As Zhu Sha asked her question, Mo Shiyun felt the weight of the entire classroom's gaze bearing down on her. It was as if everyone was waiting for her response, and the pressure made it even harder for her to speak.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Mo Shiyun forced herself to say, "Zhu Sha, I'm not feeling well. I think I need to go to the nurse's office for a while."
She chose to avoid the question entirely, using her discomfort as an excuse to leave the classroom. She knew she couldn't give a straight answer, nor could she deny the truth outright. So, her best option was to find an escape, even if it was temporary.
As she stepped out of the classroom, her thoughts were in complete disarray. Her mind was spinning from everything that had happened. Just then, Qiu Yizhen, who had also seen the post on the forum, came rushing toward her, looking anxious.
"Shiyun, are you okay? What's going on with that post on the forum?" Qiu Yizhen asked, her expression filled with concern.
Mo Shiyun shook her head, her eyes downcast. She couldn't find the words to explain what was happening.
"Come on, let's go somewhere more private and talk about it," Qiu Yizhen suggested, glancing around the busy hallway.
The school corridor was no place for a serious conversation, especially not about something like this. Qiu Yizhen grabbed Mo Shiyun's hand and led her toward the school's medical office. This way, even if a teacher found them, they could at least say they were there for legitimate reasons.
Once they arrived at the nurse's office and were safely inside the small resting area, Qiu Yizhen wasted no time returning to the topic.
"Shiyun, what's really going on? Are you in some kind of trouble?" she asked again, concern evident in her voice.
Mo Shiyun, still avoiding eye contact, kept her head bowed. After a long pause, she finally nodded, confirming what she hadn't wanted to admit.
"That man…he really is my dad," she said quietly, the words painful to get out.
"Really?" Qiu Yizhen was surprised. "But you said 'he seems to be.' What does that mean?"
"When I was very young, he left my mom for another woman. I haven't seen him in over ten years," Mo Shiyun explained, her voice filled with bitterness.
Her explanation brought back memories for Qiu Yizhen. In many ways, Mo Shiyun's situation mirrored her own. Both girls had grown up in single-parent households, and both had been hurt by their fathers' betrayals. The only real difference between them was that Mo Shiyun had lived with her mother after the separation, while Qiu Yizhen had been raised by her father.
Seeing the sadness on Mo Shiyun's face, Qiu Yizhen—who was usually blunt and tough—softened for once. She gently patted Mo Shiyun on the shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.
"Don't feel bad about it," Qiu Yizhen said, her tone uncharacteristically tender. "I get it. I really do. Our fathers are just a bunch of losers, and it's not like we had any say in the matter. They're the ones who screwed up, not us."
Mo Shiyun nodded, her voice barely a whisper. "Thank you. It means a lot that you don't look down on me because of this."
Qiu Yizhen's expression turned fierce. "What are you talking about? Do you think I'm the kind of person who would look down on someone for something like that? You're my sister, Shiyun. Nothing's going to change that. Sisters don't judge each other over stuff like this."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "But what are you going to do now? Everyone's still talking about this on the forum."
The situation had already damaged Mo Shiyun's image. Although most of the students were still speculating and no one had outright confirmed the truth, the rumors swirling around the school were enough to make things difficult for her.
"I really don't know what to do," Mo Shiyun admitted, feeling overwhelmed. That was the whole reason she had left the classroom in the first place—because she had no idea how to deal with the problem at hand.
Qiu Yizhen thought for a moment. "Honestly, I think it's best if you don't admit anything. Everyone thought your dad was a successful businessman, and now that they've seen him like this, you're going to be judged no matter what you say. Denying it might be your best bet."
Although Mo Shiyun had never spoken directly about her family background, many people in the school had made assumptions based on what they'd observed. For example, because Mo Shiyun often rode home with Jian Yun'nao, people assumed that she lived in the same affluent neighborhood as him. The area where the Jian family resided was well-known—home to some of the wealthiest families in the city, with property values that far exceeded what the average household could afford.
Most people in the school knew this, and they had connected the dots, assuming Mo Shiyun must come from a similarly wealthy background since she often interacted with the Jian family.
But now, with this revelation about her father, those assumptions were starting to unravel. Mo Shiyun was at risk of losing the reputation she had worked so hard to maintain. The truth was much more complicated than the image she projected to the world, and if people found out about her real family situation, things could get much worse for her.