I Heard That I am a HeartBreaker - Chapter 40

Sure enough, Qiu Shuang was just that charming, which is why she had another persistent suitor, and one from a good family, too. As for the guy’s character?

Lu Chen wouldn’t comment on that. Spying on others was illegal in some cases and was a bad habit.

The terrifying thing was that once a person did this, they would keep doing it, because no one wanted the person they received to be their true self. People would use words to gloss over themselves, and use their appearance to package themselves. Only the traces left online could completely reproduce a whole picture of a person.

After all, everyone had a different attitude towards life. Some people thought it was normal to play games with people, while others naturally yearned to remain virtuous. As for Gu Lingxi, Lu Chen just smiled.

She didn’t think that person was suitable for her Shuang Shuang.

“Friends? Yes, we will always be the most important friends.”

Qiu Shuang looked at the serious-faced Lu Chen and revealed a happy smile. She felt like it had been a long time since she had shown such an open smile to anyone—a smile free of any pretense, disguise, or agenda.

“Shuang Shuang, you’ve always been smart and have your own plans. I’ve always believed in you, and I also hope you can believe in yourself. You have the ability to accomplish anything you set your mind to.”

Qiu Shuang looked into the other person’s sincere eyes. In this situation, she should have frankly accepted the compliment, or replied politely with a ‘not at all.’

But at this moment, she suddenly felt a bit choked up, like a ball of cotton was stuck in her throat, making it impossible for her to open her mouth.

Finally, Qiu Shuang stuttered out a response to the blessing she had always anticipated, or always wanted to possess and receive.

“Okay.”

Qiu Shuang liked being with Lu Chen. The other person never said anything unpleasant, would solve problems for her, and always firmly believed in and praised her. No one would refuse a friend who always praised them.

Qiu Shuang smiled. Lu Chen was truly too good, but sometimes, such a wonderful person also put a lot of pressure on her. She felt like she could never help the other person and was always seeking her out to be a psychological counselor.

She didn’t understand the other person’s pain, nor could she solve it, but the other person was always like this—weeping for her pain, heartbroken for her suffering…

Lu Chen looked intently at Qiu Shuang. She saw the shame on the other person’s face. She wanted to embrace her and tell her that she would always stand by her side and to please not feel ashamed.

Lu Chen didn’t want to see the other person sad or tearful, but this was something that had to be done, otherwise, she would never be able to open that turtle shell. Lu Chen didn’t want to forever stand outside, acting as a qualified guard; she wanted to go in.

To some extent, appropriate shame was a very exploitable thing.

But if there was too much shame, then there would be no affection left.

Humans were so simple. No one would fall in love with someone they owed too much to, because if they did, they would forever be in the so-called subordinate position in the relationship, having to always yield to the other person.

Lu Chen never needed too much shame from Qiu Shuang, just a little bit would suffice. Just enough that, under the catalysis of this small amount, she might suddenly think of her on an occasional night.

“Oh right, I heard there was some issue with your club. I heard some discussion about it.”

Lu Chen twirled the pasta on her fork and casually, yet deliberately, brought up the sentence. Lu Chen didn’t know exactly what had happened; the matter had been completely suppressed.

So, she was truly too curious about what exactly happened inside that could be sealed off so tightly, with not a single thing getting out.

It had to be a big deal. Lu Chen even faintly felt that this matter, in some negligible way, might be related to the person sitting across from her.

Naturally, there were little schemes in human interactions, and a complete absence of them was impossible. But Lu Chen felt very displeased when these schemes were used on Qiu Shuang.

“Are you talking about that matter? It has nothing to do with me, but it’s quite related to the president. It’s a problem with the Dance Club.”

After hearing “Dance Club,” Lu Chen roughly understood what was going on. After all, with the upcoming finals, countless eyes were watching. Even she, who wasn’t from the School of Arts, had heard some rumors.

It was nothing more than people betting on who could achieve the so-called highest honor. There were quite a few candidates, but the one with the most votes and popular support was Tang Yulin.

Lu Chen didn’t have a detailed knowledge of sophisticated dance skills. After all, every industry was different. She just asked people to describe it using words she could understand. Anyway, what they said was “like Turing reincarnated.”

That sounded really amazing, and also a little…

“How would your club be related to the Dance Club? Did someone have an accident during your club’s activities?”

Qiu Shuang shook her head. How could that be? If there really was an accident, the ambulance would have driven in long ago.

“How is that possible? If something like that happened, the police would have come a long time ago. It was likely that a senior entrusted some costumes to our president for safekeeping, and then the costumes were accidentally lost.”

Qiu Shuang spoke of this quite frankly, without any oddness about seemingly leaking some sort of secret.

To put it nicely, it shouldn’t be known by others, but to put it bluntly, those who wanted to know, already did.

“Why would a senior from the Dance Club put things in your president’s care? That sounds a bit suspicious.”

Qiu Shuang tilted her head upon hearing Lu Chen’s comment. Who knew what kind of power dynamics they had?

“I don’t know much about art students, but it seems many people signed up for the competition, and not too many actually made it through. There’s competition between them, so they have to be wary of each other. Other than that, I don’t know. It’s just that the junior student was quite unlucky.”

“Junior student?”

“The one with short hair, a year younger than me. It’s bad luck for her. She went earlier that day, the president wasn’t there and assigned the task of watching the costumes to a club member. Anyway, the job ultimately fell to her, and then she accidentally lost the items.”

When Lu Chen heard Qiu Shuang say this, she already knew who it was. The junior student that Qiu Shuang could remember was, without a doubt, Xin Zhu.

But the crucial point was still unclear to her. Lu Chen couldn’t understand how the costume could disappear without a trace in an era where smart surveillance covered the entire campus and entry/exit required facial recognition and card-swiping.

“How could it just disappear into thin air?”

Thinking of this, Qiu Shuang smiled playfully. After all, this incident was very much worth discussing. Some things happening one after another made it quite amusing.

“Who would have thought? She went to the restroom, and the clothes were gone the moment she came out…”

Upon hearing this sentence, Lu Chen subconsciously rubbed her thumb against her index finger, which was what she often did when deep in thought.

How could this be so absurd? Something happened every time that person went to the restroom. The last time Qiu Shuang was kidnapped, it was also after this so-called junior student suddenly went to the restroom, and then those things happened.

Especially when she thought about the messages on the other person’s computer that she temporarily couldn’t decipher, it gave Lu Chen a headache.

She wasn’t inherently gifted; she was just a bit smarter than ordinary people. Sure enough, ordinarily smart people would be shown up in front of a true genius.

“Is it that funny? Your junior student went to the restroom, and the clothes disappeared. Last time, you had a classmate who was similar. What a coincidence, could these two so-called junior students be the same person? Is this junior student’s bazi [Eight Characters/birth time] incompatible with restrooms?”

Qiu Shuang couldn’t help but laugh when she heard Lu Chen say this. Only the other person could come up with something like the bazi being incompatible with restrooms.

“Your junior student just left, and the thief immediately stole the clothes. To someone who didn’t know, they might even think that little junior student found someone to steal the clothes.”

Lu Chen said this while tentatively looking at Qiu Shuang, seemingly trying to catch something unusual in the other person’s expression.

She sincerely hoped at this moment that the other person was the hateful thief, so that the person, who would be morally flawed, could never catch up to Qiu Shuang.

Who would have thought that Qiu Shuang would burst into laughter upon hearing this? Lu Chen was a bit surprised by her sudden hearty laugh. She thought she seemed to have forgotten the last time the other person laughed so unrestrainedly. Why was she laughing?

Qiu Shuang felt that this was something to be happy about. She thought today was truly a good day, with so many good things happening. Look, look! Sure enough, everyone had their own desires.

She thought she was morbid, loving to excavate the dark parts deep within other people’s hearts, and that was why she was stepping into a swamp.

Lu Chen, you’re too good. Turns out you have your own little schemes, too.

“Lu Chen, don’t joke like that. The junior student and the senior from the Dance Club were strangers. Why would she mysteriously take her clothes?”

Qiu Shuang smiled and held the other person’s hand. The moment Lu Chen’s fingers were touched by the other person’s hand, she felt her heart stop beating. She looked at the brilliant afternoon, with the other person’s eyes shining with laughter, staring right at her.

Lu Chen thought she would forever remember this moment. How wonderful it would be if time could stop here forever…

Qiu Shuang saw the other person suddenly fall silent and, after not saying anything, withdrew her hand. Observing the other person’s blank moment, just one second was enough.

It seemed that this matter had nothing to do with the other person. Then, was the other person asking these mysterious questions just for gossip?

It was better if it was. Qiu Shuang wasn’t in the mood to solve cases; she wasn’t a modern-day Bao Qingtian. But the thought that the traces Xin Zhu left behind seemed to be vaguely hidden in this incident made her want to dig deeper.

A little more, bring on more trouble. Be more serious, let the trouble be more serious, and let this damned woman hurry up and go to jail.

Qiu Shuang could not forget the sad look in that girl’s eyes as she walked out of the campus, nor the strange looks people gave them as they walked down the street with their belongings. Perhaps none of that mattered, after all, everyone in this world was insignificant, but some things were truly important.

Qiu Shuang decided to investigate thoroughly after going back. She could look for Song Ya. As a fellow contestant, Song Ya would definitely know more than her about how many people entered the finals and how many were on the fringe.

As for who would do this if there was no conflict of interest?

The answer was already obvious. There was only one kind of person who didn’t care about profit or hatred—a lunatic.

In her mind, Qiu Shuang recalled that seemingly bright and cheerful smile.

“Hello, Senior. I’m Xin Zhu.”

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