I didn't even need to look down to know whose foot that was—who else but Yan Shi would pull something like this?
I kept my head down and continued eating. Yan Shi acted as if nothing had happened, chatting quietly with Wu Wu while eating.
I had no idea what had gotten into her today.
When I raised my head to grab some food, I deliberately glanced at Yan Shi's reaction. Seeing her completely unbothered, I thought to myself, Damn, she's good at pretending.
Suddenly, Yan Shi said the soup in the kitchen should be ready and went to get it. She stood up and walked toward the kitchen. At first, I didn't think much of it and took another bite of rice. But when Yan Shi returned with the soup, it hit me—if she went to the kitchen, whose foot was still on mine?
My scalp tingled, and my eyes instinctively darted toward Wu Wu.
If that foot wasn't Yan Shi's, then it could only be Wu Wu's. When I looked at her, she raised her head and met my gaze, a knowing smile in her eyes.
After that, I kept my head down, not daring to look at either of them.
Once we finished eating, Yan Shi went to shower and get ready, while I was left to clean up. Wu Wu sat in the living room, flipping through one of Yan Shi's new fashion magazines. Unsure how to face her, I dragged out my time in the kitchen, even rewashing dishes that were already clean, until Yan Shi finally finished getting ready.
Before leaving, Yan Shi handed me my allowance, then headed out with Wu Wu.
I stayed home until around four in the afternoon, took a shower, and then returned to school. While transferring buses, I actually ran into Xia Shi—this time, she wasn't with her boyfriend Li Delong but with a chubby girl from our class named Bao Min. Xia Shi waved me over to sit with them.
We chatted the whole way, mostly about class-related stuff. I found it a little strange—why wasn't she mad at me for beating up her boyfriend? Maybe it was because I'd helped her twice before.
When we got off at school, we even bumped into Li Dehai. Ever since I'd humiliated him last time, he seemed more cautious around me. He glanced at me a few times when he saw me getting off with Xia Shi, then walked away while pulling out his phone.
Back in the dorm, I found Gou Mao and the others there. Gou Mao had brought two roast ducks for everyone and called me over to eat. Maybe because of the whole Jiang Qingqing situation, I wasn't in the best mood. I thought, If she really gets me expelled, I'll just drop out.
Still, I wanted to take the initiative and talk to the department head about switching classes. Our department head was a man in his forties who also taught our Chinese literature class. He was a great teacher—well-read, engaging, and generally well-liked by students. I personally thought he was reasonable, so I figured talking to him about switching classes shouldn't be a problem.
While in the dorm, I quietly told Gou Mao about my plan. His eyes widened. "What's wrong? Why do you suddenly want to switch?" I said, "I had a conflict with Jiang Qingqing. If I don't switch, she'll make my life hell. I don't want to stay under her watch."
Gou Mao frowned. "It can't be that bad. Jiang Qingqing's usually pretty nice to students." I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. I'm going to talk to the department head later." Internally, I scoffed—Jiang Qingqing's just waiting for a chance to screw me over. 'Nice' my ass.
Before evening self-study, I went to the grade office but found the department head wasn't in, so I headed back to the classroom. By then, Jiang Qingqing was already sitting at the teacher's desk. When she saw me, she just gave me a cold glance before looking back down at her work.
I was too agitated to even play on my phone. After spacing out for half an hour, I figured the department head might be back in his office, so I went up to Jiang Qingqing and asked to go to the bathroom. She didn't even look up, just gave a dismissive "Mhm."
I wondered if she found me so annoying that she couldn't stand the sight of me. If that was the case, switching classes might be for the best—at least we wouldn't have to glare at each other every day.