The Slap

Ning Mufan only sneered back at her. "Are you finished, Niu Caijie? Who do you think you are, talking about Tang Qiu like that?"

Niu Caijie's face was contorted. She wanted to cry from frustration, but no tears would come, so she resorted to glaring at Ning Mufan in shame and indignation. "How can you say that about me? She's the shameless one. She sold her body to a rich man, then still tried to get lucky with you! It's unacceptable. She's a whore who spreads her legs for money! What did I say wrong?"

Tang Qiu listened to Niu Caijie malign her with every word. It seemed like dumping soup on her hadn't been enough to get her point across.

To hell with the moral high ground. She stepped forward and slapped Niu Caijie across the face.

A wave of silence fell over the crowd. It was one thing for Tang Qiu to hurl the contents of her plate at Niu Caijie, and another to physically strike her.

"You don't seem to be thinking clearly, so this is a wakeup call for you. Do you take me for a pushover?"

Niu Caijie clutched her cheek. Her face was burning red, and she was still soaked in soup. Eyes watched her from every direction, including the dreamy Ning Mufan, who was staring at her coldly. It was the last straw for her. She lunged at Tang Qiu, heedless of the consequences.

In the blink of an eye, Ning Mufan had shoved her away, shielding Tang Qiu behind him.

"Stop this, Niu Caijie!"

Niu Caijie was about to lose her mind. Every fiber in her body was on edge, leaving her an unstable wreck full of rage. "I'm your classmate, Ning Mufan. She slapped me, and you're protecting her? Are you under some kind of spell?"

"This has nothing to do with him." Tang Qiu spoke before he could. "Niu Caijie, you slandered me and tarnished my good name. If you can't prove any of your allegations, then you owe me an apology. Or this slap will be just the beginning of everything I will do to you." She pushed Ning Mufan aside, not wanting to drag her senior into this.

"Evidence?" Niu Caijie mocked. "You want me to take some sickening photo of you and whatever vulgar man you hooked up with in bed?"

"So you don't have any evidence at all!" Ning Mufan snapped harshly. "You're just trying to frame Tang Qiu. Apologize now!"

His words were like a knife to Niu Caijie's heart. Here was the man she had feelings for, forcing her to apologize to that bitch Tang Qiu. She dug her heels in even deeper. "She slapped me. Why should I apologize? She should be the one to apologize to me!"

Just then, the noise of a bouncing ball sounded out. Before anyone could react, a basketball sailed through the air and directly into Niu Caijie.

The sheer force of the attack caught her off guard. Niu Caijie fell flat to the ground. Clutching her throbbing arm, she leveled a hateful glare in the direction the ball had come from.

To everyone's surprise, it was the star of the basketball court and medical student, Qian Hongwei. Dressed in sports attire, he walked over and retrieved his basketball. "Didn't you see my ball coming your way?" he drawled, looking at Niu Caijie. "You could have at least ducked."

Fury twisted Niu Caijie's face, flooding her vision red. It was obvious he had deliberately thrown the ball at her. Meanwhile, Tang Qiu stifled a laugh. It was just like Senior Qian Hongwei to lose his temper, then somehow brush off all responsibility.

"You haven't gone mute, have you?" Qian Hongwei made an exaggerated noise of disapproval. "I don't know what's up with this ball either. When it sees someone it can't stand, it can't help but want to teach them a lesson. I couldn't stop it in time. But no hard feelings, right?"

"Cut the crap, Qian Hongwei," Niu Caijie gritted out. "You did that on purpose!" Even he was protecting Tang Qiu–you almost had to respect the bitch, really, getting Ning Mufan to speak up for her and Qian Hongwei to leap to her defense. She could hardly bear it any longer.

Qian Hongwei leaned on Tang Qiu's shoulder. His words were unhurried, but injected with scorn. "All Tang Qiu did was get a change of outfit, and you're calling her a whore. What about you? If you buy a couple of new clothes, does it mean you paid for them with your body?"

"I've got the money to buy new clothes!" Niu Caijie bit back, torn between rage and shame. "How can you compare me to her?"

"Where's your proof?" Qian Hongwei eyed her tauntingly. "According to your logic, the fact that I don't have any scandalous photos of you in bed isn't enough to prove that you've really got the means to cover the cost of your clothes, so…"

Niu Caijie was fuming to the point of speechlessness, but she kept listening.

"You said that Tang Qiu sold herself for money. In that case, answer me this: between me and Ning Mufan, who's richer?"

Niu Caijie's gaze flashed red. The Nings and the Qians were neck to neck amongst the most elite families. How could they be compared?

"Aren't you two relatively on par?"

Qian Hongwei lifted a brow. "Which one of us is more popular with girls, then?"

Niu Caijie couldn't decipher his intentions. Her gaze flickered between the proper Ning Mufan, with his regal bearing, and Qian Hongwei's bold, dashing figure. How could she choose between them? "You're both very attractive," she admitted. She met Tang Qiu's gaze then, and the flash of embarrassment she felt only deepened her resentment.

Qian Hongwei scoffed coldly. "You say Ning Mufan and I are both rich and attractive. In that case, if Tang Qiu is the gold-digger you claim she is, why didn't she offer herself to us? Why didn't she overstep any boundaries, instead being content with our senior-junior relationship?"