When Qingran got home, Li Qingmo had already finished dinner.
He was lying on the sofa playing games. Hearing the door, he didn't even lift an eyelid, "The food is still in the pot, help yourself."
Qingran put down the cat food and washed her hands before eating.
After she finished dinner, Li Qingmo's round of gaming also ended, and he came over to ask Qingran, "Did you run into Xie Ying'an?"
Qingran looked at him puzzled.
Seeing the confused look on Qingran's face, Li Qingmo, who had been bottling up words for hours, found an outlet for his frustration, he said with enthusiasm, "Tsk, you have no idea, that guy has gotten really bold, running off with his books right after school. The physics teacher said everyone should study for another hour, but he just wouldn't listen."
Qingran didn't respond and took out her phone to charge it.
Li Qingmo was also pushed by his homeroom teacher, as if forcing a duck onto a perch, to participate in the physics contest.
Li Qingmo continued to ramble, "Hey, that transfer student from your class even ran after him, heh~"
Qingran's fingers paused, then she looked up, "Did she catch up to him?"
"No," Li Qingmo clicked his tongue, "Don't you know Xie Ying'an's stubbornness? I can't even hold him back, let alone a transfer student with such thin arms and legs."
Qingran: "..."
But she has the aura of the heroine.
"And what about Ji Yanchen? I heard he didn't go either, which pissed off the physics teacher so much, haha."
Li Qingmo was gloating.
Qingran unlocked her phone with her fingerprint, opened the WeChat interface, and saw that Xie Ying'an had sent her two photos of physics papers three minutes ago.
Just as Qingran was about to take a closer look, Ruan Ruan's voice call came through.
Qingran accepted the call, and Ruan Ruan's anxious voice came through the speaker, "Ranran, you have to check the school forum, someone is badmouthing you there, I don't know who the bastard is."
"School forum?" Li Qingmo's face darkened, he snatched Qingran's phone and demanded, "What school forum? Explain."
"Brother Mo, Brother Mo," Ruan Ruan stuttered for a moment before regaining composure: "Ah, Brother Mo, you better go check the school forum, someone's spreading rumors about Ranran there, saying Ranran..."
"Dut." The line went dead as Li Qingmo ended the call, snorted coldly into the phone, "Mind your own business!"
"Send me the link to the school forum." Li Qingmo opened WeChat, waiting.
Qingran dug out the school forum and shared it with Li Qingmo.
As he clicked on the link, Li Qingmo scoffed, "I didn't even know we had such a thing at our school."
Qingran gave him a meaningful glance. The previous posts on the school forum were all about unspeakable things between Li Qingmo and Xie Ying'an; who would dare show him? Isn't that asking for trouble?
But when Li Qingmo actually opened the school forum, he couldn't even manage a sneer anymore.
The trending post had a flashy name designed to catch eyes, "The Affairs of the School Beauty and Senior Year Two's LQR."
Li Qingmo, with a scowl on his face, clicked on the post. His fingers rapidly scrolled through the content, and after a few looks, he slammed the phone to the ground with such force that the screen shattered.
Qingran jumped, and Li Qingmo grabbed a jacket and headed for the door, reminding Qingran on his way out, "Stay home and don't go anywhere."
Qingran nodded hurriedly and still managed to ask him as he was leaving, "Brother, where are you going?"
Li Qingmo didn't turn his head, his voice even more gruff, "It's not your place to ask, so don't."
He locked the front door from the outside and hurried away.
Whatever it was that angered Li Qingmo so much was really something serious.
Qingran quickly opened the school forum, and her expression also gradually darkened.
The forum included two photos, the first of which showed the school beauty Luo Lan stuffing a stack of money into her bag in a VIP room,
with a caption added below.
"Innocent school beauty subsidizes her family by seducing with her looks? Dear male compatriots, doesn't it break your heart?"
The second photo showed Qingran being blocked by an arm outside the VIP room. Someone spiteful had photoshopped Song Shize's figure to be shorter and fatter, a perfect middle-aged man with a receding hairline.
The caption read:
"Goddess? Little Fairy? Laughable, if you don't belong in a circle, don't force your way in. Isn't farming and pig-raising at home sweet enough? Why let the pigs raise you?"
Qingran read the words "let the pigs raise you" several times and suddenly found it amusing. The poster regarded the narcissistic and cool-acting Song Shize as a pig, was there some deep grudge?
Qingran felt that Li Qingmo running out so furiously was completely unnecessary.
To photoshop Song Shize like that, with his spoiled rich kid temperament, if he could swallow this affront, then he wouldn't be a spoiled rich kid.
Qingran took a few deep breaths to suppress her anger. Although she thought her behavior was not sneaky, she had always been careful; not provoking others if they did not provoke her first. Who had such a deep grudge against her to slander her on the school forum?
As Qingran kept scrolling, the comments section had built up like skyscrapers.
At this time of day, students were just out of evening self-study, the perfect moment to play with their phones before bed, and with juicy gossip like this, who could resist?
First floor: I might be out of the loop, but I know who the school beauty is. Who is high school sophomore LQR?
There are dozens of folded replies under the first floor. The displayed one says: Brother, I messaged you privately.
Second floor: Holy crap, I can't believe what I'm seeing.
Third floor: Ha, some people pretend to be so innocent that they end up believing it themselves. Props to the OP, thumbs up to you.
...
Twelfth floor: I know that girl from class one of sophomore year. No wonder she's always had top-notch grades and dropped by twenty or thirty places in these last couple of quick quizzes.
Seventeenth floor: Ahh, they're all still kids, how could this possibly be? I absolutely don't believe it.
There are 100+ replies under the seventeenth floor. The displayed one says: Girl, you're too naive.
Twenty-first floor: I was involved that day, and I can vouch for my character that the OP is just spreading rumors and nonsense. Daring to smear a spoiled rich kid like that, I dare say you're just asking for trouble.
There are even more replies under the twenty-first floor, which Qingran clicked to read.
Damn, a spoiled rich kid? Could it be Song?
How could it be Song? If he saw someone tarnishing his reputation like that, the forum admin would be in deep trouble. So just relax and enjoy the drama.
How could a genuine good student hang out with a spoiled rich kid?
The family background of the sophomore class one girl is pretty decent, you know.
...
The sound of new messages on WeChat keeps coming, so Qingran has no choice but to exit the school forum and check WeChat.
The WeChat messages are from Xie Ying'an and Ruan Ruan.
Qingran opens the message from Ruan Ruan first.
Soft girl: Ranran, that guy Song Shize just contacted me again.
Then Ruan Ruan sent a screenshot of the text message conversation with Song Shize.
Song: Give me Li Qingran's contact.
Song: Hurry up.
Soft girl: I don't have it.
Song: Stop lying.
Before Qingran could finish reading, Ruan Ruan's voice message came through, "Ranran, Song Shize is insisting on getting your contact information, I..."
"Just give it to him." Qingran pinched the bridge of her nose: "I have something to say to him, too."
"Ah? Okay."
Ruan Ruan's voice is cautious, not daring to bring up the school forum matter again.
After hanging up the voice call with Ruan Ruan, Qingran then checks the messages from Xie Ying'an.
X: Are you asleep?
X: Did you see the school forum?
X: If you're free, come out and open the door.
X: I'll take you somewhere.
Qingran pauses for a moment, puts down the phone, and checks the surveillance outside the door. A solemn figure leans against the wall outside, the light from his phone screen casting half of his stern and proud face into view.
The top message from Xie Ying'an shows it was sent half an hour ago.
He just stands there quietly, and it's unclear how long he's been waiting.
Having grown up together since childhood, Qingran grabs her phone and keys and heads out.
The door is double locked from the outside.
"Xie Ying'an?" Qingran calls out through the door.
Xie Ying'an quickly responds from outside.
Qingran crouches down and slides the keys under the door crack. "The key is down there."
Next comes the sound of the key and the unlocking. Xie Ying'an opens the door from outside, grabs Qingran's hand, and pulls her out.
Xie Ying'an has long legs, forcing Qingran to jog to keep up with his stride. "Where are we going?"
Xie Ying'an looks back at her and deliberately slows his pace. Under the streetlight, the bruise at the corner of his mouth isn't very noticeable.
"We're going to find the person who posted," he says. "To seek justice for you."