Reborn: The Return of the Villainous Mr. Liu

Guiying sighed. "I told you that I trust Ai. Let's leave it at this. Just take it as an unfortunate accident."

Zhan Yahui furiously shook her head. "But I cannot. It's not an accident. Zhou Ai just says that she heard someone talking about ruining the event but who? She doesn't know. She didn't see that guy. How can we trust her that she is speaking the truth? There are hundreds of people here. I have had a bad feeling about this ever since you won the Best Fiction Award."

She grimly asked, "Then what do you want to do?"

"I think it's for the best that Dream High doesn't have Zhou Ai anymore."

Ai remained quiet.

"If we let her go this time, then this might happen again. We were lucky today that things didn't go out of hand. But what about next time?"

Guiying widened her eyes. "No way, Zhan Yahui. This is too much! Kicking Ai out of Dream High? This will ruin her whole career!"

"And what about your career that was on the brink of destruction today? If she could find that mysterious culprit that she claims to have heard of in such a big crowd outside, then I won't pursue this matter any further. But otherwise, it's stupid to believe her if she cannot prove her innocence."

"I won't agree to this," a cold shrill came from the back.

Dream High's Chief Editor, Gu Yating, stepped in. Dressed in white shirt and jeans, his casual look was worth drooling over, but the impending aura around him failed to match with the tone his appearance gave off. His black eyes were dark and threatening, and his grim countenance lowered the temperature by a few degrees.

Ai watched him in silence for a few moments and quietly looked away.

He threw an icy stare at Zhan Yahui. "Zhan Yahui. It's already enough that you wanted to make Ai apologize that now you want to kick her out too?"

"Gu Yating! What else should I do? If it's Ai's fault, then why should we spare her?"

"And if she says it's an accident, that means it's an accident," he alarmingly enunciated, making her cower a step back.

"You…even you will talk like Guiying now?"

"U-Um…Are you from Dream High?"

Three people slowly stood at the entrance of the room. It was a couple holding a little boy's hand.

Ai's expression changed from indifference to disbelief.

Why is that child back here?

Yating narrowed his eyes. "Yes, we are. Who are you?"

The father of that child nervously cleared his throat. "Um I am sorry…but I heard there was an accident here. Some books were ruined."

Guiying said, "Yes. Indeed that's what happened. But how do you know that?"

The husband and wife shared anxious glances. The boy was quite nervous himself as he hid between his parents.

"Actually, we came here to apologize on our son's behalf. He caused that accident. B-But I swear, it wasn't on purpose!"

The wife furiously nodded. "You see, Yinyin got mad at us because of a game, and he ran away. That's when he entered this room and crashed onto the shelf…"

Everybody was appalled.

"Yinyin told us everything. The can with the ink fell, and a kind sister protected him from it."

Yinyin ran towards Ai and hugged her. "Pretty sister saved me! Pretty sister got all ink on her," he pursed his lips. "She told me to go because I was scared."

Ai was at a loss. "You…"

The boy lowered his head. "I-I was scared of Mom and Dad. I don't want them to scold me…" his eyes teared up. "Pretty sister said she will make it right!"

His parents profusely thanked Ai. "I see, you are the one who saved him. We really thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Otherwise our Yinyin would have gotten hurt…" the mother had tears in her eyes.

"No, no. It's okay. As long as he is safe," she quickly assured them.

The father awkwardly fretted. "I know it's my son's fault. The books are now useless. As his parents, we will take responsibility," he clasped his hands together, "We will pay for the damages…We hope that you please forgive Yinyin. We will be more responsible next time."

Zhan Yahui was speechless.

"W-What is this all about? How did this child come in between?"

He looked back at Ai. "Why didn't you say so before?"

She patted Yinyin's head. "...He was already frightened. He was afraid of getting scolded. I just didn't want that to happen. It wasn't on purpose anyway."

Yinyin clung to her. "I was really scared…I don't want Mom and Dad to scold me," he cried. "Pretty sister wants to protect me!"

Guiying asked, "So that's why you made up the story about hearing a stranger talking about ruining the event?"

"Yes. I couldn't think about anything else."

The mother apologized. "I-I am sorry! It seems that you were misunderstood because of this. We are really sorry you had to face the accusations. Yinyin! You say sorry too."

Yinyin bit his lip. "I am sorry."

Guiying was relieved. "It's alright. I am just glad that the misunderstanding was resolved. Now, Ai won't have to leave Dream High, right?"

Yating sharply replied. "She was never supposed to leave Dream High anyway because of some silly accusation."

Zhan Yahui stiffened and gritted her teeth.

The father hastily said, "We will pay for the damages-"

Yating smiled and raised his palm. "It's alright. You don't have to do that."

"But…"

"I am serious. You came forward and confessed, and your son apologized. That's enough."

"Th-thank you so much!" They gratefully bowed.

Yinyin smiled. "Thank you, pretty sister!"

Ai softly smiled and patted his head. "Don't run away from your parents next time, okay?"

"En!"

After they left, there was a moment of awkward silence.

Guiying grinned. "Finally everything is sorted out! I told you, right? Ai wouldn't do anything like this."

Ai stared at Zhan Yahui. "Everything is not sorted out. I feel you owe me an apology."

Zhan Yahui was furious. "You…"

"You wanted me to apologize to the fans even though I kept saying that it was an accident. Then now that it's proved that I am innocent, you owe me an apology."

Guiying nodded. "Ai is right. We were all jumping into conclusions, so now it's not fair that we don't apologize to her. Imagine her reputation as MissImperfectlyFine would have got affected too!"

Yating threw a deadly stare at Zhan Yahui. "Where is your apology?"

Guiying glanced at her. "Zhan Yahui."

Zhan Yahui was extremely displeased and agitated.

"...I am sorry. But part of it is still your fault. If you knew the truth, you should have already told us. Why did you want to become a saint and protect that child at the cost of your reputation? You cannot blame me for getting panicked and accusing you if I saw you alone in the room and drenched with ink. Plus, you had those damn shades and mask on!"

Guiying sighed.

Ai tilted her head. "Would you have believed me if I had told you the truth?"

"Huh? Why wouldn't I?"

"You said I lied about hearing the stranger. You didn't believe me. Then you could have also accused that I must have scared Yinyin into lying for me."