Whenever people walked past Qiao Nan, they would point at her and whisper to each other.

  Qiao Nan could not hear what they were talking about, but she could tell clearly whether their intentions were good or bad.

  Qiao Nan knitted her brows, her expression turning cold. She grabbed her books and went to the canteen.

  Qiao Nan bought her meal and was getting ready to eat. She noticed that people around her still cast weird glances at her. She could not help but feel angry.

  The problem was those people only whispered behind her back. Qiao Nan had no idea what they were talking about.

  “Qiao Nan, shall we eat together?” Tang Jiayun carried her plate and sat down at the seat opposite Qiao Nan. “All the other seats are occupied. This is the only empty seat. I am sure you won’t mind.”

  Qiao Nan looked up. The entire canteen was filled up with people except for the seats around her. It was as if she was a virus and was within an invisible quarantine area. “This is a public space. It doesn’t belong to anyone.”

  Qiao Nan threw in a reply. To put it bluntly, she did not care where she sat.

  Tang Jiayun arched her eyebrows. She noticed that several people cast weird glances at Qiao Nan. Tang Jiayun smiled. “Qiao Nan, do you go online?”

  “No,” Qiao Nan replied.

  “No wonder.” Tang Jiayun covered her mouth, acting as if she had said something that she should not have.

  \r \r \r

  Tang Jiayun hesitated for a while before she made up her mind. “Qiao Nan, do you know why many people cast weird glances at you today? Do you know what they are whispering about? Actually, I feel very angry on your behalf. This has nothing to do with them. Why do they spread the rumor? They must be sick.”

  “.……” Did Tang Jiayun mean that there was a rumor regarding her that was circulating around the school? How did this rumor start?

  Qiao Nan put down her spoon and looked at Tang Jiayun. “Are you here to tell me the reason? I am all ears.”

  Tang Jiayun was thrilled that Qiao Nan was very straightforward. She pursed her lips and sighed softly. “Qiao Nan, you must not be angry or anxious. I believe the rumor must be false. Although we were roommates only for a short period of time, I believe you are not that kind of person.”

  “What kind of person?” There was a flicker in Qiao Nan’s eyes. School had only started for less than a month and she had become infamous in Peking University?

  She knew that college life was not as simple, but she did not expect that it would be so complicated.

  “Someone uploaded a photo on the school forum. It says that you got into an old man’s car and that you are his kept woman.” Tang Jiayun lowered her voice.

  Qiao Nan frowned. Could it be that someone saw her when her father-in-law came to school to fetch her and the person took a picture of them and posted it online?

  “Qiao Nan, as your friend, I must remind you that such rumors will have a negative influence on you. It is useless that I believe you. Other students and the school have to believe you as well. If you lack moral integrity, it may affect your final results. Therefore, you have to think of ways to clear up the misunderstanding, and for the school to understand that the photo is false. Of course, if you need a witness, I can be one.”

  Tang Jiayun acted as if she had high morality and was willing to share weal and woe with Qiao Nan. “The person was so mean and foolish to take the photo and smear your reputation, causing everyone to misunderstand you. Qiao Nan, who do you think is behind this? Let’s fish out that person. The person who tells such lies is too much. The person is too ill-natured.”

  Qiao Nan lowered her eyes, her long eyelashes hiding the flicker in her eyes. Tang Jiayun, who was all pretenses, was unable to tell what she was thinking of right now.

  “Qiao Nan, don’t be upset. I will help you.” When faced with such a situation, people would usually be anxious and feel angst. However, Qiao Nan seemed to be very indifferent.

  Could it be that Qiao Nan believed the saying that ‘rumors stop at the wise’?

  Tang Jiayun used to dislike and ostracize her. However, she was the only one who offered her help and told her what had happened. Qiao Nan curled her lips. “How do you intend to help me?”

  One who was unaccountably solicitous must be hiding evil intentions.

  She was reminded of what Tang Jiayun had done previously. Qiao Nan’s first thought was that the rumor might have to do with Tang Jiayun.

  Qiao Nan did not find it surprising that Tang Jiayun would resort to the trick of a thief crying stop thief. After all, sometimes, people were too clever for one’s own good.

  “Is it on the school forum?” Qiao Nan had yet to understand what was going on, so she could not jump to conclusions. However, she could not do nothing now that she knew that someone was out to harm her. She was particularly curious to see the picture that was being posted on the forum.

  “Yes, do you want to have a look? Shall I go with you?” Tang Jiayun nodded. Regardless of the reaction that Qiao Nan had, she rose to fame in Peking University because of the forum. Everyone looked down on Qiao Nan and kept a distance from her. Everyone was dying to dig at her.

  Apart from her, no one was willing to go near her.

  She believed that Qiao Nan would not reject good friends who helped her out when she was in need.

  “Qiao Nan!” Tang Jiayun was about to bring Qiao Nan with her when an anxious Shi Qing came running toward them.

  Shi Qing knew about the rumor surrounding Qiao Nan and she did not shout her name out loud. She looked for her in the canteen and caught sight of her, running toward her. “Qiao Nan, look at this.”

  Shi Qing had heard of the rumors regarding Qiao Nan circulating around the school. She went online to look at the threads and printed them out. She passed them to Qiao Nan. “Who did this? Is the person courting death?!”

  Shi Qing was mad and anxious when she saw the photo in the thread. Who was so foolish to do something like this? The person was not afraid of death.

  Tang Jiayun heard the anger in Shi Qing’s voice. She smiled scornfully in secret.

  Shi Qing might be domineering and acted brazenly at Peking University, but there was nothing she could do about the fact that someone was out to harm Qiao Nan. Even if Shi Qing managed to find out who the person was, she did not believe that Shi Qing would murder someone or commit a crime for Qiao Nan’s sake!

  Go ahead to brag and boast!

  “Since someone is courting death, there is no way to stop the person. Although school has just started and Peking University always has a good reputation, I suppose someone will be invited to the principal’s office for a cup of tea.” Qiao Nan smiled contemptuously. In her previous life, the only time she heard of college students being kept women of older men was from the news. She did not expect that she would become the main character of such news in this life. It was thrilling!