The gaze slowly shifted sideways, and the next second, the hand on the shoulder was fiercely grabbed by Bertha Haines.
"Ah, it hurts, it hurts... Let go! Let go quickly!"
With a slight exertion of strength, her opponent staggered back three or four steps.
[Scram!]
The female classmate steadied herself, rubbed her pained wrist a few times, and then glared fiercely at Bertha Haines.
"Are you fucking looking to die!"
Bertha glanced at the time, and the class bell suddenly rang.
"Just you wait!"
The female classmate warned her and then prepared to leave with her group of followers, but just a few steps away, the chandelier above suddenly fell without warning.
"Ah!"
"Bl... Bleeding!"
In an instant, the classroom was in chaos.
Bertha looked up and saw the female classmate clutching her head, being helped up by someone, and couldn't help but curve her lips slightly.
What Jinx reincarnate?
Grandpa always said she was the Haines Family's little lucky star.
Still, today's incident might put her under the hat again.
*
Noticing her deskmate was peeking at her, Bertha turned sideways to glance at her, expecting her to stay away like most people. But instead...
April Lane suddenly leaned closer, looking at her with admiration.
"Do you know who that classmate is? The school's bully in our academy—Kimberley Ford!"
"In our academy, if not half, at least a third of the students have been bullied by her!"
"Of course, some have resisted her, but it always ends badly. You're the first to embarrass her like this!"
Bertha became interested: [Aren't you afraid you'll catch my bad luck?]
April understood lip language, so when talking to her, Bertha didn't need sign language, just normal "speaking".
"I don't believe in that at all. My neighbor has a kid who lost his parents shortly after he was born and later his grandfather, too."
"Everyone called him a Jinx, but I played with him every day, and I'm not dead."
"Besides, my grandpa was a Party member, so from a young age, I've been a staunch materialist. Ghosts or gods, I don't believe in any of it."
Bertha suddenly discovered that her deskmate was not only cheerful but also particularly kind and sweet.
This deskmate became Bertha's first friend in life.
They went to school and had meals together every day, and coincidentally lived in the same dormitory at night.
Bertha liked living on campus. Though the dormitory was far from the Norris Family's prepared bedroom, she liked the dormitory atmosphere.
Of course, not all dorm mates were kind to her.
A classmate named Lily, having accidentally scalded herself fetching hot water, blamed it on her.
"It's been such a damn unlucky time lately!"
"Some people's families are so wealthy, yet they don't stay in a single room and insist on crowding with us. Who knows what their intention is!"
Out of goodwill, Bertha took some burn ointment from her own medical kit for her, but she wasn't appreciative at all.
"Ignore her, she's just a lunatic! Ugh... this girl looks a lot like you!"
April was scrolling through videos on her phone and suddenly found a girl who looked a lot like Bertha, so she showed it to her.
Bertha took a glance and frowned.
The video showed her rescuing someone a few days ago, which had unknowingly been recorded and uploaded online.
[That's me.]
April's mouth formed an O shape.
"You... you're so good at swimming, you must have held your breath underwater for three minutes!"
"But the guy you rescued is really handsome, and the one next to him is quite handsome too."
Bertha chuckled; being handsome can't be eaten for a meal.
"By the way, do you have plans this weekend? Let's go to Glory Star and shop, there's a snack shop that makes delicious hot and sour soup."
Bertha originally wanted to stay at school to review, anticipating her first monthly test, but she couldn't bear to see April disappointed. As she was hesitating, a text arrived.
[Are you free this weekend? I'd like to treat you to a meal to thank you for saving me last time.]
Though it was from an unknown number, she guessed who it was.
Her biological mother had already visited him in the hospital, and he had been hospitalized for over ten days with pulmonary edema and inflammation.
Bertha directly replied: [Not free.]
Sebastian Page replied again: [When will you be free then?]
Bertha thought for a moment, then replied: [Saving you was just a professional habit, if you really want to thank me, top up my mobile balance by three hundred bucks.]
Three hundred bucks was what she earned for recovering a body.
Sebastian indeed topped up her balance generously, adding a thousand bucks at once.
But she didn't go to 'Glory Star' with April after all, because Kimberley Ford was discharged from the hospital and came to seek revenge with her group right away.
Bertha knew martial arts, learned Sanda from an old man she met while jogging by the river every morning, not proficient, but enough to handle those who knew nothing about fighting.
But she was careless.
Kimberley was bold enough to hide a knife in her clothes.
At an unguarded moment, Bertha's arm got slashed. Luckily she dodged quickly, and the wound was not deep, but she had to go to the hospital for stitches.
*
The school asked for a guardian to come, so after hesitating for a long time, Bertha texted her biological mother.
But the one who came wasn't her biological mother, but her slightly disapproving older brother.
"Called your guardian in less than a month since you started school, that's some talent!"
The sarcasm in Ivan Norris's words was obvious to Bertha, but since she needed him, she endured it.
Upon entering the director's office, Bertha saw Kimberley Ford's father.
As the saying goes, like father, like daughter. Mr. Ford's domineering attitude exceeded his daughter's.
"I don't care what the reason is, my daughter got hurt!"
"See? Not just her head, she's injured on her waist, chest, and legs too!"
"She must apologize to my daughter and pay compensation!"
"Of course, if she gets expelled, that'd be great!"
Ivan Norris didn't want to waste time, so he directly offered money: "How much!"
Mr. Ford made a hefty demand: "Two... Twenty thousand! Not a penny less!"
Seeing this, Bertha snatched Ivan Norris's wallet and glared at him.
This man, without even asking, went straight to giving money, clearly seeing it as her fault.
"Compensation? Why compensate her? She was the one who first came with a group to corner Bertha!"
April Lane had been by Bertha's side, fearing she might be at a disadvantage during explanations due to her inability to speak.
"She claims the classroom chandelier fell on her because of Bertha's bad luck and demands Bertha pay her medical fees!"
Kimberley Ford interrupted: "Who doesn't know you two are always inseparable? Can your words be trusted?"
Ivan Norris cast a cold glance at Kimberley Ford and warned:
"Shut up!"