Chapter 28: This is clearly just a case of feigned injury...

With a trembling voice, Ruan Wei edged forward, tears threatening to spill as she tried to calm Ruan Cha. Yet before she could utter a word, Ruan Cha's vicious glare sliced through the air. "Shut up!" The voice was so cold and heavy, laced with undisguised danger, that Ruan Wei shuddered from head to toe.

She froze in place, tears streaming down her cheeks. The classmates, seeing Ruan Wei frightened into tears, voiced their indignation. "Ruan Cha is way out of line, treating her own sister like that!" "Looks like the rumors are true—Ruan Cha really is targeting Ruan Wei. I suddenly feel so sorry for her." "If I had a sister like that, I wouldn't want to live!" "The homeroom teacher is coming!"

Someone shouted that the teacher was on his way, and the students who had gathered quickly dispersed.

Ruan Cha quickly calculated her options, got off Xu Jie, and nonchalantly took her seat, her expression perfectly calm, as if nothing had happened.

When Shen Jie stepped into the classroom, the normally noisy room fell so silent you could hear a pin drop. He walked to the podium and looked down, spotting Xu Jie lying painfully in the aisle at the front.

Shen Jie hurried over. "Xu Jie, why are you lying there? Didn't I tell you before, if you really don't like being in class, just take a break and go home. With a bed almost two meters wide at home, it's much more comfortable than this hard floor…"

"Teacher, that's not..." Ruan Wei, seeing Shen Jie, wiped her tears and spoke up. "My sister had a disagreement with Xu Jie. I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If not for me, my sister wouldn't have..."

"Wait a minute?" Shen Jie grew more confused as he listened. "Ruan Wei, who is your sister? I don't recall there being a sister pair in our class!"

Ruan Wei, eyes red, looked at Ruan Cha. "Actually, Cha Cha is my younger sister."

"Ah, that explains why you both have the surname Ruan," Shen Jie said, glancing at their faces. They looked nothing alike.

"Mr. Shen, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. My sister only clashed with Xu Jie because of me. I'll take full responsibility."

Ruan Wei lowered her head in guilt, and as she spoke, her eyes reddened again.

"So Ruan Cha and Xu Jie got into an argument?" Finally grasping the situation, Shen Jie looked at Ruan Cha, who sat upright with a sweet, innocent face, then at Xu Jie writhing in pain on the floor.

"So, Xu Jie was knocked to the ground by Ruan Cha?" Shen Jie could hardly believe it, turning to Ruan Wei.

When Ruan Wei nodded with utmost sincerity, Shen Jie gave an awkward laugh. "Ruan Wei, are you joking with me? Ruan Cha's so petite she couldn't even squash an ant, let alone beat Xu Jie."

Hearing this, Ruan Cha looked up at him, her clear, bright eyes tinged with grievance. "Teacher, I really don't know what's going on. The moment I got to school today, everyone said I wanted to hurt my sister, but I truly don't know what I did wrong."

She lowered her gaze, rubbing her eyes with her tiny pale fists. When she looked up again, her eyes were rimmed with red. "Xu Jie came over to me just now and started insulting me, saying I was an illegitimate child, a disgrace. I... I couldn't fight back, so I endured it. But then, when he heard you were about to come in, he just lay down beside me. He's obviously trying to frame me..."

The classmates who had witnessed everything were stunned into silence after hearing Ruan Cha's explanation.

Wh... what?!