Everyone sat in silence.
Cheng Xiu put her cheeks in her palm and looked out the window, watching as two hummingbirds fought with each other over a rose bush.
It was rare to see such small creatures in the wild since the Qi Awakening. The mutation of humans had led to mutations in the things around them. Plants that could move, and were sentient. Animals who had awakened their own Qi manifestations. There were even speculations that some of them were going to grow even more aware of the world around them. That the animals that everyone was already scared of would start to think. To create their own language. Retain information that wasn't just based on instinct.
People started to come into the Guidance Hall.
Cheng Xiu kept listening to Ms Bo explain Quarts Calculation to the students around the woman, her eyes following the man that came nearer.
"Teacher Bo? You called?"
She motioned for him to sit.
Gu Shu came in, running, her pink hair swinging in the wind and looking at Cheng Xiu with betrayed eyes.
What did she do?
Behind her came Ren Dao. Of course.
The two walked towards her.
"A'Xiu!" Ren Dao said, a big grin on his face. "You are here too!"
Cheng Xiu raised an eyebrow. "Senior Ren. Where else should I be?"
Ren Dao gave her a strained smile. "I didn't mean it like that! I just meant that it's great to see you!"
Cheng Xiu nodded and then went back to watch the hummingbirds.
Someone huffed in front of her.
Cheng Xiu looked at Ren Yin. "Something you want to say, Ms Ren?"
The girl glared at her. "Cheng Xiu! Who do you think you are! You should be respecting Brother Dao and worshipping him for even looking your way! Yet you dismiss him so!"
Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. She turned to Ren Dao. "Did I offend you?"
"Not at all!" Ren Dao said with a grin, sending a glare towards Ren Yin.
Gu Shu frowned. Her eyes to Ren Dao, who looked annoyed and ecstatic and then towards Cheng Xiu who had gone back to staring at the window.
"Cheng Xiu," called Gu Shu, her voice angry.
Cheng Xiu hummed.
Gu Shu sighed. "Were you here for a long time? Did you have breakfast yet?"
Cheng Xiu gave her a soft, warm smile and shook her head.
The pink-haired girl handed her a paper bag. "Here, it has peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in it. Two of them!"
Cheng Xiu raised an eyebrow and eyed the bag.
"Did you make it?"
"No. Obviously not."
Cheng Xiu took the bag and opened it.
Gu Shu huffed. "I'm not that bad at cooking!"
"Tell that to your father. He'll believe you."
Gu Shu pouted and turned to Ren Dao.
"Brother Dao! Little Xiu is being mean to me."
Ms Bo cleared her throat.
Everyone turned to her.
"Good morning, everyone!"
The students clapped.
Cheng Xiu put the sandwich bag down with sorrow-filled eyes. She loved p&b sandwiches the most!
"I've gathered all of you here today to discuss in detail how we are going to conduct the seminars. We will look at the departments in-depth and which ones would present their seminars on which day. Does anyone have any idea they would like to share?"
"We will follow what you have planned, Ms Bo!" Ren Yin said passionately. "After all, you know the best about such things!"
Everyone agreed.
"Teacher Bo?"
Bo Ling froze. Her eyes locked with a pair of Phoenix eyes.
"What?" Ms Bo spat.
Cheng Xiu gave her a polite smile.
"I was wondering if we could include a student seminar session as well."
Ms Bo pursed her lips.
"That's a stupid idea!" Student Liu, San Zhu's substitute representative, said.
Cheng Xiu shook her head. "But this is an opportunity for us to show the Alliance Force the capabilities of our college's students. Shouldn't we take advantage of it?"
Ms Bo gave her a strained smile. "Yes. Go-go-good idea."
Cheng Xiu pursed her lips, trying not to smirk at the sheer unwillingness in the face of the woman in front of her. It seemed to physically hurt her to have praised a Qiless.
Ms Bo gave her a mocking expression. "But the International seminars are in two months and shortlisting the names of all 3000 students in our college is a monumental task that will not be easy to organize even with the AI system. So your point is moot."
There were snickers around them.
"She is clearly trying to ostracize you," Gu Shu whispered, glaring at the Red dressed woman.
"She might hear you," Cheng Xiu said as she went back to staring out the window.
"You!" Ms Bo called.
No one responded.
"You! Qile-... Miss Cheng Xiu!" Ms Bo called.
Cheng Xiu started.
Her eyes found a pair of dark eyes that screamed bloodlust at her.
"Yes?" Cheng Xiu asked calmly.
It was a tactic she had learned over the years. To remain calm and collected when speaking to people like Ms Bo. Her kind lived and thrived in opposition. When they met with indifference, they didn't know what to do.
"Get up here and distribute these pamphlets!" Ms Bo screamed.
Cheng Xiu gave her a judgemental look. Who used Pamphlets in this day and age.
"Well?"
Cheng Xiu sighed and started to hand the pamphlets over. There were many snickers.
Ren Yin sneered at her as she snatched a pamphlet from her hand. "This is the true worth of the likes of you. Serving others."
Cheng Xiu sat back in her seat. "So, you look down on soldiers as well?"
Ren Yin glared. "You!"
"You dish it out," Gu Shu said to Ren Yin, "But you can't take it?"
Ren Yin gritted her teeth.
The two devolved into bickering.
Cheng Xiu shook her head and read through the pamphlets. She had to admit that Ms Bo did have a great skill at organizing. Everything seemed flawless.
Ms Bo sat next to Ren Yin and began speaking to her, ignoring the pink-haired girl.
Gu Shu huffed.
"Brother Dao-" she froze as she saw Ren Dao stare at Cheng Xiu with lustful eyes. She glared. "Brother Dao!"
Ren Dao's face showed annoyance for a split second before it changed to one of his charming smiles.
It didn't seem as charming now.
"Yes, A'Shu?"
Her eyes brimmed with tears, but she shook her head. "N-nothing. J-just…I thought Little Xiu's idea had merit."
Cheng Xiu looked up, her eyebrows furrowed.
Ren Dao nodded. "Yeah, but she didn't think about the amount of effort that would have to be put in to get the student seminar going. But then, she is a Qiless. It is to be expected that she would fail to see such things."
"I'm Qiless, not brainless," Cheng Xiu looked at the man with hatred in her eyes.
Ren Dao shivered at her glaring eyes. At times like these, he was happy that Cheng Xiu was a Qiless. If it was a Blessed girl, he would have had broken bones already. But looking at the beautiful face that that hate filled Phoenix eyes were embedded in, he felt regret. If only she was a Blessed. Then he could have dated her.
"Of course! Of Course!" he said with an indulgent smile.
"Teacher Bo," Cheng Xiu called again.
The woman in red glared at her. "Yes. Ms…I forgot. What was your name?"
Cheng Xiu wanted to snort. So the petty woman was trying to play that game. "You see, Ms Bo, I was thinking that maybe we can select the students who are going to participate in the seminar from the senior group. Wouldn't that be better?"
Ms Bo glared. "It's Teacher Bo to you, Ms Cheng!"
Cheng Xiu gave her a sweet smile. "My bad, Teacher Bo. I seem to keep forgetting how I addressed you five minutes ago. You have to forgive me. After all, you are a Blessed who used my name only ten minutes ago and then forgot and I am a Qiless, genius or not. Surely I can forget things as well."
Ms Bo glared at her. She had never had to argue with a Qiless before. Most of them knew their place in society and accepted it.
"Does anyone have an idea how we can select a student member for the seminar?" Ms Bo asked through gritted teeth. "It will be difficult to select even from the seniors. And besides, the students might not agree with our selection."
"We can maybe conduct a debate competition or something," Cheng Xiu said.
Ms Bo didn't react, acting like she had not heard Cheng Xiu.
"Teacher Bo!" Ren Yin shouted.
Everyone stared at her.
"Yes, Little Yin?"
"We can do a student debate thing!"
"Yes! That's a good idea! Well done, Little Yin! As expected of a child of Ren Family!"
"As expected of biased women with inflated egos," Cheng Xiu muttered.
Gu Shu giggled but soon the whole room fell into pin-drop silence.
Ms Bo jumped to her feet, her eyes bloodshot and angry.
"Is there something you want to say Ms…I keep forgetting your name. Was it Chin? If you want to say something, say it out loud!"
Cheng Xiu dug her nail into her chair's arm, suppressing her anger. Anger was not the emotion she required here. She would not lose her cool in front of these wolves.
"Just surprised that Ren Yin was the one who found the solution to the problem and not you, Ms Bo."
"Teacher Bo!" Ms Bo said in anger.
"I'm sorry, I keep forgetting."
Ms Bo glared. "Well, even so-called geniuses like you did not-"
She stared at the sheer judgement and anger in those Phoenix eyes.
She blushed. "It doesn't matter who thought of it! So there is no need to discuss it."
"If it mattered enough for someone to give credit to the wrong person out of spite," Cheng Xiu whispered to Gu Shu. "then it does matter enough to discuss it."
Gu Shu nodded.
Ren Yin glared. "Cheng Xiu! What are you implying!"
Cheng Xiu let out a fake gasp. "Oh! I'm sorry! I forgot that the blessed had better hearing. How dense of me! It's just, Ms Bo did not hear my suggestion so I forgot that those Blessed of F Rank and higher have superior physique. It's my fault. Oops."
Gu Shu suppressed a giggle. She had forgotten how passive-aggressive Cheng Xiu could be.
"That's enough!" Ms Bo said when he saw Ren Yin's hand glow. "Ms Cheng Xiu! Are you implying I'm showing favouritism?"
"No, Teacher Bo," Cheng Xiu said. "I wouldn't dare to speak out of turn." Her eyes flitted to Ren Yin. "But I do have to say that I'm surprised by how shameless some people could be when they can't prove their superiority over others."
Everyone murmured. Most of them were meeting the rumoured Qiless Genius of St Andre's for the first time. Many were disgusted by the arrogance in the Qiless girl's speech while the rest were impressed that anyone would have the guts to talk back to Ms Bo. She had connections in the Alliance after all.
"But, TEACHER Bo is right," Cheng Xiu said. Ms Bo glared at her emphasis on the word 'teacher.' "We should start talking about this debate thing that Ms Ren came up with that you find to be a genius idea."
Ms Bo blushed at her wordings.
The rest of the meeting went smoothly.
Many of the students spoke with Cheng Xiu, impressed by her calm and collected demeanour as she answered their questions.
" A'Xiu is quite impressive," Ren Dao said with a strained voice. He didn't like the fact that she was getting so much attention. With the conversation she had with Ms Bo, it became very clear to him she wouldn't be as easy to control as he thought. Damned Qiless.
Gu Shu sighed. "Yeah. She is."
The meeting dispersed.
Cheng Xiu dragged Gu Shu to their rooms before the girl could start fawning over Ren Dao again. Not that she protested at all. Which was a first.
"So, what happened?" Cheng Xiu asked, biting into the sandwich Gu Shu gave her.
Gu Shu looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"
Cheng Xiu chugged down a glass of milk and grimaced. She hated the taste of milk and only drank it because she promised her dad she would. She had to ask her father to take back the promise.
"I've known you since we were in kindergarten, A'Shu. I saw your tear-filled eyes after you talked to that Ren Yin. What did she say to you?"
"Is that what you saw?"
"Yeah?"
"Little Xiu, if I ask you something, will you answer me honestly?"
Cheng Xiu gave her a curious look. "Sure. Shoot!"
"What do you really think of Ren Dao?"
Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "I should have realized what you wanted to kn-...ow. Did you just hit my forehead?!"
Gu Shu glared. "Focus! Tell me! What do you really think?"
"A pimping a-hole who deserves to be neutered. Ow! Stop hitting me! You wanted to know the truth!"
Gu Shu deflated. "You don't like him, huh?"
"What smart girl would like a condescending jerk like him…other than you?"
Gu Shu sighed. "What if he says he likes you?"
"I'll laugh at his face."
Gu Shu looked at her sceptically.
"Really. He hides it well but I can see it in his eyes. He is a hater of the Qiless people. So why were you actually upset?"
Gu Shu gave her a strained smile. "Because Brother Dao wasn't giving me his attention."
Cheng Xiu rolled her eyes. "I told you he wasn't worthy of you! You never listen! It's nearly 8! Come on! We need to get to class! It's Calculus!"
"But-"
Cheng Xiu grabbed her wrist and dragged her along.
It surprised Gu Shu how strong Cheng Xiu was, despite not having an active Qi centre.
They walked along the busy corridors of the Mathematics Department. They had Calculus first thing in the morning and it was in the Math Department.
Cheng Xiu suddenly stopped.
Gu Shu crashed into her back.
"Little Xiu?"
"You stay here. I'll be right back!" Cheng Xiu said and walked off to the left.
Gu Shu frowned and watched her friend walk up to a familiar man. He was pretty, in a chubby sort of way, and she was curious why his face seemed so familiar.
"Brother San!" Cheng Xiu called, a grin on her face.
San Zhu blinked and looked at her in shock. The boys around them were even more shocked than him. Since when did San Zhu know such a beautiful girl?
"So, did you finish writing your paper? Do you want some help? I might not be as well-versed as you but maybe a different perspective could help!"
San Zhu gave her a helpless smile. He hadn't expected her to talk to him in the real world as well.
"Sister Cheng-"
"Didn't I already say you could call me Xiu?" she asked him in confusion.
The other boys gaped. San Zhu was on a first name basis with such a pretty girl!
"Sister Xiu, how about we talk later?"
Cheng Xiu frowned and then looked around them. She saw the jealousy and hatred directed towards San Zhu.
Dread filled her.
She had forgotten her genius status. Were they jealous that San Zhu knew such a high scoring person?
" Okay, brother San. We can speak later!"
Cheng Xiu ran back to Gu Shu.
The rest of the boys rounded on San Zhu as soon as the girl left, their faces a mixture of jealousy and curiosity.
San Zhu wanted to cry. This was why he shouldn't make friends with pretty girls. They brought trouble.