Chapter 171 I Have Failed You

Ruan Cha did not tell Gu Zhenzhi that she was skipping school. To maintain the persona of an obedient student who was still eager to study hard, she had Gu Zhenzhi drop her off at school every day as usual.

As Ruan Cha just stepped into the classroom, she heard a male student's voice from the class, "Why do you keep your head down? We're talking to you!"

"Jiezi, that's enough. The girl is thin-skinned, why do you keep teasing her?" Someone nearby, unable to watch Xu Jie constantly disturbing the new student, couldn't help but speak up.

Xu Jie glared at the person who spoke and snapped irritably, "None of your damn business!"

The boy who had been rebuked swallowed his temper and sat back down.

Xu Jie stared at Wang Qingqing's face, his eyes full of malice, "Why does your face look like tree bark chewed on by a dog? It's so ugly, dirty, and yellowish. Aren't people from your small town all supposed to be pretty? How come there's such a huge difference between you and Ruan Cha?"

When Ruan Cha first transferred to this school, she had been picked on by Xu Jie. Later, Xu Jie got Ruan Wei to take Ruan Cha up to the rooftop, only to discover that Ruan Cha had a massive gang of followers, scaring him out of his wits. After that, a group of men in black even showed up at his doorstep to threaten him against ever harassing Ruan Cha again, and Xu Jie never dared to provoke her on his own accord since.

Having kept a low profile for a while, he simply couldn't restrain himself when a new target for bullying appeared in the classroom.

Being told she was ugly to her face by a boy, Wang Qingqing turned as pale as a sheet. Keeping her head down, she forced herself to swallow her grievance, yet she didn't say a single word.

Wang Qingqing's facial features weren't actually ugly, but her skin was poor, and she suffered from extreme low self-esteem. Lacking confidence, she often slouched, which made people perceive her as unattractive.

"I'm talking to you, are you mute?"

Seeing that Wang Qingqing remained silent for a long time while quite a few people in the classroom were watching this direction, Xu Jie lost face and abruptly raised his foot to kick her stool hard.

Just as he glared over with a vicious look in his eyes, a kick suddenly landed on his calf from behind.

Xu Jie stumbled forward, losing his balance, and pitched forward with his arms braced against a desk.

"Who the hell dares to kick..."

With a fierce expression on his face, Xu Jie turned around. The moment he caught sight of Ruan Cha's chilling gaze, he instantly shrank his neck and didn't dare to say another word. He simply gritted his teeth and swallowed the insult.

Ruan Cha's detached gaze swept across his face, and she turned around to walk back to her seat.

When Wang Qingqing saw that it was actually Ruan Cha, her eyes lit up. She hurried out of her seat and followed right behind Ruan Cha to her desk.

Holding some pastries she had baked herself in her hands behind her back, she walked up to Ruan Cha, tentatively offering the pastries with a hint of fawning submissiveness, "C-Cha Cha, I made these myself, for you to eat..."

"Take them away."

Before the pastries could be placed on the desk, Ruan Cha coldly lifted her eyelids.

Her chilly gaze fell upon Wang Qingqing's face, her brows tightly furrowed, her expression far from pleasant.

"C-Cha Cha..."

"Are we that close?"

Ruan Cha cut Wang Qingqing off and turned to bury her face in her arms on the desk.

She genuinely held no affection for Wang Qingqing. Wang Qingqing had blatantly usurped the limelight that originally belonged to her, yet now she came groveling before her like a dog wagging its tail.

There was no need for it.

"Cha Cha, I know you blame me in your heart. That matter... I'm sorry."

"..."

Ruan Cha didn't reply, only burying her face in her arms with a frown, her good mood more than half ruined.

Why was it that there were always people in this world who believed that the harm inflicted upon others could be easily forgiven with a mere apology?

Wang Qingqing withdrew the hand holding the pastries, lowered her eyes, and said nothing more.