Rumors!

"What? Take responsibility?! What happened that would make Xia Ping need to take responsibility?" Several students nearby immediately heard Jiang Yaru and started gossiping.

"Yeah, and whatever happened, the teachers can't find out. What kind of awful thing did they do?" another student asked curiously.

They'd been keeping an eye on Xia Ping and Jiang Yaru's conversation the whole time. They couldn't help it—the school beauty was always the center of attention, wherever she went.

"I saw Jiang Yaru rush over first thing this morning, looking furious, with dark circles under her eyes. I bet she didn't sleep all night and was under a ton of stress." One student had a sharp eye. "I didn't expect her to come straight over and confront Xia Ping, catching him outside like she'd caught him cheating. She was absolutely livid. I bet there's something going on between them."

"Why even guess? Something obviously happened."

A male student said indignantly, "He has to take responsibility. What else could it be? Xia Ping's a scumbag who seduced Jiang Yaru and then dumped her. He took her to a hotel, got her pregnant, and now she's making him take responsibility."

The students' faces changed. It wasn't impossible. Look at Jiang Yaru's furious expression and her flushed, lovely face, and how she seemed on the verge of tears. She looked just like a woman three months pregnant who'd been abandoned by her husband.

"No way. Xia Ping's nothing special to look at, and his family's poor. How could he ever win over the school beauty, Jiang Yaru? Even I don't stand a chance with her. What makes him think he does?"

One student didn't believe it. He tried desperately to explain, urging the others not to buy into such a ridiculous theory.

"What's there not to believe? I heard ages ago that Xia Ping and Jiang Yaru are neighbors. They've known each other since they were kids and grew up together. After spending so much time together, they fell for each other. Then one dark, stormy night, with both their parents away, they gave in to temptation, and things got out of hand."

"Holy crap, I've seen scenes like that on TV. The way you tell it, it sounds so vivid."

"So that's what they mean by 'the one nearest the water gets the moon first.' Xia Ping may be ugly and have no redeeming qualities, but being her neighbor gives him a huge advantage. He's not even playing in the same league as us."

"I bet they gave in to temptation that night and she got pregnant. One mistake, and you regret it for the rest of your life."

"No wonder she's so stressed she's got dark circles. A high school girl getting pregnant would make the news."

"Shameless Xia Ping! He got Jiang Yaru pregnant and hooked up with the school beauty, but that still wasn't enough for him. He actually wants to dump her? He's asking everyone to hate him!"

"I heard from someone that Xia Ping might have women at other schools too. He's probably dating five or six girls at once."

"What a scumbag. He's got women at other schools, too? Xia Ping looks like such a nice guy, but I never knew he was like that."

The students chattered furiously. Some malicious ones even spread rumors that Xia Ping was dating several girls at once, and the whole class erupted.

At the words around her, Jiang Yaru's face turned as red as a tomato. She hadn't expected her words to be misunderstood so badly. That wasn't what she meant at all.

"Okay, okay. We can talk about this at home. Don't make a scene here and give people something to laugh about." Xia Ping didn't know why Jiang Yaru was so angry, but he didn't want people gossiping about them all over the place.

Talk about it at home?!

The students were stunned. Wasn't that the kind of thing married couples said to each other? Usually, a husband and wife would argue in public, draw a crowd, and then the husband would say something like that to his wife.

Their expressions and the scene before them were just like that. It was the kind of understanding that came from living together for a long time. The old-married-couple vibe between them was unmistakable. They were showing off their relationship.

"My god, I don't want to live anymore. A beautiful flower stuck in cow dung."

"They're going to talk about it at home. They must be living together already."

"You animals! They're only in high school and already living together. In ancient times, they'd have been stuffed into a pig cage for that."

"Xia Ping must have forced her into it. Jiang Yaru would never do something like that."

"It's all that two-faced bastard Xia Ping's fault. None of this would've happened without him."

"I hope Xia Ping explodes on the spot, gets struck by lightning the moment he steps outside, or gets hit by a car. Raise your hand if you agree."

"Today is the darkest day in the history of 95th Middle School. It's like the early days of the Great Cataclysm."

"I haven't even confessed to her yet, and my goddess is already pregnant. Could anything be more tragic?"

The students wailed as if their hearts had shattered. They were utterly heartbroken, and their hatred for Xia Ping soared.

"Huh?"

Xia Ping blinked. He could clearly hear the system's notifications coming one after another. His Hate Points seemed to be increasing rapidly.

"T-this!" Jiang Yaru had heard what the other students were saying too. The misunderstanding had gotten way out of hand, but it was all that bastard Xia Ping's fault. She gritted her teeth and glared at him.

Xia Ping rubbed his chin. "Don't worry. I'm not the kind of man who shirks his responsibilities. Things have gone this far, so I'll take responsibility."

"What are you even talking about?" Jiang Yaru was completely baffled. She and the bastard weren't talking about the same thing at all.

The students around them erupted. So it really was true! Their relationship had reached the point where they needed to discuss taking responsibility?

"Okay, okay. Class is about to start. We can talk about it later." Xia Ping waved his hand, not wanting to continue the conversation.

Enough already! If they kept going, it would turn into a scandal.

Jiang Yaru glared at Xia Ping, fuming. She suddenly lifted her foot and stomped hard on his before storming off.

She knew they couldn't keep talking, or she had no idea what people would start saying about them.

The rumor spread quickly. Jiang Yaru was simply too popular, with countless fans at school. In just one hour, it had spread across the entire campus.

"Have you heard? Jiang Yaru has a boyfriend, and she's pregnant!"

"My god, really? That's explosive!"

"I don't believe it. How could something like that happen? Who's her boyfriend?"

"Apparently, he's a classmate. Some guy named Xia Ping."

"You mean the guy who beat Xiong Batian?"

"That's him. They say he seduced her and then dumped her, and he has more than a dozen other women outside school. Seven or eight of them are pregnant, including Jiang Yaru."

"What a beast! A high school student pulling something like this? He's not human, he's a pig! I want to kill him."

"Don't worry, there are at least a few thousand people at school who want to kill him. Get in line."

"Shameless Xia Ping! Dating more than a dozen girls at once and bullying the school beauty. He's a disgrace to the school."

"How could Jiang Yaru fall for a man like that? She has terrible taste."

"Women always get fooled by scumbags. It's part of growing up."

"Growing up, my ass. Why doesn't she grow up with me instead?"

"I hope that scumbag Xia Ping explodes on the spot and gets hacked to death by a bunch of furious women."

Countless students discussed the gossip, and their hatred for Xia Ping soared.