CHAPTER 41 THE BREEZE THAT STIRS THE SOUL
Brothers and sisters,
Let’s be honest, in a speech event with over a thousand people, reaching out to catch a flying hat and almost rolling down the stairs—though saved in the end…
Is there any point in hiding now?!
The once quiet gymnasium is now bustling with noise.
The students below were in an uproar!
Hiding, Ye Zhibai could only hear the commotion below, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
Well, it’s safe to say they’re not discussing the college entrance exam at the pledge ceremony anymore.
Curiosity is a natural human trait, and all the students’ attention had shifted to the second floor. If the school leaders weren’t present, it would have been even worse.
Ye Zhibai wasn’t the only one anxious.
The head maid was also frantic!
She only wanted to bring the young lady to have a look, who would have thought it would disrupt the second young lady’s speech!
The head maid crouched down to hide as well, wiping the cold sweat from her forehead. She glanced at Ye Zhibai, forcing a reassuring smile.
“Miss, please don’t worry.”
I know you’re worried, but hold on. You’re worried, I’m worried, but let me be the one to worry first, okay?
‘What??’
“Really, it’s okay, Miss, you don’t need to be nervous. Second Miss is very adept at handling unexpected situations; she can control the situation with just a few words. This is her area of expertise!”
“Oh… oh?”
If that’s true, thank heavens!
Yun’er, please, do your thing, break this awkward situation, save me, sob sob sob!
Ye Zhibai hugged the eighty-yuan baseball cap she had risked her life to retrieve, praying in her heart.
Ye Zhiyun never disappointed Ye Zhibai.
The chaotic scene below lasted only a few seconds.
Ye Zhibai heard a voice full of hope.
“Everyone, quiet.”
A calm, yet extremely penetrating command echoed throughout the gymnasium.
This statement was indeed like a stabilizing force, taking immediate effect.
The effectiveness of maintaining order doesn’t lie in the words themselves, but in who speaks them.
Yun’er has that kind of authority.
Listening to the increasingly quiet noise on the first floor, Ye Zhibai silently breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed… no danger after all. But Ye Zhibai being here had definitely been noticed by Yun’er.
The invisible Guang Yu had been standing by the railing the entire time, watching.
She patted Ye Zhibai on the shoulder, giving her a live update on the situation below since she didn’t dare to look down.
“Your sister picked up the microphone, your sister stood up, your sister walked to the center of the podium.”
Ye Zhibai moved closer to Guang Yu so she wouldn’t be overheard by the head maid.
“Stop saying ‘your sister’ after every sentence… It feels like you’re scolding me. Phew… then it’s fine. Yun’er has controlled the situation. She should just say a few concluding words, end the speech as if nothing happened, and save us in the process.”
“Oh… but it doesn’t look like that… Your sister, ahem, your sister seems to be cleaning up the items on the podium.”
“Huh?!”
Ye Zhibai quickly turned around; she had to see for herself what was happening!
She didn’t dare to be too conspicuous, so she only peeked out with half her head.
She saw that Ye Zhiyun indeed did not give any concluding remarks.
Instead, she stood up and started packing up her notebook, phone, and other items on the podium.
She put the notebook and pen into the folder and picked up the microphone again.
Is it coming? The concluding remarks!
But no.
“All right, today’s speech ends here. Each class, return to your classrooms in order.”
You won’t even give a concluding remark!
At least wish everyone good luck on their exams!
After saying this, Ye Zhiyun turned off the microphone amidst the bewildered looks of the school leaders.
She did not forget to politely nod to the teachers as a sign of respect.
Nor did she forget to wave to the stunned students as a gesture of goodwill.
But her hurried departure from the podium, turning from a quick walk to a jog and then into a full sprint towards the staircase leading to the second floor…
That wasn’t polite at all!
………………………..
“Sister, can you please explain why you are here? Or did I just see a hallucination?”
No, no, Yun’er, you’re still young, so naturally, it’s impossible for your eyes to be failing.
It’s me, this useless person, who made the decision to sneak out and play, and ended up interrupting your speech. I’m truly very sorry!
Even though my guilt could fill an ocean, the more nervous Ye Zhibai got, the more likely she was to say things that were sincere yet shouldn’t be said.
“I miscalculated.”
“Miscalculated?! You call this a miscalculation, sister?!”
“Expected.”
“Exactly! You knew I’d be angry, but you still did it. Sister, I don’t understand!”
If you don’t understand, do you think I do?!
I just wanted to grab the eighty-yuan baseball cap the maid bought for me. Was that wrong?
Ye Zhibai and Ye Zhiyun, the two sisters, were in a high-intensity confrontation in the empty second-floor bleachers of the gymnasium.
The head maid and the invisible Guang Yu stood to the side, feeling the pressure of the confrontation.
By this time, all the students had orderly returned to their classrooms as instructed.
Even if they were curious about what had happened, they didn’t dare defy the school leaders’ explicit orders to leave the gymnasium. Otherwise, they’d face serious consequences!
Ye Zhibai sat in the bleachers, clutching the baseball cap in her hand. Although she felt a bit aggrieved, she appeared exceptionally tough on the outside!
Unmoved and steady as a rock.
She looked like she was completely unbothered.
You can’t blame her; that’s just her face!
Ye Zhiyun hadn’t been this angry in a long time.
She wasn’t just angry at Ye Zhibai…
Well, actually, she was very angry at Ye Zhibai!
Sister, instead of resting at home, why did you have to run around outside?!
Just now, Ye Zhiyun saw that she almost fell from the bleachers!
Feeling a surge of fear, Ye Zhiyun’s heart tightened, and she felt both worried and helpless towards Ye Zhibai.
“Sigh… Sister, I’ll ask you again later. For now, think about this carefully: I am really, really angry this time! But… the most serious issue isn’t you.”
The first half of her sentence was a younger sister’s petulant anger towards her elder sister.
The latter half, however, was bone-chillingly cold, like the depths of winter.
Ye Zhiyun’s eyes, sharp as knives, glanced at the nervous head maid standing nearby.
“You… Why did you allow my sister to go out? As I recall… I instructed the maid team that, no matter what, she was to stay home and rest for the entire day. Am I right?”
It was terrifying, despairing, and icy.
But so what?
The head maid, who had long been prepared to lose her job, was touched to the point of tears.
She removed her maid’s cap, placed her hand on her chest, and bowed respectfully to Ye Zhiyun.
She was smiling.
“Second Miss, it has been an honor and a privilege to work at the Ye family for over ten years. Today, it was my oversight that allowed the young lady to go out, causing a safety risk. I neglected my duty and deserve any punishment.”
“Oh?” Ye Zhiyun snorted coldly, her aura fully intimidating. “I thought you might at least offer an explanation.”
“I have no defense and am deeply fearful.”
“……”
Explain yourself!
Ye Zhiyun was about to go crazy! Her sister wasn’t making sense, and the maid wasn’t explaining, so how was she supposed to understand the situation?!
Even Guang Yu couldn’t stand it anymore.
She telepathically nudged Ye Zhibai.
“Ye Zhibai, why are you so nervous? She’s your sister; you have the authority here. You always get tongue-tied when you’re nervous… Here, I’ll start you off. Just say… hmm, start with ‘It’s not the maid’s fault,’ and improvise from there. Aren’t you great at improvising?”
Yes!
Thank you, Guang Yu, for reminding me.
Ye Zhibai steadied herself, slowly stood up, and walked over to Ye Zhiyun.
Then, she raised the baseball cap in her hand.
“It’s not the maid’s fault. It’s… all the cap’s fault.”
“Hey!!”
Guang Yu was almost infuriated by her!
You’re really clever, pushing all the blame away from yourself and the head maid with one sentence!
But can we stop talking about that baseball cap for a moment?!
“Sister?”
Seeing Ye Zhibai speak, Ye Zhiyun swallowed nervously, becoming the anxious one.
To avoid being distracted by the baseball cap, Ye Zhibai handed it to the head maid.
Then, with a serious expression, she explained the situation to Yun’er.
“Yun’er, I asked the maids to let me out. It’s too stuffy at home, and I wanted to go out and take a look.”
“Sister, you’re saying that again!” Ye Zhiyun, in fact, felt the most aggrieved, “You clearly promised me! You said that when I’m not at home, when I’m worried, you wouldn’t go out, absolutely wouldn’t go out! But look at what you did! This morning, you assured me that you’d be at home. You weren’t saying this! How do you think this makes me feel? What am I supposed to do now?”
She was really angry.
Yun’er is so kind…
Even without explanation, she had already guessed everything. Ye Zhibai could see that Yun’er never intended to punish the head maid; she just wanted her to explain the whole story.
The head maid couldn’t stand seeing the two sisters argue.
She choked up a bit, put her maid cap back on, looked at Ye Zhibai, and then gently spoke to Ye Zhiyun.
“Second Miss… do you know why the young lady chose Qihai No. 1 High School as her destination? And why she came to this gymnasium? You can guess…”
“……”
“So, your anger towards her… is really unwarranted. The young lady is truly very kind; she’s always thinking about you.”
Ye Zhiyun understood.
Her sister came here to see if her school life was going well, to check if the speech was tiring… things like that.
But… Ye Zhiyun wouldn’t back down because of this.
Even though she was grateful for her sister’s concern and overjoyed by it, Ye Zhiyun had to prioritize Ye Zhibai’s health and safety above all else.
If she conceded now… there would be a second time, a third time, and that wouldn’t be acceptable!
Ye Zhibai had been preparing to speak for a long time.
She was waiting for an opportunity.
She never forgot that she had a certain treasure in her pocket.
It was a charm that had already successfully helped once and could help again.
As Ye Zhiyun hesitated in silence, Ye Zhibai quietly reached into her pocket for the treasure.
——Ye Zhiyun’s student ID card.
Ye Zhibai took it out and held it up in front of Ye Zhiyun.
“……”
Uh… a bit nervous, she almost thrust it directly into her face.
Ye Zhibai sheepishly pulled her hand back a little, making sure the student ID was within Ye Zhiyun’s line of sight.
“What is this…?” Ye Zhiyun, seeing what was in her hand, slowly widened her eyes.
“Yun’er, your student ID was left at home.”
Ye Zhiyun almost lost her composure.
But before tears could well up in her eyes, she steeled herself, gritted her teeth, and continued.
“Sister… that’s not a reason… You know I don’t need a student ID.”
“Yun’er.”
“What is it…”
When Ye Zhiyun looked up, she was stunned.
Ye Zhibai tilted her head slightly, her silver hair cascading like a waterfall, radiating youthful brilliance.
Ye Zhibai’s cherry lips parted slightly, her face serene as a lake, as she spoke words that stirred up a storm in Ye Zhiyun’s heart.
“I wanted to wish you… a happy high school graduation in advance?”
“!”
At that moment, the gymnasium’s ventilation fan timed to start up again.
A gust of wind once more swept into the bleachers.
But this time, the strong wind could no longer blow away the baseball cap that was now firmly held in her hand.
The only thing the wind could stir up now was Ye Zhiyun’s heart, which had long been captured by Ye Zhibai and could never break free.
