Chapter 225: You are dead wrong, you have to go!

Shen Ci looked at the WeChat message, her thoughts stirring.

Aside from Xia Weiwei, no one else knew that she had returned, but before she could think any deeper, an apology message from Xia Weiwei arrived first.

"A-Ci, I'm sorry. I accidentally let it slip in the classmate group chat. You Liqing hasn't contacted you privately, has she?"

"It's all my fault for having such a loose tongue. By the time I wanted to recall it, it was already too late."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Xia Weiwei sent a long string of apologies, her words filled with guilt, yet Shen Ci felt no ripples in her heart as she read them.

Because at this moment, there was already a distinct sense of unease in her heart. Even if she didn't want to speculate about Xia Weiwei with such "malicious motives," her instinctual reaction could not be deceived.

Xia Weiwei's "accidental" act really made her feel very uncomfortable.

Because chatting in a classmate group is done by typing, not by speaking directly.

If you were to say it was a slip of the tongue, that might be excusable.

But in the process of typing, there is ample time to think and reconsider. How careless must one be to broadcast something she had specifically been told to keep quiet about through typing?

Shen Ci did not lash out because of this. For her, such things would not stir up feelings of anger. If there was any emotion at all, it was perhaps just a little bit of disappointment.

Because she had thought she and Xia Weiwei were friends; at the very least, in her past life, they had been friends for a long time.

"She added me."

Shen Ci calmly replied with these four words, then switched to the chat box with You Liqing and replied: "Thank you for the invitation, but I won't be going to the gathering."

You Liqing seemed to have been staring at her phone waiting for Shen Ci's message, so she immediately sent a text message: "Why? You didn't come back last year, and everyone wants to see you. What's wrong? You can go out for coffee with Weiwei, but you can't get together with us old classmates?"

Although You Liqing's message was just text, as Shen Ci read it, her image gradually surfaced in her mind. She always used a condescending tone to say ordinary things, invisibly giving people a sense of class-based oppression.

Recalling that she was only a sixteen or seventeen-year-old minor back then, she had indeed felt wary of a wealthy young lady like You Liqing.

As someone so obsessed with looks, if You Liqing hadn't been pursuing Ma Hexu so high-profilely back then, she might have really agreed to date him just because he was handsome.

After all, at that age of hormonal restlessness, what could they possibly want from each other? Wasn't it just for something pleasing to the eye!

Before Shen Ci could even type out her refusal, the number of messages in the top left corner of the chat page suddenly started jumping continuously; in just a few seconds, there were already over a dozen.

She had assumed it was Xia Weiwei starting to ramble on with apologies again, but when she switched out to look, it turned out You Liqing had pulled her into the classmate group.

The group had been created by You Liqing on the eve of the college entrance exam; she hadn't pulled Shen Ci into the group back then, so why pull her in now?

Xia Weiwei was absolutely right; back then, You Liqing had viewed her as a romantic rival, which was why she made things difficult for her at every turn.

But now that she had succeeded in winning Hexu, she naturally wanted to show off in front of Shen Ci with the posture of a victor.

"I've pulled Shen Ci in. You guys invite her; I can't invite her!"

"Holy crap, it really is Shen Ci. Our class is finally complete."

"Shen Ci, now that you're back, why not come out for a gathering?"

"Exactly, we all miss you quite a bit. It was a pity you didn't come last year."

"Come out, we're all old classmates, what's there to be shy about?"

Messages scrolled rapidly; almost everyone was urging her to come out and attend the classmate gathering.

At this moment, the room door was knocked on. Shen Ci called out "Come in," and saw Xingxing poke his head in, grinning at his sister: "Sis, I cut some fruit for you."

Shen Ci set her phone aside and beckoned him in: "What's the occasion for this show of courtesy? Being so thoughtful to cut fruit for your sister?"

"I'm your younger brother, of course I'm thoughtful toward you."

The apple had been peeled and cut into chunks, and there were also cut oranges and jackfruit. Shen Ci reached out to take them, looking at him with an expression that said, "Don't I know you?" "Speak, what is it?"

"Hehe." Xingxing sat down, took out his phone, and flipped through some saved photos from his album—they were all photos of cars: "Sis, I've been looking for a long time. I like these few. If you're going to buy me a car, can you choose from these?"

Shen Ci frowned and asked: "Aren't you being a bit too impatient? The college entrance exam is still months away. Are you that sure you'll pass? Besides, do you have a driver's license?"

"I'm so smart, getting a driver's license would be a piece of cake, wouldn't it?"

Seeing him so confident, Shen Ci smiled, nodded, and took his phone to flip through. They were all sports cars that boys would like, but the prices were relatively low, basically around "50" yuan, with the most expensive top-trim model being no more than "80" something.

Xingxing sat to the side full of anticipation, but his eyes accidentally swept over Shen Ci's unclosed group chat messages.

"Sis, is this your high school classmate group?"

Shen Ci continued looking at the cars while responding casually: "Yeah."

Xingxing curiously watched the messages in the group for a while, then looked up at his sister: "They're asking about you. Are you going to the gathering?"

"Not going."

"Why not?"

"Just don't want to."

Xingxing stared at his sister in confusion for a long time, guessing: "Is your relationship with them not good?"

Hearing this, Shen Ci raised her eyelids: "Are you still looking at cars or not?"

"Looking, looking." Xingxing quickly shut his mouth.

But after a few seconds, Shen Ci added herself: "We don't really keep in touch, so them calling me is nothing more than curiosity getting the better of them, wanting to watch the drama."

"Then you should go even more!" Xingxing said with a serious face: "If you weren't doing well, that would be one thing—we wouldn't go and lose face, letting people look down on us. But you're different now, Sis. You only need to show a little bit of your strength to intimidate them for a whole year. No matter how impressive these people are, aren't they just college students who still rely on their families? Who is as impressive as you? By then, who would dare to watch the drama? Those who want to watch the drama will all turn into clowns!"

These words made Shen Ci laugh: "You've thought it through quite clearly. I understand the logic too, I'm just too lazy to waste energy on these people."

"NONONO!" Xingxing shook his head in disapproval: "You are dead wrong, my sister. You have to go. If you don't go, you will become the topic of conversation for everyone at the gathering. What do they know? They will only make things up about you and talk behind your back. By then, you won't have gone, but you'll still be the focal point of the gathering. If some false rumors get spread, wouldn't that be disgusting?"

Hearing this, Shen Ci couldn't help but slowly raise her head, her eyes filled with amazement as she looked at her brother. ===== CHAPTER 226 =====