Chapter 215: Rival Sides
There were several alpacas in the farm, all carefully tended by staff, each one looking exceptionally well—
Specifically, well-stocked with spit.
Since the alpacas had already been fed, Qinghuan and the others weren’t allowed to feed them again. No one minded; they simply gathered around to take photos.
Xu Xinghe stared at an alpaca for quite a while before commenting, “It looks both arrogantly dismissive and completely clueless.”
Yao Shali glanced at him. “That’s insulting the alpaca. That description should be used on Wei Xiao.”
Xu Xinghe reflected for a moment. “You’re right. Wei Xiao fits that description better.”
The alpaca snorted heavily, spraying a fine mist of saliva onto Xu Xinghe’s shoes.
He yelped and was about to jump back when he noticed Ning Siqi walking toward them.
Instinctively, he wanted to pull Qinghuan and warn her—but then realized they couldn’t let Ning Siqi know he’d already been investigated by Class Three. He forced himself to stay still, pretending not to recognize him.
Fortunately, Ning Siqi wasn’t paying attention to him anyway. He walked straight up to Qinghuan and smiled.
“Hello, Gu Qinghuan.”
“Hello. Is there something you need?” Qinghuan asked. “No one’s been bullying you today, right?”
Ning Siqi looked a little embarrassed. He glanced around, his expression slightly tense, clearly not wanting her to bring that up in front of others.
Yu Xin tugged lightly at Qinghuan’s sleeve and, in a voice just loud enough for Ning Siqi to vaguely hear, whispered, “Is he the guy you mentioned last time?”
This had already been planned between Qinghuan, Yu Xin, and Jiang Chuchu. Normally, people would share such incidents with close friends—and Qinghuan’s closest friends in Class Three were obviously those two.
Ning Siqi immediately spoke with a sincere tone, “I really wanted to thank you properly for what happened last time, but it was a bit rushed then. I happened to see you today, so I came over.”
Yao Shali, quick on the uptake, feigned ignorance. “Class monitor, what happened?”
Since Ning Siqi clearly wanted to talk privately, Qinghuan followed the cue. “It’s nothing serious. I’ll go chat with him for a bit. Xinbao, come with me.”
“Okay!” Yu Xin immediately linked arms with Qinghuan, and the two followed Ning Siqi toward a nearby flower corridor.
With fewer people around, Ning Siqi still seemed slightly wary of Yu Xin’s presence, but he looked noticeably more relaxed than before.
He gave Qinghuan a slight bow. “Thank you so much for last time. If it weren’t for you, they definitely would’ve beaten me badly.”
“You don’t have to be so polite,” Qinghuan replied. “I just happened to help. If it were any other student being bullied, I’d help too.”
Just not by stepping in—she would’ve taken photos and sent them directly to Sun Qinglian.
She then asked sincerely, “Do you need the photos from last time? If you take them to the Discipline Department, those guys will definitely face consequences.”
Ning Siqi hesitated. “I… don’t really dare provoke them. There are too many of them. If things escalate, my family won’t protect me…”
Under normal circumstances, Qinghuan would have asked why his family wouldn’t protect him—but this time, she deliberately didn’t follow up.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Ning Siqi seemed to make up his mind. “Then… could you send me the photos? If anything happens, at least I’ll have evidence.”
As he spoke, he took out his phone and opened the friend request screen on WeChat.
Qinghuan calmly took out a USB drive instead.
Ning Siqi froze, clearly not expecting that.
She placed the USB drive in his hand. “I prepared it already. All the photos are copied inside. And don’t worry about the cost—it’s just a 128MB one, only three yuan.”
Yu Xin almost couldn’t hold back her laughter—where did she even find such a tiny-capacity USB these days?
Ning Siqi had no choice but to accept it. Then he said, “You’ve helped me so much—I’d like to repay you. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Qinghuan almost said, “Just stay away from me,” but considering the persona she’d built in front of Wei Xiao and others, she restrained herself.
“There’s really nothing. My days are quite comfortable.”
The three of them continued strolling and chatting.
It had to be said—Ning Siqi was quite skilled in conversation. He deliberately left gaps designed to spark Qinghuan’s curiosity. If she followed up, he could steer the topic toward his hardships and gain sympathy.
If she didn’t respond, he could smoothly switch to a new topic without any sign of frustration.
Yu Xin mostly listened quietly, only occasionally chiming in when Qinghuan spoke—to ensure the recording was complete.
In the end, Qinghuan and Ning Siqi added each other on WeChat.
After he left, Yu Xin turned off the recorder, while Qinghuan sighed, “This guy really knows how to talk.”
“He kept trying to tell you how miserable he is, right?” Yu Xin rubbed her forehead.
“Yeah. He wants me to feel curious, then sympathetic. To avoid suspicion, I followed along a bit,” Qinghuan said thoughtfully. “He’s probably noticed my resistance toward him. Next, he’ll likely adjust his approach in WeChat chats.”
Yu Xin hesitated. “Are you really going to get deeply involved?”
Qinghuan widened her eyes, then laughed and shook her head. “Of course not. I’m not planning to get close to him.”
“Even if this line through Ning Siqi breaks, it doesn’t matter. Our main target is Wei Xiao. Contact with Ning Siqi is just to collect his statements.” She glanced at the recorder on Yu Xin’s chest.
Jiang Chuchu’s fate was closely tied to Ning Siqi. Ever since his appearance, her mission progress had surged—but stopped just short of completion.
At present, Chuchu clearly had no good impression of him. So if “no favorability = progress,” then all they needed was for her to see through him completely.
Yu Xin didn’t fully understand Qinghuan’s plan, but she trusted her. She decided to upload the recording to the class group after going home.
“Alright, now that we’ve dealt with this, let’s get back to enjoying the outing,” Qinghuan stretched lazily. “Let’s go find Chuchu—I want to lie on the grass for a while too.”
They planned to head back to the small animal area to regroup with Yao Shali and the others—but from several meters away, they saw a crowd gathered.
Clearly, something had happened.
Qinghuan immediately sent her location to the student council group, adding: “Something’s up—anyone nearby?”
Then she walked over to take a look.
At the center were indeed students from Class Three… and two other groups?
The two groups stood apart, clearly opposed to each other, while Class Three stood off to the side—more like spectators watching the drama unfold.
“What’s going on?” Qinghuan squeezed beside Lin Zhulu and asked quietly.
Lin Zhulu pointed. “Grade 2 Class 1… and Grade 1 Class 8.”
Qinghuan instantly understood.
Ning Jianxian and Ning Siqi’s sides were clashing.
She glanced at her own “melon-eating” classmates, puzzled. “Then what does this have to do with us?”
Xu Xinghe scratched his cheek. “It’s like… rival fanbases arguing and dragging bystanders to take sides?”
Qinghuan’s lips twitched.
That analogy was… surprisingly accurate.
