When Will My Childhood Sweetheart Marry Me?-Chapter 86 - 0: Punishment (First Order, Please Support)
The dining room was extremely quiet, with a great benefactor sitting across from her, someone whose help with the studio would be needed again in the future.
Jiang Shuyao, needing a favor, naturally wouldn’t be foolish enough to give the person a cold shoulder.
All evening, the girl beamed with delight as she picked dishes for him, lit candles for him, led the birthday song, made a wish with everyone, and radiated warmth like fire.
Zhu Yun and Jiang Tingsong watched with great interest, exclaiming that their daughter had finally gotten the hang of social niceties.
In the past, when the Pei family’s boy had his birthday, she would just bury her head in eating without talking to anyone. Old Pei would still make excuses with a smile, saying a girl should be reserved and modest like Yaoyao, not only did he not mind, but he also praised her continuously, leaving the couple embarrassingly grateful.
Who would have thought that after just over a month at Yunchi Middle School, their daughter’s personality would become so much more lively.
Indeed, private schools have their benefits.
It seemed their decision had been right.
On Sunday morning, with her parents not at home, Jiang Shuyao eagerly went to the secret base across the street.
She had thought at this time Pei Yan would still be asleep at home, so she had given him prior notice on WeChat. To her surprise, he sent an address. When she checked it, that guy had somehow gone off to Jinggang.
There was an international go-karting track in Jinggang where, aside from the occasional official event, people also paid to go for fun.
Jiang Shuyao searched online and found no recent competitions.
Her hanging heart settled back into place.
She guessed that Pei Yan must have gone there with Chen Jin and the others, since the birthday boy had left early the night before and the group hadn’t had enough fun, so naturally they continued to go out and play the next day.
With that jerk not around, she could paint peacefully.
As her fingertips touched the canvas and she smelled the familiar scent of paint and turpentine, Jiang Shuyao’s expression became serene as if she had been transported to another time.
After a whole five months, she could finally pick up a paintbrush again.
But the tranquility didn’t last even a day.
During Monday’s class break exercises, the head of discipline walked onto the stage with a grim expression, announcing in front of all the teachers and students a serious incident of intentional damage to school property.
The reported person was none other than Pei Yan.
Since the last fight at North Alley, this was Boss Pei’s second offense.
Everyone was curious why the big man of their grade had a beef with the computer lab’s windowpane. Could it be his hands were itching for some action?
Tang Xing also clicked his tongue in astonishment nearby: "I was wondering why Boss Pei’s hand was bandaged. Turns out it was cut by glass. That must hurt a lot. If it were me, I would have cried by now."
As the central figure in the whole event, Jiang Shuyao felt nothing but guilt and worry.
The matter seemed serious, and she had no idea how the school would punish Pei Yan.
Jiang Shuyao couldn’t concentrate in class all morning. Maybe her daydreaming was too obvious, as the homeroom teacher called her up to translate the last paragraph of "The Epang Palace".
Classical Chinese meanings are mostly interchangeable. After a brief glance, she spoke the interpretation smoothly, leaving Tang Xing beside her in admiration.
Even when a top student like her daydreams, she reaches this level of performance. Pardon the interruption.
Finding nothing wrong, the homeroom teacher let her sit down.
Until the bell for class to end rang, suddenly a burst of piercing noise came from the speaker at the front of the classroom.
After the noise, it was the head of discipline’s stern and rigid long speech. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
"Regarding the incident of intentional damage to the property by Pei Yan of Senior 3 (2) Class last Friday, its nature is extremely deleterious, and after the decision of the academic affairs department, he is ordered to run fifteen laps in the field as punishment. I hope everyone takes this as a warning, to regulate their own behavior, and to establish..."
Once the announcement was complete, the class erupted into commotion.
"You say Boss Pei used to do stuff like this often, and the school would turn a blind eye, so why are they being serious this time?"
"During break exercises, I heard someone from Class 2 say that Pei Yan went to the Academic Affairs Office himself, and even recorded a video as evidence, dumbfounding an entire room of leaders, haha, just thinking about the scene cracks me up."
"Holy shit, this Pei Yan is too arrogant, right? He did something wrong and still has the gall to self-report so blatantly, badass!"
However, the school’s decision was truly intoxicating; they spoke of severe misconduct, but in reality, it was all bark and no bite, not even a hint of deduction or a reprimand was mentioned.
Everyone speculated that Pei Yan’s backing was simply too strong, and this incident got suppressed by those higher up, even the typically strict and impartial head of student discipline had no recourse.
Jiang Shuyao pursed her lips and suddenly ran outside.
Tang Xing, enthralled by the discussion, was slow to react, "Class is about to start, Yaoyao, where are you going?"
Lu Chen, who had been engrossed in solving problems, looked up to see the girl’s hurried departure, his thick eyebrows imperceptibly furrowed.
After a moment of silence, he put down his pen and rose from his seat, walking out of the classroom.
With the seats beside and in front of him now empty, Tang Xing suddenly felt insecure.
If these two deities were not there to shield her in the next class, she would be like a skinned rabbit, just waiting to be stewed by the chemistry teacher.
Shivering at the thought, Tang Xing couldn’t help but shudder.
Speaking of which, the class leader and Yaoyao should be back soon, right?
Wuuwuu... Chemistry class is so terrifying.
At this moment, it had been five minutes since the end of the first period.
The young man’s tall figure jogged leisurely around the rubber track, the warm winter sun casting his elongated shadow upon the ground.
His profile was stern as he ran lap after lap, his temples damp with sweat, yet his pace never slowed.
Before long, a sizeable crowd of students who were either cheering or just watching lined both sides of the track.
Jiang Shuyao silently approached from behind the crowd, breathing lightly, her eyes quietly fixed on the distant figure, her heart knotted in turmoil.
Pei Yan was being punished because of her, and she couldn’t bring herself to pretend to be an unaffected bystander.
But it seemed there was nothing she could do.
Under the shade of trees around the periphery of the track, Chen Jin and two others sat hunched over, their eyes squinting into lines.
Xu Kanfeng, with furrowed brows, muttered, "Has Brother Yan gone dumb chasing someone?"
They knew about Boss Pei smashing the windows, but turning himself in after breaking school rules was pretty dumb.
"Old He, this couldn’t be another of your ’strategems,’ could it?" Chen Jin asked He Junshi before glancing in the direction where Jiang Shuyao stood.
He Qingzhou remained silent.
Actually, the back door of the computer room had no surveillance camera, and if the school were to investigate, it wouldn’t be so easy to trace things back to Boss Pei.
But the school authorities weren’t dumb; if they couldn’t find any traces outside, they’d shift their focus inside the computer room.
The administrator had the authority to check all the computer browsing records, and if they found someone had logged onto the Art College’s special exam official website, they could follow the trail and likely trace it directly back to Sister Yao.
Brother Yan had even recorded a video while carrying out the deed, probably planning to throw himself into the net come Monday.
The class bell soon rang, and students hurried back to their classrooms. He Qingzhou gestured with his eyes for the two idiots to leave as well.
"Why, why are we just leaving Boss Pei all alone here?" Chen Jin, always the loyal one, stubbornly protested.
He Qingzhou walked over, bent his arm around Chen Jin’s neck, and dragged him away, "Are you blind? Is that person standing up ahead a ghost or something? Let’s get out of here."
The chattering voices faded away.
But after a short while, only Jiang Shuyao was left alone on the vast playground.
