Chapter 17

After the luxury car incident that night, it was impossible for Yang Qi to keep a low profile at school anymore.

Her photos had circulated among almost every student and teacher.

Seeing that Yang Qi’s identity had been exposed, her parents wouldn’t let her live on campus anymore and had her driven to and from school every day.

However, the cars used to pick her up and drop her off were relatively ordinary Audis and Mercedes-Benzes.

My dad didn’t get punished either.

After all, Yang Qi’s identity was a fact.

The Yang family merely treated Yang Qi’s attempt at keeping a low profile at school as a game.

Yes, just a game.

Since then, I became busier and busier. Aside from studying, I spent all my free time shooting videos with the Arts Senior.

Yang Qi, on the other hand, didn’t come to cause trouble for me during this period.

Shao Xuan, who had originally been lukewarm toward her, began to passionately express his love after finding out about her family background.

He set up heart-shaped candles and played the guitar for her on the sports field.

Because this was no longer in line with the plot.

I didn’t know what was wrong with her lately, but I saw her show up late to class several times, sporting heavy dark circles and looking exhausted.

I even heard from Li Xuefang that someone had seen Yang Qi and Shao Xuan coming out of a hotel near the school.

I couldn’t help but marvel; this was truly rare.

But as long as she didn’t come looking for trouble, I naturally had no reason to provoke her. My life was never meant to revolve around her.

It wasn’t until close to the winter break that our video was finally released.

Living up to the Arts Senior’s pursuit of perfection,

The video blew up.

It went viral across the entire internet.

Overnight, the views surpassed hundreds of thousands, and our account’s follower count skyrocketed.

According to an industry friend’s estimate, we might hit over ten million views within a week.

Jiuzhaigou in early autumn was as picturesque as a painting.

Dressed in traditional Hanfu, I looked elegant and gentle at times, and cold as ice at others.

The senior had also invited a very handsome martial arts influencer, skilled in swordplay and spear dancing, to make a guest appearance.

Every single frame could be screenshotted and used as a wallpaper.

The senior happily said he would treat me to skewers, but just as I walked down to the dormitory building, I saw Yang Qi walking toward me with two police officers.

“It’s her. She stole my family’s things.”

Yang Qi pointed at me and said.

The two officers walked up and said to me, “Student Yang Zheng, Yang Qi reported to the police that you took her things. We need to go to your dormitory to take a look. Please come with us.”

“Alright. Can I say a few words to Yang Qi first?”

The police thought for a moment. “Alright, make it quick.”

I sighed and said sincerely, “Yang Qi, I don’t know why you are so obsessed.

But I want to give you a piece of advice: give up on following the plot. Your life and my life shouldn’t be lived according to some script.”

Yang Qi’s expression dazed for a split second, then turned crazed and resolute. “I can’t give up! A life according to the plot is the life I’m meant to have!”

I shook my head helplessly and followed the two officers to the dormitory.

Sure enough, the police found the deformed necklace that had been stepped on in my drawer, along with the gown I had thrown into the washing machine but hadn’t washed clean.

“This is my missing haute couture gown and gemstone necklace. I’ve already submitted the relevant receipts to you.

The total value is over three million yuan. You must arrest this thief and make sure she gets the punishment she deserves!” Yang Qi said, standing beside the two officers.

“Student Yang Zheng, where did you get these two items?” the officer asked.

I smiled calmly. “I bought them, of course.”

Yang Qi said coldly, “Can you even afford them? This haute couture gown was custom-made for me by a top designer in Italy.

It cost eight hundred thousand yuan. And this necklace was bought by my mother at an auction for three million yuan.”

“I indeed can’t afford what you just described, but this dress and necklace were bought online by me. I still have the records on my phone.” With that, I pulled up my Taobao purchase history.

The original Yang Zheng was a vain person. Since she couldn’t afford luxury brands, she could only buy replicas. As a result, she had many contacts of handmade shop owners who specialized in high-end replicas on her phone. Yang Zheng was a regular customer, and they had even given her a discount.

Normally, she would just place orders on WeChat, but I had been cautious and insisted on placing the order through the platform.

“Impossible!” Yang Qi’s face paled.

In the end, the police found Yang Qi’s actual haute couture gown and necklace in her family’s villa. My mother explained to the police:

At the time, Yang Qi had sent her a message telling her to put the clothes away because she didn’t like them and didn’t want to wear them. There were chat records to prove it.

Next, I countersued Yang Qi for false accusation, as well as using my name to buy luxury goods to bribe the counselor for some ulterior motive. Combined with her previous self-directed online cyberbullying scheme to frame me, it was very easy to make people believe she was indeed targeting me.

The evidence of the bribe was easy to find; a quick check of the purchase history on her phone would reveal everything.

In the end, of course, I couldn’t truly hurt her. Her parents simply spent money to bail her out of trouble.

Of course, my goal was never to hurt her, but to completely destroy the plot, leaving her with no possibility of fixing it.

But what I didn’t expect was that not long after, Yang Qi suddenly sent me a message one night, saying she wanted to have dinner with me and talk about the suffering she had been going through all this time.

She said there were many things only I would understand, and that this dinner could be a way to bury the hatchet. After this, she would no longer obsess over maintaining the plot.

I thought about it and decided to go. However, being naturally cautious, I immediately sent a message to the Arts Senior, asking him to keep an eye out for me from outside.

Yang Qi had lost a lot of weight. Her once-vibrant eyes were now sunken, and her hair was messily tied up. “Sigh, after struggling for so long, my plot has completely collapsed. I’ve brought you so much trouble all this time. Zhengzheng, I’m really sorry.”

She raised her glass of juice and drank it all in one gulp. Two lines of tears fell from the corners of her eyes, and she smiled miserably. “We should have had alcohol, but I was worried you wouldn’t like it.”

I also raised my glass and clinked it against hers, but I didn’t dare to drink. I comforted her, “It’s best that you’ve come to your senses. Just enjoy being your wealthy young lady from now on. Do whatever you want. Won’t life be wonderful?”

“A wealthy young lady?” She chuckled, placing a piece of beef into my bowl with her chopsticks. “Quick, try it. The beef at this hotpot restaurant is really fresh.”

I still didn’t dare to eat it. Holding my chopsticks, I just pretended to move some food around in my bowl.

She didn’t say anything either, going on to talk about how many times she had tried to help me follow the plot since the semester started.

As I listened, I suddenly started to feel dizzy. Her voice began to sound distant and faint.

“Zhengzheng? Oh dear, how did you get drunk?”

She muttered to herself, then came over to support me and lead me out.

In the end, thank goodness the Arts Senior was reliable. As a true comrade-in-arms, he realized something was wrong and rushed straight in.

He pulled me aside, and when he didn’t smell any alcohol on me, he immediately called the police.