What's Wrong with a Beautiful Campus Belle Who Loves Money? (40)
"Bullshit!" Hua Jinchen practically snarled. "So what if she came to see you? I'm her boyfriend. Why should I hide?! If anyone should hide, it's you—"
His words cut off abruptly.
Clear footsteps came from the hallway outside the door.
At this hour, it couldn't be anyone but Shi Zheng.
Hua Jinchen's hand trembled slightly where it gripped Gu Yanshen's collar.
She really had come.
It wasn't an excuse, nor was Gu Yanshen bluffing.
She had called of her own accord and walked into this man's territory of her own accord.
The footsteps drew closer and closer.
Hua Jinchen froze, caught between advancing and retreating.
Why should he hide?
What reason did he have to hide?
He should stand his ground and face Shi Zheng openly and confidently the moment she pushed the door open.
Then he should demand to know why she had come to see Gu Yanshen behind his back.
He had done nothing wrong. He didn't need to hide!
The footsteps had reached the door.
The next second, Hua Jinchen clenched his back teeth and let go.
He spun around and darted through the half-open bathroom door, almost as if he were fleeing.
"Gu Yanshen... you win!"
The door closed silently.
Almost at the same moment, a knock sounded outside.
Gu Yanshen straightened his clothes. "Come in."
The door opened.
Shi Zheng stepped inside and got straight to the point. "President, I have something very important to tell you."
"The matter on the Forum and the earlier anonymous report targeting me were the work of the same person. I have conclusive evidence to submit to you."
She took a voice recorder from her pocket and placed it on the coffee table in front of Gu Yanshen.
"This is the complete recording of my conversation with Su Qingqing."
With that, she pressed play.
Gu Yanshen's gaze was inscrutable.
He didn't ask where the recording had come from or question its authenticity.
After listening to it, he reached out and paused the playback.
Gu Yanshen: "What would you like me to do?"
Shi Zheng raised her eyes to meet his. "Do you know she has feelings for you? She targeted me because of you. I'm not a kind person. It's more appropriate to leave this to you than for me to strike back directly."
Gu Yanshen didn't answer immediately.
He looked at her.
After a long moment, he said, "I'll handle it fairly, in accordance with Student Council regulations."
"Thank you, President." Shi Zheng lowered her eyes and rose to take her leave.
Behind the bathroom door.
Through the crack in the door, Hua Jinchen listened to the faint conversation outside, feeling as if ten thousand ants were crawling through his heart.
Fuck.
He was Shi Zheng's actual boyfriend.
Yet here he was, hiding in a place like this like a shadow that couldn't bear the light, watching another man alone in a room with her?!
Gu Yanshen... just you fucking wait.
Don't you dare do anything you shouldn't.
Hua Jinchen is watching you.
[Host, guess what I found?] The system's voice sounded unexpectedly in Shi Zheng's mind.
Shi Zheng: [What did you find?]
System: [Host, you'll never guess. Your boyfriend is in the lounge too. He's in the bathroom right now, pressed against the back of the door and eavesdropping on your conversation.]
Shi Zheng didn't stop what she was doing, only slowing her steps a little.
She naturally glanced toward the bathroom out of the corner of her eye.
Hua Jinchen saw Shi Zheng seemingly glance in his direction.
As though burned by her gaze, he abruptly pulled his head back and pressed his back against the door.
His heart pounded like a drum.
She... probably didn't notice me, right?
At the edge of the crack in the door, a corner of his clothing was faintly visible.
And Hua Jinchen was completely oblivious.
The corners of Shi Zheng's lips curved upward.
Idiot.
She looked away and walked toward the door.
Gu Yanshen set off at an unhurried pace, seemingly intending to see her out.
He looked in the direction she had just glanced and his gaze landed on the half-open bathroom door.
Gu Yanshen's gaze paused slightly.
He immediately understood.
Shi Zheng had discovered that Hua Jinchen was here.
And Hua Jinchen had no idea he had exposed himself, much less that Shi Zheng had already noticed his presence.
"Zhengzheng," Gu Yanshen suddenly called, stopping her.
Shi Zheng paused and turned around, just the right amount of puzzlement on her face. "Is there something else, President?"
The moment she heard Gu Yanshen call her "Zhengzheng," she understood that he was about to start playing some trick again.
Hua Jinchen: Zhengzheng, Zhengzheng... is Zhengzheng a name you get to call her? Who gave you permission to call her something so intimate?!
Gu Yanshen didn't answer immediately.
He slowly took two steps and positioned himself very deliberately—his figure just happened to block the view through the crack in the door, as if by accident.
From that angle, Hua Jinchen could only see Gu Yanshen's back.
Shi Zheng was completely blocked from view by Gu Yanshen.
Gu Yanshen lowered his gaze and looked into her eyes. "Hua Jinchen... what do you think of the way he treats you?"
Shi Zheng raised an eyebrow, seemingly not expecting the question. "What do you mean?"
Gu Yanshen: "He publicly announced that you were his and called himself your 'actual boyfriend' on the Forum, putting you in a position where all the girls at school envy and resent you."
"Is he protecting you, or satisfying his own possessiveness?"
Shi Zheng: "..."
Shi Zheng remained silent.
Her silence seemed to be an acknowledgment of his words, and Hua Jinchen's heart sank bit by bit into an ice cellar behind the door.
He wanted to retort.
He wanted to rush out, grab Gu Yanshen by the collar, and say: What the fuck do you know? That's between her and me. It's not your place to sow discord here!
But he didn't dare move.
Because the moment he went out, he would confirm that he had been "eavesdropping."
No, wait. Why should I be the one feeling guilty? Gu Yanshen and Shi Zheng should be the ones feeling guilty!
How did I end up being the third party who has to hide in the shadows in this situation?