Chapter 358: The Only Hope
Chapter 358: Chapter 358: The Only Hope
"Tomorrow?" The man stared at Xu Xianhui, his expression grim. He snorted. "What, you think you can fool me again? I’m telling you, if you dare try to pull one over on me again, believe me, I’ll make you regret it for the rest of your life."
"I believe you, I do." The man’s ferocity made Xu Xianhui tremble all over. She deeply regretted coming to this grove. ’It’s noon, and most people are taking their lunch break. This grove is so remote; even if I screamed, no one would come. Besides, even if someone did hear, what if this man decided to just go all the way and ruin my reputation? I’d be finished.’
"Fine. I’ll trust you one more time today. But remember, if you dare to avoid me again, I won’t go easy on you." The man’s eyes glinted as he threatened her viciously.
"I... I understand," Xu Xianhui said through her tears.
"Good that you understand." The man thought for a moment, then said, "Tomorrow at noon, same time. Meet me by the bungalows to the right of the school. There’s a parasol tree in that area. We’ll meet under it."
"Okay, I... I understand," Xu Xianhui hastily agreed.
"Hmph. Remember what you said today. If you don’t show up tomorrow, I’ll wreck you." With that, the man strode out of the grove.
Seeing the man leave, Xu Xianhui’s legs gave out. She leaned against a tree and slowly slumped to the ground. Only then did she feel a chill run down her spine. She realized she had broken out in a cold sweat; she had been too nervous to notice before. Now, she was so cold she shivered uncontrollably.
’Almost eight hundred yuan... How could I possibly scrape that together in one day?’
Xu Xianhui stared blankly ahead, her heart pounding so fast that her hands shook. She even wondered if her heart was going to leap right out of her mouth.
Money!
Money!!
Money!!!
Xu Xianhui’s head instinctively turned toward the girls’ dormitory. ’There’s only one hope. I only have one hope left.’
’Su Qing. She’s my only hope.’
’Yes, Su Qing. I have to borrow the money from Su Qing. No matter what, I have to get that money.’ Calculating the time, Xu Xianhui decided to go to the entrance of the girls’ dormitory to intercept Su Qing.
However, Xu Xianhui didn’t know that Su Qing wasn’t staying in the dorm during the noon break. Instead, she had gone back to her own courtyard house with Li Huan. Since the two of them hadn’t been resting in the dorm at noon lately, Liu Juan had asked about it. They didn’t hide it and told the other girls in their dorm.
None of the girls had a jealous nature. Aside from a little envy, they didn’t have any other negative feelings. Sensing their attitudes, Su Qing felt they were all people worth befriending. She suggested that when they had time, she would invite them over to her place for a meal. Naturally, the girls were all for the idea.
"Excuse me, where’s Su Qing?" Xu Xianhui was waiting downstairs at the girls’ dormitory. When she saw Sun Xiaowen, Liu Juan, and the others come out without Su Qing, she rushed forward and asked anxiously.
"What do you want with Su Qing?" Sun Xiaowen had a very poor impression of Xu Xianhui. To this day, she still remembered the way Xu Xianhui had looked at Su Qing, as if she were a platter of braised pork.
"I just have something I need to see her about. Where is she?" Xu Xianhui asked hurriedly.
Niu Wenying began to say without thinking, "She went home..."
Before Niu Wenying could finish, Liu Juan cut her off. "We’ll see Su Qing in class later, we can tell her then. First, why don’t you tell us what exactly you need her for?"
Liu Juan had a bad feeling about this.
"Home?" Xu Xianhui heard Niu Wenying’s words and quickly asked, "But there are classes this afternoon. How could she go home? Will she make it back in time for class?"
Xu Xianhui was frantic. ’If Su Qing went home today, she definitely won’t make it back to school. How will I find her then?’
’Besides, even if Su Qing agrees to lend me the money, she’ll need time to go withdraw it. No one just keeps several hundred yuan on hand. Thinking about all the time that would be wasted...’ Xu Xianhui was a nervous wreck.
"Why are you so nosy?" Sun Xiaowen frowned at Xu Xianhui. "Are you and Su Qing that close?"
"No, I..."
Before Xu Xianhui could finish, Chen Meizhen lifted her wrist to look at her watch and said hurriedly, "Oh no, we have to hurry. We have Teacher Zhou’s class today, and she hates it when students are late."
"Oh, you’re right." Hearing what Chen Meizhen said, the group couldn’t be bothered with Xu Xianhui anymore and rushed off toward their classroom.
Xu Xianhui froze for a moment, then hurried after them.
Su Qing’s courtyard house wasn’t far from the academic building. By the time Sun Xiaowen and the others arrived, she and Li Huan were already seated in the classroom.
"Su Qing, that Xu Xianhui girl is looking for you. She came all the way to the dorm building just now," Liu Juan said when she saw Su Qing.
Su Qing heard this and asked, puzzled, "What does she want with me now?"
"Who knows. She seemed really anxious," Sun Xiaowen said. "I saw she was covered in sweat, and her face was a little pale. No idea what she’s in such a rush about."
"And another thing, during lunch, that Xu Xianhui was staring at Su Qing the whole time," Chen Meizhen said. "I saw it all."
"I saw it too," Ye Qingqing added with a nod.
Su Qing just smiled. "Whatever it is, I’ll just ignore her. I don’t know her well. Back when we were in the same village, we never even spoke. We barely saw each other more than once. She’s just a stranger who happens to be from the same village."
"Xu Xianhui is looking for you?" As Su Qing and her friends were talking, a girl named Cheng Fang, who was sitting in the row in front of them, turned around and asked.
"Mhm." Su Qing nodded.
"She’s not trying to borrow money from you, is she?" Cheng Fang’s eyes widened as soon as she heard.
"What?!" Li Huan and the others were shocked. "No way! She doesn’t even know Su Qing well. Why would she try to borrow money from her?"
"I’m not sure, it’s just a hunch," Cheng Fang said. "All I know is she’s basically borrowed from every classmate and friend around her, and she hasn’t paid back a single cent. I heard she borrowed several dozen yuan, maybe eighty or so. And you all know, most of the students at our school don’t have much money. Scraping together even a few yuan from their living expenses to lend to her is the most they can do."
"What!" Ye Qingqing exclaimed in surprise. "Eighty yuan? How did she borrow so much!"
Liu Juan was also astonished. "What does she need all that for? Borrowing so much and not even paying it back."
"Who knows," Cheng Fang said. "It’s been almost two months now. I heard from an upperclassman who’s in the know that when those classmates and friends pestered her to pay it back, she just said she didn’t have the money. Later, she started avoiding them altogether. Anyway, it all boiled down to two words: ’No money!’"
"Oh my god, eighty yuan!" Niu Wenying couldn’t believe it.
Su Qing narrowed her eyes slightly. ’A few dozen yuan isn’t much to me, but for these students, that’s a huge sum of money. Even if each person only lent her a few yuan, that small amount might have been more than half a month’s living expenses for them.’
Just as she was thinking this, a classmate at the door called out, "Su Qing, someone’s here for you."