Making a Big Deal of It

"I heard. She was trying to take a shortcut. Who knows what she stayed behind in the classroom after every class for!"

"Didn't you see the post on the forum? There were photos. She was crying her eyes out!"

"I heard she got pregnant and then got dumped!"

"I get it, I get it. She wanted a recommendation for grad school!"

The other two roommates chimed in with each other, and the students gathered around to eat melon immediately cried out in excitement.

Social media was not yet so developed at the time.

Although Weibo and Xiaonei had begun to rise, Tieba and the campus forum were still the main platforms at the university.

Min Xinrou had already gained a little popularity on the forum because of her good looks.

Now that everyone had finally encountered the person herself, they crowded around for a better look.

Watching her two mean-spirited roommates, Yang Yuanjing could not help feeling immensely pleased with herself.

She had deliberately come to ruin Wu Chen's reputation to carry out Wang Hongfa's assignment, so she had a purpose in saying those things.

But her two roommates were just rotten to the core.

Still, that made them useful to her!

Listening to them turn black into white, Min Xinrou trembled slightly, clearly furious to the extreme.

She could accept people spreading rumors about her, because she did not care at all.

But she could not accept others being dragged down with her!

Although she had not spent much time with Wu Chen, she could feel his genuine concern for her, untainted by any inappropriate feelings.

She stopped and called out to Yang Yuanjing and the others, who had already walked some distance away. "Y-you, stop right there!"

She had never spoken so loudly in public before.

But Min Xinrou only felt adrenaline surging through her, the sound of blood rushing through her body clear as day. She could no longer care what others thought of her.

She tried to make her expression look fiercer.

"Were you talking about me and Teacher Wu?"

Yang Yuanjing stopped and turned to look at Min Xinrou glaring at her. She could not help giving a contemptuous smile, while a vicious glint flashed in her eyes.

The other woman's expression suddenly reminded her of something her ex-boyfriend had once said:

"Yang Yuanjing, when you're angry, your face twists up into something disgusting. You look just like a shrew."

Those words had gotten under her skin for a long time.

And now, looking at Min Xinrou, even though Yang Yuanjing hated her, she still thought Min Xinrou looked prettier in a rage than she herself did after carefully applying her makeup.

She was practically driven mad with jealousy.

But on the surface, she hid all her emotions well and spoke with apparent disdain.

"I didn't say who I was talking about. Why are you so worked up? Throw a stone and the dog that yelps is the one you hit."

Min Xinrou's face immediately flushed bright red.

Seeing her at a loss, Yang Yuanjing felt a satisfaction unlike anything she had ever felt before.

It was even more satisfying than when she had deliberately ruined Min Xinrou's computer with Chinese medicine.

With her taking the lead, her two roommates immediately followed suit.

For a moment, all kinds of filth spewed from their mouths like buckets of dung water.

"She came back so late every day. Who knows if she was fooling around with some man!"

"Loose woman!"

"Hahaha!"

"Y-you're talking nonsense!"

Min Xinrou truly did not know how to quarrel.

She gripped the strap of her bookbag tightly and stared at Yang Yuanjing, unable to understand why she was insulting her like this.

Yang Yuanjing, meanwhile, watched her calmly, putting on an air of superiority and continuing to provoke Min Xinrou with her gaze.

After all, Wang Hongfa had said he was not afraid of her making a big deal of it; he was only afraid she would not make it big enough.

If anything happened, he would take care of it!

So Yang Yuanjing steeled herself and spoke again with a sneer. "Min Xinrou, have you been secretly looking at Wu Chen's photo in the middle of the night?"

"I..."

Min Xinrou froze on the spot.

A few nights ago, she had indeed looked up Wu Chen's profile on the university's official website, and it happened to include a photo.

But she had not done it to look at the photo!

"That was because I wanted to see Teacher Wu's research areas. I wanted to study the things he talked about..."

She anxiously began explaining to everyone.

Wu Chen had covered too many points last time, and she could not remember them clearly, so she had wanted to sort out what she needed to study.

Since she had no way to contact him, she had thought to start by looking into Wu Chen's educational background, which was why she had gone to the university's official website. At the time, it had detailed profiles of every teacher.

But no one listened to her explanation.

At a time like this, the facts no longer mattered.

Emotions ruled everything.

Watching Yang Yuanjing continue to talk nonsense, Min Xinrou finally could not take it anymore.

She stepped forward and shoved her hard in the chest.

Yang Yuanjing was wearing high heels that day.

And she had not expected Min Xinrou to throw her image aside and get physical, so she had no time to react before she was shoved hard to the ground.

As it happened, there was a trash can right beside her.

As she fell, she instinctively grabbed its rim.

And then she pulled the trash can over.

The leftover food inside spilled all over her in an instant.

Another round of gasps rose from the crowd.

Even Yang Yuanjing's two roommates could not help stepping back, covering their noses and putting some distance between them.

Although the atmosphere was tense, someone still laughed aloud at her misfortune.

Yang Yuanjing sat on the ground, utterly stunned.

Her carefully styled hair was a complete mess.

Her face and clothes were covered in grease, making her look like a clown.

And among the onlookers, there also seemed to be the crush she had run into while getting her food earlier.

When she looked up and saw Min Xinrou standing there clean and spotless, the fury in her heart was completely ignited, and she instantly lost her reason.

Panting heavily, Yang Yuanjing unconsciously grabbed a stick-like object from beside her, scrambled to her feet, and stabbed straight at Min Xinrou's neck!

The people around them immediately cried out in alarm.

It was a steel chopstick!

It could kill someone!

Min Xinrou was also frightened by Yang Yuanjing's sudden madness.

But as she watched Yang Yuanjing draw closer and closer, she felt completely unable to move.

And aside from fear, only one question remained in her mind:

I won't get expelled, will I?

Quite a few timid students had already closed their eyes.

But just as the chopstick was about to touch Min Xinrou's neck, a tall figure suddenly appeared in front of her, precisely caught the steel chopstick in Yang Yuanjing's hand, and flung it away.

"Do you know what you're doing?"

Suppressing his anger, Wu Chen gripped Yang Jingyuan's wrist tightly and questioned her coldly.

"It hurts..."

Yang Yuanjing felt excruciating pain in the wrist he had seized, as though it were clamped firmly in iron pincers. The slightest movement brought a heart-rending pain.

But the pain also brought her out of her rage.

Only then did she realize what she had just done.

She had indeed wanted to make a big deal of it.

But she had not meant to kill anyone!

Seeing fear fill her eyes once more, Wu Chen snorted coldly and released her.

Freed, Yang Yuanjing could not help stumbling back a few steps.

A wave of lingering fear washed over her, leaving her whole body weak, and she fell onto her backside.

But she could not spare a thought for the soups and liquids on the ground.

Looking at her two roommates several meters away, and then at Min Xinrou, whom Wu Chen was protecting behind him, Yang Yuanjing suddenly burst into tears.

Wu Chen paid her no mind and instead turned to Min Xinrou, who was still staring blankly at him.

"Why didn't you dodge?"