Wang Youfu took a sip of tea, then recounted the whole situation to Pei Yue. He emphasized that both Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan vehemently denied any romantic involvement, and as teachers, they hadn’t pressured the two into confessing. Calling the parents was simply a reminder that teenagers, during their puberty, should maintain a certain distance from each other, considering their minds are not fully matured yet. Despite his tactful approach, Pei Yue sounded somewhat disappointed on the other end of the line.
She sighed heavily, “I knew Ruoruo wouldn’t be interested in Lu Xingyan, sigh.”
“But Lu Xingyan is perfectly fine, why would he deny anything?” Wang Youfu replied hesitantly.
After hastily ending the call with Pei Yue, Wang Youfu pondered deeply while holding his thermos cup. He keenly felt that he was falling behind the times, and now his parents were too open-minded, weren’t they? After a while, he retrieved an old pair of glasses with a small gold chain that he had received from a former student, put them on for effect, and took a selfie, intending to post it on his social media to keep up with the times.
“Under the vast sky, the era’s spirit of reform and innovation is the source of strength for revitalizing our nation. We should keep pace with the Party, advance with the times, and embrace new ideas. 🌹”
His close alumni friends showered him with praise in the comments, while his colleagues pragmatically liked the post.
Feeling satisfied, Wang Youfu was about to head to the cafeteria when the grade level coordinator called, “Hey, Wang, you still have time to post on social media but haven’t left the office yet? Come over here quickly, there’s some paperwork from above.”
“I haven’t even had my meal yet. What’s the rush?” Wang replied.
“It’s about the bonus points for martial arts. Hurry up.”
Sensing the urgency in the coordinator’s tone, Wang quickly agreed.
During the dinner rush hour, Shen Xingruo, Lu Xingyan, and He Siyue navigated their way through a complex dinner arrangement. With many people out looking for food, most eateries were overcrowded. They had intended to settle for some pancakes, but even the pancake stalls had lines of over ten people. In the end, they reluctantly settled for seats at a poorly rated braised noodle shop tucked away by the wall.
Shen Xingruo sat in the middle, with He Siyue and Lu Xingyan on either side of her. She ordered a mixed braised noodle dish, He Siyue went for beef, while Lu Xingyan initially intended to order beef too, but upon seeing He Siyue’s choice, he changed his mind and opted for braised pork instead.
When the noodles arrived, although He Siyue and Lu Xingyan didn’t exchange any glances, they were unusually synchronized. They immediately started serving meat into Shen Xingruo’s bowl. He Siyue acted normally, only putting two pieces of beef in her bowl. However, Lu Xingyan, perhaps attempting to outdo He Siyue or for some other reason, piled all the braised pork into Shen Xingruo’s bowl.
Shen Xingruo remained silent for a moment, then asked, “Don’t you like it? If you don’t, you could have just ordered a vegetarian option instead of giving it all to me.”
“It’s not that. Look at how thin you are; you need to eat more meat to supplement your diet,” Lu Xingyan replied.
“…But I don’t want to eat this.”
“If I wanted to eat it, adding extra meat wouldn’t be a problem; I have money,” Lu Xingyan retorted.
“Fine, I know you’re rich,” she replied dismissively, as Lu Xingyan transferred the braised pork back to his bowl and sneakily took He Siyue’s two pieces of beef as well.
Eating braised noodles shouldn’t have taken much time, but He Siyue tried to start conversations three times, only to be out-argued by Lu Xingyan, the seasoned debater from the construction site. In the meantime, both Pei Yue and Shen Guangyao called, and Shen Xingruo talked on the phone while eating.
By the time they finished, He Siyue hadn’t managed to say a complete sentence to her. Shen Xingruo treated them to a meal.
As they left the shop, He Siyue expressed his intention to treat her to bubble tea. Lu Xingyan quickly interjected, “Class Monitor, why are you only treating Shen Xingruo? I want to drink too; you can’t play favorites.”
The voice sounded particularly punchable.
He Siyue stayed quiet for a moment before responding, “No problem, I just thought guys don’t usually drink bubble tea.”
“That’s for ordinary guys. I’m not ordinary,” Lu Xingyan retorted.
He Siyue remained silent.
The trio entered the bubble tea shop. Shen Xingruo ordered her favorite, a white peach oolong with a light milk cap. Lu Xingyan, upon the recommendation of the staff, ordered the couple’s new product, a white peach oolong with an avocado milk cap, the same as Shen Xingruo’s.
Siyue hadn’t felt anything particular before entering the shop, but as the weather started getting cooler, seeing everyone holding warm drinks, he suddenly felt like having a hot bubble tea.
Before he could order, Lu Xingyan patted his shoulder and half-jokingly said, “Class Monitor, I think you’re quite manly. You say you won’t drink, and you won’t, unlike those two, Li Chengfan and Zhao Langming. They used to mock me for drinking bubble tea like a girl, but now they drink one every day, adding sugar and milk caps, and they even like strawberry flavor. Truly shameless.”
He Siyue stayed silent. Lu Xingyan sensed from He Siyue’s hesitant expression that he wanted to try it too, to be a bit ‘flirty.’ But He Siyue was a serious guy; he couldn’t bring himself to say such things, so he suppressed the thought.
Suddenly, Lu Xingyan felt relaxed. Drinking with the money of his rival, enjoying the couple’s bubble tea, he thought it would be fitting to offer He Siyue a matcha latte, but he refrained.
Shen Xingruo couldn’t stand it anymore and shot Lu Xingyan a cold glance, signaling him to stop.
Back in class for evening self-study, when they walked in together, their classmates looked at them strangely. Shen Xingruo sensed something was off and asked Ruan Wen.
Ruan Wen stuttered, “Xingruo, I, I… don’t know what happened. I just finished dinner and came over. Everyone was talking, saying it seems like the class monitor reported you and Lu Xingyan about…”
Shen Xingruo had thought the timing wasn’t right to confront, but upon hearing Ruan Wen’s words, she paused, then asked, “Where did you hear this from?”
“Just from Wang Hui and them, my roommates,” Ruan Wen replied.
Shen Xingruo stood up abruptly and headed straight for Wang Hui, asking, “Wang Hui, Ruan Wen said she heard from you that the class monitor reported me and Lu Xingyan for cohabiting. I want to know where you heard this from.”
Wang Hui, who usually had little interaction with Shen Xingruo, was taken aback when Shen Xingruo approached her.
Although Shen Xingruo’s voice was calm and gentle, her distant and aloof demeanor might have made others feel a certain distance.
After hearing such a direct question, Wang Hui took a moment to gather herself before replying, “Yang Yang Yue mentioned it to me when we were in the restroom.”
Shen Xingruo nodded and then went to ask Yang Yang Yue.
Yang Yang Yue also pointed out two people to her.
With evening self-study about to start, everyone watched as Shen Xingruo questioned around the class, leaving everyone somewhat stunned.
Even when the class bell rang and the deputy class monitor called her from the podium, she didn’t respond, only saying, “I’m sorry, I’ll take full responsibility,” before continuing her inquiries.
She even asked students from the neighboring classes about the rumor without any hesitation, boldly marching into other classrooms and posing the same question to the rumor spreaders.
Zhai Jiajing sat in the front row of the classroom, initially not understanding what Shen Xingruo was up to. But as she overheard whispers from her classmates, she suddenly became flustered.
Within a few minutes, Shen Xingruo returned. The source of the rumor circled back to her class, and she questioned two more girls before finally—
—approaching Zhai Jiajing’s desk.
“Zhai Jiajing, Peng Feiyue told me that she heard from you during dinner that the class monitor reported me and Lu Xingyan for cohabiting. So, I’d like to know, when and from whom did you hear this?” Shen Xingruo’s expression remained calm as she went straight to the point.
She already had the answer in her heart, so at this moment, she couldn’t bring herself to call her “Jingjing.”
Zhai Jiajing sensed the change in Shen Xingruo’s tone, and her slightly comforted and restrained mind suddenly became chaotic once again.
She bit her lip. “It seems like it was this afternoon…”
At this point, she paused. It was during the third period in the afternoon when she and Shen Xingruo had gone to the restroom together, and at that moment, she had just shared her speculation with Shen Xingruo, guiding her to associate with He Siyue. But there were only four periods in the afternoon, where would she have the time to hear it from someone else? People tended to make mistakes when flustered, so if given more time, she might come up with a reasonable excuse. However, with Shen Xingruo pressing her so directly and logically about needing a source, she had no choice but to quickly fabricate, “I heard it from Zhong Xiaoyou of Class 4. After dinner, while passing by Class 4, I chatted with her for a few minutes.”
Zhong Xiaoyou was a close friend of Zhai Jiajing in the first year. If Shen Xingruo were to ask Zhong Xiaoyou again based on what she had just said, she was somewhat confident that Zhong Xiaoyou might sense something amiss, but she hoped Zhong Xiaoyou would help her cover-up.
Shen Xingruo nodded but didn’t move her body. “Lu Xingyan, could you go to Class 4 and bring Zhong Xiaoyou here for me?”
Lu Xingyan looked at the drama for a while and already had some understanding. He tilted his head lazily and made an okay gesture with his hand, then got up straight away.
With Lu Xingyan taking charge, there was nothing they couldn’t handle.
He Siyue also stood up. “I’ll go with you.”
After hearing so many rumors, he had already suppressed his anger, so there was no point in attending evening self-study.
Only Zhai Jiajing’s heart sank like a stone. She was certain—Shen Xingruo was suspicious of her, and not just suspicious, but certain. Shen Xingruo had personally questioned students from other classes earlier, but now, suddenly, she wasn’t going to ask her. She was just standing there, not leaving.
She vaguely understood that Shen Xingruo wanted to prevent her from contacting Zhong Xiaoyou with her phone.
Zhai Jiajing was in a panic, her face becoming increasingly pale.
Within minutes, Zhong Xiaoyou arrived, feeling bewildered at being brought over to another class.
Standing at the doorway, unsure whether to enter or leave, she wondered why these two boys had brought her there. Suddenly, Lu Xingyan spoke up, “Classmate, do you know me and Shen Xingruo?”
As a popular figure in the grade, Zhong Xiaoyou naturally knew them. She hesitated before nodding.
“Do you know who reported us for dating and living together?” Lu Xingyan asked.
Zhong Xiaoyou quickly thought it over and then shook her head. “I don’t know.” Then, she added in a whisper, “Hey, you didn’t bring me here because… you suspect I reported it, did you? I didn’t. I’ve only heard about you two, I don’t even know…”
All eyes turned to Zhai Jiajing.
Zhai Jiajing was the one who spread the rumor during dinner, but since it hadn’t been long and the rumor hadn’t spread widely, the students in Class 4, where Zhong Xiaoyou belonged, hadn’t heard about it yet.
Zhong Xiaoyou’s face showed a look of confusion and innocence, making everything clear.
No matter how many schemes Zhai Jiajing had, she was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. Holding on until now was already quite a feat. Her mind was in complete chaos as she thought about the consequences she would face. Suddenly, she couldn’t hold back the tears, but she couldn’t find any strong words of defense either.
Shen Xingruo looked at her with cold and distant eyes. “Zhai Jiajing, do you have anything else to say? You’ve been spreading rumors left and right, quite skilled at it.”
Zhai Jiajing choked back tears and shook her head. “No, I didn’t, Xingruo, you’ve misunderstood.”
“What did I misunderstand? Are you saying it wasn’t Zhong Xiaoyou who told you? Then who did? Where did the rumor originate?” Shen Xingruo suddenly pulled her up from her seat. “Stop pretending to be pitiful. Anyone can cry. Have I bullied you? Have I wrongly accused you? If so, where? If you can explain clearly, your classmates can serve as witnesses. I can apologize to you at the morning assembly in front of the whole school.”
Just as some classmates who had initially felt sympathy and believed Zhai Jiajing would never do such a thing began to see Shen Xingruo’s point, they started to shift their allegiance. Shen Xingruo continued, “You also wrote the anonymous report, didn’t you?”
Zhai Jiajing vigorously shook her head. “I didn’t I didn’t.”
Shen Xingruo had been waiting for this response. “You didn’t, you’re innocent, then tell me, when you incited me, how did you know which unit the report specifically mentioned that I and Lu Xingyan lived in?”
Among those most shocked was Shi Qin. Initially, she couldn’t believe Zhai Jiajing would spread rumors like this. However, when Shen Xingruo mentioned it, something suddenly clicked in her mind.
“If that’s the case, there’s one more crucial point: how did he know that you and Lu Xingyan lived together, and which unit you lived in?”
It had only been a few hours since Zhai Jiajing had spoken those words, but they echoed in Shi Qin’s mind. At the time, she hadn’t thought much about it, but now she realized that someone had indeed written a report to the principal about Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan dating and living together, and it had caused quite a stir. However, in reality, no one knew the exact contents of the report.
At that moment, Shen Xingruo timely called out to her, “Shi Qin, do you remember what Zhai Jiajing said?”
Shi Qin remained silent for a while, then nodded and repeated what Zhai Jiajing had said.