Green Tea Top Student Falls in Love with Me - Chapter 3

In the evening, the school gave students an hour of free time to take care of personal matters. However, leaving campus after evening self-study was generally not allowed.

Shi Wangui and her two friends stood in front of a food stall outside the school. She was furious to her, Wen Youren had become a thorn in her side, an unbearable irritation. She wished Wen would disappear forever, never to reappear in her life again.

“Wanwan, should I ask my boyfriend to teach that Wen Youren a lesson?” Sun Yi was the first to get her food and broke the silence.

“No, I’ll handle it myself. We can’t resort to fighting,” Shi Wangui refused. Though they had a reputation, they never picked fights without reason. If they ever fought, it was only against those who deserved it.

Wang Hu gave a thumbs-up, genuinely approving. He truly wanted to support his two good friends and trusted their character. “That’s the right attitude. And Sun Yi, you should spend less time with your boyfriend. We’re still students studying should be our priority. Stop talking about fighting all the time.”

Sun Yi rolled her eyes. “Mind your own business.”

Shi Wangui also believed that fighting shouldn’t be taken lightly, but she saw no harm in verbal confrontations.

“Whatever. I doubt she can cause much trouble anyway, just a nerdy bookworm. I’m not that petty,” Shi Wangui said, pretending not to care. “But she’d better not provoke me.”

Wang Hu chuckled. “You could always beat her at her own game, like outperforming her in academics.”

His words were met with silence, followed by Sun Yi bursting into laughter.

Who was Shi Wangui? She ranked last in the entire school. Once, their English teacher accidentally stepped on a test paper, and the score printed by her shoe was still higher than Shi Wangui’s. If you copied her homework, your accuracy would improve as long as you avoided her answers.

Shi Wangui took a deep breath. These were her friends, her good friends. She couldn’t curse at them. “When it comes to studying, I’ve always followed four principles.”

Sun Yi and Wang Hu asked in unison, “What four principles?”

“No stealing, no robbing, no competing, and no effort.”

“…”

Sun Yi remarked, “That suits you perfectly.”

Sun Yi’s grades were also poor, though slightly better than Shi Wangui’s only because she excelled in geography, and that was her only strong subject.

“By the way, Yiyi, whose turn is it to supervise evening self-study tonight? I forgot again,” Shi Wangui asked casually. The schedule was posted on the classroom wall, but it was easier to just ask.

Sun Yi rolled her eyes. “My dear beauty, try to remember this time. Don’t skip the homeroom teacher’s session like last time. Tonight, it’s the geography teacher.”

Shi Wangui grinned. “That’s why I’m asking you.”

“What are you planning to do tonight?” Wang Hu sensed something off. Shi Wangui rarely asked without a reason. “Don’t tell me you’re skipping again.”

Shi Wangui tossed her hair. “Smart guess. I am planning to skip tonight.”

Sun Yi asked, “What for?”

“Going to that abandoned building to help someone in a fight,” Shi Wangui said calmly, then added, “I’m getting paid for it.”

Shi Wangui was skilled at fighting and sometimes took on jobs to beat people up for others. She would bear the brunt of the blame, and the person who hired her would pay her a portion of the fee, while she wouldn’t have to worry about any subsequent compensation payments. However, she didn’t hit people indiscriminately. Usually, the targets she took on were bullies who picked on their classmates. Even if they were beaten by Shi Wangui, they wouldn’t dare report it.

“Fighting again? Do you need my help?” Sun Yi said worriedly. “Do you remember last time when you got jumped by a group?”

Shi Wangui took a bite of the pancake in her hand. “It’s fine. This time, it’s a girl who bullies others by relying on her connections. She’s not strong herself. Don’t you trust me?”

Sun Yi and Wang Hu didn’t say anything more. They both knew the situation Shi Wangui’s only source of living expenses came from these jobs. Her scumbag father was wealthy but refused to spend any money on her. Occasionally, he would remember to transfer a few hundred yuan for her expenses, but most of the time, he left her to fend for herself, unless she humbled herself and begged him.

After finishing their meal, it was almost time for evening self-study. When Shi Wangui and the others returned to the classroom, Wen Youren was already seated at her desk, studying.

Shi Wangui didn’t say anything but glanced sideways at Sun Yi, giving her a look that seemed to say, “See? She’s just a nerdy bookworm. How could she be a match for me? I just don’t want to make things too ugly.”

At No. 8 High School, the first period of evening self-study was supervised by a teacher, who would either explain some problems or organize a small test. However, the following two periods had no teacher present.

This time, since there wasn’t much homework to go over, the teacher organized a small quiz. The first-year students hadn’t been divided into specialized classes yet, so the test wasn’t too demanding, they were given a blank map and asked to fill in the names of the provinces.

Shi Wangui stared at the familiar blank map. She hadn’t memorized the provinces and only knew how to fill in three: Beijing, Shanghai, and Xinjiang. Even if she knew the others, she wouldn’t write them down. She knew about Xinjiang not because it was her home province, but because she yearned to go there. She had heard it was far away and vast, a place where no one would ever find her.

The map didn’t require much knowledge. After filling in what she could, Shi Wangui twirled her pen and occasionally looked out the window. However, since Wen Youren was sitting right beside her, every time she glanced outside, she inevitably caught sight of her.

This glance surprised her. Wasn’t this supposed to be the top student? Why hadn’t she written a single word? At least Shi Wangui knew three provinces.

Wen Youren noticed the gaze, glanced at the time, then picked up her pen and continued writing. In no time, the blank map was completely filled. It wasn’t that she didn’t know how to fill it, she just hadn’t felt like writing during her brief moment of zoning out.

Shi Wangui: “…”

Strong.

When class ended and the teacher left, Shi Wangui was ready to go too. But before leaving, she wanted to make sure her deskmate had a hard time, so she deliberately delayed for ten minutes. After all, it wouldn’t take long to run over later.

While Wen Youren was doing her homework, Shi Wangui tapped her pen on the desk. When Wen Youren was reading, she shook the desk. And when Wen Youren showed signs of annoyance, she took off.

By the time Shi Wangui reached the dilapidated classroom, several girls were already gathered there, coldly staring at the girl in the middle without laying a hand on her. The students’ hands were clean like white clouds in the sky, pure and untainted, not like ink-stained dark clouds shrouded in gloom.

When Shi Wangui arrived, the girl in the middle immediately looked up and snarled viciously, “Shi Wangui, are you insane? This has nothing to do with you.”

That girl was a minor school bully from the upper grades named Li Jun. She often bullied timid students for no reason, extorted money from them, and forced them to do her chores for free. She had no real power of her own and relied mainly on her connections with someone higher up. The girls who were being bullied had initially thought it was better to endure for the sake of peace, but Li Jun had gone too far by throwing the daily necessities and clothes sent by one of their mothers from afar into the toilet.

Shi Wangui despised people like her, and since there was money to be made, she had no reason to refuse.

She crouched down, grabbed Li Jun’s chin, and said, “If there’s money involved, then it has everything to do with me.” Then she patted Li Jun’s face and added, “Besides, isn’t this exactly what you deserve?”

Li Jun was no match for Shi Wangui. She had tried to run away, but the others had formed an impenetrable wall around her, leaving her with no escape and no one to turn to for help. It was all her own fault she had been told to pay protection money here and hadn’t suspected a thing. “I’ll give you the money, I’ll give it to you,” she pleaded. “Beat them up and let me go. I’ll pay double.”

Shi Wangui slapped her across the face and sneered, “I don’t take dirty money.”

Ignoring the pleas from the girl beneath her, Shi Wangui delivered several more slaps to her face. The once fair and tender skin was now as red as an apple, and upon closer inspection, a trace of blood could be seen at the corner of her mouth.

“Step back a bit. Cough once when you want me to stop,” Shi Wangui said to the other girls as she yanked Li Jun’s hair and took a step back. “No cough means don’t stop.”

The girls were grateful to Shi Wangui. Even though money was involved, no one else had been willing to help them, only Shi Wangui had stepped up. They took a few steps back, and no one called for a stop. Their anger was still running high.

Shi Wangui continued hitting for a few more minutes, deliberately targeting fleshy areas to avoid serious injury and leave no visible marks, though the slaps to the face had been an exception.

“Cough, cough.” A few of the girls, seeing Li Jun curled up in a ball and repeatedly apologizing, spoke up. They weren’t inherently cruel and didn’t want Shi Wangui to get into too much trouble.

Shi Wangui stopped her raised fist, got up from Li Jun, rolled her shoulders, and tossed her head. “If she bullies you again in the future, come find me anytime. I’ll throw in one free after-sales service.”

The long-haired girl in the middle took out five hundred-yuan bills and handed them to Shi Wangui. “Thank you. This is the full payment. If she reports this to a teacher and you have to pay compensation, contact us anytime. We’ll cover it.”

Shi Wangui took the money that was rightfully hers and said disdainfully, “Would she dare report it to a teacher? From what I know, the protection money she’s collected is almost over ten thousand. She should be thanking her lucky stars you haven’t reported her to the police for fraud.”

This was true. Li Jun had recently followed a senior bully in collecting protection money from many students, taking a cut for herself. When the senior bully wasn’t around, she continued collecting money under her name.

The girls fell silent. Yes, Li Jun wouldn’t dare report it just like them, when their rights were violated, they had nowhere to turn. They could only blame themselves for having a scumbag homeroom teacher.

Li Jun remained curled up on the ground, too afraid to get up. Her hair was already disheveled, but her fists were clenched tightly.

“If you come back late again, I won’t let you off, you motherless bitch.”

Shi Wangui stuffed the money into her pocket and headed for the door. Just as her hand touched the doorknob, she said, “You all should head back too. Don’t let this interfere with your studies.” Without looking back, she walked away.

Once outside, she realized her hand was aching a little, but it had felt satisfying to hit them, and at least she now had money for meals for the next while.

Shi Wangui took the shortcut back to the sports field, but there she encountered the last person she expected to see Wen Youren.

Wen Youren was leaning against the open iron gate of the sports field. The moment Shi Wangui pushed the door open, he tilted his head slightly and just stared at her.

Shi Wangui: “…”

Damn.

She wanted to leave immediately, ignoring Wen Youren, but she was worried he might run into the girls behind her and cause trouble for them.

“Why are you here?” Shi Wangui closed the iron gate, pressing it tightly shut with her hand. “Don’t tell me you just happened to wander over here.”

Wen Youren glanced at his phone and said calmly, “The teacher came and noticed you weren’t in the classroom. She insisted that I, as your deskmate, come find you. Can we go back now? You’re interfering with my studies.”

Shi Wangui: “Let’s go.”

They had to leave quickly, those girls would definitely come out soon.

Fortunately, Wen Youren was there on a mission and didn’t linger for long, turning around and leaving right away.

Wen Youren hadn’t lied to her. The teacher was indeed sitting at the podium. How strange in the two months since school started, she had never seen a teacher show up during the last two evening self-study sessions, except for the homeroom teacher.

The geography teacher glared at Shi Wangui as she returned, visibly annoyed, and said, “Your homeroom teacher is looking for you.”

So, Shi Wangui went to the office to see the teacher. The homeroom teacher taught Chinese and exuded a natural sternness fittingly, her surname was Yan (meaning “strict”).

The homeroom teacher looked at Shi Wangui and demanded, “Tell me, where were you during class?”

Shi Wangui replied indifferently, “I had a stomachache and went to the restroom.”

The teacher countered, “I checked the restroom. You weren’t there.”

Shi Wangui, as if well-prepared, said, “I went to the restroom on a different floor.”

The teacher parried, “I checked the restrooms on all five floors.”

Shi Wangui paused for a second, then quickly added, “Well, that makes sense. You might have checked the floors before I got there. After using the restroom, I got hungry, so I went to the cafeteria to buy some food. Teacher, students are allowed to eat if they’re hungry, right?”

The teacher snapped angrily, “Don’t try to sweet-talk me. Your priority as a student is to study hard. If you’re hungry and need to leave, you should at least inform the class monitor. Go back to your studies now, and don’t skip class again. If I catch you one more time, you’ll be doing your evening self-study sessions in my office from now on.”

Shi Wangui: “Oh.”

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