Ye Feifei sneered, ”I bet he got scared. Good thing I kept a backup—I took screenshots.”
Then she sent the screenshots to Yun Qing.
“I’ve sent you the evidence of the rumor-mongering. That’s all I can do to help.”
Yun Qing calmly returned to her desk and sat down, flipping through the screenshots her roommate had sent, one after another, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Seeing her sitting there with a grave expression, Ye Feifei asked worriedly, “Qingqing, are you okay?”
Yun Qing snapped out of her thoughts and said in a light tone, ”I’m fine. The one who should be panicking now is someone else—otherwise the post wouldn’t have been deleted so quickly.”
“Feifei, thank you for believing in me.”
Ye Feifei smiled. ”We’ve shared a room for over two years. I know better than anyone what kind of person you are.”
Still, the timing of her return had been too coincidental. For a moment there, even she had wondered if that post was true.
But one thing was certain—getting out of a car like that at school was absolutely not something Qingqing would ever do.
Suddenly remembering something, she asked, “Oh right, how did the competition go? Did you make it?”
Yun Qing’s voice was calm. “I advanced.”
“Really?!”
Ye Feifei cheered excitedly, genuinely happy for her.
“That’s amazing! I told you you’d definitely make it. You’re the best classical dancer at our school and our Beijing Dance Academy campus belle. If you’d been eliminated in the first round, the show would definitely be rigged, and it would flop the moment it aired.”
“Qingqing, congratulations!”
The show Yun Qing was competing in was called Dance Students, an S+ mega-production dance competition variety show for girls with limitless prospects.
When the show first released its nationwide recruitment notice, thousands of female dance students threw themselves into the fray, fighting tooth and nail for a spot.
Their school, as a top-tier institution for dance education full of talented students, had everyone brave enough to compete sign up—though not many made the shortlist.
After the preliminary auditions and the first round of recorded competition, only thirty contestants remained to advance to the subsequent live performance stages.
She had been in a great mood when she got back from recording, but after the rumor incident, she wasn’t so cheerful anymore.
Because she had signed a confidentiality agreement, Yun Qing didn’t chat with her for long. “It’s late, I won’t keep talking. I’ll treat you to a meal sometime—I’m going to shower now.”
“Okay, go ahead, go ahead.”
To stay in top condition, they dance students kept a very regular schedule, only indulging occasionally.
By the time Yun Qing finished washing up, her roommate was already in bed.
She climbed quietly onto her own bed and slowly drew the bed curtain closed.
She couldn’t fall asleep for a while.
She took a deep breath to steady herself.
Suddenly remembering something, she picked up her phone and sent Liang Xiheng an electronic admission ticket for the school anniversary celebration.
She had originally gotten this ticket for her older brother, but since he’d gone abroad, she had a spare.
She opened the keyboard and added:
—I hope you can come. I’m Yun Qing.
—Good night.
……
The next day.
Breakfast at the cafeteria.
Yun Qing and her roommate had just sat down at a window seat when they heard murmuring behind them.
“I used to really admire her—amazing dance talent, gorgeous looks, and so tough and hardworking. I never thought she’d end up with such explosive rumors. So disappointing.”
“I think it’s fake. The OP deleted the post and then deactivated the account—clearly something shady going on.”
“But someone saw her getting out of the car with their own eyes. How could it be fake?”
“…”
Ye Feifei shot them a glare and comforted Yun Qing. “Ignore them. They just want to drag you down off your pedestal.”
Yun Qing’s face remained calm and serene.
She wore her usual dance outfit—fitted on top, loose on the bottom—and looked utterly clean, untouched by the mundane world.
The quiet light streaming through the window fell upon her, giving her a tranquil yet gorgeous beauty. Even the small mole beside the bridge of her nose seemed especially lively.
Beyond her beauty, her dancing was breathtaking and unforgettable.
That was why she had always been known at school as the “Goddess of Classical Dance.” Held so high, she inevitably drew jealousy and wariness from others.
No matter who the poster was, when an avalanche buries a mountain, no snowflake is innocent.
On the way to the cafeteria, she had already sensed that people were looking at her strangely. Clearly, many people at school had seen last night’s post.
She took a sip of soy milk and asked Ye Feifei, “Does someone with consecutive-number license plates have to be from a powerful, wealthy family?”
In truth, she knew nothing about Liang Xiheng—she only knew how his name was written.
Ye Feifei was a seasoned internet surfer and had some understanding of the circles of the rich and powerful. “Generally, you can’t buy plates like that even with money. You need a certain status too. I know of a scion of an old family—even the tycoons have to politely address him as Third Master, and his plates are exactly that kind of special consecutive numbers.”
“Then his power and influence must be considerable.”
“Which means whoever posted that rumor last night must have gotten scared.”
Yun Qing looked thoughtful, as if she had noticed something off.
She pulled up the screenshot her roommate had sent her last night, checked the time the post had been published, and carefully replayed the events and timeline of the previous evening.
Liang Xiheng had driven her back to school, and she had stayed in the car the whole time, with the windows closed.
The window did open later—but not until eleven twenty.
The post had been published at ten thirty, which meant the poster hadn’t seen her at all before posting.
So.
From ten thirty onward, they had already been watching that car. Which meant when she got out of the car, someone must have seen her.
As for why the poster deleted the post—most likely they had outsmarted themselves.
The poster assumed the powerful wouldn’t bother watching their school’s forum, so they dared to fabricate rumors so brazenly. But they never imagined she actually knew someone powerful.
So.
The person the poster was really afraid of was her. They were afraid she’d see the post and tell the powerful figure behind her, which was why they deleted everything.
She had originally planned to find someone to trace the ID, but now there was no need for such a cumbersome process. She thought of an easy method that might make the person behind it come to her and apologize on their own.
Calmly, she took out her phone and posted on the school forum:
[Last night, someone fabricated and spread rumors about me on this forum, which has seriously affected me. I have screenshots of the evidence. Even if a certain someone deletes their account, it won’t help. I expect you to come forward and apologize to me in person. Otherwise, I will not let this matter rest.
Also, the internet is not beyond the law. Everyone, please watch your words and actions.]
On the way to the dance studio, her roommate saw her post and couldn’t help asking doubtfully, “Qingqing, will posting like that actually work?”
“If I were the one spreading rumors behind your back, I’d never dare show my face in front of you, let alone apologize to you in person.”