Chapter 27: A Teacher, and Also a Friend
Just before the lunch break ended, Tian Siyi received a call from Chen Chen.
He told her that he had seen the group of girls who had tried to bully her before near the staff dormitory entrance, and warned her to be careful.
She wasn't afraid of those girls, but she still felt that this trouble had come out of nowhere. She couldn't help sighing.
Qin Siyu also got out of bed, stretched, and poured herself a glass of water. Seeing that Tian Siyi looked a little down, she asked with concern,
"What's wrong? Who was calling?"
"Chen Chen. He said some people might be targeting me, so he told me to be careful."
"Oh?"
Qin Siyu was surprised at first. In her eyes, Tian Siyi was a really nice girl.
But she quickly understood. As the saying goes, the more popular you are, the more trouble follows. Since Tian Siyi was so popular with the boys, it was natural that some people would be jealous.
Thinking of that, Qin Siyu sighed and shook her head.
"It looks like being too popular isn't always a good thing."
Tian Siyi explained,
"It actually doesn't have much to do with being popular. It's because of Bai Hang's love problems."
"Bai Hang? But you have nothing to do with him. How did you get dragged into this?"
"I tried to explain, but they wouldn't listen." Tian Siyi scratched her head. After thinking back to what happened last time, she guessed, "Maybe my attitude wasn't very good."
"They? There was more than one?"
"There was one girl leading them, plus a few followers."
"Did you yell at them?" Qin Siyu guessed that, judging from Tian Siyi's personality, she wouldn't have been rude if the other side had spoken politely. Most likely, they had started by accusing her, which made her unhappy.
"Not really. They came up to me and told me to stay away from Bai Hang. It was so funny that I started laughing."
Thinking about it now, Tian Siyi laughed again.
She copied Wang Xiaoxiang's serious expression, stood in front of Qin Siyu, put one hand against the wall behind her, and said in a serious voice, "I want you to stay away from Bai Hang!"
Qin Siyu froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, almost doubling over.
After calming down, she finally asked, "Did they really say it like that?"
"They really did. I couldn't help laughing. I guess that hurt their feelings."
Qin Siyu smiled again before becoming serious.
"Well, they were being serious. Laughing at them wasn't very nice."
"I know. I also think it wasn't very nice. But they weren't nice to me either. So what if I laughed? I have my pride too!" Tian Siyi pouted and gave a little snort.
Qin Siyu didn't argue.
It wasn't good to laugh at other people. But if they had been rude first, there was no reason to keep being polite.
Still...
Thinking back to what Tian Siyi had just said, Qin Siyu asked worriedly,
"You said there were several of them. Aren't you worried they'll hurt you?"
Tian Siyi smiled confidently.
"There's no need to worry. Last time they even said they were going to strip off my clothes and throw me onto the sports field. I got so angry that I beat every one of them."
Once again, Tian Siyi surprised Qin Siyu.
She had never imagined that Tian Siyi could actually fight.
With such thin arms and legs, wouldn't she end up hurting herself when fighting?
Her eyes suddenly fell on Tian Siyi's foot, and she realized something.
"Wait... did you sprain your foot back then?"
Tian Siyi nodded.
But even then, Qin Siyu still couldn't believe that someone with such slim little arms could really beat people in a fight.
She probably sprained her foot while running away. That explanation made much more sense.
There was nothing embarrassing about that, but Tian Siyi cared about her pride, so Qin Siyu didn't point it out.
But what should they do now?
Tian Siyi's foot was still injured. If those girls blocked her again, she wouldn't even be able to run.
"Why don't you ask Bai Hang to handle it?"
Tian Siyi rolled her eyes.
"Handle it? How? If I get closer to him, they'll only hate me even more. And if he argues with them because of me, they'll just take their anger out on me afterward."
What Tian Siyi said made sense.
Those girls were already ignoring Bai Hang and targeting her directly.
Even if Bai Hang tried to talk things out, they would simply ignore him again. It would only make the conflict worse.
But having Chen Chen or Bai Hang stay with Tian Siyi to protect her wasn't realistic either. They couldn't enter the girls' dormitory. If those girls waited for her there, things could get really bad.
Last time, they had even threatened to strip off her clothes and throw her onto the sports field. It was hard to imagine what they might do if Tian Siyi really fell into their hands.
After thinking for a long time, Qin Siyu finally said, "Then it looks like there's only one solution."
"What is it?"
"Move in with me. That way, you'll be with me whenever you go in or out. I don't think they'll dare do anything."
If it was a face-to-face fight, Tian Siyi wasn't afraid of them.
What worried her was that they might use dirty tricks.
Besides...
She looked down at her foot, which still hadn't fully healed.
In her current condition, if they targeted her injured foot or called more people to help them, she could still be in danger.
Staying with Qin Siyu would definitely be much safer.
"Won't I be bothering you?"
"Not at all. I'd be happy to have someone keep me company."
"Then I won't hold back!"
After all, Qin Siyu was a military doctor. Even if she wasn't some amazing fighter, dealing with a group of young girls would be easy enough.
More importantly, she was also an instructor. With her around, it wasn't even certain those girls would dare make a move.
Still, Tian Siyi felt embarrassed to accept so much kindness without giving anything back.
"Sister Qin..." Tian Siyi hesitated.
She wanted to buy Qin Siyu a gift, but she had no idea what to get.
The easiest thing would be to ask the person directly. If it were Chen Chen, she would definitely do that. But she wasn't as familiar with Qin Siyu, so asking her directly felt a little awkward.
Qin Siyu looked at her in confusion, tilted her head, and asked,
"What's wrong? You called my name, but then you stopped talking. It's not like you to hesitate like this."
"I just wanted to ask... is there anything you want? After military training is over, I can buy it and mail it to you."
Qin Siyu couldn't help smiling.
She understood what Tian Siyi meant. But if she accepted a gift now, it would make it seem as if all the help she had given was part of a deal.
Pretending to be angry, she said,
"What are you talking about? I'm your instructor. You could even say I'm half your teacher. How could I accept a gift from you just for helping with something so small?"
Tian Siyi shook her head.
"You've helped me so much. We're friends now too. Friends give each other gifts all the time."
Qin Siyu finally realized that if she didn't accept something, Tian Siyi would never let the matter go.
So this was the kind of stubbornness she had been talking about.
The thought made Qin Siyu both amused and a little helpless.
After thinking for a moment, she said,
"Then how about giving me your autograph instead? You're going to become a big star someday, so your signature should be worth a lot."
Tian Siyi smiled too.
It was obvious that Qin Siyu didn't really want a gift. She only said that so Tian Siyi would stop worrying.
So she decided to accept her kindness. Besides, she was confident that one day her autograph really would be valuable.
"Of course! And if you ever want to hear me sing, just call me anytime."
"Oh? Then I want to hear you sing right now."