I Am Not a Vicious Stepsister! - Chapter 13

“What’s wrong? Slow down, be careful not to fall!” Modesty watched as Ni Songan hung up the phone and rushed downstairs in such a hurry that one of her slippers came off. The air around her was heavy with frustration.

Songan’s expression had turned grim the moment the instructor finished explaining the situation. She didn’t have time to explain things to Modesty; she dashed straight into the living room, logged into her school email, and found a new message waiting for her.

With trembling fingers, she gripped the mouse and clicked it open.

The content was brief, but it featured circled similarities between Songan’s design report and those of two other students. Vast stretches of red annotations blurred before her eyes.

As she read more closely, she realized that “similar” was just a polite understatement from the teacher. Strictly speaking, the design content of the three reports was almost identical, a blatant copy-paste job.

When Songan was working on this buzzer design, she had selflessly shared her report in the group chat, specifically telling her classmates it was for reference only and not to be used directly.

But a disclaimer like that couldn’t stop a thief.

Those two students had simply taken Songan’s work and claimed it as their own!

She hadn’t encountered such stupidity in a long time. The culprits likely didn’t even realize how severe the consequences for plagiarism and cheating could be, even if this was just a course project.

Songan’s fingers flew across the keyboard as she sent a message to the two students who had stolen her work:

[Ni Songan: Hello. The course instructor contacted me saying our reports are identical and she needs a reasonable explanation, otherwise, our grades for this subject will be invalidated. Should I just submit the chat logs where I answered your questions, or will you go to the teacher and clear this up yourselves?]

After sending the message, she didn’t wait for a reply. She immediately began organizing the chat logs from the project sharing group, mapping out the timeline to use as evidence. If those two girls tried to turn the tables on her, they would be walking straight into their own graves.

Nanzhou University maintained strict academic discipline. They had zero tolerance for plagiarism or cheating; once caught, the punishment ranged from failing the course to receiving a formal demerit on one’s record.

As for why the instructor had gone out of her way to warn her…

After thinking it over, Songan figured it must be because of Zhou Yeja, the competition mentor she had sought out.

When she had gone to Zhou’s office to ask for supervision, the course instructor had been there too. The two appeared to be on very good terms. Even later, when Songan went to report her progress, she often saw them together.

The instructor likely recognized her as Professor Zhou’s student and decided to do her a kindness by giving her a heads-up.

Once she finished sorting through the mess, Songan closed her eyes wearily and massaged the bridge of her nose.

A faint scent of citrus drifted over, stopping beside her.

Songan had recently swapped out her gardenia-scented toiletries for citrus tones, and Modesty, interestingly enough, had followed suit.

The scent helped Songan relax slightly. Her expression softened as she sighed, “I’m so tired. Sorry, I didn’t tell you what happened right away. What were we supposed to do today? I didn’t hold us up, did I?”

Modesty didn’t hide the concern in her voice. “Where we go isn’t important. You look so distressed, did something happen? Is there anything I can do to help?”

Songan was moved by her earnest tone and managed a small smile. “Thanks, but it’s not too hard to handle. I’m just having a bit of a hard time accepting the reality of it.”

The fact that her kindness had been exploited in a way that put her own academic standing at risk was a heavy blow to her spirits.

“If you’re unhappy, you can talk to me about it.” Modesty took her hand and leaned in, ready to listen to her troubles.

Looking at Modesty’s innocent face and her genuine desire to comfort her, Songan felt that venting a little wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps it would even serve as a cautionary tale for Modesty to be more careful in the future.

“It’s actually a small matter. Some other students copied my assignment and submitted it. Now we have to provide an explanation. I’ll probably have to redo the whole report, I can’t stand to look at the original one anymore, it makes me feel sick…”

The situation wasn’t complicated, and she summed it up in a few sentences.

Modesty understood the gist of it, but she asked in confusion, “Why would they do that? You helped them so much already, couldn’t they just do it themselves?”

Songan shook her head. Others had simply asked her questions and then done their own designs; she couldn’t fathom why those two had tried to be so “clever.”

“That’s so unfair!” Modesty said, still feeling indignant on her behalf. “Then why can’t you just keep the original report?”

“If I did that, it would be the same as accusing them of plagiarism directly,” Songan said. Although she was angry, she wasn’t ready to burn bridges completely, as they were still classmates. “If they apologize sincerely, we’ll all just redo it. If they don’t, I’ll submit the evidence to the teacher to show they copied me first.”

“Alright.” Modesty reluctantly accepted these options, her lips pressed thin.

Songan could tell she was still bothered by it and quickly changed the subject. “I’m going to go change right now! We’re still going out today. Wait for me, I’ll be quick.”

Songan and Modesty planned to stay on Siluo Island until a few days before the New Year before returning to Quxi Orange County.

With more than ten days left, their schedule wasn’t too packed, allowing for plenty of free time on the island.

Most of Siluo Island had been developed into a tourist area. Today, they were heading to a bay popular with tourists who wanted to try snorkeling.

Under Modesty’s enthusiastic recommendation, Songan grew curious and decided to check out the bay with her.

The sun beat down directly, and Songan had to shield her eyes with one hand to see the path. Because of the heat, she kept switching hands to avoid getting a sunburn.

White waves rolled over the glass-like surface of the sea. As they waited at the port for the boat to take them snorkeling, the brisk wind tossed people’s hair about, and someone’s hat even blew away, drifting further and further out to sea.

Seeing this, Songan couldn’t help but feel relieved. “When you asked if I wanted to buy a hat earlier, I’m glad we didn’t. Otherwise, it would’ve been blown away the moment we stepped on the boat!”

Modesty laughed along. “Yeah, you’d have to hold onto it tight.”

They soon boarded a small boat that cruised past rows of water villas. Each was decorated differently, and Songan found herself mesmerized by the view. “I’m actually regretting it now. If only I were a better sleeper, we could have stayed in one of those.”

“The waves are actually quite loud at night, and it can be a bit scary if the weather is bad. Staying on shore is great too!” Modesty, sensing a hint of self-reproach in Songan’s voice, immediately leaned in and whispered the benefits of staying on land.

As she spoke, the boat sped up, and her golden hair brushed against Songan, creating an itch she couldn’t ignore.

Songan tilted her head to avoid the stray strands and reached out to help Modesty gather her hair, as she happened to have a hair tie. The latter watched with a smile as Songan sat beside her and braided the golden locks. “I’ve never learned how to do that kind of braid. You’re so talented!”

“It’s nothing special. If you want to learn, just ask me anytime.” Songan’s voice was soft, almost carried away by the wind, so she leaned closer to Modesty’s ear to repeat herself.

The boat gradually slowed down as they reached the snorkeling spot.

Modesty had already earned her Open Water Scuba Instructor certification, so she had volunteered to teach Songan herself, skipping the local guides on Siluo Island.

Songan wasn’t much of a swimmer, barely able to keep herself afloat and move forward, so Modesty fitted her with a life jacket and a buoy.

Under Modesty’s guidance, Songan put on her fins and mask, bit down on the snorkel, and climbed into the seawater while holding Modesty’s hand.

“Just relax, and remember not to spit out the snorkel.”

That was the one instruction Songan held onto most tightly before submerging.

Plunging into the crystal-clear, jewel-like shallow sea, the view became incredibly sharp once her eyes adjusted. Songan could feel Modesty leading her a bit further out where the fish became more numerous. They darted through colorful corals and swam past her, their vibrant patterns exceptionally striking against the turquoise water.

The coral was so close she could see the ridges on its surface, and Songan couldn’t help but stop to try and touch it. Modesty, who was watching her closely, noticed her let go of the buoy. She stopped, dove deeper into the water, and looked up at Songan.

The golden braid floated in the water, and the sunlight from above illuminated every detail of the shallow seabed. Through her mask, Songan saw Modesty’s blue eyes crinkled in a smile, a color purer than the glass-like sea or the clear sky she had seen today.

The fingers that were about to touch the coral curled slightly, and she felt an involuntary urge to reach toward Modesty’s face. A small yellow fish darted past Songan’s hand, snapping her back to reality. She quickly gave Modesty the pre-arranged hand signal to show she was okay.

After confirming that Songan was just mesmerized by the underwater scenery, Modesty swam back up, grabbed the buoy, and continued leading her along.

Schools of fish began to gather, swimming in formation in the opposite direction. When a few nearly bumped into Songan, they skillfully darted away.

This was a blue, carefree paradise where all worries seemed to vanish.

All she could hear was the sound of her own breathing, and all she could feel was the touch of Modesty’s hand and the warm sunlight filtered through the water onto her back.

When Modesty looked back at her once more, Songan didn’t linger behind. She kicked her legs a few times and caught up to her side.

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