Why should she be the one to apologize!

This is going to be a disaster! Shangguan Xiao completely lacked any awareness of danger. If things kept going this way, she wouldn't even know how she died! Shangguan Xiao blinked her large, innocent eyes, looking entirely clueless.

She even said nonchalantly, "Did you expect me to just stand by and watch you get bullied? I could never do that!"

Without a care in the world, she went ahead and put her things away properly. Once she was sure everything was in order, she straightened up, stretched her arms, and began doing warm-up exercises, leaving the group of girls standing nearby both exasperated and anxious.

She truly had no idea what kind of sheer luck had kept her alive until now. It felt like the emperor was taking his sweet time while the eunuchs were dying of anxiety! Although they were deeply touched that she had stepped in to help them, they couldn't bear the thought of her getting hurt on their account.

If that happened, they would rather she had never helped them at all! Besides, judging by Shangguan Xiao's current attitude, no matter how wealthy her family might be, it wouldn't be enough to shield her entire family business from the consequences just for her sake.

Looking into Shangguan Xiao's innocent and clear eyes, a sudden curiosity sparked within them regarding her past. What kind of life could possibly have produced someone like this? What sort of environment could foster such absolute naivety?

She was utterly defenseless against everyone, always projecting the image of a thoroughly good person. And she was always helping them, stepping forward whenever others bullied them.

Even though she clearly knew that offending those people would spell trouble, she still went ahead without a second thought! They were genuinely moved by her actions. Yet now, this foolish girl was so hopelessly innocent that she actually believed offending those people was no big deal!

They couldn't help wondering how her family had ever raised her. They were immensely grateful, but even more deeply worried. Unable to shake their unease, one of them ventured, "If you ask me, Shangguan, why don't you let us go with you to offer them an apology or something? What do you think?"

With that, she gazed at Shangguan Xiao with a hopeful, pitiful expression, praying that her advice would be taken! After all, making a new friend was always better than making a new enemy.

She was certain that someone as clever as Shangguan Xiao would surely understand such a basic truth! Unfortunately, she had forgotten who she was dealing with. Shangguan Xiao had been stirring up trouble ever since she was a child, and no one had ever truly been able to keep her in line.

In Shangguan Xiao's personal dictionary, as long as she was in the right, she would never bow her head or apologize to anyone! No matter how formidable the opponent might be, she would rather shatter into pieces than admit defeat. That was simply who Shangguan Xiao was—stubborn to a fault! Once she made up her mind, not even nine oxen could drag her back.

Back at school, the teachers had even nicknamed her the "Little Demon." Getting her to willingly apologize would be nothing short of a miracle! She figured Shangguan Han and Ouyang Qianyu would probably be eternally grateful to whoever managed to make Shangguan Xiao realize she had done wrong!

Shangguan Xiao looked at her in absolute bewilderment, then angrily pointed at herself. "Me? Go apologize to them?! What on earth for?!"

Her exquisite eyebrows were knitted tightly together, clearly showing her extreme displeasure. She firmly believed she had done nothing wrong, which meant she would never bow her head to anyone! Xiuxiu, however, felt strongly that Shangguan Xiao had to apologize.

If she didn't apologize now, it would be a catastrophe if those people came back to cause more trouble later on! So, she joined in the persuasion. "Shangguan, I think Zhang Xiao is right! You really should go and make amends. After all, you are no match for them. Even though Ouyang Qianyu is backing you up, he can't possibly stay by your side twenty-four hours a day, right?"

Though framed as advice, those words were dripping with jealousy, clearly meant for the other girls to hear. Hearing this, the rest of the group fell silent.

They were secretly shocked. So Shangguan Xiao actually knew Ouyang Qianyu! It explained why she had been acting so fearless, but even with Ouyang Qianyu's protection, he surely wouldn't dare pick a fight with two major corporate conglomerates purely for her sake, would he?

Therefore, Ouyang Qianyu might not necessarily be able to bail her out. Meanwhile, Shangguan Xiao was utterly baffled as to why her name had been dragged into this again! She had no idea what was going on!

Fuming with suppressed irritation, she snapped at Xiuxiu, "What does Ouyang Qianyu even have to do with any of this?! And besides! Who ever said I needed his protection?!"

That was utter nonsense! Even without Ouyang Qianyu's help, she could easily handle those two women. So what if they had money? Was her own family supposed to be poor? The Shangguan family was filthy rich, for crying out loud! They were just two people! The person who dared to harm her hadn't even been born yet!

Did they really think she was afraid of whatever dirty tricks those girls might pull? It was completely ridiculous, and she was thoroughly provoked now. Xiuxiu said with a matter-of-fact tone, "Every single time Li Yaorao came to make trouble in the past, it was always Ouyang who stepped in to resolve it, wasn't it?"

Looking at Xiuxiu's expression, Shangguan Xiao suddenly felt a strong urge to punch her. Defensively, she retorted, "I could handle it myself even without him! Hmph!"

Realizing the situation was turning south, the others quickly interrupted the exchange. None of them wanted to fight with Shangguan Xiao, especially since she had offended people purely on their account. Swallowing their pride, they chimed in, "How about we go apologize, and you just try to be more careful around them from now on, okay?"

At that, Shangguan Xiao slammed her hands onto her hips, looking utterly furious. For a moment, the rest of the girls had no idea what else to say. They simply stood in place, holding their breath as they waited for Shangguan Xiao's next words.

She completely disagreed with their cowardly approach! Unhappily, she ranted, "Are you kidding me? I didn't do anything wrong, so why should I hide from them? If anyone's going to hide, it should be them!"

She vented all her frustration in a loud burst, then took a deep breath. Only then did her breathing feel a bit smoother; she had almost been choked with anger by these girls just now. Having had her say, she didn't care whether they had taken her words to heart or not.

Without another word, she turned on her heel and stormed off, still muttering in suppressed fury. Hmph! Why should she apologize when someone else had thrown the first punch?

She wouldn't do that if her life depended on it, and she wouldn't yield even if they beat her to death! What kind of people were these? All they knew how to do was back down; she wasn't going to be the one to suffer a thankless loss!

So what if those girls had a little money? Her family's wealth was nothing to scoff at either! Hmph! She had a whole sack of coins, and she'd gladly smash them one by one right over their heads to see if they still dared to act arrogant in front of her!

The mere thought of it made her blood boil. These girls were absolute cowards! She refused to surrender, and she certainly wouldn't apologize! In their dreams! Hmph! Stomping forward in a blind rage, she completely failed to notice the person stepping out from the corner ahead.

She crashed straight into them! "Ouch!" Cupping her nose in pain, Shangguan Xiao felt as though her nose had a personal vendetta against everyone lately.

It was constantly getting bumped, and if this kept on, she'd start worrying that her nose would actually warp out of shape. Just imagining it turning flat and crooked gave her goosebumps.

Noticing Shangguan Xiao groaning while clutching her nose, Ouyang Qianyu asked with genuine concern, "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"

He reached out to take a look, but the moment Shangguan Xiao heard his voice, she snapped her head up, grabbed the front of his shirt in a fit of rage, and demanded, "Ouyang Qianyu! It's you again! Why on earth are you like a ghost that won't stop haunting me? Nothing good ever happens when I run into you!"

She felt a fierce impulse to punch him. Why was it that every time she crossed paths with him, her luck plummeted? Was he a demon sent by the heavens specifically to torture her? If so, she really wanted to grab a bottle of pesticide and exterminate him once and for all.

She'd make sure not even dust was left of him! It was bad enough that he always provoked her and brought her bad luck, but to top it all off, everyone around her seemed to think she was utterly helpless without him!

They made her sound completely worthless while portraying Ouyang Qianyu as some noble savior. The more she thought about it, the more her fury flared. Seeing Shangguan Xiao puffed up with rage, Ouyang Qianyu could tell someone had thoroughly upset her.

She must have been pushed over the edge, otherwise she wouldn't be wearing that expression. Judging by the situation, she had probably tried to help someone else, only for them to throw it back in her face. With mild curiosity, he asked, "Did you help someone, and now they're turning around and telling you to go apologize to those people?"

Look at that! Ouyang Qianyu had guessed it on the first try. Shangguan Xiao didn't even bother to refute it, which made the answer glaringly obvious! Why did he know? Well, he had witnessed this sort of thing plenty of times before, so he was completely used to it.

He was entirely unfazed by such drama! Casually, he offered some comfort: "You'll get used to it!"

If he hadn't said anything, it would have been fine, but those words only added fuel to the fire! Furiously, she shot back, "What's wrong with me? Was I wrong to help them? Those girls threw the first punch! Why should I have to apologize? Why?!"

Watching Shangguan Xiao throw a minor tantrum, Ouyang Qianyu didn't even know what to say to her anymore. This girl simply cared far too much about irrelevant people, which was why she kept getting herself worked up like this.

However, she had just mentioned that someone had hit her first, leading to a physical altercation! To make sure he hadn't misheard, Ouyang Qianyu looked at her with a hint of doubt and asked, "Did you just say someone hit you first, so you fought back? Is that right?"

A gust of chilly wind swept past, and Ouyang Qianyu's expression turned grim! But Shangguan Xiao, entirely consumed by her anger, failed to notice it at all!

She recounted the entire incident honestly, without a single exaggeration, and then complained resentfully, "Dammit! I don't get it—couldn't they just use their words? They actually threw the first punch! And what's most infuriating is Xiuxiu and those other idiots telling me to go apologize to her! Hmph! In their dreams!"

With her hands planted firmly on her hips, she made it abundantly clear that she would never, ever apologize. A couple of drill instructors walked by in the distance, but paid the two of them no mind. After all, assembly time hadn't arrived yet, and the students were free to do as they pleased as long as they didn't break school property or engage in mass brawls.

Ouyang Qianyu furrowed his brows tightly. Those people had a death wish! How dare they lay a hand on Xiao!

It seemed that if he didn't teach them a lesson, they would never learn how to behave. Gently patting Shangguan Xiao on the back, he said to her, "You did nothing wrong, so there's no need to apologize. Assembly time is almost here, you should go wash up."

Once Shangguan Xiao had stomped off in a huff, Ouyang Qianyu turned and headed toward the girls' dormitory. Along the way, quite a few female students cast glances his way, whispering among themselves, and some even blushed.

Ouyang Qianyu ignored them entirely. Brushing past them, he walked straight toward the Class A girls' dormitory. As for the two individuals Shangguan Xiao had mentioned, Ouyang Qianyu happened to know them quite well.