The school’s upper management intended to handle this matter discreetly.

Since there were no other student witnesses on the scene besides Bai Aiting, the news hadn’t spread yet. Added to this, Jin Yiken’s homeroom teacher was doing everything possible to protect him from the very first moment. The teachers above temporarily hadn’t notified his family—they just separated him and Long Qi first, dispatched a female teacher to talk with Long Qi, and also sent a female school doctor to examine her body. After the examination, Long Qi had several bruises on her neck, her wrist had strained tendons, and her clothes were almost completely ruined.

Long Qi didn’t utter a single word to the female teacher.

Her mind was full of Jin Yiken’s two words “report me,” full of his gaze as he left. When the female teacher asked if she wanted to notify her parents, she shook her head.

Her body was still trembling.

The female teacher thought she was still in shock, personally putting her arm around her shoulders, saying: “Don’t be afraid, the teacher is on your side.”

But by the time school was almost out, the matter had spread.

The news was leaked by several students on cleaning duty who passed by the dean’s office. They heard the intense debate between the top student class homeroom teacher and the dean about this matter and immediately posted about it online. The post title: Explosive! Two famous people at our school got into trouble, Bai Aiting is going to cry!

As soon as Bai Aiting was mentioned, everyone knew who one of the famous people in trouble was. The student who posted also detailed the debate content from the dean’s office in the post. After the situation was generally understood, the post quickly split into two camps. One camp didn’t believe it, feeling Jin Yiken wasn’t that kind of person and had absolutely no need to do such a thing. The other camp strongly demanded to know who the other famous person—the female protagonist of the incident—was. But the poster was evasive, with a tone that both didn’t want to say more but couldn’t hide the excitement of gossip, keeping people in suspense, only vaguely throwing out a few hints:

1. The female protagonist is not currently in the classroom.

2. The female protagonist and male protagonist never had any intersection, but has considerable intersection with Bai Aiting.

3. The female protagonist’s looks really might make someone do that kind of thing.

Later, before the post was discovered by teachers, students finally dug out Long Qi, who had been staying behind closed doors in the infirmary all afternoon. After both the male and female protagonists were confirmed, the school forum’s excitement level soared to the year’s highest point. The number of new posts instantly surpassed the post count of Dong Xi’s incident, dispersing the public opinion storm that had been hovering over Dong Xi’s head for several days.

Most people felt: How is that possible? How could Jin Yiken get involved with Long Qi? They’re two extremes.

Bai Aiting went crazy.

When Long Qi walked out of the infirmary, she happened to run into her coming out of another office. As soon as Bai Aiting saw Long Qi, her eyes were full of resentment, her fists clenched so hard they trembled. As Long Qi passed by, she couldn’t restrain herself and asked in front of the female teacher and school doctor: “What exactly do you want?”

Long Qi didn’t turn her head, didn’t acknowledge her.

Bai Aiting stepped in front of her. Long Qi looked at the floor half a meter in front of herself, still not looking at her. And she said: “Do you still remember what I told you at noon? That sentence about explaining engagement.”

Long Qi remembered.

So this was also the reason she consistently refused to look at Bai Aiting. Jin Yiken had clearly given her the strongest leverage, but her momentum at this moment was weak—a kind of guilt emanating from her heart. She could only use not speaking, not looking at her to conceal this weakness. After Bai Aiting confronted her for a long time with restraint, her gaze moved downward, staring at the damaged part of her collar.

Jin Yiken had torn off the first button from her collar. Bai Aiting then reached out her hand and forcefully tore off the second button from Long Qi’s outer garment, clutching it tightly in her hand, glaring at her, throwing it at her face.

It was this action that made Long Qi turn her head slightly, and it was this action that made Long Qi afterward raise her head, stare at Bai Aiting’s back, and say: “I’m going to report him.”

Bai Aiting’s back trembled.

The female teacher was similarly startled—probably hadn’t expected the matter could blow up this big—and quickly asked: “Long Qi, have you thought this through?”

“Do you want to talk with me?” She didn’t rush to answer, only asking Bai Aiting this question.

Bai Aiting of course wanted to talk with her.

As soon as the infirmary door closed, her irritability erupted like a volcano, shouting loudly: “What are you being dramatic about! Reporting him! You know what kind of person you are!”

This was also the first time hearing such words come from her mouth. Long Qi sat on the bed, using her foot to move a chair in front of herself, forcefully blocking Bai Aiting’s intention to approach her, saying flatly: “Don’t get too excited. If you get excited, I might get excited too.”

Bai Aiting acted as if she had heard a tremendous joke, pointing at her and replying: “Do you think filing a case is as simple as children playing house? Someone can make it so you can’t even hire half a lawyer!”

The “someone” in this sentence probably referred to Jin Yiken’s family members. But Long Qi unhurriedly said: “If this matter blows up, would your family still dare to give you to him?”

It was this sentence that struck Bai Aiting. She suddenly fell silent. Long Qi then said: “Do you want to let me report him, or not report him?”

“What exactly do you want?” Bai Aiting repeated this question for the second time, enunciating word by word, staring hard at her eyes.

Long Qi didn’t speak.

Bai Aiting quickly understood on her own, slowly asking: “So I have to testify for Dong Xi, and only then will you let this go, right?”

“Yes.”

“Fine!” She agreed quickly and forcefully, pointing at Long Qi: “Then I want to ask you one question. You’re not allowed to lie. Was this whole thing a trap you set?”

Long Qi didn’t answer. Bai Aiting’s eyes reddened severely. She resentfully withdrew her hand, opened the infirmary door, and before leaving glared at her saying: “I wish you would disappear from this world, I really especially wish it!”

Bang! She slammed the door heavily shut. Long Qi’s feet dropped from the chair. The person was completely drained, especially exhausted.

The matter of Long Qi wanting to report Jin Yiken also quickly spread. The teachers who came to talk with her were more than one or two—mostly those who had always appreciated Jin Yiken. His homeroom teacher was especially active, continuously counseling Long Qi, listing the honors and awards he had received this year, recounting his usual character and reputation, using youthful recklessness and ignorance as a reason to exonerate him. They also discussed the likelihood of him being accepted by the universities he applied to. In short, they hoped she wouldn’t ruin his future at this critical moment. It wouldn’t be too late to pursue this after the college entrance exam ended. The teachers would all help her.

The meaning was actually: Even if you’re going to report him, wait until his future is settled before reporting. Otherwise, the impact on him would be too great, and it would have an extremely bad influence on the entire grade. The school would suffer losses.

Long Qi asked: “Does his family know?”

The homeroom teacher paused and answered: “Not yet.”

Good that they didn’t know.

The weather was so cold, cold enough that her skin turned slightly purple. She clutched her phone, checking her campus network account every five minutes. She only hoped Bai Aiting would make a decision quickly, at least resolve this matter before Jin Yiken’s family found out. An hour after Bai Aiting left, the account finally received a private message. Long Qi looked at it.

Finally, it was from her.

—I’ve already told the dean about Dong Xi’s matter. He’ll take me to see the people from Huaning University’s admissions office tomorrow. If nothing unexpected happens, she can return to class the day after tomorrow. And I want you to withdraw the report today, otherwise I’ll change my statement on the spot tomorrow.

A heavy breath exhaled from her heart. Long Qi immediately looked up: “Teacher, I’m not reporting him anymore.”

***

But the school’s public opinion couldn’t be stopped.

How cold was the weather? Cold enough that it snowed—a snowfall close to Christmas Eve. The streets outside the school were filled everywhere with Christmas atmosphere, while the forum inside the school reached the year’s most carnival moment. Posts couldn’t be deleted fast enough, discussion heat continued to soar, until the forum was intervened by teachers and temporarily shut down.

Long Qi didn’t return to the classroom.

She came to the school’s desolate sports field, looking at Jin Yiken sitting alone in the stands amidst the drifting snow. He had been released earlier than her. Before the school forum closed, the last thing discussed was a fight between him and Zhuo Qing. Zhuo Qing’s reason for attacking was justified and well-founded. Supposedly he didn’t fight back.

He had injuries on his face.

The snow fell in waves, a thin layer covering his shoulders. His wounds were slightly frozen red. Long Qi slowly stopped in front of him. Her coat’s hem fluttered with the winter wind, gently patting against his knees.

She used her hand to caress his face.

He had never been quieter, more silent than now. His elbows heavily pressed against his knees, looking at the ground without saying a word.

She said: “I’m sorry…”

“Jin Yiken… I’m sorry.”

He gently turned his head away. Long Qi’s hand fell into empty space. This made her quite uncomfortable. She asked softly: “Did your family find out in the end?”

“You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Then the people in the class…”

“You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Then what about you and Zhuo Qing?” Long Qi asked the third question, her hand returning to caress his face, choking sounds in her words. “What right does he have to hit you? I’m not his anyone. Who does he think he is?”

Jin Yiken turned his head away again, replying: “I was the one who didn’t treat him as a friend first.”

“If,” Long Qi paused for a moment, sniffed, and said, “if you want to reconcile with him, I’ll go talk to him.”

“No need.”

“Then what can I do? Tell me something.”

“Not necessary.”

Long Qi’s hair flew to the side. Her nose tip was frozen red, her hands were ice cold, but she still refused to leave, until Jin Yiken said: “Don’t feel guilty about Zhuo Qing. He didn’t treat me as a friend either in the first place.”

Long Qi looked at him. He looked at the ground and continued: “How much do you know about Zhuo Qing’s family situation?”

“He has a good family background.”

“Have you ever met his family?”

Long Qi didn’t respond.

“Do you know where his family lives?”

Long Qi still couldn’t respond.

“In these three years he’s been pursuing you, has he talked to you about his family?”

“He has…”

“What did he say?”

“His dad is an architect on business trips abroad. His mom is a philanthropist, always flying to Africa.”

Jin Yiken looked at the ground without moving his eyes, replying to her: “Then let me tell you, his dad is a construction site foreman, his mom is a worker at a knitting factory. This year she voluntarily applied to work at a factory in South Africa because the salary triples.”

Long Qi was stunned and made no sound.

“He became friends with me because I have money, I can pay for him, including paying for his pursuit of you. There are people with ordinary family backgrounds in the top student class too. He could have lived easily and comfortably with that group of people, but he insisted on mixing with people like me. He treats me as connections and a wallet, every day using countless lies to cover the first lie he told. He never lets me go to his neighborhood, never introduces me to his family. He mingles in my home like a fish in water, but his guard against me is heavier than anyone else’s.”

Finally, Jin Yiken said: “So I really dislike him.”

With what kind of feelings were these words said? Calm, without emotional fluctuation, also without any eye contact. Long Qi felt the poverty and constraint of language for the first time in front of him. The cognition of so-called “good people” and “bad people” was also overturned once again. He continued: “There aren’t many good people in this school. Only Dong Xi counts as one. I’m helping her with this favor, not helping you, because I owe her.”

Then he said: “So you should go.”

Snow fell, hems moved. Long Qi stood in front of him for so long, and he never looked at her once. Later, her footsteps slowly turned to the side. She walked along the passage toward the side, very slowly. After walking three or four steps, she still stopped. In her mind, she thought she should call Dong Xi next, but countless voices in her heart persuaded her: Turn back and look at him, turn back and look at Jin Yiken.

Then her breathing became heavier and heavier. She turned back to look at him, lonely in the falling snow.

He still didn’t look at her, and her hands gradually tightened on her hem.

He had opened this door for her in Dong Xi’s incident, betting his own future and reputation to her, letting her ruin and trample them. Dong Xi was redeemed, but he was thereby dragged by her into a darker environment, about to face greater public opinion attacks and family suppression. But having reached this point, he still didn’t demand any return from her.

What was he after?

Five seconds later, her footsteps turned completely. Long Qi walked back toward him, squatted down in front of him, placed both hands on his knees, looked up and asked: “Do you want to be with Bai Aiting?”

He slowly raised his eyes. Long Qi looked at her entire self in his eyes: “You don’t want to, right?”

Then she placed her hand on his left cheek, as if making a major decision, also like making a promise, telling him word by word: “Alright, Jin Yiken, listen to me.”

“Since you don’t want to be with her, then I want to be with you.”

“I’ll help you get rid of Bai Aiting, let you use me as a reason to do what you want to do, love who you want to love.”

“And you’ll help me forget Dong Xi. Even if she changes her opinion of me from now on, I’ll be with you. I’ll use this to protect her safe graduation, protect the life you truly want.”

Because in the life he wanted, she was there.

The end of the last sentence was accompanied by a breath released from her heart. Long Qi straightened up, without a moment’s hesitation pressed her lips to Jin Yiken’s lips. A few ice crystals fell to the edges of their lips, immediately melting into snow water, flowing on her tongue tip. Long Qi embraced his neck, wanting him, who hadn’t yet reacted, to kiss her back.

At this time, outside the sports field—in the teaching building, classrooms, networks, phones—every mouth and every device was noisily mentioning her and his names. Girls with exaggerated expressions said how could Jin Yiken be this kind of person, said could it be that Long Qi seduced him, said how could Long Qi be such a vixen. Boys gathered together saying Jin Yiken really suffered a huge loss this time, saying this girl Long Qi has high-level tactics, saying they were just waiting for what good show would come next.

At this time, inside the spacious sports field, Jin Yiken, after two or three seconds of slowness, placed his hand on her waist. He suddenly lifted her up a bit. Long Qi’s body leaned backward, kissing passionately with him who had reacted. This was an alliance before the storm came, a mutual warming between those with ruined reputations and those betrayed by everyone, a major decision that would change their lives. Jin Yiken’s spirit gradually returned, his embrace also began to use force, and Long Qi didn’t regret it.

Since both you and I are lonely anyway, let’s continue being wretched accomplices.