There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 18.1

After that day, Gao Hao took sick leave and never showed up at the military training base again.

There were even rumors in the Literature and Art Department that Gao Hao had submitted a transfer application and would no longer be seen at Qiande High School.

“That’s simply satisfying!” Gu Xinqing said with hatred when she heard the news, “Such scum, just thinking about how I used to call him ‘senior’ makes me feel disgusted!”

Qin Ke, however, was indifferent to the news.

Gu Xinqing said, “But Ke Ke, it seems like I haven’t seen Brother Jun around recently. Where did he go?”

“……”

Mentioning this, Qin Ke rubbed her temples helplessly. “He’s in confinement.”

“What??”

Gu Xinqing was so shocked that she almost jumped up from where she was standing.

“Is it because of that incident with Gao Hao?”

“Yes.” Qin Ke paused, slightly lowering her eyes while holding the chalk for the bulletin board.

“But it’s inevitable.”

Thinking about what she saw that day, even though it was the middle of August and extremely hot, Gu Xinqing still felt a chill down her spine.

She couldn’t help but shiver internally, then hesitated before saying, “I haven’t asked you about that day. After you hung up the phone and arrived at the scene, what happened? Why did Huo Jun…”

She hesitated over her words and whispered, “Why did he suddenly go crazy like that?”

Qin Ke remained silent.

Gu Xinqing was still feeling the aftershocks of the incident.

“That day, the doctor at the base said that the blood mark on Gao Hao’s neck was pressed so accurately and forcefully right in front of the carotid artery. If that piece of glass had really been pressed down, we wouldn’t have been able to supply enough blood, and he would have been gone just like that.”

Qin Ke sighed silently.

“The doctor said that? No wonder Teacher Wu was so furious.”

“Yeah.” Gu Xinqing nodded. “After all, it was almost a life-threatening incident. Teacher Wu Qingyue was probably scared out of his wits too.”

Qin Ke’s eyes flickered as she raised her hand to continue finishing the edges of the bulletin board.

Her tone was calm, with a hint of helplessness.

“So, just confining him for a few days is already a very light punishment.”

Gu Xinqing immediately shook her head like a rattle.

“The point isn’t whether the punishment is light or not—it’s that someone actually dared to confine Brother Jun?”

Qin Ke: “……”

Qin Ke helplessly said, “Your point of focus is quite peculiar.”

Gu Xinqing said, “Of course, it’s Brother Jun we’re talking about. Not to mention how much chaos he caused during military training in his first year, even in school, for more than two years, there hasn’t been anyone in Qiande High School who could control him.”

After speaking, Gu Xinqing was puzzled herself.

“So why on earth did Brother Jun obediently go into confinement?”

Qin Ke didn’t say anything.

Because she suddenly felt a bit guilty—she had a feeling that this might have something to do with the pact Huo Jun had made with her before.

Gu Xinqing said, “Ke Ke, do you know when Brother Jun will be out?”

Qin Ke calculated.

“He should be out this afternoon.”

Gu Xinqing immediately nudged her with her shoulder, teasingly.

“Oh wow, you really care about our Brother Jun.”

Qin Ke glanced at her helplessly.

“Alright, my work is done. You can go back now.”

“No way, I barely ‘escaped’ here,” Gu Xinqing laughed, clinging to her. “I’ll go with you to return the tools to the bulletin board group!”

“……”

Qin Ke couldn’t argue with her and had to agree.

When the two of them entered the bulletin board group’s studio, it was during the lunch break, and many people were there.

They were gathered around a square table, seemingly discussing something in low voices.

But as soon as Qin Ke and Gu Xinqing stepped into the room, everyone suddenly fell silent.

Those strange, complex, and probing gazes all landed on Qin Ke.

Qin Ke and Gu Xinqing exchanged a glance, both frowning slightly.

Gu Xinqing said, “Ke Ke, did you secretly do something bad behind my back? Otherwise, why is everyone looking at us so strangely?”

“……” Qin Ke knew Gu Xinqing was joking, but she was equally puzzled. “Let’s go inside and talk.”

“Okay.”

Inside the studio, in a corner, a figure emerged.

The person sat on a chair, with long hair deliberately loosened from its tie and hanging down. Her oval face was streaked with tears, and she was sobbing intermittently while someone beside her patted her shoulder in consolation.

The girl next to her was still softly comforting her.

“We all know you’re not like that, Yan Yan. Don’t be sad.”

“But Teacher Wu…”

Hearing this, Qin Ke’s eyebrows arched slightly, and she felt a sense of understanding.

Gu Xinqing, being impatient, reached out and tugged at a freshman nearby, asking softly, “What’s wrong with Qin Yan?”

The person she pulled gave Gu Xinqing and Qin Ke a complicated look before vaguely saying, “It seems that this morning, Senior Qin Yan was called to the group office by Teacher Wu Qingyue.”

“So she’s like this because—?”

“I heard it was about Gao Hao’s incident, and Teacher Wu scolded her.” The girl who spoke glanced at Qin Ke. “We’re not exactly sure, but Teacher Wu made all of us leave and talked to Qin Yan alone for quite a while. From the outside, it sounded quite harsh. We don’t know the details, but Qin Yan has been crying ever since she came back.”

“……”

Gu Xinqing, knowing the reason, looked with disgust at the still-sobbing Qin Yan in the corner.

She then walked back to Qin Ke’s side and muttered,

“She was probably directly scolded by Teacher Wu. Ke Ke, Qin Yan is really something, isn’t she? She still has the nerve to feel wronged and cry?”

Qin Ke didn’t say anything.

The girl quietly watched Qin Yan’s profile for a few seconds, her lips curling slightly, but her beautiful almond eyes showed no hint of a smile.

“She’s not crying out of feeling wronged.”

There was only a mocking understanding of Qin Yan’s theatrics and schemes.

“Huh?”

Gu Xinqing was puzzled. “Then why? A guilty conscience?”

Qin Ke chuckled softly, her expression indifferent.

“To have a guilty conscience, you must have one to begin with, right?—She must have another plan.”

“Huh?”

Gu Xinqing became even more confused.

Qin Ke turned to put the tools back on the tool rack, speaking casually in a soft voice, “Just watch, she won’t give up so easily on this matter.”

“Really? What else can she do?”

Qin Ke said, “Haven’t you noticed that after the incident, she hasn’t come to see me once? She even returned my phone through someone else.”

“That’s definitely because she’s too embarrassed to see you.”

“You think she has such a high sense of shame?” Qin Ke laughed. “If she did, she wouldn’t have done those things in the first place.”

“……”

Gu Xinqing was skeptical of Qin Ke’s words—not because of trust issues, but because, in her opinion, Qin Yan had no chance of making a comeback from this incident.

However, soon enough, Gu Xinqing realized that her understanding of the depths people could sink to was once again refreshed by Qin Yan.

——

Qin Yan crying in the bulletin board group was not kept secret, and soon everyone in the Literature and Art Department knew that Qin Yan had been harshly scolded by Teacher Wu Qingyue that morning, and it had something to do with Gao Hao’s sudden departure.

Additionally, someone “coincidentally” heard through Qin Yan’s intermittent crying and grievances that her scolding was also related to her younger sister, Qin Ke.

These rumors spread throughout the afternoon, and most people in the Literature and Art Department began discussing them.

Qin Ke had not been involved in these discussions.

Until evening, when the bulletin board group members went around the military training base to finish the board newspapers, Qin Ke finally got entangled in it.

“Qin Ke.”

“Hmm?”

Standing in front of the bulletin board, Qin Ke turned around when she heard the voice and saw an unfamiliar face.

The person seemed to be a friend of Qin Yan—this was Qin Ke’s only impression.

“Do you need something?”

Qin Ke’s expression was calm as her gaze fell on the person standing behind her. A few meters away, Qin Yan was standing with another girl, holding hands, her eyes red and her head lowered.

“Do I need something?”

The girl sneered.

“Aren’t you heartless? Can’t you see how much Qin Yan has cried today—she’s your sister, and she got scolded because of you, yet you have no reaction? Are you a cold-blooded animal??”

This girl’s voice, whether intentionally or not, was not low but rather loud.

Not only did the other members of the Literature and Art Department bulletin board group hear it, but even some students in the classes training several meters away at the military training base couldn’t help but look over.

Under those varied and complex gazes, Gu Xinqing hurriedly ran over from a short distance away.

Standing in the center of everyone’s attention, Qin Ke’s expression remained unchanged.

She looked at Qin Yan and spoke calmly.

“Who said she got scolded because of me?”

“Of course, Yan Yan herself—” The girl choked, then quickly changed her words, “We clearly heard Teacher Wu mention your name while we were standing outside! It must be because of you that Yan Yan got scolded.”

Qin Ke laughed softly.

She tossed the chalk she was holding into a small trash can and casually dusted off her hands.

Then Qin Ke looked up slowly, her voice turning cold—

“Are you saying I did something wrong and Qin Yan got scolded on my behalf?”

The girl’s momentum faltered under Qin Ke’s gaze, and she seemed visibly guilty.

“Y-yes.”

“That’s really funny.”

“What’s so funny about that!?”

Qin Ke looked at her coldly. “If I were the one who made the mistake, why wouldn’t Teacher Wu scold me instead of Qin Yan? Which teacher taught you that kind of logic?”

“You…”

The girl had a lot of bluster but couldn’t keep up with Qin Ke’s reasoning. After a few seconds of silence, the other members of the Literature and Art Department began to look at them thoughtfully.

Seeing this, Qin Yan, who had been standing behind the girl with red-rimmed eyes, finally lost her patience.

Her voice was choked with sobs as she walked up quickly—

“Xiao Ke, I know this is my fault. But I really didn’t expect Gao Hao to do that…”

As she spoke, tears began to fall freely again, streaming down her face without her even wiping them away.

She looked truly pitiable.

In contrast, Qin Ke, who stood quietly by without much emotion, seemed rather cold-hearted.

Qin Yan continued to speak, her voice full of grievance:

“He told me he didn’t like me anymore and that he liked you more, even saying you also had feelings for him… He begged me to help him. Although it hurt me, I still wanted you both to get along, so I agreed to help him with you. I really didn’t expect things to turn out this way.”

Qin Yan walked forward with reddened eyes, trying to grab Qin Ke’s hand.

Qin Ke frowned and stepped back.

Qin Yan’s eyes reddened further, and her tears fell even faster.

“Qin Ke, you’re too much.”

Two girls quickly stepped forward from behind Qin Yan, one handing her tissues to wipe her tears while the other angrily glared at Qin Ke.

“It’s clearly your fault—Gao Hao and Qin Yan have been close since their first year of high school, and you came in between them. Qin Yan didn’t hold it against you because you’re her sister and even tried to help you both. How could you go to Teacher Wu and turn the tables on her?”

“Exactly!” another girl chimed in, “Our Yan Yan is so pitiful, having her boyfriend stolen by her scheming sister and being wronged so badly that she got scolded by Teacher Wu…”

“What the hell!”

A voice finally exploded from the side.

Gu Xinqing, who had reached her limit, stormed over from the bulletin board wall—

“I can’t stand it anymore—who’s really twisting the truth here?! Did you see or hear anything that makes you so bold to point fingers?”

Gu Xinqing glared angrily at Qin Yan.

“Senior Qin Yan, I only call you that because you’re older. Do you have amnesia or dementia? Do you forget how you plotted with Gao Hao that night and set up Qin Ke?”

Qin Yan and the other two girls were stunned by Gu Xinqing’s sudden outburst. One of them quickly recovered and coldly retorted.

“How can a freshman be so rude?”

“Exactly.”

“Like attracts like! It figures that someone who stays with this ingrate wouldn’t be any good either.”

Gu Xinqing was fuming.

She had never been wronged like this in her life, but the other side, with one crying pitifully and the other two mocking her with sharp tongues, left her speechless, her face flushed with anger.

Seeing the hesitant looks from the people around, Qin Yan started crying even harder, apologizing softly to Qin Ke as she cried:

“I’m sorry, Ke Ke, I won’t meddle anymore in the future… This time, it’s my fault…”

Several of the male members of the Literature and Art Department couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Qin Ke, your sister is already apologizing to you like this, why don’t you say something to let this go?”

“Yeah, it’s not that big of a deal. Why make things so unpleasant?”

“Besides, Gao Hao is the one who played around with everyone. He’s the real scumbag, running away after making a mess and blaming it all on Qin Yan.”

“Right, Qin Yan should be the biggest victim here.”

“……”