Yun Mi was taken aback. "What's wrong?"
Jiang Miyan stared at her, her tone serious. "Just tell me yes or no."
"No."
Upon hearing the answer, the tense expression on Jiang Miyan's face instantly relaxed. "Okay, I'll trust you this time."
She pulled out her phone, which she had secretly brought to school, and led Yun Mi to a corner, whispering, "Someone posted about you on the confession wall, saying you had misconduct before and that's why you transferred to become an arts student."
Hearing this, Ding Yuan was also shocked.
The three girls gathered together, looking at the post that had just been published.
Jiang Miyan had heard a lot of ambiguous talk from her friends. Some said her confession failed because Yun Mi had spread rumors to Chen Yiyang. Jiang Miyan was furious and came directly to ask. She frowned and said, "I heard from classmates that this isn't the first time you've been posted, but it's the first time they clearly pointed out it's you."
This time, the content was a penalty notice, with a glaring red mark saying "Misconduct." The caption was long, hinting between the lines that Yun Mi had transferred due to character issues.
In just a few minutes, the comments section had blown up, and the number of comments was still rapidly increasing.
[Who is this? Yun *, what's the full character? Transfer students with so much drama?]
[I heard she was disciplined in Shanghai before, that's why she came here, right?]
[Misconduct... could it be something like theft?]
[There are only two transfer students this semester across three grades. Is this Yun Mi from Class 1 Grade 1? The one who bullied Jiang Wenshao last time?]
The volleyball in Yun Mi's hand dropped to the ground with a thud.
The first thing that came to her mind was the last sentence of Xu Mingyi's long essay.
——Are you now in Class 1, Grade 1 at Shancheng University Affiliated Middle School?
A suffocating feeling enveloped her heart. The skin on her arm, where new flesh had grown, seemed to be faintly burning and aching.
Yun Mi's phone was in the classroom. She looked at Jiang Miyan. Although they had only met a few times, Jiang Miyan didn't have that sneering, suspicious expression.
Yun Mi asked, "Can I borrow your phone?"
Jiang Miyan hated this kind of baseless posting the most. She said, "Sure."
When Yun Mi took the phone, her fingertips were trembling slightly. She clenched her hand into a fist, scrolled down, and saw four related posts on the confession wall.
The previous ones were just allusions and hadn't caused much stir, but this time was different.
She refreshed again, wanting to see that post, but suddenly the screen jumped to "404 Not Found."
The confession wall posted an apology, saying: Sorry, I just received a report that I posted that without verification... Alright, I'll re-verify and repost.
Not far away, a few boys crouched in a corner playing Honor of Kings were obviously eating the gossip, arguing, "Verification my ass. I bet it's true, right?"
"Definitely true! This isn't the first time. I remember one time late at night they posted something even more complete, with a picture of a dismissal notice. I wondered who it was with such a big background. Turns out it was Yun Mi."
"Misconduct, what kind of misconduct?"
A few boys clicked their tongues, speaking without restraint. "Must be serious. For an athlete," the talking boy counted on his fingers, "match-fixing, substitute competition, abusing referees? Fighting?"
Yun Mi lowered her head, clutching Jiang Miyan's phone, her whole body trembling.
She knew she should stay calm, but her injured arm couldn't stop shaking.
She was the one who saved Xu Mingyi.
Xu Mingyi was the one who broke the rules.
She acted instinctively to save her.
Her memory went back to the changing room at the Shanghai base. In the airtight darkness, the early spring still cold, Xu Mingyi's fragile expression, as if waiting to die. It was she who pounced.
Severe pain crashing through her arm.
The agony of being alone and helpless swept over her heart.
Yun Mi couldn't breathe.
The boys' words echoed in Yun Mi's ears. They were still saying, "I heard athletes often get banned for doping, right? Maybe Yun Mi took something. Isn't that just—"
Yun Mi couldn't understand the rest. She heard footsteps.
The girl looked up in a daze.
The sky was a deep, clear blue. Big white clouds drifted slowly. The sunlight was just right.
Yun Mi saw Chen Yiyang standing in front of her. His side profile was sharp and clean. He was wearing a summer white school uniform. The jet-black hair on his forehead was lightly tousled by the wind.
The abandoned volleyball on the ground had been picked up by him, and he tossed it into the air.
Chen Yiyang didn't speak. He just raised his arm, his forearm muscles instantly tensing, the lines sharp.
The next second, he stomped hard on the ground and jumped, his body rising with a clean, domineering strength.
His arm swung down heavily.
An explosive force tearing through the air.
Like a hammer blow.
The volleyball shot out, carrying immense force, and hit that person straight in the face.
A "bang" sound.
Crisp yet muffled, it silenced the surroundings instantly.
It happened too fast. Everyone's gaze converged, but no one had time to ask.
The boy with the dirtiest mouth who had been gossiping the most had his entire face slammed sideways by the ball. His head went completely blank. His pupils contracted, his eyes wide with shock. The next second, warm noseblood gushed out from his nostrils, dripping onto the front of his school uniform, stark and glaring.
And the ball that had been hit fell to the ground, rolling dully without any bounce.
Author's note: None