During the not-too-long holiday, campus gossip was the best fuel for “back-to-school fever.” As soon as the post went up, thanks to its sharp language and clear implications, its popularity soared and remained high.
However, the comments under the post had a completely different vibe from the main post.
Floor 1: The title screams juicy gossip, but the content is just baseless speculation. Initial diagnosis: OP is delusional.
Floor 2: The text almost spelled out “Mathematics Department.” OP’s here fishing, right?
Floor 12: Journalism majors at their finest.
Floor 33: Hey above, don’t blame the journalism majors! The major is the major, the person is another!
Floor 34: ? Hello, my dad’s such a proud and cold loner, how could he possibly have anything to do with messing around? /fist fist fist
Floor 37: But they are pretty close. I’ve seen S specially go to attend classes with S several times
Floor 38: Floor 37, which S and S are you talking about? /confused
Floor 39 (W): Even if they’re close, it doesn’t mean they’re fooling around, right? At most they’re dating. Move along, folks.
Floor 41: !!! Highlight the comment above! I remember there was a post about these two a couple weeks ago. People were already shipping them then.
Floor 45: My friend said they were often together during the recent off-campus training a few days ago, even though they weren’t in the same group /thinking
Floor 52: Breaking news, I saw them at the library today /dogface
The thread derailed completely from Floor 39, taking only a few minutes to shift from cursing and mocking OP to celebrating a potential couple.
Wen Bei sat in his dorm, calmly sipping tea, keeping his achievement anonymous.
Fooling around? What nonsense.
Shen Nianjing had just left campus to get stuff from home when his phone started blowing up. Anyone else would’ve thought his phone was a time bomb about to turn him into a “terrorist” right there.
“Hello?” He answered Qin Qi’s voice call.
“Holy shit, you finally picked up!!!”
“Watch your language.” After connecting his earphones, Shen Nianjing scanned a bike and rode toward home.
The person on the other end clearly had no concept of “civility,” spewing all sorts of colorful language. From his tone alone, it was easy timagine him wildly gesturing and flailing at his phone while ranting.
“That dumbass post got taken down by the mods, but screenshots are still being passed around like crazy online. Some account suspected to be the OP’s alt is still spreading out-of-context quotes from the original post in group chats.”
“Some people who missed the original thread got misled by OP’s alt, and now they’re dead set on believing you two are fooling around on campus.”
“But the good news is, while many people got misled, even more people are staying rational, so it’s not as serious as you might think.”
“I haven’t even started thinking about it, and you already know what I’m thinking?” Shen Nianjing let out an exasperated laugh, speeding down a slope on his bike, his clothes flapping wildly in the wind. He almost wished he could slap the gossiper right then and there.
“Because—” The voice on the other end paused, then shouted, “You didn’t even interrupt me once while I was talking!”
“So I know you must be dead serious right now, and pissed.”
“Tsk.” Shen Nianjing rode to the parking spot and smoothly locked his bike. “Wrong. I’m actually smiling.”
“…”
“Can you guess who it is?” asked the voice on the other end.
“No need to guess.” Shen Nianjing scanned the code to park his bike. He scrolled through his friend list. “I can just check the backend.”
–
“You’re seriously not bothered at all?” Wen Bei stared in disbelief. “This is straight-up slander!”
Su Zhiyan lifted his eyelids lazily. “But it doesn’t really affect me, does it?”
“That’s because most people aren’t idiots!” Wen Bei dragged a chair over and sat down aggressively. “But just because the damage isn’t major doesn’t mean what the instigator did wasn’t serious!”
Su Zhiyan maintained his calm expression.
“Oh my god! You’re really something!” Wen Bei shot back up, pacing around the dorm like a caged animal. “If he gets away with spreading rumors about you once, who’s to say he won’t do it again?”
“Is he really that bored?” Su Zhiyan said. “Honestly, you should calm down first.”
Wen Bei stopped in his tracks, slamming one hand on Su Zhiyan’s desk. “You already know who it is?”
“He’s probably still salty because I called him out at lunch a couple days ago.” Su Zhiyan shrugged, as if dealing with idiots was just another chore.
The moment he said that, Wen Bei immediately connected the dots. His previously subsiding anger flared right back up. “Is it that attention-seeking drama queen with an overinflated ego who’s been stirring up drama on the campus wall since freshman year???”
“Well said, keep cursing, I love it.” Su Zhiyan nodded.
“He got officially called out twice by the school in freshman year. How has he not learned his lesson?” Wen Bei couldn’t wrap his head around it.
“Guess not. maybe he hasn’t been burned badly enough yet.”
Wen Bei stared at Su Zhiyan with an expression like he’d just swallowed a fly.
“What’s with that face?” Su Zhiyan put down his phone. “What?”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you angry.” Wen Bei pouted. “Why aren’t you mad?”
Su Zhiyan remained composed. “He’s the one spreading rumors. He’s the one in the wrong, not me.”
“But he’s spreading rumors about you.”
“And? It doesn’t change anything for me. I still eat when I need to, study when I need to.” Su Zhiyan tilted his head.
“What if everyone on the forum believed it today?” Wen Bei crossed his arms and pressed on, wanting to know what Su Zhiyan really thought.
“If they all believed it, then the situation would be much more serious.”
Su Zhiyan smiled faintly. “In fact, this might have already reached the ears of the department heads.”
“Damn.” Wen Bei gritted his teeth in frustration. “In that case, it would have been better if it were more serious. Maybe he’d actually get disciplinary action.”
“Spreading these kinds of rumors on the forum isn’t just a matter of disciplinary action.”
Su Zhiyan propped his head on one hand, glancing down at his phone. There were several new messages.
[Dream Catcher: I already got a friend to pull records of his account’s posts from the backend and reported it to the school.]
[Dream Catcher: The counselor said if it’s serious, their degree certificate could be revoked.]
[Dream Catcher: How’s that for speed? I’m the perfect example of efficient problem-solving!]
Su Zhiyan raised an eyebrow.
This guy sure could hold a grudge, quite ruthless.
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