Clearing Up Rumors

Fu Liedong had been given his instructions and told Fu Liangxia about the tour. He waited with bated breath, only to be met with a frosty "we'll see."

"Sis, do you know whose tour this is? It's Su Xingshu's! And these are VIP tickets—retail price 1,288, but they're being scalped for five grand apiece in the fan club!" Fu Liedong was exasperated by her indifference.

Fu Liangxia put down the book in her hands, a flicker of interest crossing her face. "Then why don't we..."

Before she could even finish, Fu Liedong knew exactly what she was going to say and cut in, "Don't even think about it. Su-ge finally gave me these as a gift. If he finds out I sold them, I'm dead."

Fu Liangxia shot him a glance. "Who said you had to sell yours? Just sell mine. You can say you're bringing a friend along."

"We can split the money fifty-fifty," she tempted.

Fu Liedong was unmoved. "No way. Su-ge would be pissed."

"Then I'll decide when the time comes," Fu Liangxia said. She remembered that today was when the competition details would be announced, and she needed to register and check the schedule.

As for the tour... it didn't seem like a must-attend in her schedule.

The two were discussing the tour in the car, unaware that the very person they were talking about was also mentioning them—or more precisely, mentioning Fu Liangxia.

On the Saintland forum, a post with a title so brief it was almost unbelievable had been pinned as a hot topic within three minutes of posting. One might wonder if all Saintland students had nothing better to do than browse the forum.

The content was only three words—

Su Xingshu: No conflict.

Combined with another hot thread just below it, it was hard not to see this as a response to that.

The thread instantly exploded.

After all, people at the F4's level had the privilege of posting under their real names, and they'd never used it before. Yet Su Xingshu's first use was to clarify his relationship with a newly transferred girl.

And it wasn't to clear up some scandal about himself—it was to defend her from the animosity rumors.

[Did I read that right? Young Master Su is defending her? Damn, this Fu Liangxia really knows what she's doing. Could she actually be the next girlfriend?]

[Not impossible. Didn't someone say they saw them eating together in the cafeteria? Just a couple's little game, and we're all just part of their play.]

[Ahhh, I don't accept this!]

[Wait, can any insider tell me who this Fu Liangxia is? How does she game with Young Master Fu and get publicly defended by Young Master Su?]

[No idea, never heard the surname before. But if she's close with two of the F4, she's probably got some status. Maybe her family's in politics...]

[Speaking of which, that reminds me of that post that blew up the forum before. Su Xingshu never responded to that one. And wasn't that guy threatening suicide? Tsk, tsk, compared to that, Young Master Su was pretty cold-blooded back then. Just because the other person wasn't a pretty girl?]

[Hey! Don't talk nonsense if you don't know! That guy had it coming. He hired a private investigator to track Su-ge's schedule and chased his car so hard that Su-ge got into an accident and was hospitalized for over a month. It was only because Su-ge reacted fast and avoided the fatal debris that he survived. Otherwise...]

[Exactly. If Su-ge hadn't been merciful and kept it quiet, that guy wouldn't have just gotten expelled. He could've gone to prison for intentional injury. With the Su family's connections, ruining someone is easy.]

[Ha, you only know about the suicide. What you don't know is that the guy was driven by love turned to hate. He colluded with the Su family's rival media and faked a suicide attempt to smear Su-ge's reputation.]

Just as the thread was spiraling off-topic, a new reply caught everyone's attention.

[As someone who witnessed the explosive scene yesterday, let me just say—there were actually three of them...]

[What? Spill the details! I've got plenty of data to spare.]

[Three... don't tell me it's who I'm thinking of.]

[It can only be him. Who else? Aren't those twin F4 members abroad? Other than Student Council President Cheng, who's left on campus?]

[Whoa, really? Don't feed me fake gossip.]

[Swear on my life! We had swimming class yesterday and happened to see President Cheng carrying her past. Su-ge was following behind, and the two of them nearly got into a fight over who got to hold her!]

[...I was almost convinced, but that's way too fabricated. Everyone knows President Cheng is the coldest and most aloof. There's no way he'd carry someone, let alone a girl!]

[Yeah! If you're going to make stuff up, at least make it believable. Even if President Cheng really did carry her, it was probably just out of classmate courtesy. Why would he fight with Su-ge? They're best friends and have never had a falling out over anything.]

[No pictures, no truth.]

The original commenter replied indignantly: [Of course I took pictures, but I can't post them! Yesterday my friend posted about it, but it didn't even pass review and got deleted immediately...]

[Okay, now I believe you a little. Since the Student Council controls the forum, if it really involves President Cheng, it wouldn't be able to get published.]

[Damn, now I'm even more curious about this Fu Liangxia. What do I do?]

[+1. Maybe we should sneak a peek during break.]

...

A string of agreeing replies followed, and it was easy to predict the spectacle that awaited Fu Liangxia when she arrived at the classroom.

"Attention-seeking." In class 10 of the second year, a pretty girl with long curled hair stared at the screen in her hand and let out a cold sneer.

"Young Master Su is just too kind. A transfer student from some godforsaken corner—how could she possibly be his type?"

Bai Kewei had just arrived at the classroom and heard the muttering from the desk behind her. She looked up in confusion. "What's wrong, Qiuying?"

Xu Qiuying was the only person in this class besides the special admissions students who had shown her any kindness. She was beautiful, generous, academically excellent, and very gentle.

In Bai Kewei's heart, she was second only to Fu Liangxia as a truly good person.

It was just that, a moment ago, she seemed to have heard a tone that didn't quite fit Xu Qiuying. Thinking she must have misheard, she'd asked.

"Nothing, I was just talking to myself."

Xu Qiuying casually tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and flashed her a smile. "I remember you seem to be on good terms with that forum celebrity?"

As for how Xu Qiuying had discovered this, it was all because yesterday Zhang Qiang had barely muttered two sentences about making that girl suffer before Bai Kewei's expression turned serious and she rushed out in a hurry.

Bai Kewei was momentarily taken aback. She didn't really keep up with the forum. Saintland's curriculum moved fast, and she had to give it her all just to keep up, hoping to win the year-end scholarship.

—Though Bai Kewei's family wasn't exactly struggling, with a combined annual income of over two hundred thousand, that still fell short against Saintland's five hundred thousand a year tuition.

She was still a student. On weekends, she could only work odd jobs at places that didn't require documentation to cover her living expenses, and the tuition—the big chunk—depended entirely on scholarships.

Still, Bai Kewei had vaguely heard people around her discussing it, and she'd skimmed some of the hot posts. She hesitated. "You mean Xiaoxia?"

At the name, a flash of malice flickered in Xu Qiuying's eyes before she quickly masked it with a smile. "Xiaoxia, what a close way to address her. You two really are close."

Bai Kewei felt the tone was a bit odd, but before she could figure out how to respond, the other girl suddenly said, "I'm a bit curious about her too, but I don't want to approach her out of the blue—that would be rude. Could you introduce us?"

As she spoke, Xu Qiuying's eyes sparkled, giving her an instantly likable air.

But Bai Kewei didn't agree outright. "I need to ask Xiaoxia first," she said.

With that, she turned and sat back down in her seat, missing the way the other girl's expression froze for a split second.

Just a special admissions student—shouldn't she be licking her boots and agreeing to anything after being shown a little kindness? How dare she be so proud?

Xu Qiuying stared at Bai Kewei's back, her eyes cold.

...

The world was full of noise and chaos, but Fu Liangxia remained blissfully unaware. She only frowned slightly at the overly crowded corridor outside class 2's door.

But everyone seemed to be chatting in groups of two or three, and nothing looked out of the ordinary, so she didn't think much of it. It probably had nothing to do with her anyway—they were likely all trying to get a word with Su Xingshu.

Fu Liedong, on the other hand, was quite used to it. Having spent his time by Su Xingshu's side, he'd encountered full-on fan mobs before. This was nothing.

But Su-ge had been at this school for a year already—why were people acting like they were seeing him for the first time? He pondered this, nearly overheating his already underpowered brain.

The pre-class bell rescued Fu Liedong from his arduous thinking. The crowd outside scattered, and as people passed him, fragments of conversation drifted into his ears—

"She is pretty..."

"But not to that extent."

Huh? What were they talking about?

"Hey, what are you standing there spacing out for?" Wang Ziwei came up from behind and nudged him with his elbow. "Lost in thought?"

"Oh, nothing. Let's get to our seats." Fu Liedong shook his head and finally gave up thinking.

Just as Fu Liangxia sat down in her seat, a cold object pressed against her arm, making her shiver and nearly jump out of her chair.

Only Su Xingshu sat diagonally behind her. Fu Liangxia turned around to look at the boy propping his head up with one hand—even the most casual pose was painfully pleasing to the eye.

"What's up?"

Su Xingshu raised his hand, and once her attention was drawn to the exquisitely wrapped box in it, he said, "For you."

Fu Liangxia looked at him. "Why?"

First the tickets, now a gift. Don't tell her Su Xingshu was actually planning to pursue her.

At 35 affinity points, that just didn't add up.

"A peace offering?" Su Xingshu tilted his head slightly, a smile spreading across his handsome face. Fu Liangxia had to admit that when he wanted to charm someone, his face alone was nearly unstoppable.

"An apology for my earlier rudeness and the trouble I caused you."

It was hard to refuse someone who was smiling at you. Fu Liangxia paused for a moment, then reached out and took the box. It was heavy, and with such elaborate packaging, she almost worried he'd gone full cliché-novel style and gifted her an entire set of jewelry.

Especially when he added in a sultry tone, "See if you like it."

Her heart beat fast at that moment. In her mind, she rehearsed countless times what she should do if she opened the box and found jewelry that only ever appeared at auctions. Should she return it? But it would be such a shame...

Just thinking about that possibility, and the countless zeros it translated into, made her cheeks flush with excitement.

*Click.*

The box opened.

Under her expectant gaze, nestled between pearly white silk and flower petals, lay—

A ginseng root.

"..."