The Fake Girlfriend is Online - Chapter 18

Chapter 18: School Bully Mu is So Gentle

The sky had completely darkened. Gu Qing was driving, and while waiting at a red light, he asked, “What’s the deal with you two?”

“Huh?” Mu Jinxuan, who was searching ‘what to eat for a sprained ankle’ on her phone, looked up and pressed the phone against her leg.

“How did Xiao Qing twist her foot?”

“If I said she just accidentally tripped while walking, would you believe me?” Mu Jinxuan gave a dry laugh.

“……” Qing Moran, sitting beside her, shot her a look. Who the hell would believe that?

“Student Mu Jinxuan, please do me a favor and weave a decent excuse. I’d love to see how you explain this to your brother later.” Gu Qing didn’t press further; if this girl didn’t want to talk, he couldn’t exactly force it out of her.

“Then don’t tell my brother,” Mu Jinxuan muttered under her breath.

Qing Moran looked at Mu Jinxuan in surprise. Although she could tell from their previous meetings that Mu Jinxuan was afraid of her brother—or more accurately, cared deeply about him—she hadn’t expected the grand School Bully to be such a coward. If the people at school who obsessed over her “Bully” reputation saw this, their jaws would hit the floor.

“Depends on my mood.” Gu Qing, focusing on the road, showed no mercy to Mu Jinxuan.

“Brother Qing, you’re being really unfair,” Mu Jinxuan paused. Seeing no reaction from Gu Qing, she continued, “We went to the courtyard where I lived as a kid. She twisted her ankle like this while we were climbing over the wall.”

“Mu Jinxuan.” After hearing her simple explanation, Gu Qing called her name with a heavy, earnest tone.

“What?”

“Can you please stop taking Xiao Qing to do things like climbing walls?” The look Gu Qing sent through the rearview mirror clearly said: ‘Can you stop corrupting Xiao Qing?’

“I… holy crap…” Mu Jinxuan really wanted to remind Gu Qing that the last time he met Qing Moran, she was being chased by a pack of thugs. This girl was clearly not the “obedient student who listens to teachers” type.

Sitting beside her, Qing Moran couldn’t help but let out a low laugh at the scene.

“Still laughing, huh?” Seeing Qing Moran laughing so happily while she took the fall, Mu Jinxuan leaned over and ruffled her hair into a mess.

“Hey!” Unable to move much in the car, Qing Moran endured the hair-ruffling but didn’t let the leaning Mu Jinxuan off. She used both hands to mess up Mu Jinxuan’s hair in return.

The two girls brawled playfully in the back seat. Gu Qing took one glance and ignored them; he hadn’t seen Mu Jinxuan smile for days, so it seemed he had made the right choice in letting Xiao Qing take her out.

“Wait, is your hair getting longer?” After messing it up, Qing Moran smoothed it back down.

Mu Jinxuan leaned sideways to check herself in the rearview mirror. Indeed, her hair, which used to be above her ears, had grown to the middle of her ears, and the fringe would slide down when she lowered her head.

“Yeah, it is.”

Just then, Gu Qing slowly brought the car to a stop.

“Mu Jinxuan, out.”

Mu Jinxuan looked out the window. She hadn’t expected Gu Qing to drive back to “Qingyu” first.

“I’m going back then? You’ll drive my deskie home?” Mu Jinxuan frowned. She actually wanted to personally see Qing Moran home, since the injury was her fault.

“Your brother is lying in the clinic alone. Unless you want to drive her back yourself?” Gu Qing raised an eyebrow.

Hearing this, Mu Jinxuan had no choice but to get out. However, before stepping out, she kept grabbing Qing Moran and nagging her with instructions, as if they were facing a life-and-death parting.

“Mu Jinxuan, if you don’t get the hell out of this car right now, you can drive it yourself!” Gu Qing finally couldn’t stand her clinginess any longer.

“Fine, fine, I’m going. Make sure you get her all the way to her door.”

“Just get lost already.”

Once Mu Jinxuan was out, Gu Qing asked for the address and drove off.

Mu Jinxuan went back into the clinic to accompany her brother, while Qing Moran and Gu Qing sat in silence for half the trip. Gu Qing wasn’t one to start a conversation, and Qing Moran didn’t know what to say to him. It wasn’t until they were nearing the destination that they spoke their first words.

“You ate the river snail noodles across from the residential area, right?” Gu Qing asked, though his tone was certain.

Qing Moran, who had been buried in her phone, looked up at the man in the driver’s seat. After confirming he was talking to her, she replied, “Um, yes.”

The air fell silent again.

Just as Qing Moran spotted her apartment building, she remembered something and spoke to Gu Qing in a flurry. After reaching the destination, they talked in the car for a while longer before Gu Qing helped her back home.

Qing Moran pulled out her keys. As expected, the house was empty. After saying goodbye to Gu Qing, she slowly shifted herself onto the sofa.

She pulled out her constantly vibrating phone and opened WeChat. This was a chat group she had joined while waiting for the doctor earlier; Auntie Tong had invited her.

Qing Moran looked at the group name and twitched her lips.

[Old Aunties and Little Tender Meats]

The “Old Auntie” was obviously Auntie Tong. Although she looked like a young woman from any angle, everyone in the group had to call her “Auntie.”

Resting on the sofa, Qing Moran finally had time to check the members. There were six in total. Looking at the avatars and names, she could roughly identify Mu Jinyu and Gu Qing. However, there was one person she didn’t recognize; even though the group was chatting away, that person hadn’t said a word.

[Don’t Eat Fish]: Auntie Tong, can you please ban Jinxuan from eating noodles at your shop at night? She reeks, and I’m really suffering here.

The name made it obvious this was Mu Jinyu.

[Nine Dots (Mahjong)]: Is Boss Mu trying to shut down my shop? Little Xuan, Little Qing, protect me!

It seemed Auntie Tong really did like Mahjong.

[Don’t Eat Fish]: Auntie Tong, it’s not like you don’t know the smell of your shop…

[Spinning in Circles]: Empress Tong, your Great Guardian Little Qing went to escort Xiao Qing. This lowly one doesn’t dare resist Boss Mu. I shall take my leave now.

[Nine Dots]: Hmm? Little Qing went to escort Xiao Qing?

[Spinning in Circles]: ……The girl I brought to your shop. You didn’t forget, did you?

[Nine Dots]: Piss off, I’m not stupid. I’m asking what happened to her.

[Spinning in Circles]: Sprained her ankle, it’s swollen like crazy. Where’s Xiao Qing? Home yet? @MR

[Spinning in Circles]: Calling Qingqing, calling Qingqing. @MR

[MR]: Shut up.

[MR]: I’m home. Brother Qing went back too.

[Nine Dots]: Ew, Mu Jinxuan, you’re being too sappy.

[Don’t Eat Fish]: Ew, Mu Jinxuan, you’re being too sappy.

[Five Grains & Miscellaneous]: Ew, Mu Jinxuan, you’re being too sappy.

[MR]: ……

[Spinning in Circles]: You guys are too much! I’m going to report Brother Qing for playing with his phone while driving!!!

[Five Grains & Miscellaneous]: I was at a red light.

The WeChat group didn’t stop all night, though they were mostly chatting about trivial matters. Only the person named “Willow Leaf” remained silent.

The next day at school, Qing Moran limped off the bus. To her surprise, she immediately saw Mu Jinxuan, who had been skipping school for a long time.

Mu Jinxuan was sitting on the bus stop bench playing with her phone, only looking up to check the passengers when a bus arrived. Finally, the person she was waiting for appeared.

“Wait, wait, slow down!” As soon as Mu Jinxuan saw Qing Moran at the bus door, she rushed forward. Before Qing Moran could react, Mu Jinxuan scooped her up and carried her off the bus in full view of everyone.

Qing Moran let out a startled cry. If it weren’t for her injured leg and the fact that it was Mu Jinxuan, she would have kicked the person three meters away.

Not only was Qing Moran startled, but the students of No. 1 High witnessing the scene stood with their mouths agape. They would never, even on pain of death, admit this person was the rumored School Bully Mu.

“Crap, what are you doing?” Once off the bus, Qing Moran hopped on one foot and pushed Mu Jinxuan away.

“I’ve been waiting here for ages. Even if there’s no credit, there’s hard work, right? Do you have to be so heartless?” The pushed-away Mu Jinxuan clutched her chest in a fake-hurt expression, acting exaggeratedly.

“Stop, stop,” Qing Moran made a ‘time-out’ gesture. “Don’t forget you’re a School Bully. Can you not be so… that?”

“So what?”

“Just… that!”

“Which that?”

Students from Class 1 passing by watched the two bickering pointlessly, secretly wanting to take out their phones to capture this rare sight.

Realizing the crowd was getting restless, Qing Moran grabbed Mu Jinxuan to head toward the school, but Mu Jinxuan stood still.

“Now what?”

“I’ll carry you. The classroom is so far away.”

“Are you crazy?” Qing Moran couldn’t help but scold.

“Regardless, I’m the one who caused your injury. So I’ve decided to take care of you these next few days until your foot is completely healed.” Mu Jinxuan looked at Qing Moran with pleading eyes.

Qing Moran facepalmed and tilted her head away, muttering under her breath, “Holy crap!” At this moment, a line from a CEO novel came to her mind: “This troublesome little goblin.”

Mu Jinxuan didn’t say another word and squatted in front of her. Once Qing Moran was on her back, she carried her steadily toward the classroom.

The moment they entered the classroom in this posture, they drew a crowd. Luo Qi, who was eating breakfast, spotted them immediately.

“Xuan-ge, what kind of ‘roleplay’ is this?” Luo Qi approached and asked with a death wish.

“Piss off. Roleplay your sister.” Mu Jinxuan bypassed him and went straight to her seat.

“Tired?” Qing Moran whispered with a laugh, showing zero sympathy.

“Why is our class on the fourth floor?” Setting Qing Moran down, Mu Jinxuan sat in her seat rubbing her wrists, panting for breath.

“Moran, what happened to your ankle?” Luo Qi followed them with a bun in hand, spotting the bandage around her ankle.

“Thanks to a certain School Bully Mu, it’s ‘a hundred days for a bone and tendon injury’.” Qing Moran held up her slender fingers, crossing her index fingers to make a ‘ten’ (meaning ten days/weeks of recovery) in front of Luo Qi.

Hu Hai, who had just rushed into the classroom, overheard and leaned in: “Xuan-ge, you didn’t hit Moran, did you? How could you do that?”

Hu Hai looked at Mu Jinxuan as if looking at a heartbreaker, only to get a smack on the head from her: “Get out of here. Who would dare hit her?”

Mu Jinxuan’s internal monologue was: Who would dare hit her and not be looking for a beating? But to the ears of Hu Hai and Luo Qi, it sounded like: She’s my deskie, who the hell dares touch her?

Luo Qi and Hu Hai simultaneously gave a thumbs-up. This time, it was Mu Jinxuan’s turn to be confused.

“What did they mean just now?” After they left, the puzzled Mu Jinxuan nudged Qing Moran with her elbow.

Understanding exactly what they meant, Qing Moran replied, “Overbearing CEO School Bully Mu.” She then gave a thumbs-up as well.

Before the first period, Li Fei came to the classroom and dragged the long-absent Mu Jinxuan to the office. During the first period Chinese class, everyone was in a daze. Qing Moran pulled a stack of textbooks from her drawer and piled them on the desk, using them as cover to open the school forum on her phone.

She found the No. 1 High forum, and the very first post was something shocking.

“SHOCKING! It’s actually HER on School Bully Mu’s back! Let’s dig into the untold secrets of School Bully Mu”

The cover photo was a picture of Mu Jinxuan carrying her this morning.

Qing Moran’s face darkened. This feeling of being stalked by “paparazzi” was not great; she felt quite uncomfortable. However, she had to admit the title was definitely clickbait material.

She clicked in and saw it already had over a hundred replies. Are No. 1 High students really this bored?

She scrolled through the first few floors. Some were asking the OP for more photos, some were mocking Mu Jinxuan, and some were flattering her. Once the OP posted more photos of Mu Jinxuan carrying her, the thread started to veer off.

Floor 23 (OP): /Image/ Here are some raw photos of your School Bully.

The post was followed by several floors of exclamation marks.

Floor 32: Honestly, doesn’t anyone want to say something…

Floor 33: Why do I feel like School Bully Mu is so gentle?

Floor 36: @Floor 33, I feel the same! Why do I see so much “doting” from these blurry photos?

Floor 37 (OP): @Floor above, I think you’ve hit the truth. Let me show you a few more.

With that, a group of people started begging for more updates, though the haters didn’t give up.

Floor 40: To Mu Jinxuan’s brainless fans: what’s the point of obsessing over a tomboy?

Floor 41: Floor 40, get lost. If you were even half as cool as Xuan-ge, you’d be something.

Floor 42: Heh, everyone knows Mu Jinxuan is just “kept” trash.

Floor 43: Get out! The truth about that incident has already come out, okay? You’re just jealous!

Seeing this, Qing Moran clicked into the thread. She followed a link to the “kept woman” post from last week, which now had hundreds of replies.

Scrolling to the end, Qing Moran finally remembered who the man Mu Jinxuan was holding in the photo was, thanks to a picture posted by a level-1 alt account.

The picture was a group photo of the man and Mu Jinxuan. They were standing side-by-side; the man was much taller, and his handsome face matched Mu Jinyu’s perfectly. It was her biological brother.

The alt account had posted three words under the image: Biological siblings.

There were over a hundred replies to this single floor. Right below it, the original OP had written: This thread is now closed. My initial comments were made without knowing the facts. Posting unverified claims has a misleading effect, and I sincerely apologize. I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience caused to School Bully Mu. To ensure everyone sees the explanation above, all floors after this will be deleted.

The thread ended there. Qing Moran was surprised. She hadn’t expected it to be resolved so quickly. That level-1 alt account was quite something. She clicked into the “biological siblings” floor again.

What she saw next nearly gave her a heart attack. It turned out Mu Jinyu’s identity was anything but simple—no wonder Gu Qing was the one who came for the parent-teacher meeting.

The very first reply under that photo read: !!! HOLY CRAP, D*MMIT!!!! isn’t this the former pro player, FISHX???