"Have you heard? That second-generation rich kid from our school went to Baijinhan to hire a girl and ended up picking our campus belle, Zhu Jiajia!"
"Really? Damn! That's explosive news! Where did you hear that?"
"Don't you go online? It's all over the campus forum, and there are even photos."
"Tsk tsk tsk, what a slut. She always seemed so pure, but there she was, sitting on his lap feeding him drinks! It's fucking disgusting, ugh!"
I sat bored in the back seat of the bus, listening to the two rather unattractive girls in front of me gossiping heatedly.
They were practically spitting as they talked, eager to criticize every inch of Zhu Jiajia.
I felt nothing inside, maybe even a bit amused. The jealousy between girls can be truly terrifying.
My name is Zhou Peiyu, a junior at Jingyang University.
Today is Saturday, and I got up early to head into the city for a simple reason: I'm broke.
My parents divorced early, each forming their own happy new families, having smart and adorable second children, leaving no one willing to care for me, the burden. Tuition and living expenses are mostly up to me.
After a grueling four-hour journey of bus transfers and subway rides, the announcement finally came: "Next stop, Jingyang First People's Hospital."
I jumped off the bus, headed straight for the hospital entrance, and made my way to the third floor's "Department of Dermatology and Venereology," knocking on the closed wooden door.
"Come in." A deep voice came from inside.
I pushed the door open and greeted, "Hello, Doctor Yang, I'm Zhou Peiyu, we spoke before."
Doctor Yang adjusted the thick black-framed glasses on his nose, looked up from a pile of test reports, and sized up my slightly thin but very sturdy frame, nodding, "Oh, it's you, here to test the drug."
"Yes." I nodded.
Testing drugs is basically risking your life for money.
Doctor Yang told me it was a newly developed special antibody for "syphilis," called "Meiliting." If successful, the user would be completely immune to "syphilis" thereafter.
And after one injection and a night's observation, as long as I didn't drop dead on the spot, I'd get five thousand yuan.
The next morning, Doctor Yang gave me a full-body check-up. Looking at the data on the instruments, he muttered words like "unbelievable" and "perfect," then swiftly slapped five thousand yuan in cash on the table.
I pocketed the money and left the hospital, ready to return to school. The archery club had an event this afternoon that I needed to attend.
Another few hours of bumpy travel.
Bored, I scrolled through the school's forum.
To my surprise, the posts about campus belle Zhu Jiajia were still going viral.
There were many "live photos," one showing Zhu Jiajia in a dimly lit private room, wearing an almost transparent black camisole, holding a wine glass, with a man's fat hand resting on her fair thigh.
The comments in the forum were unsightly.
"The pure goddess turned into a socialite, such a contrast, love it."
"I heard from Yang Likai that Zhu Jiajia is wild in that aspect and knows how to play tricks."
"Tsk tsk, she acts like a saint, but behind the scenes, she's a public bus."
I swiped through the photos, and indeed, Zhu Jiajia was stunningly beautiful, with an alluring charm that radiated from her bones, paired with her pure and flawless face, enough to drive men crazy.
"Alas, too bad I'm not a second-generation rich kid," I mocked myself.
By the time I finished the event at school, it was already past seven in the evening. Since it was winter, it got dark early. Bored, I walked alone by the lake on campus.
The freshmen and sophomores were all in evening self-study, so there was hardly anyone by the lake.
As I strolled along the overgrown shore, a shadow not far ahead caught my attention.
It was a woman.
Her long hair fluttered messily in the wind, standing at the steepest part of the shore, her thin shoulders shaking violently, with suppressed sobs reaching my ears.
I was fucking startled, thinking I might have encountered a "witch" from "Left 4 Dead" by the lake at night, dressed like that, crying like that...
I held my breath and quietly approached.
Suddenly, I saw the woman take a small step forward, seemingly ready to jump.
I quickly shouted, "Hey! Don't do anything stupid!"
The woman turned around abruptly.
I looked, and damn, wasn't that the campus belle, Zhu Jiajia?
Her makeup was completely ruined, mascara running down her face in two black streaks from tears, making her look extremely disheveled, yet even so, her face was still excessively beautiful.
"Who... who are you?" she sobbed, her voice soft and trembling.
"I'm Zhou Peiyu," I stopped three meters away from her, at a loss, "Uh... you may not know me, but I know you."
Zhu Jiajia paused, sniffled, "How do you know me?"
Without thinking, I blurted out, "The school's forum, it's full of your photos."
As soon as I said it, I wished I could slap myself. Damn it, why did I have to bring that up!
Hearing the word "forum," Zhu Jiajia froze, then collapsed on the ground by the shore, crying even harder than before.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized, tentatively placing a hand gently on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.
But just then, a string of curses suddenly came from behind me.
"Fuck you, bitch, where the hell do you think you're going?"
Hearing this voice, Zhu Jiajia shivered all over, shrinking behind me.
I turned to look and saw a guy in a branded leather jacket, reeking of alcohol, angrily running towards us, followed by two sleazy-looking lackeys.
I recognized this guy, Yang Likai, a notorious second-generation rich kid at school.
Yang Likai ran up, first giving me a disdainful glance, then pointed at Zhu Jiajia behind me and cursed, "Hiding? Where the hell can you hide? Damn it, Zhu Jiajia, you're fucking sick! And you didn't tell me!"
Zhu Jiajia cried out, "Yang Likai, you wouldn't listen to me, you forced me!"
I was dumbfounded listening to this, but instinctively stood in front of Zhu Jiajia.
Yang Likai sneered, turning to me, "Who the hell are you? Where did this bumpkin come from? Daring to meddle in my business? Get the hell out of here!"
With that, he grabbed my collar with his branded watch-wearing hand, trying to shove me aside.
But I didn't budge.
Yang Likai, a playboy whose body was hollowed out by indulgence and alcohol, was pathetically weak.
But I'm different. I'm poor, relying on part-time jobs for tuition and living expenses. Almost every weekend, I work at construction sites outside school, carrying bricks, and during summer, I help people carry bags. My muscles are rock hard.
I reached out and grabbed his wrist.
"Let go." I looked at him coldly.
"Fuck! You dare fight back?" Yang Likai swung his other fist at me.
I fucking countered with a palm strike to his stomach. With twenty years of strength, Yang Likai's frail body couldn't take it, and he fell back, landing like a sow in the muddy grass.
"Ouch!" Yang Likai sat on the ground, cursing in pain.
The two lackeys wanted to rush up, but I pulled out my compound bow bag from behind, and though I didn't have arrows, it was enough to scare them.
"You fucking dare stay here! Wait for me!" Yang Likai struggled to get up, still spewing filth, "When my guys get here, I'll fucking kill you! Damn it!"
I'm not an idiot, waiting for him to call reinforcements?
I turned and grabbed Zhu Jiajia's small hand, whispering, "Run!"
Zhu Jiajia hesitated for a moment, but I pulled her along, diving into the campus woods.
We circled a few walls, ran far, and only stopped when we were sure no one was following.
I caught my breath, then looked at her and said, "I'll... I'll take you back to your dorm."
But Zhu Jiajia shook her head repeatedly, "No, I can't go back to the dorm... Yang Likai knows where my dorm is, he'll definitely bring people to block me."
"Uh... then where?"
Zhu Jiajia lowered her head, and after a while, she said, "How about... we get a hotel room outside the school?"
I was stunned, a room?
Looking at her pitiful appearance, I felt a bit helpless.
"Alright, let's hide first."
To avoid being spotted, I led her through a side iron fence of the school, then found a secluded, cheap hotel on the commercial street opposite the school.
"Ma'am, a room... just a single room."
The lady at the front desk gave us a knowing look, scanning us up and down.
"69 yuan."
I felt a pang of pain, 69 yuan was enough for me to eat for a week, but there was no choice. In this situation, having the beautiful lady behind me pay would be looked down upon.
I gritted my teeth, pulled out a hundred-yuan bill from my pocket, "Here! Give me 31 back!"
With the room card, we went up to the third floor.
The room was small, with only a single bed and a simple glass shower.
"Alright, stay here for now, lock the door." I escorted her into the room, handed her the room card, and was about to leave for my dorm.
Unexpectedly, as I turned around, a warm little hand grabbed my wrist.
I looked back in confusion, seeing Zhu Jiajia with her head down, biting her lip, "Can you... stay with me? I'm scared... I'm scared he'll come looking."
My heart skipped a beat, stay with her? Just the two of us...
But I firmly refused, "It's not appropriate, I..."
Before I could finish, Zhu Jiajia stepped forward and gently locked the door.
"What are you doing?" I stood there, petrified.
Zhu Jiajia didn't speak, she unzipped her down jacket right in front of me.
Underneath was a tight knit top, and as she moved, she started taking off her clothes one by one.
Until her fair skin was completely exposed before my eyes.
Her chest heaved, whether from nervousness or shyness.
"To... make you stay with me," Zhu Jiajia murmured softly, "Take it off..."
I was a bit dumbfounded, my brain stalling, "Take what off..."
"You're so bad..."
She blushed, looking at me shyly.