"Class Monitor, all this fish for a single meal? Can we even finish it? Aren’t you just wasting money?" Zhao Xiaohui couldn’t hold back her anger when she saw the twenty-some fish, which she was told weighed around eighty jin.
They had been told before they came that they’d have to pay for any fish caught from the reservoir. She wasn’t sure how much Qiyun Village charged per jin, but she knew the price at the supply cooperative—thirty cents a jin. At that rate, wouldn’t eighty jin of fish cost twenty-four yuan?
Twenty-four yuan!
Split among everyone, that was almost one yuan per person. Everyone had already paid three yuan for this trip to Qiyun Village. At this rate, three yuan definitely wouldn’t be enough. Who knows how much more they’d have to chip in later.
Zhao Xiaohui’s family wasn’t very well-off, and she didn’t have much spending money for the semester. The only reason she’d been willing to pay the three yuan for the Qiyun Village trip was because she had her own agenda. She had a crush on Xie Lei but had never dared to confess. This time, egged on by Song Yufang, she wanted to use the outing to create an opportunity with him. Xie Lei was good-looking, and his family wasn’t short on money; she thought he was a suitable partner.
That afternoon, she had planned to find a chance to talk to Xie Lei, but she’d lost track of him. Then Song Yufang had dragged her off to see the flowers, so she had no choice but to go to the orchard with her. Who would have thought she’d just come back fuming.
Huo Tao frowned slightly at Zhao Xiaohui’s words and said, "Zhao Xiaohui, the cost for this fish isn’t coming out of the public funds for our spring trip. You..."
Before Huo Tao could finish, Zhao Xiaohui let out a sarcastic "Oh," and said snidely, "So someone’s showing off again. Hmph, just because you have a bit of stinking money. Raised with the habits of a spoiled rich girl. Tsk!"
After speaking, she shot a glare in the direction of Su Qing’s room. Clearly, after hearing Huo Tao, she had jumped to the conclusion that Su Qing was the one paying for the fish.
Zhao Xiaohui had never liked Su Qing. She was good friends with Song Yufang, and last year, because of Su Qing and Li Huan, Song Yufang’s family had to pay out a huge sum of money. Now, Song Yufang’s brother and sister-in-law held a grudge against her, which meant Song Yufang was living on a tight budget, had little money, and didn’t dare go home often.
Zhao Xiaohui had always felt it was an injustice to Song Yufang. She thought Su Qing and Li Huan had been too aggressive back then. They clearly weren’t short on money, yet they still forced Song Yufang’s family to pay so much.
For the past six months or so, Su Qing had also been frequently taking leave from school, which only reinforced Zhao Xiaohui’s belief that Su Qing was using her family’s influence to abuse her privileges.
Su Qing and Li Huan were still in their room and hadn’t come out. Liu Juan saw what was happening and glared angrily at Zhao Xiaohui, demanding, "Zhao Xiaohui, what’s your problem? Why are you being so passive-aggressive? Are you sick in the head or something?"
"What’s it to you? Was I talking to you?" Zhao Xiaohui hated Su Qing, and by extension, everyone around her. Seeing Liu Juan confront her, she shot back, "What, are *you* the one showing off? Who knew? You’re rich now too, huh. Guess all that ass-kissing paid off. The scraps that fall from between her fingers are probably enough to last you a long time, right?"
Liu Juan was absolutely furious at Zhao Xiaohui’s words. "Are you out of your mind? You’re as prickly as a porcupine. She has money, but it’s not like she stole it or robbed someone. What’s there for you to be so bitter about? She’s rich because she’s capable. You’re the one who’s not capable, and now you’re just standing here whining and being passive-aggressive. If you think this fish is just her showing off, then fine, don’t eat any!"
"You..." Zhao Xiaohui was just about to say she wouldn’t eat, so what, when she heard Xie Lei walk over and say, "What’s wrong? I’m the one treating everyone to this fish. If you think I’m showing off, then just like Liu Juan said, you don’t have to eat."
His words left Zhao Xiaohui stunned. She never would have guessed that Xie Lei was the one treating everyone to the fish. Her face flushed bright red, and tears welled up in her eyes. Zhao Xiaohui looked at Xie Lei, aggrieved. "I wasn’t talking about you."
"But I’m the one who bought the fish. If you weren’t talking about me, then who were you talking about?" Xie Lei said with a frown.
"I... I wasn’t talking about you, anyway." Feeling wronged, Zhao Xiaohui’s tears started to fall.
Song Yufang, standing at the side, said softly, "Xie Lei, how could you treat Zhao Xiaohui like that?"
Xie Lei was baffled. "What did I do? I just stated a fact to stop Zhao Xiaohui from wrongly accusing someone and being all thorny with her words. What, you’re allowed to be passive-aggressive to others, but I’m not allowed to speak the truth?"
At Xie Lei’s words, Zhao Xiaohui’s tears fell even faster. In truth, she had barely spoken to Xie Lei. Although she liked him, she had always been too shy to confess. Only Song Yufang knew her secret.
But to be called out like that by her crush in front of everyone... she felt unbearably awful. Finally, in a fit of pique, she stomped her foot and said, "Fine! You’re rich, so you’re right! I won’t eat, okay?"
With that, Zhao Xiaohui ran back to her room in tears. Song Yufang shot a look at Xie Lei, then hurried after her.
Xie Lei looked completely baffled. He said to Huo Tao, "Is Zhao Xiaohui okay? All I did was tell the truth. Does she really need to cry like that? It’s like I bullied her or something."
Huo Tao didn’t get it either. He patted Xie Lei’s shoulder. "Girls are sensitive. You probably just embarrassed her. Later, bring her some fish, you two can talk it out, and it’ll all be fine."
Xie Lei’s expression was stubborn. "No way am I going. I didn’t say anything wrong. She was clearly being passive-aggressive towards Su Qing. She’s the one who talked behind someone’s back. I was just speaking up for justice. If anyone should apologize, it’s her. She should be apologizing to Su Qing."
"Exactly," Liu Juan chimed in. "Zhao Xiaohui is always targeting Su Qing for no reason, you all know that. There’s something wrong with her. And now she’s threatening not to eat the fish? Who’s begging her to eat it anyway? If you ask me, *she’s* the one with the spoiled princess attitude, expecting everyone to coddle her."
Huo Tao didn’t like Zhao Xiaohui’s behavior either, but seeing as Song Yufang had gone with her, he thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let’s just let her cool off on her own. She’ll probably be fine by tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Zhao Xiaohui had run back to the room and thrown herself onto her bed, sobbing. Song Yufang followed her in and tried to comfort her. "Xiao Hui, stop crying. You know how Su Qing is—she’s a master at winning people over. She has money to buy their loyalty, so of course they’re going to side with her."
Then, Song Yufang sighed. "Besides, her family is rich and powerful. Who can possibly fight against her? Otherwise, my family wouldn’t have had to pay her that huge sum of money last year."
"But Xie Lei still took her side and came after me," Zhao Xiaohui cried.
"Who knows what tricks she used," Song Yufang said. "You know how it is. She’s pretty, she’s rich, and she has a powerful family background..."
Song Yufang’s words only made Zhao Xiaohui even more furious with Su Qing. She even started to think that the only reason Xie Lei had targeted her was because he liked Su Qing.
’The person I like likes the person I hate.’ The feeling was absolutely awful. Zhao Xiaohui clenched her jaw, turning her tear-streaked face to Song Yufang. "Yu Fang, can you really just let this go?"