Chapter 59: I’m Sorry

The night was as dark as ink, shrouding the entire campus in a tranquil silence.

In Dorm 227, Hua Xi’an leaned against the cold back of her chair, her books and notes already packed away neatly.

Her fingertips slid slowly across the cold screen of her phone.

Those malicious words flashed rapidly before her eyes.

【Two-timing】, 【Sponsor from Outside School】, 【Succubus Reincarnate】…

Each label was brimming with cheap malice and foolish imagination.

Truly… laughable.

Hua Xi’an slowly, silently curled her lips into a smile.

There was not a trace of warmth in that smile, only an icy, scornful mockery.

She locked her phone, the screen dimming, reflecting her face—calm and unruffled.

If she wanted true peace, she had to… uproot the weed entirely.

Hua Xi’an’s gaze grew colder, like the frozen surface of a winter lake, utterly calm.

She knew very well that jumping in to argue with Zhao Yingying on the forum was the most foolish thing to do.

That would only play right into her opponent’s hands, dragging herself into an endless cycle of self-justification and quagmire, ultimately draining all her energy by those onlookers who thrive on rumors.

So…

You like playing dirty, huh?

Her fingertip lightly tapped the screen, opening that seldom-used, hypocritically polite Dormitory Group Chat.

She found a familiar yet unfamiliar avatar.

…

He Yi.

The only girl in the old dorm who had ever shown her a hint of kindness, yet always looked at her with complicated eyes…

This girl gave Hua Xi’an a very contradictory feeling.

She was clearly part of Zhao Yingying’s little clique, but occasionally showed her some goodwill…

Hua Xi’an knew that He Yi didn’t actually like Zhao Yingying.

It was just Zhao Yingying’s dominant personality and the illusion of a “roommate bond” that created their small group.

He Yi should still have some goodwill toward her.

About this, Hua Xi’an was absolutely certain.

Otherwise, He Yi couldn’t have shown that emotion when she was moving out of the dorm… That was also why she’d made that final call to He Yi.

And now, this goodwill was her best weapon.

After a moment’s thought, she composed a message with a blank expression, her finger hovering over the “Send” button for several seconds.

In the end, she gently pressed it.

“He Yi, are you still awake? Sorry to bother you so late.”

Hua Xi’an hooked her lips into a playful smile.

“I… saw the post on the forum. I don’t know how things turned out this way. These past few days, I’ve been wondering if I really did something wrong for everyone to hate me like this?”

“Sorry, did my presence in the dorm cause you trouble before?”

The message was sent, like a stone dropped into dead water.

Hua Xi’an put down her phone and leaned back against the chair, quietly waiting.

This was undoubtedly a gamble.

She was betting that her guess about He Yi was correct.

Waiting for the baited line she had cast to be gently tugged.

…

In the old dorm on the sixth floor, the atmosphere was so stifling it felt as if water could be wrung from the air.

On Li Xiaozhen’s “altar,” cheap incense was still burning, its cloying sweetness mixing with the strong perfume on Zhao Yingying, creating a nauseatingly sticky sensation.

Zhao Yingying sat in her spot, wearing a facial mask, chatting away with her “bestie” on the phone.

Her voice was full of undisguised pride and gloating.

“You should’ve seen Hua Xi’an’s face this afternoon when the dorm manager came to inspect. Tsk tsk, I bet she was scared stiff… What a pity she tossed the blame in advance—guess she got lucky!”

“But it doesn’t matter. I’ve already set things up on the forum. I got several accounts to stir the pot. Homewrecker, two-timer—any one of those hats is enough to make her suffer!”

“What? Chen Zhiyan? How could someone like her fancy a pauper like Hua Xi’an? She’s just toying with her.”

“I just want everyone to see Hua Xi’an’s true face. Let’s see how she keeps up the act in front of Chen Zhiyan!”

Her shrill laughter pierced the thin curtain around the bed, stabbing into He Yi’s ears like needles.

It was already half-past eleven at night.

But Zhao Yingying had no intention of restraining herself.

He Yi buried her head under the blanket, covering her ears tightly, but still couldn’t shut out those venomous words.

Guilt flooded over her like a tidal wave.

She thought of Hua Xi’an in the dean’s office that afternoon—obviously wronged, yet still stubborn and calm.

She also remembered Hua Xi’an’s icy “Farewell forever” when she left the old dorm.

He Yi’s heart felt as if it were being gripped by an invisible hand, making it hard for her to breathe.

Just then, her phone lit up beside her pillow.

It was a message from Hua Xi’an.

He Yi’s heart skipped a beat.

She almost fumbled as she grabbed her phone, opening the message.

The screen’s glow illuminated her pale face.

The moment she saw the content, He Yi’s eyes instantly reddened.

That fragile, confused tone, the cautious guilt and apology—immediately shattered all the suppressed emotions in her heart.

Had she done something wrong?

She hadn’t done anything wrong.

It was all Zhao Yingying’s fault!

Hua Xi’an had already been utterly disappointed with them, drawing a clear line with her “Farewell forever.”

But now, she lowered herself, like a wounded little animal, tentatively asking if she had hurt someone else.

He Yi’s tears fell uncontrollably, splattering onto the cold phone screen.

So Hua Xi’an still had goodwill toward her after all?

What she said then… must have been just words in anger, right?

Otherwise, why contact her and not Li Xiaozhen?

She wiped away her tears and glanced at Zhao Yingying, who was still chattering away on the phone, completely oblivious to what was happening here.

He Yi took a deep breath, her fingertips trembling as she typed.

….

“Xiao Qian, it’s not your fault! You did nothing wrong!”

“It’s Zhao Yingying! It was all her doing!”

He Yi’s fingers flew across the screen, as if pouring out all the secrets pent up in her heart.

“She’s been jealous of you since freshman year—she’s never liked you.”

“She contacted some forum mods she knows. That post was written by her using an anonymous account. Everything in there was her fabrication. That ‘sponsor,’ the ‘two-timing’—she made it all up after seeing you with Chen Zhiyan at the school gate that day.”

“She even said she wants to ruin you, so you can’t stay in this school…”

“I’m sorry, Xiao Qian, I… I should have told you sooner…” Message after message was sent out.

He Yi felt as if a thousand-pound weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders, collapsing onto the bed, gasping for breath.

It was all Zhao Yingying’s fault.

If not for her, how would Hua Xi’an have moved out?

He Yi truly believed this.

…

In Dorm 227, Hua Xi’an stared at the flood of messages on her screen, her expression unchanged.

He Yi’s reaction was even more intense than she’d expected.

Clearly, she had long been fed up with Zhao Yingying.

Her guess had been right.

The details of Zhao Yingying fabricating the post and orchestrating the smear campaign… all matched her own deductions almost perfectly.

This information was the sharp blade for her counterattack.

She didn’t reply right away, instead waiting patiently until He Yi stopped messaging.

Only then did she leisurely type a line.

“Thank you, He Yi.”

“So that’s how it is… I understand now.”

“Don’t worry, and don’t get into any conflicts with Zhao Yingying. Take care of yourself.”

These few words seemed calm but held a soothing power.

They expressed thanks, quietly drew He Yi into her camp, and hinted at her next move.

Seeing the message “Take care of yourself,” He Yi’s anxiety vanished, replaced by a strange warmth.

She held her phone, gazing dreamily at the screen, as if looking through it at the person beyond.

If only…

Hua Xi’an could fall in love with her…

He Yi showed a trace of melancholy, but a strange fervor also flickered in her eyes.

Meanwhile, several floors away, Hua Xi’an put down her phone.

She walked to the balcony, gazing out at the deep night.

The streetlights cast mottled shadows on the camphor leaves.

She had no intention of retaliating with false rumors.

That would make her no different from Zhao Yingying.

To deal with people like that, sometimes simply laying out everything they did, as it happened, was enough.

She raised her hand, looking at her left hand, still a little red and swollen from Lin Yanqiu’s punishment.

Her palm burned.

Just thinking about the time she had to waste on this nonsense irritated her.

“Hope Lin Yanqiu isn’t the type to browse forums…”

Hua Xi’an murmured quietly.