Chapter 3

"Excuse me, sir. You just let him in and you didn't let us in." Jiang Yue challenged the old man but he didn't budge.

"We should beg him instead." Kang Jian whispered.

Jiang Yue stepped forward, her eyes flashing with determination. "I demand you to let us in sir. You can't just deny us entry like this! We came earlier than him and you let them in." Jiang Yue snapped.

The security guard, a burly man with a stern expression, crossed his arms over his chest. "You are late and you'll be punished for coming late." He said simply.

Jiang Yue's face was reddened with anger. "This is so unfair. We tried our best to come to school early and you allowed another person to go in because he was driven in with a car. Those are two rules he broke. Or are you discriminating because we came on a bicycle?" Jiang Yue yelled.

"We are sorry sir. We'll accept our punishment." Kang Jian bowed after apologizing.

"Ow! What did you do?!" Jiang Yue cried out, outraged.

"After the opening ceremony, you are to clean the auditorium." The old man said.

Jiang Yue's eyes narrowed, her face burning with humiliation. She knew she had gotten a punishment on her first day at school which was not good at all. With a stiff nod, she turned and stalked away, her tail between her legs.

"Why did you apologize to him?" Jiang Yue hit Kang Jian playfully by the arms.

They both hastily made their way to the school auditorium. She burst through the doors, out of breath, and they slipped into their seats just as the principal was taking the stage.

"Welcome, students, faculty, and honored guests, to the opening ceremony of our esteemed institution!" The principal's voice boomed through the auditorium. "Today, we gather to celebrate the start of a new academic year, and to inform you all that for the first time in history, Second High School has decided to give out Scholarships."

Jiang Yue's eyes scanned the room, her heart racing with excitement. She spotted Kang Jian, sitting in the front row, looking confident and poised. They had sat separately from each other as the auditorium was already filled with other students.

"And now, without further ado, please join me in congratulating our scholarship students, Jiang Yue, Zhang Wei, Li Zing, and Kang Jian!" The principal announced, gesturing them to stand.

Jiang Yue's heart skipped a beat as she stood up, her eyes locking onto Kang Jian's. For a moment, they just stared at each other, a silent understanding passing between them.

Together, they made their way to the stage. They all shook the hand of the principal.

They all went back to their seats and were addressed by the vice principal before the ceremony was closed.

Jiang Yue stepped into the class and took her seat. She looked behind her and saw the guy who was driven into the school in a car. The teacher was already in class so she couldn't confront him.

She sat and waited patiently, thinking of how to face him. She didn't even listen to what the teacher was saying.

Immediately after the teacher left the class, Jiang Yue launched at him.

"Hey!" Jiang Yue yelled at him.

Su Ye raised his head and gagged at the sight of Jiang Yue.

"I got punished today for coming late and you skipped punishment because you are?" Jiang Yue paused.

Everyone in the class was shocked. Who was this new student talking to Su Ye? Doesn't she know who he was?

"Am I not talking to you? Why did we get punished and you didn't get any punishment?" Jiang Yue stood up and all Su Ye could do was to scoff. He was surprised just like anyone else in the class.

"Get out of my face." Su Ye said every word with hatred in his eyes.

Su Ye stood up and tried to leave but Jiang Yue blocked him.

"Aiya, spoiled brat, I'm not done with you yet. You broke two rules and you never got punished for it." Jiang Yue folded her arms.

Before she knew it, Su Ye pushed her away from his way and Kang Jian caught her in time before she fell on the hard ground.

"You need to be more careful." Kang Jian warned.

Jiang Yue packed up her belongings and headed out into the hallway, only to be surrounded by Bao Zhan and her cohorts.

"Hey, scholarship girl," Bao Zhan sneered. "How dare you try to talk to Su Ye? How dare you call him names in class?"

Jiang Yue stood tall, her eyes locked on Bao Zhan. "Why can't I talk to him? I faced injustice this morning as I was punished for coming late and he wasn't."

Bao Zhan's face reddened, and she took a step closer. "I'm here to give you a warning. Don't ever go close to Su Ye, don't talk to him, don't ever mention his name from that gutter mouth of yours. Understood?"

"I'll talk to him whenever I feel like, he's my classmate." Jiang Yue nagged.

It was then Kang Jian ran to where Jiang Yue was.

"She's sorry. She doesn't mean what she is saying." He apologized on her behalf.

"Register this into your thick skull, if you ever call my Su Yu names or try to get close to him again, I'll make life difficult for you." Bao Zhan warned.

"I know what I'm saying. What's wrong with you?" Jiang Yue asked and Kang Jian dragged her away from the scene.

"What's wrong with you? Don't you know who she is?" Kang Jian asked.

"I don't care who she is but the mistake she made was trying to bully me, Jiang Yue. I'll drag her down." She yelled and Kang Jian could only tug hard at his hair in frustration.

"She's Bao Zhan. Her father owns a construction company which is well known." He informed.

"And so? Does that give her the right to bully me?" 

Jiang Yue's eyes narrowed as she glared at Kang Jian. "This is all your fault," she muttered through gritted teeth, her hands balled into fists at her sides.

"I'm sorry," Kang Jian repeated, his voice sincere despite Jiang Yue's hostility. "But let's just get this over with, okay? We can argue about this later. We've got to clear the auditorium before the end of the lunch period, or we'll be in even more trouble."

With a huff, Jiang Yue turned and stormed towards the auditorium, Kang Jian following close behind.

As they entered the auditorium, Jiang Yue noticed the other students at work. Her eyes swept over the room, quickly taking in the scene. The four of them were the students who had just received scholarships.

 A knot of frustration formed in her chest as she realized that all of the other students were scholarship recipients like herself and Kang Jian.

She couldn't help but feel a sense of injustice at the realization. Why should they have to do all the work, while the wealthy students got off scot-free? It wasn't fair, and she was tired of it.

Yes, she realized she was being punished for coming to school late but the auditorium was supposed to be cleaned by everyone to show the importance of teamwork and cleanliness.

Jiang Yue picked up a broom and began to sweep the stage with furious intensity, her anger propelling her movements as she attacked the dust and debris with vicious swipes.

Kang Jian watched her for a moment before speaking. "Hey, calm down," he said, his voice low and level. "I know this isn't fair, but getting mad isn't going to help anything. We just need to finish our work and get out of here."

Jiang Yue glared at him over her shoulder, her eyes flashing with fury.

Kang Jian raised his hands in a placating gesture, his eyes softening with concern. "Look, I get it. This sucks. But we've got to be smart about this. Getting angry and reckless will only make things worse for us. We need to stick together."

His words seemed to have some effect on Jiang Yue, who took a deep breath and lowered the broom. She turned back to the stage, sweeping with more controlled movements, but the frustration in her eyes was still palpable.

Kang Jian watched her for a moment, a conflicted expression on his face.