Meng Yan's Transformation

Zhan Mengyan suddenly felt a hand forcefully push her shoulder, jolting her back to reality. She stood up, swaying and nearly falling. Her mind went blank; she felt as if her blood had frozen, her ears ringing, and her thoughts were filled with "What to do? What to do?"

From a terrified stare to a bewildered blink, Zhan Mengyan's pupils contracted slightly, and her arms instinctively retreated, but due to excessive tension, her movements became even more clumsy, and her heart pounded.

"So you're Zhan Mengyan? Please come out with me for a moment."

As Principal Li spoke, he slowly walked towards the classroom door. His voice wasn't loud, but to Zhan Mengyan it was like a thunderclap overhead, making her feel as if her chair was about to shatter from the tension.

Zhan Mengyan's heartbeat instantly accelerated to 180 beats per minute, ten times louder than Principal Li's voice. The entire class immediately held their breath, even the sound of turning pages disappeared, and all eyes turned to Zhan Mengyan.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zhan Mengyan felt as if she were being pricked by needles.

Zhan Mengyan hesitated, as if she were being pulled along by something and forced to follow Principal Li. Her arms hung down, her hands clenched tightly as if she wanted to squeeze out the sweat from her palms. Her gaze wandered but she dared not look directly at Principal Li.

Zhan Mengyan overheard the whispers of her classmates behind her:

"What happened to Zhan Mengyan? Why was she taken away by Principal Li?"

"What could possibly happen at the start of the semester?"

"Does Principal Li know Zhan Mengyan? Why are you suddenly looking for her?"

"Zhan Mengyan often skipped evening self-study last semester. Someone must have reported her. This time, Principal Li talked to her, so he should give her some punishment."

"Won't Zhan Mengyan get expelled?"

"Expulsion? I heard that Zhan Mengyan's high school entrance exam scores are those of a top-tier high school. I have no idea why she's enrolled in our regular high school."

"She just wants to feel like she stands out from the crowd at our school. It's such a pretentious act. I think her grades in our class are just average. Why does she have to act so arrogant and conceited? She always acts like she keeps everyone at arm's length and doesn't want to talk to anyone."

"..."

As Zhan Mengyan walked away, the students' chatter became increasingly faint.

Zhan Mengyan and Principal Li walked one after the other in the corridor, with Zhan Mengyan subconsciously keeping a distance from Principal Li.

Footsteps echoed in the corridor, like a duet. Outside the window, bare branches of trees stretched against the gray sky, a single withered leaf stubbornly clinging to a branch, trembling alone in the biting northwest wind, like a wounded and frightened sparrow.

"Hello, Principal Li!"

A female student carrying a large stack of new textbooks walked towards us.

Principal Li nodded in response: "Hello, students!"

The female student carrying the new book glanced at Zhan Mengyan from head to toe as she passed by. She kept looking at Zhan Mengyan even after walking quite a distance, to the point that Zhan Mengyan almost bumped into the wall of the corridor before she finally looked away.

"I really shouldn't have written this letter to Principal Li. I don't know how much of a commotion it caused in the class. Luckily, Principal Li didn't read it aloud in class. Otherwise, if the whole class knew about my family situation, they would definitely look down on me. Because I joined the class a few months late, some classmates were suspicious of me, and some isolated me. I wonder what Principal Li will do if he takes me to his office—will he criticize me for disturbing his work? Will he question me about how I sneaked into his office? Will he give me a warning or a major demerit? Will he expel me?"