Ji Zhaoxi stood there, her head throbbing with a dull ache.
"That... I actually just enjoy the feeling of having a secret crush. I just like writing love letters, I didn't mean anything else by it."
Her voice grew smaller and smaller. "I'm sorry for making you misunderstand."
Xie Sili didn't speak for a long time. He was still holding that love letter, his head lowered as if lost in thought.
By now, students had already begun entering the classroom. They looked at the two of them, their eyes brimming with gossip.
Xie Sili's smile was a bit forced. "It's okay. It was my misunderstanding."
He looked at Ji Zhaoxi, who was too guilty to meet his eyes, and his voice sounded a bit hoarse. "Then are we... still friends?"
A classmate who had just sat down felt their pupils dilate in shock upon hearing those words.
The one confessing was Xie Sili?
Ji Zhaoxi was now filled with immense regret. She should have come even earlier; it was all her own fault for dawdling and letting things get to this point.
Right now, she didn't even want to be friends with Xie Sili anymore.
But seeing his cautious and vulnerable expression, she couldn't bring herself to say it. "Of course, we're still friends."
Xie Sili let out a sigh of relief. "Then this... since it was meant for me, I'll keep it."
Ji Zhaoxi, who had been about to take the letter back, immediately pulled her hand away.
Xie Sili's state of mind was actually better than before.
Even if she just liked writing love letters, she had only ever written them to him. How could that not be considered a form of special treatment?
The news that Xie Sili had failed in his confession to Ji Zhaoxi spread through the class instantly. Of course, no one dared to bring it up to their faces; they all discussed it secretly when the two weren't around.
In the afternoon, Xie Sili was called to the office by the homeroom teacher, and Ji Zhaoxi also went to ask a teacher about some questions.
"It's true! I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears this morning." A girl's face was full of certainty. "Xie Sili asked Ji Zhaoxi very pitifully if they were still friends."
"Ji Zhaoxi wouldn't even accept Xie Sili's love letter."
"Holy crap, that's Xie Sili we're talking about. Does Ji Zhaoxi really not even want to give it a try?"
Jiang Shiyi acted as if she hadn't heard a thing, quietly focusing on her test paper.
Xu Kezhi had been feasting on the gossip all morning and was incredibly excited.
If she had known, she would have come earlier. She had barely caught the tail end of the drama!
"Shiyi, what do you think about this?"
Jiang Shiyi's hand, which was holding a pen, paused for a moment. She smiled slightly. "I don't have any particular opinion. Xie Sili isn't so exceptional that everyone is required to like him."
Though she was smiling, there was clearly some emotion behind her words, though it was unclear whether that emotion was directed at Xie Sili or Ji Zhaoxi.
The atmosphere suddenly went quiet. The others exchanged glances and stopped talking.
Only now did they remember—weren't Jiang Shiyi and Xie Sili quite close before?
The incident of being caught red-handed while delivering a love letter made Ji Zhaoxi so worried that she couldn't sleep for nights on end.
She was afraid her mission would fail because of this.
Every night before bed, she would sincerely call out to her system.
Finally, on the second night, the system emerged.
[What is it?]
"What should I do, System? Both Jiang Shiyi and Xie Sili are acting weird." Ji Zhaoxi lay on her bed, hugging her pillow in a daze.
[How are they weird?]
"Even after Jiang Shiyi found out about the things I did, she still wants to be friends with me. She really likes me."
[Well, Xie Sili likes you a lot too.]
Ji Zhaoxi choked for a moment. "Then what happens? Will the mission fail?"
But she had been honestly completing her tasks the whole time.
Writing those threatening letters to Jiang Shiyi, backstabbing her, being jealous of her, and badmouthing her in front of Xie Sili.
It was the same with Xie Sili; she wrote him letters every day, and being discovered by him was a total accident.
She shouldn't have... done anything extra, right?
[No, you did what you were supposed to do, and you've endured the punishments.]
Being exposed, living in fear every day, and being talked about on the school forums.
Although some parts of the plot were disrupted by Jiang Shiyi, the general direction hadn't deviated.
Seeing that Ji Zhaoxi still looked depressed, the system spoke up: [Just do what you need to do. Don't worry about them. They are the children of destiny; they don't need your pity.]
Ji Zhaoxi finally felt a bit more at ease.
The system looked at the letters Ji Zhaoxi had written to Jiang Shiyi.
They were clearly meant to be threats and intimidation, yet they carried an indescribable tone of acting like a spoiled child.
The system pondered in silence—could this be a unique personality trait of the host?
The meaning was the same, but the method of expression was certainly something it hadn't expected.
Ji Zhaoxi's despondent state over the past few days had terrified her parents. They were nearly at the point of dragging her to see a psychologist.
Children nowadays were under too much pressure. The news was always pushing stories about students jumping off buildings, and Ji Zhaoxi's mother worried about it every day.
Ji Zhaoxi's mother placed some food in her daughter's bowl, her brow furrowed. "Xixi, have you been troubled by something lately?"
Her father asked tentatively, "Or is there something you want?"
Ji Zhaoxi thought for a moment. "Something I want?"
Her father nodded. "Whatever you want, Mom and Dad will buy it for you."
Ji Zhaoxi looked at them seriously. "Mom, Dad, I want to become someone at the top of the social ladder in the future, so I can give you both a good life."
Her parents fell into a sudden silence.
Her mother forced a smile. "Why do you suddenly want to be 'at the top'? Isn't being an ordinary person good? Just simple, small happiness."
Her father took a sharp breath and lowered his voice. "That's right. People at the top have their own troubles, and their troubles are even bigger."
"Mom and Dad only hope you'll be happy in this life. we don't want you to be some 'elite' person."
Ji Zhaoxi frowned and argued, "That's not true. Rich people have far fewer troubles than ordinary people. If it's really like you say, I'd rather be an unhappy rich person."
Her mother and father exchanged a look.
It was over.
They were doomed.
Her mother suspected there was a problem with their parenting, or perhaps a problem with the school's education.
Once that thought took root, it seemed like a precursor to depression.
Her mother began to let her imagination run wild, wondering what her daughter had been exposed to that made her think this way. Her eyes gradually grew red. It was their fault for being useless parents who couldn't provide the life she wanted.
Ji Zhaoxi looked up and was startled by their solemn expressions.
She quickly tried to comfort them. "Mom, don't cry! I didn't mean it like that. You're so good to me; I just wanted to let you live a better life."
Her mother wiped her tears. "Xixi, Mom and Dad don't need a 'better life.' I think our life right now is very good. Don't overthink things."
Her father's eyes were also red. "Being good to you is our responsibility. Ji Zhaoxi, did someone at school say something to you?"
Ji Zhaoxi quickly shook her head, feeling guilty. "No, no. I just felt a bit bad."
"You're not allowed to feel bad anymore. Having you by our side, healthy and happy every day—that is the best kind of life."
Ji Zhaoxi didn't dare say anything more.
Her mother was a doctor and worked very hard every day. Her father worked in the civil service; his job was slightly easier than her mother's, but it was still exhausting.
Ji Zhaoxi thought back to the grand villa Xie Sili owned. While their current life was perfectly fine, she still found herself wishing they could live in a house that large, with a full staff of people to look after them.
Of course, she didn't dare say those words out loud.
