Chapter 334: Problem Girl

Zheng Tan indeed had not gone to Xiao Youzi's school for a while; after returning from the capital, he had slept in several days in a row, and in the mornings he did not accompany Xiao Youzi and Jiao Ma out. Counting up, it had already been over a month since he last went.

Over a month is indeed enough time for many unexpected things to happen.

Zheng Tan ran home while worrying, carefully thinking about the situation of the past few days since returning from the capital.

No, Xiao Youzi hasn't seemed abnormal these past few days; after returning home she mostly does homework, after all the final exams are coming up, which is understandable, and her eating, sleeping, and daily routine show no abnormality at all. If it were really as those two first-year middle school students said, Jiao Ma would not have had no reaction at all, but Zheng Tan still feels something is off in his heart.

Jiao Ma might not know, after all, some of the information spread among students may not reach the teachers' ears.

In the evening Zheng Tan deliberately observed, but still did not find anything abnormal about Xiao Youzi.

Thus, Zheng Tan decided to get up early the next day and go out with Jiao Ma and Xiao Youzi.

This winter seems a bit colder than usual; after Zheng Tan went out he shivered, then he jogged to keep up with Xiao Youzi and Jiao Ma, and once he started running it wasn't so cold.

Jiao Ma first rode her scooter to school; Xiao Youzi came to Xiqu Dayuan and met up with her classmates there, then the three rode together to school.

The three little girls wore hats and scarves, and thick gloves on their hands, but the cold did not stop their mood for chatting; Zheng Tan ran not far behind, pricking up his ears to listen to their conversation.

At first they were discussing a TV show; Zheng Tan had watched a few episodes. He didn't think it was that great, but the male lead was popular with the girls. As they neared the school, Xie Xin thought for a moment and said to Xiao Youzi, "Youzi, do those rumors really not need to be dealt with? I see them getting more and more outrageous as they spread."

Zheng Tan had just been boredly looking elsewhere, but after hearing Xie Xin's words his ears perked up straight, and he stopped looking around, fixing his gaze on Xiao Youzi's side.

"Don't bother, let them spread."

Xiao Youzi's attitude was rather cold; she seemed indifferent. This made Zheng Tan feel much more relieved in his heart; it seemed that was just a rumor.

According to what Xie Xin and the others said, it seems someone is unhappy about Xiao Youzi ranking first in the midterm exam, which is why they spread some rumors. However, Zheng Tan glanced at Xiao Youzi. Unconsciously, that little girl who wasn't so big before has become a young lady; she looks pretty, and what matters is that she studies well. In middle school, those with good grades always attract extra attention from the opposite sex.

After thinking along the way, upon arriving at school Zheng Tan watched Xiao Youzi and the others park their bikes, walk into the teaching building, enter the classroom, and sit down. Although Xiao Youzi told Zheng Tan to hurry back because it was cold outside, he did not leave immediately; instead he stood on the wall near their classroom for a while and noticed that a few boys were looking at Xiao Youzi with a gaze that deserved a beating, but they were not particularly close to her, which could be seen from Xiao Youzi's attitude.

The glass windows gradually fogged up with vapor, and Zheng Tan no longer stayed there; he walked along the wall, thinking to wait until after class to hear whether other classes were paying attention to this.

Zheng Tan walked along the wall past the teaching building area, passed the cafeteria, and then came to the side of the playground.

At this time there were not many people on the playground, especially since the weather is cold and it's near the end of term; fewer people run outside, and both students and teachers hardly saw anyone.

As he was walking, something hit Zheng Tan on the head; it didn't hurt, it was a paper ball or something similar thrown at him.

The paper ball bounced off Zheng Tan's head and fell to the ground, carrying a scent of fried buns.

Following the direction it came from, Zheng Tan saw a familiar person.

"Hei Tan?!"

The person saw Zheng Tan, broke into a beaming smile, ran over, then squatted at the base of the wall and waved at Zheng Tan.

Zheng Tan stared, wondering how this girl could be here? She was still in elementary school the month before last, and now she's directly in middle school?

The person was indeed Xiao Jiu, who followed the blind old man Kun Ye; however, Zheng Tan had always thought Xiao Jiu was still in elementary school. This child, due to her past tragic experience, started school late and should be far behind Xiao Youzi; a couple of months ago she was still saying she was in elementary school, but now she came over wearing this middle school's uniform and carrying a backpack.

After jumping down from the wall, Zheng Tan sat beside Xiao Jiu and listened to her speak.

Xiao Jiu now looks much more cheerful, with her hair cut to shoulder length in a short style, and she wears a pink butterfly hair clip; usually she appears quite well-behaved, but anyone who has seen her fight knows she has a fierce streak. Zheng Tan once ran into Xiao Jiu on the Tianqiao and walked a stretch with her; midway there was a vicious vendor selling subpar goods and trying to swindle kids out of their money, but when Xiao Jiu put on a stern face, the vendor didn't even dare meet her eyes.

Perhaps because of her past experiences, Xiao Jiu's attitude toward things differs from that of her peers; she has always been satisfied with the arrangements made by Kun Ye's side.

Perhaps the blind old man Kun Ye initially took a liking to Xiao Jiu's fierce streak, which is why he agreed to place her there. Indeed, many blind people are blind in the eyes but not in the heart.

After seeing Zheng Tan, Xiao Jiu became especially talkative, often doing all the talking while Zheng Tan just listened beside her.

From Xiao Jiu's words, Zheng Tan learned that Xiao Jiu had indeed been studying elementary school material the month before last, but now she had already passed the questions at the level of the elementary-to-middle school upgrade exam, so there was no need to wait another half year; thus they arranged for her to come to this middle school directly. Besides Xiao Jiu, there are two others she knows who were tutored together back then, also studying at this school, one in eighth grade and the other in ninth grade, but they normally do not come and go to school together, and others do not know they know each other.

Given the capability of Kun Ye's side, sending Xiao Jiu in at this time was not difficult. And as a transfer student, Xiao Jiu entered this school not long after Zheng Tan left Chu Hua Shi, so it's no wonder he didn't know.

Xiao Jiu also talked about Xiao Youzi's situation; since they were in different classes—one on the first floor, one on the second—Xiao Jiu had not actively sought out Xiao Youzi, because at first she didn't know which class Xiao Youzi was in at this school. After she found out, the next day she beat up the few girls spreading the rumors, but it wasn't appropriate to go see Xiao Youzi right away. She wanted to observe those people for a period first, otherwise she feared causing trouble for Xiao Youzi.

Xiao Jiu fights fiercely; Zheng Tan can imagine what it was like when she beat up those girls. When Xiao Jiu beats someone, she never says it's because of Xiao Youzi; presumably those people didn't think Xiao Jiu knew Xiao Youzi, and they spread the rumors just making things up, but in fact they happened to guess correctly about half of it.

She has no boyfriend, but there is a "problem girl."

Xiao Jiu decided to wait until after the final exams to go find Xiao Youzi, tell her what's going on, and not let Xiao Youzi worry in the meantime.

"Tomorrow I'll go and have a word with the other few rumor-spreaders." Xiao Jiu rubbed her fists and said.

In middle school, many people fight behind the scenes, regardless of gender. Boys' fights tend to be bloody. However, girls' fights are more often slapping and hair-pulling, Zheng Tan thought. But if Xiao Jiu were to get physical, then it's hard to say.

Xiao Jiu is not the type who likes to bully others using influence. If she really were to act, those people would surely be detestable, and Zheng Tan believes Xiao Jiu has discretion; she follows Kun Ye, and will not act like those little thugs who recklessly cause trouble on impulse; on the contrary, in many cases they are rather low-key, otherwise Xiao Youzi would not have remained unaware until now that Xiao Jiu is in the same school.

During the era of "Young and Dangerous," for middle schoolers the influence of triad thugs was far greater than that of tall, rich, handsome guys; especially middle schoolers, when they hear "triad thug" they immediately imagine some powerful triad figure, all kinds of awesome. Although it has faded now and some years have passed since that era, the underlying influence remains; when people talk about it they hold a mix of contempt and awe, and when linked to top students there is even more gossip to be had, so it's no wonder those students spreading rumors chose the label "triad society."

Zheng Tan originally wanted to personally discipline those rumor-spreaders, regardless of gender, but now that Xiao Jiu is around he doesn't need to waste effort looking for people.

"Ah, time's almost up; in five minutes class ends, I want to make it to the classroom during the break!"

Xiao Jiu hoisted her bag, flung it toward the wall, stepped back a few steps, then sprinted and used the tree relatively close to the wall to vault over. Zheng Tan watched, his eyes twitching; at a glance it was clear she was a habitual offender!

As Zheng Tan jumped onto the wall, he noticed that on the inner side of the school wall, not far from where Xiao Jiu landed, stood a person with a stern face, wearing an armband, obviously the teacher on duty for this shift, tasked with stopping students who climb the wall or cause trouble elsewhere on campus.

"Cough, good morning, Director Wang." Xiao Jiu lifted her bag, patted off the dust, and gave a very obedient salute to Director Wang standing not far away.

Director Wang's face twitched; five days a week of school, four days this girl squeezes in just on time, the remaining day she might be late or might be early—why say "might"? Because there have been several times when the homeroom teachers reported her tardiness, but the gate guards on duty didn't record it.

If it were a boy, that would be easy to handle—middle school has plenty of problem boys, and there are ways to deal with them—but this is a girl; aside from being late, she is otherwise well-behaved during class. As a transfer student, she is said to have grades that aren't great, but she's not at the very bottom, just slightly below average, so she's not a primary focus of the teachers' attention; yet it's exactly this girl that makes the morning duty staff feel helpless.

Director Wang weighed his words, thinking about how to educate her. This morning, while on duty, he hadn't expected to see a bookbag thrown over from the other side of the wall just as he arrived; the next instant, a small figure nimbly vaulted over the wall and landed steadily on the ground, and upon seeing who it was, Director Wang's eyelids twitched violently.

Before Director Wang could speak, Xiao Jiu lowered her head and said, "I was wrong."

Her frank admission cut off whatever Director Wang was about to say.

"What was wrong?" Director Wang asked sternly.

"I shouldn't have climbed the wall." Xiao Jiu said.

"Anything else?" Director Wang stared at Xiao Jiu, "Why are you late again?"

That "again" made Zheng Tan's beard twitch.

Xiao Jiu tilted her head, as if thinking, then said "Oh," "This morning I saw an elderly grandmother knocked down by a car; I took her to the hospital, which is why I was late."

Director Wang and Zheng Tan: "……" Could she be any more fake?

But the next moment, Xiao Jiu took out several certificates from her bag—hospital, police, and the patient's family—with seals and hospital slips proving she was telling the truth. Zheng Tan thought carefully; indeed, just now Xiao Jiu still had a faint hospital smell on her.

When the end-of-class bell rang, Xiao Jiu ran toward the teaching building, leaving Director Wang holding a few certificates, fluttering in the wind. (To be continued…)