Chapter 12: Dazzling

Cen Mo had always held a principle: sins should not be laid upon one’s parents.

Simply put, no matter what mistakes she made, her family should never be dragged into it. No matter how dissatisfied someone was with her, they were not allowed to insult her parents.

And yet, a complete stranger—someone she’d barely met—had the audacity to sneer, “How were her parents even raising her?”

At first, Cen Mo thought it was just some strange jealousy between girls, nothing worth her attention. She had been the subject of gossip plenty of times before. If she took every word seriously, she would have already become the reigning champion of fights.

Due to her life experiences, Cen Mo was mentally more mature than her peers. The advantage was that many trivial worries and anxieties that troubled her classmates seemed insignificant to her.

Take the recent reserved graduate spot as a prime example.

Although she had just denied the rumors to her class advisor, she genuinely felt that the reserved spot at this university wasn’t worth fighting over. For one, she wanted to start working soon; secondly, with her capabilities, she could gain admission to even better schools.

Yet, she was still treated as an imagined rival. Not only was she gossiped about behind her back, but even her parents weren’t spared.

This was the one thing Cen Mo least wanted to discuss.

On stage, a lengthy speech continued. The auditorium was dimly lit, with most people secretly playing on their phones.

As Cen Mo turned her head, her gaze landed squarely on Zhou Lingqiao’s seat. From above, she looked down at her with an unfriendly glare.

“Ah, you…” Zhou Lingqiao was momentarily stunned, about to speak.

But before she could utter a word, Cen Mo suddenly grabbed a handful of her long curly hair, pulling her down to the floor. Zhou Lingqiao cried out in dismay, completely caught off guard.

Cen Mo crouched down as soon as Zhou Lingqiao hit the floor, pressing one bent leg firmly against her back, immobilizing her.

The entire sequence took less than a minute, every move executed with decisiveness.

She had always been good at fighting and adept at learning from experience. When she was younger and bullied by older boys, she knew to first admit fault and beg for mercy, then strike unexpectedly with a punch. Once the boy fell, she would restrain his limbs, leaving him powerless to retaliate.

That tactic still worked now. Moreover, Zhou Lingqiao rarely exercised and was as weak as a chick, making her even easier to handle.

So, what’s the point of running your mouth when you have no real skills?

Yet, against such a novice, Cen Mo didn’t go all out, not wanting to be accused of bullying the weak. Aside from pulling her hair, she didn’t land a single punch—just held her down firmly.

Seeing Zhou Lingqiao struggle helplessly like an overturned turtle, Cen Mo raised an eyebrow and lowered her head to ask coldly, “Do you remember what you just said?”

“What are you doing? I’m going to call the teacher! I’m going to call the school authorities!” Zhou Lingqiao didn’t answer but instead screamed desperately, “Help! Someone’s hitting me!”

This drew the attention of everyone around.

Cen Mo frowned slightly. “I just want you to answer a question. Is this really necessary?”

Grabbing Zhou Lingqiao’s collar, she flipped her over and rephrased, “Do you remember now? If you do, answer me.”

Only then did Zhou Lingqiao shed a few pitiful tears and stammer, “I… I said you have bad character. I’m sorry.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“You… your parents didn’t raise you well…” Zhou Lingqiao trailed off, knowing she was in the wrong.

“Apologize.” Cen Mo’s command was crisp and clear.

“I-I'm sorry.” Zhou Lingqiao sobbed, still managing to get the words out.

“Forget it.” Seeing how frightened and trembling Zhou Lingqiao was, Cen Mo lost interest. Though the apology sounded insincere, she didn’t want to argue further.

She was about to stand up when the front of the auditorium suddenly became chaotic. A few administrators pointed toward them and approached, obviously having been informed of the disturbance.

That marked the turning point for Zhou Lingqiao.

Cen Mo even thought the girl’s otherwise unremarkable features seemed to come alive at that moment. Her limp arm suddenly gained strength as she grabbed Cen Mo’s arm, sitting up like doing a sit-up and shouting at the top of her lungs: “Teacher! Cen Mo is hitting me!”

Really? Was she a child? They had already graduated. Shouting for a teacher here was pointless. If not for Zhou Lingqiao’s overly excited expression, Cen Mo might have laughed outright.

“Do you think that by having this fight on your record, my reserved graduate spot will be revoked?” Cen Mo leisurely pried Zhou Lingqiao’s fingers off her arm and raised the hand to her own neck, as if Zhou Lingqiao was choking her. She smiled and asked, “Is that what you think?”

“With your character, there’s no way you’ll get the reserved spot!” Zhou Lingqiao, feeling emboldened, spoke with spirit. “Why should I apologize to you? If you’re so capable, then hit me!”

“Oh? Didn’t you know? I never planned to pursue graduate studies anyway. Didn’t you check? I’m already working now.” Cen Mo spoke in a tone that mocked the girl’s ignorance, no longer angry.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several teachers approaching along the aisle. She then flipped Zhou Lingqiao over abruptly, reversing their positions entirely.

“You…” Zhou Lingqiao was stunned, realizing that now it looked as if she was the one attacking Cen Mo, even holding her throat with both hands.

“You also have a reserved graduate spot, right? Look now—who’s been disqualified?” Cen Mo lay on the floor, casually relaxed.

Then she slowly said, grabbing Zhou Lingqiao’s hands and holding them in the choking position.

The school administrators arrived right on time and saw this scene.

“Zhou Lingqiao, are you out of your mind? Fighting at the graduation ceremony! Do you even want to pursue graduate studies?” The class advisor was the first to speak, and someone else stepped forward to pry Zhou Lingqiao’s hands away.

Cen Mo brushed off the dust and stood up nonchalantly. “Sorry, my chest hurts a bit. I want to go to the hospital for a checkup.”

She turned to leave.

Having already received her diploma, she only came to the ceremony out of boredom.

Surely someone must have recorded what just happened, but the lighting was too dim to catch her face clearly.

Still, Cen Mo wasn’t worried about anyone producing a video to clear Zhou Lingqiao’s name. From what had happened, it was clear how disliked Zhou Lingqiao was.

When she was pinned to the ground, not a single classmate stepped forward to mediate. It was truly pitiful.

Zhou Lingqiao cared so much about the reserved spot? Then let her watch it slip away—that would be punishment for her sharp tongue and ill intentions.

With that thought, Cen Mo ignored Zhou Lingqiao’s frantic protests behind her and headed toward the auditorium’s back door. When she looked up, a tall man was standing by the door, his beautiful almond-shaped eyes fixed on her.

Su Xingzhi? She wasn’t quite sure, so she looked again.

It was indeed him—his noble and indifferent aura, the handsome, refined face, all exactly like the CEO Su she had heard about.

So what business did he have here?

Of course, Cen Mo didn’t assume he was here for her. Besides, he was face blind. With so many people around, he surely couldn’t recognize her.

Thinking this, she boldly met his gaze for a few seconds. His handsome eyes were calm and unreadable, showing no special reaction. Confident, she brushed past him.

The next moment, she found herself trapped in the dim corridor.

The man’s long arm was stretched against the wall behind her, blocking her path.

Looking down at her, dressed impeccably in a sharp suit with a perfectly buttoned white shirt, he exuded a formal, refined aura fit for a serious occasion.

“Secretary Cen, what kind of courage allows you to ignore your boss outside the office?”

His voice was cool and tinged with displeasure, whispering in her ear.

“President Su, what are you doing here?” Cen Mo was startled. Though she didn’t know how he recognized her, she instinctively tried to evade and changed the subject.

Fortunately, the man didn’t press further.

“Wait for me.” After straightening up, he said simply.

“Wait for you?” Cen Mo was even more puzzled.

“There’s a last-minute event to attend. You’ll accompany me.”

“Alright.” Cen Mo instantly switched into serious secretary mode. “Let’s go quickly.”

They stepped out together, she casually took off her graduation gown and handed it to a nearby student, her pace quickening unconsciously.

Having chosen the secretary profession, she held herself to being diligent and responsible. Even on her day off, she worked without complaint, already having put the earlier incident behind her.

But… did Su Xingzhi see her fight just now? With so many people around, he shouldn’t have noticed her.

She couldn’t help but feel doubtful.

...

Did Su Xingzhi see it?

Not only did he see it clearly, but he also took in every detail.

The auditorium was dark, but he wasn’t night-blind. Even with the faint light, he could clearly see the short-haired woman sitting in the back row.

Her back was straight, sitting there with unwavering self-discipline. Her profile was delicate, makeup-free, her aura clean and pure—compelling the eye to linger.

Su Xingzhi could distinguish facial features like the nose, eyes, and mouth individually, but when combined, the mental image blurred.

Because of this, over the years, he had relied on clothing, style, and voice to recognize people. Yet, uniquely with Cen Mo, he could spot her instantly in a crowd.