Chapter 62: Lun Sang High School (14)
Ji Ning quietly observed the expressions of the people involved. She felt that Zhao Jiamin's earlier bewilderment and helplessness did not seem like an act, but now her panicked attempt to block the locker seemed to hide some unspeakable secret.
Looking at Yao Lu and Zhang Xiaoli again, the more Zhao Jiamin resisted nervously, the more excited the two of them became.
Was this really how someone who had simply lost a valuable item should react?
After a few more chaotic exchanges, Yao Lu completely lost her patience. She shot a look at Zhang Xiaoli, and the two acted simultaneously—one grabbed Zhao Jiamin, the other went to open her locker.
The scene descended into chaos. No one dared to step in and help Zhao Jiamin; some even helped Yao Lu, yanking Zhao Jiamin and slamming her against the iron post of the bunk bed ladder.
The locker was successfully opened.
Yao Lu swept Zhao Jiamin's clothes out of the locker like garbage, dumping them all onto the floor. School uniforms, pajamas, underwear were scattered everywhere.
At the same time, a blue velvet box printed with the Vanya English logo also fell out.
Yao Lu picked up the box with a triumphant smirk. "Still say you didn't steal it? Caught red-handed now, aren't we?"
"What's this?" Zhang Xiaoli picked up a blister pack of aluminum-packed pills, turned over the side with text, and muttered aloud, "Levonorgestrel Tablets?"
Zhao Jiamin's face went from red to white in an instant. Eyes bulging with desperation, she lunged to snatch the medicine from Zhang Xiaoli's hand.
Zhang Xiaoli raised the hand holding the medicine high and shoved Zhao Jiamin away with the other.
The pills were passed to Yao Lu. She took a photo of the medicine with her phone and scanned it. Her expression shifted from schadenfreude to shock and suspicion.
In that brief opening, Zhao Jiamin broke free and snatched the pills back.
But it was too late. Yao Lu laughed and asked in a loud, raised voice, "Zhao Jiamin, what are you doing bringing emergency contraceptives to school?"
Hearing that age-inappropriate, information-laden term, the crowd immediately erupted. The way they looked at Zhao Jiamin shifted from disdain to outright revulsion, as if they were staring at something filthy.
Ji Ning, who knew the reason, could no longer bear to watch, but she could only clench her fists tightly, put on the same expression as everyone else, and blend completely into the crowd of onlookers.
At that moment, the dorm supervisor had been drawn by the commotion on the third floor and stood in the corridor shouting, "What's going on in 302? Lights out is soon. What are you still arguing about?"
Zhang Xiaoli had just raised a finger toward the sleeve where Zhao Jiamin had hidden the pills when Yao Lu stopped her.
Yao Lu walked up to the dorm supervisor, pointed at Zhao Jiamin, and said, "Auntie Dorm Supervisor, someone in our dorm stole something. Caught red-handed, and all the students witnessed it. She's from Class 10 of Senior Year 2, her name is Zhao Jiamin."
The dorm supervisor's eyes swept over the people at the scene. She ignored Zhao Jiamin, who was sitting on the ground in a wretched state, shaking her head and repeating 'I didn't do it.' Instead, she looked at the spectating students also standing in the corridor and simply asked, "Is that so?"
Many people nodded.
"Fine. Public criticism notice goes out tomorrow. Go to sleep now. Any more noise and your class will lose points." The dorm supervisor had no desire to create extra trouble by investigating the truth, and swiftly issued her verdict.
Urged on by the dorm supervisor, the spectating students returned to their own rooms. The door to Zhao Jiamin's room, 302, also closed.
Zhang Xiaoli glanced at Yao Lu in confusion, only to see Yao Lu narrow her eyes into a venomous smile. She shuddered at Yao Lu's expression, blinked, and went to wash up.
Back in her own dorm room, Ji Ning replayed the chaotic events in her mind—Zhao Jiamin's helplessness, Yao Lu's abnormality. She felt that the stolen jewelry was nothing more than a premeditated frame-up. Otherwise, how could it have been discovered so precisely? How was it found in her locker the moment someone checked?
The root of the frame-up was probably just because Zhao Jiamin had done Yao Lu's homework incorrectly yesterday, coupled with Zhao Jiamin's general inability to fit in, making her an easy punching bag for a rich girl like Yao Lu to bully at will.
Yet the result had accidentally exposed Zhao Jiamin's other unspeakable secret in front of all their classmates…
That contraceptive pill was, in fact, simply Zhao Jiamin's last line of defense to protect herself from being ruined completely by the head teacher.
Yao Lu hadn't exposed this matter in front of the dorm supervisor. Ji Ning felt it wasn't out of a sudden burst of kindness, but rather suspected Yao Lu was brewing some even more serious and vicious scheme.
"Ah… Ning-Ning, quick, look at the forum!" Jia Shuang beside her gasped sharply, tugged Ji Ning's arm, and interrupted her train of thought.
A strong premonition of disaster gripped Ji Ning's heart. She quickly opened her phone and went to the Feimeng International School forum.
The most recent post had a headline that read in bold: "Never would have guessed. A girl in our dorm is actually this open-minded."
She clicked into the post. It contained only one line of text and two images.
"Wonder which guy is so lucky?" The attached image was a candid side-profile shot of Zhao Jiamin wearing her nightgown, clearly showing her face. The other was the photo Yao Lu had just taken of the contraceptive pills with the name visible.
Just then, a message from the class group chat popped up.
Yao Lu had screenshotted the forum post and forwarded it to the group, adding a question mark.
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