Trust You

Jimo's expression darkened. He had checked so many times and hadn't seen a single surveillance camera in the corridor. Now he finally remembered how nasty Ke Yueyi had been in the cafeteria.

Just then, Jiang Wangshu called. Jimo moved his legs around and picked up.

"Brother, where are you? My speech is over."

Jimo rubbed his eyes. "I'm backstage. Did it go smoothly? Nothing happened, right?"

"Yeah." Jiang Wangshu said, "It went pretty smoothly. I'll come find you."

Jiang Wangshu arrived quickly. Only after they met up did Jimo learn from him that Huang Zhenghao had missed his speech and had just been thoroughly scolded by a professor.

Jimo froze. "He had to give a speech too?"

"Yes. He was supposed to speak as the student council president and recruit new members while he was at it. I was the special-admission student representative, thanking the academy for the prize money it gave me. Then there was Ke Yueyi. Three student representatives in total."

There was probably no freshman who didn't know about the opening ceremony. News of it had been all over the forums for ages.

Jimo had the opening ceremony to thank for the buzz around his own incident dying down so quickly.

The F4 rarely appeared on campus. They had begun gradually taking over their family affairs while still students, and many people hardly got to see them even once before graduation.

Of the F4, aside from Ke Yueyi and He Zhenglin, the other two were busy with their families' arrangements and hadn't appeared in a long time.

As for skipping classes, coursework grades and the like, those rules only applied to the young ladies and masters at the noble academy. There was an insurmountable gulf between those four and everyone else.

That was why Ke Yueyi, a senior student speaking at the opening ceremony this time, could instantly set the forums ablaze.

Jiang Wangshu paused. "I heard he even carefully prepared a magic trick to perform onstage."

Jimo saw that his expression didn't look fake, and Jiang Wangshu wouldn't tease him about something like this.

The two headed out of the auditorium and ran into a group of people in student council uniforms filing in, their expressions grave.

"Move!"

Jimo hurriedly pulled Jiang Wangshu aside, narrowly avoiding a head-on confrontation.

After they left, Jiang Wangshu said coolly, "I heard someone secretly locked Huang Zhenghao in a room, making him miss his speech. With his personality, he won't let it go."

The culprit, Jimo: "..."

Had he really gotten it wrong?

Had those two gossiping by the door just now been talking about Huang Zhenghao's magic trick?

Jimo pressed a hand to his forehead. No wonder the system hadn't given him any mission prompts.

He really had gone and provoked Ke Yueyi for nothing.

Jimo asked, "Then... what would happen if they caught the person?"

He didn't really need to ask. With Huang Zhenghao's violent temper, he would only torment the person to death.

"They'd probably have it pretty bad."

"..."

"Is something wrong?" Seeing that Jimo still hadn't answered, Jiang Wangshu looked at him expectantly.

"No, I was just curious."

"Oh."

Whatever. Since there were no cameras, he would insist to the end that he hadn't done it. What could anyone do to him?

As long as...

Ke Yueyi didn't tell anyone.

There was a slight chill in the autumn air. Seeing how thinly Jiang Wangshu was dressed, Jimo said, "It's getting late. Go back and get some rest. Since Huang Zhenghao is busy looking for someone, he won't have time to trouble you again for a while."

Jiang Wangshu hadn't expected Jimo to still care so much about him. "Okay."

He seemed to want to say something else, but an aggressive voice suddenly rang out beside them.

"Stop right there!"

The two turned to see Huang Zhenghao, looking furious.

Jiang Wangshu took a step back without thinking. The constant bullying had left him with a conditioned reflex.

Jimo subtly shifted his position and watched Huang Zhenghao warily.

Huang Zhenghao only glanced at Jimo before looking away and fixing his eyes on Jiang Wangshu. "Well, well. It was you, wasn't it, brat?!"

Jiang Wangshu's face went pale. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Keep pretending!"

He had thought it over again and again. No one at the academy would dare be bold enough to provoke him like that.

Except Jiang Wangshu, that unruly troublemaker.

At the thought of the disappointed look Professor Mosi had given him earlier, Huang Zhenghao's face darkened.

Mosi was a watcher from the four great families who mainly worked for the Alliance. Teaching at Easton Academy was merely a front. Behind the scenes, he kept an eye on developments at the academy and recommended truly talented people to the Alliance.

The student council presidents of past years had all held high positions in the Alliance and become its mainstays.

If this incident caused him to miss out on anything, he would skin the person in front of him alive.

"It wasn't me," Jiang Wangshu said coldly.

"And I'm supposed to believe you just because you say so?"

Without giving him a chance to speak, Huang Zhenghao raised his hand and deliberately swung a punch at his face.

Jimo had been watching the two of them the whole time. Seeing this, he hurriedly pulled Jiang Wangshu aside.

The punch missed.

Before Huang Zhenghao could get angry, Jimo put on an ingratiating smile. "Could there be a mistake, Brother Zhenghao? He's been with me the whole time since he finished his speech onstage."

Huang Zhenghao glanced at his school badge. He wasn't a special-admission student, and he had long bangs and wore black-framed glasses.

"How do I know you're not lying? Move! Or I'll beat you up too."

"No, it doesn't matter if you misunderstand us. The most important thing is not to let the culprit get away. This is outrageous! How dare they treat you like that, Brother?"

Jimo grew angrier as he spoke. "Brother, do you have any clues? We'll help you catch them."

Huang Zhenghao wasn't actually sure either, but nothing had gone right for him today. He had been looking for somewhere to vent when he ran into Jiang Wangshu.

It was hard to hit someone who greeted you with a smile, and Huang Zhenghao's anger subsided a little. Looking at Jimo, he suddenly said, "Why do you look a little familiar?"

Jimo paused, then quickly replied, "That's perfectly normal, Brother. There are more people like me at the academy than anyone else. Grab ten people at random, and eight of them could look like me."

That was true.

Just then, someone came running over, shouting, "Brother Hao, we found someone! We caught a suspicious person backstage."

Huang Zhenghao cursed, abandoned them, and rushed straight over.

Seeing that, Jimo breathed a sigh of relief.

When he looked up again, he met Jiang Wangshu's probing gaze.

"We clearly weren't together just now. You were lying."

Jimo's heart caught. He was at a loss when it came to a little white flower like the male lead who didn't know how to be flexible.

He hurriedly pulled Jiang Wangshu aside. "Xiao Shu, don't be so straightforward. Would he have let us go if I hadn't said that?"

Jimo seized the chance to share his experience, determined to cram this knowledge of dealing with people into his head.

"A lot of the time, all you need to do is say a few conciliatory words, exchange some polite remarks, and let everyone save face. Then the matter is over."

Jiang Wangshu stood with his back perfectly straight, unwilling to concede. "I didn't do it in the first place."

He was only being a little nicer because he was talking to Jimo. Otherwise, he could have asked why he should have to do that.

Jimo gave up. He knew this wasn't something he could force. The novel character's personality was already ingrained in his soul, and it wasn't something Jimo could change with a few words. If he could change him, he wouldn't be the male lead.

"All right. Go back and get some rest."

Jimo had only taken a couple of steps when he felt someone tug on his sleeve.

He turned around and saw Jiang Wangshu looking down as he asked glumly, "You don't believe me?"

"No, I believe you."

No one knew better than the culprit how innocent the person being falsely accused was.

Jimo spent the next few days on edge. Whenever he had time, he scrolled through the forums, searching for his own name as a keyword, afraid something would come up.

Luckily, Ke Yueyi really hadn't exposed him that day.

Perhaps he simply couldn't be bothered with that sort of thing.

After observing things over the past few weeks, Jimo had worked out a little: the F4 rarely got involved in matters at school. It seemed more like the student council was using their name to throw its weight around.

But it was certainly impossible that they didn't know what the student council had been doing.

Had they tacitly allowed the student council to act as their black glove and establish their authority for them?

Jimo thought about it for a long time without reaching an answer. He put down the book he had read more than halfway through and headed to the restroom on quiet feet.

The library was utterly silent, and even the slightest unusual sound was magnified countless times.

At a corner in the stairwell, Jimo heard someone crying. The muffled sobs came intermittently, carried over by the wind.

He paused, then quietly glanced through the window.

One look at the red gemstone on the school badge was enough to tell him who it was.

This was a special-admission student.

The only special-admission student he knew was the male lead. Someone hiding here to cry had most likely been bullied, but Jimo was just an ordinary person. He couldn't take care of so much.

He put down a bottle of milk and left just as silently. He still had a stack of materials to read.

After using the restroom and returning to his seat, Jimo found Jiang Wangshu sitting across from him, leafing through one of his books.

Seeing him return, Jiang Wangshu smiled. "Are you interested in medicine?"

I'm interested in you.

Jimo nodded. "It's better than management. I'm thinking about transferring to the medical department, but there's so much to learn that I don't quite know where to start."

Jiang Wangshu's eyes lit up. "Really? I'll help you."

He flipped through the book some more and said, "These books aren't very suitable for you at this stage. The professors are strict, but they don't test students transferring departments on such a wide range of subjects. I'll pick out a few books, mark the important points, and lend them to you..."

Jiang Wangshu was clearly much more excited once he started talking about his field, and he grew more talkative too.

Only then did Jimo remember how good the male lead was at his studies. In the original novel, he ranked first in every subject and won so many scholarships that his hands grew tired from collecting them. It was precisely because of his excellent grades that he had been able to speak at the opening ceremony as a special-admission student.

With his help, Jimo felt much more reassured.

The two arranged a time to meet again, and Jiang Wangshu couldn't wait to say he was going back to organize the materials.

He was even more eager than Jimo himself.

The dormitory building was as chilly as ever. As soon as Jiang Wangshu went upstairs, he saw someone standing outside his door.

His expression cooled considerably. Ignoring the person, he took out his key and unlocked the door.

The person spoke.

"Wangshu."

Jiang Wangshu ignored him. The lock clicked open, and he was about to push the door open and go in when the person grew anxious.

"Wangshu, I need to talk to you about something. Please, you have to help me this time."

Jiang Wangshu frowned. "Wang Yue, what do you want?"

After Wang Yue had moved out some time ago, they had had no further contact.

Jiang Wangshu acted as though he had never helped him before.

There was a pleading note in Wang Yue's voice. "I... I need to talk to you about something. Can you let me in first...?"

More and more curious gazes were turning their way. Wang Yue could hardly bear to stand there, looking as though he might faint.

Seeing how terribly pale he was and how his face was covered in wounds, Jiang Wangshu finally nodded.

Once the door closed, Wang Yue began to hem and haw.

"Wangshu, I brought you something at the opening ceremony the other day, didn't I?"

That had indeed happened.

Jiang Wangshu knew he wasn't finished and waited for him to continue.

"After I delivered it, a teacher told me to wait backstage so they could call me whenever they needed anything. I didn't dare leave, but I accidentally fell asleep. By the time I woke up, the ceremony had been over for a long time. Then I came out, and..."

Wang Yue took a deep breath, as though what he was about to say was very difficult.

"Then I ran into a group from the student council. For no reason at all, they surrounded me and beat me up. Only afterward did I find out they thought I was the one who locked their president up. How would I have the nerve? I wouldn't dare even if you killed me."

Jiang Wangshu vaguely remembered hearing them shout that they had found someone sneaking around that night.

So that person had been Wang Yue.