Chapter 143: Not Blood Siblings
Chapter 143
The Principal felt a faint sadness. "I'm the most innocent one here," he thought. "I didn't make anyone extend their studies, nor did I bully Shuizhi at work. I even promoted him as my own protégé, but he treated me like a fool."
Shi Li, looking at the trending topics on a social media platform, couldn't help but sigh: "The most innocent are Shuizhi's fellow students. It's bad enough being exploited by their advisor to do projects and write papers, but now they have to write papers for the advisor's wife's young lover to help him debut in top journals. Who knows what earth-shattering sins they committed in their past lives to end up as his classmates in this one?"
A thought suddenly struck the Principal. Couldn't he report Shuizhi for academic misconduct? He could also report his graduation thesis; ninety percent of it probably had issues.
He could also contact Shuizhi's graduate school classmates. They should know a lot about the situation.
The ethics class passed with the Principal and students all engrossed in this juicy gossip.
As for what knowledge was gained? Sorry, no one remembered.
Even the lecturer himself had no recollection of what content he had covered.
Thankfully, he was able to multitask, reading from the PowerPoint slides while simultaneously indulging in the gossip.
Sometimes he felt his voice was too loud, interfering with everyone's - including his own - ability to follow the drama.
But he had no choice. If he stopped lecturing, the sound of gossip would also disappear.
For sustainable development, the Principal had to lower his voice as much as possible, allowing everyone to gossip while he could do so himself.
The Monday afternoon ethics class had now become the most anticipated lesson for all students.
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Although they didn't know why they could hear those strange sounds, as long as there was juicy gossip, who cared about anything else?
After class, everyone packed up their books to return to their classrooms.
Shi Li slowly followed behind the crowd. Since getting a new desk mate, Song Ying still liked to stick close to Shi Li, but now she dragged Rongrong along too.
Shi Li didn't mind much that the number of people clinging to her had increased by one.
None of them were in a hurry to return to class, especially since Class 1's seats were arranged in the front. It was more convenient to leave after the other two classes had gone.
Song Ying had many questions she wanted to ask Shi Li, feeling like she'd only gotten half the gossip and desperately wanting to know the other half.
But she couldn't reveal herself, so Song Ying repeatedly suppressed her curiosity and only said, "Sister, I have an extra physics problem I'd like to ask you about."
"Go ahead," Shi Li replied.
Song Ying recited the problem statement she had memorized.
Shi Li quickly arrived at the answer just from hearing the question.
Song Ying listened intently as Shi Li explained the solution, only half paying attention to where she was walking.
As a result, when someone bumped into her, she stumbled, unable to dodge in time. It was Shi Li who quickly steadied her.
The person who bumped into Song Ying, seeing that she wasn't someone they needed to be wary of, raised an eyebrow and went on the offensive, "Don't you watch where you're going?"
Song Ying was used to avoiding conflicts, but Shi Li was different. She retorted, "We were walking just fine when you suddenly appeared and bumped into us. Shouldn't you be the one apologizing?"
Wei Xin, ever the mother hen, was constantly monitoring her brother's actions. Seeing that he seemed to be in an altercation, she left her companions and rushed over to the group.
Cleaning up her brother's messes had become routine for her as his sister. She humbly apologized to the group, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Did he hurt you?"
This pair of siblings were Shi Li's neighbors, their villas located quite close to each other.
Because of this, he knew that Song Ying was only Uncle Shi's adopted daughter.
Other students outside of Class 1 often saw Shi Li and Song Ying together, and occasionally overheard Song Ying calling Shi Li "sister" when passing by.
Shi Li treated Song Ying quite well, so most people assumed they were related. Only a few knew that Song Ying was just an undervalued adopted daughter.
Wei Xin and Wei Xing, being Shi Li's neighbors, knew the details.
Seeing his sister actually apologizing to Song Ying, Wei Xing found it utterly pointless.
"Boring," he said as he turned to leave, muttering under his breath, "Bunch of crazy women."
Shi Li heard his quiet mutterings. Wei Xin, smiling apologetically, said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I apologize on his behalf. That kid didn't mean it."
The classmates Wei Xin had left behind caught up at this point. One frowned and complained, "You always do this. Every time he causes trouble outside, you're the one apologizing for him. You're not his nanny, why should you?"
Faced with the apologetic Wei Xin, Shi Li didn't say anything harsh and let the group leave.
Wei Xin's conversation with her companion also reached Shi Li and her friends' ears.
Wei Xin said indulgently, "He's my brother, after all. This is what I should do as his sister."
Her companion swore and said, "You were only born a few minutes earlier than him. Why should you have to be his nanny for life?"
The sibling pair of Wei Xin and Wei Xing were quite well-known in school.
This was because Wei Xing was always causing trouble, and after he did so, his sister Wei Xin would have to go around apologizing for him.
Song Ying, with her abundance of sympathy, sighed, "Wei Xin is really pitiful, stuck with such a good-for-nothing brother like Wei Xing."
Wei Xing had already walked away, so she dared to lower her voice to say this.
Shi Li neither agreed with her words nor cursed Wei Xing as a bastard.
In her heart, she thought: "It is indeed unfortunate, but not because she encountered Wei Xing as a troublesome brother. The real misfortune is that Wei Xing isn't Wei Xin's brother at all."
Song Ying thought: What? These wealthy families are really something else, with fake heiresses and young masters everywhere?
Wei Xin, who hadn't walked far, suddenly stopped in her tracks. Her companions stopped with her.
Wei Xin's friends looked at each other, all at a loss.
"Wei Xin's birth mother only gave birth to Wei Xin. Wei Xin's father, that old scoundrel, had a mistress outside whose due date was close to Wei Xin's mother's. When Wei Xin's mother went into labor, the mistress was also sent to the operating room for a C-section."
"Wei Xin's father, that old scumbag, bribed the hospital nurses. After his wife woke up, he deceived her by saying she had given birth to twins, a boy and a girl."
"In this way, he arranged a secure future for the son born to his mistress, without having to worry about inheritance issues later on."
"The son was born as a younger brother, and even gained a natural servant in his sister to wait on him."
"It was truly killing multiple birds with one stone."
Seeing Wei Xin's fists clenched so tightly they were turning white, her companions were very concerned.
They wanted to comfort her but didn't know how to begin.
Wei Xin only said faintly, "Let's go. We'll be late if we don't head back now."