Chapter 9: The Campus Forum Meltdown

That night, the South City Academy forum exploded.

An anonymous post titled "Lin Xuan's Mysterious Girlfriend" was pushed to the top. The content was simple, but it was enough to detonate the whole campus:

"Isn't this the Lin Xuan from our school? I ran into him at a birthday party for a student from the neighboring academy. He usually acts completely perfunctory with every girl, but I didn't expect him to be this clingy with his girlfriend in private."

In the photo, Lin Xuan was standing in a corner, one arm wrapped around Xu Xiaoxi's waist, holding her half-caged in his embrace as he looked down at her and smiled.

The picture wasn't very clear, but the relationship was obvious.

Less than twenty minutes after it went up, the comments started flooding in:

"Why does this person look so much like Xu Xiaoxi from our class?"

"Who is Xu Xiaoxi?"

"The one in Class Five of freshman year. She doesn't talk much either, always looks cold and distant. I've never seen her interact with Lin Xuan at school..."

"Is it really her?"

"Probably..."

Chu Shishi saw it and immediately forwarded it to Xu Xiaoxi.

Xu Xiaoxi stared at those three words repeating on the screen, a dull tightness rising in her chest, as if someone had publicly called her out by name. She forwarded the post to Lin Xuan and said nothing.

He replied almost instantly...

"Wait for me"

Five minutes later, that post vanished without a trace, as if it had never existed.

Then another message popped up.

"I'm sorry"

"I didn't know we'd been photographed"

Xu Xiaoxi silenced her phone and flipped it face-down on the desk, her chest tight with frustration... she could already imagine what Monday would look like when she walked into class.

As expected, the moment she arrived at school on Monday, she became the center of attention. Everyone crowded around her, chattering nonstop and grilling her about Lin Xuan. "Are you really together?" "How come you two never talk in public?" "When did you start dating?"...

Before she could say a word, a sudden female voice cut in...

"You're Xu Xiaoxi?"

She looked up. It was the famous beauty of their year, Qiao Xinran.

Even someone like her, who normally didn't care about gossip, knew that Qiao Xinran liked Lin Xuan. She had confessed to him more than once, and every time he had treated her like air.

"Come out with me." The gorgeous girl lifted her chin, her tone leaving no room for refusal.

Xu Xiaoxi found it irritating. This mess hadn't even been her fault to begin with. Just as she was considering ignoring her outright, there was a sudden stir at the doorway.

Lin Xuan ran into the classroom.

His uniform was a mess, his collar crooked, wind-tousled bangs falling across his forehead, his breathing still slightly uneven, none of his usual composure in sight.

"Ask me whatever you want. Don't ask her."

The classroom fell silent all at once. Xu Xiaoxi kept her head down, staring at the textbook on her desk, lost in thought.

Qiao Xinran's face reddened, her chest rising and falling sharply. "You two are really together?"

"No..." Lin Xuan answered decisively. "I'm pursuing her."

A sharp intake of breath swept through the room just as the class bell rang. Lin Xuan glanced around the classroom and smiled. "Class is starting. Go back to your seats. You can gossip about me if you want, just don't disturb her."

As soon as Lin Xuan left, Xu Xiaoxi received another message: "Come to the music room for lunch"

In the music room, Lin Xuan had already laid out takeout. It was from a private kitchen she liked, but she had no appetite at all.

"There won't be any more posts about you on the forum," Lin Xuan said, sliding a piece of beef brisket she liked into her bowl. "The person who posted it is from Class Seven. He ran into Ke Xinghua twice at tutoring, and I've already warned him."

"Sorry." He added a few stalks of baby bok choy to her bowl. "Eat, baby. Don't skip lunch. It makes me ache to see you like this."

From the moment she came in, Xu Xiaoxi hadn't said a word and hadn't eaten either. The food in her bowl kept piling higher and higher.

"Lin Xuan, we're not together." She finally spoke.

"I know." His hand paused for a second with the chopsticks. "I said I'm pursuing you."

"We're just sleeping together."

His throat bobbed lightly. "I know," he said, his voice tightening. "Just eat something, okay?"

Only then did Xu Xiaoxi slowly pick up her chopsticks, still refusing to look at him.

"I don't like being watched," she said calmly. "If people keep talking about us like this... I might want to end this between us."

Lin Xuan closed his eyes. A few seconds passed before he finally said, "Okay."

When she got back to the classroom in the afternoon, Chu Shishi leaned over and whispered, "Now on the South City Academy forum, the moment your name appears, it gets deleted. They won't even let your initials stay up."

Xu Xiaoxi nodded.

"That's Lin Xuan's doing, right?" Chu Shishi lowered her voice. "Why do I feel like the more he protects you like this, the more people are going to resent it?"

Xu Xiaoxi stayed silent.

"Are you really dating?"

"No."

"Then do you like him?"

Like him? Xu Xiaoxi herself wasn't sure. She didn't even know what liking someone really meant. Based on Chu Shishi's explanation from backstage last time, she probably didn't like him...

"But he sure looks like he likes you."

The bell rang, and Chu Shishi turned back to the front row.

The first math class of the afternoon had just begun. When math teacher Zhao Qiuyue walked in, there was a boy beside her. His black shirt hung open at the collar, revealing a clean white undershirt beneath. He wore glasses, and his manner was refined and reserved.

"Let me introduce everyone," Zhao Qiuyue said. "This is your intern teacher, Jiang Jinian."

Jiang Jinian stood at the podium and gave a slight smile, his gaze settling lightly on Xu Xiaoxi.

"Please take care of me."

The classroom had already started whispering about how good-looking he was, but Xu Xiaoxi alone stared at him, dazed and lost in thought.