The school doctor uncle's eyelids twitched as he gave Ning Shu a penetrating look, his expression unreadable. Her heart began racing under his intense gaze. Nervously, she waved her hand. "Never mind, forget about finding my parents. My genes suck anyway. No need to research them."
The doctor clicked his tongue in disdain. "Look at how pathetic you are. Scared so easily? At least try to maintain some dignity and grace like a proper young woman."
Ning Shu pursed her lips. Without power, dignity and grace were meaningless. "Got it..."
"I'll keep it in mind," he replied dryly. "Now, get lost." He dusted off his coat again, though there was clearly nothing on it. His obsessive cleaning habit was getting out of hand.
Ning Shu muttered an obedient "oh" before scurrying off. Just as she entered the classroom, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back out.
It was Leng Ao. Ning Shu jerked her arm away and glared at him coldly. "What do you want?"
Leng Ao's anger was palpable. His nostrils flared, but he held it in. "Where did you go? I've been looking everywhere for you. Do you know where Ling Xue is?"
"How would I know? It's not like I'm her personal maid," Ning Shu replied flatly, watching the mix of emotions flash across his face—grief, anger, jealousy. It was a messy, hard-to-describe expression.
Ning Shu sighed inwardly. Leng Ao had clearly lost his mind over Ling Xue. Pitying him just a little, she added with a sarcastic grin, "Honestly, Ling Xue doesn't care about you at all. Why are you acting so dramatic? You're acting more like a heartbroken girl than a guy."
"You...!" Leng Ao's hand shook with fury as he pointed at her. "You wretched woman!"
With that, he stormed off.
Ling Xue's disappearance sent shockwaves through Ace Academy. She was so famous that even being slightly late to class would cause a stir. So when she missed several days, rumors spread like wildfire. Some said she was missing, others claimed she'd been murdered, and more outrageous rumors suggested she was working at a bar. The stories were endless.
But Ning Shu wasn't interested in the gossip. Her mission was to bring Ling Xue down from her pedestal, and it was working.
The rumors surrounding Ling Xue only got worse. Eventually, one rumor made Ning Shu nearly choke from laughing—it was about the two princes who had been found naked together. Apparently, many students, both male and female, had snuck a peek, and bolder girls even whispered about it among themselves.
What had likely been a three-way entanglement was now being twisted into a story about two men in love. And Leng Ao? He was getting dragged into it. People were beginning to look at him differently, assuming he was involved.
Leng Ao's emotions were a tangled mess. He'd not only been betrayed by his friends, who he once considered brothers, but now rumors about his love life were circulating too. He was livid.
When the two 'princes' came asking him about Ling Xue, he just sneered coldly before giving them both a solid beating. How dare they ask him about Ling Xue after what they'd done?
Leng Ao kicked them both while they were down. He was pleased to discover that he could still fight decently, but he couldn't understand why he always lost when it came to Lin Jiajia, that violent woman. Life was seriously unfair!