Chapter 11

I didn’t inhale too much of the thick smoke, so I was back at school in about two weeks. Since Qu Fang’s postgraduate recommendation was canceled, there hadn’t been many rumors inside the school, but the atmosphere in the dorm was even more awkward.

Of course, I didn’t stop my revenge against Qu Fang. Since I couldn’t think of a way to break her and my dad up, making her unhappy at least helped vent the frustration in my heart.

I anonymously posted an audio recording of Qu Fang naked-chatting with someone at night on the school intranet. Everyone was guessing who it was. At that moment, Qu Fang glared at me, her face livid.

“Zhao Beibei, enough! Tell me, did you post that audio on the intranet?”

I let out a few laughs. “Go bite whoever bit you. I haven’t even settled the score with you yet! You almost burned me to death, and now you come here to argue with me? Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, Lin Ruijie confessed to me. I haven’t decided whether to be with him yet.”

“Ah!”

Suddenly, Qu Fang acted like a madwoman, sweeping everything off her desk onto the floor and screaming at the top of her lungs.

“I won’t let you off!”

The next day, photos of me getting in and out of luxury cars appeared on the school intranet. Rumors of a young female college student being kept as a mistress ran rampant. Even though Lin Ruijie strongly testified that my family background wasn’t bad, I didn’t release any substantive proof because I didn’t want to expose my identity.

But the cruelty among students is truly vicious. Disgusted by the idea that I was someone’s kept woman, and equally disgusted by Qu Fang mingling with various men, they constantly threw trash at our dorm door, poured glue in our desks, and pulled other childish pranks.

Cui Miao moved out too, which was fine. She was a fence-sitter anyway. Now it was just me and Qu Fang in the dorm, making it easier for me to target her. We completely dropped all pretenses and wouldn’t even exchange a word when coming and going.

[Meet me downstairs at five.]

It was a message from Lin Ruijie. We hadn’t contacted each other since last time. I thought I’d never need this phone again, but unexpectedly, he used it to text me.

From the window, I could see the dorm’s front entrance perfectly. Wearing a baseball cap, he leaned against a tree. It was dusk, and the phrase “the evening breeze gently strokes a beauty’s face” filled my mind. Unfortunately, he was missing a hand.

“Aren’t you afraid someone will recognize you, showing up like this?”

I ran up to him, and he slightly lifted his head. His eye socket was bruised.

I froze. “You got beaten up? By who? Lin Zijie?”

He turned his head away, dodging my hand.

“You’re not hurt anywhere else, are you? What did you want to see me about?”

Lin Ruijie kept his head down, his expression unreadable. After a long while, he said in a muffled voice, “Nothing. It’s just… everyone dislikes you two right now. You and, and Qu Fang… be careful living together.”

I nodded. “Let’s go grab a bite.”

“No, I just… wanted to see you. I’m leaving.”

I inexplicably found myself staring at his back as he walked further away.