Dating Myself - Chapter 12

When Qin Yige posted his Weibo, the entire internet was in an uproar. Even class couldn’t stop people from avidly following the gossip. One student couldn’t hold back their laughter, which resulted in them losing their phone.

During the short break, students without phones gathered around those who had them, eagerly reading the comments. Jian Yihu’s Weibo, despite her not being a top celebrity, had tens of thousands of followers, and by that morning, a significant crowd had gathered to comment.

The comments were polarized. Many were furious.

“I’ve never seen anything like this. So much for a school idol. He’s the king of fake personas!”

“This is between the two sisters. Why are you meddling with such disgusting tactics? The things you said, like ‘spreading your legs for money,’ are just vile!”

“He’s just a disgusting creep, case closed.”

“This is defamation, right? Can he be prosecuted?”

“What the heck?! Apologizing to the older sister while stepping on the younger one? Isn’t that backward?!”

Others defended him, claiming they understood.

“Can’t you all be reasonable? He apologized. What else do you want?”

“Exactly. He apologized. Have you all apologized for cyberbullying Hu-bao?!”

“That younger sister is clearly a problem. On her first day, she was already begging for the blogger’s WeChat. Why pretend to be an innocent and cute girl? She has no shame!”

“Don’t listen to them, Qin-shen. I believe you.”

“Hu-bao and God Qin are meant to be! I believe in love again!”

Of course, some people were trying to analyze the situation logically.

“Don’t you guys think this is weird? The forum is anonymous. Why would the blogger use Jian Yihu’s account?”

Replies quickly followed.

“Are you serious? It’s so simple. Are you using your phone as a rock?”

“Hey, be civil. Every forum is different. It’s normal for someone not to know. Let me explain. Forums usually have anti-spam mechanisms. There’s a time limit, like 30 seconds between posts from the same account, and a limit on posts per hour. The blogger likely used multiple accounts for this reason.”

The topic then shifted to a new conspiracy theory.

“I think there’s a conspiracy. Isn’t it too convenient that Jian Yihu’s sister’s Weibo account was created right before this happened? She registered it one day, and the next, she’s tagged in a scandal. She must be desperate for fame.”

“I think so too! I just checked, and her followers have already grown by a few hundred. It might not be a lot, but for a new account with no posts, that’s like riding a rocket.”

“I agree! I think her asking for Qin-shen’s WeChat was just a ruse. She really wanted to piggyback on her sister’s fame and become a star!”

“I don’t think so. I’m a student at the school. The ‘@oYanyuZhouo’ account is very straightforward. The owner is a transfer student who stood up to the school leaders on her very first day and got a local TV station to report on a student-filming incident. I don’t think she’s stupid enough to be used as a pawn.”

The online debate raged on. As Jian Yihu’s two friends tried to comfort her, she overheard a student mention An Mu’s latest Weibo post. Jian Yihu’s face turned pale, and she stormed over to An Mu’s desk.

“What is your problem? You can’t be happy unless you’re causing trouble, can you? It was fun to challenge the school leaders yesterday, and now you want to sacrifice me for your own gain?!”

“The whole internet is blind! I think you’re the one who really wants to use us for fame!”

An Mu put her phone down, locked it, and looked up at the two girls. She then looked at the sobbing Jian Yihu, who was pretending to be miserable at her desk.

“I said that I was curious about her test scores, but I never said I would publicize them. Jian Yihu said she would do that herself. If you have any questions, ask her directly. I’m not a free customer service representative.”

Jian Yihu’s shoulders shook, and she appeared to be crying. Her friends rushed to her side, offering comfort and patting her back. She was genuinely crying. In just one day, An Mu had stirred up one thing after another, each with incredible precision. This exam was clearly something An Mu was confident about. If Jian Yixi actually scored high, how would she face everyone?

She had been so consumed by the forum scandal last night that she had forgotten all about publicizing the test scores. Why wouldn’t An Mu let this go? What had she done to offend her? Or, is she really just trying to use me for fame?

The more she thought about it, the more convinced she was that An Mu was just a fame-hungry girl. Jian Yihu was so angry that she was shaking. Fine! You won’t let me have a good time, so I’ll make sure you don’t get what you want either!

Just as it was noisy in Jian Yihu’s class, it was equally chaotic in Jian Yixi’s class. She arrived before Xie Maomao. Students were whispering and trying to approach her. Just then, Xie Maomao burst in, her face beaming. “Big surprise! Guess what this is?!”

Xie Maomao plopped down in her chair, tossed her bag on the desk, and held up her phone with a long-eared bunny case, looking incredibly pleased.

“I must have gotten incredibly lucky yesterday! My phone fell out somewhere, and you know how I ride my bike—it’s hard to find anything once it’s lost. My mom kept calling it, and for a while, it would ring. Then it turned off. You have no idea how nervous I was, terrified that someone would pick it up and give it back to me. I hate my student phone! Last night, I sat down with my mom for half an hour. I used every argument, example, and analogy I could think of to convince her not to buy me another stupid student phone. And this morning, she gave me my little sweetheart back!”

Xie Maomao happily rubbed her face against the phone screen, her closed eyes mirroring a chocolate commercial. “But it came with a condition. My mom said that if I don’t get into the top 10 in class for the midterm, she’ll take it away.”

Her happiness was short-lived as she sighed. But two seconds later, she leaned in, her face close to Jian Yixi’s. “I was so excited about my phone last night that I couldn’t sleep, and I was thinking. Guess what I figured out?”

It can’t be anything good, Jian Yixi thought. She organized her desk and played along, “What?”

The classroom was loud. Xie Maomao was so focused on her own conversation that she didn’t notice. She leaned closer and whispered, “I can tell you for a fact, An Mu isn’t just a fan of your sister; she has a crush on her!”

“What?” Jian Yixi looked at her, utterly bewildered. “What are you talking about? They’re both girls.”

“So what?” As an expert on romance, Xie Maomao was confident she was right. “Let me tell you, Jian Yixi, love knows no gender, age, country, or any other outside constraints. It’s just two people’s pure and simple feelings. If it has anything else mixed in, it’s not true love. Get it?”

Jian Yixi tried not to laugh. “You were there yesterday. My sister said one thing, and An Mu contradicted her. They don’t seem to like each other at all.”

“That’s where you’re wrong! That’s what you call a ‘schoolyard crush.’ She’s using extreme methods to get your sister’s attention. To put it simply, she’s bullying the person she likes!”

Jian Yixi just said a noncommittal “Oh.” She had been worried Xie Maomao would be upset about not getting the WeChat contact, but seeing her so excited, she felt relieved.

Xie Maomao grabbed Jian Yixi’s chin, turned her head, and looked her in the eye. “Don’t you believe me? I’m a professional! I’ve been through a lot, and my eyes can see through fake couples. If you don’t believe me, I’ll explain.”

Before Jian Yixi could protest, Xie Maomao started broadcasting. “Look, at the pool, so many girls were changing, so why did she only look for you? In your few conversations, didn’t she mention your sister? Didn’t she say Lu Yuexin was a hater who took a picture of you? If she really disliked your sister, why would she help you? She should have stood there and laughed, right?”

“She’s just a good person,” Jian Yixi said.

Xie Maomao sighed. “Okay, let’s say she’s a good person. But even then, why would she take the matter to the school and then to the provincial TV station? She could have just blocked the guy for you, and that would have been more than enough. Do you know how much risk she took? She offended not only the school principal but also teacher Zhao! Would you have done that?”

Jian Yixi didn’t want to hear Xie Maomao’s dramatic analysis. Her voice was so infectious that she could make the most outlandish claims sound true.

“Stop. I don’t believe she likes my sister,” she said.

Xie Maomao clicked her tongue. “Why don’t you trust my professional opinion? How about this? Let’s make a bet. If I’m right, you buy me bubble tea for a whole week, with double toppings. If I’m wrong, I’ll buy you. What do you say?”

“Stop fooling around.”

“It’s not fooling around! You saw the tension yesterday. They’re in the same class and see each other every day. If we don’t guide An Mu toward expressing her feelings properly and let her keep going down this wrong path, she and your sister will become enemies. Do you want that?”

Before Xie Maomao could continue, a loud voice from across the room shouted, “Holy sh*t!”

He was so loud that the entire class went silent.

“Look! Qin Yige posted on Weibo! I told you Jian Yihu couldn’t have done it! See?! See?! Who wants to argue with me now?!”

Qin Yige? Jian Yihu?

Xie Maomao’s eyes lit up. She quickly unlocked her new phone and opened Weibo.

Xie Maomao was so engrossed in the gossip that she didn’t even notice the teacher walk in. She propped up her phone behind a pile of textbooks and kept reading.

She quickly found the full story, and her mouth dropped open. An Mu had exposed Jian Yihu?!

She glanced at Jian Yixi, who was focused on studying, and then at her own face. Ouch. It hurt. No! My instincts are professional! I will never admit I was wrong!

“Psst.” Xie Maomao leaned in.

Jian Yixi looked over slowly.

Xie Maomao pointed at her phone, her face full of serious concern. She lowered her voice to a whisper, “See? I was right! An Mu has officially gone down the wrong path and is now in free fall!”