So What If the Pretty Campus Belle Loves Money? (49)

Su Qingqing stiffened all over when she met those eyes.

His grip on her wrist hurt so badly that her face turned pale.

"...Why?" Her voice trembled, whether from pain or anger, she did not know. "Why, after all the terrible things she's done, are you all still protecting her?"

She stared at Shi Zheng, her eyes red enough to bleed. "She's obviously after your money. She wants to latch onto you and transform herself into a rich wife. How can you treat a woman like that as if she were some kind of treasure?"

After hearing her out, Hua Jinchen's gaze turned even colder.

He flung her wrist away, sending her stumbling back two steps.

Then he raised his hand and gently slipped an arm around Shi Zheng's shoulders.

"Why?" His voice was soft, but every word rang clear. "I have money, and I like spending it on her. What business is it of yours?"

Su Qingqing froze.

She had not expected him to say that.

But she refused to accept it.

She could not accept it.

"You—" Her voice trembled. "Do you know what that fickle woman has been doing behind your back? She's been fooling around with Gu Yanshen! The photos I took were all real! She's two-timing you!"

"I was telling the truth! Why won't anyone believe me?!"

Her voice was piercingly shrill, and the crowd watching around them fell silent in an instant.

At that moment, Hua Jinchen's gaze grew terrifyingly dark.

"Gu Yanshen really is useless," Hua Jinchen said, displeased. "He couldn't even handle something this small, and he actually let a lunatic like you out to spread rumors."

Su Qingqing's pupils contracted sharply.

She understood.

She understood the even more terrifying thing hidden in his tone.

Hua Jinchen knew.

He knew about Shi Zheng and Gu Yanshen.

Yet even knowing, he had not broken up with Shi Zheng. He was even protecting her...

That was impossible...

How could that be possible?!

A man of his status and standing—what kind of woman had he not seen? Why did it have to be Shi Zheng...

Su Qingqing turned a horrified gaze toward Shi Zheng.

Their eyes met.

Shi Zheng looked back at her.

Her brows and eyes curved, and her eyes were as clear as a bottomless pool, as though she were watching a ridiculous performance.

Looking down from on high.

The blood in Su Qingqing's body seemed to freeze in an instant.

She remembered—Shi Zheng had looked at her the same way in the grove that day.

That look that said, I saw through you long ago, but you don't know a thing.

And yet she had still been so pleased with herself then.

All along, she had been the only clown.

"You... you..." Su Qingqing's voice shook beyond recognition.

Her face was as white as paper, and her lips trembled violently, but she could not squeeze out another word.

Shi Zheng's amused smile was the last straw that broke her.

"Make way, make way!"

Several figures in Student Council uniforms pushed through the crowd and rushed over.

The person in the lead approached Su Qingqing with a cold face. "Su Qingqing, you've been expelled. According to the rules, please pack your things and leave the school as soon as possible."

Su Qingqing instinctively tried to run, but two people seized her by the arms, one on either side.

"Let go of me! Let go!"

Her struggles were useless.

The two hauled her toward the school gates as if dragging a ragged sack.

"Shi Zheng, just you wait! I won't let you get away with this! I'll expose your true colors! I didn't do anything wrong—"

Su Qingqing's voice grew more and more distant, finally disappearing around the corner.

The crowd gradually dispersed.

Three months later.

Inside the villa.

Hua Jinchen wrapped his arms around Shi Zheng's waist from behind, resting his chin in the hollow of her shoulder. There was a rare hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Baby."

"Hmm?"

"There's something I want to tell you."

Shi Zheng turned her head. "What is it? Go on."

Hua Jinchen took a deep breath, as if making some momentous decision. "I want to marry you."

Shi Zheng paused.

"Are you serious?"

"Of course I'm serious!"

Hua Jinchen grew anxious. He moved around in front of her and took her shoulders in both hands. "I've thought it all through. We'll get engaged first, then have the wedding once you graduate. What kind of ring do you like? Anything is fine with me, as long as you like it—"

"Wait." Shi Zheng interrupted him. "What about your family?"

Hua Jinchen paused, then considered his words for a moment before speaking. "My parents know about you, and they want to meet you. Come to my house for dinner next weekend, okay?"

He looked at her, his eyes full of anticipation.

Shi Zheng was silent for two seconds.

Then she nodded gently. "Okay."

Hua Jinchen's eyes lit up instantly. He scooped her up and spun her around, grinning like a fool.

Shi Zheng let him hold her, but her gaze settled on the distant lights.

It had been three months.

Hua Jinchen's affection had already reached its maximum.

But the other person, Gu Yanshen, was still 10 points short.

The weekend.

The Hua Family's old residence.

Carrying carefully prepared gifts, Shi Zheng walked beside Hua Jinchen into the imposing detached villa.

Hua Jinchen's parents were already waiting in the living room.

His father was cordial. After briefly asking about her studies and family, he said little else.

His mother took Shi Zheng's hand, smiling with gentle propriety and calling her a "good girl" at every turn. She asked what she liked to eat and what hobbies she had, as though she simply wanted to get to know her future daughter-in-law.

The meal made her feel entirely at home.

Hua Jinchen had been on edge the whole time, afraid his parents would say something unpleasant.

But nothing happened. His parents treated Shi Zheng so well that it surprised him.

On the way back with Shi Zheng, he was in such a good mood he could almost float. "I thought my parents would make things difficult for you. I didn't expect..."

Shi Zheng smiled but did not reply.

She remembered the appraisal that had flashed through the eyes of Hua Jinchen's parents when they looked at her just now.

That look was all too familiar to her.

But she did not tell Hua Jinchen.