Huang Li chimed in to comfort her: "Relax! Xiao Ye and I have already talked it over. The two of us will each put in four hundred, so you don't need to bring any."
As boarders, Xiao Ye and Huang Li received a monthly allowance, whereas Yao Na'er, as a day student, had a fixed weekly allowance.
"The two of you only get six hundred a month for living expenses, and you're each putting in four hundred? Are you planning to survive on steamed buns for the second half of the month?" Yao Na'er didn't think this was a good idea. "I'll just ask my mom! Worst case scenario, I get a beating."
Xiao Ye said, "Don't you worry about that. Four hundred yuan is something we can easily spare."
Huang Li agreed, "Exactly! Do you think we spent all these years winning scholarships for nothing? We've managed to stash away a little emergency fund somehow!"
She had almost forgotten. Even though these two usually joked around with them and acted a bit flaky, they were genuinely top-tier straight-A students.
"Well..." Yao Na'er brought her hands together in a salute. "No words can express my great gratitude, this little lady will never forget this! I'll cover your breakfasts next month, and I'll pay you back bit by bit."
Seeing this cute display, Xiao Ye smiled and said, "You can cover the breakfast, but you don't need to pay the money back. This isn't something that's solely your fault, anyway."
Yao Na'er said with deep emotion, "Lord Xiao, Sister Li, why are you both so good to me?"
Huang Li patted her head. "Because you're a fool! If we didn't look out for you, who knows what kind of bullying you'd be subjected to!"
Yao Na'er touched her own head. "I'm not *that* easy to bully, am I?"
Xiao Ye turned to look at her. "You, seriously! Stop just swallowing it whenever people bully you. Enduring it only makes them think that isn't your bottom line. Sometimes, if someone crosses the line, you snap right back; if they curse at you, you curse them right back. Remember from now on, Lord has got your back. If you can't out-argue them, find Lizi; if you can't beat them in a fight, find me. In short, we're allowed to bully you, but you are never, ever allowed to let outsiders bully you. Did you hear me?"
Huang Li nodded and said, "My street-brawling cursing skills honed over all these years are no joke!"
"Right on! And if you can't beat them, you still have me!" Liu Yiqian flexed his biceps.
Yao Na'er's eyes reddened. For as long as she could remember, this was the first time she had ever heard anyone stand up for her like this. Even her own family had never spoken words of such fierce protection.
Keeping her hand on her head, she blinked her slightly damp eyes. "And here I was trying to be a lady!"
The group all laughed in unison.
"Wait? But what if we pay the money and she still targets us? What then?" Yao Na'er asked anxiously.
Huang Li waved her hand dismissively. "Relax! Worst case, we get expelled! Besides, we aren't getting expelled anyway. Look at how we got in."
"How did you get in?" Liu Yiqian asked.
Huang Li turned to look at the two of them, seeing their bewildered expressions, and exchanged a glance with Xiao Ye. "Did we never tell you guys?"
"No..."
"Wait a minute!" Yao Na'er suddenly interrupted Liu Yiqian. "You guys aren't the legendary masterminds whom the principal personally invited, waving their three-year tuition and fees, plus giving them a ten-thousand-yuan scholarship, are you?"
Xiao Ye tilted her head, arched a delicate eyebrow, and offered a noncommittal smile.
"No way!?" the two of them blurted out in unison.
Their voices were so loud that the entire classroom turned to look at them. Realizing how uncomposed they had just been, the two quickly lowered their voices and apologized, "Sorry, sorry!"
Xiao Ye frowned slightly and asked in bewilderment, "What? Do we really look that little like good students?"
Without even glancing at each other, Yao Na'er and Liu Yiqian nodded with absolute tacit understanding and replied solemnly, "Yes!"
"Get lost!" Huang Li kicked the leg of Liu Yiqian's desk in exasperation.
Liu Yiqian looked from Xiao Ye to Huang Li. "Seriously, Lord Xiao, Sister Li, how come you two never mentioned this to me?"
"What's there to mention?" Xiao Ye said nonchalantly.
Huang Li added, "Exactly! Though we really should properly thank the principal—if it weren't for that ten thousand yuan, you wouldn't have had the 'privilege' of being in the same class as us!"
Yao Na'er observed, "To be fair though, just by looking at you two, you don't look like good students at all."
Although Xiao Ye and Huang Li had not yet fully matured into adulthood, they were both undeniable beauties—and the kind of beauties who caught your eye instantly.
In Yao Na'er's words: they looked just like a pair of decorative vases.