even bothering to look at Su Xiaoxiao, as if she really disliked the newcomer.

…Was this an unlucky start to the semester?

“Haha… let’s head back; class is about to start.”

Ning Xiaoyun laughed awkwardly, having forgotten there was someone like that in the class.

Xia Bingrou—no complaints about her appearance; she was the reason the class was called the “Beauty Class.”

But her cold personality and flat tone were like ice, and her gaze looked down on others like trash, making her hard to approach.

Of course, some people seemed to like being stared at that way.

“Mm…”

Su Xiaoxiao glanced back at her as they left, but just like before, the icy beauty didn’t even bother to meet her eyes.

…That feeling of being disliked was familiar—kind of scary.

Back at her seat, the second class began: Chinese, the perfect class to sleep through.

Time to take a big nap.

In the end, Su Xiaoxiao slept straight through, from the second class all the way until dismissal—basically a whole morning.

Unlike before, when the teacher would catch her sleeping and make her stand as punishment, today there was no such thing.

“Owwooo…”

Stretching her two small hands up on the chair, Su Xiaoxiao looked like a lazy girl who’d just woken up.

“You’re awake, huh? School just got out.”

A girl nearby was packing up her book bag.

“Eh, eh, school’s out!?”

Su Xiaoxiao widened her eyes in disbelief.

No one had come to call her; she’d thought she only slept a little.

“Yeah. By the way, are you feeling okay? You slept the whole morning.”

Ning Xiaoyun didn’t think Su Xiaoxiao was just trying to avoid class.

“Y-yeah, a little…”

She lied.

“You should take care of your health. If needed, take the afternoon off.”

“Oh, do you want to come eat with us?”

Ning Xiaoyun asked kindly, inviting her to lunch.

Behind Xiaoyun stood a few girls, a little group she often saw together in her past life.

Didn’t expect that today she’d have a chance to join them.

“No thanks, I’ll eat outside by myself…”

Su Xiaoxiao tightened her grip on her book bag.

No money, how could she eat anything?

“Okay, see you later, bye.”

With that, Ning Xiaoyun and her friends left.

“Ugh, I want to eat too.”

After the class emptied out, Su Xiaoxiao muttered softly as she picked up her book bag.

Looking at the pitiful 2-yuan coin left inside, she wondered if she could try to find a job at noon.

“Let’s go.”

She set down her bag on the chair and walked out of the classroom alone.

“…”

Just during those few seconds, someone noticed her acting strangely.

***

“Sorry, little girl, you look too young; probably not suitable… and, well, we’re already pretty full.”

Now at a restaurant near the school, the owner seemed friendly but, like others, refused her.

After saying that, he went back to his busy work because it was lunch break and the place was crowded with students—business was booming.

“Mm.”

Under the gaze of the students inside the cafeteria, Su Xiaoxiao quietly left, and no one knew what this adorable girl had come in for.

“Hungry… but I’ll wait till evening.”

She patted the coins in her pocket and her growling stomach.

Just don’t get called out this afternoon—that’d be embarrassing.

Afterward, Su Xiaoxiao tried several other places, but all seemed uninterested—probably because they weren’t short on help.

Or maybe she just didn’t know where to look and kept checking the wrong places.

***

“Hehe…”

After a tiring day, Su Xiaoxiao walked down a small street near the school, a cute smile on her face that looked even more beautiful under the sunlight.

Though it was tough, whenever she found a spot with fewer people, she couldn’t help but grin foolishly.

This morning, she had talked with so many girls, even held hands with one, and Xiao Li too…

Nothing was better to keep her spirits up than these little things.

“Heh… cough cough, instead of daydreaming, I should think about what to do tonight.”