Qin Jiang only resumed his normal walking pace after disappearing around the corner. Once he reached the wall, he peeked cautiously to make sure Yan Liang had left.
Confirming that she was gone, he exhaled deeply. Though Yan Liang's cold and stunning allure, coupled with her graceful figure, was almost irresistible, his current state of exhaustion meant he needed to retreat and regroup.
After taking just a couple of steps, Qin Jiang was recognized.
It couldn't be helped; yesterday, someone had secretly recorded him arriving at school in a luxury sports car and "insulting" the campus belle, Yan Chuchu. The video had gone viral on the school forum.
After all, anything involving "luxury cars" and "beautiful women" was bound to attract gossip, especially in a university setting. The buzz hadn't died down yet.
Yan Chuchu, as the acknowledged campus belle of Beijing University, was undoubtedly beautiful, captivating, and charming. She had countless admirers, and the competition among them was fierce.
Now that Qin Jiang was walking without the luxury car, it seemed like solid proof that both the car and the so-called beauty were rented for show.
On top of that, Beijing University had just announced his expulsion, making Qin Jiang a public disgrace.
"Yo, isn't this 'Young Master Qin,' who was flaunting a top-tier sports car yesterday? What happened? Spent all your meager savings on car rentals, and now you're skulking back to school like a drowned rat to face your punishment?"
"And seriously, you dared insult our campus belle just to get her attention? Who do you think you are? Even if you dress up, you're still just a broke loser."
Li Yunxiang, accompanied by a few other students, deliberately blocked Qin Jiang's path.
The announcement of Qin Jiang's expulsion made it predictable that he'd take the shortest route to the administrative building. Li Yunxiang and his group had been lying in wait.
Qin Jiang recognized them. They were upperclassmen in their third and fourth years and lackeys of Li Hao.
Li Hao, one of Yan Chuchu's most ardent suitors, came from a powerful background as the son of a university official. He was notorious for his unchecked behavior on campus. Yan Chuchu's title as the campus belle was partly thanks to his aggressive campaigning.
Li Hao was in his fourth year and planning to enter graduate school. Qin Jiang had previously taken the fall for an experiment Li Hao had sabotaged. Li Hao, already hostile toward Qin Jiang, now saw this as the perfect opportunity for revenge.
"Is that really Qin Jiang? Did he get plastic surgery or something? He's got sharp brows, starry eyes, and looks amazing even in a plain white shirt! He's got this refined, noble aura—almost like a perfect match for Yan Chuchu."
"Ugh, as if! Qin Jiang, that broke loser, could never be a match for Chuchu. I heard he's been obsessed with her for years. He should just look in a mirror and see what kind of pathetic toad he is."
"Honestly, it's sad. Some people use all their savings to put on a show, only to ruin their reputation forever."
The surrounding students—mostly gossip enthusiasts who had seen the forum posts—watched intently.
Qin Jiang ignored the crowd and strode past Li Yunxiang and his group without sparing them a glance.
Previously, to escape Yan Liang's control, Qin Jiang had trained in martial arts, including boxing, Sanda, and Krav Maga, under the tutelage of the Yan family's bodyguards. By the end of his training, he could take on four opponents at once.
Although his peak condition had since waned, his skills were more than enough to deal with this group.
As Qin Jiang calmly walked past them, Li Yunxiang couldn't let it slide. Just as he was about to cause trouble, a commotion arose in the distance.
Yan Chuchu approached, surrounded by admirers, with Li Hao by her side, striking a proud and knightly pose.
However, upon seeing Qin Jiang, Li Hao's expression darkened. How could this nobody dare to look more handsome than him, the department heartthrob?
"Qin Jiang, you're here to collect your expulsion papers, right? Here, I brought them for you."
Qin Jiang glanced at him, already guessing his malicious intent.
Li Hao threw the papers on the ground and smirked arrogantly. "By the way, since you ruined my graduate school project and derailed my plans, expulsion is too light a punishment."
"How about this: kneel down, kowtow to me 30 times, shout 'I'm an idiot,' and then streak around campus ten times. How does that sound?"
The humiliation in his tone was unmistakable.
Meanwhile, Qin Xianyun, who had just arrived on campus, saw Qin Jiang surrounded by the crowd. She rushed forward to pull him away, breaking through the onlookers to grab his arm.
"Qin Jiang, come with me now. Ah Yun, he…"
But this time, Qin Jiang sidestepped her reach, almost causing her to stumble in public.
Qin Jiang wasn't surprised by her sudden appearance.
Previously, he had taken the blame for her, leading to his expulsion and public disgrace. But the first thing she did upon showing up was try to drag him off to donate blood for Qin Yun again.
Back then, he wanted to resist and tell her he didn't want to take the fall anymore. But she had called him "Ah Jiang" and said:
"Please, little brother. Ah Yun and Mom are waiting for us. Can you help?"
Hearing her call him "little brother" for the first time, he couldn't refuse.
Returning to the Qin family, his five sisters always called Qin Yun "Ah Yun" but addressed him by his full name, never as "little brother."
This time, however, he wasn't going to be fooled.
Seeing him avoid her, Qin Xianyun grew angry but quickly softened, knowing she still needed him. She bit her lip and called out gently, "Ah Jiang… little brother, please…"
Qin Jiang coldly looked at her. In the past, this was how she had tricked him into donating blood.
He stepped back and said icily, "Miss, please respect yourself. I have no relation to you, and I'm certainly not your little brother. Don't try to claim otherwise."
He had already severed ties with the Qin family, and his words left no room for doubt.
Qin Xianyun frowned slightly, displeased that Qin Jiang embarrassed her in front of everyone.
She habitually scolded him, "Qin Jiang, don't force me to slap you in front of everyone. I'm your older sister. If I tell you to go east, you must never go west!"
As she spoke, she reached out to grab Qin Jiang's arm again. But Qin Jiang sidestepped and once again avoided her with a cold indifference. This time, he timed it perfectly—when Qin Xianyun lunged forward, he stretched out his leg and tripped her, causing her to fall precisely onto the expulsion document.
The document hadn't been signed yet, so it wasn't officially effective. Qin Jiang knew it was a fake. Even though the school committee unanimously decided to expel him, the principal hadn't signed it yet.
In his past life, however, he had been dragged away by Qin Xianyun to donate blood. After a week of recovery, when he returned to school, everything was already finalized.
"Ah!" Qin Xianyun cried out as she fell to the ground, looking up to see Qin Jiang leisurely retracting his foot.
He actually dared to trip her? Unbelievable!
"Qin Jiang!!" Qin Xianyun roared in fury.
But the instigator wore a nonchalant expression, casually pretending to clean his ear, his smile cold and detached. "What business does this madwoman have with me?"
The onlookers were stunned. Was Qin Jiang in his right mind? Could he have gone insane after being scared by the expulsion notice?
"Forget it. I have no time to waste acting in this drama of yours. As for Li Hao's ruined graduate research project, it has nothing to do with me. I won't take the blame this time."
"Qin Xianyun, the one who should be expelled is you!"
Exposing her wrongdoing so bluntly left Qin Xianyun shocked, her eyes wide in disbelief. Qin Jiang was so merciless toward her. She was his biological sister, after all.
However, her attention soon shifted to the document beneath her hands. She picked it up and flipped through it, reading the accusation that Qin Jiang maliciously destroyed Li Hao's graduate project.
Although she often caused trouble at school and made Qin Jiang take the fall, those incidents were always minor. At most, they resulted in punishments like sweeping the gym, standing in the sun, or cleaning an entire lab building—laborious, but not life-altering.
And Qin Jiang had always willingly taken the blame.
But this… Qin Xianyun froze, recalling how a week ago, Qin Yun and Bai Chuchu had invited her to tour the lab at Hua Jing University. She had accidentally knocked over some equipment back then, but Qin Yun reassured her it was just a minor piece, and he'd explain it to the professor.
So, she hadn't thought much of it.
But why was it now leading to expulsion?
Qin Xianyun glanced at Bai Chuchu and Li Hao, her gaze darkening with a mix of suspicion and regret.
No matter how much she disliked Qin Jiang, she wasn't someone who would ruin his future like this.
But Qin Jiang's cold and hostile attitude made it impossible for Qin Xianyun to save face and explain herself.
The atmosphere grew tense.
Seeing this, Bai Chuchu quickly stepped forward to help Qin Xianyun up. "Sister… Sister, are you okay?"
"Qin Jiang, I understand that the pressure of losing the Qin family's support, being unable to find a job, and facing expulsion has been overwhelming for you. That's why you lashed out at the people around you.
"But you can't baselessly accuse your sister of wrongdoing. With character like this, I really can't accept your feelings. I'm sorry…"
Bai Chuchu's gentle reprimand subtly twisted the narrative, leading everyone to misunderstand Qin Jiang's actions and intentions.
The crowd suddenly realized: so Qin Jiang was mentally unstable due to the pressure!
Pathetic!
A crazy person like him still dared to confess to the school beauty?
In his past life, Bai Chuchu had toyed with Qin Jiang like a puppet, manipulating him with ease.
She was truly skilled at playing with people's hearts.
What she didn't notice, however, was that Qin Xianyun's expression grew darker and more conflicted as she listened to her words.
Qin Xianyun couldn't believe Bai Chuchu would frame her like this.
Her gaze turned somber and cold. She looked at Qin Jiang, guilt slowly welling up inside her. "Qin Jiang, I didn't…"
The commotion soon attracted the attention of the school committee.
A man in a suit, with a large belly, parted the crowd and shouted, "What's going on here?"
"Who stole the school committee's documents? Where's Qin Jiang? Bring him to me immediately!
"I've been teaching for decades and have never seen such a terrible student. Destroying a senior's graduate project is one thing, but stealing someone else's research results to claim the university's research competition gold prize is another!
"We initially considered letting you stay on probation because of your impressive entrance exam scores, but now you must be expelled!
"A student like you is a tumor that Hua Jing University cannot tolerate!"
The speaker was none other than Xu Rongguang, the head of the school committee.
He wore gold-rimmed glasses, his round face usually exuding kindness. But at this moment, his expression was furious.
The crowd parted to create a path, and Qin Jiang slowly raised his hand, waving at Director Xu with a harmless smile.
"Hehe, Director Xu, were you looking for me?"
Director Xu was speechless: Was this student mentally unstable? The sky was practically falling, and yet he could still smile?
Either he was crazy, or he was a fool!
"You're Qin Jiang?"
Director Xu sized him up, thinking, So handsome, but with such a dark heart!
"Yes, I am."
"Director Xu, I'd like to report something!
Li Hao stole the school committee's documents. He even bragged, 'My dad is Li Gang, and I can do whatever I want on campus!'
Director Xu, you can't afford to provoke him, so you'd better let it go…"
The crowd was stunned.
Qin Jiang, are you insane? You're about to be expelled, and you're reporting someone else?
Li Hao's face turned pale, nearly fainting from anger.