Chapter 366: Dropping Out?
Everyone had liked Qu An, but then they heard him go further and further overboard. When he calculated the money he’d supposedly spent on Su Li, he even included the food he had treated them all to.
When they realized he had even included the drinks and popsicles he had voluntarily bought for everyone during their last outing, the way they looked at him changed.
No one had ever imagined that the Qu An who always seemed so nice and cheerful was actually like this underneath.
Su Li was oblivious to Qu An slandering her behind her back.
Since Qu An didn’t dare to slander her or do anything in public at school, Su Li simply put the matter aside and paid it no mind.
Her classmates still gave her strange looks, but with final exams just around the corner, Su Li was too busy studying to care.
The other students weren’t hanging out with Su Li, so they certainly weren’t going to tell her about any of this. And since everyone also avoided Chang E because of her closeness with Su Li, she remained in the dark about Qu An’s subsequent slanders as well.
Time flew, and the final exams were soon upon them.
One exam in the morning, and one in the afternoon.
The morning final ended without a hitch. When the time was up, the students began turning in their papers one after another.
Su Li waited for the allotted time to end before going with the flow and handing in her exam.
Just as she handed in her paper, a sudden commotion erupted behind her.
"What’s going on?"
"AH..."
A series of gasps and confused murmurs came from behind her. Su Li turned around, curious, and immediately saw Li Li, the class sanitation monitor, collapsed on the floor at the back of the room.
Li Li was lying on the ground, convulsing and foaming at the mouth. As her head and feet thrashed against the nearby desks and chairs, they scraped against the floor, creating a harsh, grating sound.
Su Li’s expression changed instantly. She pushed past her stunned classmates, ran forward, and immediately shoved the desks and chairs away from Li Li’s body.
Su Li’s swift action snapped everyone back to reality, and they rushed over to help.
A few of the girls, frightened by the sight, let out screams. Su Li shot her head up. "Quiet!"
"Close the door!"
The final exams all ended at the same time, so the hallways outside were bustling with students.
The girls who had screamed immediately clapped their hands over their mouths.
Chang E shoved past a boy standing frozen beside her and rushed to shut the door.
The teacher, who had snapped out of it at the front of the room, quickly closed the main door.
Su Li unfastened the top two buttons of Li Li’s shirt and then gently turned her head to the side.
Just as Su Li was about to stand, she saw a boy suddenly try to hold down Li Li’s legs. A girl beside him saw this and moved to restrain her arms.
"Don’t hold her down," Su Li said urgently.
"You can’t restrain her limbs during a seizure. You could easily cause a fracture or a muscle tear, which would only cause her more pain."
Su Li waved the boy away. "Don’t do anything. Just wait."
’Judging by the convulsions and foaming at the mouth, this must be an epileptic seizure.’
’Seizures usually resolve on their own within five minutes.’
Outside, the hallway was a cacophony of footsteps and chatter from the other students.
Inside the classroom, it was dead silent.
Many of the girls, afraid they might scream, kept their hands pressed tightly over their mouths.
Just as Su Li had expected, the seizure soon subsided on its own.
Su Li breathed a sigh of relief. She stopped a classmate who suggested pinching Li Li’s philtrum. "Don’t pinch the spot under her nose. It won’t help her at all."
Su Li knelt, took out a handkerchief to wipe Li Li’s mouth clean, and then helped her up.
"Who are her roommates?"
Two girls immediately stepped forward.
"Take her back to her dorm to rest in a bit. Keep an eye on her. If this happens again, take her to the hospital."
The two girls nodded vigorously.
Su Li supported Li Li and was about to lift her onto her back when a tall female student stepped out from the crowd.
"Let me carry her. I’m stronger."
Without another word, she squatted down. Su Li nodded, and together, they helped get Li Li onto the tall student’s back.
Before she left, Su Li glanced around at her classmates and said in a low voice.
"It would be best if none of you said anything about this outside."
With that, Su Li followed them out.
After she was gone, the remaining students looked at each other in stunned silence for a long moment before anyone finally snapped out of it.
No one spoke a word as they silently returned the desks and chairs to their proper places.
The teacher glanced at them, gathered the exams, and walked out.
One by one, the students left in pairs and small groups.
Soon, only Qu An remained, standing alone in a corner of the classroom.
When Li Li’s seizure had started, Qu An had been the one closest to her.
Startled, Qu An had leaped several steps back, putting a wide distance between them...
...and he stayed there until the whole ordeal was over.
When Li Li opened her eyes, she was disoriented for a moment.
But as her senses returned, her face turned deathly pale.
’My classmates... they all saw...’
She turned her head and saw her two roommates.
"You’re awake. You should eat. We were just saying your food is going to get cold."
After speaking, the two girls turned back to their studying.
Li Li sat in a daze for a moment, looking down at her clothes and then at the meal on her desk, which her roommates had obviously brought for her.
She bit her lip and looked over at her roommates. "I... Just now, did I...?"
Li Li had epilepsy, but she didn’t have seizures often.
She’d had a seizure once in elementary school, and then once each in middle school and high school. Since they had all happened while she was at home, no one outside her family knew.
Because the seizures were so infrequent, Li Li hadn’t given it much thought. She never expected one to happen so suddenly.
Even though it didn’t happen often, she recognized the feeling.
She couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence.
"Hurry and eat. It’s fine."
One of her roommates turned back and smiled at her. The smile helped calm Li Li’s anxious heart a little.
Li Li forced herself to eat the tasteless meal. When she finished, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at her roommates again.
"You both saw it, didn’t you?"
The two roommates exchanged a glance before finally nodding. "Yeah."
Li Li’s last shred of hope was shattered.
Tears immediately welled up in her eyes. "You saw... so that means..."
She couldn’t bear to imagine it. She didn’t know how she would face the stares of her classmates, how she would deal with their guarded, wary looks.
In high school, there had been another student with epilepsy. Unlike Li Li, that student had seizures quite frequently.
Even though the teachers did their best to comfort everyone and stop the gossip, the other students’ fearful, strange looks and the whispers behind his back eventually led to that student dropping out of school.
"I don’t want to drop out. I worked so hard to get into this university..."
Sorrow washed over Li Li.
Her two roommates were aghast. "What are you talking about, dropping out? Don’t be ridiculous."
"By now, I’m sure word has spread through the whole department, maybe even the whole school. How can I go on, having a sickness like this?"
Tears streamed down Li Li’s face.
Her roommates quickly shook their heads. "No, that’s not true. Nobody knows. Only the people in our class know about it. Don’t worry, it’s okay."
Li Li paused, stunned. "Huh?"
’The exam was over by then,’ she thought. ’Everyone must have seen it.’
The two roommates exchanged a look and then told Li Li everything that had happened afterward.
As she listened, Li Li was so stunned she forgot to cry.
"Su Li... How could she... How could she possibly..."
’I even badmouthed her before. Su Li should hate me. How could she...?’
Her two roommates looked just as dazed as Li Li felt.
Su Li had helped bring Li Li back to the dorm and had explained to them, as her roommates, what they should do if she ever had another seizure.