n

n

nThere were a lot of posts.

nThe posts stacked one after another.

nEarlier on in the morning when Xiang Wan saw the thread, there were only around 10 posts. Now, there were hundreds of posts crossing over more than 20 pages.

n“Oh, she dared to go out looking like that!? Are those men blind or something?”

n“… It should be a problem of the angle of the photos. Xiang Gongzi Wan is actually very pretty… Although I don’t approve of what she did, I don’t approve of malicious remarks without grounds, too.”

n“No wonder the recent updates of Xiang Gongzi are in a mess. She might be worried that her book is not going to be popular and are prepared to look for work elsewhere? Hm, if she could get a job with her looks, why must she depend on talent? I kinda like her already.”

n“Did anyone know where she’s from?”

n“Jin City.”

n“Oh, Jin City, no wonder. Women from Jin City have this kind of tradition…”

n“To the one above me, don’t start a war on location, okay? The big Jin City is not to be trifled with!”

n“She’s out of her mind! Authors nowadays don’t focus on writing their books well but go the unorthodox way? Wen Quan Book Treasury gets more depraved as times goes by. The readers spend money to read their novels, yet most of the books are lousy and lame, hardly anything good!”

n“Come on, Xiang Gongzi has obviously offended someone, which is the reason why this thread existed. Let’s be reasonable! No matter what she did, it’s her privacy, and she didn’t hurt anyone. Such behavior of exposing another’s privacy is even more shameful and unwarranted, right? Besides, such photos are certainly not someone like you and me can get. Other than Xiang Gongzi, who are the ones from Wen Quan Book Treasury that went to the training as well? Hurhur!”

nFrom this post onward, the following posts went out of hand.

nThis post that questioning the morality of the one who took the photos was made by a reader of Xiang Wan.

nXiang Wan knew her. Her ID in Wen Quan Book Treasury was called Yuan Qianqian.

nThe two of them had a brief exchange in the reader chat group before. She felt that this female reader was a candid and direct person who could be quite cutting in her remarks. Anyone that “sparred” with her knew she could make one’s scalp go numb.

nAt the same time, she also felt that Yuan Qianqian was a clear-headed girl with strong logical reasoning as she saw the crux of the problem.

nNevertheless, for daring to raise her doubts, Yuan Qianqian offended a lot of readers.

nZi Tan and Du Landuo’s readers were also following the development of this thread. The moment they saw that post, they felt that the post was “criticizing the locust tree while pointing at the mulberry”. The two groups of readers felt that their beloved authors were being blamed, and their urge to defend them were like raging fires. The two groups of readers directed their fury toward Yuan Qianqian.

nIn no time, these people did a search and noticed that she had appeared in Xiang Wan’s reader chat group.

nHence, the hatred was directed toward Xiang Wan’s readers.

nXiang Wan was an unpopular author.

nNone of her books ever made it to the popular rankings.

nAnd there was a saying which was quite true: the type of author would attract the same type of readers. However, the genre of the novel would also slightly affect the type of readers an author would get. Her novel attracted the more mature and prudent readers. There were hardly any reader of hers who would get online just to argue or wrangle with people.

nUnder the joint group attack of the readers of Zi Tan and Du Landuo, many of them dismissed the idea of arguing or debating with kids and chose to remain silent.

nYuan Qianqian was the only one with “combat power”.

nShe was equivalent to a Knight of the Zodiac versus a group of people. Although she was alone, battling with the group of readers with her wits, she was never at a disadvantage.

n“I’m afraid that everyone’s IQ here needs to be rebuilt. My apologies, I’m actually not specifically targeting anyone at all. I mean anyone who tried to refute my claim is a moron!”

nPffft! When Xiang Wan saw this, she could not help but laugh.

nNext, she searched for Yuan Qianqian at QQ and private messaged her.

n“Babe, don’t bother wasting your time on those people. It’s useless…” She puffed a sigh.

n“Heh, lecturing these morons are fun. I treat it as teaching those youngsters a lesson in life.

n“Well, I’m good if you’re happy about it.

n“I mean, this is so obvious, right? As long as one has a normal IQ, they could tell that someone posted these with malicious intentions. But why are all these children so stupid? I kinda salute them too.

n“There’s no reason for liking someone, likewise for disliking someone. Maybe I’m born with such an ability to have more people disliking me.

n“Makes sense. Well, you don’t have to bother about this, just strive to write your story well and update more. Leave the important task of cleaning up the mess in the forum to us! Our sisters in the chat group ain’t pushovers that people could just step on recklessly!”

nPffft! Seeing that, Xiang Wan laughed while sitting in front of her laptop.

nNo matter how cold a season was, there would be a ray of sunshine which could bring warmth.

nTo have such a group of readers standing by her amidst the taunts and recriminations, she was already satisfied by that fact.

n“Qianqian, thank you!”

n“Don’t worry, it’s a small matter. I’m bored anyway.”

n“Hmmmm…”

n…

nThe influence of Wen Quan Book Treasury in the internet was very small.

nTherefore, no matter how much fuss these people were kicking, only a small circle of people knew about the thread.

nThat thread did not surface in the vast online world.

nCurrently, news relating to “The Case Of The Fountain Goddess” was still hogging the top positions of trending news.

nThe public were still watching and waiting for more updates of the case.

nThe police had just released news that morning as well, announcing that the alleged police officer had been dealt with.

nNo further details were given.

nThe supposed “online justice seekers”–keyboard warriors, were of course, not satisfied with that.

nThey were burning with rage and demanded the police to show more sincerity toward the innocent party.

nInnocent party? Xiang Wan laughed contemptuously.

nYuan Qianqian was a clear-headed reader who stood against the mass and defended Xiang Wan by refuting their claims. Same goes to the internet as well—there were also clear-headed people who went on to refute the claims of the keyboard warriors.

nIn a place where a group of people gathered and took drugs, there were never any “innocent party”.

nThere were even insider news that revealed that woman, Sun, after divorcing her husband, was not allowed to visit her child, and might have come under great stress. There was nothing else in her life besides money. There were even news that she had been smoking marijuana a few years back. At the fated night, she was together with a group of drug offenders, so why would she not take drugs?

nIf she didn’t but fell to her death naked, there might be a mystery behind it…

nNo one knew what actually happened on the fifth floor of “The Palace” that night.

nAfter the incident, “The Palace” decided to close temporarily for a period of time.

nCome to think of it, Bai Muchuan’s cousin, Bai Munian, had suffered a huge loss due to this unforeseen misfortunate event.

n…

nXiang Wan took her meal card and went to the canteen for dinner.

nThe food served at the campus canteen was scrumptious and plentiful. Most students chose to eat at the canteen, queuing up for food. Only a small number of students chose to eat out.

nXiang Wan queued quietly behind and moved along with the crowd.

nThere were two girls who were in front of her in the queue.

nThey were looking at their phones and whispering to each other.

nSoon enough, Xiang Wan heard her pen name being mentioned from their mouths.

n“Who is Xiang Gongzi Wan from our class? I don’t know much about her.”

n“Goodness! She’s the prettiest one in our class that the boys were privately commenting about: nice assets, tiny waist, pretty face…”

n“What? It’s her? Who’s that guy in the photo then?”

n“Who knows? Yesterday, many people saw him coming to fetch her. He’s really hot! Haha! Tall, wealthy, and so good-looking, who won’t like him? The one who created that thread to defame her is just sour grapes.”

n“You’re right. I wonder who’s so wicked to do that…”

n“Wen Quan Book Treasury is very chaotic. The competition between the authors are fierce and severe…”

n“Shush—”

nOne of the girls noticed that Xiang Wan was standing behind them and coughed awkwardly.

nThe two girls were now silent.

nXiang Wan just smiled and did nothing.

n…

nWhen she had gotten her food, she saw Zi Tan and Du Landuo.

nThe two of them sat together, looking relaxed while chatting leisurely with smiles on their faces.

nStudents from other websites were sitting in twos and threes, talking about their own matters.

nXiang Wan took her food tray, looked around the canteen, and took an empty seat.

n“Are you alone? May I sit here?”

nWhen she heard the voice, she looked up and saw her deskmate she met yesterday.

nHis pen name was called Hu Bandao.

nXiang Wan was not familiar with him, but as he was daring enough to sit with her, she gave him a smile.

n“Feel free to sit as long as you’re not afraid!”

nHu Bandao was startled. “Why should I be afraid? Do you eat people up?”

nHis puzzled look suggested that he was obviously unaware of what happened.

nThe boys were different from the girls. They didn’t seem to be naturally sensitive toward things like this.

nOf course, Xiang Wan would not bring up the issue of the forum thread, so she quietly lowered her head to eat.

nBut Hu Bandao was eager to chat and made some small talk. “You really have Second Young Master Mu’s autographed book?”

nUh! Who said that guys don’t gossip? It’s just that the content of gossip are different.

nXiang Wan smiled and asked, “How did you know?”

nHu Bandao let out a laugh, “I’ve seen your WeChat Moments!”

nD*rn! Xiang Wan lighted a candle in her head for her own IQ.

nShe had forgotten that she had added a lot of classmates yesterday in WeChat. As long as there was a friend request, she approved all of them. One of them must have been this Hu Bandao.

nHowever, that “showing off” post of hers were from many days back. So this guy actually took the trouble to look through her old posts in WeChat Moments?

nShe had a watcher!

n“You also like Second Young Master Mu?” she wondered.

nHu Bandao chuckled, “Yeah, he’s my idol.”

nOh! We can be friends! she thought.

nXiang Wan became livelier upon hearing that. “Do you also write mystery novels?”

n“I write Eastern Fantasy novels.” Hu Bandao shook his head. “Actually, I’ve never read Second Young Master Mu’s books. I feel that it’s too deep for me, and I feel emotionally drained when I read them…”

nXiang Wan rolled her eyes. “Then why do you say he’s your idol?”

n“It’s money, brother!” guffawed Hu Bandao. “Second Young Master’s current novel, ‘The White List’, do you know that the copyrights of the first volume is being sold separately? The film copyrights for the first volume ‘Midnight Echoes’, has been sold for an eight digit sum. Didn’t you know about this? If he’s not an idol, then what is he…”

nPffft! The word “brother” he used to address Xiang Wan made her laugh. “You’re really direct.”

n“Heheh, I should. But then again, your book is quite hot this year as well. Didn’t any film studio come to you to talk about copyrights?”

nXiang Wan was stunned for a moment. Her face slightly darkened as she replied awkwardly, “The statistics of my book is actually not good. It’s because of that case that it went viral for a while, people were only interested to talk about it, and that did not help the statistics…”

n“Oh.” Hu Bandao nodded his head in understanding. “Take it slowly,” he consoled, “there’s no hurry. Who knows, it might be popular one day!”

nPeople in the same industry tend to talk about matters relating to the industry.

nXiang Wan had heard of some of the gossip that Hu Bandao shared with her, while some she had not.

nSuch an exchange was considered to be casual and relaxing.

nHence, Hu Bandao became Xiang Wan’s first friend in the campus.

nIn the following lessons, she would sit beside Hu Bandao.

nHe became her guy best friend.

nWhen it was meal time, he would help to queue up for her, just like the good classmates she used to have back in her college days.

nShe started to feel warmth in this city because of Hu Bandao.

nTime flew by in the summer heat of August. The two weeks of training was about to end.

n“The Case Of The Fountain Goddess” was still in trending news due to those keyboard warriors who thought they were upholding justice.

nWhile the malicious thread over at the forum of Wen Quan Book Treasury got buried with time as Xiang Wan had never responded to it.

nIn such a fast-paced life, everyone was busy with their lives. Other than people who held other intentions, who else would have so much time to chastise a person who had nothing to do with them?

n…

nIt was another sunny day.

nXiang Wan had just sat down in the classroom when their homeroom teacher stepped in.

nThroughout the training period, their homeroom teacher had never given them a lesson. This was the first time.

nA round of applause came from the classroom.

nThe homeroom teacher sat down, adjusted his glasses, cleared his throat, and smiled.

n“Class, the two weeks of training is about to end. It is our usual practice that all students are required to write an essay on what you’ve experienced and felt toward the training programme. Everyone here are writers, so I won’t be imposing any requirements: feel free to write what you want! Send it to my mailbox by twelve midnight tomorrow.”

nTomorrow would be the last day they would have their lessons.

nThe day after tomorrow, there would be a presentation ceremony held in the morning. After which, they would go their separate ways.

n“I suddenly feel that time really flies–two weeks have passed just like that,” exclaimed Hu Bandao. “Why did I feel that I didn’t learn anything from it?”

nA classmate raised a hand. “Sir, we strongly demand more training and an extension of longer training time…” said the classmate playfully, “hm, give us another training that lasts a year or more!”

n“Hahahaha!”

nThe classroom roared in laughter.

nThe learning atmosphere was always very relaxed.

nXiang Wan was also laughing as well.

n“I will be choosing two well-written essays amongst yourselves,” continued the homeroom teacher. “They would be published on the school website and compiled into the school year book…”

nThis school was the leading school of Liberal Arts in China.

nIf their essay were compiled into the yearbook of the school, that was equivalent to leaving their name in the history of the school.

nTo be selected amongst a group of famous authors, their work must be outstanding.

n…

nXiang Wan felt that she did not have much hope to get selected.

nAfter her meal, she went back to her dorm. She did not take that matter to heart. Instead, she wanted to finish her update for the day before thinking of what to write for the essay…

nWhen she just started to write, someone knocked on her door.

nKnock! Knock!

nKnock! Knock! Knock!

nKnock! Knock! Knock! Knock!

nThe person who knocked on her door was very patient, as well as rhythmic.

nXiang Wan shuffled her slippers and smiled as she opened the door.

n“Hu Bandao, didn’t you go out for dinner?”

nOther than Hu Bandao, she didn’t think that there would be anyone else looking for her.

nHowever, the moment she opened the door, she saw a cold and handsome looking face.

n“Who’s Hu Bandao?”

nBai Muchuan’s hand was inside his pocket. He had a dashing posture, but his expression belonged to that of a husband who caught his wife red-handed for adultery. Xiang Wan felt that knives were about to fly out from his eyes, and he was about to strangle her at any moment.

nShe was startled for a while before regaining her composure. The next moment, she looked left and right outside her door and asked him nervously, “Why are you here?”

nBai Muchuan swung his car keys with a finger, went past her, and entered her room directly.

n“Why can’t I be here?”

n“…”

nThis fellow!

nXiang Wan closed the door and followed after him. When he sat on her chair and looked at her laptop screen, she rushed over to close it.

n“What do you want? Talk if you have something to say. Otherwise, please leave.”

nShe stared at him fiercely.

nBai Muchuan narrowed his eyes and tilted his head coldly to look at her angry face.

n“You haven’t told me who is Hu Bandao?”

n“…”

nWhy should I tell you?

nXiang Wan wore an expression as if she was not going to tell him.

n“I’m asking you, by entering my room without asking, what exactly do you want?”

n“Hur!” Bai Muchuan had a very cold attitude. “I’m coming to get something you owed.”

nSomething I owed?

nXiang Wan was confused for a while and could not recall if she really owed him anything?

n“Detective Bai, make yourself clear!”

nBai Muchuan was clearly satisfied when he heard her anxious tone.

nHe stretched out his long legs leisurely. “You owe me an apology.”

n“Apology?” Xiang Wan was bewildered.

n“That day, you vomited on my body.” He looked over with his indifferent face, along with a feeling of disgust where Xiang Wan felt like bashing him up. “Shouldn’t you apologize for that?”

nWhat? Xiang Wan really felt that she was unlucky.

nShe hugged her arms and asked with a straight face, “So Detective Bai took the trouble to come all the way–just to get my apology?”

nBai Muchuan said casually, “Say it!”

nXiang Wan inhaled a breath, took two steps back, lowered her head, and bowed deeply.

n“I’m sorry, Detective Bai. I shouldn’t have vomited on your body, but should have vomited on your head.

nWhen she finished, she returned to her standing position. “Done, you can go now.”

nBai Muchuan looked at her without moving. His handsome face had no other emotions, yet it seemed there were some hidden intense emotions that could not be said. His gaze was clearly indifferent, yet his brows were raised in a defiant manner… It was so like him. He looked cold and was quite an indifferent person, yet also b*dass and full of himself; a contradictory combination of personality.

nHe got up slowly, as if he was really going to leave.

n“Since you’re not sincere, I won’t tell you the good news then.”

nEh? Good news?

nThump! Xiang Wan’s heart jumped. She glanced at his straight posture and quickly changed her mind to not chase him away.

n“Aye! What’s the good news, tell me please? If you’re sincere in telling me, I’ll apologize sincerely, please?”

nA proper sentence, after the addition of two soft sounds of “please”, would become totally different.

nBai Muchuan turned back and looked at her intently. “Who is Hu Bandao?”

nD*rn! It would be strange if this man is not sick.

nXiang Wan’s mouth twitched. “A friend.”

nAlthough Bai Muchuan did not seem to be satisfied with this answer, he did not harp on it anymore.

n“The day after tomorrow, at night, I’m going back to Jin City with you.”

n“Well…”

n“This is your so-called good news?” Xiang Wan almost wanted to flare up.

nThe corners of Bai Muchuan’s lips curved gently upward—that seemingly vague smile was so dashing, yet Xiang Wan’s anger kept increasing.

n“To others, no. To you, it certainly is.”

n“…” What the?!

n…

nNight arrived.

nOnce again, the beautiful city lights of the capital shimmered in a fascinating and charming manner.

nBai Muchuan looked at the time on the car dashboard. His face was as if filled with the cold currents of Siberia.

nHow long has it been that I’ve not returned to the Bai Residence? he thought.

nAlmost a month.

nEver since he got back from Jin City, he went there once to show his face. Subsequently, he never went back there again.

nIf not for his grandmother, he would not have made this trip at all…

nBeep!

nWhen the car got close to the main gates, the car number plate was automatically recognized, and the lever was raised.

nBai Muchuan parked his car directly at the car park.

nThe lights in the residence were always bright.

nThe people there, however, were too little.

nThe huge house was filled with a desolate and cold feeling—a lack of liveliness.

nWhen Bai Muchuan pushed the door open, Nanny Li noticed him and went up to him with a smiling face.

n“Young Master Bai, you’re back.”

nOn the sofa, Bai Musi was watching a television programme with a middle-aged woman.

nThe woman turned, and when she saw that it was him, she gave an unfriendly snort.

n“Why are you willing to come back today? Are you in trouble again that you’re waiting for your dad to clean up after you?”

nThe atmosphere was very intense!

nNanny Li stood at the door awkwardly, seemingly at a loss if she should move or not to move. Bai Musi was trying hard to tell him not to talk back by blinking at him.

nBai Muchuan chuckled a laugh, left the car keys on a key cabinet in the hall, and asked, “Where’s grandma?”

n“You still have the cheek to mention your grandma?”

nThat woman seemed to be enraged as she got up suddenly from the sofa and pointed fingers at him.

n“Have your conscience been eaten by a dog?” She berated him. “Grandma loves you so much. She has been sick for so long, where have you been all this while?”

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