The power of the internet was immeasurable.

The earlier incident involving Chen Yuan and Lin Kexing had indeed attracted a wave of public attention, but back then, the focus had been entirely on the cheating scandal. As for Lin Kexing — while some people had indeed criticized her, many level-headed fans had urged people not to lose sight of the real issue, pointing out that Lin Kexing was likely the one who had been cheated on and was therefore an innocent party too. On top of that, Lin Family Jewelry had aggressively managed the narrative and handled the fallout, so Lin Kexing’s exposure in that incident had ultimately been minimal.

The previous incident had been an emotional dispute. This time, however, it was a criminal case that had crossed every line — and it drew far more attention. Even as Lin Family Jewelry and the Chen family tried to keep a lid on things, the internet’s determination proved stronger. By lunchtime, virtually every detail had been dug up and laid bare.

It turned out that the couple had been kidnapped by Chen Yuan because they had been privately blackmailing Lin Kexing.

Chen Yuan had done it to defend Lin Kexing’s honor.

But why had there been blackmail in the first place? Because that female classmate had discovered a secret of Lin Kexing’s. It came out that Lin Kexing had once inserted herself into another person’s relationship — specifically the relationship involving the previously viral A University campus beauty Jiang Ruoqiao and her ex-boyfriend. At the time, the ex-boyfriend had posted publicly acknowledging that the breakup was due to him not maintaining appropriate boundaries with another woman…

The internet immediately erupted in commentary —

【Just so you know, I was a classmate of Miss Lin’s in middle school. I thought the face looked familiar when I first saw the news, though it’s been a few years and I didn’t recognize her right away. I’ve met A University campus beauty’s ex-boyfriend before. Back then, everyone knew Miss Lin and the older brother who lived at her house were very close. How to put it… not surprising, really.】

【Honestly I couldn’t care less about whether someone was the “other woman” or not — what I really want to know is: the last time A University campus beauty got smeared online, her account almost got reported into oblivion. Who was pulling the strings behind all of that? The more you think about it, the more chilling it gets.】

【I’m a long-time fan of Xiaoqiao’s, and what happened back then was genuinely bizarre and sudden. Everyone in our fan group was speculating about who she’d managed to offend. Now that this news is breaking, I’m genuinely worried for Xiaoqiao! Say it with me: down with evil capitalists!】

【If you connect both incidents together… does that mean that for people like these wealthy heirs, if they dislike someone, they can simply deploy their resources to smear them or destroy the work they’ve poured their heart into — and if they dislike someone else, they can just kidnap them and use vigilante justice? Those two who did the blackmailing were absolutely in the wrong and breaking the law — but you could have just gone to the police. To privately retaliate like this… am I genuinely living in the modern era?】

【Down with capitalism!! This story has me absolutely furious!!】

Jiang Ruoqiao was completely unsurprised by how things had developed.

And this was only what had already come to light — how much more had never been exposed?

The comment section and reposts on Lin Family Jewelry’s official account had broken ten thousand in no time, all of them in condemnation, and someone was insisting that Lin Family Jewelry’s tax records be investigated.

As for Chen Yuan, a professional lawyer stepped in to provide a breakdown: the minimum sentencing for kidnapping started at five years. The Chen family would undoubtedly deploy their lawyers to mount a defense, and some commentators analyzed that Chen Yuan’s defense team would likely attempt to use Lin Kexing’s situation as a mitigating angle. But Lin Family Jewelry had absolutely no desire to be dragged into this affair and would certainly do everything possible to distance themselves. Forget talk of the two families joining through marriage — after all this wrangling, the two sides were sure to end up as enemies.

Jiang Ruoqiao knew full well she had been walking a tightrope.

But crossing that stretch of tightrope was the only way to reach level ground on the other side.

Because she had once been in a relationship with a certain person, her life from that moment forward had been destined to pass through a stretch of treacherous territory.

Fortunately — she had made it through.

The story spread like wildfire at A University as well.

Primarily because the affair involved Jiang Ruoqiao, a student at the school, which meant countless people were rushing to start discussion threads on the campus forum, passing along the freshest updates. Many people in those threads were saying that Jiang Yan was a plague — who would dare get into a relationship with him after all this? Dating him didn’t just mean tolerating his practically nonexistent sense of boundaries; you also had to bear the retaliation of anyone who had feelings for him… they were out.

In Jiang Ruoqiao’s dormitory, Yun Jia and the others had specially acquired props for the occasion. They absolutely insisted that Jiang Ruoqiao step over a fire basin to ward off the bad luck.

Lu Yicheng, of course, had also heard about all of this.

At first, he had indeed assumed Jiang Ruoqiao had been smeared because of the awkward situation he and Jiang Yan had created. It hadn’t occurred to him that there was so much more beneath the surface. Everyone was worried for Jiang Ruoqiao, but Lu Yicheng was gripped by a fear that went deeper than anyone’s — he didn’t dare imagine what might have happened if it had been Jiang Ruoqiao that maniac had kidnapped instead. He had tasted fear and dread in a way he never had before, and without pausing to think, he called Jiang Ruoqiao. Even after hanging up he was still uneasy, so he rushed to the classroom where she was.

He hadn’t even managed to say two words when the bell rang for class.

Jiang Ruoqiao burst out laughing.

Lu Yicheng was in a dilemma. In the end, bearing the stares of everyone in the classroom, he followed Jiang Ruoqiao inside and sat down in the seat beside her.

Only at that moment did it occur to Lu Yicheng to feel awkward.

Jiang Ruoqiao wasn’t attending some elective course — this was a major course, and the entire classroom was filled with her classmates. He wasn’t from the same department at all. Showing up out of nowhere like this was an extremely conspicuous thing to do. Of course, in Lu Yicheng’s entire twenty years of life, this was also the first time he had ever followed a girl into her class.

Jiang Ruoqiao looked at Lu Yicheng, completely at a loss for what to do with himself, and was thoroughly amused.

Should she call him good at picking his moments, or terrible at it?

【Stay calm.】 Jiang Ruoqiao pulled out a notebook from her bag, wrote two words, put on the expression of someone paying rapt attention to the lecture, and slid the notebook over to him.

Lu Yicheng took a few books out of his bag to look the part.

Seeing those two words, the tension in him eased considerably. He picked up his pen and wrote underneath: 【I can’t stay calm. I’m sorry. Does your professor have a habit of calling on students to answer questions?】

Two top students, exchanging notes during class.

Jiang Ruoqiao hadn’t thought to pull out her phone, and neither had Lu Yicheng — and so the two of them communicated through this childish and ancient method, finding in it an unexpected charm all its own.

Because for the two of them, this counted as a genuine first — a remarkably novel experience.

For Jiang Ruoqiao, back in elementary school, middle school, and even high school, many people had liked to pass her notes during class.

She had generally never bothered to read them, unwilling to let anyone disturb her concentration.

Lu Yicheng, as a top student himself, would never have had any interest in passing notes with anyone during class either.

But university — you were allowed to relax a little now and then!

Jiang Ruoqiao thought to herself: *Besides, the professor is basically reviewing material for us, and I already know all of this. A brief moment of distraction… should be fine, right?*

She wrote back: 【Don’t worry. Our professor usually only calls on familiar faces.】

Lu Yicheng wrote back with a quiet laugh: 【Good. By the way — is what they’re saying on the forum true?】

Jiang Ruoqiao was in a decent mood — having resolved her biggest problem, she was even in the headspace to tease him: 【Which thing are you referring to?】

Lu Yicheng: 【That your account almost being suspended was connected to that Lin.】

Jiang Ruoqiao: 【Her name is Lin Kexing. Did you forget? I thought you had such a good memory.】

There was no way he could have forgotten what she was called.

Lu Yicheng, treading carefully: 【I’m sorry.】

Jiang Ruoqiao: 【It wasn’t her doing, but it was connected to her. Am I not terribly unlucky?】

Lu Yicheng fell into deep thought reading this.

He couldn’t help but feel a stab of self-reproach.

Lu Yicheng was someone who lived a relatively simpler life compared to most university students — he didn’t even have the social media app on his phone, had no account on it, and would never scroll through it for entertainment. When it came to surfing the internet, Lu Yicheng was out of step with the times, always behind on news, and so when the incident first unfolded, he had never even considered the possibility that Jiang Ruoqiao might have been deliberately targeted by someone.

In his frame of reference, he was a student. Jiang Yan was a student. Jiang Ruoqiao was also a student.

What sort of enemies could students possibly make? Even if classmates bickered, that stayed within the narrow scope of the campus forum.

The world outside of school — that felt far too distant from all of them.

In some sense — had he been too naive?

Jiang Ruoqiao noticed that Lu Yicheng hadn’t responded for a long time, and glanced sideways at him — she was taken aback.

He looked as though he were wrestling with something weighty, brow furrowed, gaze fixed on some distant point with grave intensity.

She reached out a hand and, while the professor wasn’t looking, gave him a light nudge. *What is it? He looked like someone had immobilized him — completely motionless.*

Lu Yicheng came back to himself and looked at her.

She couldn’t quite explain why, but Jiang Ruoqiao felt as though she could see something in his eyes — something like sorrow, like heaviness.

*What’s wrong?*

Lu Yicheng picked up his pen and, with some difficulty, wrote slowly and deliberately on the paper: 【I’m sorry. I was too slow to realize. But even if I had realized sooner — I’m not sure what I could have done. It feels like there’s nothing I could have done.】

Ordinary and unremarkable as he was, even just raising a child already felt like it was pushing the limits of what he could handle.

If she had really been kidnapped — what could he have done for her?

Jiang Ruoqiao read what he’d written and let the smile fade from her face. Truthfully, this question had been the source of her own helplessness ever since she had discovered she was a character in a book.

It was because of all this that even a breakup had been handled with careful caution, timed to the most precise and appropriate moment.

It was because of all this that when faced with those latent threats, there was no way to retaliate openly — all she could do was stay vigilant and guard herself quietly.

Jiang Ruoqiao picked up the pen and wrote: 【Don’t be like that. If you were born an ant, become the ant that can defeat an elephant.】

Even in the original novel, even after enduring everything terrible — “she” had survived. Living fully, living well.

Lu Yicheng: 【You’re right. I still believe that this world has its sense of justice — that good prevails over evil.】

Jiang Ruoqiao: 【Hold on. We’re in class right now, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t a moral education course.】

*Don’t offer me a bowl of inspiring sentiment when I’ve just handed you one.*

Lu Yicheng laughed too.

The bell rang.

In full view of their classmates, the two of them walked out of the classroom together — only to find, before they had even left the building, that Jiang Yan was rushing in their direction at the stairwell landing.

The students in the usually busy corridor instinctively slowed their steps.

Both Jiang Ruoqiao and Lu Yicheng saw Jiang Yan.

Jiang Yan saw them too.

Jiang Ruoqiao had no intention of acknowledging him. In the face of the damage that had already been done, there was no longer any point in debating who had been right or wrong. The moment they had broken up, she and Jiang Yan had ceased to have anything to do with each other. After that, whether they crossed paths or not, no acknowledgment was necessary. She walked calmly down the stairs; Lu Yicheng followed behind her. The two of them passed by Jiang Yan with unhurried composure.

Jiang Yan stood there in a momentary daze, watching them pass — and when they were gone, a bitter expression settled over his face.

He had suddenly come to understand something.

Something he had been doing everything in his power to deny.

For a long time now, regardless of whether it was him and Ruoqiao, or him and Lu Yicheng — they had all become strangers.