"Aren't you a student at Yan University? Logically, you should have your own dorm room, so why are you living off-campus?" Ling Feng asked.
Liu Tingyu gently shook her head and said, "Due to some issues, I had an unpleasant fallout with some classmates, so I moved out and live elsewhere now."
Ling Feng nodded thoughtfully, seeming to understand that the so-called Ivory Tower of the university campus was probably not as pure as it used to be.
The two were having a late-night snack outdoors when the passing students were all drawn to Liu Tingyu's outstanding presence.
"Hey, isn't that the belle of the Industrial Management Department? Gosh, she's actually eating out with a man?"
"Hmph, didn't someone say last year that they saw Liu Tingyu being kept by some off-campus boss? Now she's dining with a Pretty Boy, looks like she got bored of the other one, huh?" The voice clearly conveyed an unmistakable envy.
"Looking good really is an advantage, huh? To be a mistress or a kept mistress, she really is a winner in life!"
"But these are all rumors, right? I've never seen Liu Tingyu being intimate with anyone."
"Rumors? Don't you know there's no smoke without fire? A lady in front, a **** behind—the saying must be about people like Liu Tingyu!"
...
Ling Feng's hearing was very good; he could even hear the whispers of the students quite clearly.
He had never expected that the kind and strong Liu Tingyu had such a bad reputation at the university! Had he misjudged her?
Soon, Ling Feng dismissed the thought. Although he hadn't known her for long, Liu Tingyu was definitely not that kind of loose girl!
"Uncle, what's wrong?" Seeing the change in Ling Feng's expression, Liu Tingyu asked, "Don't you like this place? I'm really fond of their stir-fried rice cakes and barbecue."
Ling Feng shook his head. Forget stir-fried rice cakes and barbecue, even tree bark and grass roots—if it was for survival, Ling Feng had eaten them before. He truly didn't have much of a requirement when it came to the quality of food.
"Haha, I thought it was someone else, turns out it's our Liu, the Campus Belle. Didn't your boss pay you? Why come here to eat?" At that moment, a haughty and shrill voice carried over, followed by a waft of pungent perfume.
Ling Feng's brow furrowed slightly; he did not like being disturbed while eating, especially by hostile people.
"Zheng Xinyi, what are you doing here?" Liu Tingyu's eyebrows knitted slightly at the sight of the newcomer, speaking in an unhappy tone.
The leading girl was heavily made up, and although she was in her early twenties, her entire getup was **** and seductive, full of a worldly air! If they hadn't run into each other at the university, one might have mistaken her for a fallen girl from the red-light district!
"Of course, I'm here to see our Liu, the Campus Belle!" Zheng Xinyi touched the table where Liu Tingyu and Ling Feng were eating, wrinkled her nose, then wiped her fingers disdainfully and said, "It's really pitiful, the esteemed Campus Belle of Yan University falling on hard times to eat in a place like this. Could it be she fell out of favor?"
Liu Tingyu set down her chopsticks and said coldly, "Zheng Xinyi, whatever your purpose is, I don't want to get involved with you too much. You should know we aren't the same kind of people. You walk your sunny path, I'll walk my single-plank bridge! Why bother coming in front of me making an embarrassment of yourself?"
"You..." Zheng Xinyi's eyes flashed with rage. What she couldn't stand the most was Liu Tingyu's indifferent attitude. No matter what she fabricated about her, Ting Yu always seemed as serene as a gentle breeze or passing clouds, making her own attacks feel like they were punching cotton.
"Besides, I don't think the food here is bad at all!" Liu Tingyu continued, "Don't think that scrimping and saving to dine at a five-star hotel a few times makes you better than everyone else! If you have the means, then please live your own life. There's no need to slander or belittle others here! But I guess you're not that noble, are you?"
"Exactly, if you look down on this place, why come here at all!"
"I think it's just putting on a brave face while being broke! Even Liu Tianyun, the top tycoon, doesn't show off like this. Tsk tsk, what an eye-opener!"
...
Earlier, Zheng Xinyi's words had offended all the students dining here. According to her, those who ate here were all down-and-out, bottom-of-the-society people. How could they not be angry?
Zheng Xinyi's face also turned unsightly, realizing her words had touched a nerve. But at this point, she couldn't care less, "Liu Tingyu, stop pretending to be pure. Who doesn't know what kind of person you are? How you've tasted the pleasures of wealthy bosses, and now you're changing your taste, wanting to try some fresh meat?"
As she spoke, Zheng Xinyi glanced at Ling Feng with disdain.
Ling Feng's handsome appearance and calm demeanor immediately filled Zheng Xinyi's heart with jealousy.
"Why can Liu Tingyu, with her tarnished reputation, still manage to hook up with such a prime catch?" Zheng Xinyi felt full of resentment.
Wiping her mouth with a tissue, Liu Tingyu said with a pitiful tone, "Zheng Xinyi, I really feel sorry for you! How dark must your life be for you to harbor such pessimistic emotions? 'The mind is the source of enlightenment, and Buddha arises from the heart.' It's precisely because your heart is filled with darkness that you conjecture about others with the most malicious thoughts!"
Teeth itching with hatred, the girl next to Zheng Xinyi shouted, "Liu Tingyu, don't act all high and mighty. Who in Yan University doesn't know about your affairs? If you're really that innocent, why not come out and clarify? I think you just play the part of the pure one, when in reality, you're nothing but a worn-out shoe!"
Zheng Xinyi looked approvingly at her friend, then haughtily said to Ling Feng, "I imagine you might not be aware of Liu Tingyu's reputation at our Yan University. If you really are Liu Tingyu's boyfriend, I hope you consider it carefully. After all, being with such a woman as a girlfriend, who knows how many green hats she could put on your head!"
Ling Feng put down his chopsticks. He had originally not wanted to get involved in the skirmish between the two. But he hadn't expected the battle to reach him, and it seemed this girl named Zheng Xinyi was really at her wit's end!
Ling Feng turned to look, and to be honest, Zheng Xinyi was very pretty, easily scoring eighty out of a hundred. Especially her long legs, which were brazenly exposed even in the cold, captured the attention of many men.
However, for such a woman, even if she threw herself at him, Ling Feng wouldn't spare her a second glance.
"Can you please leave?" Ling Feng asked seriously.
"What?" Just as Zheng Xinyi struck a seductive pose, she heard Ling Feng's request.
"Don't you know I'm doing this for your own good?" Zheng Xinyi crossed her arms, intentionally squeezing out her cleavage, and said in a coquettish voice, "You better recognize a good heart when you see one!"
Ling Feng was irked, saying with an annoyed tone, "I'm asking you, can you please leave? Don't you realize there's a smell coming off of you?"
"A smell on me?" Zheng Xinyi was taken aback, then she said angrily, "You better explain yourself, what do you mean! I think it's your girlfriend that smells! She reeks of a streetwalker!"