He Yi sat at the desk nearby, wearing headphones and pretending to listen to music, but the corner of her eye never left the two people confronting each other in the center of the dormitory.
She simply couldn’t understand how things had escalated to this point.
The air was thick with tension, ready to ignite at any moment.
He Yi quietly lowered the volume of her headphones to catch the argument more clearly.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to mediate, but she didn’t want to provoke either of these two.
Someone like Zhao Yingying—if she became an enemy, it would be incredibly troublesome.
And Hua Qi’an was someone she had feelings for…
This was also the first time He Yi had seen Hua Qi’an look so frightening.
The few rare occasions when He Yi had been scared by Hua Qi’an’s cold indifference were nothing compared to the scene before her now.
Hua Qi’an really seemed angry.
And whatever Zhao Yingying had done, it was definitely beyond reconciliation.
He Yi was well aware of this.
“Hua Qi’an, don’t play dumb with me!”
Zhao Yingying’s voice was sharp, trembling slightly with anger.
She pulled out her phone and immediately opened the photo album, almost shoving the pictures in front of Hua Qi’an’s face.
“Do you dare say this person in the photo isn’t you? Didn’t you say you don’t like Chen Zhiyan? Then why were you pestering her that Monday night?”
The issue with the electric cooker wasn’t their deep-seated conflict.
What really bothered Zhao Yingying was now laid bare before Hua Qi’an.
“Do you dare say it wasn’t you who ruined Wang Chang’s confession?!”
Hua Qi’an narrowed her eyes, shifting her gaze away from the photo capturing her from behind to Zhao Yingying’s face twisted by jealousy.
She found it somewhat amusing.
“I wasn’t pestering her,” she said, her tone as flat as if commenting on the weather.
“It was just a coincidence. I happened to help her out.”
Believe it or not.
“Help? I think you have bad intentions!”
Zhao Yingying sneered, crossing her arms and taking on an interrogative stance.
“Who doesn’t know Wang Chang was chasing Chen Zhiyan? Last night was his carefully planned confession. And then you show up out of nowhere to stir things up. Now the whole school is saying Chen Zhiyan rejected Wang Chang for another girl. Do you just enjoy being the center of attention? Always pretending to be pure and indifferent, but behind the scenes, you’re probably good at flirting!”
Those words were already quite harsh.
Hua Qi’an’s expression finally darkened.
But unlike Zhao Yingying’s hysteria, she calmly dropped the backpack she had been holding onto the nearby spot.
That small gesture seemed to drop the temperature in the dorm by several degrees.
“Zhao Yingying.”
Hua Qi’an lifted her eyes and stared straight at her.
“In what capacity are you questioning me?”
“Chen Zhiyan’s girlfriend?”
“Or Chen Zhiyan herself?”
“I…”
Zhao Yingying was momentarily speechless, her face flushing bright red.
“You’re nothing.”
Hua Qi’an’s voice was low, but every word cut to the core.
“You don’t even dare hand her a single love letter yourself, only entrusting me to deliver it.”
“Do you think this frantic, desperate look on your face is for her sake, or just to satisfy your own pathetic possessiveness?”
Then Hua Qi’an suddenly cracked a cold smile.
“Guess whether Chen Zhiyan even knows who you are?”
“You’re lying!”
Zhao Yingying exploded as if her tail had been stepped on.
“That was… a schedule conflict! I didn’t want to make things difficult for her! What do you know!”
“I don’t know.”
Hua Qi’an stared unblinkingly into Zhao Yingying’s eyes.
“All I know is that you’re screaming at me like a lunatic, and that only makes Chen Zhiyan think you’re even more ridiculous.”
“You!”
“And one more thing.”
A faint, mocking curve lifted at the corner of Hua Qi’an’s lips, carrying a trace of icy scorn.
“You say I’m unrestrained? What about you?”
“Daydreaming about her constantly, secretly snooping on her schedule and likes…”
“Even when you played the Pencil Spirit game, all your questions were about whether she liked girls… isn’t that just being a simp?”
Those words were like sharp knives, each one piercing Zhao Yingying’s most fragile and vulnerable place.
Her affection for Chen Zhiyan was no secret in the dorm.
But hearing it spoken so disdainfully and publicly by Hua Qi’an turned it into nothing but naked humiliation.
“Oh, right.”
Hua Qi’an suddenly remembered something, shrugged, and looked at Zhao Yingying with faint ridicule.
“…Do you want to know what scent the air freshener in Chen Zhiyan’s car is?”
He Yi’s heart raced as she listened, instinctively pulling off her headphones.
She knew that although Hua Qi’an wasn’t hysterical at all, she was truly angry.
Sure enough, Zhao Yingying’s reason snapped completely at that moment.
“Ahhhh, Hua Qi’an! You bitch!”
She screamed, eyes bloodshot, blinded by jealousy and humiliation, and raised her hand to slap Hua Qi’an’s face hard.
The air in the dorm seemed to freeze instantly.
He Yi jumped up from her chair, wanting to stop her, but it was already too late.
However, just as Zhao Yingying’s palm was about to land on Hua Qi’an’s cheek, something strange happened.
In Zhao Yingying’s view, Hua Qi’an’s calm, delicate face suddenly rippled like water.
The black eyes that had been cold and mocking now looked at her like they were staring at a corpse.
Even more chilling was the strange curve on Hua Qi’an’s lips.
It wasn’t a smile, nor anger, but something…inhuman, laced with icy coldness and malice.
In that instant, her face became utterly unfamiliar.
Though the features were still Hua Qi’an’s, the expression formed an entirely different being.
One Zhao Yingying had never seen before.
“You…”
Zhao Yingying’s pupils shrank sharply, her raised hand frozen mid-air, and her throat felt clogged—she couldn’t utter a word.
Then, a sudden, immense force pushed her from behind.
The power was so overwhelming and abrupt that she couldn’t resist.
“Ah!”
Zhao Yingying let out a short scream, lost her balance, and uncontrollably fell forward.
She instinctively reached out to grab something but caught nothing.
“Bang!”
A loud crash echoed as she fell awkwardly to the ground, her forehead striking the hard floor, pain making stars flash before her eyes.
The world spun around her.
From Hua Qi’an’s perspective, the whole scene was absurd and ridiculous.
She simply watched coldly as Zhao Yingying rushed at her, flustered, raising her hand to hit her.
It was unexpected.
She had imagined several outcomes.
Maybe she would sidestep, or really take a slap, escalate the matter, spend a few days in the hospital, and let Lin Yanqiu help her claim more compensation…
But she never imagined Zhao Yingying would trip over herself in such an exaggerated way.
The motion was so smooth, it seemed rehearsed like a staged fall.
Hua Qi’an’s brow lifted slightly, a flicker of surprise and confusion in her eyes.
She even almost wanted to laugh.
She just stood there and watched Zhao Yingying perform a slapstick fall right before her eyes.
A muffled thud.
The air fell into a deathly silence.
He Yi’s mouth hung open as she looked at Zhao Yingying lying on the floor, face full of fear and pain, still unmoving.
Then she glanced at Hua Qi’an standing still, her expression shifting from surprise to mild impatience.
Her mind went blank.
What… just happened?
Zhao Yingying was going to hit Hua Qi’an, but how did she end up falling?
And… did she just hear Zhao Yingying scream?
“Yingying! Are you okay?”
He Yi was the first to react, rushing over to help Zhao Yingying up.
But Zhao Yingying seemed frozen with fear, trembling all over.
She ignored He Yi, clutching her forehead as she sat up, staring fixedly at Hua Qi’an.
She wanted to say Hua Qi’an’s face had changed just now.
Someone had pushed her from behind…
But when she looked again, Hua Qi’an was still that cold, indifferent figure, her gaze even tinged with pity as if looking at a fool.
There was no one else in the dorm except the four of them.
Li Xiaozhen was in the upper bunk—there was no way He Yi had pushed her, since He Yi had just rushed over from her seat!
The cold, ominous feeling was gone, and there was no one behind her.
Could it be…
She was hallucinating from anger?
Impossible!
That touch, that face, that eerie smile—it was so real!
Zhao Yingying’s face was pale, a bruise forming on her forehead.
“What are you two doing!!”
A firm, loud shout came from the dorm entrance.
It was the life counselor who had been startled by Zhao Yingying’s earlier scream and the loud crash, still not far away.
Now, standing at the door, she took in the chaotic scene—
Zhao Yingying sprawled on the floor, a helpless He Yi, and Hua Qi’an standing by calmly—
Her face darkened instantly.
“Get up! Both of you, come with me to Jiaowuchu! Now! Immediately!”
The life counselor pointed at Hua Qi’an and the still fallen Zhao Yingying, issuing an unambiguous command.
He Yi hurriedly pulled the trembling Zhao Yingying to her feet.
Zhao Yingying’s legs were weak; she barely stood with He Yi’s support, still staring at Hua Qi’an with fearful, probing eyes.
She suddenly recalled the strange occurrences when Li Xiaozhen played the Pencil Spirit—
Could there really be something unclean on Hua Qi’an?
Li Xiaozhen peeked out at the three, muttered something, then retreated back into her Xiaokongjian.
Hua Qi’an appeared much calmer, silently sighing inwardly, thinking this was just trouble.
Between her and Zhao Yingying, it was just a quarrel.
Plus with her pile of medical reports, she had no fear of any accusations of “fighting.”
“When I left, wasn’t everything fine? How did you two girls manage to start fighting in just a few minutes?”
“You girls… always fighting somehow.”
The life counselor walked ahead, scolding nonstop.
Zhao Yingying, still in a daze, followed behind supported by He Yi.
The sudden incident had dealt her quite a mental blow.
When they arrived at Jiaowuchu, their counselor rushed over upon hearing the news.
She had only been told two students had fought in their dorm.
But upon seeing the two, she couldn’t help but feel it was ridiculous.
“Um… Teacher Zhai, there must be some mistake?”
Seeing Hua Qi’an’s fragile frame that could be blown over by the wind, the counselor found it hard to believe.
The life counselor shook her head, “They started fighting not long after I left.”
“The noise was pretty loud too.”
She followed the counselor’s gaze to Zhao Yingying’s forehead, beginning to break into a cold sweat.
Nearby, the Jiaowuchu director frowned, tapping his fingers on the desk thoughtfully.
He looked toward the counselor.
“Xiao Li, I’ll leave this to you. Student disputes can be mediated—”
Then he glanced at Hua Qi’an and Zhao Yingying.
“Though, that said, we definitely have to notify your parents about this—”
Upon hearing this, Hua Qi’an, who had kept her composure during the confrontation, suddenly paled several shades.
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