Chapter 157.1: The Hit-and-Run Incident
“What are you talking about?”
“Ling Yuanzhen, are you planning to hold up your ID and apologize again? Don’t forget, the last time the school disciplined you, it was a probation warning. If you spread rumors again, do you want another punishment?”
“Trying to make a habit out of it? Once wasn’t enough for you? Hahaha.”
That remark drew laughter from a few students who hadn’t yet left the classroom.
Ling Yuanzhen, flushed with anger, slammed the desk hard and glared at the classmates who were mocking him.
“Who’s spreading rumors? Shen Xiu just puts on a good act in front of you all. Do you know what he’s like in private? And besides, aren’t there already enough people in the entertainment industry who act one way in public and another behind the scenes? What makes you so sure I’m making this up?”
“Why do you think Shen Xiu suddenly changed cars last night?”
Although Shen Xiu switching cars during the roadshow had trended on social media, it was a minor incident that mostly only fans paid attention to.
Most of the public was still focused on Shen Xiu’s Q&A about Storm yesterday and the movie’s release.
Seeing that no one had entered the classroom yet, and assuming the next class wasn’t scheduled there, and that their next classroom was just a minute’s walk away, the students didn’t rush to leave. Instead, they stuck around to watch the drama unfold and teased Ling Yuanzhen.
“Geez, Ling Yuanzhen, how come you’re more invested in Shen Xiu than we, his actual fans, are?”
“Exactly. If someone didn’t know better, they’d think you were one of Shen Xiu’s fans. Isn’t your level of attention to him just a little too intense?”
“Or maybe… you’re just bitter that Shen Xiu gave movie tickets to the whole class and left you out?”
When Ling Yuanzhen heard his classmates say he was paying too much attention to Shen Xiu, his expression changed drastically. It was as if he had only just realized something, and for a moment his mind went completely blank with a buzzing noise. He stood there, stunned, too dazed to snap back with a retort.
The students who had stayed behind to watch the drama saw that Ling Yuanzhen had gone silent, his face stricken with shock, and suddenly lost interest. They left the classroom in pairs, chatting as they went.
“Shen Xiu really handled it well. If it were me, I wouldn’t have given him a ticket either.”
“But don’t you think Ling Yuanzhen’s kind of weird? He’s way too fixated on Shen Xiu. They even used to live in the same dorm. I heard from those two guys in our class that Ling Yuanzhen often secretly created private group chats behind Shen Xiu’s back. Good thing Shen Xiu moved out. Imagine having to live with someone like that every day… tsk tsk. If he had bad intentions, it gives you the chills…”
“I honestly wonder how Ling Yuanzhen even got into Jinghe in the first place. Since freshman year, he hasn’t made it through a single semester without failing at least one class.”
Everyone had long been fed up with Ling Yuanzhen. Since they didn’t live in the same dorm and were already juniors or seniors, they weren’t afraid of retaliation anymore, so they didn’t bother lowering their voices. Ling Yuanzhen heard every word, loud and clear.
There was no class scheduled in that room for the next period, so no one came in. The classroom was soon empty, with only Ling Yuanzhen left alone. Outside in the hallway, students rushed past, holding books or slinging backpacks over their shoulders, hurrying to their next class.
Ling Yuanzhen slowly came back to his senses.
As his mind cleared, the things his classmates had just said replayed in his head, leaving him momentarily speechless.
Ling Yuanzhen: “……”
As the time for the next class approached, Ling Yuanzhen lowered his head, picked up his textbook from the desk, and started walking out stiffly.
As he walked, he couldn’t stop the words of his classmates from echoing over and over in his mind.
After his classmates pointed it out, Ling Yuanzhen was forced to admit it to himself—in their original dorm, before he knew about Shen Xiu’s family background, he had always assumed he couldn’t measure up to their other two roommates, whose families were clearly better off. So, almost instinctively, he shifted his attention to the one person in the dorm who seemed worse off than him: Shen Xiu, who was often seen working part-time jobs.
Without even realizing it, he had begun to view Shen Xiu as his benchmark—if he could surpass Shen Xiu, then at least he wouldn’t be the one at the very bottom of the dorm’s social ladder.
But the more he compared, the more Ling Yuanzhen realized that even if Shen Xiu was poorer than him financially, in every other way, Shen Xiu was leagues ahead.
Even in height, looks, and temperament—Shen Xiu stood out, not just in the dorm, but across the whole school.
Later on, when Ling Yuanzhen came to believe that the other two roommates couldn’t measure up to Shen Xiu either, he tried countless times to rope them in, hoping the three of them could isolate Shen Xiu together.
But not only did they not go along with his plan, they practically became Shen Xiu’s bootlickers—all because Shen Xiu included them in group projects.
At some point, without even noticing, Ling Yuanzhen had started going off course. He had become increasingly extreme in his thinking without realizing it.
He didn’t even want to listen to lectures anymore; his entire focus was on Shen Xiu. His grades plummeted. He was no longer the person who had once scored high enough on the college entrance exam to get into Jinghe. Now, he was just constantly failing his classes…
If only…
If only Shen Xiu hadn’t been assigned to the same dorm. If he hadn’t been in the same class. If—right from the beginning—he hadn’t pretended to be poor in front of him… would things have turned out like this?
Maybe… maybe he could’ve gotten along with everyone in the dorm.
Shen Xiu’s family was clearly wealthy—why did he have to lie to him?
And besides, with that kind of background, with parents like that, wasn’t someone like Shen Xiu supposed to be studying finance or going straight abroad?
Shen Xiu’s college entrance exam score was clearly high enough to get into the top-ranked program at Jinghe University, so why did he choose the less popular Film & Television Studies track in the Chinese Department—a program with relatively low admission requirements?
And if Shen Xiu wanted to be a director, he could’ve just enrolled directly in the directing program at the neighboring Film Academy. Why insist on coming to Jinghe University?
If Shen Xiu hadn’t come to Jinghe, hadn’t joined their class, Ling Yuanzhen would probably still be the same student from high school, focused entirely on studying.
The more Ling Yuanzhen thought about it, the darker his expression became. He grew increasingly convinced that Shen Xiu had been going against him from the very beginning.
He arrived at the next classroom with less than a minute left before class started.
Before sitting down, he couldn’t help but glance toward the seat where Shen Xiu usually sat at the back of the room.
Shen Xiu: “……”
All this just because he didn’t give Ling Yuanzhen a movie ticket? It had already been ten minutes—was it really necessary to keep glaring at him from one classroom to the next?
So petty. Just as terrifyingly intense as ever.
Good thing he’d moved out early. Otherwise, just like before, he’d have to go home every night and deal with Ling Yuanzhen’s attitude…
Just thinking about those days made Shen Xiu feel like he was suffocating.
When Ling Yuanzhen met Shen Xiu’s blank, expressionless face, he became even more certain that Shen Xiu was deliberately provoking him. He let out a cold snort, low enough that only he could hear it.
Noticing the amused, mocking glances from other students in the class, his expression grew even uglier. He turned his head away and sat down.
This was an elective held in a large lecture hall, with students from various departments and classes attending together.
The students from the Film & Television class, who had arrived earlier, had already shared the story with the other students: Shen Xiu had handed out movie tickets to everyone in their class—everyone except Ling Yuanzhen.
Now, after watching Ling Yuanzhen’s little “interaction” with Shen Xiu when he entered, even more people found it hard to hold back their laughter.
“Ling Yuanzhen really looks like a clown.”
“Seriously, Shen Xiu being this cold and ruthless? So badass—I love it!”
…
The people whispering were seated just two rows behind Ling Yuanzhen. It was impossible for him not to hear them.
The more he listened, the angrier he got. His hand, resting on his knee, clenched into a tight fist. His face was dark, and he couldn’t process a single word the teacher was saying up front.
—
At noon, the morning classes ended.
The moment the dismissal bell rang, Ling Yuanzhen grabbed the textbook he hadn’t opened all class and stormed out through the back door with a grim expression.
He didn’t go to the cafeteria but headed straight back to the dorm. There, he unlocked his phone and saved the screenshot he’d received on his alt account.
Remembering the lesson he’d learned last time, he didn’t dare use his own account or IP address. He dug around in his wardrobe and put on a baseball cap and a mask. Fully disguised, he picked up his phone and opened the dorm door.
Just then, his two roommates had returned from the cafeteria, meals in hand. They hadn’t even taken out their keys yet when the door was suddenly opened from inside—facing them directly was Ling Yuanzhen, about to leave.
Their eyes met. No one spoke.
Twisted by paranoia and resentment, Ling Yuanzhen gave them a dark look. The two roommates, wary of trouble and guided by the “less is more” philosophy, quietly stepped aside.
Ling Yuanzhen brushed past them without a word and strode off quickly.
Only after his back disappeared down the hallway did the two roommates close the door and begin to talk.
“Where’s he rushing off to in such a hurry?”
“You think he’s going to cause trouble for Shen Xiu again? I really don’t get it—what has Shen Xiu’s excellence ever done to him? Ever since they started living in the same dorm, he’s been targeting him nonstop. The moment he saw Shen Xiu working a part-time job, he acted like he was on something—ran his mouth for two whole months behind Shen Xiu’s back while he was out. Didn’t he notice Shen Xiu never once gave him the time of day, not even from the beginning?”
“Let’s be real—he’s just jealous. Jealous that Shen Xiu is taller, better-looking, more talented, and even has a powerful background…”
…
Wearing a baseball cap and a face mask, Ling Yuanzhen arrived at a black internet café where no ID was required to get online.
He didn’t dare use any of the accounts he had previously registered, so he pulled up a relative’s contact on his phone. With headphones on, he patiently coached them in his hometown dialect, guiding them through the process of creating a new account using their phone number.
Once the new alt account was set up, Ling Yuanzhen transferred the screenshot he’d received to the computer. Using one of the café’s machines, he uploaded the post—deliberately tagging it with various hashtags related to Shen Xiu.
@0925527629
#ShenXiuCarAccident #ShenXiuLawlessHitAndRun #ShenXiuDroveOffInLuxuryCarAfterCollision #ShenXiuAccidentScene #TheGalaxyCaptainShenXiuFledSceneLeftOthersToHandleIt
#ShenXiuIrresponsible
[Image x2]
Just two simple photos, but overloaded with inflammatory tags.
