After Dumping the Student Council President, I Got Held Back - Chapter 10

Five hours had passed since Ling Xiang broke up with Ruan Qingcheng.

Staring at her silent phone, Ling Xiang couldn’t tell if she felt relieved or something else entirely.

Even though she’d blocked Ruan Qingcheng, the woman could still find a million ways to contact her if she wanted to.

So why the silence?

Did that mean the breakup had barely made a ripple in Ruan Qingcheng’s world?

Had she already forgotten about Ling Xiang, perhaps even finding a replacement to fill her shoes?

Good.

Ling Xiang tossed and turned, her mind replaying Ruan Qingcheng’s face over and over—gathering it, scattering it, gathering it again, until she suddenly realized how strange this was.

What are you doing? she asked herself.

She’s just an unreasonable, arrogant, rich young lady. Why are you even taking her seriously?

People like her will never truly care about you.

Muttering “Go to sleep,” she grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it.

Tomorrow, I should consider selling those expensive clothes on a secondhand platform.

Things that never suited me anyway—no point keeping them around.

Better to get some cash.

The luxurious crystal chandeliers in the high-rise apartment instantly lit up again.

Ruan Qingcheng pushed the door open, kicked off her heels, and casually kicked them aside, tossing her handbag onto the sofa.

She leaned back, eyes closed, the air around her thick with the scent of alcohol.

The night had been too long and too wild. Her friends had gotten carried away and invited a few minor celebrities to join the fun, all handsome and beautiful, but none of them interested her.

She had urges, but the person who satisfied those urges had to be someone she personally chose and found appealing.

Suddenly, a pair of hands came to mind, hands with sharply defined knuckles, like a meticulous ink drawing or the bare branches of a plum tree dusted with snow.

Ruan Qingcheng’s eyes snapped open.

Yes, Ling Xiang.

Miss Ruan never denied herself. When she felt the urge, she had to satisfy it immediately, and the most suitable—the only, person for the job was her current girlfriend.

A fairly useful girlfriend.

She casually grabbed her bag, pulled out her phone, and with practiced ease, opened Ling Xiang’s chat window.

Seeing that the 10,000 yuan she had transferred hadn’t been accepted yet, she frowned slightly, displeased.

Still not accepted?

She’d always been the quickest to accept money when Ruan Qingcheng transferred funds to Ling Xiang.

Ruan Qingcheng quickly typed: Get to my downtown apartment in half an hour.

She hit send and saw a red exclamation mark.

Ruan Qingcheng: ???

Ruan Qingcheng: !!!

She blinked, unable to believe it.

She! Had been! Blocked!

She, Ruan Qingcheng, had been blocked by Ling Xiang!

This was completely backward, she’d never even blocked him!

Ruan Qingcheng laughed in fury, so angry she almost threw her phone.

She hadn’t taken Ling Xiang’s breakup talk seriously before, but now she realized he’d been serious all along.

How dare he break up with me?

Miss Ruan, who had always been the one dumping others and never been dumped herself, was furious.

Fine, Ling Xiang. Good for you.

Ruan Qingcheng’s thin lips tightened, a cold glint in her eyes. If you think you can break up with me, then go ahead.

She never forced people and wasn’t interested in begging. Besides, Ling Xiang had just been a distraction for her when she was bored, not that important.

But now…

The heat intensified, and the persistent need remained unfulfilled. It was time to take matters into her own hands.

The bathtub quickly filled with warm water, a few flower petals floating on the surface. Ruan Qingcheng shed her clothes, standing barefoot in the misty air.

Moisture beaded on her skin, tracing the elegant curve of her shoulders and neck, gliding over the flat, taut expanse of her waist and abdomen, and pooling in that mysterious, beautiful place.

Stepping into the tub, she let the hot water envelop her. Ruan Qingcheng sighed softly, leaning her head back against the rim, surrendering completely to the warmth.

Her fingers drifted downward as she bit her lip, her gaze fixed on the tuberose pattern carved into the bathroom ceiling.

Since getting together with Ling Xiang, she’d rarely come here alone. But now, Ruan Qingcheng had no choice. The dam needed to break, the floodwaters needed to flow freely, and self-denial had never been her style.

Damn that Ling Xiang.

Biting her lip, she still couldn’t find the right rhythm. The long-awaited release remained elusive, fueling her resentment toward the woman who had left so abruptly.

How could she not be furious? It had taken her six months to teach Ling Xiang to match her rhythm completely, and now she was alone, struggling to achieve what they once shared so effortlessly!

It’s easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury back to frugality. Having tasted the sweetness, she found it impossible to settle for less.

Her patience completely gone, she angrily scooped up some flower petals and flung them out of the bathtub.

Ling Xiang!

Her chest heaving slightly, Ruan Qingcheng, slightly flustered, snatched up her phone, desperate to find something, when she suddenly realized she didn’t have a single photo of Ling Xiang.

Perhaps her body had automatically formed a habit, now she needed to see Ling Xiang.

Damn it all.

Ruan Qingcheng cursed Ling Xiang a hundred times in her mind, but at least she remembered Ling Xiang was on the Student Council. She clicked on the Nanda University Student Union’s official website and found the member photo gallery.

In the row for the Organization Department, Ling Xiang’s photo was in the last column.

She wore the Student Council uniform, her beautiful, fair face standing out against the pale blue background. A restrained smile played on her lips, the warmth beneath her cool exterior undeniable.

Ling Xiang always gave the impression of being serene and gentle. When silent, she could even seem a bit otherworldly, detached from earthly concerns.

But Ruan Qingcheng knew the truth, how materialistic and money-grubbing this woman truly was.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and stared into Ling Xiang’s serene gaze, yet the fire within her burned ever hotter.

Her hand continued its descent, her eyelashes trembling slightly, her breathing quickening and slowing with the rhythm of her body.

Petals in the bathtub swirled gently.

A few soft moans drifted through the misty bathroom.

After a moment, Ruan Qingcheng finally exhaled a long, shaky breath.

Leaning against the edge of the tub, she took a long while to regain her composure, the last vestiges of her excitement finally fading. Unwilling to look at that face in the ID photo again, she slammed her phone face down on the counter beside her.

I actually have a physical dependency on Ling Xiang.

This isn’t good.

After completely banishing Ling Xiang’s face from her mind, Ruan Qingcheng rose from the tub, wrapped herself in a bathrobe, and was about to leave when her phone on the counter rang.

It was Qiao Yuyuan, the director of the Student Council office and her closest friend on campus. “Qingcheng, I have some news about your current girlfriend. Want to hear it?”

“Current?” Ruan Qingcheng frowned. “You mean Ling Xiang?”

“Who else?” Qiao Yuyuan laughed on the other end. “You date a lot, but I’ve never seen you with more than one at a time, right? Otherwise, how would your body even handle it?”

Ruan Qingcheng snorted, “Get lost.”

She paused before adding, “We’re not together anymore.”

“You broke up?” Qiao Yuyuan exclaimed. “What happened? I thought you really liked this one. Didn’t last long, huh?”

Ruan Qingcheng remained silent.

Sensing the awkwardness, Qiao Zhiyuan suddenly had a thought. “Wait, did you dump her?”

Just had to bring that up, didn’t you?

Ruan Qingcheng was annoyed. “Stop asking.”

“Ha!” Qiao Yuyuan instantly understood, letting out a strange laugh. “She dumped you? No way, Miss Ruan! You’ve fallen from grace!”

“I just didn’t get to say it first,” Ruan Qingcheng retorted coldly. “I was already bored. At least she had the sense to end it. Saved me the trouble of having to.”

Qiao Yuyuan struggled to suppress her laughter. Seeing her usually untouchable best friend stumble like this was too amusing. After a good laugh, she finally offered some consolation:

“Alright, you didn’t really like her anyway. So she’s gone, so what? The next one will be better. I know plenty of gorgeous girls I could set you up with…”

“We’ll see,” Ruan Qingcheng said, rubbing her temples. “I’m not really in the mood right now. Why did you call?”

“I was going to tell you some new information about your ex-girlfriend,” Qiao Yuyuan said, then stopped. “But since you’ve broken up, it’s not really relevant anymore.”

She knew Ruan Qingcheng’s personality well. She never looked back, and once a relationship ended, she completely lost interest in her exes. She wouldn’t give them a second glance, let alone care about what they were up to.

Of course, maybe it was also because she’d never really cared about them in the first place.

“Go ahead,” Ruan Qingcheng said, walking to the sink and starting to pick out a body lotion from the array of bottles. “I could use some gossip to pass the time.”

Anything Qiao Yuyuan would go out of her way to call about was bound to be interesting.

Last time, Qiao Yuyuan, the resident gossip, had been the one to tell her about Ling Xiang and that Jiang woman getting caught in a paparazzi photo.

Thinking of this, Ruan Qingcheng’s expression darkened.

She frowned, thinking, Ling Xiang really is something else. First the scandal while we were together, then ignoring my warnings, and finally dumping me without a word.

Twelve volumes of military strategy, her name is in every single one.

Thinking about it, letting her go so easily felt really unsatisfying.

“I heard this from one of the finance professors too, but I’m not sure if it’s true,” Qiao Yuyuan said with a laugh. “Your girlfriend—no, your ex—failed a required course. I heard she might have to delay her graduation, or even repeat the year.”

This was a bit unexpected.

Ruan Qingcheng tried to recall, though she didn’t know her well. Her girlfriend’s grades should have been pretty good, right?

“Shouldn’t she have finished all her exams last semester?” she asked. “How could she fail now, right before graduation?”

“Apparently, she missed the first exam because she was sick,” Qiao Yuyuan, living up to her reputation as a gossip, explained the whole story. “The professor gave her a make-up opportunity this semester, but she failed again. I heard they’re making her repeat the year.”

Ruan Qingcheng slowly poured body lotion into her palm, spread it evenly, and carefully applied it to her arms. Her mood suddenly improved considerably.

She scoffed. “How embarrassing.”

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