Chapter 15 Shi Yu looked at her with an odd expression.

Chapter 15 Shi Yu looked at her with an odd expression.

Lin Yao hadn’t expected to run into Shi Yu right at the classroom door.

She thought he wouldn’t come to school so soon.

“I… I have something else to do, so I need to go…”

She tried to snatch her backpack from Shi Yu’s hand, but his slender, pale fingers easily lifted the bag out of her arms.

Lin Yao turned around. “My backpack…”

Shi Yu walked into the classroom without even looking back, carrying her backpack in his right hand.

Just before entering the classroom, Lin Yao heard him say—

"Skipping class on your first day? Not afraid your mom will find out?"

The girl’s face turned bright red.

She had merely felt a bit discouraged and wanted to find a place to catch her breath; she wasn’t trying to skip class.

Shi Yu always used her mother to scare her.

But she had to admit, it worked.

Lin Yao pursed her lips. Even though she was reluctant, she had no choice but to follow Shi Yu back.

"Yu Ge, Yu Ge is here!"

"Yu Ge, how are you? Damn, some people on the forum said you were going to drop out."

"If you or Shi Nian need anything, just tell us…"

Lin Jingtao and several other friends who usually hung out with Shi Yu all came over to express their concern.

Shi Yu: "It’s fine…"

His expression was as indifferent as ever, and he didn’t elaborate on his situation.

Shi Yu walked to his usual seat by the window in the last row and sat down.

He casually placed Lin Yao’s backpack in the drawer of the desk next to him.

Lin Yao, forced to enter the classroom, immediately noticed Shi Yu putting her backpack in the neighboring desk and hurried over.

"Shi Yu, I don’t sit here…"

Lin Yao whispered to him, trying to avoid suspicion while reaching for her backpack.

She didn’t want to sit next to Shi Yu.

But Shi Yu’s hand pressed down on her backpack.

Lin Yao: ???

"Shi Yu… why are you being so nice to her? Are you letting her sit next to you?"

At that moment, Zhou Yuwei’s angry voice came from behind.

As if she had seen something intolerable, her eyes filled with unwilling jealousy. Shi Yu never let her sit next to him.

Shi Yu usually treated everyone with indifference.

Yet, he carried Lin Yao’s backpack and made her sit next to him.

Zhou Yuwei couldn’t help feeling resentful towards this selfish and cold-hearted girl. Why did Shi Yu treat her specially?

Before this, Shi Yu never talked much with any other girls except himself.

The boy by the window lifted his dark, indifferent eyes and nonchalantly responded with a ‘hmm’.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwei’s face flashed with heartbreak. "How could you…"

"Don’t you know her true colors yet?"

Shi Yu: "What true colors?"

While speaking, Shi Yu pushed Lin Yao’s backpack further into the drawer.

Lin Yao: “…”

"Shi Yu, you…"

She was getting angry and couldn’t keep her voice down.

"Let go, I don’t want to sit next to you."

"Did you hear that? Did you hear that? That’s her true colors!"

Unexpectedly, as soon as Lin Yao finished speaking, Zhou Yuwei immediately pointed at her with a ‘I told you so’ expression.

Zhou Yuwei: "She just admitted she doesn’t want to sit next to you! She’s afraid of getting involved and wants to distance herself from you!"

Lin Yao: "No, when did I ever fear—"

"Don’t try to deny it!" Zhou Yuwei interrupted her. "On the day Shi Yu’s parents had their accident, weren’t you cold-blooded and uncaring, not caring about the Shi family’s fate?"

"And also, Shi Yu, you probably haven’t seen the forum yet. The top students in Class 1 said Lin Yao said in class not to bother her studies with the Shi family’s troubles! She’s such a cold-hearted and pragmatic person, not worth your kindness!"

Zhou Yuwei finished speaking, and many classmates echoed her words.

Someone, fearing that Shi Yu would be kept in the dark, deliberately pulled out the post from the forum and shared it in the class group.

"Shi Yu, Zhou Yuwei is telling the truth. Look at the anonymous post on the forum..."

"The top students in her class aren't helping her; there must be something wrong."

"Some say she's jealous of Shi Nian behind your back and hopes for trouble in your family... Don't fall for her tricks, Brother Yu."

Familiar malicious speculations, just like every time she had heard them since childhood, pierced Lin Yao's ears.

Her hands gripped the straps of her backpack tightly, her fingertips trembling from the suppressed emotions.

"Not... not like that..." Her muffled voice tried to speak up for herself.

But when she looked up and saw the prejudiced and accusatory gazes of others, her voice caught in her throat.

There was no point in explaining.

Nothing would change.

The young girl's eyelashes quivered, tears welling up, and her index finger clutched the backpack strap tightly, but she bit her lower lip, refraining from saying another word.

She had seen this situation too many times.

It had always been like this since childhood.

Whenever she made even the slightest mistake or wasn't perfect, people would seize the opportunity to magnify it, and everyone would gather around to criticize and judge her.

Once, she didn't understand why, but now Lin Yao understood everything.

This was the fate of a vicious green tea female side character.

She couldn't change anything, not even with her awakening...

Her vision blurred as she tried hard to hold back her tears, but they only seemed to increase.

"Bang—"

Suddenly, a loud noise exploded in the center of the classroom.

A hardcover dictionary landed heavily on the desk next to Zhou Yuwei.

The impact caused the desk to collide with several others, producing a series of loud crashes.

"Clang—"

Lin Yao lifted her reddened eyes, surprised to see Shi Yu beside her.

The hardcover dictionary was thrown by Shi Yu.

Everyone was stunned into silence.

Even Qi Yanye, who had been sleeping at the front row since the beginning, raised his head groggily.

Zhou Yuwei looked pale and weak.

The dictionary had landed precisely on the table next to her, thrown by Shi Yu.

The message was clear.

...Shi Yu was warning her.

She looked up, meeting the cold, dark eyes of the young man, her voice trembling with panic: "Shi Yu, you... why..."

Why was he so cold and indifferent to her.

Why did he help Lin Yao like that?

Shi Yu: "Others can be excused for spreading rumors and hearsay because they weren't there, and humans naturally love gossip. But you—Zhou Yuwei, you're different."

His voice remained low and cold, devoid of emotion.

But his expression turned visibly colder and distant, even his eyebrows and eyes showed a cold impatience.

As if he was already tired of such trivial tricks.

Shi Yu: "You've also been the subject of rumors and should know how it feels to be wronged."

Zhou Yuwei's face flashed with panic for a moment: "But I didn't spread rumors about her..."

Lin Yao's fingers tightened on her backpack.

She clearly was spreading rumors...

"Is that so..." Shi Yu lifted his eyes to glance at Lin Yao before turning to look coolly at Zhou Yuwei: "You were there that day. Did Lin Yao really say she would cut ties with the Shi family without caring about their fate?"

The little green tea might be timid, but she would never say such things in public.

Even when angry, she would only vent secretly.

At most, he would overhear her.

She wouldn't dare express such bold sentiments in front of others.

Moreover... even if the little green tea hated him, she wouldn't abandon the Shi family.

Zhou Yuwei: "I..."

Zhou Yuwei's voice caught in her throat.

She could hardly remember what had happened that day.

All she could recall was that she had been furious and worried about Shi Yu, fearing something might happen to the Shi family. She had rushed to find Lin Yao, but it was also a way for her to vent her frustrations.

She admitted that she had felt resentful at the time and simply wanted to cause trouble for Lin Yao.

As for what Lin Yao said or did, she couldn't remember at all... She only vaguely recalled that Lin Yao seemed to be trying to distance herself from the situation.

Zhou Yuwei felt panicked but still insisted, "It's been so long; how can I remember everything clearly? Anyway... anyway, she acted cold and selfish back then, eager to distance herself. And even her classmates said she didn't care about you and Shi Nian's safety..."

"Not caring about our safety..." Shi Yu seemed to curl his lips, an expression of absurdity and disgust on his face. "Then tell me, how did she get that injury on her head?"

The young man grabbed the wrist of the girl beside him, pulling out this timid little puppy who had been hiding and licking her wounds, too afraid to look up.

Lin Yao was pushed into the spotlight by Shi Yu.

Panicked, she turned around, "Shi Yu, don't do this. I don't need—"

The disadvantageous public opinion tied to the malicious female character made her dare not defend herself any further.

Lin Yao just wanted to focus on her studies and classes, hoping to escape the fate of failing to get into college.

She dared not think about anything else.

Shi Yu seemed to ignore her words, speaking in a cold and indifferent tone, "Zhou Yuwei, look closely. This injury is from when she shielded Shi Nian from a brick."

Lin Yao actually used her head to shield Shi Nian from a brick?

This... It sounds so unbelievable, but they had heard rumors that Shi Nian and Shi Yu were in trouble due to debt collectors...

If it's true, this Lin Yao seems braver than they imagined.

The air in the classroom suddenly became eerily quiet.

The idle chatter from earlier now seemed like a joke compared to the obvious medical bandage on Lin Yao's forehead.

After saying this, Shi Yu released Lin Yao's hand.

This time, he didn't hold onto her backpack.

Lin Yao quickly pulled her backpack away, like a frightened animal trying to hide, and walked out with it.

She didn't know what to say if she stayed...

She feared others might accuse her of pretending or acting pitiful again...

"Lin Yao, wait—"

Suddenly, a classmate called out to her, and someone stepped forward to block her path.

Lin Yao, clutching her backpack, instinctively took a step back.

Oh no, she knew the malicious female character never had a good ending. They were causing trouble for her again.

But what Lin Yao didn't expect was that the two girls who stopped her only spoke apologetically, "Sorry, Lin Yao... Would you like to sit next to me?"

Another girl added, "No, sit next to me; there's an empty seat here..."

Their approach drew more people over.

Young boys and girls surrounded Lin Yao.

"Sorry, Lin Yao, we misunderstood you earlier."

"Lin Yao, you're amazing..."

"Yeah, you actually used your head to shield Shi Nian from a brick without fear! Damn, those anonymous posts on the forum were all lies... Someone must have done this on purpose!"

Almost everyone, except Zhou Yuwei's circle, gathered around to ask Lin Yao about the situation and apologized awkwardly.

No wonder gossip is unreliable.

Someone who would use their head to shield Shi Nian from a brick couldn't possibly be a cold-hearted person who disregards her classmates' safety.

"What are you all doing surrounding Lin Yao?"

A familiar cold voice came from the classroom door.

Lin Yao, who had never been surrounded by so many classmates, froze and turned around in surprise.

Was it Shi Nian?

Why did she come to Class 13?

"Oh, we're not doing anything."

"Why is Shi Nian here?"

"Probably looking for Shi Yu..."

Seeing Shi Nian, everyone dispersed, making way for her to find Shi Yu.

But Shi Nian walked directly to Lin Yao and asked with concern, "What happened? Are you okay?"

Seeing so many people surrounding Lin Yao triggered bad memories for Shi Nian.

She worried that someone might be bullying Lin Yao again.

Moreover, the puppy’s eyes were red-rimmed.

“No, they were just inviting me to sit with them…” Lin Yao shook her head and said softly.

Shi Nian smiled. “If you sit with them, then you can’t sit with me.”

Lin Yao: “No, I haven’t agreed yet…”

Her voice suddenly paused.

“With me?” Lin Yao was a bit shocked. “Shi Nian, you’ve also transferred to Class 13!?”

In the original plot, even though Shi Nian didn’t take the class division exam, she had a special treatment due to her national competition award, keeping her in the top class.

Shi Nian couldn’t possibly fall from grace.

Shi Nian raised her hand, wanting to ruffle her hair, but seeing the bandage on her forehead, she put it down.

She said gently, “You missed the exam because you were helping us. How could I not come to keep you company? Do you want to sit with me?”

Shi Nian had her own reasons.

Outside of school, they shouldn’t have much connection with Lin Yao anymore.

But as long as she could stay in school for another day, she would help Lin Yao for that day.

Lin Yao’s beautiful deer-like eyes were almost brimming with tears of excitement. After a two-second pause, she nodded vigorously.

“Yes!”

No one knew how much of an impact this had on Lin Yao.

In the original book, Shi Nian was the protagonist, destined for a bright future regardless of Lin Yao’s existence.

But Lin Yao, the malicious green tea female antagonist, was different.

If she didn’t change her fate, Lin Yao would watch her life unfold into a tragedy just like in the book.

Lin Yao had already become disheartened, believing that even if she awakened, she couldn’t change anything.

But Shi Nian’s sudden appearance gave her hope.

It turned out that the plot wasn’t unchangeable…

Perhaps the method she had vaguely grasped before was correct—holding onto the thickest leg around her might alter her fate.

Thus, everyone saw the delicate Lin Yao, still with medical gauze on her head, obediently following Shi Nian, offering to carry Shi Nian’s bag and find her seat.

“Let’s sit here,” Shi Nian said, pointing to the seat in front of Shi Yu.

Lin Yao blinked her watery deer-like eyes, her gaze sweeping over Shi Yu’s smug and annoying face, and gently tugged at Shi Nian’s sleeve.

“Shi Nian… it’s all my fault, always making Shi Yu dislike me. Would it be better if we didn’t sit near him? Shi Yu might get angry.”

Realizing that fate could be changed, Lin Yao became full of energy, her green tea skills resurfacing.

Even though Shi Yu had just helped her, it didn’t stop her from badmouthing him.

She hadn’t forgotten what he had said earlier.

The young man lifted his gaze, his dark eyes staring at the little green tea who seemed to be preparing a big move.

Shi Nian glared at Shi Yu, not allowing him to scare Lin Yao, and asked softly, “Where do you want to sit?”

Lin Yao’s gaze swept around the classroom, landing on the figure slumped over a desk up front.

Qi Yanye… Shi Nian… the true destined lovers!

Yes, Shi Nian should sit with Qi Yanye.

“Let’s sit over there, away from Shi Yu, so we don’t disturb him.”

The girl pulled Shi Nian, no longer afraid of the school bully, and happily sat in the row in front of Qi Yanye.

Only Shi Yu, left in the last row, had a grim expression, unreadable.

“So that’s how it is.”

After watching for a while, the whole class finally understood.

“Lin Yao doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Shi family… she just doesn’t want to have anything to do with our Brother Yu.”

Everyone secretly covered their mouths and laughed.

At that moment.

The young man in black school uniform in the back row suddenly stood up.

Shi Yu pulled his bag out of the drawer, making a noise as he passed by Lin Yao.

Shi Nian looked up. “Shi Yu, where are you going?”

The young man cast a cold glance at Lin Yao, his voice sweeping over Shi Nian and the sleeping Qi Yanye behind her.

“To skip class.”

His voice sounded slightly irritated.

Lin Yao: "..."

Why did she feel that Shi Yu's last glance at her was strange?