Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 271: Help Me Say Sorry to Her

Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan had indeed been fighting tooth and nail over the past few days, but it wasn't serious enough to warrant disciplinary action. After all, over four years of university, which roommates didn't have their share of conflicts? From the counselor's perspective, the primary goal was always to mediate and encourage peace.As for Su Qing openly declaring that she was going to live at her boyfriend's house.

It was the kind of thing better left unsaid.

But saying it out loud was ultimately harmless. University students were legally allowed to get marriage certificates, so what was a little cohabitation?

At most, some of the more conservative-minded people might think the girl was lacking in decency.

However, in her past life, Su Qing had actually been married to Zhou Yuwen.

Why would she care about any of that?

She had waited an eternity for this very moment.

She had said it intentionally right to Zheng Yanyan's face.

Wasn't Zheng Yanyan the one parading around in front of her every single day?

Showing off in the dormitory non-stop.

Bragging about how big the bathtub was in Zhou Yuwen's house, and how incredibly comfortable the bed felt.

Just the other day, she had even played hard to get, casually dropping that she was about to move out and live with Zhou Yuwen.

"Oh my, just thinking about it makes me feel a little shy!"

Thinking back to Zheng Yanyan's affected, pretentious behavior.

Su Qing felt a surge of secret satisfaction.

Weren't they going to live together?

Wasn't she going to move out?

Why wasn't she moving now?

Sure enough, the moment Su Qing finished speaking, Zheng Yanyan lost her mind. Not even caring that they were in an office, she lunged forward to claw at Su Qing. "That is my boyfriend's house!"

Fortunately, the teacher intervened to hold her back. But while she could physically restrain Zheng Yanyan, she couldn't hold back the girl's blazing fury!

Whether it was Zhou Yuwen himself or everything belonging to him, it all rightfully belonged to her!

Who did Su Qing think she was!?

How could she act so incredibly entitled to it?!

"Get lost! You are not allowed to move in! You are not allowed to move in!" Held back by their class's female counselor, Zheng Yanyan continued to swipe wildly at Su Qing, absolutely determined to stop her from moving into Zhou Yuwen's house.

Su Qing did not feel her anger subside; on the contrary, she found the whole display utterly baffling.

"You and Zhou Yuwen already broke up. What does it matter to you whether I move in or not? You two were only dating, it's not like you were married to him!"

"Zhou Yuwen and I have not broken up! We are not broken up! That is my home!"

Zheng Yanyan's eyes were red as she cried and threw a tantrum in her rage.

Only then did the counselor finally realize that Su Qing's supposed boyfriend was actually Zheng Yanyan's ex-boyfriend.

To be honest, the counselor had dealt with her fair share of student relationship crises, but this was the first time she had encountered a situation quite this thorny.

It gave her a bit of a headache.

That guy, Zhou Yuwen. When other people experienced rebirth, they usually started businesses, got rich, and became well-known to university professors for their success. Zhou Yuwen was probably the first to become famous among all the teachers simply because girls were fiercely fighting over him.

After temporarily defusing the situation between Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan, their class counselor rubbed her aching head. Chatting with colleagues in the office, one teacher remarked, "I'm genuinely getting curious about this Zhou Yuwen."

"Just what kind of boy is he to attract girls like this?"

"Exactly. I heard that third-year girl was crying her heart out over him a while back too."

"If you think about it, it makes sense. I've read his web novel, and the kid has real talent. It's almost a pity he ended up at our school."

Regarding the conflict between Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan, Su Qing actually bore more of the blame. Zheng Yanyan had just gone through a breakup and was highly emotionally unstable, yet Su Qing kept deliberately aggravating the situation. She flaunted her position as if she had already won, acting as though the moment Zhou Yuwen broke up with Zheng Yanyan, she would automatically become his next girlfriend.

In reality, there was absolutely no sign of that happening.

But Zheng Yanyan didn't know that.

Seeing Su Qing's smug expression and hearing her confidently declare that she was moving out to live with Zhou Yuwen made her panic.

Zheng Yanyan was truly jumping at shadows. Not only did she deeply regret kicking up a fuss with Zhou Yuwen back in Suzhou, but the moment she returned from the office, she grabbed Lu Lin and insisted they both go stay at Zhou Yuwen's big flat.

"Isn't Zhou Yuwen still out of town?" Lu Lin pointed out.

"That's exactly why we need to move in first! We can't let that bitch Su Qing get in there!" Zheng Yanyan sobbed, wiping her tears. She had made up her mind; even if she had to shamelessly squat there, she was going to stay at Zhou Yuwen's house.

During the few days Zhou Yuwen was away, the gossip around the university spread like wildfire. Initially, it was indeed Su Qing who exposed what had happened in Suzhou, but she hadn't exaggerated or smeared anyone's name. She had merely stated the facts.

And she zeroed in on one crucial point: Zheng Yanyan had listened to Chang Hao!

She refused to trust her own boyfriend, choosing instead to believe an outsider!

Fellow students, fellow netizens, do you think a girl like that deserves to be Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend?!

"She doesn't deserve it!"

The online crowd was naturally riled up, especially since the drama had nothing to do with them personally.

Originally, Zheng Yanyan had a decent reputation among the student body, easily ranking in the top ten of the school's goddess list. But once this incident blew up, the internet trolls immediately kicked her while she was down, marveling at how they never expected her to be that kind of girl.

"A fickle woman like that! I wouldn't take her even if she were handed to me for free!"

Every time Zheng Yanyan saw comments like this, her blood boiled. How was she fickle!?

So she went to confront Su Qing, demanding that she delete the posts, insisting that there was absolutely nothing going on between her and Chang Hao!

Su Qing simply replied, "I never said anything was going on between you two, did I? I just told the truth."

"You!" Zheng Yanyan gritted her teeth.

But Su Qing held the moral high ground. She retorted that a woman who entangled herself with other men simply wasn't fit to be with Zhou Yuwen. "Tell me yourself, did Zhou Yuwen treat you well or not?"

"How much makeup did he buy for you? He took you traveling, bought you clothes, and what did you do? Have you been keeping in touch with Chang Hao this whole time? After doing all that, do you think you've been fair to Zhou Yuwen?"

"I have not!"

"Think carefully. Are you really saying you haven't contacted Chang Hao even once?"

"I...!"

Zheng Yanyan was instantly rendered speechless, so she lashed out instead. "What about you! Can you claim you've never chatted with other men!? Can you claim you are absolutely loyal to Zhou Yuwen?"

"Ha, I actually can! If I were Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend, I guarantee I wouldn't even speak to another man! My mind would be filled with nothing but him! Even without being his girlfriend, I can keep myself pure for him. How can you even compare yourself to me!?"

"You!"

This time, Zheng Yanyan was truly left without a single word of rebuttal.

Honestly, whenever Shen Yu listened to the two of them bickering, she felt completely and utterly speechless. Sometimes she even wanted to beg the counselor, "Teacher, don't worry about transferring them, please just transfer me!"

It was absolute madness; they sounded exactly like elementary school kids arguing!

Yet the two of them just wouldn't stop.

As the end of the semester approached, the drama surrounding Zhou Yuwen provided endless entertainment for the student body. Whenever they had free time, they would log onto the university forum to catch up on the latest gossip, easily amusing themselves for the entire day.

Li Qiang was definitely one of those people. He stopped watching TV shows during meals and jumped straight onto the forum instead. After reading for a while, he burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Good heavens! Brother Hao, I didn't expect you to have a starring role in this drama!"

Chang Hao blinked in surprise, wondering what any of this had to do with him.

But after reading through the entire thread and understanding the context, Chang Hao immediately frowned. "What kind of nonsense are they spouting! This is pure slander!"

The forum posts were accusing Zheng Yanyan of being unfaithful, stating that as Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend, she shouldn't have been entangled with other guys.

"Exactly! How does this Zheng Yanyan have zero sense of boundaries?"

"Brother Ritian used to court her, doesn't she know how to avoid suspicion?"

"There's one thing I really don't get. What was going through her head, actually taking Brother Ritian with her to catch her boyfriend cheating?"

"What a joke, they deserve to break up!"

"If it were me, I'd break up with her too!"

Seeing Zheng Yanyan being dogpiled by a mob of netizens on the forum, Chang Hao frowned deeply and couldn't help but curse, "Are these people insane!? It's the 21st century, why are they all acting like their brains have been bound? Damn it, a whole crowd bullying a single girl? What the hell is wrong with them!?"

Chang Hao was so angry his face turned green.

Originally, after Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan's counselor intervened, the scandal had died down considerably. At the very least, Su Qing had stopped leaking new information, meaning the drama would have faded after a couple more days of simmering. But how could Chang Hao stand to see Zheng Yanyan suffer such grievances?

So, Chang Hao bravely stepped forward to defend her:

"Hello fellow students, I am Zhou Yuwen's roommate, Chang Hao. I admit that I did pursue Zheng Yanyan in the past, but during the time she and Zhou Yuwen were dating, our relationship was purely platonic!"

Good heavens. The situation had been on the verge of blowing over, but the moment a key figure like him made a public statement, the thread was instantly rocketed back to the number one spot in popularity.

"Friends!? What kind of bullshit is that? You're friends with a girl who has a boyfriend? Who are you trying to fool, bro? We're all men here, do you think I don't know what's going on in your head?"

"Hahaha, this is killing me! Here's a joke for you: is there such a thing as pure friendship between a man and a woman?"

"Brother Ritian, it's fine if you want to lie to others, but don't fucking lie to yourself."

"If you're just waiting to be the rebound guy, just say so!"

Reading these comments, Chang Hao grew even more furious.

He immediately started warring with the commenters.

Why couldn't there be pure friendship between a man and a woman!?

Yanyan and I come from the same hometown! What's wrong with me looking after her like a younger sister!?

Besides, it takes two to tango! Are you all absolutely certain that Zhou Yuwen is completely innocent!!?

"If Zhou Yuwen had nothing going on with his ex-girlfriend, then why were they in the same room together!?"

"Why is it that Zhou Yuwen can mess around with other women, but Yanyan isn't allowed to have male friends!?"

"Shut the fuck up! I have absolutely fucking nothing to do with you!?"

In her dormitory, Zheng Yanyan completely broke down as she read post after post.

Consequently, she called the police.

She had no other choice. Chang Hao was acting like a total idiot, spewing nonsense online. What did he mean by her looking for other men?

Damn it, she had absolutely zero relationship with him.

Yet here he was, spouting all this garbage on the internet.

This only made the online crowd even more ecstatic.

"Good lord, he just confessed without even being interrogated?"

"Your precious Yanyan is looking for other men?"

"So that cheap woman really is a slut!?"

"She actually is sleeping around with you?"

"What a pair of animals, a match made in hell!"

With posts like these flooding the forum, Zheng Yanyan couldn't have cleared her name even if she had eight mouths.

She was genuinely on the verge of a mental breakdown.

Luckily, Lu Lin kept a clear head.

Call the police!

For something like this, they had to call the police—it was clear harassment and defamation!

As soon as the police arrived, the rumors would collapse on their own.

Hearing this, Zheng Yanyan didn't even hesitate before dialing the police.

Lu Lin did offer one warning, "But you need to think this through. If you call the police, Chang Hao will be completely ruined!"

With red, teary eyes, Zheng Yanyan snapped, "He's already slandering me like this! Why should I care about him!"

Thus, that very evening, Chang Hao was in his dormitory, fiercely debating the masses online.

Feeling mentally exhausted, he couldn't help but mutter, "Are these people really university students?"

"Why is every single one of them acting so brainless? Why is it considered perfectly normal for Zhou Yuwen to fool around with women, but when Yanyan and I have absolutely nothing going on, they throw the most hideous insults at us!?"

Li Qiang was sitting nearby, munching on an apple and enjoying the show. Chuckling, he said, "Hey, Brother Hao, someone else just replied to you. He says, since you just claimed it takes two to tango, if you really have no relationship with Zheng Yanyan, why are you getting so worked up?"

Hearing this made Chang Hao even more furious. "Because we are friends! What is wrong with protecting my friend!"

He poured all his energy into defending Zheng Yanyan's reputation on the internet.

At that exact moment, the dormitory manager walked in, accompanied by two police officers.

"Which one of you is Chang Hao?"

Chang Hao, who had been busy typing a reply, froze. He stood up, looking bewildered. "That's me. May I ask who you—"

"Hello. Someone has reported you for harassment and defamation. We are legally summoning you. Please come with us," one of the officers said expressionlessly.

"?"

Chang Hao stood there, completely dumbfounded. Li Qiang was equally stunned, his laughter instantly dying in his throat. He had just wanted to enjoy a bit of drama; he never imagined things would escalate this far.

And just like that, under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Chang Hao was taken away.

At that very moment, the rumors were indeed shattered without a single word of explanation.

"Holy crap! Brother Ritian just got hauled off by the cops?!"

"What the hell!?"

Photos of the two police officers escorting Chang Hao out of the dormitory were quickly uploaded to the university forums. When everyone found out the truth behind the arrest, they found it even more hilarious.

So it turned out that this entire time, it was just Brother Ritian suffering from unrequited affection and wishful thinking?!

"I'm dying of laughter! He was charging into battle on the frontlines for his goddess, and the goddess stabbed him in the back!"

"Hahaha, so-called 'sweet guys' rank even lower than dogs!"

"This is too damn funny!"

Lu Lin's method was undeniably a bit unethical, but it was highly effective. This single move cleanly severed the rumors linking Zheng Yanyan and Chang Hao. The only downside was that Chang Hao had genuinely become the laughingstock of the entire school—no, the laughingstock of the entire university town.

Sitting inside the police station, Chang Hao felt as though his heart had turned to dead ashes that night.

An incident like this wouldn't actually result in detention or a permanent criminal record, especially since the university teachers would definitely step in to plead on his behalf.

However, after learning the full context of why he had been arrested, Chang Hao simply sat there in absolute silence for three or four hours, not saying a single word.

It wasn't until You Changjin arrived to sign the paperwork and bail him out that he finally moved.

By this point, Li Qiang was no longer laughing. He genuinely felt sorry for Chang Hao. Chang Hao had done so much for Zheng Yanyan, yet in the end, she didn't even show her face. It was Lu Lin who came over to check on him.

Noticing the strange look on Chang Hao's face, Li Qiang asked in a worried tone, "Brother Hao, are you alright?"

Chang Hao ignored Li Qiang.

Outside the police station, Lu Lin looked at Chang Hao's desolate, absent-minded expression and sighed. "Don't blame Yanyan. She asked me to tell you never to appear in front of her again. She wants you to just let her go."

It was only when Lu Lin said this that Chang Hao slowly lifted his head and glanced at her.

Lu Lin sighed again, turning around to leave.

Chang Hao thought for a moment before calling out to stop her.

"?" Lu Lin turned back.

"I..." Chang Hao seemed entirely drained of energy. He paused before saying, "Go back and tell Yanyan that I don't blame her."

"I thought about it, and she did the right thing. This really was the most effective method. I was the one who was out of line this time."

"Help me say sorry to her."