Chapter 31: 31

Qin Juran also wasn’t hungry after eating. Once she returned to her dorm, she found that Feng Jing’s bedding and belongings had been cleared away. Only a few miscellaneous items were still scattered on her desk.

Seeing Qin Juran’s return, Huang Ying quickly went up and asked her how she was feeling. Qin Juran replied that she was feeling much better, then jutted her chin towards Feng Jing’s bed: “Where’d she go?”

“Forget about her. When you were out during the day, she came over by car and moved everything out. She started spewing on and on like she was possessed; must be karma from all her bad deeds.”

Qin Juran pursed her lips: “What did she say?”

Huang Ying shook her head, a curious expression on her face: “It was very strange. She said something about how you weren’t really yourself, that you were a fake Qin Juran, or something.”

Qin Juran laughed with disdain. She tidied her desk, then picked up a bottle of sunscreen that was still 90 percent full. “How did you like the lotion that I gave you last time?”

“It’s pretty good.” Huang Ying nodded.

Qin Juran held out the sunscreen: “This is part of the same set. You can have it.”

Huang Ying quickly smiled and received it, then continued spouting about how she didn’t like Feng Jing and would no longer speak to her.

Qin Juran ignored the rest of her spiel, opening her laptop and preparing to post an advertisement. Ever since she had transmigrated, she’d seen large billboards and advertisements lining the streets every time she went out. Qin Juran got the feeling that this world had much more extravagant means of media advocacy than her previous one, although most of the hardware was based on previous systems.

It seemed that the author of this novel had some publicity skills in them.

Qin Juran couldn’t help thinking back to that intern. If she were to come to this world too one day…

She quickly shook her head. She was probably living well in the meantime; perhaps she would’ve even burned some incense for her during some holiday. Moreover, it wasn’t like just anyone would be able to get the chance to be reincarnated like this…

Reincarnation…

A smile crept up in Qin Juran’s eyes. What a nice word.

During the holiday, she had already familiarized herself with some promotion methods. She had posted information about JuJu Tavern to some of the most popular social media sites. First, she posted advertisements on various free platforms. Since her funds were limited in the beginning, it was best to play the conservative card before she could fully grasp the market demand and psychology.

Qin Juran spent the next day cooped up in her dorm, preparing her promotion tactics as well as studying for her upcoming midterms. College exams were the most stressful for two types of people: those who were on the verge of failing a course, as well as those aiming for postgraduate or scholarship opportunities.

Thinking about this, Qin Juran suddenly felt curious. She asked Huang Ying for the past few years’ academic rankings— it turned out that Ruan Nan was one of those who fell in the first category.

She then dug out the individual performance records. Whether or not it was on purpose, all of Ruan Nan’s grades were evenly distributed throughout the 60s range, such that she was just able to pass each course.

This was very…bare minimum.

Qin Juran let out a laugh, wondering what when on in that pretty little head of hers every day.

Nonetheless, S University was a prestigious institution, and National Economy and Management weren’t easy topics. As the exams approached, the entire week of classes was filled with an anxious atmosphere.

On Tuesday, Qin Juran and Ruan Nan were both called to the secretary’s office again. However, this time around, the two’s relationship had already undergone a fundamental change.

The secretary pointed out the forum post as a stream of superficially apologetic sentences came from his mouth, claiming that he never believed that Ruan Nan was at fault in the first place.

To which Qin Juran then explained on the spot to the secretary the meaning of the term “two-faced.”

The secretary couldn’t hold a straight face. He shook his head, chuckling, “What’s past is passed. Justice may be late, but it always prevails.”

Qin Juran laughed icily: “Then the punishment that Secretary was preparing to give Ruan Nan – Feng Jing must have to face it now, right?”

“That, well…Feng Jing is only a regular student, after all, and this post has already garnered a lot of malicious comments towards her. If we punish her on top of that, then we’re afraid that would inflict too much of a mental strain on her…”

Qin Juran recalled a piece of information that Huang Ying had mentioned: Feng Jing’s family were natives in the area, and her mother was high school classmates with some professor in the department. Thus, when it came to dormitory assignments, she was able to be placed directly in the same room as the top incoming student, Qin Juran.

Qin Juran stopped him short: “Ruan Nan is also a regular student. If something like were to happen again in the future, then we’d be sure to show you just what a ‘regular student’ ought not to do.”

“Alright, alright,” the secretary conceded. Right when Qin Juran and Ruan Nan moved to leave, he quickly called out,

“Hold on, Juran, Ruan Nan, there was another matter that I wanted to discuss with you two today. When Feng Jing posted on the forum, there were many comments below speculating on the nature of you two’s relationship. I’m sure you both are aware of just how popular any posts with mention of either of you, as well as Fan Chuan, quickly become.”

“I understand that I have no right to meddle with the relationships amongst you young people, but when I watched how Qin Juran came to write a letter of guarantee for Ruan Nan, I felt that the animosity between you two was not nearly as bad as the rumors, or as before. Why don’t you two see if you can find a chance to somehow dispel this stereotype amongst your classmates?”

Qin Juran was nearly hysterical with anger: “Why should we have to take responsibility for the stereotypes other people created?”

Since last time, the secretary had noticed the change in the top student’s attitude. He quickly softened his tone and continued, “Juran, you are a smart child, and I’m sure you understand the influence our department and our university have. I just don’t want the first thing to come to mind when someone speaks of our university to be the love rivalry between you two…”

“It’s not like that.”

Qin Juran and Ruan Nan refuted at the same time.

The secretary froze for a second. “Really?”

“It’s really not.”

“If not, then that’s easier! Juran, Ruan Nan, if you have a chance, then make a forum post to explain to everyone, or use another way if you’d like. Whether explicitly or implicitly, as long as you make it clear that you two aren’t love rivals, that’s enough!”

Qin Juran felt that in both of her lives, she had never meant anyone as obsessed over appearances as this middle-aged man. She opened her mouth to mock him when his elf-like eyes peered from behind his glasses, leveling with Qin Juran’s own: “After all, we both wouldn’t want something like this to happen again, right?”

“What if you’re unable to come up with the proof next time?”

As long as the two had a love-rival relationship, along with Qin Juran’s fragile, white lotus appearance, then whenever something happened, all the rumors would pin the blame on Ruan Nan.

In an instant, Qin Juran sucked in her words of retort.

Seeing that he’d convinced one of them, the secretary took a satisfied sip of tea, then calmly turned his chair to face Ruan Nan: “Ruan Nan, what do you think?”

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Ruan Nan raised her head, breaking out of her solemn state: “Secretary, you’re saying that as long as we clarify that we’re not love rivals, that’s enough?”

“Yes, yes, correct. As long as you can change the popular beliefs, that’d be good!”

“You won’t interfere?”

The secretary’s tiger eyes widened. “Why would I want to interfere? I’m so happy, I can’t even wait!”

Ruan Nan glanced at Qin Juran, pursing her lips. “Alright.”

In the evening, Huang Ying had just finished eating her bowl of chili oil noodles and was about to steal some of Qin Juran’s dishwashing liquid from under the counter, when her phone suddenly began vibrating crazily with notifications. She swiped it open and saw a message from the law-major girl she had met in a club:

【Quick, check the forum!!!】

Huang Ying’s heart thumped in her chest. This student was the type who enjoyed obsessively shipping different handsome boys and pretty girls together. If she was this excited, then there must be a very juicy announcement!

Huang Ying quickly threw her bowl to the side and wiped her hands, then opened the forums. Sure enough, there was a trending post on the front page. There was nothing written in the title except for a simple “.”

However, the author’s name written under the post, with the small red flag of verification, was enough to justify why it grabbed the attention of so many viewers: Ruan Nan.

The post stated:

【Just as the sun rises and the moon sets, and the four seasons come and go, the relationships between each and every person on this earth can also undergo changes as time passes.】

A picture of a female student accompanied the post.

The girl was leaning back on a sofa, her head inclined and her eyes shut. The afternoon rays of sunshine shone upon her fair figure. It seemed that the photo was taken from a distance, so the face was not fully captured, but the person was still easily recognizable – Qin Juran.

Underneath were a mass of comments filled with “? ? ? ! ! !”

Huang Ying didn’t bother with those and quickly continued to scroll down. It turned out that under the initial post, there was another comment accompanied by images. The poster’s nickname was written “Qin Juran” in red font.

The photo was of an exposed ankle in heels. Although the face was not captured, the skirt in the photo was very particular: it was the smokey-grey gown that Qin Juran had rented for the performance.

There was also the eye-catching tattoo: Gypsophila.

The comment stated: 【There are also things that may never change.】

As soon as this comment was posted, the interactions exploded, boosting it further up by the second.

Huang Ying flipped to the initial post, then back to this comment. Her loud shriek rang out in the dorm room as she registered what she was reading.

Her fingers were practically trembling as she continued scrolling down. The comments were all:

【If you live long enough, you really get to see everything! What could this mean? The campus flower and the rich missy have reconciled? I feel like my youth is over.】

【Help! Doesn’t Ruan Nan have the same tattoo?? And in the same spot!?】

【In response to the above: that word is Ruan Nan’s English name!】

【WTFFFF….where did this sudden friendship come from?】

【No way, somehow I feel stronger and different…no matter how you look at it, this doesn’t seem like friendship… 】

As Huang Ying continued to scroll, the law department girl urged her again: 【Look at the other post!】

She exited from this post and her eyes caught another red banner moving increasingly high on the front page:

【The Hard Evidence! Unearthing the Campus Flower X Rich Missy’s Secret Sweet Moments】

Huang Ying clicked on the post. Who knew how long the poster had begun covertly collecting evidence, but as soon as she opened the post, a long list of points popped up:

When the Missy interrogated the Campus Flower about her love letter that day, the Flower answered with, “Are you jealous, babe?” In the same spot, the same tattoo, and it seemed that neither of them had it since before – it’s very possible that they got it on the same day together! About the post from before regarding Blue House: the owner stated that the Missy hit Liu Qiang because Liu Qiang and the Campus Flower were playing together. If we look at this from a different angle, wouldn’t it make more sense if Liu Qiang was the one who was harassing the Campus Flower, which is why the Missy fought with him? The night of the performance, Feng Jing said that she only locked Qin Juran out, but how did Ruan Nan end up there too? For what other reason would she follow after except that she was worried? The Campus Flower fell sick a few days ago, and the Missy personally went to her dorm to pick her up. Qin Juran’s clothes from that day were exactly the ones shown in the picture, so Ruan Nan must’ve brought her to her own home.

That’s all I could think of for the time being. Additional comments are welcome.

              A storm of replies came rushing in underneath. Some were facts while others were speculations, and some were way too outrageous even for Huang Ying.

Huang Ying felt a bit woozy.

There were many who were just as confused as she was. Suppose Ruan Nan and Qin Juran were mere love rivals: yet, none of the evidence would add up. If Fan Chuan were present in those instances, then that would explain things, but how could they account for the times without him?

Now, suppose Ruan Nan and Qin Juran were actually lovers. But the two rarely interacted, and never even so much as ate lunch in the cafeteria together before. In class, they’ve only exchanged a few words at most, and there seemed to be some tension whenever they faced each other.

Huang Ying expressed these two thoughts to her law classmate, to which she replied: “Have you ever shipped people before?”

Huang Ying answered honestly, “I haven’t.”

“There’s only one possible explanation for this.”

【Love rivals by day, lovers by night.】

It had already been three days since Secretary Yan had a good night’s sleep.

However, he was in an especially good mood today. He went to the supermarket and bought himself a fish and half a duck, then personally cooked himself a meal with three dishes and a soup. He even cracked open a 20-year-old bottle of red wine.

Having eaten and drunk to his heart’s content, Secretary Yan took a nice foot bath then happily climbed into bed.

Right before he could fall asleep, he received a link from Deputy Secretary Zhang. Secretary Yan looked closer and saw that it was a trending post on the school forum.

For the fourth night in a row, Secretary Yan was unable to get a good night’s sleep.

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