So What If the Beautiful Campus Belle Loves Money? (38)

After listening to her impassioned accusations, Shi Zheng smiled meaningfully.

"Oh..." Shi Zheng drew out the word, her eyes full of mockery. "After all that, it turns out you're jealous of me. Jealous that I can have what you can't."

"You'd love to have a face like mine too, so you could attach yourself to those privileged heirs, wouldn't you? What a pity..."

She paused and gave a soft scoff. "You're not even qualified to set foot through the door."

With those few words, she stripped away every last shred of Su Qingqing's high-sounding cloak of "justice."

As if all her strength had been drained from her in an instant, Su Qingqing staggered back a step and leaned against the tree trunk, all color gone from her face.

Having her deepest thoughts exposed so bluntly was more humiliating than any insult.

"You...!" She trembled all over with rage, but couldn't make another sound.

Just then—

"Ding-dong."

A crisp phone notification rang out.

It wasn't Shi Zheng's phone, but the one Su Qingqing held in her hand.

Su Qingqing instinctively looked down and saw a Forum notification pop up on the screen. She had set it up herself so she wouldn't miss any "latest updates" about Shi Zheng.

Shi Zheng raised an eyebrow, her tone almost kindly. "Go ahead."

Su Qingqing tapped the notification.

Beneath the pinned comment on the popular Forum post, a new reply with a verification badge had appeared.

Gu Yanshen: [I was at Yunding Club last night handling some Student Council external affairs. As for appearing together in the photo, we simply happened to meet in the hallway.]

[Please do not read too much into it or spread false information.]

The reply was official in tone, but packed an explosive amount of information.

Gu Yanshen's acknowledgment was confirmation that the photo was real.

And for Shi Zheng's sake, he had personally stepped forward to defend her and push back against the rumors.

[Holy shit! What day is it today? Even President Gu has stepped in himself?!]

[SZ has so much clout... Is the sky about to change at this school?]

[So that really is President Gu in the photo! Are all the photos the original poster took real?!]

[Isn't the point that President Gu posted specifically to clear this up?]

[Young Master Hua's girlfriend just happened to run into President Gu in the club hallway... and President Gu even came out to explain...]

[That coincidence is a little too coincidental, but both big shots have spoken. How can we not believe them?]

[So what kind of immortal is SZ? Young Master Hua publicly announced their relationship for her, and President Gu cleared things up for her?]

[Wasn't he clearing things up for himself, not her... probably?]

[Either way, that's an outrageous show of clout...]

Su Qingqing stared hard at the words on the screen, her fingertips ice-cold, barely able to hold on to her phone.

Gu Yanshen... had actually stepped in himself, using his account verified as the Student Council President to speak up for Shi Zheng!

No matter how much she tried to deceive herself, she could no longer deny it—Shi Zheng had gotten Gu Yanshen to go this far for her. Between them...

Jealousy coiled tightly around Su Qingqing's heart like a venomous snake, nearly choking her.

Shi Zheng took in every change of expression on Su Qingqing's face.

She didn't take out her own phone to check, or even show any surprise. She simply watched in silence as the final straw crushed the other woman.

Only when Su Qingqing finally lowered her phone and raised her head, looking utterly lost, did Shi Zheng speak unhurriedly. "Do you see it now? The photos and the post you went to such lengths to make..."

"In the end, all you did was help me prove one thing—to help me solve my problem, Hua Jinchen was willing to go public for me, and Gu Yanshen was willing to clear things up for me."

"Hua Jinchen is mine. Gu Yanshen... is mine too."

Shi Zheng's voice was soft, but every word pierced the heart. "What you can only dream of is within my reach."

She bent slightly, bringing her face close to Su Qingqing's deathly pale one. "You should stop indulging in wishful thinking."

"You'll never have that chance, and I won't offer you that chance myself, either."

Su Qingqing trembled violently, her nails digging into her flesh and leaving deep, bloody marks.

As if drawing on the last of her strength, she demanded hoarsely, unwilling to accept it, "Aren't you worried?"

"Two-timing them... if they find out, aren't you afraid of facing both men's wrath at once?!"

Her voice was almost hysterical, as if she were grasping at one last straw to prove that Shi Zheng could fall too.

Shi Zheng straightened and looked down at the wretch whose defeat was certain but who still refused to give up.

She gave a soft laugh.

There was no triumph in that smile, only a kind of lofty composure.

"That's not something you need to worry about," she said.

Shi Zheng turned around. "I'll let you off for now over this. Whether you leave the Forum post up or delete it, do as you please."

Su Qingqing jerked her head up, a flicker of incredulous hope and suspicion crossing her eyes.

"But."

Shi Zheng's voice turned cold. "If there's a next time, and you dare try any tricks in front of me again... it won't be as simple as it was today."

"Do you understand?"

Su Qingqing didn't answer.

She just stared hard at Shi Zheng's back, watching the slender figure walk farther and farther away until she disappeared into the dappled shadows of the trees.

She knew she had lost, utterly and completely.

But instead of being extinguished by Shi Zheng's leniency, that bone-deep jealousy and resentment grew wildly in her heart like weeds steeped in poison.

Only this time, she had at least learned that she couldn't act rashly again, couldn't let Shi Zheng catch her out again.

The next time she made a move, she had to strike home in one blow.