Chapter 3

At last, the moment had come.

I asked, “Mr. Wang, why would I take her exam admission ticket?”

“How should I know? Her mother is making a scene like a madwoman! She keeps insisting you were jealous of her daughter and deliberately pulled a stunt. She says you must have hidden the ticket before you left!” Mr. Wang sounded close to breaking down. “Think carefully. Did you touch any of Lin Miaomiao’s things when you left school?”

I gave a soft laugh.

“Mr. Wang, have you forgotten? When I left school, you, the dorm supervisor, and Lin Miaomiao’s own mother all inspected my luggage together. I never touched anything in the dorm that didn’t belong to me. There’s video evidence of the whole thing.”

The other end of the line fell silent.

A few seconds later, a furious roar exploded through the phone.

“Chen Yue! You little bitch! Where did you hide my Miaomiao’s exam admission ticket?!”

It was Lin Miaomiao’s mother. She had snatched the phone from Mr. Wang.

“Bring it here! Now! Right this instant! If you ruin my Miaomiao’s college entrance exam, I’ll fight you to the death!”

I moved the phone a little farther from my ear and waited for her to finish yelling.

Then I replied unhurriedly, “Ma’am, have you lost your mind? First, I’m thousands of miles away from the school right now. Even if I wanted to bring it to you, I can’t sprout wings and fly there.”

I paused, then continued, “Second, the day I left school, the exam admission tickets hadn’t even been handed out yet, had they? How could I steal a ticket that didn’t exist a week in advance, then hide it?”

The other end of the line suddenly went quiet.

It was as if my question had caused her brain to shut down.

After a long while, she screamed, “I don’t care! You did it! You’re not coming back, are you? Fine! Just wait! I’ll ruin your reputation! I’ll make sure you can never hold your head up again!”

“The exam hall doors close in less than an hour and a half,” I reminded her. “Instead of wasting time threatening me, why don’t you check the trash cans?”

“What do you mean?!”

“Exactly what I said. Aren’t you fond of rummaging through people’s belongings? Maybe you accidentally threw it away with some scrap paper.”

I didn’t give her another chance to speak. I hung up and blocked the number.

Then I picked up my knife and fork and continued cutting my fried egg.

The sunlight was lovely, the sea view was beautiful, and the breakfast tasted pretty good.

What did that faraway farce have to do with me?

The more crazed and irrational they became, the more it proved that my original decision had been absolutely right.

6

I set down my knife and fork. Just then, a hotel server came over to refill my glass with lemonade.

My phone screen lit up on the table with a social media notification.

#Top College Entrance Exam Candidate’s Admission Ticket Suspected Stolen by Direct-Admit Student#

I tapped it open. A livestream was underway.

On screen, Lin Miaomiao’s mother was sitting outside the exam site, crying and making a scene in front of the camera.

“There’s no justice in this world! My daughter has studied so hard for more than ten years, and that direct-admission student got jealous and stole her exam admission ticket!”

Tears and snot streamed down her face as she pounded her chest and stamped her feet.

“That little brat Chen Yue had already been admitted directly, yet she still came back to school just to sabotage my Miaomiao! She’s so vicious! Please help me get justice!”

Off camera, some people joined in, some tried to comfort her, and others raised their phones to record.

Comments raced across the screen.

“Is this true? A direct-admit student could be that vicious?”

“That poor girl. Ten years of hard work gone just like that.”

“Don’t take sides yet. Let’s wait and see what really happened.”

I watched without changing expression.

My phone started ringing again. It was Mr. Wang.

I didn’t answer.

He kept trying, call after call.

At last, I picked up. Before he could speak, I said, “Mr. Wang, you’ve seen the livestream too, haven’t you?”

His voice sounded utterly exhausted. “Chen Yue, don’t take what she says to heart. She’s lost control of her emotions and keeps insisting I call you and tell you to buy a plane ticket back immediately…”

“What for?” I cut him off. “So I can come back and kneel down to beg her forgiveness?”

“…She says she can contact the media and the Education Bureau, and even get your direct admission revoked. You…”

“I understand.”

I hung up.

I opened my social media account.

There were thousands of vicious comments beneath my latest post.

“You schemer! Give her the exam ticket back!”

“Come out and apologize right now!”