Chapter 73 - 73 Riding a Tricycle to School
73 Riding a Tricycle to School
Zhuo Ying High School’s annual tuition fees totalled 800,000 yuan a year. For Shen Xi to attend a school as expensive as Zhuo Ying High School, she could not be poor.
The students were split into two factions, each with their own opinions.
Guan Lei listened to the conversation while resting against his desk. The more Jiang Xue tried to stir the pot, the more he felt she was noisy and vain. Jiang Xue could not compare with Shen Xi, who he felt was steady and humble.
The other students may not have known that Shen Xi was once the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, but Guan Lei knew.
The difference between Jiang Xue and Shen Xi was that of heaven and earth regarding how they wielded the Jiang family’s influence.
Shen Xi had shared the same cla.s.s with her peers for two years, yet not many knew that she came from a rich and powerful family. On the other hand, Jiang Xue leveraged the Jiang family’s name from the beginning. There could be no doubt that Jiang Xue wanted her cla.s.smates to know who she was and the family that stood behind her.
Growing tired of the charade, Guan Lei shot his cla.s.smates a hard look, instantly silencing the wild speculations of the gaggle of girls and boys.
The few students closest to him were so frightened by his glare that their mouths clicked shut, awkwardly returning to their seats.
Jiang Xue was a little put off by Guan Lei’s actions. She was the eldest daughter of the President of Kunlun Construction. It was one thing to ignore the situation and another altogether to disrupt her plans. It seemed he did not understand the importance of networking if he was openly glaring at her.
Just as Jiang Xue was about to give him a tongue lashing, she stopped, frightened stiff by the weight behind Guan Lei’s gaze. If she were anyone else, she would have wilted under that look.
But she was not just anyone.
Although unhappy, she decided to let it slide. A good woman knew not to quarrel with a lunatic. With that small rea.s.surance to herself, Jiang Xue turned away.
Seeing Jiang Xue’s tactful retreat, Guan Lei rested his head on the table again, hoping to catch up on sleep. The previous night had been a busy blitz; all he wanted was some shut-eye.
A student rushed into the cla.s.sroom, crying, “Big news!”
No one knew when Su Ni had stepped out, but it could not have been for long. As she gasped for breath at the teacher’s desk, she said, “A tricycle just wheeled into school, and it looks like it’s going to fall apart at any time. You don’t know this, but the tricycle is so far gone I’m shocked it can even move.” Su Ni supported herself on the teacher’s desk as she chattered, relaying her observations as best she could.
Su Ni’s words sent shocked ripples through the cla.s.s, eliciting another heated discussion.
“Really? Are you serious? How’d a garbage collector afford to pay the school’s tuition fees? Don’t joke like that.”
“Who is it? Which grade do they belong to? Which cla.s.s? Tell me. I need to see it for myself.”
“I’m not sure,” Su Ni began, “She was too far away; I only saw her back profile. She’s definitely a student of our school, though. She was wearing our school uniform. I think I saw a panda pendant attached to her blue bag.” Su Ni tried explaining, but her cla.s.smates would not accept her answer for what it was and continued bombarding her with questions.
“Our school is not a school that is easy to get into. A garbage collector wouldn’t be able to afford the tuition fees.”
When Jiang Xue heard Su Ni mention a broken tricycle, she panicked. Jiang Xue’s mind immediately called up the image of the Shen family’s broken tricycle. It took her a while to remember she was no longer the Shen family’s daughter; she was not the eldest daughter of the Jiang family.
Fortunately, she was now Jiang Xue and not Shen Xue. Otherwise, she would be on the other end of her cla.s.smates’ contempt.
Jiang Xue swallowed. The thought was practically a nightmare. Taking a few deep breaths, she managed to calm herself and joined in on their ridicule. To think someone would ride a broken tricycle to school… It was too embarra.s.sing to put into words.
The bell rang and their homeroom teacher, Sun Ling, entered. Trailing in after was Shen Xi.
None of the students knew that Shen Xi had transferred back into the school; therefore, Sun Ling did not intend to dive into the details. Still, introductions were in order since Shen Xi had changed her name.
“Perhaps you might like to reintroduce yourself to your cla.s.smates, though you should already be familiar with them,” Sun Ling directed.
Shen Xi nodded and responded respectfully, “Okay, Teacher Sun.”
Shen Xi wrote the word ‘Shen Xi’ on the blackboard before greeting her curious cla.s.smates. “h.e.l.lo, everyone. I’ve changed my name. My name Is Shen Xi now. I hope we can get along just as well as we did in the past.”
Su Ni took less than a second to recognise Shen Xi’s blue schoolbag and the cute panda attached to it. She was so surprised that she gaped, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. Shen Xi was the student who rode the broken tricycle to school.