Hearing these words, Xu Rou’s expression turned despondent, her eyes downcast, like a gardenia flower clinging to a branch, weighed down by dewdrops.
The boy sitting nearby couldn’t bear to see such a beauty in distress and couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy. He took the application form and, picking up where his colleague left off, tried to ease the tension. “Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Don’t scare her like that.”
Then, turning to Xu Rou with a smile, he said, “As it happens, one of our members left just yesterday, so we have an opening. If you’re really interested in joining us, I can arrange an interview for you right now.”
At these words, Xu Rou’s face instantly lit up with a smile, her eyes sparkling with joy. “I do want to join! I really want to be part of the student council. Thank you so much, classmate!”
The girl who had been interrupted and had her form taken away was already displeased. Seeing Xu Rou’s reaction, she couldn’t help but complain to her colleague, “Even if rules are rigid, they still need to be stated clearly! How could you handle things like this? Now it looks like I was deliberately making things difficult for her!”
Realizing his mistake, the boy wanted to apologize, but the girl had already snatched back the application form and was heading toward the interview room.
She muttered under her breath, “I was just trying to figure out if she’s here for our president or genuinely wants to join the student council. I’ve never seen anyone cause such a mess.”
The girl was thoroughly annoyed. The boy smiled apologetically at Xu Rou, asking her to wait outside, and hurried after her to make amends.
“Qiqi, I’m sorry. I really didn’t think it through. I just figured that since we lost a member in the student council, and here comes someone new, I didn’t consider things as carefully as you did.”
Ever since Song Zhiyu became the student council president, the number of girls applying to join had increased more than tenfold compared to previous years.
Most of them were drawn by Song Zhiyu, with only a handful genuinely interested in the work.
One angry, the other explaining, the two of them walked away, their voices soon fading into the distance.
Left waiting where she was, Xu Rou curled her lips into a smile. 【Tongzi, do you think Song Zhiyu might be part of my interview panel?】
Among all the Qiyun Zhi Zi, Xu Rou and the Xitong had always believed that Song Zhiyu would likely be the most challenging to win over.
A man who avoided women and even harbored a slight aversion to them—making him develop feelings for a girl would undoubtedly be an uphill battle.
Song Zhiyu kept a low profile at school, his life revolving around three main places: the Song residence, the biology research lab at Luosi Xueyuan, and the student council.
Of these, he spent the most time in the biology research lab and the least in the student council, only appearing occasionally for major events or meetings.
However, it was clear that Xu Rou couldn’t gain access to either the Song residence or the biology research lab.
The student council was her only chance to get close to Song Zhiyu.
That was why she had decided to join the student council, hoping to earn his favor there.
【What are you thinking? Recruiting new members isn’t something the president handles. Once you successfully join, they might hold a welcome party for you. That’s when you might catch a glimpse of Song Zhiyu, but I can’t guarantee it.】 The Xitong’s cold voice shattered Xu Rou’s daydream.
As expected, Xu Rou didn’t see Song Zhiyu that day.
Meanwhile, in A Cheng, at an underground boxing ring.
“Young Master Jiang! Young Master Jiang! Young Master Jiang is unbeatable!”
The final boxing match of the day ended with a swift uppercut from the golden-haired youth, instantly igniting a wave of roaring cheers from the entire audience. A group of vibrant young girls waved their signs excitedly, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Yet the golden-haired youth on the ring remained completely unfazed. He cast a sidelong glance at his opponent being carried away and descended from the platform amidst the celebratory clamor.
In the locker room.
“Holy shit! Isn’t this Young Master Jiang’s childhood sweetheart, Miss Xu? How did she end up tangled up with Pei Jinchuan?”
Having just finished training, a boy pulled out his phone and opened the school forum, immediately drawn to the photo in the top post. He couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise.
Hearing this, the others quickly took out their phones, and within moments, the post had spread throughout the locker room.
“Damn, who posted this? They must have a death wish! If Young Master Jiang sees it, the poster is definitely going to pay for it!”
“Hey? Do you think Miss Xu rejected Young Master Jiang because she’s into Pei Jinchuan?” someone whispered, lowering their voice to speculate.
But as soon as the words left their mouth, a fierce glare from Fang Gao in the corner silenced them.
He warned, “Miss Xu wouldn’t even give our Brother Jiang the time of day. How could she possibly be interested in some kid from the slums? I think this post is just someone trying to stir up trouble. Don’t you all start jumping on the bandwagon.”
After saying this, Fang Gao couldn’t help but glance at the post himself.
Although the sneakily taken photo in the post was somewhat blurry, the striking presence of the handsome young man and the beautiful girl in the same frame was still eye-catching.
Especially since the usually aloof Miss Xu was leaning weakly against Pei Jinchuan’s chest, making the scene all the more intriguing.
Having followed Jiang Wangye for years, Fang Gao naturally understood Xu Qiao’s temperament.
Forget liking someone—how could a kid like Pei Jinchuan, born in the slums, ever catch her eye?
The boys around them immediately fell silent, not daring to utter another word.
Everyone knew Xu Qiao was the one Young Master Jiang held closest to his heart. If any unpleasant words reached his ears, they’d be finished sooner or later.
Fang Gao, worried that Jiang Wangye might see the post, was about to report and take it down. But before he could press the button, a hand damp with sweat suddenly appeared in front of him.
The phone was snatched away.
“What are you all looking at?” Jiang Wangye had just come down from the ring. Entering the locker room, he saw everyone staring at their phones and spoke with displeasure, “Aren’t you supposed to be training?”
Taking Fang Gao’s phone, his gaze fell on the photo, and the golden-haired, brown-eyed man’s face instantly darkened.
The air in the locker room grew tense, as if someone had pressed a pause button. Everyone’s faces turned pale.
“Brother Jiang, this post is definitely fake. The photo must be photoshopped. With AI so advanced these days, Xu…” Fang Gao felt a chill run down his spine and hurried to explain.
Midway through, remembering that Jiang Wangye couldn’t stand hearing Xu Qiao’s name these days, he quickly changed the subject. “The school forum is getting more and more out of hand these days. They’ll post any kind of fake, rumor-mongering nonsense without any limits!”
“Yeah, yeah, these kinds of photoshopped posts should be reported and taken down,” the others chimed in.
But the man holding Fang Gao’s phone remained silent, not responding to a single word.
The oppressive atmosphere seemed to lower the temperature in the entire locker room.
Sweat beaded on Fang Gao’s forehead.
What rotten luck—why did I have to get curious and look at that post right at this moment?
And of course, Eldest Young Master Jiang caught me red-handed.
God knows, ever since Jiang and Xu Qiao had that falling out last time, they’ve been going at it on the fighting stage for a whole month now. Us underlings, the small fry, are so terrified of the stage that our legs go weak just looking at it.
After a long moment, Jiang Wangye tossed the phone back to Fang Gao.
His brown eyes looked perfectly calm, but the words that came out of his mouth made everyone’s legs tremble.
“Seems like you all aren’t tired enough from today’s training, since you’ve got so much free time. Come on! Let’s all head to the stage and spar with me some more.”
Instantly, the lounge filled with groans of despair.
An hour later, the man, still brimming with energy, looked at the pile of exhausted bodies in front of him. He tore off his bloodstained gloves and, in a fit of frustration, slammed a fist into the nearby punching bag.
Xu Qiao, you’re something else.
Rejecting me, only to get involved with such a worthless piece of trash!
“Fang Gao, come here!” After a long pause, Jiang Wangye still couldn’t swallow his anger.
Even though he hadn’t gone looking for her for a month, a single photo had easily stirred up his emotions again.
Fang Gao, who had just suffered an undeserved beating, clutched his aching shoulder and cautiously approached, head half-bowed. “Jiang-ge, what is it?”
“Go investigate. Find out everything about that damn man.” Jiang Wangye threw punch after punch at the bag. Even though his hands were bleeding, he didn’t stop for a second, as if he couldn’t feel the pain at all.
Fang Gao naturally knew that the man Jiang Wangye wanted him to investigate was Pei Jinchuan, the one who had been close to Xu Qiao in the photo. But remembering what had happened before, he couldn’t help but look troubled, his voice dropping to a whisper. “Jiang-ge, didn’t Miss Xu say before that she hates it most when people scheme behind her back…”
Jiang Wangye froze mid-motion.
The punch he was about to throw stopped abruptly. He stood there, not even blinking as the swinging bag hit him.
Right. Xu Qiao hated it when people pulled strings behind her back, especially when they took it upon themselves to deal with the pests clinging to her.
If it hadn’t been for that incident last time, Qiaoqiao would never have found out about his feelings for her all along.
And they wouldn’t have ended up unable to even stay friends.
“Jiang-ge, if you ask me, maybe that photo was just an accident. It could’ve been that Miss Xu accidentally bumped into that guy. You know her personality better than I do—how could she possibly be with some lowlife from the slums? And that location was clearly outside Finance Class A, so how could it possibly be…” Seeing Jiang Wangye hesitate, Fang Gao quickly tried to reason with him.
His words seemed to get through to the man.
The punching stopped. After a long moment, Jiang Wangye furrowed his brow and said, “Go train. I need to think about this.”
With that, he took off his gloves and left the arena.
Fang Gao, still clutching his shoulder, watched the retreating figure and shook his head sympathetically.
Such a great boxing champion, the eldest young master of a top-tier wealthy family—how did he end up being such a lovesick fool?
Luosi Xueyuan, in front of the Biology Building.
“Investigate what? A post?” Song Zhiyu frowned slightly, his fingers lightly tracing the screen of his phone. “Why do you want me to look into this?”
The voice on the other end of the line carried a hint of anger, offering no explanation, but Song Zhiyu could guess the reason.
He’d often heard before how Jiang Wangye relentlessly pursued his childhood sweetheart, secretly threatening and suppressing anyone who showed interest in her.
Song Zhiyu couldn't understand it—why would a perfectly normal person, with a perfectly sound mind, do something so foolish?
How could chasing after women compare to the thrill of research?
Wouldn't it be better to spend that time running a few more experiments?
Though he didn't understand, he still agreed.
"I'll have the student council take down the post, but you'd better be careful. Don't push it to the point where even I can't cover for you."
After a grunt of acknowledgment came through the receiver, the call ended.
Song Zhiyu stood still, switched his phone screen, and sure enough, in his chat window with Jiang Wangye, he saw a link to a forum post.
He clicked into the post and immediately caught sight of the bold, eye-catching headline:
#Shocking! Campus Belle Xu Qiao and Genius Scholar Pei Jinchuan Share a Passionate Embrace on Campus, Unwilling to Part.#