Chapter Ten: This Matter Can Still Be Remedied and Resolved

What?
The plan has been exposed?
Liu Duoduo stiffened all over, her teeth trembling.
She knew all too well what kind of temper Ning Lebao had.
Now that she had messed things up, Ning Lebao would definitely be angry.
At the thought of this, Liu Duoduo grew even more fearful.
Ning Huaizhi’s smile blossomed wildly, her eyes full of delight. “What’s the matter? Liu Duoduo, why have you gone silent? You weren’t even at the scene, yet you seem to know a lot about what happened. Could it be that this was all planned by you and Ning Lebao together?”
“Should I praise you for your planning skills? It’s just a pity there was a hiccup in execution. If only that part could be fixed, it would be perfect. Then you could rightfully confront me, wouldn’t that be so?”
Liu Duoduo dared not utter a word.
She wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole.
If only she hadn’t gone out of her way to pick up Ning Lebao at the school gate.
What started as an attempt to curry favor had now turned into a disaster; Ning Lebao would surely skin her alive.
Ning Lebao shot a sharp glance at Liu Duoduo and said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”
Leading the way, Ning Lebao left, with Liu Duoduo and the others closely following behind.
Once they left, the crowd naturally dispersed.
To wake up early and get such juicy gossip left everyone satisfied, and the conversation on the way out buzzed about the incident.
Ning Huaizhi followed the crowd into Jingshi University, heading toward the dormitory building.
Perhaps because of the earlier event, many people glanced at her along the way, but Ning Huaizhi paid no heed.
...
Ning Lebao did not take them back to the dormitory but instead found a quiet grove.
She stopped walking, and those behind her halted as well.
Turning around, Ning Lebao delivered a sharp slap to Liu Duoduo’s face.
Liu Duoduo’s complexion first drained of color, then flushed red; within seconds, swelling began to appear.
She dared not cover her face, only standing there helplessly, biting back the pain.
If she covered it, Ning Lebao’s punishment would be even harsher.
“Did I ever teach you to act on your own? I never told you to do this. You went ahead yourself—is it because you think I’m too idle and want to create trouble for me?”
“No, I’m sorry, Miss Ning. It’s my fault. When I saw Ning Huaizhi come out, I couldn’t help but want to teach her a lesson. It won’t happen again.”
Even hearing her apology didn’t improve Ning Lebao’s expression much.
“Do you know how much trouble you’ve caused me today? And you even let others find out about it.”
At the thought of this, Ning Lebao ground her teeth in anger.
Ning Huaizhi was not one to spread things around; as long as others didn’t bring it up, the matter wouldn’t get out, and she wouldn’t suffer any consequences at school.
But now, it was different.
Liu Duoduo cautiously watched Ning Lebao’s face, and when it softened slightly, she finally asked, “Miss Ning, what exactly happened at the banquet?”
Ning Lebao shot her a sharp glance, and Liu Duoduo shrank her neck.
But she had to know.
If she didn’t, she would surely make the same mistake again. To prevent that, she had to find out in advance.
Ning Lebao didn’t touch her but recounted the events of the banquet, including the conversation between Ning Huaizhi and He Mingyuan after she left.
Liu Duoduo’s mouth fell open in surprise.
No wonder Miss Ning was so angry; if it had happened to her, she would be furious too.
Ning Huaizhi...
Since when had she become so formidable?
Forget it, the most important thing now was to help Ning Lebao resolve this issue.
She wasn’t ungrateful for Ning Lebao’s slap; she simply had no choice from the start.
Being the illegitimate daughter of the Liu family brought her little benefit, only a lot of trouble. She needed someone to rely on.
Among the people she could reach out to at this stage, Ning Lebao was the most powerful. No matter how Ning Lebao treated her, she had to stick close.
“Miss Ning, I have a way to solve this.”
“Oh? What way?”
“Just follow my lead...”
Liu Duoduo leaned close to Ning Lebao’s ear and explained the plan clearly.
Ning Lebao’s frown relaxed, a small smile appearing.
“Good. Let’s do it as you say.”
“Yes.”
“Go ahead.”
...
After leaving the teaching building with her books, Ning Huaizhi headed straight for the cafeteria, only returning to the dormitory after eating.
It was October now, the first year had just started a month ago.
She had been in military training all through September, and whenever she returned to the dormitory, she would just shower and rest, hardly interacting with her roommates or getting to know them.
Among the three others in the dormitory besides her, the one she was most familiar with was Ning Lebao.
First-year freshmen were not allowed to live off-campus. No matter how reluctant Ning Lebao was, she had to stay on campus.
Ning’s father feared she might suffer mistreatment at school, so he arranged for the two to be roommates.
Ning Lebao had many people around to look after her, so she probably didn’t suffer any grievances; on the contrary, Ning Huaizhi endured quite a few hardships in September.
But that was all in the past now.
Besides Ning Lebao, there was another roommate named Zhou Jiajia, who was in the same major as Ning Huaizhi.
She was very introverted, hardly spoke in the dormitory, and didn’t take the initiative to interact with others.
As for the fourth roommate, she had never come to school, apparently on sick leave; special circumstances allowed her to live off-campus.
Ning Lebao envied her; she too didn’t want to live on campus but had no special circumstances.
Ning Huaizhi, however, felt nothing special.
Even if she could live off-campus, she wouldn’t be able to.
The areas surrounding Jingshi University were expensive; even renting a small one-bedroom apartment cost quite a bit.
The Ning family didn’t give Ning Huaizhi much money—after tuition was paid, she only had half a month’s living expenses left.
If not for the summer job she had worked to save some money, she might have been left with nothing to eat.
If she asked, Ning’s father would certainly provide, but she was unwilling to rely on the Ning family.
If the Ning family weren’t so concerned with appearances and allowed her to apply for student loans, she wouldn’t even take their tuition money.
The money she did take, she intended to repay in the future, to sever ties with the Ning family.
When she returned to the dormitory, the others hadn’t come back yet.
Ning Huaizhi turned on the small desk lamp and spread her books out on the table.
The material was all from her previous life’s studies.
She had long since mastered the basics, so the classes were not difficult but rather easy.
In her previous life, when she had just transferred from the slums to Jingshi, these subjects were entirely new and challenging. Fortunately, the teachers were patient and spent time helping her solve difficult problems, smoothing her path.
But this life, she still had to wait; the teacher hadn’t entered Jingshi University yet, so she needed more patience.
The door opened, and Ning Huaizhi looked up to see Zhou Jiajia, who caught her eye and shyly smiled.
“Hello.”