5 Cen Yi

Hou Manrong's actions would cause Qiao Lingxiang's classmates, who were already biased against her, to view her strangely. When the students from the other classes found out what happened, they would also mock her.

No parents would do this to their children. Other parents would work hard to earn energy coupons for their children to allow them to stay at school or let their kids stay at home and learn as day students.

If they really couldn't afford energy coupons, they would probably ask their children to drop out of school.

Hou Manrong wouldn't give Qiao Lingxiang any energy coupons and wouldn't allow her to be a day student either. She even said she wanted to reason things out with the school. Whose life was she trying to make difficult?

Wasn't she her youngest daughter?

If she stubbornly insisted on this course of action, based on how things were progressing in society, Qiao Lingxiang would only be even more ashamed to show her face since she was already ostracized by her classmates.

For an instant, Qiao Lingxiang really wanted to voice these thoughts out loud. However, before she could open her mouth, Hou Manrong stopped her forcefully.

As a mother, Hou Manrong spoke to her youngest daughter directly.

"I already gave the energy coupons to your older sister. Our family only has five energy coupons. You can go back to school first. When your teachers call me, naturally, I'll talk to them. It shouldn't be a problem if we hold a balance for energy coupons for a few months. Your father will pay them back when he comes home."

Qiao Lingxiang looked at Hou Manrong's self-righteous expression. She slowly gulped down the final words she had wanted to say.

Qiao Lingxiang was accustomed to this. Her mother never seemed to care about her no matter how much other people laughed at her. So, what was the point of talking back?

She turned around quietly and pulled the luggage she had packed earlier out of the bedroom.

Beside her, Hou Manrong started scolding her again. She reprimanded Qiao Lingxiang for not understanding her parents. She accused Qiao Lingxiang of not having any love for her sister and told her that her sister was in a difficult situation now. She said… many things.

She scolded Qiao Lingxiang as though she did something evil and unforgivable. All her criticism revolved around not being sensible, generous, and understanding towards her parents and elder sister.

Qiao Lingxiang pushed her luggage and entered the hallway. She turned the door handle and wanted to walk out. However, after some thought, she couldn't control herself and turned to look at Hou Manrong. She interrupted her mother's scolding.

She asked sadly, "Mom, if I died out there, would that be better for you? If you hate me so much, you can just pretend that I died."

This time, the boarding school would really kick out the students who couldn't hand over energy coupons. If Hou Manrong wouldn't allow her to come home, she would have to live outside.

But things were different on the outside now. It was very dangerous, especially at night. Had her mother thought about this?

Hou Manrong was stunned for a moment when she heard Qiao Lingxiang's words. Then she pointed at Qiao Lingxiang with boiling anger and screamed, "Are you threatening me? Fine, go and die! Go and die! Aside from causing trouble for others, what are you good for? You should hurry up and die."

She was really furious. The family was honestly in a difficult situation now. Whether it was food or necessities, she was trying to make the most of what little resources they had. However, her youngest daughter was so infuriating and she was becoming less and less obedient. She just wanted Qiao Lingxiang to go back to school. Why was Qiao Lingxiang talking about dying?

Children who used death to threaten their parents were the worst.

Hou Manrong took a few steps forward in anger as she shouted. However, Qiao Lingxiang just pushed the door open and pulled her luggage out. Then, she closed the door with a bang.

By the time Hou Manrong changed her shoes and rushed out of the house to continue scolding Qiao Lingxiang, Qiao Lingxiang had already left without turning back. She pulled her luggage and panted her way to the staircase. She climbed down in a hurry.

The Qiao family lived on the 8th floor. This was a small apartment so it was normally easy to climb up and down the stairs.

Of course, that was only applicable to people with a normal figure.

For Qiao Lingxiang, every time she climbed up or down the stairs, she could lose half of her energy from panting.

She was just too fat. As she got fatter and fatter, the visceral fats severely pressed on her organs. While she held her breath and carried her luggage from the 8th floor down to the 7th floor, her heart beat so quickly that it felt as though it was going to jump out of her throat.

She found it hard to breathe. She felt her extra-large bra straps were strapped around her chest too tightly. She had no choice but to lean against the railings and pant heavily with her red fat face.

At first, she was worried that Hou Manrong would chase after her and hit her. After all, she rarely said these kinds of words to her parents ever since she was a kid. Hou Manrong must be extremely angry.

However, reality proved that she overestimated her importance. She had leaned against the stair railings on the 7th floor and panted heavily like a dog for a long time. Yet Hou Manrong didn't come down to chase her.

It seemed as if it wasn't worth climbing down the stairs from the 8th floor to chase her and see whether she died or not.

In the quiet staircase, Qiao Lingxiang gradually steadied her breathing. She sat on the stairs weakly and contemplated her plan of action carefully. She couldn't go to school and she couldn't go back home.

Where could she go?

As she was thinking about this, she saw a person walking up the corner of the staircase below her. He was tall, lean, and agile. He was wearing a dark blue British-style school uniform from the senior high section of Xiang City High School and was carrying a black backpack.

It looked like he was asked to be a day student by the school too.

Qiao Lingxiang raised her head and glanced at this senior student's face. He was handsome and he looked refined with a hint of sharpness. Maybe it was because he was on the verge of changing from a teenager into a man, so a faint tinge of youthfulness was still visible.

She recognized him. He was in the same class as her older sister, Qiao Yuelan. She heard that his grades were exceptionally terrible but he was amazing in sports. He was Cen Yi.

He lived in this housing estate, just like Qiao Yuelan and Qiao Lingxiang. He only moved here from the South at the end of last year. He had sought refuge with his grandparents.

Cen Yi lived below the Qiao family on the 7th floor.

Qiao Lingxiang wasn't close to him. They had met each other before and knew who the other was but they had never spoken or had any interactions either.

However, she was familiar with Cen Yi's grandparents. Whenever she had free time, she would exercise and participate in public square dancing with the seniors at the estate. Sometimes, she would play Weiqi with them to pass time too.

Qiao Lingxiang was often bullied by her peers. So, she had a reserved personality and didn't have any similar-aged friends. Whenever she was free, she would walk around her estate alone.

As time went by, she familiarized herself with the seniors at the estate. They were willing to play with Qiao Lingxiang. They had lived long lives so they were more open-minded than youngsters; they didn't care about Qiao Lingxiang's figure.

Back to Cen Yi—he lifted his long legs and climbed up the stairs easily and vigorously. Qiao Lingxiang hurriedly stood up and yielded with difficulty to let Cen Yi pass.

She had no choice. If she didn't move, she would almost block the entire staircase. Cen Yi would have to jump over her body to climb up.