At the top of the trending list was a post about Xia Cheng spreading false rumors.

  　　Everyone was surprised to see that. They glanced at Xia Cheng before clicking on the post. There, they saw a popular Weibo post…
　　[Xia Cheng was the one who sent me the photos of Tan Ying and Lu Guixin. The content of my last post about them going to a hotel was also sent to me by Xia Cheng. Picture One shows a screenshot of the three million yuan she transferred to me, while Picture Two shows a screenshot of our conversation where she asked me to publish the Weibo post. Lu Guixin and Tan Ying went to the hotel to celebrate Elder Tan's birthday. They weren't there for indecent purposes. I apologize for the distress caused to Lu Guixin. I'm willing to bear the legal responsibility for this. I'm sorry. [Picture One][Picture Two]]

  　　The comment section below the post was flooded.

  　　[Did I just slap myself in the face? And that soon? To think I spoke up so much for Xia Cheng! I can't believe that a model student like her came up with the content of that post.[Picture]]

  　　The picture was a screenshot of the original post.

  　　[Wow, her choice of words. She really put the experienced content writers to shame there.]

  　　[What the f*ck? She's disgusting! Everyone knows how important reputation is to a girl, and yet she deliberately spread such false rumors. She sure is something!]

  　　[She's only in Year Three, and yet she's so good at spreading false rumors. If I were Lu Guixin, I would've beaten her to death for doing that to me!]

  　　[She even dragged Elder Tan's name through the mud! How's that a model student?]

  　　The truth was out now.

  　　All the students in the infirmary turned to look at Xia Cheng with varied expressions from disbelief to shock and to disdain and disgust. As they recalled how she had confidently declared that she wasn't the culprit and that she had been wronged and how she magnanimously said that she didn't want to pursue the matter, they couldn't imagine just how shameless she was to say that.

  　　They were just as disgusted as they had been sympathetic to her moments ago, and they felt like a fool for defending her. As they looked at the two posts, they could imagine her with a sinister expression as she typed up those words.

  　　"How low can you be? For you to do that! Lu Guixin would've been expelled if she hadn't been able to prove her innocence!"

  　　"That's not only it! The photos were so clear and well-taken, too. Given how pretty Lu Guixin is, everyone could recognize her at a glance. She would have to hide and face criticism whenever she goes out!"

  　　As Xia Cheng read the hate comments on Weibo, she could hear her classmates criticizing and scolding her. Her mind drew a blank. How did this happen?!

  　　"It seems that the account that cleared Lu Guixin's name was the one that spread false rumors about her," a guy suddenly exclaimed. "What the? Wasn't the account deleted? I remember the post was deleted as well. How did they get restored?"

  　　"I'm glad they did! That's how we managed to find the culprit! They have to pay for spreading false rumors!"

  　　"I would've never imagined it. Xia Cheng behaved as if she was all kind and generous, but it turned out that she was capable of doing such dirty deeds," somebody mumbled in disgust.

  　　"She's jealous of how close Lu Guixin is to Zhou Fu…"

  　　"How wicked. Destroying their reputations just because she's jealous…"

  　　Xia Cheng's fingers trembled nonstop. Panic filled her eyes as she denied vehemently, "Nonsense! It's all false! I didn't do that!"

  　　She looked up agitatedly, only to meet her form teacher's disappointed gaze. It was like a bucket of cold water was poured down on her. She froze, and her face turned ashen.

  　　"Well, the police have already stepped in to investigate the matter. As to whether it was your doing or not, they'll have an answer soon enough." Tian Rong sneered. "It's not your call whether you want to pursue the matter or not."

  　　…
　　Inside the Academic Affairs Office.

  　　Mr. Zhang looked sternly at Lu Guixin. "This matter has a bad influence. You have to apologize to Xia Cheng and reflect on your actions in front of the entire school."

  　　"Xia Cheng's always been a kind and magnanimous student. I'm sure she won't hold it against you," the other teacher chimed in. If she wanted to do that, she would've reported Lu Guixin to the police for assault long ago.

  　　Xi Yan's face darkened. Just as she wanted to speak up for Lu Guixin, the phone on Mr. Zhang's desk rang.

  　　It was a call from the principal's assistant.

  　　Mr. Zhang put the call on speaker mode.

  　　"Mr. Zhang, the police are here. The principal wants you to bring the student over."

  　　Did Xia Cheng call the police? Well, Lu Guixin was the one at fault in the first place. Despite his surprise at the police's arrival, he said, "Sure. Lu Guixin's with me right now. I'll bring her over to the police officers."

  　　The assistant froze. "The police aren't here for Lu Guixin. They're here for Xia Cheng."

  　　"What?" Mr. Zhang was completely confused now. "But Lu Guixin beat up Xia Cheng, no?"

  　　The assistant explained, "Xia Cheng's parents called the school and said that they wouldn't pursue the matter since they were very sorry for what she'd done to Lu Guixin."

  　　Mr. Zhang still couldn't grasp what was going on. "What exactly has Xia Cheng done?"

  　　"Haven't you seen the latest Weibo news?"

  　　Mr. Zhang hurriedly logged onto his computer to check the news. He stiffened when he saw the article about Xia Cheng deliberately defaming Lu Guixin. When he looked up and met Lu Guixin in the eyes, he recalled everything he had said to her moments ago. It felt like a slap to the face!

  　　Even the teacher who had spoken up for Xia Cheng just now immediately went to read the news. Her cheeks turned red when she realized that the so-called model student she had vouched for was really the culprit.

  　　Not expecting to be proven wrong so quickly, she hung her head low in shame and hurriedly left the office with an "I'm going back to work."

  　　…
　　Xi Yan led Lu Guixin out of the office building before looking sideways at her. The girl had, at some point, put on her gold-rimmed glasses again. "Come on. Let's go have lunch. What do you want to eat?"

  　　"Thank you, Ms. Xi, but I'm skipping lunch. I'd like to go back and rest." Lu Guixin didn't have much of an appetite. She just wanted to go back to her dorm and sleep.

  　　"That's fine." Xi Yan didn't force her against her wishes. "Bring some snacks with you for the classes in the afternoon. You can eat them when you're hungry."

  　　"Okay." Lu Guixin nodded her head obediently.

  　　Seeing how the girl was behaving obediently again, Xi Yan couldn't help but smile. "You'll surely have to reflect on yourself in front of the entire school next Monday, though. It was wrong of you to resort to violence."

  　　Lu Guixin responded, "I know."

  　　Having seen how Lu Guixin had flared up, Xi Yan didn't dare take her obedience for real. In fact, she still had lingering trepidation about the incident earlier.

  　　Xi Yan then pondered for a second before asking, "Do you want to go back to the capital?"

  　　She didn't know why Lu Guixin had chosen to come to Ming City High School, but it was clear that she wasn't happy here.

  　　The girl tilted her head and pushed the frame of her glasses up. "Let me think about it."

  　　Xi Yan nodded. "Sure."

  　　…
　　After splitting with Xi Yan, Lu Guixin saw Tian Lu running over from afar when she reached the main path in front of the academic building.

  　　Tian Lu stopped in front of Lu Guixin and put a hand on her waist while she smoothed her messy fringe and said in between pants, "Are you okay? Did the balding teacher make things difficult for you?"

  　　Concern was written all over her face.

  　　Lu Guixin shook her head. "No."

  　　"Are they going to punish you for beating Xia Cheng up?"

  　　"No."

  　　"Then were you asked to reflect on yourself under the national flag?"

  　　"Yes."

  　　Tian Lu had expected this. She waved her hand and said, "It'll be fine. I'll help you to find a few examples online after tomorrow's exams. You'll be fine if you copy here and there."

  　　"Thanks, but it's okay," said Lu Guixin distractedly. "I'll manage somehow."

  　　"Sure." Upon recalling how Lu Guixin had slapped Xia Cheng twice in the face, Tian Lu excitedly said, "I saw the video! Damn, you were so cool! My anger was all vented when I saw you slap her!"

  　　Lu Guixin wasn't in much of a good mood, but she allowed Tian Lu to pull her forward.

  　　"I didn't expect Xia Cheng to do such a thing, though." Tian Lu's voice was filled with contempt.

  　　Lu Guixin didn't respond to that.

  　　While passing by the Year One academic building, a male student suddenly walked over and stopped in front of them.

  　　Tian Lu recognized the guy. He was a Year Three from Class One and was pretty good at studying.

  　　She frowned. "What do you want?"

  　　"I'm here to look for Lu Guixin. I have something to say to her." He was the guy who liked Xia Cheng.

  　　Lu Guixin looked up slightly.

  　　The guy was fair and handsome-looking. He wasn't tall. His height was only around 1.7m, so he was almost at the same eye level as Lu Guixin. He looked at her blankly and said arrogantly as a senior, "It was wrong of Xia Cheng to spread false rumors about you and Tan Ying, but she's already paid the price. Everyone's scolding her on Weibo. Plus, you've beaten her up, too. As fellow schoolmates, can you not pursue the matter? She's in Year Three now. She needs to take the college entrance exams. Enough is enough. Don't destroy her name and future."

  　　"Are you saying that Lu Guixin destroyed her?" Tian Lu looked at him in disbelief. "Are you okay?"

  　　The guy looked at Tian Lu.

  　　"She freaking hell deserves it, okay?! She's the one who destroyed herself!" Tian Lu sneered. "Don't act like you're standing on the higher moral ground."

  　　The guy's face flushed a little, but he didn't give up when he remembered why he was doing this. "We're all fellow schoolmates. Can't you let the matter slide? Why let the netizens make the school the butt of the joke?"

  　　"Joke? You're the funny one here!" Tian Lu completely lost it as she snapped mercilessly, "Why didn't you think about the school's reputation when Xia Cheng spread rumors about Guixin online? Now that the truth's out, you want Guixin to be magnanimous instead? The gall of you to say that."

  　　The guy didn't want to argue with Tian Lu further. He turned to look at Lu Guixin instead. "I'd say you're jealous of Xia Cheng instead of her being jealous of you. It's a fact that you're inferior to her in many aspects, after all. Why do you have to be so calculative? You're just giving others the impression that you're jealous of Xia Cheng and that you're eager to win against her."

  　　What the hell? Is he out of his mind?! Tian Lu couldn't believe her ears. He's even trying to provoke Guixin now?

  　　"Why am I being so calculative?" said Lu Guixin all of a sudden in a low voice. She smiled harmlessly at him while tilting her head, her expression wild and arrogant and her voice nonchalant. "Because she put me in a bad mood, so I wanted to teach her a lesson. Do you understand now?"

  　　The guy's expression changed, his eyes filled with anger and humiliation. Upon knowing that it was useless to Lu Guixin for help, he shot her a glare and turned around to leave.

  　　"Lunatic!" Tian Lu rolled her eyes out of speechlessness before screaming like a fangirl when she recalled the way Lu Guixin looked and behaved earlier. "Ahhhh! Why are you suddenly so cool?!"

  　　Lu Guixin smiled and said jokingly, "Yeah, I've become the school troublemaker."

  　　"That makes you and Zhou Fu a perfect pair! We can make that idiot Xia Cheng hopping mad at the same time!" Tian Lu lifted her chin. "Let's see who dares to talk crap about you again!"

  　　Lu Guixin's eyes dimmed slightly before she said to Tian Lu with a slight smile. "You go ahead for lunch. I want to go back and rest." She probably hasn't eaten since it hasn't been long since the end of class.

  　　"Aren't you going to eat anything?" Tian Lu asked in concern. "Should I get takeouts for you?"

  　　Lu Guixin shook her head. "It's okay, thanks. I'm not hungry."

  　　"Alright. After lunch, I'll go to the convenience store and get some light snacks for you to eat in the afternoon."

  　　…
　　After splitting with Tian Lu at the intersection, Lu Guixin slipped her hands into her pockets and headed straight toward the female dorm.

  　　There were a lot of people as it was break time now, and everyone looked at Lu Guixin with fear. They didn't really dare to stare outright, but they couldn't resist sneaking glances at her, either.

  　　The fight had made her popular within the school.

  　　Lu Guixin ignored them and looked down to kick a pebble near her feet. She was thinking about what Xi Yan had asked her earlier—whether she wanted to return to the capital.

  　　Before coming to Ming City, all she wanted was a change of environment. She wanted to come and have fun and be free without anyone watching her all the time. She didn't expect to meet Zhou Fu, though.

  　　Given her temper, her past self would've beaten the crap out of Zhou Fu since they had a pretty bad argument that morning. However, not only did she not beat him up, but she even hesitated about returning to the capital. The thought of that made her purse her lips and furrowed her brows in frustration.

  　　She was almost reaching her dorm when she suddenly saw a dark shadow in front of her.

  　　The pebble rolled to the side.

  　　Lu Guixin stopped. She knew who it was just by looking at their shoes. Her frown deepened as she sidestepped the person and continued walking forward.

  　　Her arm was suddenly grabbed, though.

  　　She looked at the fair, slender, and defined hand on her arm. Without any expression or warmth, she said, "Let go."

  　　"I'll do that once I've made things clear to you." Zhou Fu's voice rang from above.

  　　Lu Guixin looked up sneeringly. Her eyes were distant, and her tone was cold. "I have nothing to say to you."

  　　"But I do." Zhou Fu stared at her.

  　　Just like that, the two of them stood in the open space in front of the girls' dorm.

  　　People were walking about at this time. Almost the entire student population knew Zhou Fu and Lu Guixin by now. In fact, the students walking past them had their eyes widened in shock and slowed down when they saw the two of them together.

  　　Lu Guixin wrinkled her eyebrows slightly. Although she didn't care what others thought, it didn't mean that she was willing to become their object of interest.

  　　Zhou Fu could tell that she was seething. "Come with me to the Student Union's office."

  　　"Get lost," Lu Guixin spat before trying to shake off his hand.

  　　"Nuh-uh." Zhou Fu tightened his grip on her arm with no intention of letting go. "I'm not letting you go back until you've heard me out."

  　　Lu Guixin glared at him.

  　　"Or we can just talk here." Zhou Fu glanced at their audience, who had stopped to look, which was increasing by the second.

  　　…
　　At the Student Union's office.

  　　Zhou Fu entered the password and pulled the door open, revealing a huge solid wood conference table in the middle with chairs neatly tucked underneath it. He stood to the side of the door and then glanced sideways at Lu Guixin. He lifted his chin. "Go on in."

  　　His tone wasn't as cold as before, but he still sounded arrogant.

  　　Irked, Lu Guixin turned around to leave. However, just as she took her first step, an arm suddenly wrapped around her shoulders from the back and pulled her backward into the office.

  　　Bam!

  　　It was only when the door closed that Lu Guixin snapped out of it. Her eyes darkened as she clasped his wrist and twisted it. She then turned around and aimed a kick at him.

  　　She was so fast and strong that Zhou Fu was completely caught off guard. As he hastily turned sideways to avoid the kick, he stumbled a little and ended up crashing into the door. He was taken aback for a second, as if he'd never expected her to be so good at fighting. He looked at her in surprise, only to see her staring at him with her dark, cold eyes.

  　　"If you dare to try anything on me again, you can use your one million yuan to treat your own injuries."

  　　Zhou Fu was speechless. So it was all just an act.

  　　"Get lost," Lu Guixin barked at Zhou Fu, who was standing in front of the door with her hands in her pockets.

  　　"Can't move." Despite saying that, he slowly shifted to the side and completely blocked the door with his tall build.

  　　"You can beat me however you like." Zhou Fu looked at her deeply. "Then call an ambulance for me once you've vented your anger."

  　　Lu Guixin sneered. "I'll help you call for a hearse."