Dating Myself - Chapter 21

CRASH!

The fierce wind and pounding rain continued. The power must have gone out due to a broken wire or a faulty transformer because not just the school building but also the entire area was dark. The rain had cleared the clouds, so the classroom was no longer pitch-black. A few students’ phone flashlights were still on, illuminating Jian Yihu, who was pinned face-down on a desk by An Mu.

Jian Yixi was still in a daze. An Mu’s voice was calm and steady as she repeated, “Slap her.”

“But… but…” Jian Yixi had never been hit or hit anyone in her life, especially not in front of so many people.

An Mu said, “Can’t do it? Or don’t you know how?” Jian Yixi’s mind was a mess. Too many things had happened, each one more shocking than the last. She couldn’t think straight.

“Both, right?” An Mu knew that if she forced Jian Yixi to do it in front of the crowd, she would. But if she did, what would be the difference between her and the Jian family? The Jian family used their blood relationship to control Jian Yixi, and she would be using her kindness to do the same. She would become the person she hated the most.

An Mu didn’t want to force Jian Yixi. Growth takes time. She had only made the suggestion to show her sixteen-year-old self that she didn’t have to be a victim and that she could fight back.

“Since you can’t bring yourself to do it, and you don’t know how, I’ll teach you.” An Mu used her arm to flip Jian Yihu over and pin her on the desk. Before Jian Yihu could react, An Mu slapped her.

PANG!

The sound was loud and sharp. Jian Yihu’s face was pushed to the side, and she screamed in pain. The classroom was silent. Outside, the wind and rain roared. An Mu’s face was cold and focused. The stray hairs on her face and the look in her eyes seemed to be laced with ice. Her voice was like a judge delivering a death sentence. “That slap was for Jian Yixi.”

Jian Yihu was shocked. “You… you hit me?! An Mu, you’re a…”

PANG!

Another slap landed on the other side of her face. “That’s for Qi Liran.”

Jian Yihu’s face was on fire. Her head was buzzing, and she felt dizzy and nauseous. After a while, she recovered and started struggling and kicking like a madwoman. “Ahhh! Get off me! Get off! Get off me!”

An Mu couldn’t hold her down with just one arm, so she gave up and landed one more slap. “And this is for myself.” She was getting revenge for her past self. An Mu grabbed Jian Yihu’s arm and pushed her toward Qin Yige. Jian Yihu stumbled into him, and they both fell back into a desk. Qin Yige held his back and groaned.

An Mu’s stance was confident, and her eyes were cold. “You’re finished.”

Jian Yihu, still dizzy, held on to Qin Yige and screamed, “No, you’re finished! This is all live! Live!”

An Mu smiled, but her eyes were cold. “Don’t worry. Even if the live stream cut off, I’ll post the video online tonight so your fans can see their sweet, kind, ‘beautiful sister’ acting like a crazy woman.”

“You!” Jian Yihu’s eyes widened in rage. She tried to lunge at her. “You little brat! I’ll kill you!”

An Mu scoffed, grabbed Jian Yixi, and pushed her out of the classroom. Xie Maomao quickly grabbed her phone and followed them.

The students didn’t know where they were going. They looked outside but were met with heavy rain. They had to walk along the side of the building, and it was still raining. No one was crazy enough to follow them unless it was an emergency.

No one followed them. The three of them walked along the side of the building, went down the stairs, and walked through a hallway to the equipment room behind the building.

The room was for unused equipment. It was usually locked, but An Mu knew the window could be opened with a little push. Once the window was open, you could unlock the door from the inside. She had found this room when she was a victim of bullying and had run out of the classroom. She had later brought Xie Maomao here, who had also been bullied.

The room had a one-meter-wide awning. Underneath it were a lot of metal shelves with weeds growing underneath. Although it was behind the school building, not many students came here.

The three of them stood under the awning. An Mu expertly pushed open the window, reached in, unlocked the door, and went in first. Jian Yixi’s mind was still a mess. Xie Maomao looked like she had lost her soul. Neither of them asked An Mu how she knew about this place. They just followed her in silence.

It’s better they don’t ask. If they did, I’d have to lie.

An Mu closed the door, blocking out the wind and rain, and turned on her phone’s flashlight. She led them past a few rows of boxes that reached the ceiling. The boxes were dusty and heavy. Some of the lids were on tight, while others were open, with broken rulers and other things sticking out. An Mu told them to move the boxes to create a space for them. She then pulled out a large, worn-out mat that had foam sticking out. It was folded in half, so when she unfolded it, a cloud of dust billowed up, making them cough.

The mat was dirty, but she remembered it being clean and soft. She must have romanticized it because she was so desperate for a place to hide. An Mu told them to stay back. She dusted off the inside of the mat and wiped it down with a wet wipe. She took off her shoes and got on the mat, which was bigger than a double bed. She then wiped the wall. The wall was relatively clean because the mat had been covering it. She sat down, leaning against the wall, and looked at the two of them, who were still standing around. She patted the mat. “Sit down.”

They took off their shoes and sat down. Maomao sat next to An Mu, and Jian Yixi sat next to her. The three of them sat side by side, their legs straight. Maomao sighed and nudged An Mu. “Why did you bring us here? Do you have a secret to tell us? I’m so curious. What’s going on?”

Jian Yixi rubbed her temples. When her mind was a mess, she would get a headache. But she hadn’t forgotten that they were still at school. “Can we really be here? What about class?”

Maomao waved her hand. “The school is so cheap. They don’t even have a generator. The power is probably out because of the storm. Class is canceled. We’re fine.”

Jian Yixi was quiet for a second, then looked at An Mu. “Thank you, An Mu.” No matter what An Mu’s intentions were, she had helped her. Jian Yixi wasn’t that stupid.

An Mu turned off the flashlight. The room was dark again. The boxes blocked them from the outside world. A faint light from the window fell on the mat, making it look like an island. An Mu leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. Her phone was cold in her hand, just like the wall.

“Where should I start? Let’s start with Qi Liran.” Qi Liran was a student at Weicheng No. 2 Foreign Language High School. She had just graduated and was supposed to be a college student now, but she didn’t even get to take the college entrance exam.

Maomao remembered. “I knew that name sounded familiar. You’re talking about the senior who exposed Jian Yihu last semester, right? I heard she ran into a robber a day or two before the exam. He hit her in the head with a brick, and she ended up in the ICU. She missed the exam.”

“That’s right. That was her.”

Jian Yixi said, “What happened? What does she have to do with us?”

An Mu’s low voice was captivating, like a radio host. The girls closed their eyes and listened as their souls were drawn into her story. An Mu started to tell them the truth.

The truth was, Qi Liran had never exposed Jian Yihu. On the contrary, she had a secret crush on her. A crush was embarrassing enough, but a crush on someone of the same gender was even more so. Qi Liran was also a normal-looking student with average grades. She was too insecure to confess. To her, Jian Yihu was a moon in the sky. It was enough to look at her from afar. Trying to reach her was a fantasy.

The secret would have stayed with her forever, but everyone has a weak moment. One day, Qi Liran was feeling so bad that she lost control and sent Jian Yihu a message, confessing her love. She told her that she didn’t want anything in return. She just wanted Jian Yihu to know that a girl liked her and would always support her. She wanted to live without regrets. To avoid any awkwardness at school, she didn’t write her name.

The next day, Qi Liran regretted it. She felt that she had been too impulsive and didn’t want to bother Jian Yihu. This guilt made her keep her mouth shut when Jian Yihu started telling people that she was harassing her. Jian Yihu saw that Qi Liran was a doormat, so she started an even bigger lie, a play about how Qi Liran was threatening and bullying her. She gained a lot of new fans and created an image of a strong, beautiful girl who was not afraid of bullying.

The reason she had gone after Qi Liran was because she had been curious. She looked at Qi Liran’s old posts, then found her classmates’ accounts, and eventually figured out her name. Jian Yihu was so proud of herself that she took a screenshot and sent it to her friends. She said that Qi Liran was a disgusting pervert, but in her heart, she felt that she was irresistible and that both boys and girls liked her. Her friends told her to expose Qi Liran and let the whole school know that she was gay. Jian Yihu pretended to be a good person, but she then made up a story about how Qi Liran had sexually assaulted her.

She just wanted to show how popular she was, but her friends couldn’t keep a secret. The rumor spread. Jian Yihu didn’t care at first. She just saw it as a way to become more famous. But then she overheard some girls say that she was disgusting because a woman had touched her.

Jian Yihu was horrified. She had thought that being gay was accepted in real life, not just online. To save her image, she changed her story. She said that Qi Liran was jealous of her popularity and was trying to ruin her reputation. With her little tricks, Jian Yihu trapped Qi Liran, who had no way to explain herself.

Jian Yihu’s fans harassed Qi Liran every day. They found her phone number and other social media accounts. Qi Liran was forced to delete all her accounts and change her phone number, but no matter what she did, her harassers would always find her. She was a senior, so she had to live at the school. She couldn’t even go home to escape. She was ostracized by her classmates, then bullied with Jian Yihu’s encouragement. It all came to a head two days before the college entrance exam.

The school had let the students go home a day early so they could rest. Qi Liran left the school at 6 p.m. It was rush hour, but she was hit in the head with a brick when she went through an alley.

The police determined that a robber had hurt Qi Liran. He was sentenced. But why would a robber steal from a student on a bike? Robberies usually happened at night. And why would a robber choose that time and place? The alley was not secluded.

If it wasn’t a robbery, then it was a revenge attack. The criminal didn’t have a vendetta against Qi Liran. He did it for Jian Yihu. Jian Yihu, using a fake account, had messaged the criminal and encouraged him to hurt Qi Liran. She told him that if he did it, she would put in a good word for him and maybe even meet him in person.

Even though Jian Yihu’s fans knew she went to this school, it wasn’t easy to see her. She always rode in a car, and her neighborhood had high security. The criminal, who was young and impulsive, had been tempted by a picture of Jian Yihu in a school uniform. He had taken a train to the city and waited two days for Qi Liran.

Jian Yixi was stunned. In the dark, no one could see her face, but her breathing was ragged.

Maomao couldn’t believe it. “Why would Jian Yihu do that? Wasn’t she afraid the criminal would expose her?”

An Mu said, “For two reasons. One, she didn’t know he would hit her so hard. Two, she never showed her real identity. She was using a fake account.” The reason Jian Yihu did this was because Qi Liran had messaged her and told her that she had proof that she was lying. She told her to stop or she would expose her after the exam. Qi Liran was only bluffing. She didn’t have any evidence. But Jian Yihu believed her. She warned Qi Liran not to do anything and then had the criminal “take care of her.”

The Qi Liran incident was Jian Yihu’s first time going too far. She was scared for a long time. But the criminal didn’t say anything about Jian Yihu. He probably thought it wouldn’t help him and might even get his idol into trouble. Qi Liran wanted to tell the police the truth, but her family was embarrassed and said it was better to accept the compensation from the criminal’s family. There was no point in getting Jian Yihu in trouble.

After An Mu finished, Maomao said, “You really can’t judge a book by its cover. First, Qin Yige shattered my dreams, and now Jian Yihu’s reputation is in ruins. My heart is broken.”

“But wait,” Maomao said. “You know so much. Did you know Qi Liran? Did you transfer here to get revenge for her? It’s like a TV show where a twin sister gets revenge for her bullied sister.”

An Mu nodded. “Yes, that’s right. You’re a smart cookie.” It was only with Maomao that An Mu could be so playful.

Maomao proudly wiggled her feet and hugged An Mu and Jian Yixi. She was rough around the edges, but she was also kind. She knew that Jian Yixi was probably hurting the most after hearing her sister’s story. But she knew that sadness only made things worse. It was better to try to be happy, even if it was fake.

“So, how did you meet Qi Liran?” Maomao asked.

“I was going through a tough time, so I joined a chat group for people who were depressed but didn’t want to die because of their families. That’s where I met Qi Liran.” This was a lie, of course.

In her last life, when An Mu was being bullied, Qi Liran had messaged her and told her that Jian Yihu was the one behind everything, just like she had done to her. But An Mu didn’t believe her at the time. Jian Yihu had always told people to be nice to her. Even though she never did anything to help, An Mu had believed her. Later, she saw Jian Yihu’s true colors and realized that Qi Liran wasn’t lying. She used Qi Liran in her plan because she was an important part of it, and it was a way for her to repay her for her kindness.

Maomao put her arm around An Mu’s shoulder. “So, how did you plan this whole revenge thing? I was a bystander, but I’m still confused. Tell me everything. I’m dying of curiosity.”

An Mu was going to tell them anyway. The first lesson was almost over. It was time for the theory lesson. Theory and practice go hand in hand.

“My plan was something like this…”

An Mu, of course, didn’t tell them everything. She changed her story to fit her current identity. She told them that she had followed Jian Yixi to the mall before school started and bought the same phone. She had asked her friend to get her the forum ID and IP addresses and had asked her French fashion design teacher, Chen Han, to support her on Weibo.

That morning, she realized that Jian Yihu wanted to get her hands on Jian Yixi’s phone, but the timing wasn’t right. She had to wait until everything was in place. She had used her own phone to make the call and had swapped it with Jian Yixi’s phone on the bike ride to school. That’s why Jian Yihu was caught off guard.

Maomao gasped. “Oh my god! You’re so smart! If I had to get revenge, I would just find her and beat her up. Your plan is so complicated. I could never do that. I’m smart, but I’m not that smart.” She then said, “So, you got your revenge. What are you going to do now?”

An Mu looked at Jian Yixi, who was leaning against the wall with her head down. Maomao’s arm was around her skinny shoulder. In the dark, An Mu couldn’t see her expression, and she was so quiet that it was as if she wasn’t there.

“Next…”

Just as she said the word, the door creaked open, and they heard voices. The three of them stood up and put on their shoes. They bent down and peeked out the window. It was still raining, but the sky was a little brighter. They saw Qin Yige holding Jian Yihu against the door. They could hear him say, “You owe me, so it’s time to pay up!”