Under the watchful eyes of all (Part 2)

  Ye Cai's face turned red with anger and embarrassment, her lips pursed tightly as she let out a stifled sigh. She glanced up to see Su Xiaoqiu still looking curious, and knew that the other girl was just pretending. So, she decided to reveal the seriousness of the situation to her. "I used to put on a strong front, you know? But now I'm in trouble, and by this morning, the whole school knows I wear a small vest. You get it? My strong front doesn't work anymore, I... I look too childish, I've lost all my authority. So those people who were intimidated by me before will do their best to badmouth me. And you're a girl now... well, let's just say that even though nobody says anything, they probably all notice the changes in your face and figure. But in their minds, you're still a boy. If we keep going like this, at most they'll think you're weird. But if you stick with me, soon they'll associate you with me, and they'll look at you through colored glasses. They'll say you're a fake girl, a pervert, a freak... Do you understand?"

  Ye Caiyue's words trailed off, because under her serious-looking eyelids, Su Xiaoqiu was actually maliciously selling Meng and saucily lowering his head, with his hands behind his back, constantly lightly twisting his waist, the whole demeanor like a shy girl listening to her boyfriend express his love.

  After the question was asked, the other party didn't respond for a long time. Su Xiaoqiu still lowered her head and twisted her waist, making Ye Cai feel annoyed and frustrated that their thinking modes were not on the same level and couldn't communicate. She pursed her lips and suppressed her impatience, saying: "Then so be it, don't follow me."

  Just as he was about to turn around and leave, his right hand was caught by Su Xiaoqiu.

  She turned back with annoyance, but saw Su Xiaoqiu smiling lazily with a hint of bitterness on her lips, saying: "Why bother about others? I'm not living for them anyway."

  "Oh no, just don't follow me!"

  With great difficulty, she tried to persuade him, but it was all in vain. Ye Cai couldn't help feeling annoyed and frustrated, so he shook his hand and didn't bother to respond to her. He walked away quickly with an impatient pace, but Su Xiaoqiu followed closely behind, pretending to be innocent and pure, and said: "I understand, you're doing this for my own good, right? Don't worry, I'm not afraid of their gossip."

  "My goodness!"

  With a look of extreme annoyance, Ye Cai suddenly stopped in his tracks and gave Su Xiaoqiu a white eye with a face full of irritation, saying: "You don't understand anything at all!"

  Su Xiaoqiu shrugged and slightly pouted her mouth, saying: "I don't need to understand, I don't care what others think, we're not familiar..."

  She puckered up her face, Ye Cai had completely lost his patience, wanting to persuade him a few more times, looking at that pretended pure face several times and feeling annoyed, so much so that he gave the cold shoulder several times, finally turning around and leaving, walking alone.

  Su Xiaoqiu smiled slyly and followed up again with a pleased smile.

  Then, Ye Cai pretended to be cold and impatient, dragging Su Xiaoqiu who was stuck behind her to cook and eat, then quickly walked to the corner of the table with a huff and buried her head in eating. Su Xiaoqiu didn't mind at all, and accompanied her as if nothing had happened, even picking up chopsticks to tease her that she ate like a starving ghost reincarnated.

  Ye Cai naturally wouldn't bother with her, on the surface she was afraid of implicating Su Xiaoqiu, to the point where she would suffer the pain of being subjected to the outside world's disgusted gaze, which would make her even more guilty and self-reproachful. Because she understood that changing someone into a girl on a whim was too irresponsible. In her subjective consciousness, she put herself in a position similar to that of all mothers whose children had transformed into girls, thinking that she must take responsibility for their lives after they became girls.

  Even if it's temporarily impossible to repay and make amends, she must let the other person live a stable life, not being dragged down by herself. But at this moment, she was caught up in it, which made her feel indescribable anger and frustration for her own incompetence, and could only find some relief by stuffing food into her mouth.

  Two figures that looked unmistakably like girls in the corner of the school cafeteria slowly gathered more and more attention. Among them was Liu Youyou, who pretended to be aloof and ate alone, as well as several classmates of Ye Cai.

  They suddenly found a better topic of conversation, and began to point at Su Xiaoqiu and Ye Cai, making guesses and speculations, laughing and chatting, enjoying the atmosphere, but unknowingly putting immense mental pressure on others.

  Ignorance and mediocrity are the greatest crimes.

  Most of these people do not have their own direction, even if they do, it is not practical, and are classified as being content with the status quo. Severely lacking in spiritual civilization, they usually like to mock those who are worse than themselves and win applause from the crowd to gain a sense of accomplishment in their empty hearts.

  There is a kind of unyielding determination and momentum that can instantly crush their psychological tolerance, which they think is strong but has no basis or foundation.

  Last time, Ye Cai had pushed himself to the brink of mental collapse. Those who had already sensed that Ye Cai was a bit effeminate guessed some of the reasons deep down in their hearts. However, they were too mediocre and ordinary, and they were ashamed to admit this fact, attributing it to "going crazy" and erasing the shocking silence brought about by Ye Cai's actions at the time, causing ridicule and mockery instead. Perhaps it was the twisted self-esteem in their subconscious that refused to acknowledge that there were peers who were more excellent than them, or even refused to acknowledge that there were peers who thought more than they did, who were more complex, and who had more worries.

  Ordinary to mentally distorted.

  And this time, it was a fiery girl who came from the school cafeteria entrance, leaving them stunned once again.

  All that can be seen is the pair of eyes, with a strong conviction that makes them feel ashamed deep down, as if burning with angry flames, staring in a certain direction, bringing a terrible aura, carrying the gaze of these people who are unwilling to admit their own ordinariness, and rushing forward.

  That's right, they saw clearly that the girl was rushing towards Ye Cai who was eating with his head down.

  In that moment of stunned silence, their hearts were filled with surprise, repression, and a hint of rational speculation about the truth. When alone, they might have felt a heavy heart or even despair over their own speculations. However, in a crowd, it was different. After regaining their composure, they concealed those feelings and instead used a condescending tone to make jokes like "That tigress is so fierce!" or "Whose mother cow ran out?" to win laughter that was full of exaggeration. This would satisfy the distorted self-esteem deep within them.

  Yes, it must be acknowledged that except for a small part, people in the lower levels of society have some degree of psychological distortion, whether light or heavy, and even they themselves do not know. Of course, by the same token, there are many people in this society who do not know that they are patients with mental illnesses.

  At this time, Ye Cai gently put down her chopsticks, swallowed the last mouthful of food, and then raised her eyes, slightly pursing her lips and narrowing her eyes, with a helpless and bitter expression, to greet Leng Xiao Yu who had rushed into the school to save her. Then, she glanced sideways, wanting Su Xiao Qiu to leave so as not to be affected, but hesitated and thought that this might hurt the other's self-esteem, so she left a faint smile and stood up on her own initiative, under the gaze of many mocking eyes, slowly walking towards Leng Xiao Yu's figure.

  She walked slowly, her footsteps light and helpless, as if she was going to face the hatred and anger of her loved ones. Leng Xiaoyu, on the other hand, ran wildly with a fierce momentum, as if she wanted to suppress all the tender feelings between them, her eyes cold and sharp, just like she was about to knock down not her girlfriend, Ye Cai, but the devil in Ye Cai's heart, without any guilt.

  In the vast school cafeteria, the figures of the two girls drew closer and closer. Then, under the stunned gaze of the crowd, Leng Xiaoyu suddenly raised her fist and knocked Ye Cai to the ground, straddling her waist as she panted and searched for a pack of cigarettes on her body.

  Ye Cai's head was tilted, her eyes dull and lifeless, as she lay limp on the ground, allowing Leng Xiao to rummage through her pockets.

  Finally, after searching through all the pockets and realizing that the transforming cigarette was not on Ye Cai's body, Leng Xiao Ya stood up in annoyance, pointing at Su Xiao Qiu who had a look of shock and unbearable expression, asking if it was on her. This made Su Xiao Qiu extremely puzzled.

  At this time, under the gaze of everyone's surprise and unbearable eyes, Ye Cai got up from the ground by herself, patted off the rice grains on her body with her hands, and smiled all over her face: "Don't look for it anymore, I'm not that stupid."

  After being stunned and dazed, Leng Xiao Ya gave her a heavy glance, turned her head, and searched for Liu Youyou's figure in the school cafeteria as if nothing had happened.

  In the distance, Liu Youyou, who was holding a transforming cigarette, had long been on high alert and quickly bent down to hide her figure.

  At this time, Ye Cai said again: "It's all been said that force is never a long-term plan. Look, the security guards have come to catch you."

  Leng Xiao Yao was taken aback for a moment, quickly turning her gaze towards the school cafeteria entrance. Indeed, in the far distance, several burly figures gradually solidified. She cursed and turned to run towards the interior of the school cafeteria, disappearing into thin air.

  After she left, all the sarcastic and playful eyes could only point at the embarrassed Ye Cai.

  Su Xiaqiu hastily ran over, worried and unsure of what to do, could only look at her with a gentle expression while accompanying her back to the dinner table to resume eating. Sitting next to Ye Cai, who continued to eat with his head down, Su Xiaqiu found it hard to swallow, choked for half a day, and timidly asked: "Does it hurt?"

  Ye Cai's head hung low, her pretty face hidden behind a veil of hair, and upon hearing this, her eating motion suddenly froze.

  Su Xiaoqiu knew that Ye Cai was now holding on tightly, probably with a strong emotion stuck in his chest. Under the gaze of everyone, he was beaten to the ground, and it was likely that there were some bitter experiences that he didn't understand himself. Thinking of this, she gently grasped Ye Cai's hand from under the table, gave it a squeeze, and asked: "Does it hurt?"

  A moment later, she felt a tremble in Ye Cai's hand, and then saw a few tears fall onto Ye Cai's slender thighs.

  Ow...

  Su Xiaoqiu saw Ye Cai's shoulders trembling slightly under the mocking gazes of the crowd, with a faint sound of stifled sobs.

  But since Ye Cai didn't want to let others see her weak side, she naturally wouldn't make a fuss or disturb him, so she quietly shifted her gaze and pretended not to have seen it, but her hands gripped even tighter.

  There is a rare kind of friendship that involves mutual respect and understanding, giving each other a certain amount of personal space, and being quietly present for each other when needed.

  （……）

  PS: I think the colors in attacking ordinary people's friends, please calm down a bit. Yes, everyone has their own story. Colors always think that every person is worthy of respect and every person has a lovely side. If you want to blame someone, blame this heartless and cruel society, but ultimately it's just because one is too incompetent...

  To understand yourself, to understand your mental state, and to learn how to be a knowledgeable person, read more books on psychology. Here I recommend "There is always a kind of pain that makes us grow up instantly", after reading it, you will definitely gain some insights.