After finishing getting ready, they could finally go out and face people, so the two of them went out together to find something to eat.
Breakfast didn’t need to be anything fancy, so Bai Ling and Lin Qiufeng just grabbed a quick bite and called it done.
Afterwards, they headed to the classroom, but there were no classes today, so most people were just waiting around.
Students gathered in small groups, chatting away.
Normally, they wouldn’t dare to talk so boldly, since Teacher Zitong wasn’t exactly easygoing during class.
The moment the two of them walked into the classroom, it felt like the whole place went quiet.
Everyone looked at Bai Ling with a mix of envy, jealousy, and resentment.
As for why, first, it was because everyone had been captivated by Bai Ling’s looks yesterday.
Honestly, her appearance made the other girls in the class pale in comparison.
People are naturally drawn to beautiful things and want to get closer to them, so everyone paid extra attention to Bai Ling.
The most direct way was to investigate her, but regular students didn’t have the means to look into Bai Ling’s background.
They had no idea what kind of powerful backing she had.
All they’d heard was how strong healing magic was, but since healing magic couldn’t be easily investigated, only a handful of people who were there at the time knew the truth.
There were still plenty of nobles in the class, and for them, getting information on Bai Ling wasn’t hard.
But once they found out she was from the Bai family, most of them backed off.
Not for any other reason, just because of the Bai family’s power and status in the Luo Kingdom.
The second reason was the healing magic itself.
Almost no one present had any idea what this so-called healing magic even was! Only after asking the students who’d tested with Bai Ling that day did they learn that healing magic was an extremely rare type of magic, with only one person in history ever having it, and there were barely any records about it.
So the moment Bai Ling walked in, she drew everyone’s attention.
They stared at her like hungry wolves, like a starving man eyeing a beautiful woman.
But while they wanted to approach her, they didn’t have the guts.
Not only was her terrifying talent out of their league, but her backing was even scarier.
Only someone with a death wish would dare mess with her.
Most people just wanted to get on her good side.
No one would be stupid enough to piss off a future top dog.
Just then, someone walked over to Bai Ling.
Looking closely, it was someone she didn’t know—a guy who wasn’t bad-looking, not exactly ugly.
This guy was a low-tier noble.
His family wasn’t particularly powerful, but he’d heard from other students about how scary Bai Ling’s healing magic was.
Still, he hadn’t bothered to investigate her.
When he saw Bai Ling walk in with Lin Qiufeng, he was immediately drawn to her.
Looking at Lin Qiufeng beside her, it was obvious she was just a commoner.
Even though Lin Qiufeng’s clothes weren’t ragged, they weren’t anything special either—plain and simple, making it easy to tell she was a commoner.
In his eyes, only commoners would hang out with other commoners.
Nobles would never lower themselves like that, so he assumed Bai Ling was just a lucky commoner who’d awakened healing magic.
So he decided to make Bai Ling his.
He was sure that, as a noble, she wouldn’t refuse.
Even the lowest-ranking noble wasn’t someone a commoner could mess with.
Every noble had the country’s support, so regular people who hadn’t become nobles would never dare provoke one, not even the lowest kind.
He was born into a low-ranking noble family and had always wanted to make his family stronger, but never found the chance.
Now, he thought, here was his opportunity—if he could get her, his family’s status would rise with her.
He’d often used his noble status and his face to trick decent women before.
So he figured this trick would work again.
Too bad he picked the wrong person this time.
He walked up to Bai Ling and stopped, speaking in a tone that brooked no argument, “Hey, you, be my woman.
I can guarantee you’ll never have to worry about food or clothes for the rest of your life.”
“???” Bai Ling and Lin Qiufeng were both stunned.
This guy was way too direct.
Seeing Bai Ling not respond, he pressed on, “My family’s noble, you know.
I can guarantee you a life of luxury and endless wealth.
So? Tempted?”
He gave a slight smile, convinced that with his noble status and such a tempting offer, there was no way the girl in front of him wouldn’t be interested.
Bai Ling was about to refuse, but Lin Qiufeng beat her to it.
“Who do you think you are? Just because you’re a noble?”
Lin Qiufeng hated nobles the most.
She despised their arrogant attitude and the way they acted like they were above everyone else.
It was because of nobles that Lin Qiufeng lost her beloved parents.
Back then, her parents had bought a small piece of jewelry on their way back from a mission, planning to give it to young Lin Qiufeng as a gift.
But on the way, they ran into a noble.
On a whim, that noble snatched the jewelry from her parents and gave it to the girl sitting next to him.
Lin Qiufeng’s parents only said it was a gift for their daughter, but for that, they were brutally beaten.
Since the other side were nobles, they had experts with them.
Whether in numbers or strength, the nobles easily overpowered her parents.
Just because they dared to resist, her parents were tortured to death right there.
Ever since then, she’d hated nobles, especially the family that killed her parents.
But she didn’t dislike Bai Ling, because she never saw any of that arrogance in her.
Bai Ling was always calm and gentle, with a warmth that reminded Lin Qiufeng of her mother.
Her mother had always been so gentle, rushing to check her injuries whenever she got hurt, worried she’d get hurt worse.
Lin Qiufeng loved her mother’s scent, too—it always made her feel relaxed and at ease.
The noble youth across from them was furious at Lin Qiufeng’s disrespectful attitude and snapped, “Who the hell do you think you are? Did I say you could talk to me? Don’t get ahead of yourself.
I’m telling you, if I wanted you dead, it’d only take a minute.”
Bai Ling wasn’t the type to go looking for trouble, but if someone crossed her bottom line, they’d regret it.
Her bottom line was her friends, family, and herself.
So Bai Ling was already angry and about to explode when an unexpected voice cut in.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” The one who spoke was Qiao Shan.
He slowly stood up from his seat and walked over at a leisurely pace.
Qiao Shan had come to the classroom early to wait.
The moment he saw Bai Ling walk in, he was captivated.
Just as he was about to go over and say hi, he saw this idiot go over to provoke her.
Out of curiosity, he wanted to see which moron dared mess with Bai Ling, so he just watched from the side, thinking it was a rare spectacle.
But when he saw the guy actually yell at Bai Ling’s friend, he knew it was time to show his “skills.”
That’s how this scene came about.
The noble student was annoyed at being yelled at and turned to see who dared mess with him.
But when he saw Qiao Shan walking over, he immediately wilted.
Qiao Shan’s family was not someone he could afford to offend, not even if he had a hundred times more courage.
Qiao Shan’s Qiao family was only a second-rate noble house, but compared to his own bottom-tier family, it was like heaven and earth.
Qiao Shan never shied away from trouble and always acted high-profile, a sharp contrast to Bai Ling’s low-key style.
Plus, with the power behind him, no one dared mess with him, so naturally, everyone knew who he was.
The student’s attitude changed in a flash, and he greeted Qiao Shan with a big smile, “Oh, it’s Brother Qiao! Good morning, Brother Qiao!”
His attitude toward Lin Qiufeng just now was a world apart.
Seeing this made Lin Qiufeng dislike him even more.
“Get lost.
This has nothing to do with you.
Remember, Xiaoling is under my protection.” Qiao Shan didn’t bother lowering his voice, saying it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Everyone present knew about Qiao Shan’s backing.
And if that wasn’t enough, Bai Ling’s background was even scarier.
Now that these two families were joining forces, no one would dare mess with them.
After that, Qiao Shan turned to Bai Ling.
“Morning, Xiaoling.”
Seeing Qiao Shan step in, Bai Ling quickly put away her anger.
If she could avoid trouble, she’d always keep a low profile—that was her usual way of doing things.
Hearing Qiao Shan’s greeting, Bai Ling just replied calmly, “Mm, morning.” Then she pulled the still-stunned Lin Qiufeng back to their seats.
Bai Ling wasn’t in a great mood, but she didn’t show it.
It was just that guy who’d pissed her off.
In a way, Qiao Shan had actually saved that guy.
