After Dumping the Student Council President, I Got Held Back - Chapter 4

Ever since she started dating Ruan Qingcheng, the school’s most popular girl, Ling Xiang had been under constant scrutiny. The school forum was flooded with posts about her, none of them flattering. Most were filled with venomous comments about her “chasing after Ruan Qingcheng,” “not being good enough,” “when will they break up,” and “Ruan Qingcheng doing charity work,” all eagerly awaiting the day Ling Xiang would be dumped.

As for Ruan Qingcheng’s reaction.

At a party, one of her wealthy friends, eager to stir up trouble, read the forum comments aloud in front of Ling Xiang, his tone dripping with disdain and contempt. Ruan Qingcheng sat on the sofa, a faint, indifferent smile on her face, letting her friends laugh themselves silly.

It was as if the one being humiliated wasn’t her girlfriend at all, but some stranger completely unrelated to her.

If Ruan Qingcheng had wanted to, she could have easily contacted the forum administrators to have the posts deleted, given her position as Student Council President.

But she didn’t.

Ling Xiang didn’t harbor any illusions that Ruan Qingcheng would intervene. Still, after that incident, unless Ruan Qingcheng absolutely insisted, Ling Xiang basically stopped attending her friends’ social gatherings.

When you’re not on the same page, there’s no need for further discussion.

So when Jiang Siyu mentioned another post about her on the school forum, Ling Xiang was already used to it. She felt nothing, but still took the phone to humor her roommate and look at the post.

The first thing she saw was a bold, sensational title: Student Council President’s Girlfriend Exposed for Cheating?! Intimate Photos with Another Person Leaked!

The outrageous language made Ling Xiang frown. What do they mean I’m cheating? Who could I possibly have intimate photos with? The forum already mocks and ridicules me enough, but now they’re starting to spread outright lies?

Ling Xiang clicked into the post expressionlessly, determined to see what evidence this poster could produce and what story they would concoct.

The first floor was the poster’s description: This is huge! Last night near the girls’ dorm on the south campus, I accidentally saw two girls kissing. At first, I thought it was a beautiful and romantic scene, but then I looked closer and one of them looked familiar, isn’t that our Goddess Ruan’s current girlfriend? Seeing is believing!

Below the post was a candid photo. Two pretty girls stood face-to-face under a tree, very close to each other. Due to the angle and the late hour, only the dim streetlights cast a faint, yellowish glow on their faces, half-illuminated and indistinct, creating the visual impression of a kiss.

If it were too dark to see their faces clearly, it wouldn’t matter. But the meager light was just enough to reveal the general outlines of their features.

To anyone else, the photo was undeniably secretive, intimate, and carried a hint of romantic atmosphere.

No one could deny that the two women in the picture had a special relationship.

Ling Xiang’s heart skipped a beat. This was taken on her way back to the dorm with Jiang Zhili. She remembered something had gotten in her hair, and Senior Jiang had reached up to remove it. Just that brief moment of closeness had been captured and twisted into gossip.

The comments section was ablaze, already hundreds of posts deep:

“Holy shit, that’s really Ling Xiang! How dare she cheat on Goddess Ruan Qingcheng!”

“I knew it! This girl’s not simple. First she clings to Goddess Ruan’s coattails, and now she’s messing around with someone else? Shameless…”

“I don’t know what Goddess Ruan sees in her. Besides that pretty face, what else is there? Once these photos get out, she’ll be dumped soon enough.”

“Wait a minute, doesn’t the other girl look familiar too? Isn’t that Senior Sister Jiang from the biochemistry department?”

“I remember now! Jiang Zhili! The department’s beauty queen! She’s super smart and really gorgeous…”

“No way! I’ve met Senior Jiang before. She wouldn’t do something like become someone’s third wheel.”

“I can’t stand this! How can these beautiful girls be so blind? They all fall for someone like Ling Xiang!”

“Hey, Ling Xiang’s actually a stunner too…”

“Yeah, but being pretty doesn’t make up for being a jerk.”

Unable to watch any longer, Ling Xiang turned off her phone and handed it back to Jiang Siyu, saying calmly, “This is just gossip. Senior Jiang and I were just walking back to school together.”

Mean words cut deep. Even though Ling Xiang was used to it, seeing these hurtful comments firsthand still stung. And.

She didn’t know how Ruan Qingcheng would react if she saw this post.

This woman didn’t like her, yet she still tried to control her interactions with others, forbidding her from getting too close to anyone, male or female. Once, when Ling Xiang and Lin Sheng were walking to the cafeteria with their arms linked, they happened to run into Ruan Qingcheng.

Ruan Qingcheng said nothing at the time, but she stared pointedly at their linked arms, making Lin Sheng’s skin crawl. She had to let go of Ling Xiang’s hand.

After that, Lin Sheng didn’t dare get too close to Ling Xiang again.

But she probably won’t see it, right? Ruan Qingcheng rarely paid attention to her affairs. This was just a post that would be buried in the feed in a few days—she might not even notice it.

Thinking this, Ling Xiang felt a little relieved.

Hearing Ling Xiang’s answer, Jiang Siyu visibly relaxed. “That’s a relief! I knew we’d be fine with Miss Ruan. I even ship your pairing.”

Ling Xiang chuckled. “You ship us?”

He Yingying chimed in, “Me too! You two beauties are perfect together. Who wouldn’t ship it?”

Compatibility? Ling Xiang thought that perhaps only her two good roommates in the whole world believed she and Ruan Qingcheng were a good match.

Still… she thought with a hint of apology, the CP they’re shipping is probably going to “be” (break up) before long.

Around dinner time, Jiang Siyu and He Yingying invited Ling Xiang to join them at the school cafeteria for another big meal. Ling Xiang wasn’t particularly hungry, so she politely declined.

In the blink of an eye, she was alone in the dorm. Seizing the quiet moment, she opened her laptop to continue revising her graduation thesis.

Her defense had passed last week with no major issues. All she needed to do was address a few minor suggestions from her advisor. Once those revisions were complete, she’d get his final approval and signature, and her thesis would be as good as passed.

In just over a month, she’d be graduating.

Some people and some things could finally be left behind here, completely forgotten.

As she worked on her thesis into the night, her roommates hadn’t returned yet. Her phone vibrated beside her, and the name “Ruan Qingcheng” lit up the screen.

Ling Xiang couldn’t help but press her forehead. It looked like her hope of having a peaceful day had been dashed.

After composing herself, Ling Xiang picked up her phone and answered. “Hello?”

The line was noisy. The voice on the other end was sweet but carried a cool edge, like ice threads dipped in honey, each word cutting through the din and landing clearly in Ling Xiang’s ears:

“Thirty minutes. Come to Night Breeze Bar on Minquan Road, private room 102.”

With that, the call ended abruptly, giving Ling Xiang no chance to respond.

She had no choice but to comply.

Fine.

Sighing helplessly, Ling Xiang stood before the full-length mirror in her dorm room, looking at her t-shirt-clad, bare-faced self. This look would absolutely not do for Ruan Qingcheng and her friends.

Showing up like this would be like deliberately stepping on Ruan Qingcheng’s toes.

After putting on makeup, Ling Xiang changed into the clothes Ruan Qingcheng had bought her: a light gray blazer and flowing wide-leg pants that made her look tall and slender.

All luxury brands, clothes she only wore when meeting Ruan Qingcheng.

Once ready, Ling Xiang glanced at the woman in the mirror, who had transformed in an instant into an elegant, authoritative figure. She gave a perfunctory smirk.

Could this really be like the person the Young Miss has in mind?

Given only half an hour, Ling Xiang had no choice but to hail a taxi and race to the Night Breeze Bar.

The moment she stepped inside, the thumping bass of rock music hit her like a wall of sound. A rotating laser ball shattered the space into a kaleidoscope of swirling colors, creating a dazzling, fragmented world.

People were releasing pressure, their laughter and chatter blending with the clinking of ice, the aroma of various perfumes, and the heavy scent of alcohol into a chaotic symphony.

Even now, Ling Xiang still found the bar’s noise overwhelming.

The VIP lounge was upstairs, a space reserved for elite guests. A server led her to room 102, where she paused to steady herself before pushing the door open.

The room was just as lively. Some were rolling dice, others playing poker, while the rest simply drank and chatted, scattered across the sofas in groups of seven or eight, their laughter erupting in bursts.

But the one person who immediately drew the eye was the beautiful girl in the center, wearing a black off-the-shoulder slip dress.

Surrounded by admirers, Ruan Qingcheng always stood out in any crowd.

“Hey, Sis Cheng,” a short-haired woman with heavy eyeliner said, crossing her legs and smirking. “Look, the sister-in-law’s here.”

Ling Xiang recognized her as Zhao Qiu, another rich second-generation girl and the most boisterous member of Ruan Qingcheng’s social circle.

Hearing the term “sister-in-law” made Ling Xiang subtly frown. She actually disliked it.

Whenever these women used the term, their tone was filled with teasing, mockery, and disdain, lacking the genuine respect one should show to a friend’s girlfriend.

At Zhao Qiu’s words, Ruan Qingcheng slowly turned her gaze toward Ling Xiang. The look was cool, detached, and tinged with pride, as if she were suppressing something.

For some reason, Ling Xiang felt a surge of anger at that look.

Being summoned late at night, only to be met with a glance even less attentive than one might give a pet dog, was the last straw.

This relationship couldn’t go on. She couldn’t endure another day of this.

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