The School Prince is a Girl - Chapter 8

The truth proved that Bai Xi was truly overthinking it. She only remembered that her former courses started at six o’clock but forgot that classes at Nanluo High School only began at 8:30 AM.

By the time Bai Xi, running so hard her lungs nearly burst, rushed to the classroom, the class bell had just rung.

For once, her deskmate, Mr. Male Protagonist, was awake. He glanced left and right with his beautiful phoenix eyes, then, making sure no one was paying attention to them, leaned toward Bai Xi and began whispering.

“I’ve set up everything you asked me to yesterday, but my actions are also restricted by my family right now. For the time being, my reach can’t extend that far.”

The current situation was that Yu Mo and Bai Xi were cooperating, but both were currently constrained by their respective families, making their actions exceptionally difficult.

However, Yu Mo was slightly better off than Bai Xi. He had greater freedom in resources, time, and movement, so Bai Xi simply handed over all matters not involving the internet to him.

The two of them were only operating on a small scale for now, not daring to jump too high due to family reasons, which made things a bit easier.

“We shouldn’t rush now. This is just planting a chess piece that will eventually bear fruit.”

“It’s not a chess piece; it’s a seed. A chess piece buried in the ground will not bear fruit in a hundred years.” Yu Mo corrected Bai Xi’s slip of the tongue.

Bai Xi looked at Yu Mo, who was staring blankly at the blackboard, whispering with her, and still finding time to criticize her language logic. Bai Xi suddenly felt a little puzzled: Is the female protagonist blind? To fall for this kind of person.

She complained mentally, but she couldn’t say it out loud. However, after complaining, Bai Xi was slightly unaccustomed to the long absence of 002’s frantic voice.

From yesterday until now, 002 had been unusually silent. Even if it was sleeping, it was sleeping for far too long.

Unfortunately, Bai Xi had too many other things to think about right now, so she could only temporarily postpone dealing with 002; otherwise, her brain would truly explode.

Before Bai Xi could figure out how to legitimately seek out Ye Ying, the female protagonist actively came looking for her the moment the first class ended.

When she saw the figure at the doorway, Bai Xi initially thought she was seeing things. Only after Ye Ying clearly called out her name did Bai Xi react.

This female protagonist actually made the unprecedented decision to run from the first floor to the fourth floor to find her.

What’s up? Did she take the wrong medicine?

Tossing the male protagonist, who still wanted to discuss future cooperation plans, aside, Bai Xi walked out of the classroom under the curious gazes of her classmates.

“You have something to talk to me about? Is it convenient to talk here? How about we go to the rooftop?”

Seeing the gossipy looks of the surrounding students, Bai Xi knew that this was not a suitable place for a serious conversation.

Surprisingly, Ye Ying didn’t speak up, completely acquiescing to Bai Xi’s suggestion.

The two walked silently, one after the other, up to the fifth-floor rooftop. In truth, Bai Xi more or less knew why Ye Ying was looking for her, as Bai Xi herself was planning to seek out Ye Ying to discuss this matter.

Seeing that the 15-minute break was quickly passing and Ye Ying across from her remained silent, Bai Xi grew a little impatient.

“If you only wanted to come up to the rooftop to catch some air with me, I think we’ve had enough. I’ll be leaving now.”

Bai Xi thought that after saying this, Ye Ying should try to stop her and quickly get to the point so she could go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, Ye Ying seemed never to be a good child who followed the script. After Bai Xi finished speaking, Ye Ying silently nodded and then surprisingly started walking downstairs first.

“Hey, don’t you want to talk to me about the Sunshine Orphanage?”

Seeing that Ye Ying was genuinely planning to leave, Bai Xi couldn’t sit still. Although she didn’t have strong feelings for Ye Ying, the actions of those people in front of her yesterday had genuinely moved her.

“I believe you have your own judgment and decision.”

Tossing out that final remark, Ye Ying left the rooftop directly.

Bai Xi smiled, holding her temple with one hand.

After Ye Ying left, Bai Xi chose to leave school immediately and headed straight for the Bai Group Headquarters building.

In truth, Bai Xi’s agreement to help Ye Ying wasn’t because she deeply sympathized with the people at the orphanage. She was fundamentally a businesswoman, and the principle that merchants are dispassionate and prioritize profit is an eternal truth.

The main reason Bai Xi agreed to take on this matter was that she wanted to test the attitudes of Old Master Bai and Madam Bai, and to determine the limits of their tolerance toward her.

Perhaps this incident wouldn’t reveal an upper limit, but at the very least, it would give her a benchmark for measurement.

Sitting in the reception room of the Bai Group Headquarters, Bai Xi twirled a cup in her hand.

“Young Master Bai, please follow me.” A secretary dressed in a uniform with refined makeup entered the reception room and led the way, looking at Bai Xi, who was sitting listlessly on the sofa.

It was truly unexpected that even a son needed an appointment to see his own father.

After waiting downstairs for a full two hours, Bai Xi finally met her biological father. Since their hurried meeting when she returned from abroad last time, they hadn’t seen each other for such a long period.

“Do you have something you need to see me about? Is something upsetting you at school? If there is, you can speak directly to the principal; he will handle everything for you.”

As Bai Xi walked into the door of the office, before she could even open her mouth, she heard the man sitting behind the massive desk toss out that sentence.

In that instant, Bai Xi almost thought she had transmigrated again; the self from that time and the current self nearly overlapped.

However, that feeling lasted only a moment. Bai Xi quickly adjusted her composure, sat down on the leather sofa, and shook her head. “I came here today to ask about the new warehouse the Bai Group plans to build recently. I know I don’t yet have the qualifications to interfere with company matters, but I only have one small request.”

Looking up from the piles of documents, Old Master Bai’s gaze was sharp, sweeping over Bai Xi.

The signing pen in his hand was gently placed on the desk. Old Master Bai’s hair, half-gray, made him look stern and awe-inspiring.

“Perhaps you can tell me, but if you’re here to discuss company business, you only have five minutes. If you cannot change my decision after five minutes, you must leave.”

His attitude was strictly business-like, showing no leniency simply because the person opposite him was his son.

This attitude was entirely within expectations. Based on his previous attitude toward her and the constant rumors circulating in the outside world, she could piece together the image of such a cold and ruthless CEO father.

“That’s natural. I prepared a draft for this matter before coming here.”

The mention of a “draft” was complete nonsense. In such a short time, Bai Xi had barely run through the arguments twice in her head.

But seeing the appreciation reflected in Old Master Bai’s eyes, Bai Xi knew she had said the right thing. Older, seasoned professionals prefer young people who handle matters with strategy and measure. Blindly charging forward would only be considered idiotic.

“In truth, I don’t have any brilliant ideas to persuade you to change your previous plans, but I can only say that based on the general trend over the last two years, charity has become mainstream. And now, for the sake of one warehouse, you are about to destroy a sanctuary built entirely on love and dedication. This is not cost-effective for you. This location clearly has greater utilization value.”

Speaking commercially, Bai Xi certainly wouldn’t be foolish enough to discuss sentiment, gratitude, or human kindness with Old Master Bai. She could only approach the conversation from the perspective of various interests.

“I have only briefly looked into this orphanage. Its history is quite long; the stories that have occurred there are compelling and attractive. Moreover, the surrounding environment is beautiful, with its own small ecosystem. If all of this were destroyed merely to build a warehouse, I think it would be a case of overusing a resource.”

Old Master Bai understood Bai Xi’s meaning but still did not concede.

“Furthermore, I observed earlier that the geographical location of that place is very special. It is not far from the urban area, yet it is more desolate than other nearby suburbs, with no trace of development. Father, why do you think this is?”