Returning to High School to Save My Wife - Chapter 26

Liang Qi and Jiang Yuan went upstairs to Class 5.

Liang Qi peeked through the back door and scanned the classroom, but didn’t see who she was looking for. She turned to Jiang Yuan and asked, “Do you know where Liu Jiayao sits?”

Although Liang Qi remembered Liu Jiayao’s face, it was quite difficult to recognize someone just from their back while standing at the back door.

“Jiayao sits in the front row. I’ll send her a WeChat…” Jiang Yuan stopped mid-sentence as she remembered her phone was gone. Her tone became somewhat unnatural as she said, “Maybe I should just go in and find her.”

“Don’t go. People might start overthinking if they see you in there. I’ll do it; just tell me where she is.”

“She’s the second person in the third column.”

“Got it. Yuan Yuan, wait for me here for a moment. I’ll go get her out.”

Liang Qi walked over to the window and tapped on the glass a few times. The student sitting by the window saw her and opened it. Liang Qi quickly pointed to Liu Jiayao sitting next to them and whispered, “Could you help me call her out for a moment?”

The student gave an “Oh” and quickly got up to find Liu Jiayao.

Liu Jiayao looked toward the window in surprise. When she saw it was Liang Qi, her expression changed immediately. She grabbed her phone and left the classroom. Seeing Liang Qi still outside, she asked in an unfriendly tone, “Why is it you? What do you want?”

Just as she finished speaking, her gaze bypassed Liang Qi and landed on Jiang Yuan, who was standing by the stairs.

She walked quickly toward Jiang Yuan. “Jiang Yuan, why are you here?”

Recalling their previous meeting with Liang Qi, her face darkened. She shot an unfriendly glance at Liang Qi and whispered, “Is that girl giving you trouble? I heard she’s in your class now. Jiang Yuan, tell me, what happened?”

“No, Jiayao,” Jiang Yuan explained quickly, realizing the misunderstanding, “She’s my desk-mate. She came to help me.”

She glanced at Liang Qi, who was standing nearby, then quickly looked back and explained to Liu Jiayao again, “The one giving me trouble is Yue Suxin.”

“Yue Suxin?” Liu Jiayao’s expression changed instantly at the name. “What did she do?”

“She… very likely took my phone.” Jiang Yuan gave a brief summary of the events, which immediately incited Liu Jiayao’s indignation.

“That is too much! Jiang Yuan, tell me the truth, has Yue Suxin always bullied you like this?”

Jiang Yuan met her gaze without speaking directly, but Liu Jiayao could already read the truth in her eyes.

In her heart, Liu Jiayao cursed Yue Suxin up and down. However, she knew the priority was to solve Jiang Yuan’s problem. She calmed down and analyzed the situation: “No one saw it happen, so it might not be easy to resolve. Jiang Yuan, the school won’t let you check the surveillance easily, and besides, since it happened under the desk, the footage might not even be useful. If Yue Suxin hides the phone, everyone will think you’re framing her.”

Jiang Yuan naturally understood these points. She said to Liu Jiayao, “I know… that’s why we came to find you. Jiayao, do you believe what I’m saying?”

“What kind of question is that? Of course I believe you! Who else would I believe? That shameless Yue Suxin?”

“I want to ask you for a favor,” Jiang Yuan said. “Jiayao, are you still with Yu Xingran?”

“Yeah, we are…” Liu Jiayao quickly realized Jiang Yuan’s intent. “You want Xingran to ask Cheng Zhuocheng for help?”

“Cheng Zhuocheng pursued Yuan Yuan, but she just recently rejected his love letter,” Liang Qi chimed in. “It’s not convenient for us to go to him directly, so we thought of asking you.”

Liu Jiayao was in the same class as Cheng Zhuocheng, and since Yu Xingran was Cheng Zhuocheng’s best friend, she knew a bit about him. After hearing Liang Qi’s words, she thought it over and finally nodded. “Alright, I’ll talk to Xingran and try to convince Cheng Zhuocheng to help.”

“Yue Suxin likes Cheng Zhuocheng. If he’s willing to help, it will be much easier to get Jiang Yuan’s phone back. I know Cheng Zhuocheng and Yue Suxin are acquainted. If he has doubts about whether Yue Suxin actually took the phone, I have a way he can test for the truth,” Liang Qi said.

“You? Let’s hear it,” Liu Jiayao said half-skeptically.

“As long as he isn’t firmly taking Yue Suxin’s side, he can weave a few lies to coax the truth out of her. For example, he can pretend he wants to get Jiang Yuan’s phone himself. That way, to get on his good side, Yue Suxin would naturally give the phone to him as a gift.”

“That is indeed a way.”

“However, I don’t know Cheng Zhuocheng, so I don’t know if he’s trustworthy. If he gets the phone and does something with it himself, then.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Liu Jiayao dismissed Liang Qi’s concerns. “Cheng Zhuocheng isn’t unreasonable like Yue Suxin. I’ll have Xingran mediate this. We’ll return Jiang Yuan’s phone as soon as possible.”

With Liu Jiayao’s guarantee, Liang Qi nodded. “In that case, I’ll leave this to you. Since Yuan Yuan doesn’t have her phone, let me add you on WeChat so it’s easier to stay in touch.”

“Sure.”

The two exchanged contact information. Liang Qi checked the time; class was about to start.

“We should head back to class then.”

“Okay, wait for my news.”

With Liu Jiayao’s help, Liang Qi kept a close eye on her phone messages all afternoon, afraid of missing anything.

Finally, after school, Liu Jiayao came to Class 1 to find Jiang Yuan.

“Here, your phone,” Liu Jiayao said, placing the phone on Jiang Yuan’s desk. “Don’t lose it next time. Yue Suxin was around earlier, so it wasn’t a good time to give it to you. I had to wait until she left to come find you.”

“Jiayao, you really got it?” The heavy stone in Jiang Yuan’s heart finally fell. “I’ve really troubled you this time.”

“Don’t thank me. I didn’t actually do much. This was all thanks to Xingran and Cheng Zhuocheng; they did exactly what your desk-mate suggested,” Liu Jiayao said, glancing at Liang Qi. “I don’t know exactly what Xingran said to Cheng Zhuocheng, but I told Xingran this was a favor for me to help you, so he shouldn’t say anything reckless to Cheng Zhuocheng.”

“Regardless, thank you for being willing to step in and speak for me.”

“Stop thanking me, it’s a small thing. Do we need to be this polite given our relationship? Unless you stopped considering me a friend once you moved to the Rocket Class.”

“How could that be? Jiayao, I didn’t mean that.”

“Alright, I’m just joking. Hurry and check if any files are missing from your phone.”

“Let me see.” Jiang Yuan opened her phone and swiped the screen. She found a missed call from a few minutes ago.

Caller: Jiang Wangjie.

Jiang Yuan froze for a few seconds. Why would he call?

Her finger stayed on the screen for a long time until she heard someone beside her call her: “Yuan Yuan?”

Jiang Yuan snapped out of it and hurriedly tried to hide her reaction. “It’s nothing.”

She checked her files and WeChat messages and found everything was as usual. Only then did she relax. “There shouldn’t be any problems.”

“That’s good. Since it’s settled, I’ll head home first.”

“Take care on the road.”

After Liu Jiayao left, Jiang Yuan put away her phone and organized her textbooks and workbooks into her backpack. After zipping it up, she saw that Liang Qi was still packing, so she stopped and waited for her.

She hesitated for a moment and suggested, “Shall we… go back together?”

“Sure!” Liang Qi agreed immediately. Her movements to clear her desk became much faster, as if the request was just a very normal question between friends.

Hearing Liang Qi agree, Jiang Yuan felt a strange sense of relief, as if she had been very worried Liang Qi would refuse.

She was worried… but she knew that between friends, there shouldn’t be such worry. Because friends don’t refuse such suggestions.

And they.

They were friends.

This was the first time Jiang Yuan felt certain in her heart that she and Liang Qi were friends. She also wanted to be friends with Liang Qi.

If someone helps you many times, always appears when you need them most, isn’t afraid of any difficulties, and firmly chooses to stand by your side—if that doesn’t count as a friend, then what does?

Liang Qi quickly finished packing and stood up. “Let’s go.”

Since Xu Chengyu was hospitalized, Jiang Yuan no longer went home with Jiang Mu. Jiang Mu had to go buy food right after school to bring to the hospital. The two of them handled their dinners separately and wouldn’t see each other until Jiang Mu returned home at night.

On the way, Liang Qi said to her, “Yuan Yuan, you should still set a password for your phone. That way, even if it gets taken by someone else again, it won’t be as dangerous.”

Hearing this, Jiang Yuan sighed softly. “Actually… there’s a reason I don’t set a password for my phone.”

“Oh? What’s the reason?” Liang Qi was curious.

“I lost my phone once before. Someone picked it up, but because it had a password, they couldn’t call any of my friends. Fortunately, I went back to look for it in time and found it. To avoid that happening again, I stopped using a password.”

Liang Qi burst out laughing. “Yuan Yuan, you’re so unlucky! You’ve actually lost your phone twice.”

Speaking of this, Jiang Yuan was also somewhat helpless. “I was just too careless.”

Liang Qi thought for a moment, took out her own phone, and unhooked a charm from her phone case to give to her. “Here, I’ll give this to you.”

Jiang Yuan was stunned. “What is this?”

Liang Qi: “A charm, specifically for your situation. My phone number is written on the plaque the little cat is holding.”

Jiang Yuan noticed that Liang Qi’s phone charm was a cute Maneki-neko with a plump body, smiling eyes, and one fluffy paw raised. It looked very adorable.

“With this, if someone picks up your phone again in the future, they can call my number. Now you can set a password without worrying.”

Jiang Yuan felt a warmth in her heart. “Thank you, Liang Qi.”

She wasn’t someone used to accepting gifts casually, but remembering Liang Qi’s words about friends helping each other, she promptly set aside the thought of declining.

“Then… I’ll accept it?”

The feeling of exchanging trust between two people seemed much better than one person carrying everything alone.

“Take it. I’ll buy another one some other day and write your number on it too. That way my phone will be safer as well,” Liang Qi said.

Jiang Yuan gave a gentle smile. “Okay.”

Jiang Yuan felt that Liang Qi was like a key that had turned the lock in her heart. The moment her heart’s door opened, the light of the whole world seemed to pour into that dark corner deep inside, painting everything in vibrant colors and bringing new life to withered wood.

She was the dew on parched land and the starlight that dispersed the cold night.

She wanted to coexist with her.

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