The incident traced back to before Qing Ye performed the front bridge. She had taken off her jacket, and since it was inconvenient to carry her phone in the front pocket during the performance, she later removed it when dancing around the bonfire since she had no pockets. Naturally, she left the phone in her jacket. At that time, everyone’s coats were placed at the edge of the field. Since they were all their people, she never thought anyone would take her jacket.
However, the reality was that after Shi Min took over from Class Three’s Luo Xin for filming, the area where they had been became temporarily empty. As a result, no one noticed who took Qing Ye’s jacket.
Rewinding the video to more than half an hour ago, at the seven-minute mark, while people were laughing and chatting in the frame, Xing Wu, who was outside the frame, said, “Stop for a moment.”
Shi Min quickly pressed pause, but the camera was focused only on a group of people surrounding a dancing boy and wasn’t aimed at their previous location, showing nothing unusual.
So all three raised their heads and looked at Xing Wu questioningly, but Xing Wu just said to Shi Min, “Give me the phone.”
Shi Min didn’t dare take it lightly and handed the phone to Xing Wu. He quickly forwarded the video to that time, and after a few operations, he suddenly enlarged the video many times, focusing on the upper right corner.
At this point, Qing Ye saw that behind the crowd, a girl wearing a red Jin Zhong windbreaker flashed past, holding something military green in her hands.
Xing Wu rewound this shot, freeze-framing it. The profile was of a completely unfamiliar girl, not from their school, but when Qing Ye roughly saw the girl’s hairstyle, she suddenly looked up, her gaze darting around like arrows.
Then her eyes suddenly focused on a spot, and she snatched the phone from Xing Wu’s hand and strode toward it.
Xing Wu and Fat Hu exchanged glances and followed, while Shi Min’s face changed dramatically as she ran forward.
The Jin Zhong group was putting on their jackets and getting water, preparing to return to their tents to rest. As Qing Ye’s steps drew closer, people gradually stopped what they were doing to watch this imposing girl.
Qing Ye stopped abruptly when she was just one step away from the short-haired girl called Tian Wei, and demanded angrily, “Did you throw my clothes into the fire?”
Everyone around turned to look at Tian Wei, who looked left and right without showing any weakness: “Who are you?”
Qing Ye’s lips curled in contempt as she raised the freeze-framed image in front of her face. Fat Hu had already walked behind Qing Ye, and being tall and broad, his current unfriendly expression looked quite frightening. He directly cursed at Tian Wei: “Acting, acting like a damn white lotus.”
Xing Wu stood at Qing Ye’s other side, his brow stern and his face cold, his sharp slender eyes commanding authority without anger.
Tian Wei seemed frightened by such a confrontation, showing two seconds of panic before quickly raising her head and shouting at Qing Ye: “You’re cra-“
“Slap!” Before that “zy” could jump out of her mouth, Qing Ye’s raised hand landed a slap across her face.
The bustling ground instantly fell silent. Even those who hadn’t noticed the commotion turned their heads in shock at the sound of that resounding slap. Fat Hu and Shi Min were also startled by Qing Ye’s sudden action, never expecting her to skip the arguing and go straight for a slap.
Not to mention the unknowing onlookers nearby, even Xing Wu was stunned for a moment. In all the time he’d known Qing Ye, though he knew very well she wasn’t the type to swallow her anger, usually, she would endure temporary disadvantages and wait for a chance to get even. He had never seen her explosive side before.
As for Tian Wei who was suddenly slapped, she was completely dazed by the blow. By now, the people from An Zhong who were still making noise had also gathered around, forming layers of circles that enclosed this area tightly.
Qing Ye stepped closer to Tian Wei, her slender frame suddenly emanating the presence of a giant, pressing Tian Wei to look back in panic.
Two boys from Jin Zhong couldn’t stand it anymore and immediately stepped forward. Their hands had barely risen to point at Qing Ye when Xing Wu swatted one’s arm aside and stepped forward, while Fat Hu naturally protected Qing Ye’s other side.
Qing Ye glanced sideways at the boy who was about to point at her and asked, “I’ll give you another chance. Still want to stand up for her?”
This boy appeared to have a good relationship with Tian Wei, and his expression now wavered between defiance and cautious anger, looking constipated.
Qing Ye smiled contemptuously, and the next second, she raised her hand and landed another slap on Tian Wei’s face. Tian Wei clutched her face in disbelief, glaring furiously, her voice becoming shrill: “You dare slap me again? I’m calling the police!”
No one expected that the usually timid Shi Min would suddenly say from behind Qing Ye: “You say Qing Ye hit you, but who saw it? She was standing next to me the whole time, and I didn’t see anything.”
Shi Min returned Tian Wei’s own words from earlier that day verbatim. The An Zhong students immediately recalled what happened during the competition and all shouted: “Didn’t see it, didn’t see it…” They automatically formed a human wall tightly surrounding Qing Ye’s group, making it impossible for outsiders to see anything.
With An Zhong’s strong showing of support, the Jin Zhong students knew they were in the wrong and all kept their mouths shut.
Qing Ye showed no fear, instead stepping forward again, her gaze bearing down on Tian Wei as she raised her voice a few decibels: “Fine, you can call the police, or find a lawyer to sue me, but when it comes to settling scores, there’s an order to follow. I found you first, so I settled first.
The first slap was for the three sandbags you threw at my face today, returning the favor. The second slap was for burning my clothes.
Didn’t you say my Parker jacket was worth one or two hundred? I can tell you very clearly now that the original price was 3,889. I can get the bank statement anytime, and my phone was in the jacket pocket too, which if I remember correctly was worth over eight thousand.
You caused me twelve thousand in damages, now I’ll give you two options. First option, you go ahead and call the police, I’ll hand over the evidence I have, and I won’t let go of a single cent of the twelve thousand in damages. Intentional destruction of property worth over five thousand is enough to press charges – I wonder if you can take the college entrance exam from a jail cell.
The second option is if you don’t want to pay, that’s fine too. Consider the twelve thousand as my treat for buying your two slaps.”
Tian Wei staggered backward when she heard the words “press charges,” her face turning pale.
The surrounding crowd was in spectator mode, seeing such an operation for the first time – the slaps were delivered with such flair.
Twelve thousand was an enormous sum for these county high school students, impossible to pay themselves. Compensation would alert their parents. Tian Wei’s whole demeanor began to change, and her girlfriends quickly pulled at her, urging in low voices: “Don’t call the police, let it go.”
Tian Wei was trembling with anger but could do nothing against the person before her. Just then, Ye Jing Jian, who had been standing in the back, pushed through and stood in front of Tian Wei. He was quite tall and directly blocked Tian Wei’s figure as he faced Qing Ye’s imposing gaze.
All the Jin Zhong students held their breath. Ye Jing Jian’s father was the director of the Target Factory, considered quite wealthy and influential in this small county town. He was always picked up and dropped off by a private car, and being both academically excellent and the student council president, he carried considerable weight among Jin Zhong students.
Now seeing Ye Jing Jian step forward, the Jin Zhong students instantly became energized. Even Tian Wei was moved to tears, calling out weakly: “Ye Jing Jian, thank you.”
But to everyone’s surprise, Ye Jing Jian suddenly turned and stood beside Qing Ye, staring at Tian Wei: “Classmate Tian, I’ve always thought you were quite progressive. I completely refuse to believe you could do something like this.”
Qing Ye slightly furrowed her brow and glanced sideways at Ye Jing Jian, while Xing Wu coldly raised his eyes, planning to kick him aside if he said another word.
Tian Wei nodded vigorously, looking at him hopefully, but no one expected Ye Jing Jian’s next words: “Do you realize that in such collective activities, your behavior not only represents yourself but also represents our Jin Long Middle School, represents every teacher and student of Jin Long Middle School? I feel ashamed of your behavior. On behalf of the Jin Long Middle School Student Council, I formally warn you to settle this matter peacefully and stop making trouble, lest we become a laughingstock to An Zhong.”
Qing Ye’s furrowed brow suddenly raised, and Xing Wu nearly failed to retract his already-drawn hundred-meter blade.
Tian Wei stared in disbelief, her eyes turning red from anger, thoroughly humiliated. In the end, she was dragged away by a group of Jin Zhong girls.
Ye Jing Jian turned to Qing Ye and said: “If you don’t have a jacket, I can arrange for the student council to send you one of our school’s winter uniforms later. I hope you won’t catch a cold, and tomorrow we can have a proper competition.”
“…” So after all that, he was just afraid she would be too angry to compete with him tomorrow? What a peculiar fighter.
Qing Ye didn’t refuse, nodding: “Thank you for the trouble.”
Ye Jing Jian thought for a moment and added: “If you don’t plan to pursue Tian Wei’s responsibility further, the school won’t cover your losses. If you have any difficulties, perhaps I could provide you with a phone.”
Qing Ye’s eyes glanced over, meeting Xing Wu’s gaze. He was standing behind Ye Jing Jian, raising his hand about to slap down on his stiff skull when Qing Ye smiled and quickly stepped forward, grabbing his sleeve and tossing back to Ye Jing Jian: “No need, sis isn’t short on money.”
With that, she directly pulled Xing Wu away, while Fat Hu and Shi Min looked at Ye Jing Jian before following.
On the way back, Fat Hu kept saying: “Sa-satisfying! Qing Ye, I ne-never thought you’d hit someone too?”
Qing Ye turned her head and smiled: “I didn’t. You didn’t see anything.”
Shi Min immediately laughed: “Right, none of us saw anything.”
The group returned to the camping area in high spirits. Many people had already come back, and Xing Wu and Fat Hu stopped at the tent entrance after escorting them. Fat Hu said to them: “We-well then, get some early rest.”
Then he said to Xing Wu: “Br-Bro Wu, let’s go.”
“I need to say something to Qing Ye, you go ahead.”
Fat Hu said “Oh” and didn’t think much of it, turning to leave first. Shi Min said she was going to get hot water. With people coming and going around them, the two stood properly. Xing Wu had his hands in his pockets and said with a half-smile: “Didn’t you tell me not to be impulsive this afternoon? Is this you setting a bad example?”
But Qing Ye tossed her hair proudly: “I don’t fight battles I’m not sure of winning.”
She wasn’t short a jacket or a phone. Rather than making Tian Wei pay compensation, she preferred to vent her anger from the day. So when walking toward Tian Wei, she had already grasped the initiative, leaving her no room to make waves, forcing her to accept the slaps.
Xing Wu knew she had been quite angry today. This was the first time he had seen Qing Ye unleash her full power in front of others, like a fierce little lioness.
He had seen many fierce girls outside too, but those delinquent girls merely relied on numbers to act tough, giving an impression of mere aggression.
But Qing Ye’s composure under pressure and the mindset that supported her strike at the weak point showed people the powerful presence deep in her heart. She always had a way of surprising Xing Wu; he didn’t even know how many sides of her he had yet to discover.
Xing Wu just looked at her with curled lips and said: “Go in quickly, don’t catch cold.”
Qing Ye smiled brightly: “Good night.”
She had just turned around when Xing Wu looked around, seeing no one walking this way, and grabbed Qing Ye’s arm. When she turned back, he had already placed a light kiss, everything happening in the blink of an eye. He had already moved away from her, saying casually: “Good night.”
Qing Ye watched his nonchalant back, an alluring blush rising on her cheeks.
When Qing Ye entered the tent, she found that Fang Lei had already laid down at some point, sleeping alone in the furthest corner with her back to everyone, motionless. Thinking of what had just happened, Qing Ye didn’t disturb her.
Soon after, a Jin Zhong girl brought Qing Ye a winter school uniform, the same red windbreaker they were wearing, so Qing Ye had to temporarily don the enemy’s battle gear.
In the middle of the night, Qing Ye seemed to hear sobbing beside her. She opened her eyes and stretched to look at Fang Lei. Her voice was very small, but in the darkness, her shoulders could be seen shaking.
Qing Ye sighed quietly, got up to fetch tissues, and walked to her front. Fang Lei looked up at Qing Ye once, somewhat embarrassed, and covered her face with the blanket.
Qing Ye silently placed the tissues beside her pillow. Just as she lay down, Fang Lei suddenly sat up and looked at her.
Qing Ye just felt someone staring at her in the darkness, staring until her whole body felt creepy, so she simply sat up too and asked quietly: “Can’t sleep?”
Fang Lei pointed outside, so the two silently left the tent.
The camping area had long lost its bustle and noise, returning to complete silence, with only vast starry skies spread overhead. The development zone here was empty and uninhabited, making the night sky particularly bright.
Qing Ye saw that Fang Lei’s eyes were still red. To be honest, this was the first time since Qing Ye had known her that she had seen her like this, and she felt somewhat awkward, not knowing how to comfort her.
But Fang Lei wiped her eyes and grabbed Qing Ye, as if making a great decision, pleading: “Qing Ye, can you help me? I’ve been thinking all night, besides you, I don’t know who else to ask?”
“Help you with what?”
“I want to get into Xiamen University.”