I Am Already A Queen

“Huh?” This time, it was Jiang Yanna’s turn to look utterly baffled.

She certainly had not anticipated such a fierce, united reaction from Qiao Meixia’s friends. Based on the story Gu Xian had fed her, Qiao Meixia was the indisputable villain who had caused chaos in the dining hall. Why were these girls acting as though Gu Xian was the one entirely in the wrong?

“Student Jiang, allow me to enlighten you with the actual truth.” Shen Meiling chimed in, her voice calm, clear, and perfectly articulate. “That pathetic student deliberately extended his leg into the aisle in a cheap attempt to trip our Meixia and make her spill her food. However, his little trick failed spectacularly because Meixia simply stepped right over him. Frustrated, he tried to publicly humiliate her by claiming she looked nothing like you, despite supposedly being your twin. Someone at the nearby table then politely educated him on what fraternal twins actually are. Realising how ignorant he looked, he flushed bright red, threw a silent tantrum, and bolted out of the cafeteria in shame.”

“And who’s to say you are not just making all of that up to cover for her?” Jin Zexi sneered, looking at them with deep suspicion.

“We have HD surveillance cameras mounted throughout the entire cafeteria.” Shen Meiling countered smoothly, not flinching for a second. “Not to mention, there were dozens of students sitting around us who witnessed the entire event from start to finish. That boy only managed to feed you that ridiculous lie because most of your Class One peers did not bother eating in the main cafeteria today, opting for the west wing instead.”

Because the confrontation was taking place near the main gates, a sizeable crowd of students had already gathered around to spectate. Some had merely been passing by when the shouting started, while others had stopped out of pure curiosity to see the drama unfold.

Hearing Shen Meiling’s explanation, a student standing in the crowd finally stepped forward.

“Hey… I was actually sitting right at the table next to them during lunch.” The student announced loudly. “I can 100% confirm that everything this girl just said is completely accurate! That guy made a total fool of himself and ran off with his tail between his legs!”

“I saw it too!” Another student shouted from the back.

“That’s right! He was the one who stuck his leg out first! Qiao Meixia didn’t even graze him!”

More and more voices joined in from the crowd, passionately verifying Shen Meiling’s account. Some had been eyewitnesses to the pathetic incident themselves, while others had already heard the true story relayed by their classmates during afternoon break.

Surrounded by the vocal crowd, Jiang Yanna felt a wave of sheer humiliation wash over her. She had never imagined in a million years that Gu Xian would brazenly lie to her face about such a thing. She had swallowed his story hook, line, and sinker, recklessly rushing over to corner Qiao Meixia without bothering to verify a single detail.

Now, with dozens of onlookers testifying against her narrative, she could not possibly maintain her righteous facade.

“Sister Meixia, I am so, so sorry!” Jiang Yanna stammered out, her face flushing crimson as she adopted a deeply remorseful expression. “I did not gather all the facts before confronting you and demanding an apology. I genuinely had no idea he would lie about something like this…”

“Whatever. Step aside.” Qiao Meixia said flatly.

She could not care less about Jiang Yanna’s performative apology and simply wanted to get to her dessert.

“Can’t you show some basic courtesy and speak nicely?!” Jin Zexi barked angrily, stepping up to defend Jiang Yanna.

“Speak nicely?! Hey, you idiots are the ones who marched over here accusing Meixia and demanding an apology without knowing a single damn thing!” Ruan Jiaojiao barked right back, stepping directly into Jin Zexi’s face. “And now you have the nerve to demand she speaks nicely to you?! You should be down on your knees thanking God that Meixia is too indifferent to make a scene! If it were me, I’d make you kneel down and beg for forgiveness!”

The surrounding onlookers began whispering loudly among themselves, pointing fingers at Jiang Yanna’s group. Expressions of disdain, disgust, and pity were plastered across the crowd, with many shaking their heads at how foolishly and arrogantly the group had acted.

Realising the situation was spiralling entirely out of control, Jiang Yanna knew she had to cut her losses immediately. If she let this public humiliation drag on any longer, the entire school would be mocking her by tomorrow morning.

Stepping forward with trembling shoulders, she bowed deeply to Qiao Meixia, putting on her absolute best impression of a victimised, heartbroken sister.

“Sister Meixia, please… I beg you to forgive my foolish mistake.” Jiang Yanna choked out softly.

“No need.” Qiao Meixia replied indifferently.

Without waiting for Jiang Yanna to utter another word, Qiao Meixia fluidly stepped around her bowed figure and resumed her walk toward the dessert shop. Her three friends followed right behind her without offering the group another glance, leaving Jiang Yanna standing frozen and awkward in front of her stunned followers.

Jin Zexi quickly reached out, grabbing Jiang Yanna’s arm to pull her back upright.

Jiang Yanna felt hot tears prickling at the corners of her eyes, but she forced herself to bite them back. She could feel the heavy, judgment-filled stares of the surrounding students piercing right through her, and she knew that bursting into tears right now would only make her look even more pathetically guilty.

Lowering her head slightly to hide her burning face, she squeezed out a quiet farewell.

“Girls, I… I’m going to head home now. I will see you all tomorrow.” Jiang Yanna murmured before swiftly turning around and practically running toward her waiting car.

Her followers exchanged uncomfortable, embarrassed glances before scrambling to hurry after her.

Even though she had delivered a dramatic apology, Jiang Yanna was utterly consumed by a burning, furious resentment. She had set out with the sole intention of dragging Qiao Meixia’s reputation through the mud, yet in the end, she had been transformed into the laughingstock of the entire student body.

And the absolute worst, most agonising part of it all was that Qiao Meixia had not even needed to lift a single finger or say more than a few words to completely destroy her.

“Such a complete idiot.” Ruan Jiaojiao chuckled, shaking her head as she watched Jiang Yanna practically run away from the gates.

“Well, she must be utterly humiliated right now.” Shen Meiling remarked softly.

“It’s entirely her own fault! Who told her to march over here without getting her facts straight first? She even had the nerve to demand that Meixia apologise to that scum.” Han Mengyu scoffed angrily.

“Yeah… That absolute bastard… How on earth did someone like him even manage to get into Class One?” Ruan Jiaojiao snorted in disdain.

“Well, students in Class One are admitted strictly based on their academic test scores, not their moral character or integrity. So it really is not that surprising that they have a student like him in their ranks.” Shen Meiling explained logically.

“Eh…? Where’s Meixia?” Ruan Jiaojiao asked, blinking as she scanned her surroundings, only now realizing that Qiao Meixia was no longer standing beside them.

The three girls turned around, scanning the sidewalk to locate their missing friend. After looking around for a brief moment, they finally spotted her.

Qiao Meixia was already standing right at the glass counter inside the dessert shop, thinking about what sweet that she wanted to take back home

The three girls burst into simultaneous laughter at the sight.

Ever since they had become close friends with Qiao Meixia, they frequently found themselves cracking up like this. Qiao Meixia’s blunt, unbothered reactions were often surprisingly hilarious, especially when she did or said something completely unexpected without even realising how funny she was being.

Giggling among themselves, they quickly walked over and stepped into the dessert shop.

Once inside, they saw that Qiao Meixia had already picked up a serving plate and tongs, carefully hovering over the vibrant display cases.

In truth, Qiao Meixia was having a genuinely tough time deciding what to pick, mostly because she had to calculate whether the delicate treats could actually survive the high-speed ride home. Since she was riding her heavy superbike, there was a high risk that fragile cakes or pastries might get completely crushed inside her bag along the way. After much deliberation, she finally settled on a colourful array of mini macarons.

They were sturdy, neither too hard nor too delicate, making them the absolute perfect choice for her mode of transportation.