LWGP - Chapter 110
Chapter 110: The Upperclassman
The members of Mei Qinghe's team had their appetites whetted by their short winter melon of a captain's erratic behavior. They all secretly prodded him, eager for gossip, but he clammed up, which was infuriating.
Still, they didn't dare hit him. They could only watch as he dawdled over to Mei Qingshu's side… and then got dragged into the ruins by her for a beating.
Excellent. Much more satisfying.
Inside the homestead, Wang Jiu harvested her crops, fiddled with some furniture, and took down the furniture she'd drawn from the lottery and the pool she had listed on the auction house. After placing them randomly, her permanent spirit energy jumped to 4500.
Next, she prepared to place all the garden fields from her dungeon rewards and player kills into her inventory. In total, she now had 45 plots of land, but she found that her 210 square meters of space was far from enough.
After a moment's thought, she retracted her homestead. Standing on the empty plot, she saw Qiao Xuejing and the others enter and casually returned the homestead to her.
Qiao Xuejing asked, "Time to manage the territory?"
Wang Jiu grunted in affirmation. Seeing this, Wang Shu immediately retracted his own homestead and followed Wang Jiu into the territory, subtly trying to stay a few steps ahead of Qiao Xuejing and Dao Dao.
Such a little scheme.
Qiao Xuejing saw through it but didn't say anything, instead deliberately using her higher agility to catch up.
Wang Shu: "…"
He could only grit his teeth and use his short little legs to surpass her again…
Dao Dao: "…"
Master is getting more and more mischievous.
The territory was a rectangular area. Lines of light marked out the planned zones. It was clear that the grid squares were residential areas, which could be used for residences and shops. The plot sizes could be freely adjusted, depending on how the city lord set them up.
But the innermost plot was definitely for the lord's use. The players from 443 Novice Village who entered the territory earliest all saw a system notification stating that this was the Lord's Mansion.
Some people wanted to live next to the Lord's Mansion to take advantage of the proximity, but there weren't many fools. No one dared to occupy the first few spots because they all knew about people like Wang Shu…
One had to have some emotional intelligence.
See, it was just as they expected. Wang Shu shot forward like a spring, quickly running to the closest spot on the main street, directly opposite the Lord's Mansion. "Dao Dao, come quickly! Do you want the spot opposite or next to me? If not, you can have this one too."
Qiao Xuejing: "Sure, I'll take yours."
Wang Shu: "…"
Look at this stupid mouth of mine!
Fortunately, Qiao Xuejing was just teasing him and took the plot next door.
While they were busy setting up their homesteads, Wang Jiu placed her own down. Without going inside, she made a rare visit to the social circle. She ignored the social channels and went straight to the ranking list section, where she claimed her ranking rewards at the bottom of the list.
What were the rewards for a medium-sized territory?
System: "The top ten are in one tier, with the top three each in a tier of their own, all with different rewards."
She didn't bother thinking about the top three. After Wang Jiu claimed her reward, it was automatically sent to her mailbox. She collected it and glanced at her inventory.
A 500-square-meter homestead, plus a scepter.
Wang Jiu merged the new homestead with her original 210-square-meter one and arranged all 45 garden fields. Then she examined the scepter.
【Lord's Scepter (Special Amplifying Scepter Armament, Bound, Cannot be Dropped.)】
【Attributes: Can be embedded into staff-type armament weapons to amplify the staff's spellcasting effects. Comes with a persistent damage-over-time effect after inflicting a burn.】
There were no stats, and she didn't have a staff.
Wang Jiu knew that if she switched her weapon to a staff, spell effects like Holy Light and Flowing Light would be better, but she didn't have a suitable staff on hand. After all, replacing a gold item with a silver one wasn't worth it.
"Are they all for staff-type weapons? What if someone focuses on a melee class?" Wang Jiu asked.
System: "The scepters for the top three are dual-purpose. For ranks 4-10, they're randomly selected. You just happened to get a spellcasting armament scepter."
Fine. It was bound anyway, so Wang Jiu didn't pay it any mind. After planting a wave of crops, she went into the bathroom and used the four-piece set to take a bath. While bathing, she manipulated the territory settings interface.
A medium-sized territory had a fixed population capacity. The system stipulated a limit of fifty thousand people, with ten thousand residential plots inside. There was no limit on homestead size. If all ten thousand households owned 200-square-meter homesteads, the total area of the medium territory would expand, making it twice as large as a medium territory accommodating ten thousand 100-square-meter homesteads.
So, the territory's size depended initially on the lord and later on its residents. And the larger the homestead, the higher the spirit energy it typically possessed.
Just as Wang Shu and Qiao Xuejing finished setting up their homesteads, Wang Jiu saw the data in her territory's spirit energy column change.
When it was just her own homestead, the territory's spirit energy was 4500. After Wang Shu and the others settled in and submitted their applications to become territory residents, which she confirmed, the territory's spirit energy increased by nearly a thousand.
An entry for 40 silver coins also appeared in the territory's account, with a notification indicating it was paid by Wang Shu's two households.
This amount was constantly increasing, with notifications indicating individual contribution fees.
【Medium Territory: 50,000 person limit, 10,000 residential plots. 20 silver coins per household per day, 5 silver coins per person per day.】
PS: The territory account and the lord's personal account are linked, allowing for the free flow of funds.
It sounded great, like a treasure basin for getting rich quick. If all ten thousand households were filled, she could earn 200,000 silver coins a day, which was 2,000 gold coins.
Before the system had a chance to pour cold water on her, Wang Jiu calmly said, "The notifications mention activating a rain shield, building defense towers, digging wells, and that the territory is responsible for constructing brick outer walls for every household that pays the 20 silver coin fee. There are also public facilities like territory streets. Leaving everything else aside, a single defense tower costs 20 gold. Five of them would be 100 gold, not to mention the other expenses."
"Oh, and a territory return point costs 500 gold coins to open? Why don't you just rob people?"
Wang Jiu asked gently, and the system was as quiet as a mouse.
Most importantly, was full occupancy that easy to achieve?
Never mind that only a few of the 5,000 people in 443 Novice Village had homesteads. Even the daily fee of 5 silver coins just to enter the territory without a household—an expense of 20 silver coins a day for a family of four—would make many people grit their teeth and bleed.
"No wonder those people from Nevernight were working so hard to recruit people. Without anyone joining, a territory is just an empty shell. To develop it, you have to keep pouring money in. I can't say about the later stages, but in the beginning, it's a gold-devouring beast!"
"Do your planners never bring paper to the toilet? They should start. If they run out, no one will bring them any."
Wang Jiu was so clear-headed that she didn't even give it a chance to needle her. Instead, the system, thoroughly mocked, said sheepishly, "You're a crooked merchant. You can do it."
Wang Jiu was speechless. Ignoring it, she looked at the 20 gold coins she had earned from running dungeons in her personal account.
A territory, huh? Should I, the lord, empty my savings to build you a tower?
Wang Jiu felt helpless but wasn't panicking. After all, it was the early stage of the territory, and all beginnings are difficult. She didn't plan on achieving everything at once.
Fortunately, she still had resources on hand.
She took out the Witch Race Alchemy Set Gift Pack, the Small Territory Gift Pack, and the Transportation Gift Pack and opened them all at once. The alchemy pack yielded a standard basic alchemy setup: an alchemy hut, a workbench, glassware, a sink, and a furnace.
It sounded like a complete set, but it was the most rudimentary and basic kind. It looked shabby, small, and pathetic, like a gutter oil refinery at first glance.
Wang Jiu didn't have high expectations for it anyway. She then looked at the four defense towers from the Small Territory Gift Pack. Well, that was decent enough.
As for the Transportation Gift Pack…
【Medieval Retro Gentleman's Bicycle (Wilderness Civilization Game Permanent Transportation Item)】
The name alone made Wang Jiu brace for the worst, but its attributes were surprisingly unexpected.
【Attributes: Standard bicycle operation and speed on land/water surface.】
The key was the word "water surface" after the slash.
Wang Jiu paused for a moment, then smiled.
"This piece of junk isn't bad."
System: "It's alright. Paired with your floating bridge, it might be useful in the future."
Wang Jiu didn't say more. As the water ran, she began to set up two things for the territory.
1. Territory Rules.
2. Issue Territory Construction Tasks.
She filled the materials section with one million bricks and one hundred thousand bags of cement. There was a material hiding option on the side, which she didn't check, leaving the resources exposed.
Because if people learned she had so many resources here, they would either guess she was the mastermind behind previous events, covet her territory's resources and start a war to seize them, or… see the territory's potential and come to seek refuge.
If she hid them, she could develop cautiously.
If she didn't, she would advance by leaps and bounds in a storm.
Seeing Wang Jiu's choice, the system was both surprised and not very surprised.
The reason was simple—she needed to accelerate the pace of her strengthening, to race against time in this ever-changing game environment, to reduce potential variables, and to save the Old Lady as soon as possible. She was willing to take risks for this, even if it meant putting herself in danger.
More and more people were joining the territory as households and individuals. Wang Jiu paid them no mind, but everyone who joined received two notifications.
1. Your great Lord is compiling the territory's laws. Please review them carefully and be sure not to violate them…
2. Your great Lord is issuing territory construction tasks. Please review them carefully, contribute a portion of your strength to the territory's development, and earn bountiful rewards in the process…
After finishing a normal dungeon with his brothers, Lin Wumian knew his capabilities were limited and didn't dare to waste time. He had returned earlier than Wang Jiu's group and had also encountered the recruiters from Nevernight. They remained calm, mainly because Lin Wumian was calm and wise enough. He immediately restrained his brothers, using the matter of the rat tide to convince them. Then he waited. Soon, facts proved that he had still chosen correctly.
The eight of them quickly entered the territory. Lin Wumian was decisive, telling them to each claim a household plot. A daily cost of 20 silver coins per person was affordable for them.
"Damn it, this is just like real estate. Once the territory develops, this plot of land will definitely be valuable!"
The men, who had suffered deeply from modern real estate, were ecstatic. But after seeing the territory notification, they fell silent for a while. Then someone said faintly, "So, uh, is building houses and laying bricks this profitable now?"
"Let's come back and move bricks tomorrow after we finish the dungeon."
"We're all young guys, we've got plenty of strength…"
"Quick, grab the tasks! Crap, the construction tasks have all been snatched up!"
"Who the hell is so fast!"
Lin Wumian facepalmed.
He was a bit speechless, but the scariest part was that he couldn't refute this suggestion.
What a terrifying apocalypse.
The ones with the fast hands were many middle-aged and elderly people, including a number of old ladies and middle-aged women. The reasons behind this need no explanation. In truth, they were often more resilient to societal changes than many young people. As long as they could make a living, what couldn't they do?
"Let's work hard, earn some copper coins for better equipment, and raise our attributes. My high blood pressure is gone."
"My rheumatism is cured."
"Actually, this world isn't so bad. It's just that the children are in danger."
It was rare for the elderly to be able to run dungeons in the early stages. For one, they couldn't find suitable teams, and for another, their families were unwilling to let them take the risk.
Their HP was too low. A couple of deaths and they'd be gone for good.
There was no coming back.
With money to be made, anyone could work.
Outside the territory, Mei Qinghe and his team were unaware of the situation inside, but they noticed that more than half the people from 443 Novice Village had gone in.
"Is the entry barrier a bit low? Such a high percentage of people from this village are joining."
"A few copper coins? Our lord didn't set it high at the beginning, just 10 copper coins, to build up popularity."
"I don't know. You can't see the details without joining. Let's wait. People from their side will definitely post on the forums later."
"Their village also went through the rat disaster, and their losses seem to have been very low. They probably had the entire populace fight back, so most of them got rewards. It's not surprising they have resources. I just looked at their attributes. Excluding the overall strength of Nevernight, they're actually a bit higher than other villagers, especially from other novice villages."
The rat disaster could destroy many villages and take many lives, but it could also bring resources and hope.
Surviving it meant a stronger tomorrow.
As the group chatted, they watched Mei Qingshu, who was sitting silently on a rock by herself. She was probably organizing her gains from today's dungeon, but it was also possible she was thinking about Wang Jiu. The details in her eyes and brows revealed the temper she was suppressing.
Very irritable!
Right, did that Wang Jiu need this long to take a bath? Did she get a massage while she was at it?
Wang Shu, Qiao Xuejing, and Dao Dao quickly finished setting up their homesteads. Seeing that Wang Jiu hadn't come out yet, they knew the lord had many things to do. There were still three hours until six o'clock, so they decided to go out and grind wild monsters to earn some small experience and rewards. At the very least, they could get some basic materials, which was better than doing nothing.
As they left the territory, they happened to run into Mei Qinghe's group sitting opposite them.
The two groups' gazes met. They remained impassive, neither showing their attitude.
They were all speculating on the relationship between Mei Qingshu and Wang Jiu. If they were really enemies, any diplomacy now would be useless.
"Why don't we go grind wild monsters too? After she earned so much from us, we should at least clear out their novice village's monsters. Don't leave a single one for them!"
"Let's go, let's go! Let's go kill some monsters!"
"We still owe her 1,000 gold coins!"
With the mentality of recouping some of their losses by pulling the hairs off a mosquito's leg, this group also left the village…
The sun was setting, and night was about to fall. By six o'clock, Wang Shu and the others were already back in the village. To wait and see if Eternal Night would descend again tonight, most people habitually gathered around the resurrection point to live and cook.
Wang Shu was doing the same, setting up right at the territory entrance. This time, however, many people greeted him with respect and politeness, occasionally coming over to borrow a light.
If Wang Jiu's social style was closed off or purposefully open, then Wang Shu was a traditional social butterfly.
Across from them, Mei Qinghe's team was also discussing that damn fatty.
"Looking at it now, those three aren't her permanent team members?"
"I've checked the posts. Someone from 443 said that fatty seems to be her disciple. The only ones who are always with her are that Qiao Xuejing and a pig, Dao Dao."
As a fatty, Wang Shu didn't deserve a name and was simply referred to as "fatty."
"So few permanent members?"
But when they thought about Wang Jiu's incredible feat of soloing most of the dungeon, they all shut up. They stopped talking about the dungeon and focused on Wang Shu.
Hu Yun said thoughtfully, "He seems very different from his master. That Wang Jiu never engages in friendly conversation with anyone."
Mei Qinghe: "Not necessarily. I heard she was a popular figure on campus back in high school. A lot of people had a good impression of her… um, I mean the kind where she was extremely popular."
Everyone: "???"
High school?
Li Li carefully checked the team channel to confirm it was just the ten of them, then she secretly asked, "So, what exactly is the relationship between your sister and this Wang Jiu?"
Mei Qinghe probably couldn't hold it in any longer. He couldn't help it; keeping a secret made him want to gossip!
"It's not really a mysterious relationship. What I know is that my sister used to have a super close best friend from the same high school, Luoyang No. 1 High School… She was in her third year, my sister was in her second. When she first transferred, it caused a huge stir throughout the school, but she also provoked a few female school bullies from well-off families. They cornered her in the sports equipment room to bully her, and my sister, who was the head of the sports department at the time, happened to run into them. My sister took care of those girls right then and there. The girls' families wouldn't let it go, and it caused quite a bit of trouble."
"Then wasn't your sister in a bad spot?"
For bullies to be that arrogant even at No. 1 High, their families must have had city-level connections.
"I only found out about it much later. It must have been settled back then." Mei Qinghe touched his face, a little embarrassed. "My dad is the police chief, and my mom is the director of the education bureau. They transferred schools later."
Everyone: "…"
Damn it, this short winter melon didn't look like the child of high-ranking officials at all. He had a strong rustic vibe.
"So what happened later? Logically, their relationship should have been great."
"No, I just feel like something's not right. She… that Wang Jiu could be cornered in the equipment room by a few little girls?"
Everyone fell silent for a moment. Damn, right. Did she mutate later on?
"It was great, which is why I said they became best friends later. My mom even met her once at a parent-teacher conference and came back praising her endlessly."
Li Li: "Good temper?"
Mei Qinghe: "More than that. It was mainly because she was first in the city's model exams, with an insane score. My mom said the principal's smile when looking at Wang Jiu could squeeze out a bowl of chrysanthemums for tea. You know, the thing my sister and I have most in common is that we're both slackers, so I got really impatient listening to this stuff and didn't ask for her name at the time."
Everyone agreed in unison, "That's true. Besides being a slacker, you're nothing like her."
Mei Qinghe cursed, his face dark. "Do you want to hear the rest or not?"
Yes, yes, go on!
Super top student + school beauty + upperclassman + best friend + frail little goddess needing protection—it all sounded very Mary Sue. So how did it turn into their current relationship?
Mei Qinghe carefully glanced around and whispered in the team channel, "I only heard about this later. My sister had a boyfriend at the time… the school hunk of No. 1 High. He was often with my sister, and over time…"
Damn! You don't have to say it, we get the vibe.
Everyone was excited. And then? And then?
"And then my sister found out her boyfriend had a secret crush on Wang Jiu."
That was indeed enough to turn best friends against each other, a tried-and-true plot from clichéd youth dramas.
But Li Li raised an eyebrow. "With your sister's straightforward temper where she loves and hates clearly, she would have most likely beaten up her boyfriend and broken up with him. She wouldn't have turned on her friend over this. Did something else happen?"
Mei Qinghe looked awkward, his expression complicated. "I heard my sister… caught them at a hotel."
Pfft!
The people who were eating and drinking all spat out in unison!
Crap, in high school? Second year?
Dating young was one thing, but this?
Was Wang Jiu really that kind of person? She looked like a demon king, but was she a green tea bitch in her early days?
It didn't seem like it.
Mei Qinghe said helplessly, "I don't think so either, which is why I didn't recognize her at all. Maybe the rumors back then were wrong. I did ask my sister about it before, and she beat me up badly. All of my sister's friends were tight-lipped about it, not daring to mention it, because that Wang Jiu transferred schools not long after. No one knew where she went, and there was no news of her after that."
As everyone was digesting this surprisingly huge piece of gossip, they were suddenly startled. Mei Qingshu had abruptly stood up and walked over to Wang Shu, asking coldly, "When exactly will she be done?"
Wang Shu, who was in the middle of cooking, was a bit stunned. He stood up, wearing an apron and holding a spoon. "Uh, I really don't know. My master is definitely still busy with territory matters. Why don't you… wait a little longer?"
Mei Qingshu sneered, "She's doing this on purpose, isn't she?"
Wang Shu said sheepishly, "That's really not it. My master isn't that malicious."
She'll only be more malicious.
Right, this woman has been able to wait for hours without a word, and now she's just asking. They probably aren't true enemies.
Just as Wang Shu was thinking this, he smelled a faint fragrance and noticed the strange looks from the people around him. He turned his head and saw that Qiao Xuejing had come out after her shower. She had changed into a long, flowing dress and had a very cool demeanor, which only softened slightly when she saw Wang Shu.
But her gaze swept over Mei Qingshu. Seeing the two of them talking, she didn't intend to interrupt. Wang Shu, however, invited her to have some fish soup while asking, "What's Master doing in there? She's not still bathing, is she?"
She'd have washed her skin off by now!
"No. When I went in to shower, I just saw her praying in her pajamas," Qiao Xuejing replied as she sat down to drink the fish soup.
Mei Qingshu suddenly asked Qiao Xuejing, "You shower at her place? You live together?"
Her tone was a bit off, exceptionally sharp.
Qiao Xuejing met her gaze and replied, "I was staying over temporarily for a while. I've moved out now, but I still go over to borrow the bathroom."
The atmosphere was a bit tense. Wang Shu, the universal peacemaker, immediately tried to smooth things over. "That's perfectly normal. I've been living with Master all this time too."
Mei Qingshu's expression darkened even more.
Wang Shu instantly understood. As if remembering something, he couldn't help but ask, "Miss Mei, are you lucky?"
Mei Qingshu frowned, annoyed. "It's alright. Why!"
A glint appeared in Wang Shu's eyes as he asked cautiously, "Then have you ever gone skiing with my master?"
Pfft! Dao Dao choked.
Qiao Xuejing also choked.
They both looked at Mei Qingshu.
Mei Qingshu found their expressions a bit strange. She put on a cold, arrogant face and said, "I have. Her skills were terrible, she insisted on being taught, and in the end, she said she was poor and didn't bring any money."
Then she saw the expressions on Wang Shu and the others become even more complicated.
What the hell? Was everyone around Wang Jiu a lunatic?
Was there a problem with skiing?
They must feel sorry for me too, for being deceived by a scumbag like Wang Jiu for so long!
Swindling money and friendship, bah!
Master/Captain really is a scumbag.
Swindling money and sex, how shameless and despicable!
"Is there a problem?" Mei Qingshu demanded coldly.
Wang Shu said sheepishly, "No, it's great. Skiing is an excellent sport for physical fitness, hehe."
"Is that so?"
"It is… holy crap!"
Only after replying did Wang Shu realize the voice was wrong. He turned his head and saw Wang Jiu leaning against the territory gate with her arms crossed.
She had already changed into her prayer battle robe—a tank top and a black silk shirt, with matching loose, wide-legged lounge pants. Her head was slightly tilted as she used a towel to dry her damp hair, which fell to the side. A thin layer of mist still clung to her gold-rimmed glasses.
Gentle, refined, elegant, and ascetic.
Mei Qinghe and his team thought the conversation was going well. Since they had done some shady business with Wang Jiu's group, they shamelessly came over to beg for food… that damn fatty's cooking skills were amazing! The table was full of famous Sichuan dishes!
But they all took a few extra glances at Wang Jiu as she walked over.
Team channel.
Li Guang: "Now I think she fits the persona of the top-student best friend you were talking about."
Seeing Wang Jiu like this, it seemed their resentment from being beaten and scammed had infinitely diminished.
Ah, this damn human weakness!
After sitting down, Wang Jiu drank some water and looked at Mei Qingshu. "Your temper has gotten so much worse."
It sounded like a casual complaint between friends.
Mei Qingshu also sat down, opposite her. Ignoring her words, she asked directly, "Aren't you going to give me an explanation?"
The other members of both teams pretended to be dead, silently eating while their ears perked up.
Wang Jiu: "What?"
Mei Qingshu: "Why did you go to that hotel?"
Wang Jiu didn't answer directly. She just poured herself a bowl of fish soup, used her chopsticks to pick out a tiny bone, and said lightly, "The one who went to bed with your boyfriend wasn't me."
Huh? Holy crap?
Mei Qinghe and the others had a sudden realization. So it wasn't Wang Jiu? There was another mistress?
Mei Qingshu sneered, "It certainly wasn't you. But you still haven't answered my question. Why were you there?"
Wang Jiu: "Do you care more that he liked me, or that I was also at the hotel that day?"
Mei Qingshu: "What I care about is that you clearly didn't like him, yet you deliberately left clues for me to discover this. At first, I really thought you two were involved. Then, you deliberately led me to the hotel to discover it…"
Wang Jiu started eating the fish. After swallowing, she praised with a faint smile, "Ah, so smart. You figured it out?"
Mei Qingshu suppressed her explosive temper. "Why did you do it? You could have just told me directly."
Wang Jiu looked up, her eyes brilliant. "Making you break up wasn't my goal."
"Then what was your goal? To torture me? You weren't really my friend, were you?"
Wang Jiu smiled. It wasn't a mocking smile. Based on Qiao Xuejing's understanding of Wang Jiu, she must have been amused—cute? Qiao Xuejing felt that her assessment of the Mei siblings wasn't just a casual pleasantry; it was genuine.
But she was afraid this reaction would be infuriating.
Bang! Mei Qingshu finally lost control of her explosive temper and slammed her hands on the table, startling everyone.
"Do you have any idea that for those few days, I thought my best friend was involved with my boyfriend! I was suspicious, I refused to believe it. When I went to the hotel that day and found out it wasn't you, do you know how relieved I was? But then—but then I turned around and found you there too! It took me a long time to understand what was going on—you did it on purpose!"
The fiery female warrior was tearing into her online. Here it comes, here it comes!
The one being questioned, Wang Jiu, wasn't the least bit intimidated. She just lightly tapped her rice bowl with her chopsticks and said slowly, "If I said it was for the sake of your studies, would you believe me?"
Mei Qingshu was stunned. Before she could reply, Wang Jiu continued, "Your total score for several subjects combined was less than 200, and you were still keeping a boyfriend who only wanted to sleep with you. In that state, whether you could make a comeback would depend on if you were an inspirational female protagonist."
Uh, was she that much of a slacker?
Speaking of which, when seeking revenge and tearing someone apart, you have to do it in one go. You absolutely cannot let someone hit your greatest weakness.
Mei Qingshu was stunned for a moment, then her face flushed red with anger as she retorted, "I'm a sports student!"
Wang Jiu said in an even lighter tone, "Sports students need to be cultured too, little Qingshu."
The damage wasn't great, but the humiliation was extreme.
"Wang Jiu! You!!" Mei Qingshu was about to explode with anger.
Mei Qinghe immediately grabbed his sister's arm. "Sister, don't do it! Peace is precious, peace is precious!"
But Mei Qingshu had already thrown caution to the wind. "Fine, let's say you did it for my own good. Why couldn't you just say so? You didn't explain anything, just transferred schools, and left nothing behind. No, you did leave something. A few days later, you secretly sent my mom a huge box of college entrance exam study materials. What did you mean by that? Slap me then give me a sweet date? You think I'd look at them?"
In her anger, she even started cursing.
Mei Qinghe was stunned and immediately let go of Mei Qingshu. Bang! He slammed the table even harder than his sister. "Holy crap! You sent that stuff? MMP, I was doing just fine at my crappy school, my parents were about to give up on me, and then they transferred me to another school and forced me to review with these materials! It made me lose twenty damn pounds! Do you know why I'm not tall? It's because I was tormented for two years in my second and third year of high school! All because my sister used the materials you gave her to study day and night, turning from a slacker not much better than me into a success who got into the national sports academy! My parents still see you as a benefactor, more reliable than smoke rising from the ancestral graves!"
Uh oh, this backfired spectacularly.
Mei Qingshu, who had just declared "I'd rather die than look at them," glared at Mei Qinghe. But Mei Qinghe had completely entered a state of resentment even more terrifying than hers, ranting wildly, "And that's not all! Do you know what the worst part was? It was this pervert, my sister! She wouldn't let me photocopy those materials. She actually made me hand-copy them!! Damn it, at least a third of them were exam papers, 300 of them, and she made me hand-copy them! She said doing hand-copied exams would make the memory more profound! If I didn't copy them, she'd hang me up and beat me! That would make the memory even more profound. And my parents actually supported it! They even cut off my allowance!"
Hu Yun and the others were dumbfounded as they listened, all coming to a realization: no wonder he's so short, there's a reason for it.
"It was you, it was all you!"
Just as Mei Qinghe was about to go berserk, he pointed at Wang Jiu and accused her.
"And you know what's the worst part! One box wasn't enough for you. You even sent more during holidays, Mid-Autumn Festival, the fifteenth, New Year's Eve! Are you toxic?!"
For the first time, the two siblings were on the same side.
Everyone suddenly realized: so, the real grudge probably had nothing to do with the boyfriend, the hotel room, or even the unannounced departure.
This was a blood feud from the "Five-Three" college entrance exams.
Faced with the siblings' heaven-shaking resentment, Wang Jiu remained calm and composed, saying, "You curse me with your mouth, but in your heart, you're still grateful, aren't you?"
The two siblings fell silent.
After a moment, Mei Qingshu said with a taut face, "You did help me, but you could have been direct. Your methods were too…"
"As long as the result was achieved, isn't that enough?" Wang Jiu said nonchalantly. "To force someone to do something they dislike and are bad at, you need a stimulus far stronger than what's ordinary. A boyfriend isn't enough; you needed me as well."
"See, the result was still acceptable."
She had always been able to manipulate people's hearts. She saw through Mei Qingshu's character and, with a series of wild moves, managed to push her into studying out of grief and indignation.
"If I had just told you directly and tried to persuade you, would you have been able to do it?" Wang Jiu asked Mei Qingshu quietly.
Mei Qingshu was at a loss for words.
Wang Jiu lowered her head to eat, saying sparsely as she ate, "I have no right to look down on those who aren't born smart, but I detest fools who willingly debase themselves."
The words were very cold.
They deviated from the definition of a friend, but they were also the essence of mature social interaction. Mei Qingshu understood—Wang Jiu had strongly disliked the version of herself who was doing poorly in school and dating someone.
Perhaps, from the very beginning, the other party had never considered her a friend, let alone a best friend.
"I remember when we first met, I used to call you Sister Ah Jiu. You were so gentle and frail back then, well-read and reasonable, and treated others with generosity. Was all of that fake?"
Sister, you're drunk. It was obviously fake!
Mei Qinghe wanted to say something but didn't dare, because Mei Qingshu's eyes were red.
Normally, this would be the sign of a friendship about to shatter after a falling out.
But Wang Jiu looked at her, her gaze soft and clear, and said gently, "After that, I never made another friend or best friend. Don't you know how I treated you?"
When she was gentle, she was very good at coaxing people, enough to make them drown in it.
Mei Qingshu's expression clearly softened, and she seemed a bit dazed, as if remembering the most sincere friendship of her youth. She felt melancholic, yet found it hard to let go.
In the past, she had really liked this upperclassman. She was the kind of excellent that she, a slacker, could never achieve in her lifetime.
Gentle, elegant, generous, never rushed or impatient about anything.
How did she become like this? But she had actually been quite good to her, and had even stopped making friends because of her.
Was she being too harsh?
Just as Mei Qingshu was subconsciously reflecting on herself.
Right at that moment…
"Um, Captain Wang, something seems to have happened on the social circle. I don't know what's going on, but suddenly a lot of people are talking about you, and then… it started trending."
Li Li was just curious about Wang Jiu and had subconsciously gone to check the posts. She was startled when she saw the commotion on the main social circle channel.
Hmm?
Everyone was surprised and rushed to check the social circle.
Holy crap, so much drama!
Mei Qingshu's face was as black as ink, while Wang Shu subconsciously looked at Wang Jiu. Master, you've crashed and burned!!
And it was a Hexie Hao bullet train crash, a whole train of carriages doing a series of 360-degree aerial flips.
Who the hell started such a huge wave on the social circle?
Did someone dig up Lao Wang's ancestral graves in a past life?
What a huge melon patch.
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