Chapter 45 – Picking on the Softest Target, Are We?

Lin Xi never could have imagined that the photo she took with Xia Xun would bring her more than one kind of trouble.

For example, right now, with the bell rung and school over, she had been cornered in the classroom!

And whoever had come for her clearly did not have good intentions!

Lin Xi knew this person. Almost every student in the school knew this senior named Chu Wenmu.

Because this senior, with her long, straight black hair and mature big-sister aura, was a member of the Discipline Committee!

And Chu Wenmu was not the only one blocking Lin Xi. She had two assistants with her as well.

Usually, when Chu Wenmu brought her two assistants along to “visit” a student, it meant that the student who had violated school rules was about to be in deep trouble.

Lin Xi frowned and racked her brain, but for the life of her, she could not figure out which school rule she had broken that morning.

She hadn’t been late, hadn’t left early, hadn’t played on her phone in class, hadn’t dozed off… All right, fine, she had technically nodded off for a little while.

It couldn’t be helped. The math teacher was a kindly little old man who spoke slowly and softly, practically like the village chief from the sheep village on Green Green Grassland1.

He was basically a walking sleeping pill!

All I did was “rest my eyes” for half an hour during math class. Did you really have to make such a big production out of it and corner me in the classroom after school???

In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Lin Xi admitted her mistake with the very first thing she said.

“Senior Wenmu!”

“I shouldn’t have fallen asleep in ‘Sleeping Pill’ Teacher’s… Ah, no, I mean Teacher Wu’s math class.”

“You fell asleep in class too?” Chu Wenmu waved a hand, and the assistants beside her immediately rustled through the Discipline Committee’s special record book and wrote Lin Xi up.

Lin Xi: “???”

So they didn’t know I slept in class!

Damn it!-

I just exposed myself…

Lin Xi asked, “Then, Senior Wenmu, you came to see me because…?”

“Miss Lin Xi, your problem is very serious,” Chu Wenmu said.

Lin Xi did not realize she had any problem at all. She only thought that Chu Wenmu’s mature, big-sister voice sounded really nice.

Her biggest problem was that she was a witch.

For the time being, Shi Yu had not sold her out. Other than that, what serious problem could she possibly have?

“Please enlighten me, Senior?” Lin Xi was a little nervous.

She was trapped at her seat, and most of the students in the class had already left.

Lin Xi glanced around and saw that Shi Yu still had not gone. It looked like she was… enjoying the show at my expense???

Damn it!-

Hoping Shi Yu would lend her a hand was absolutely impossible.

“You really don’t realize what serious problem you’ve caused?” Chu Wenmu sounded slightly intimidating.

But her mature, big-sister voice really did sound good!… Lin Xi cursed herself inwardly. What time was it, and she was still paying attention to that?!

Lin Xi genuinely could not figure it out, so she gave up. “Senior, just tell me directly. Which school rule did I violate? I’ll definitely change! It won’t happen again!”

Chu Wenmu did not answer. She took out her phone and unlocked the screen.

“Is the person in this photo you?”

“It’s me.” Lin Xi felt a headache coming on. Did the whole school know about this photo of her and Xia Xun now?

She had already been asked about it countless times that morning and had explained it countless times too.

But thinking about it, that made sense. Xia Xun was a celebrity figure at this school. A photo of her looking so intimate with Lin Xi probably counted as a “celebrity scandal”???

No, no, no.

Lin Xi did not dare flatter herself. Even if Xia Xun was going to have a “scandal,” it would never be with an invisible little nobody like her.

Now that she understood what this was about, the problem was not a big deal. At most, she just had to explain it again.

“Senior, here’s what happened-“

To Lin Xi’s surprise, Chu Wenmu did not play by the usual script. She did not listen to Lin Xi’s explanation.

“You don’t need to explain it to me. What’s done is done. There’s no taking it back now.”

“Huh?” Lin Xi was genuinely baffled. “Wait, Senior, Xia Xun taking a photo with me-is that some kind of vicious incident?”

“Of course!” Chu Wenmu stressed. “Not only is it a vicious incident, it’s an extremely serious vicious incident!”

“Huh???!!!” Lin Xi was shocked.

“Miss Lin Xi, do you really not know, or are you pretending not to know?”

“Know what?”

“Know that this photo is going to cause Miss Xia Xun a great deal of trouble!”

Lin Xi: “…”

Yeah, no. She was not taking the blame for this.

She needed to explain this to Chu Wenmu properly.

“Senior, the truth is, Miss Xia Xun was the one who pulled me in for this photo. She was the one who came up with using it to promote that movie.”

“Hah?!” Chu Wenmu stared at Lin Xi in disbelief. “How could Miss Xia Xun possibly have done that on her own initiative?!”

“Lying makes you a bad girl, Miss Lin Xi!”

“No, Senior, I’m really not lying. And… it’s not as serious as you’re making it sound, right? At most, she just has to explain a few things.”

“You-” Chu Wenmu’s face went cold. “Not only have you failed to recognize your mistake, you’re standing here making up excuses, and you’re suspected of lying-“

“Hold on!” Lin Xi cut her off. “I didn’t lie. Xia Xun really did pull me in for the photo. If you don’t believe me, let’s go ask her together.”

“Hmph.” Chu Wenmu snorted coldly. “Do you think Miss Xia Xun is as idle as an ordinary person like you? She isn’t someone you can meet just because you want to.”

“If I can’t see her, then go see her yourself, Senior. Ask her and you’ll know.” Lin Xi was getting a little impatient. “Senior, please move. I’m about to starve to death. I need to hurry up and go eat.”

Chu Wenmu: “…”

This was the first time she had ever run into a clueless blockhead like Lin Xi.

Originally, as long as Lin Xi softened her attitude, admitted her mistake, and promised not to bother Xia Xun again, Chu Wenmu had not planned to pursue the matter.

But Lin Xi showed no intention of backing down or admitting fault at all.

Chu Wenmu continued blocking Lin Xi’s way. “Causing trouble for Miss Xia Xun means causing trouble for the school, and for all of Z City!”

“You still haven’t realized how serious and malicious this problem is?”

“We, the Discipline Committee, must put a heavy mark on your record!”

Lin Xi went numb.

“Senior, how did this get escalated to the school and Z City? You can’t just throw baseless accusations around.”

She thought to herself, What, are they going to hold a public denunciation meeting for me too???

The key point was, the group photo really had been Xia Xun’s idea.

Chu Wenmu snapped at the assistants beside her, seething with anger.

“Put it on record!”

“Record it for me!”

“We have to make Miss Lin Xi understand that committing a serious mistake and refusing to admit it will bring grave consequences upon both herself and her class!”

The moment Lin Xi heard that, her temper flared.

So they were picking on the soft persimmon, huh?

Lin Xi was afraid of Shi Yu because Shi Yu had leverage over her, and because Shi Yu really could blow someone’s head off with a gun.

But she was not the least bit afraid of this unreasonable, overbearing senior from the Discipline Committee!

Lin Xi snatched the record book straight out of her hands.

Chu Wenmu and her two assistants were dumbfounded.

Never before had any student dared to be so arrogant as to snatch a record book from a member of the Discipline Committee.

And Lin Xi did not stop at snatching it. She glanced over it, then said to Chu Wenmu, “Senior, there’s no need to keep this page with trumped-up charges against me in the book.”

Riiip!

Right in front of Chu Wenmu, Lin Xi tore that page out.

Footnote:

1. Green Green Grassland(青青草原): A reference to the setting of the popular Chinese animated series Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. The “village chief” mentioned here is Slow Goat (Man Yangyang), an elderly character known for his extremely slow speech and movements, which Lin Xi compares to a sedative.