Chapter 61 Song Juelan seemed not to recognize him...
In dormitory 203, the conversation had already devolved into casual chatter, but the other three were still cautiously observing Song Juelan.
The usually aloof Song Juelan now exuded an eerie aura, his eyes unfathomable, a suffocating sense of impending doom silently descending upon him.
All three saw the same fear and confusion in each other's eyes.
Who offended Brother Song?
Then Song Juelan picked up the phone on the table, his cold and hard face tense, his slender fingers swiping rapidly across the screen with a hint of impatience.
An absurd conjecture flashed through the minds of the three.
Judging from Song Ge's expression, as if he wanted to crush his phone, could it be that... he was scammed in an online romance?
Then they suddenly remembered that on the first night of school, they had seen several messy scratch marks on Song Juelan's back.
That shouldn't be the case. They've already arrested so many people, which means both sides are very satisfied. It's definitely not a matter of "deceptive photos" or the product not matching the description.
The three of them were bursting with curiosity, but none of them dared to gossip about Song Juelan.
The student ID card, which had been wiped clean, was carefully tucked into the innermost part of Song Juelan's wallet, right next to her own student ID card, as if she were safeguarding the most important piece of evidence.
After doing all that, he paused for a moment, then picked up his phone and habitually opened the pinned chat box.
On the screen were their daily chat logs. Wen Zhi's tone was always so light and natural, and she would share many interesting little things with him every day.
It turns out it wasn't because she was optimistic and strong, but because that ex-husband who supposedly abandoned her and her children simply didn't exist.
Did Wen Zhi ever tell him the truth?
Song Juelan took a slow, deep breath, but it did little to calm his turbulent emotions.
What frustrated him even more was that, besides the anger simmering in his chest, he also felt a strange sense of relief, or even ecstasy.
Fortunately, Wen Zhi didn't experience any of those terrible things, and from beginning to end, he was the only man in her life.
However, he would have been happier if he had known about this from the beginning.
Song Juelan closed the chat interface expressionlessly. Remembering the campus forum her roommate had mentioned earlier, she searched through the dormitory group chat for a while, found the forum link, and clicked on it.
The webpage loaded quickly, and a flashy homepage popped up, with dozens of posts densely packed together, ranging from gossip and shouting messages to searching for lost items.
With just a glance, Song Juelan spotted Wen Zhi's name and his own name on the homepage, both of which were just some boring gossip posts.
He shifted his gaze indifferently, opened the search bar, typed in the words "Wen Zhi," and pressed the search button. Hundreds of related posts instantly popped up.
The fingertip hovering above the screen paused for a moment before clicking to sort by time, and then started to view each post one by one, beginning with the first one from three years ago.
As darkness gradually fell and night completely descended, Song Juelan finally reached the last page of the search results.
Fei Kangcheng, seemingly casually passing by with his water cup, secretly glanced at Song Juelan's phone screen and noticed that it displayed the conspicuous purple banner of the campus forum.
Thinking of the chaotic posts on the forum, his heart skipped a beat. Fearing that Song Juelan would be angry because of those posts, he quickly comforted him, "Brother Song, don't listen to what those people on the forum are saying! Lao Jia and I have explained it to you, saying that you have a girlfriend."
Song Juelan raised her calm gaze, not understanding his words: "What post?"
“Um…” Fei Kangcheng awkwardly touched his nose, “It’s… those posts saying you and Senior Wen are a good match.” He didn’t understand either, since the two of them clearly had no connection whatsoever, how could those people link them together.
Song Juelan's expression hardened slightly, and his gaze returned to his phone screen. The last page was full of new posts from this semester, which he hadn't started reading yet.
I glanced at it casually and sure enough, I saw that in the titles of several posts, my name was listed alongside Wen Zhi's, followed by various suggestive symbols.
He clicked on those posts and slowly scrolled down, his expression completely calm, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Jia Rui, who was standing next to him, also kindly told him, "Brother Song, if you don't like it, you can just go and talk to the administrator, and they will help you delete those posts."
Song Juelan nodded slightly, her gaze fixed on the screen, showing no intention of leaving. She simply replied, "Understood."
As night deepened, on Song Juelan's phone screen, only one post about Wen Zhi remained unclicked on the search page.
That post was published today and has already received hundreds of replies.
[Breaking news! Wen Zhi will be attending the social event at Blue Alley tomorrow night!!!]
Song Juelan's previously calm expression finally changed slightly. He paused for a moment, then clicked on the post.
1L: [? ? ?]
From the first floor all the way up to dozens of floors, the screen was flooded with countless question marks.
It wasn't until later that people began to discuss the matter with some skepticism.
58L: [Really? Is this another case of them trying to trick us into participating because they don't have enough people??]
62L: [Holy crap, I thought it was a scam, but I just asked my friend and they're already full.]
75L: [What? Is it too late to register now??]
101L: [Haha, my roommate dragged me to sign up earlier, see you guys tomorrow night!]
Several more people then signed up for the social event, leaving boastful remarks in the post, as if participating in the event meant they could win over Wen Zhi.
Song Juelan finished reading the post with a deep gaze, his knuckles gripping the phone turning slightly white, and the veins on the back of his hand faintly visible.
A social gathering?
*
By the evening of the following day, there was still no news about Wen Zhi's student card.
The submissions on the campus wall were forwarded by many enthusiastic people, and the messages in the dormitory group were also forwarded to various large groups. However, the student card seemed to have vanished into thin air, without any trace.
Wen Zhi had already given up hope and planned to get a new one tomorrow.
"Xiaozhi, you don't have much money left on your card, do you?" He Jin refreshed the campus bulletin board several times but didn't see anyone find the card, so he asked worriedly. "No one has contacted us for so long, could it be that someone found it and just spent all the money in it?"
Wen Zhi tried hard to recall, but couldn't remember when she last topped up her account. She mumbled, "I should still have a few hundred yuan left."
"Huh? Several hundred yuan?" Ding Mingjun's mouth dropped open, and he slapped his thigh with certainty, "Then someone must have been tempted by the money and spent it with your student card!"
The two of them angrily took turns complaining about the immoral person whose very existence was unknown.
Compared to the missing student card, Wen Zhi was more concerned about something else.
Song Juelan was unusually quiet today.
The phone screen on the table was lit up, showing the chat interface with Song Juelan.
The last sentence in the chat history was Song Juelan's reply.
Song Juelan: [Heh.]
Wen Zhi had never seen Song Juelan send him such a message before, and for a moment he didn't know how to reply, so he had been racking his brains ever since.
There was a sudden knock on the dormitory door. Lao Ke and Lao Zeng called out from outside, asking if they were ready and when they would leave.
"Oh dear, it's already this late!" He Jin glanced at the time, immediately put down his phone, jumped up from his chair, walked to his wardrobe, and casually pulled out a piece of clothing for going out.
Wen Zhi then remembered that everyone in his dorm was going to a party with Lao Ke tonight. He quickly got up and opened his wardrobe to rummage through it.
My fingertips brushed over the neatly arranged clothes, lingering for a moment on a cream-colored shirt, but I couldn't help but recall the similar-colored shirt from last time, the one whose button had popped off, and I never even managed to find it again.
His fingertips were a little hot, so he immediately shook his head, turned his gaze to another dark gray-blue shirt next to him, and took it out without hesitation.
Ten minutes later, the door to dormitory 303 opened from the inside.
Old Ke, who was standing at the door, put down his phone and looked up. When he saw the person coming out, his eyes widened instantly.
Wen Zhi, who was walking at the very back, was wearing a dark gray-blue shirt with one button undone, revealing a small patch of her dazzlingly white collarbone. The thin fabric accentuated her slender waistline, and the hem was tucked into her fitted silver-gray trousers.
On that slender, snow-white wrist, a delicate bracelet was wrapped, with sapphires set in it like stars in the dark night.
Although he lived in the dormitory next to Wen Zhi and was already used to her excessively beautiful face, Lao Ke was still amazed by her once again.
The other people in dormitory 303, who had already been amazed, seemed quite calm at this moment.
He Jin urged, "What are you standing there for? Didn't we say we were running out of time?"
"Huh?...Oh!" Old Ke finally came to his senses, quickly withdrew his gaze from Wen Zhi, and turned to lead the way.
The group exited from the west gate of the school and headed towards the nearby bustling commercial street.
As night falls, this street becomes the liveliest place of the day, with a cacophony of noise filling the air as trendy young students come and go.
The group stopped in front of a bar with a very trendy sign design.
Old Ke took out his phone from his pocket and checked the address of tonight's party: "That's right, this is it."
He stepped forward first, opened the heavy glass door, and deafening music and noise immediately poured out.
"Come in quickly!" he shouted to the others.
Everyone filed in, and almost the instant they stepped into the bar, they were swept up in the frenzied and restless atmosphere, excitedly looking around.
"Our private room is over there, don't go to the wrong one!" The loud music assaulted their eardrums, and Lao Ke had to raise the volume so that his voice could barely reach the others.
The bar was so crowded and the brightly colored lights were so dazzling that it made people dizzy, and it was easy to get lost.
Noticing the eager gazes around them, the students in dormitory 303 tacitly pushed Wen Zhi to the front to prevent him from being abducted halfway without anyone noticing.
Wen Zhi followed closely behind Lao Ke, turning left and right in the crowded throng, passing through the dance floor and the lounge area, and finally saw the frosted glass door of the private room.
"You guys go in first, I'll light a cigarette outside." Old Ke stopped at the door, stepped aside, and took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
The frosted glass door let in a hazy light and shadow, through which one could vaguely see figures moving about, and faint laughter and clinking glasses could be heard from behind the door.
Wen Zhi stepped forward, grasped the cold metal doorknob, and was still wondering whether to play cards or dice when she went inside. A perfectly placed, faint smile appeared on her lips.
With a soft "click," the door to the private room opened a crack, and the noise inside instantly amplified.
He Jin and the other two were about to follow them inside when they noticed Wen Zhi's back stiffen slightly.
Confusion appeared on their faces, and they called out to Wen Zhi a few times from behind.
Wen Zhi felt a buzzing in her ears and could not hear anything.
His thick eyelashes trembled violently, his eyes widened, and his pupils contracted slightly due to extreme shock. His gaze fell incredulously on the center of the sofa.
In contrast, the man whose gaze he was fixated on showed absolutely no reaction.
Song Juelan leaned back calmly on the sofa, surrounded by the crowd. When she noticed the commotion at the door, she glanced at him with a cold expression, as if she didn't recognize him.
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Author's note: Thanks to "Going with the Flow" for the two grenades~
Thanks for listening to Xue Zhiqian sing "Landmine of the Milankovic Cycle"~
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