In the end, Shen Wei compromised, of course. And just as Ye Yuhuan had expected, she dragged Shangguan Xianxian along with her.
After all, Shen Wei was the kind of special creature who couldn’t live without Shangguan Xianxian.
Meanwhile, Song Zhiqing was smirking coldly, silently mouthing some words.
Ye Yuhuan had studied a bit of lip-reading and recognized the three words: “damned lesbians.”
Eh?
Had she accidentally created a battlefield of romantic rivals?
The members of the Cosmic Beauty Garden were utterly shocked to see Shangguan Xianxian and Shen Wei arrive together. They had been so excited that they’d skipped lunch and rushed to the activity room, ready to get to work, only to find the “true and false daughters”—the pair currently topping Qinglin’s hot topics list—in the corner.
But seeing how clingy they were, didn’t that kind of shatter their “true and false daughter” personas?
Why weren’t they tearing each other apart?
Why weren’t there any wealthy family schemes?
Acting like this makes things really difficult for our boss!
More or less everyone present had participated in the online astroturfing campaign the night Shen Wei’s true parentage was exposed. And just as they had been deeply moved by Song Zhiqing’s unwavering loyalty and protection back then, they now felt it was all a waste on her behalf.
Look at our poor boss, left with only her strategist for company.
Although, the strategist is pretty appealing too… Since the strategist is pretty appealing…
Look at our silly boss. Being too devoted isn’t always a good thing.
Song Zhiqing had no idea her subordinates were having such dramatic inner monologues. In truth, her reason for not approaching Shangguan Xianxian was simple. First, of course, was the annoying Shen Wei by her side. Second, she was afraid that if she got close to Shangguan Xianxian and didn’t feel her heart flutter like before, then the suspicion that had been bubbling to the surface these past few days would be confirmed—she didn’t like Shangguan Xianxian anymore.
At least, not nearly as much as she used to.
It had reached a level that could be controlled.
Song Zhiqing snuck a glance at Ye Yuhuan, who had produced a book from somewhere and was now reading, and her heart faltered again.
When the appointed time arrived, Song Zhiqing stood up and first introduced the new members, Shen Wei and Shangguan Xianxian. “Everyone has probably heard of these two. From now on, they are members of our Cosmic Beauty Garden. Let’s welcome them with a round of applause!”
The little flowers and blades of grass in the garden all clapped enthusiastically. Amid the applause, Shangguan Xianxian looked bewildered. Hadn’t she joined the Art Club?
Shen Wei, however, tugged on Ye Yuhuan’s sleeve and asked through a smiling, clenched jaw, “Cosmic Beauty?”
“Oh, that’s Song Zhiqing. It’s what she calls herself. Cute, isn’t it?” Ye Yuhuan explained gently.
Shen Wei enunciated every syllable: “What. The. Hell. Are. You. Talking. About?”
Seeing her like this, Ye Yuhuan offered a kind reminder: “Mind your persona.”
Beside them, Shangguan Xianxian watched the two “chatting happily” and couldn’t help but nod. It seemed just as Weiwei had said—she had found a very good friend.
But in reality, Shen Wei, this yandere, was so angry with Ye Yuhuan she was about to get sick.
At that moment, Song Zhiqing began to address the main topic of the day: the Care for Lin Qi campaign.
“I’ve already booked out several movie theaters near our school. As long as you show proof of being a Qinglin student, you can get in for free. The theater lobbies will also display our campaign’s promotional posters.”
“We are also posting information about our campaign on the school forum. We just started today, so future traction will depend on our follow-up promotion.”
“As for offline promotion, since everyone is busy with their studies, we will only be handing out flyers on the school sports field tomorrow at noon.”
“The anonymous reporting website has also been completed after several days of working overtime. For this, we must give special thanks to our classmates Tang Ke and Ye Yuhuan. They have been following up on the website’s architecture. All reports will be screened and handled by us together with a teacher designated by the school. Of course, if this teacher appears in a report, they will have to be temporarily removed from their duties and can only be reinstated after an investigation. As for us, to balance our studies, we will use a rotating responsibility system. We’ll be divided into five supervision teams, with each team electing its own leader. The five teams will take weekly rotating shifts to review the reports.”
“My mother, Ms. Gao Yiren’s, video message has been completed. I’ll show it to everyone in a moment to see the effect.”
“This is the current plan. Does anyone have anything to add?”
Everyone shook their heads. After all, this was the plan they had finalized after many discussions.
Seeing this, Song Zhiqing took a deep breath. This campaign had taken countless hours of her effort, from its initial conception to this moment, on the verge of launch. It was the first time Song Zhiqing had ever done something so seriously, only because she knew—and became more certain with each passing day—that this was something very important.
Slowly exhaling, Song Zhiqing said solemnly, “Everyone, we have only one goal: to reduce the number of Lin Qis around us. We cannot let a movie from the past become the reality of the future.”
The moment she finished, thunderous applause filled the activity room. These were all teenagers, filled with immense passion and hope for changing the world. And it is precisely because of such passion and hope that the world is changed.
Shen Wei watched the radiant girl with a solemn expression. This was Song Zhiqing?
The girl who only ever hurt others was now trying to protect the vulnerable.
Ye Yuhuan, is this what you wanted me to see?
This was, of course, what Ye Yuhuan wanted Shen Wei to see. There had never been any absolute conflict of stance or interest between Shen Wei and Song Zhiqing. In Ye Yuhuan’s view, there was no reason for the two of them to become mortal enemies.
In reality, the only thing between them was Shangguan Xianxian, and Shangguan Xianxian only liked Shen Wei.
However, watching Shangguan Xianxian gaze at Song Zhiqing with a look of admiration, Ye Yuhuan suddenly realized she might have unintentionally succeeded at something she hadn’t even been trying to do.
Their previous chance encounters, the time she asked for directions, even helping an old lady cross the street in front of Shangguan Xianxian—all of it combined couldn’t compare to the effect of these few words today.
Ah, but she had no intention of helping Song Zhiqing steal Shangguan Xianxian away.
But if she really did manage to steal her, it would only prove that the “official couple” wasn’t so destined after all, right? Ye Yuhuan thought coldly, without a shred of concern for the feelings of Shen Wei, whom she was tormenting.
Having finally sorted everything out, Song Zhiqing looked smugly at Ye Yuhuan, expecting to see a pair of eyes filled with admiration. Instead, she found that Ye Yuhuan’s head was turned in Shen Wei’s direction.
The activity room had only one long table, surrounded by chairs. Song Zhiqing sat in the middle, with Ye Yuhuan on her left and Shen Wei and Shangguan Xianxian on her right, which made Ye Yuhuan’s movement very obvious.
Hmph, that wretched seductress, Shen Wei!
But she was completely unaware that the object of her own crush was looking at her in that very way.
However, the “Care for Lin Qi” campaign was what mattered now. Song Zhiqing suppressed her annoyance and proceeded to delegate tasks in an orderly fashion. To be fair, aside from her helplessness when it came to studying, she was quite competent in other areas.
In a way that was highly dramatic yet perfectly logical, the four of them were assigned to the same supervision team. After all, Ye Yuhuan couldn’t leave Shen Wei, Shen Wei couldn’t leave Shangguan Xianxian, and Song Zhiqing couldn’t leave Ye Yuhuan. The four of them were indirectly locked together. The remaining two members were the loud-voiced boy from after the last tennis match, named Wang Hao, and the weightlifting girl with the surname Cui who had carried Shen Wei, whose full name was Cui Xueying. You would never guess from her name that this girl could lift a 180-jin barbell.
Tang Ke had wanted to quietly join this battlefield of rivals, but before Shangguan Xianxian could even react, Shen Wei flatly rejected him.
Heh, having one Song Zhiqing around was annoying enough. If Tang Ke joined too, wouldn’t she just be opening her own jealousy shop?
Song Zhiqing, contrary to her usual self, didn’t give Shen Wei a hard time. She acted like a proper leader, assigning roles based on everyone’s abilities and opinions in a professional manner. At first, Ye Yuhuan thought Song Zhiqing was trying to appear more mature in front of Shangguan Xianxian. It wasn’t until after the meeting, when Song Zhiqing walked off without a backward glance, that Ye Yuhuan belatedly realized it probably had something to do with her.
Ye Yuhuan followed silently all the way to the classroom. Only then did Song Zhiqing turn around and say irritably, “Don’t you usually skip evening self-study?”
“I was busy for a while, but I’m not anymore, so I can attend.”
Song Zhiqing thought for a moment about the difference between those two periods of time and immediately said in a snide tone, “It’s because of Shen Wei again, isn’t it.”
Ye Yuhuan hesitated before nodding.
It was true. Now that her relationship with Shen Wei was more stable and she had amassed some capital to resist, there was no need to exhaust herself day and night.
Song Zhiqing huffed loudly and turned to enter the classroom.
Ye Yuhuan blinked and followed her inside.
A moment later, a small paper crane appeared on Song Zhiqing’s desk. She assumed it was a love letter or something from another old-fashioned suitor. Normally, she might have opened it for a look, but she was in a terrible mood and simply stuffed it into her desk cubby and was done with it.
Before long, another paper crane floated onto her desk. This time, the three characters for “Ye Yuhuan” were written on its wing.
Ah, it was from Ye Yuhuan.
Song Zhiqing hesitated, her fingers itching to open it. But then she remembered she was angry with her and stuffed this crane into the cubby as well, though her movements were clearly much gentler this time.
The next crane arrived quickly. On one wing was written “Ye Yuhuan,” and on the other, “I’m sorry.”
Song Zhiqing flattened the corners of her mouth, which had unintentionally curved upward, and quickly unfolded the crane.
There weren’t many words inside—fewer than on the wings, even. Just a simple “I was wrong.”
Song Zhiqing unfolded the other two cranes. The message was identical.
Wow, Ye Yuhuan, you’re so insincere! Such a half-assed apology.
Song Zhiqing tore a sheet from her notebook, scribbled the four large characters for 【Where were you wrong】 and an even larger question mark, then folded it into a crane and sent it flying to Ye Yuhuan.
The next new crane read: 【I shouldn’t have brought up Shen Wei?】
Song Zhiqing had already given up on Ye Yuhuan figuring out her mistake on her own. She spelled it out for her, scribbling back: 【Why did you keep staring at her during the meeting today? We worked so hard on this campaign for so long, and you only looked at her.】
Realization dawned on Ye Yuhuan: 【I should have been looking at you. It won’t happen again. But I wasn’t looking at Shen Wei. I was looking at Shangguan Xianxian. Didn’t you notice she was looking at you?】
Song Zhiqing’s face flushed red when she read that. What do you mean, you should have been looking at me? That’s not what I meant at all! I just told you not to keep staring at Shen Wei.
Still, Shangguan Xianxian was looking at me.
Damn it, how did I not notice at all?
The last paper crane landed on Ye Yuhuan’s desk. Inside, only two words were written: “Shut up.”
Ye Yuhuan turned her head and saw Song Zhiqing’s bright red ears.
She was a little confused. What was there to be shy about?
Could it be that she was blushing from the excitement of getting her crush’s attention?
Sigh. What kind of lovesick spirit had Song Zhiqing become?
Nearby, Tang Xue was completely numb. She had watched with her own eyes as the paper cranes flew back and forth in front of her, and how the two of them carefully treasured and put away each other’s cranes.
So, they really are dating, aren’t they!
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