The Balance in My Heart Has Shifted

In Classroom 1.

Li Qingxue walked up to Gao Quan and asked, "Where's Ye Liangchen?"

Regarding Ye Liangchen's complaint to the teacher about her supposedly dating someone at school and hindering his studies, Li Qingxue felt it necessary to have a face-to-face conversation with him.

She wanted to ask him what kind of mindset led him to lie to the teacher or which eye had seen her dating someone at school.

Even if she were actually dating someone, how would that hinder his studies?

Seeing Li Qingxue take the initiative to ask about Ye Liangchen, Gao Quan couldn't help but marvel at how impressive Brother Chen was. Just by using a photo of him drinking, he had managed to make Li Qingxue come over and show concern for him.

He had her completely under his thumb.

With a smug expression, Gao Quan replied, "Brother Chen has something to do today."

After saying this, he leaned closer to Li Qingxue and whispered mysteriously, "And it has something to do with you."

Hearing this, Li Qingxue frowned. Something to do with her?

"Explain yourself. What do you mean it has something to do with me?"

Gao Quan imitated Ye Liangchen's confident smile and said, "From today onwards, you don't have to worry about Long Aotian bothering you anymore."

"Because, Brother Chen has taken his mom to go deal with Long Aotian!" Gao Quan's tone was full of barely concealed pride.

That was Long Aotian, the top dog of the senior year, such an impressive and formidable person, and today he was going to be taught a lesson by Brother Chen and his mom!

Upon hearing this, Li Qingxue's furrowed brows revealed her confusion. "What... what do you mean? What do you mean by taking his mom to deal with Long Aotian?"

"Long Aotian hasn't done anything to provoke him. Why would he go looking for trouble with Long Aotian?"

Gao Quan chuckled, his expression still smug. "You wouldn't understand."

"Brother Chen and I saw Long Aotian at Nanfeng Plaza last Saturday."

Li Qingxue immediately recalled that during a conversation with Long Aotian that evening, he had mentioned that Ye Liangchen seemed like a fool and even asked her if there was something wrong with his head.

Combined with the photo Gao Quan had sent her of Ye Liangchen with a bloody nose from drinking, could it be...

She tentatively asked, "Did Long Aotian beat up Ye Liangchen?"

"Of course not, but it's still related to Long Aotian," Gao Quan said, lowering his voice.

"Long Aotian was drinking fruit beer, and I don't know if the way he held the bottle scared Brother Chen, but it caused Brother Chen to accidentally injure his nose."

Li Qingxue still couldn't quite understand. "Ye Liangchen injured his own nose, but why would he go looking for trouble with Long Aotian over that?"

Gao Quan found it amusing. Li Qingxue was just as confused as he had been initially.

At first, he hadn't seen the connection either, but after Ye Liangchen's explanation, it all made sense.

So, he shook his head slightly and said mysteriously, "You just don't get it."

"Think about it. If Long Aotian hadn't been drinking fruit beer, he wouldn't have picked up the bottle, and Brother Chen wouldn't have been scared, right?"

"If Brother Chen hadn't been scared, wouldn't he have avoided injuring his nose?"

"So, in the end, it's all Long Aotian's fault."

Li Qingxue looked at him with an expression of disbelief. "Is that really how you see it?"

Gao Quan laughed, seeing Li Qingxue's confusion, and decided not to keep her in suspense any longer. "Alright, actually, that's just what Brother Chen said. I just wanted to show off a bit."

Li Qingxue was annoyed. "I can't believe you guys. How can you act like this?"

"He was just drinking fruit beer. How does that make him the bad guy? You can't control what people eat or drink!"

With that, she turned and left the classroom.

Watching Li Qingxue's angry retreating figure, Gao Quan was baffled. "Wasn't this all for her sake? To protect her from Long Aotian's harassment. Why is she mad?"

Li Qingxue was truly fed up with Ye Liangchen. She couldn't understand what he was trying to do.

Ever since that day, he had become a completely different person, doing things that were hard for anyone to comprehend!

She headed towards the teachers' office.

Arriving at the office door, Li Qingxue took a deep breath, adjusted her emotions, and knocked.

"Come in."

Li Qingxue pushed the door open and walked in, but the office only had her homeroom teacher and the teacher from Class 7, who seemed to be discussing something.

Other than them, the office was empty.

"What's the matter, Qingxue?" the Class 1 homeroom teacher asked, always showing the utmost care for her top students.

"Teacher, is Ye Liangchen..."

Before she could finish, the Class 1 homeroom teacher sighed. "I don't know what's gotten into Ye Liangchen lately."

Before this, Ye Liangchen had often followed Li Qingxue around. His grades were above average in the class, not outstanding, but he gave off the impression of being a good student.

But this month's mock exam results were far worse than his previous scores.

On Friday, he even lied to the teacher, claiming that Li Qingxue's supposed relationship at school was affecting his studies.

Of course, this had been proven completely false after Li Qingxue's parents confirmed it.

And now, today, he had caused another scene at school, which was giving her a headache.

In contrast, Long Aotian, who the teachers usually saw as a troublemaker, had today displayed a level of maturity that was unexpected for his age.

Especially when he stood in front of the Class 7 homeroom teacher, he gave off a sense of responsibility.

Though his words were sharp!

But they were undeniably reasonable. Recalling how Ye Liangchen's mother had been left fuming, she couldn't help but find it amusing.

As educators, their professionalism didn't allow them to say anything too harsh, so dealing with someone as unreasonable and stubborn as Ye Liangchen's mother was truly exhausting.

"You're close with Ye Liangchen. Try to talk some sense into him. Tell him to focus his energy on studying instead of these petty schemes..."

Li Qingxue left the teachers' office.

She took a deep breath and headed back to her classroom, feeling heavy-hearted and upset.

As she reached the corner of the stairs,

she heard a familiar voice and laughter.

Her eyes lit up as she turned to look.

There was Long Aotian, walking up the stairs with Hu Yuying.

"Long Aotian."

"Oh, what are you doing here?" Long Aotian greeted her with a smile when he saw Li Qingxue.

Hu Yuying glanced at Li Qingxue but didn't say anything, simply nodding with a slight smile.

Except for Long Aotian, Hu Yuying rarely showed any strong emotions toward anyone else.

"I heard Ye Liangchen and his mom came to cause trouble for you. Are you okay?" Li Qingxue asked with concern.

She instinctively attributed her concern to simply worrying about a friend.

"Do I look like someone who's bothered by that?" Long Aotian replied nonchalantly. "But I have to admit, I admire Ye Liangchen's way of thinking. In the past, I would've definitely punched him!"

Li Qingxue couldn't help but laugh at his words.

Unknowingly, the scales in her heart seemed to be tipping ever so slightly...