Read Novel Full Chapter 65 – A Half Brick Is More Elegant
Chapter 65 – A Half Brick Is More Elegant
The first day of school went smoothly, and from then on, Xia Mian fully enjoyed the treatment of a beautiful transfer student: being the center of attention.
For a while, the seats of Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen were like a social hub. Classmates would “casually” wander to the back row, playing around or chatting, trying to find or create a chance to say a few words to Xia Mian. Then they’d gleefully return to their seats and share the moment with their circle of friends.
Xia Mian overheard a girl in front of her, unable to contain her excitement, whispering to her deskmate, “Ah, I talked to her!!! She’s so nice!!!” Realizing Xia Mian might have heard, she turned back with a blushing face and glanced at her.
Xia Mian was charmed by her cuteness. “Liu Yuanyuan, I’d be happy to talk to you every day.”
The classroom burst into amused laughter. A cheerful student chimed in, “Xia Mian, don’t play favorites! We want to talk to you too!”
“Alright, alright, I’m not playing favorites,” Xia Mian grinned. “From now on, each of you can speak ten sentences to me. Yuexin and Zhenzhen will be my secretaries and keep records!”
Laughter broke out once more. As everyone saw how easygoing she was, even the more reserved students eventually wandered over, driven by curiosity. And it wasn’t just their class—students from others began to gather as well. With every bell, a crowd would form at the door of Class 1-3, peering in under the pretense of borrowing a book or looking for a friend.
Xia Mian figured it wasn’t only the usual curiosity about a new transfer student—her little angel makeover had clearly worked with astounding success. But the image came with its own risks. Even at a prestigious school like Yan University Affiliated High, there were still rule-breakers like Sun Yuexin and Li Lizhen—and inevitably, a few sleazy troublemakers, too. Thanks to the rumors Tian Xueya had started, some delinquents had begun to assume she was “one of them.”
Even after seeing her in person and having the rumor clarified, they still refused to believe it. Perhaps they thought if she were one of them, she’d be easier to flirt with?
From then on, every break was marked by whistles at the back door of Class 1-3. When Xia Mian ignored them, they got bolder, starting to tease her openly.
“Definitely a hottie,” said a lanky boy, shaking his leg and leering, “Xia Mian, I heard you’re real friendly—why don’t we be friends?”
“I always treat my friends real nice, you know? Especially pretty girlfriends.”
“Hahaha……”
“Skinny Monkey, you’ve got some nerve!”
Xia Mian was quietly figuring out how to smoothly and gracefully get rid of these nuisances. They were just a bunch of pretentious boys, playing delinquent without the nerve to do anything serious—shouldn’t be too hard to deal with!
But before she could take action, Sun Yuexin slammed her desk and stood up. “Skinny Monkey, get lost! She’s under our protection. Try bothering her again, I dare you!”
Xia Mian blinked in surprise—Right, I have protectors now!
Not long after, Zhao Cheng came storming in and grabbed the troublemaker by the collar. “Come on, let’s have a chat. I’m a big fan of making new friends too…”
In short, Zhao Cheng was doing a solid job. No one knew exactly how he warned them, but after that, no more delinquents loitered around Class 1-3’s door. Still, he didn’t let his guard down—in fact, he acted even more cautiously. “The rest don’t matter, but Hao Jian… he’s the one you really need to watch.”
Xia Mian was puzzled too. Given Hao Jian’s lecherous and impatient nature, she had expected him to have shown up by now.
“I asked around 1-8,” the boy told them. “Lately that bastard’s been skipping school a lot—busy sucking up to Qiao Jianyu, from what I gather.”
“Qiao Jianyu?” Sun Yuexin frowned. “Didn’t he already start college? And he’s super picky—why would he care about Hao Jian?”
“Word is, he wants to open a nightclub,” Zhao Cheng shrugged. “Hao Jian’s dad invested, so now they’re connected.”
A new name was dropped. “Who is Qiao Jianyu?” Asked Xia Mian.
Li Lizhen sneered. “A son of a b**h from another compound. His parents are stationed at a military base down south, but his grandpa is here—and spoils him to death. I bet if he killed someone, his grandpa could make it all disappear.”
“His grandpa?”
“Yeah,” said Sun Yuexin. “Old generation, big influence. Qiao Jianyu plays the perfect grandson in front of him, but in private… well, he’s almost never doing anything proper.”
That made sense. In this era, nightclubs were shady places—prostitution, drugs, trafficking—all kinds of underground transactions could be found there. This meant that no decent girl would set foot in one. Decades later, in Xia Mian’s own time, older folks were still wary of nightclubs because of the filthy reputation they had in this era.
Sure, there was real money to be made, but not everyone could afford to run one. You needed serious connections, both legal and illegal. From the sound of it, Qiao Jianyu hadn’t even graduated college yet but already wanted to open a nightclub—surely an “ambitious” figure.
“If Qiao Jianyu’s got that kind of ambition, he’s probably just using Hao Jian’s family for their money.” Xia Mian stated. “I doubt he’d care about schoolyard fights.”
“Exactly,” said Sun Yuexin. “The main worry is Hao Jian getting cocky and using Qiao Jianyu’s name to throw his weight around.”
Zhao Cheng concluded, “Anyway, better safe than sorry. For now, try to walk to and from school together—just in case he tries to corner you.”
Events had a strange way of unfolding with eerie precision—no sooner had the group finished speculating about whether Hao Jian might cause trouble for Xia Mian than they happened to overhear his scheme. During P.E. class, Xia Mian, Sun Yuexin, and Li Lizhen went to the restroom, and the moment they stepped inside, Hao Jian’s voice carried over from the boys’ restroom next door.
“I’m telling you, she’s seriously stunning—got that real allure,” Hao Jian said in a sleazy drawl. “And the way she dresses? Total knockout. Prettiest girl I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
A rough, raspy voice shot back skeptically, “And how many girls have you seen to claim that?”
“Yeah,” chimed in a third voice, just as lewd as the others. “What about Sister Ling? Does this one even come close?”
“She can. No doubt about it!” Hao Jian insisted. “You’ll know when you see her in person.”
“You think she’ll just obediently come out and party with us?” said the hoarse voice. “Didn’t you say you tried to block her a few times and failed?”
“Just don’t cause a big scene,” said the clearer voice. “Brother Qiao’s old man has been watching him real close lately. If you guys screw things up, no one’s going to cover for you.”
Hao Jian chuckled. “I know, I know. If I wasn’t worried about making a fuss, I’d have already blocked her on the way home. Think just because she’s under that bastard Zhao Cheng’s protection, she’s safe?”
“You’re not afraid making a move in the classroom will cause trouble?” asked the hoarse voice.
“What trouble?” Hao Jian laughed. “There’s usually no teacher in the night self-study hours. Those guys in the class are all nerds—once they see us, they turn into quails.”
“And Xia Mian… if she doesn’t come with us, we’ll expose her right there in front of the whole class.”
The clear voice asked, “She really did time?”
“That’s what I heard,” Hao Jian shrugged. “But I bet it’s true. The way she flirts—clearly a pro at seducing men.” At that, he and the others chuckled knowingly. “Perfect timing, too. I’ll bring her to Brother Qiao’s club tonight…”
It wasn’t until the three voices faded from the restroom that Sun Yuexin finally burst out angrily, “F***! That bastard!”
Xia Mian gave her a “shhh” gesture.
They exchanged a look, handled their business quickly, and didn’t speak again until they were back on the field.
“Wasn’t Tian Xueya in the restroom too?” Li Lizhen asked. “Did you see her?”
“Where was she?” Sun Yuexin asked.
“She was in the middle; must’ve heard everything, too.” Xia Mian sighed. The stalls were only separated by half-height concrete walls—you couldn’t see if someone was squatting, but you could spot them walking by.
“I wonder if she regrets running her mouth now.”
Li Lizhen snorted. “Not likely. That two-faced b**h hates you to death. She’s probably looking forward to seeing you dragged by those bastards.”
Although Xia Mian never mentioned the rumor again, word had spread throughout the school. It didn’t help that Tian Xueya had been quite sloppy in her work—most people already knew she’d been spreading lies about Xia Mian even before she passed her transfer exam.
Moreover, Xia Mian’s high school debut had been remarkably successful—she quickly won over many with her charm, earning widespread goodwill. As a result, people gradually began to distance themselves from Tian Xueya. Of course, some wouldn’t care either way, but with Xia Mian being the fresh and captivating presence, most of the attention shifted to her, leaving Tian Xueya feeling increasingly sidelined.
Li Lizhen shared a fresh bit of gossip: “Apparently, even Gu Zhou’s been ignoring her these days.”
No wonder Tian Xueya had been unusually quiet lately. “It’s not that big of a deal.” Xia Mian said. “Maybe she just took it more seriously than she thought.”
“As long as she doesn’t make any more trouble, I won’t bring it up again. Give it a month, and everyone will forget. Life goes on.”
Li Lizhen claimed, “I won’t forget. I’ll never speak to her again!”
“Let’s be real—you weren’t going to talk to her anyway.” Xia Mian laughed as she bent down and picked up a brick, giving it a little toss.
For some reason, Sun Yuexin thought her movements looked oddly practiced. “Wait—what are you doing?”
“Oh, this?” Xia Mian didn’t like the grip, so she swapped it for half a brick instead. “Don’t worry—just a precaution.”
What she really wanted was a hardcover Criminal Law textbook or the legendary Modern Chinese Dictionary—easy to use and less suspicious. Especially the dictionary, which had been her most reliable weapon in her previous life.
Unfortunately, in this practical and frugal era, all books were softcover. The Criminal Law was too thin, and while the dictionary had the right thickness, its soft spine made it useless for impact.
Xia Mian was satisfied as she tested the weight of the half-brick in her hand. When push comes to shove, even a little angel has to protect herself, but she must do it with the utmost elegance!