Returning to High School to Save My Wife - Chapter 6

Liang Qi was completely immersed in the joy of being able to sit next to Jiang Yuan, unaware that when Jiang Yuan heard the news, she instantly felt like her high school life had just hit rock bottom.

She had only met Liang Qi twice, yet her impression of Liang Qi was deeply etched in her mind. It could be summed up in three words: shamelessly thick-skinned.

The first time they met, Liang Qi had clung to her under the pretense of heatstroke, followed her home, tried every trick to get close, and even asked for her contact information, when they weren’t even remotely familiar with each other.

But since this seating arrangement was based on the school’s regulations, no matter how unwilling Jiang Yuan felt, she had no choice but to comply.

And so, under the watchful eyes of the entire class, Jiang Yuan picked up her backpack, stood up, and walked to the first seat in the first row to sit down.

Within seconds, Liang Qi happily trotted over with her backpack and plopped down beside Jiang Yuan.

While He Wei announced the seating arrangements for the other students from the podium, Liang Qi busied herself organizing her things below.

Suddenly, she realized she had forgotten her pencil case.

Having been away from school for so long and basking in the excitement of getting into the elite class, she had overlooked something so important.

But could such a trivial matter stump Liang Qi, who had always been a social butterfly with excellent people skills since childhood? Of course not!

Liang Qi turned to the person beside her with a pleading look. “Dear desk mate, I forgot to bring a pen.”

Jiang Yuan lowered her eyes, took a black pen from her own pencil case, and tossed it onto Liang Qi’s desk.

Clack.

The pen made a crisp sound as it landed on the desk.

“Thanks.” Liang Qi blinked at her, smiling sweetly.

Though it was only their first day as desk mates, she had already deeply appreciated the perks of this arrangement.

What did being desk mates mean? It meant she could justifiably talk to Jiang Yuan at school, borrow notes from her, and even have meals together all under a perfectly reasonable pretext.

The first class of high school was an introductory session, where each student, starting from the first seat in the first row, had to introduce themselves.

Jiang Yuan was the first to go up.

Dressed in the blue-and-white school uniform, her jet-black hair tied into a high ponytail, the shifting sunlight outlined her serene figure, exuding a uniquely cool and composed aura.

Standing at the podium, she calmly glanced at her classmates below and began with a smile.

“Hello everyone, my name is Jiang Yuan. I was admitted from Class 5 of the freshman year. My strong suit is Chinese, and I usually enjoy dancing and reading. I hope that over the next two years, we can all make progress together and get into our dream schools.”

Liang Qi sat below, listening to the familiar introduction, feeling as though she had been transported back to their past life.

At their first meeting during a corporate event, Jiang Yuan had taken the stage, speaking fluently and clearly, her delicate oval face adorned with understated makeup, standing out among the crowd of employees and deeply captivating her.

“My name is Jiang Yuan, and I’m the manager of Jiayun Pharmaceutical’s foreign trade division. Our company has long been committed to promoting the sales of domestic pharmaceutical products, collaborating with many renowned biopharmaceutical companies.”

Somehow, it felt as though their two lifetimes had overlapped.

In their past life, she had listened to Jiang Yuan’s speech with genuine admiration, wanting to know her better.

But in this life, she listened with calm detachment, her heart set only on protecting her.

As Jiang Yuan finished her self-introduction, the classroom erupted in enthusiastic applause. Liang Qi proactively moved her chair aside to make it easier for Jiang Yuan to return to her seat.

“Well done.” Liang Qi secretly winked at her.

Jiang Yuan remained unmoved.

The self-introductions proceeded in order. The second student was Jiang Yuan’s back-row classmate, named Tang Yiman. She appeared younger than the others, with long, naturally curly brown hair that accentuated her sweet and lively demeanor. Two red butterfly hair clips adorned her smooth forehead above.

She was a transfer student from Shengjiang Foreign Language School. Originally, she had planned to study abroad in Canada after finishing her first year of high school, but for some unknown reason, she changed her plans midway and transferred to Shengjiang No. 1 High School.

After over a dozen students had introduced themselves, it was finally Liang Qi’s turn.

Liang Qi stood up and walked to the podium, clearing her throat before speaking. “My name is Liang Qi. I just turned 18 this year. I was previously in Class 10 of Grade One.”

Before she could finish, murmurs erupted from the class.

“Class 10 of Grade One? Liang Qi?”

“Is she the daughter of Art Teacher Tao?”

“I heard her father is a very famous translator.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!”

“No wonder she dared to act so boldly in front of Xin-jie earlier.”

Liang Qi ignored the chatter below but stopped speaking with a faint smile, quietly waiting for the classroom to settle down.

Her smile and silence seemed to carry a peculiar kind of authority, like that of an expert negotiator just a glance or a smile was enough to convey whether she was pleased or angry, even if storms raged within her. Her expression remained dignified and unspoken.

Later, after she and Jiang Yuan got married, Jiang Yuan once reminisced about their first meeting. She said Liang Qi was the truly unflappable one, capable of delivering sharp retorts to skepticism and swiftly devising solutions in the face of surprises.

So Liang Qi asked Jiang Yuan, “What about you?”

In Liang Qi’s eyes, Jiang Yuan was always calm and rational, never flustered, as if nothing could stir ripples in her heart.

Jiang Yuan chuckled softly, her gaze growing distant as she answered. Liang Qi knew she must have been recalling the past.

She said, “Me? I was just disciplining myself.”

Perhaps because Liang Qi had remained silent for too long, the murmurs in the classroom gradually died down.

Only then did she continue her introduction.

“It’s an honor to become classmates with all of you. I hope we can get along peacefully over the next two years.”

She made no mention of the topics everyone had just been discussing.

After finishing her introduction, Liang Qi’s gaze lingered on Yue Suxin’s face in the audience, their eyes meeting faintly.

Yue Suxin felt unnerved under her stare and awkwardly averted her eyes.

Liang Qi stepped down from the podium and returned to her seat. Spotting Jiang Yuan, she deliberately leaned in and whispered, “Did I embarrass myself just now?”

“No.”

Liang Qi’s mood improved considerably.

After class, Jiang Yuan tapped her desk with a pen. “Let me out for a moment.”

Liang Qi scooted her seat forward slightly but couldn’t resist asking, “Where are you going? If it’s the restroom, I’ll come too.”

“I need to see Teacher He. I’m going to the office,” Jiang Yuan said, pulling a bag from her desk drawer. “I can go alone.”

Only then did Liang Qi relent.

Two rows away, Yue Suxin turned around and called out to a slightly plump girl in the back row, “Hang Jiao!”

She then gestured toward the classroom door.

“Coming right away, Xin-jie!”

A girl sitting behind Liang Qi said worriedly, “Is Yue Suxin going to cause trouble for Jiang Yuan again?”

Hmm?

Hearing this, Liang Qi paused slightly.

Cause trouble for Jiang Yuan?

She turned around and asked the girl behind her, “What do you mean by ‘picking on Jiang Yuan again’?”

The girl, named Duan Shuyu, had a sleek black bob that contrasted sharply with her long, fox-like eyes, seductive yet lively.

She glanced at Yue Suxin and Hang Jiao as they walked away, waiting until they were out of earshot before speaking to Liang Qi. “You’re from Class 10, right? No wonder you don’t know about the feud between Yue Suxin and Jiang Yuan. They used to be in the same class, and Yue Suxin gave her a hard time all the time.”

“A hard time?”

“Like throwing Jiang Yuan’s homework across the room, deliberately not collecting her assignments, bumping into her on the stairs.”

“Yue Suxin is that bold?” Liang Qi’s brows furrowed slightly. She had assumed it was just petty drama between girls, not something this serious.

No wonder those girls had said those things in the woods that day.

“And that’s not even the worst of it,” Duan Shuyu continued. “Back then, Yue Suxin was the math class rep. She even secretly changed Jiang Yuan’s answers on a test turned a ‘2’ into a ’20’.”

Liang Qi: “Didn’t the school do anything about it?”

“You wouldn’t know. Yue Suxin’s family is loaded like, donated-several-buildings-to-the-school loaded. Her dad and our principal were close classmates back in the day. When this came out, it got swept under the rug fast. The principal didn’t even reprimand her.”

“Why does Yue Suxin hate Jiang Yuan so much?”

“Because of Cheng Zhuocheng, obviously.”

“Cheng Zhuocheng?” The name rang a faint bell. “Who’s that?”

Duan Shuyu looked surprised. “You don’t know Cheng Zhuocheng? The heartthrob of Shenjiang High!”

Liang Qi genuinely didn’t.

She’d realized she liked women back in high school, school heartthrobs had never been on her radar.

“Yue Suxin chased Cheng Zhuocheng forever, but he wasn’t interested. Then she heard he liked Jiang Yuan, so she started targeting her.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“And Cheng Zhuocheng actually liked Jiang Yuan?”

“Probably. He was in the sports class, so they weren’t in the same homeroom, but he used to drop by hers to see her. Later, Jiang Yuan’s little brother even went to confront him twice over it.”

“You mean Jiang Mu?”

“You know him too?” Duan Shuyu raised an eyebrow. “I heard he got into our school this year. That kid’s crazy protective of his sister.”

As Liang Qi listened, an indescribable feeling settled in her chest.

Had her wife gone through all this back in high school?

Her gaze drifted to the now-empty doorway. A sudden, impulsive urge surged within her. She pushed back her chair and stood up, hurrying after them.

She had to see for herself!

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