Chapter 3: The Two Faces of the Bully (1/5)

In less than a day, word of the haunting had spread through the whole school, and students were all discussing the topic. When Mu Ningxiang arrived at the classroom in the morning, she saw the boys and girls in her class all talking about it, some describing it so vividly it was as if they'd had an intimate encounter with the female ghost themselves.

Mu Ningxiang didn't think they were talking nonsense, because she herself had indeed heard the crisp sound of high heels late at night, sometimes accompanied by a gloomy laugh. The sound had drawn near and then receded from her, and several times she'd felt as if the thing had already walked up to her bed. Like her roommates, she'd been so frightened she'd buried her head under the covers, not daring to peek out even a little, curling her body up tightly and trembling nonstop. Even in class she still felt a lingering fear. She swiped through her phone and found that the poetry club group chat was also full of talk about the haunting. She looked carefully and noticed that Zheng Huiwen hadn't said a single word — could she still be asleep?

Dong Lixin arrived at his office around 8 o'clock. At least it was broad daylight now, everywhere bright and clear, which gave him a bit more courage. As he approached the office, he found the door half open. His daughter Dong Qian was sitting on the leather sofa, seeming to be fiddling with something in her hands. Seeing him arrive, Dong Qian put the thing down and said, "Morning, Dad."

"Why are you up so early today?" Dong Lixin asked as he walked straight to his desk, set down his briefcase, and sat down.

"I woke up early, so I just got up. There's still a bit of time before class, so I came to sit here with you."

As she spoke, Dong Qian took a small round mirror out of her bag and checked her makeup in it. Dong Lixin looked at his daughter, thought for a moment, and still asked, "I heard there was a haunting last night. Did you see anything unclean?"

"Something unclean?" Dong Qian put down the mirror, furrowed her brow, rolled her eyes, then shook her head and said, "I didn't see anything. I went to sleep early last night."

Dong Lixin could only leave it at that. Looking at his daughter's brightly painted red lips, he asked, "Why are you wearing such heavy makeup so early in the morning?"

Dong Qian smiled, asking with a touch of coyness and sweetness, "What's wrong, Dad? Doesn't it look good? This style is really trendy right now."

"I can't tell if it looks good or not. A couple of days ago your mom said you didn't seem to be feeling well, that you'd been lying at home the whole time, refusing to go to the hospital, and not going to class either. What's going on?"

"Just a little heatstroke, nothing serious, I'm completely fine now." Dong Qian put the small mirror back in her bag and stood up, saying, "I'll head to class now, Dad. We'll talk more at home."

"Study hard, pay attention in class." Dong Lixin still didn't forget to remind her.

"I know, see you tonight."

Dong Lixin just gave a simple reply, then unscrewed the lid of his teacup and smelled the aroma of the tea. Every morning he had to drink freshly brewed Pu'er tea, and brew another fresh cup at noon — only that way could he stay clear-headed and refreshed at work. Just as he took a small sip of the Pu'er, he noticed something stuffed in the corner of the leather sofa, something that looked like a handkerchief crumpled into a ball. Dong Lixin recalled that his daughter had seemed to be fiddling with this very thing just now. Thinking it was some girl's belonging, he set down his teacup and walked over to take a look. Who would have thought that the moment he picked it up, he sensed something was off — there was a familiar musky smell on it. He unfolded it and saw that it was, of all things, a lace pair of panties. He certainly knew whose panties these were — his lover must have deliberately left them here. He suddenly felt his mind go blank, recalling the way his daughter had looked while holding these panties. But he quickly steadied himself — after all, it had only been discovered by his daughter, and she wouldn't think that much of it; she probably assumed they were her mother's. Thinking this, he crumpled the panties into a ball again and threw them into the wastebasket.

Soon, the 90 minutes of one class period had passed. Ren Jingting also had a class at 8 in the morning. When the bell rang for class to end, she packed up her textbooks and stationery and was about to leave when suddenly three people blocked her way — classmates Dong Qian, Song Jialei, and Zhou Yingying. Dong Qian was not tall but had a full figure, wore heavy, gaudy makeup, and dressed dazzlingly, with high-end luxury brand logos visible all over her. Standing in the middle of the three, she looked like the leader of the pack.

Ren Jingting sensed that these three meant trouble and planned to walk around them, but Dong Qian grabbed her by the collar and yanked her, then shoved her down into a seat.

"What are you doing?" Ren Jingting, hurt by the fall, frowned.

Dong Qian said flippantly, "Ren Jingting, you're just unlucky to run into me. I don't like the look of you, and there's nothing to be done about that — just accept your bad luck."

Ren Jingting calmed herself and asked, "I don't even know you. Why are you targeting me?"

"No particular reason. The first time I saw you, I just didn't like the look of you. And whatever I don't like the look of doesn't get to have an easy time."

"We're both adults. Whatever you say and do, you'll have to be responsible for it."

"Do I need you to teach me that? You're not the first anyway. I already know exactly how this goes."

After saying this, Dong Qian took a drag of her vape and blew the smoke directly into Ren Jingting's face. Ren Jingting covered her nose and turned her face aside. Zhou Yingying said, "Don't you know? Sister Qian's dad is the chairman of the board of our school. She's the beloved only daughter — how could she possibly put up with the slightest grievance?"

"That's right," Song Jialei added, "You'd better just give in and soften up — maybe then you'll take fewer hits."

Ren Jingting looked at the three of them in turn, shoved Song Jialei aside, and bolted for the door in one swift dash. Song Jialei tried to grab her, but she ran too fast — by the time they reacted, she'd already run out of the classroom.

At that moment, besides the three of them, there was one more person in the classroom — Su Shengcheng. Dong Qian walked back unhurriedly, the other two following her. As they passed by Su Shengcheng, Dong Qian glanced sideways at her and said, "Lucky for you I don't dislike the look of you, otherwise, as my roommate, you'd have plenty of chances to be tormented by me."

But Su Shengcheng was cold as ice, staring straight at Dong Qian, and said as if unimpressed, "Dong Qian, don't be so conceited. Not everyone is powerless against you. The reason you can strut around bullying people like this is entirely because of your father's backing. If that backing were gone, you'd probably be living more miserably than any of us."

"That's right, that's my capital," Dong Qian said proudly. "But so what? All of you put together don't add up to even a fraction of my dad. And my dad has been the president of this university for fifteen years — that position is unshakeable. No matter how great your abilities are, you'll never be a match for my father."

Su Shengcheng rolled her eyes and continued, "The way you talk, it's as if your dad's money and power fell from the sky. As his own daughter, don't you know? Without us, where would your dad's money come from? Every last cent of it comes from us. If we weren't supporting this place, where would you get to live this domineering life of yours? Dong Qian, you should be grateful — thankful that so many people come to study at this university every year. Otherwise, if enrollment dropped even a little, you wouldn't be able to act so wild."

These words had already frightened Song Jialei and Zhou Yingying, who frantically signaled with their eyes for Su Shengcheng to stop talking. Dong Qian's face had already turned ugly, drawn tight, her eyes looking as if they wanted to kill. She said, "But even so, all it takes is a flick of my hand, and you'll suffer plenty."

"Is that so?" Su Shengcheng stood up, looking down at Dong Qian, and said, "You can try. I won't claim my family's background is anything impressive. But I know this — those with nothing to lose fear no one, while people like you, the rich, are the most afraid of dying. If you push me too far, I can't guarantee what I might do to you."

"You wouldn't dare!" Dong Qian said, gritting her teeth in fury.

Su Shengcheng gave a cold smile and simply said two words: "I would."

With that, she picked up her things and strode off without looking back. Dong Qian stamped her foot on the spot in anger, and Song Jialei and Zhou Yingying hurried to soothe her.

"Sister Qian, don't be angry, Su Shengcheng was just talking big. She wouldn't actually dare do anything."

"Right, I don't think she's the type to stir up trouble. As long as you don't push her too far, she won't do anything to you either. Don't worry."

The two of them kept coaxing her, one comment after another, until they finally talked Dong Qian's anger down.

"Forget it, sooner or later there'll come a day she regrets this. I'll wait for her to beg on her knees for my forgiveness." Dong Qian consoled herself with these words, then turned and said, "Come on, let's go get Korean food, my treat."

At this, the two of them immediately brightened with delight, nodding eagerly in agreement, and hurried to follow Dong Qian's still-huffy footsteps. For a moment, they really did look like the attending maids of some wealthy young lady.