All their worries had gone to waste

After dinner, Jiang Nian and the other three wandered around the base for a while before returning to their dorm to rest.

The moment she opened the door, all six people inside turned to look at her and Tong Chuhe.

Since students from two classes shared the room, they had naturally split into two camps: the four from Class 1 clustered together, as did the two from Class 2.

But after glancing at Jiang Nian, the four from Class 1 coldly turned away, leaving her greeting stuck in her throat.

What happened?

Jiang Nian looked at them in bewilderment. She clearly caught the flash of disgust in one girl's eyes as the girl looked at her.

That girl rolled her eyes at Jiang Nian before turning back to chat with the others as though no one else were there, making it perfectly clear that Jiang Nian wasn't welcome.

The two girls from Class 2, however, pulled Jiang Nian and Tong Chuhe over and said,

"Ignore them. They're nuts."

The girl who had just rolled her eyes at Jiang Nian heard that and abruptly stood up. "Who are you calling nuts?"

Xia Guoguo, who had called her that, shot back without hesitation,

"Whoever answers!"

With a bang, the eye-rolling girl kicked her stool aside and moved to fight Xia Guoguo, but the others held her back. "Don't be rash, Fang Qiu! You'll get a demerit for fighting here!"

Held back by three people, Fang Qiu was furious. Xia Guoguo even pulled a face at her from across the room, taunting her as she did. "Nyah, nyah, nyah! Hit me if you've got the guts! I'm right here! You're a loser if you can't!"

Fang Qiu struggled desperately to break free, but it was no use. Eventually, worn out and persuaded by the others, she could only shoot a vicious glare at Jiang Nian's group of four before leaving with the other Class 1 girls.

Only then did Jiang Nian have a chance to ask Xia Guoguo and the others what had happened.

Xia Guoguo plopped down on the bed and indignantly told Jiang Nian and Tong Chuhe, "They were bad-mouthing you two!"

Jiang Nian looked completely baffled. "I don't even know her! What did I do?"

Tong Chuhe looked just as puzzled. She couldn't remember ever having a problem with Fang Qiu.

Chen Chen, beside Xia Guoguo, recounted what had happened.

"When Guoguo and I first came back, everyone was chatting normally."

"But then, I don't know what got into Fang Qiu, she suddenly started acting all mysterious and told us, 'Do you know Jiang Nian? She's a homewrecker who came between a couple!'"

"Guoguo and I were stunned. We asked her why she'd say that."

Xia Guoguo indignantly picked up the story. "She said Fu Zhenzhen and Song Jici were a couple, but you used your position as his childhood friend to come between them. She even said you forced Song Jici's mother to arrange an engagement between you and him!"

"And that's not all. She said you were two-timing him-not only were you forcing yourself on Song Jici, you also hooked up with Shen Hui, and the two of you were doing dirty things in the grove!"

"You should've seen her face when she talked about you and Shen Hui doing dirty things. She was so jealous! Obviously, she can't even get Shen Hui to talk to her, so she's jealous that you're close!"

Jiang Nian: ...

She had a pretty good idea who had spread those rumors.

These were the rumors Fang Qiu had spread about Fu Zhenzhen in the original novel. Fang Qiu was a toxic, possessive fan of Shen Hui, and anyone who got close to him would get bad-mouthed. It was just that Fu Zhenzhen had been the target in the previous life, while this time it was her.

But...

"Chu He doesn't have anything to do with Shen Hui, does she? What did Fang Qiu say about her?"

Chen Chen pressed her lips together. "She said Tong Chuhe spends all day with you and always has a bunch of boys around her, so she doesn't look like a decent person either."

Jiang Nian: Wow. Just wow.

Tong Chuhe: Wow. Just wow.

Speechless and apologetic, Jiang Nian looked at Tong Chuhe. "Sorry, Chu He. Looks like you got dragged into this because of me."

If Chu He hadn't been so close to her, she probably wouldn't have been caught in Fang Qiu's indiscriminate attacks.

Tong Chuhe shook her head.

"It's fine. This is her fault, not yours."

Still, judging by Fang Qiu's attitude, people would probably be gossiping about them over the next few days, especially Jiang Nian.

Sure enough.

During the military theory lesson the next day, Jiang Nian felt the contemptuous looks most of Class 1 directed at her.

"So that's Jiang Nian? She looks harmless enough. How can she be so shameless? Fu Zhenzhen and Song Jici were perfectly happy together, but she just had to come between them."

"Exactly. Fu Zhenzhen's an orphan. She worked so hard to get in as the top scholarship student and got together with Song Jici, only for Jiang Nian to force him into an engagement now. What a bully!"

"Did Jiang Nian send someone to threaten Fu Zhenzhen too? I saw Fu Zhenzhen crying in secret the other day. When I asked what was wrong, she forced a smile and said it was nothing. She's so pitiful..."

"That's not all. I heard Jiang Nian's stringing Shen Hui along too!"

"How shameless."

Listening to the decidedly unsubtle gossip around her, Jiang Nian stared speechlessly at the sky.

How had this turned into personal attacks?

She wasn't deaf, was she? Did they really think it was fine to discuss her so loudly right in front of her?

Song Jici, Shen Hui, and the others had just arrived. Hearing so many people slander Jiang Nian, they were furious.

They were about to step forward and clear things up when Jiang Nian tossed her hair, flicked her sleeves, and zipped over to the loudest gossipers, asking them with an anxious expression,

"What? I'm that awful? Not only did I come between a couple, I sent someone to threaten her? And I was two-timing him?"

"Oh my god, can you show me the evidence? I don't remember doing any of that!"

The person Jiang Nian questioned apparently hadn't expected her to approach him so suddenly. He stammered, "N-no... I don't have any evidence."

Jiang Nian looked terribly disappointed.

"You don't have any evidence? You actually don't have any evidence? Oh my god, you sounded so certain! Your story was so complete and absolutely riveting that I thought you'd seen it with your own eyes!"

Someone beside him stubbornly protested, "Everyone's saying it. How could it be false?"

Jiang Nian looked around at everyone. "So everyone saw me bully her? I'm the only one who doesn't know I came between a couple? Oh my god, did I lose my memory? Or did I transmigrate? No, I have to ask the instructor to call the police. They'll definitely be able to get to the bottom of this."

With that, she hurried off to find the instructor and call the police.

Only then did the rumor-spreaders start panicking. They grabbed her. "You're going to the police?!"

"Of course!" Jiang Nian said anxiously. "All of you saw me do something bad, and I'm the only one who doesn't know about it. Obviously, I have to go to the police. You go to jail for doing bad things, right? If I really did something that awful, I have to turn myself in!"

"If it turns out I really did it, they can detain me. If I didn't, they can detain you!"

Even if she couldn't get them detained, she could put their names in her little notebook and settle every score, one by one.

After all, she was the cannon-fodder supporting character with a powerful family, a massive fortune, and enough influence to rule half the world!

Only then did everyone realize Jiang Nian was serious.

They exchanged glances, finally realizing what they had done.

She was the Jiang Family Heiress!

One after another, they shook their heads like rattles and began distancing themselves from the whole affair.

"No! We didn't see anything! We don't know anything! Fang Qiu heard all of that from Fu Zhenzhen! It has nothing to do with us!"

"Exactly! We were just curious. We don't know anything!"

Looking at how quickly they had backed down, Jiang Nian appeared disappointed. "You really don't know anything? I really didn't do anything?"

Everyone answered in unison,

"No, no! You didn't do anything. Fu Zhenzhen and Fang Qiu made us misunderstand!"

"Yes, exactly!"

Jiang Nian pouted. "All right, then. If you really see me doing something bad, make sure you tell me. I'll definitely go turn myself in to the nice police officers."

Everyone: "Okay, okay, okay."

Whatever you say. Just leave already.

And so Jiang Nian returned to her original spot, looking thoroughly dissatisfied.

How boring.

The main cast watched, dumbfounded, as Jiang Nian silenced everyone with that rapid-fire performance.

But Jiang Nian merely looked at their stunned faces and asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

The main cast all looked away.

"Nothing."

They just felt that all their worries had gone to waste.