Chapter 65: Chapter 65: The Ordinary Girl Defeated by Vanity (15) Chapter 65: Chapter 65: The Ordinary Girl Defeated by Vanity (15) Satisfied and unaware of the looming storm, Su Li returned to school.
Her shopping spree taught her one lesson:
Money really slips through the fingers, she would have to work even harder.
“Extra, extra, uncovering the real essence of Jing University’s top scholar and beauty…”
Soon, a post naming nas started circulating on the BBS forums of various schools in University City.
The article was logical and well-docunted, complete with pictures and contrasting before-and-after descriptions.
It detailed Su Li’s transformation before and after joining the university, painting her as a gold-digger and vain woman who would stop at nothing for money.
The author of this article was skilled in such tactics; the content was a mix of truth and lies—three parts truth to seven parts falsehood. It was so interwoven with half-truths and exaggerations that even Su Li herself couldn’t discern the real from the fake.
She might even believe she had done these things, let alone the onlookers who knew nothing of the truth.
A few photos served as alleged proof.
If Su Li could see this post, she’d recognize them as pictures taken with Zheng Yuan.
The angles were cleverly chosen, especially those depicting transactions, leaving much to the imagination.
After joining Jing University, Su Li had changed a lot; her simplicity was gone, and her clothing, while not necessarily extravagant, reflected a level of spending well beyond what other students in the ivory tower could afford.
“Su Li, the bracelet on your wrist is so pretty, did soone give it to you?”
As soon as the class bell rang and the professor stepped out, that sarcastic female voice reached Su Li’s ears.
Su Li looked over with an indifferent expression, “Why must it be given to by soone? Can’t I have bought it myself?”
A girl in plain clothes with plain looks stood up, holding her textbook, and scoffed, “Don’t joke, how could you have bought it yourself? Don’t you know your family’s situation? Could you really afford such things?”
Su Li chuckled, “Sorry to disappoint you, but this bracelet really was bought with my own hard-earned money.”
“Hard-earned?”
“If that’s how you want to describe it…” the girl’s eyes took on a weird look, her tone elongating with deep implication as she made faces and contorted her expression grotesquely.
So classmates couldn’t stand it, “Su Li, haven’t you seen the school’s forum?”
“Yes, it’s about you… not very flattering things…”
“But maybe it’s not true, things on the internet are always a mix of fact and fiction…”
The classmate stuttered, his statent vague, ending with an embarrassed laugh.
“Ha, what a disgrace to our school, how could such things be false? Just look at how she’s dressed now.”
Following this girl’s remarks, the surrounding students exchanged knowing glances coupled with envious stares.
Su Li threw down her pen, folded her arms across her chest, and scanned the female classmate with a sharp gaze that made her involuntarily step back.
Su Li: “I never expected Jing University’s campus to harbor such brainless characters from idol dramas.”
“It’s said that rumors stop with the wise, but it seems there are very few who have brains.” Those glanced upon by Su Li turned their heads away, then nervously lowered their gazes to busy themselves with what was in their hands.
The quality of Jing University students was actually quite good, even if they were a tad too curious.
However, there was no need to save face for those who deliberately ca to provoke.
Su Li’s gaze fell back on the girl who spoke first.
“But, classmate, I don’t believe I’ve eaten your food or drank your water… What I wear or what I put on… what business is it of yours?”
“Envy is the last thing you want.”
Su Li spoke with ease, but the girl opposite her wasn’t having it easy.
She was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, fur bristling instantly, “Who would be jealous of you, envious of you… Soone like you, not so pure… I don’t care about that at all.”
Suddenly, Su Li stood up, startling the person opposite her, “What, what are you going to do?”
Su Li: “Don’t worry, I’m not going to get physical…”
The next second, Su Li beca particularly stern, “What do you an, not so pure? You need to take responsibility for what you just said. I have the right to sue you for defamation…”
Seeing Su Li’s firm attitude, the girl opposite her got a little scared, but still stuttered out, “…It’s not just saying this, the whole school is talking about it…”
Su Li: “I don’t care about others, but now I’ve heard you saying it…”
Before Su Li could finish, the girl hurriedly ran off with her friend, “No, it’s not my fault…”
Su Li spit contemptuously to herself, a coward who bullies the weak but fears the strong.
However, during her free ti, Su Li still browsed the school forum.
She didn’t need to search; at the very top of the forum, bolded and highlighted, was the hottest post about her.
Su Li read it with great interest, looking like it was definitely done by soone who knew her very well.
Of course, it wasn’t just her, there must be others facilitating the spread; a single post wouldn’t have beco so widespread otherwise.
Just as she left the dormitory, in a corner hidden by dense bushes, a hand suddenly reached out and pulled the unsuspecting Su Li in.
Except for the first second when Su Li didn’t catch on, she then narrowed her eyes dangerously, ready to strike.
But upon hearing a sowhat familiar voice, she silently moved her hand behind her back.
This person was none other than Cheng Bo, soone with whom Su Li had crossed paths a few tis.
At that mont, his face was full of anger, resembling a husband who caught his wife cheating.
The handso Cheng Bo’s face was covered in frost, and his suppressed voice made his anger easily discernible.
He spoke in a hushed tone, sounding as if he was struggling to force the words out of his throat: “Su Li, what’s going on with you? Is everything said in the post true?”
Su Li looked at him with amusent in her eyes and suddenly said deliberately, “True or false, does it matter?”
Cheng Bo: “As long as you say it’s false, I’ll believe you…”
Su Li: “Oh, and what if it’s true?”
Cheng Bo’s figure stiffened for a mont, and had Su Li not been staring intently at him, she wouldn’t have noticed.
“This…” Cheng Bo’s lowered eyelids cast a heavy shadow across his cheeks.
Having witnessed Cheng Bo’s array of facial expressions before, Su Li found it extrely amusing.
The next second, her tone turned as cold as ice shards, weighing Cheng Bo’s current behavior as ridiculous as a circus clown.
Su Li: “Are we close?”
“Who are you to , what does how I am matter to you?”
“I don’t steal, I don’t rob, I abide by the law; is there sothing wrong with wanting to live a better life for myself?”
“As for all of you jumping out and making a fuss…”
Su Li’s speech was extrely fast, a rapid-fire series of rhetorical questions spilling out one after another.
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