Not long after military training ended, the various departments of the Student Council began recruiting in classrooms. Sang Wan was especially busy, so over the next week, Yue Bai only caught a glimpse of her once—when Sang Wan came to their classroom to promote the council. Otherwise, Yue Bai didn’t even see a shadow of her.
She sat in the front row, watching intently as the person on stage vividly introduced the School Student Union. A faint gleam flickered in the depths of her eyes.
“If you’re interested in joining the School Student Union, come up and grab a form to fill out, and join the group,” Sang Wan’s voice rang out, laced with a smile.
The quiet classroom erupted into chatter. As someone who had caused a stir at the Freshman Welcome Party, Sang Wan had high name recognition among the freshmen. Plenty of students were rushing to join the Student Council just because of her.
Yue Bai sat quietly in her seat. She had never intended to join, so when Sang Wan glanced her way, she merely gave a small grin.
Once it was over, Sang Wan left the classroom under the gaze of the crowd of freshmen.
“Little Bai, aren’t you going to join the Student Council?” Xu Nuo nudged her arm and asked.
Yue Bai flicked her hand away with mild disgust. “Don’t touch me randomly.” Then she replied, “No plans to.”
“Alright.” Xu Nuo shrugged. “I heard they do two rounds of screening, and who knows how many people get cut. Tsk tsk, so many are just chasing after Senior Sister Sang and the others.”
Yue Bai raised an eyebrow. “Hm?”
Xu Nuo explained, “Sang Wan, Wen Mo, Zhou Qingyan, Li Ci, Jia Bing—they’re all in the School Student Union. At the welcome party, those few really drew a lot of attention from the freshmen. Even in our class, plenty are signing up because of them.”
Yue Bai’s mouth twitched. She said speechlessly, “Is it really that exaggerated?”
Xu Nuo replied, “It’s the novelty, the bandwagon effect. Anyway, not many will actually make it in.”
Yue Bai thought about it and realized she had a point. School had only just started, so bandwagon behavior was inevitable. She rubbed the back of her neck and continued with what she was doing.
It was another weekend evening self-study session. Yue Bai entered the classroom right on time with her roommates. Unlike the usual quiet, the room buzzed with noise. She didn’t pay it much mind and took a seat in the front row.
Evening self-study sessions weren’t assigned classes yet, so students could arrange their time as they saw fit.
After Yue Bai entered, the noise in the class dipped briefly, then surged back up.
“Quiet down.” The League Branch Secretary knocked on her desk.
But in the face of juicy gossip, that didn’t work very well. The voices only quieted a little.
Vaguely, Yue Bai heard her own name popping up repeatedly in conversations from all directions. She glanced over suspiciously, and those people lowered their voices upon meeting her gaze. All that was left were furtive glances drifting her way.
What was going on? Yue Bai frowned. Subconsciously, she looked toward Fang Zhou and saw the guy smugly holding court in the middle of a group of classmates, chattering about something.
Yue Bai’s three roommates also sensed something off. Xu Nuo, leveraging her good rapport with people, slipped over to one side to snoop.
A few minutes later, Xu Nuo returned to Yue Bai’s side, her face dark.
“Little Bai.” Her roommates gathered around. “Did you enter a contest and win an award?”
Yue Bai looked at her in confusion. “No?”
Chen Han asked, “Xu Nuo, what happened?”
Xu Nuo furrowed her brow, unsure how to put it. “I don’t know who started it, but they’re saying Little Bai used her looks to scam a prize from a senior right at the start of the semester.”
Yue Bai blinked in stunned silence. Scamming a prize? She had no idea she’d done anything like that.
“That’s way too fake. What prize?” Zhao Yu asked curiously.
“They said it’s for the School Celebration Sports Festival Poster contest,” Xu Nuo relayed what she’d heard. “It’s a school award, but since this year is the school’s anniversary celebration, it carries some real weight. Then they started wondering—freshmen didn’t even know about the contest, so how did you find out, and how did you beat all those upperclassmen to win?”
Yue Bai got it now. She knew exactly what prize it was—the piece she’d painted in Sang Wan’s dorm. It had actually won. It hadn’t let down Senior Sister Sang’s expectations. For some reason, Yue Bai felt a weight lift off her chest.
“What place?” Yue Bai asked.
“First prize. The results aren’t public yet, so I don’t know how they found out,” Xu Nuo said.
“Nice, that’s great,” Yue Bai said with a smile.
“No, Little Bai, you’re not even a little worried?” Xu Nuo stared at the calm girl in disbelief. “Go explain yourself quick—don’t let them sling mud at you.”
Yue Bai smiled faintly and brushed a stray lock of hair from her forehead. “Why should I explain?” Her voice dropped lower. “The results aren’t out yet. If it turns out I didn’t win first, wouldn’t I look stupid denying it now?”
Xu Nuo smacked her forehead. “At least say when you entered it, so the class doesn’t get the wrong idea.”
Yue Bai was puzzled. “What does it have to do with them? Besides…” She paused for a moment before continuing, “Even if I say something, will they believe me? Better to wait for the results.”
Yue Bai pressed her lips together. More importantly, things weren’t certain yet, and she didn’t want to drag her teammates—the upperclassmen she’d worked with—into this.
Yue Bai wanted nothing to do with it, but someone was itching for a fight. “Yue Bai, congrats! You haven’t even been here long and you’ve already snagged an award.”
Fang Zhou sauntered mockingly from the back row right up to her, stopping at her left side. “But I remember your style isn’t thick painting style. So how come your contest entry was thick painting?”
Yue Bai’s frown deepened. They were in college—how could there still be such childish people?
“What does it have to do with you?” Yue Bai shot back.
“Nothing, just happened to see the winning piece and got curious how you latched onto Senior Hua’s boat.” Fang Zhou kept smiling. “I’ve seen Senior Hua’s thick painting work—it’s genuinely amazing.”
Yue Bai didn’t even bother looking at him. “So?”
“So, I want to know how you latched onto Senior Hua,” Fang Zhou said with feigned helplessness. He smirked, his eyes betraying undisguised envy and jealousy. Why did Yue Bai get handed a win on a platter right from the start of school?
“After all, Senior Hua doesn’t have the best reputation,” Fang Zhou added in a tone like he was looking out for her. “Don’t throw yourself away for a little prize like that…”
He trailed off suggestively.
“You got a problem? What the hell are you saying?” Xu Nuo kicked Fang Zhou’s leg and cursed. “So sour grapes, huh? Jealous that Yue Bai got help from someone right when she started school.”
The others might not know, but Yue Bai’s roommates did—she’d been painting at Sang Wan’s place for a while recently. Since Yue Bai wasn’t saying anything, they wouldn’t spill it for her.
“I didn’t say that. Watch yourself, Xu Nuo—assault’s a violation,” Fang Zhou said, a shadowy glint in his eyes. He brushed off his pants nonchalantly. “I’m just worried Yue won’t go astray. Senior Hua really does have a bad rep, and last week, didn’t Yue stay out all night?”
That one stone stirred up a thousand waves. The class perked up their ears for the gossip. They were all new to school and unfamiliar with Hua Yun’s ways, so when Fang Zhou dropped that, they ran with it—especially paired with the overnight stay comment.
The gossipers’ eyes lit up.
“No way, really? I heard she skipped evening self-study a while back too.”
“Wouldn’t have guessed.”
“Who knows? But if she really slept with him for a poster prize… bold move.”
“Gossip time, gossip time.”
Yue Bai clenched her fists, her gaze locked coldly on Fang Zhou. “My business is none of yours. Spreading rumors like that—you’ve got no shame.”
