As soon as Chen Hanxing returned to his startup base, his phone rang. It was his counselor, Guo Zhongyun, likely calling about what happened earlier.
"What happened this morning? I heard that Shang Yanyan was bullied, and then some of our boys got into a fight?"
Guo Zhongyun wasn't at school in the morning, so he was probably just receiving the news.
Chen Hanxing explained the situation, omitting some details. He just said that Shang Yanyan's ex-boyfriend caused a scene in the classroom and even hit people. In the end, the boys had no choice but to drive him away.
Guo Zhongyun was hard to fool. "What about the cars? I heard they were all smashed."
"Who has such a big mouth?" Chen Hanxing cursed inwardly, but replied with a smile, "Our class is full of passionate young guys; they just accidentally broke a few car lights."
"I see."
Guo Zhongyun could guess most of the story. He knew that Chen Hanxing was involved, but since he didn't directly get his hands dirty, he managed to stay out of the incident and cover for others.
Before ending the call, Guo Zhongyun reminded him, "Still, be mindful of the situation. This year is the school's 50th anniversary, and everything should focus on stability and harmony. I'll report to the department head."
With that, the issue of the "fight and car smashing" would likely be settled officially. However, the rumor mill among the students would surely keep the gossip alive.
In the Humanities Department's activity room, Left Xiaoli, Hu Xiuping, and Mu Wenling were discussing the internal selection for the upcoming debate competition. Upon hearing about what happened in Chen Hanxing's class, they naturally began to talk about him.
Left Xiaoli sneered, "I've been saying for a long time that this guy is a ticking time bomb. He actually smashed a car—so reckless."
"I don't think so." Mu Wenling shook her head. "If a classmate's girl was hit, should they just sit and talk it over?"
"But if he acts like this, people will think we're all thugs at the Financial College."
Left Xiaoli fumed.
Mu Wenling, being a girl, naturally empathized with Shang Yanyan's situation. She thought that if her class had a class leader like Chen Hanxing, she would feel much safer, so she supported him without question.
"I don't think Chen Hanxing is a thug. Those guys from other schools who started the fight are the real thugs."
Hu Xiuping, seeing the argument heating up, tried to mediate, "Alright, alright, it's not worth arguing over. Let's just focus on the debate competition."
Mu Wenling was genuinely upset. "Chen Hanxing is the vice minister of the Humanities Department's External Relations, why shouldn't we defend him?"
Hu Xiuping and Left Xiaoli exchanged glances but remained silent. They were the ones who had secretly submitted the "Chen Hanxing is not suitable for vice minister" report to the student union, so they didn't want Mu Wenling to find out.
Meanwhile, Chen Hanxing wasn't concerned about the gossip. He was busy searching for his lighter.
"Damn, I think I just used it..." He couldn't remember that Shang Yanyan had taken it earlier. In university, if you leave 300 yuan on your desk, it'll still be there three days later. But leave a lighter, and in three minutes, it's gone. The same goes for tissues in a dorm room.
After rummaging through his pockets, he finally gave up and lit a cigarette without the lighter. Instead, he took out his notebook. These days, he checked his business stats daily—tracking package numbers—and also checked on the Excel spreadsheets that Shen Youchu was working on.
"The desk is a mess," he muttered, deciding to organize it.
Xiao Rongyu liked to leave files on the desktop. It was fine when she used the computer alone, but now that two people were sharing it, it looked cluttered. Chen Hanxing decided to clean up the mess.
"What's this word document? It doesn't even have a name. Did she create it by accident?" He opened the unmarked document, intending to delete it if it was empty.
But it wasn't empty. It was filled with dates and text, and it looked like a diary.
Chen Hanxing quickly tried to close it, not wanting to invade anyone's privacy. But when he saw the entries, he realized it was all about him.
*September 1, 2002, Sunny.*
"Today is the first day of school. Chen Hanxing made me cry twice today—once at the train station, once in the dorm."
*September 15, 2002, Sunny.*
"Chen Hanxing made me angry again today."
*October 3, 2002, Sunny.*
"Chen Hanxing went to a bar, and I cried again. I'm never talking to him again."
*November 6, 2002, Light Rain.*
"Asked Chen Hanxing if he would take 5 million if it meant he could never see me again. He said it was a win-win."
*November 27, 2002, Overcast.*
"Chen Hanxing always keeps things in. Does he have another girl?"
Chen Hanxing stared at the screen, stunned. He thought to himself, "What's wrong with Xiao Rongyu? Why does she only write about the bad stuff I did? I helped her carry her luggage, bought her meals, took her shopping, and she doesn't write any of that down."
Then, another thought struck him—Shen Youchu had been taking the computer home recently. "Did she read this?"
"Knowing Shen Youchu, she wouldn't read it without permission," he reassured himself, but this sort of thing was hard to say for sure. He had accidentally found the document, so it was possible that she could have opened it too.
"I'll need to find a way to test if she's seen this." He thought about it but got too busy with his courier business to check.
Back in the dorm, Yang Shichao and the others were playing cards. When they saw Chen Hanxing come in, they asked, "So, about the fight and the smashed cars, what's the school's stance?"
Chen Hanxing reassured them, "Don't worry, I'm going to help apply for a 'Bravery Flag' for you guys."
Hearing this joke, Yang Shichao and the others relaxed and went back to playing cards.
Suddenly, Chen Hanxing's phone pinged with a message.
"Are you there?"
It was from an unfamiliar number.
"Who is this?"
"Shang Yanyan."
Chen Hanxing thought, "Why is she messaging me? I don't need her to thank me."
"What's up?"
"I'm feeling really down. Can you come down and talk to me?"
Chen Hanxing checked the time—it was almost 10 PM. He declined immediately, "Let's talk tomorrow. I'm going to sleep now."
The phone was silent for a while. Just as he thought she had taken the hint, 20 minutes later, another message came through.
"I just want to talk, I won't do anything."
Chen Hanxing smiled when he saw the message. "This sentence sounds familiar. I used to say this to girls all the time."
"Alright, where are you?"
"At the basketball court."
Chen Hanxing changed his clothes and headed to the basketball court. He saw a figure sitting on the stairs—it was Shang Yanyan. She had put on makeup, covering up the red marks on her face, and her lips were painted a bright red. She wore black stockings and short boots in the cold, and the scent of her perfume was heavy, with a hint of something seductive.
Most notably, there were a few cans of beer by her feet.
Chen Hanxing thought to himself, "No good wine, no good feast..."