【18】There are no cool plots in the real world
That afternoon, Liang Zhiyao was met with a barrage of stares the moment she entered the classroom. Due to the limited reach of Chinese social media, her American classmates were unaware of the incident. However, the computer science department boasts a relatively high proportion of Chinese students, and the moment she entered, approximately 20 Chinese faces simultaneously glanced over, then quickly averted their gazes as if nothing had happened. They had been chatting quietly, though not necessarily about the viral rumor, but in unison, they all paused their conversations upon seeing her enter, falling into a subtle silence. She usually hung out with Ye Xin, but during her professional courses, she also had a few study partners who sat together. But now, they studiously avoided her gaze and didn't leave a seat for her as usual. This uneasy feeling made it impossible to concentrate in class, a constant dread of being enveloped by hostility. She had sent WeChat messages to Han Xingzhou and Lin Jiayue at noon, but received no responses. She had too many things on her mind and left late, almost being late. She could only stop the two people in the corridor as soon as class was over. "Is there something wrong?" They were with a few close friends, and when they saw her suddenly approaching, their expressions were a little difficult to describe. "I have something to talk to you two about," she said to them word by word. Han Xingzhou's reaction was as she expected, and he refused bluntly, "Sorry, we have classes later." What surprised her was that Lin Jiayue suddenly showed an embarrassed expression, as if she was in a dramatic state. "Aria, it's not that I don't want to help you. Twenty thousand US dollars is too much. I'm just a student supported by my parents, and I can't afford that much money," she paused, hesitant to say, "and you really shouldn't do things like online gambling." She was stunned. What kind of script is this? Lin Jiayue's best friend stood beside her. As if she knew all about the situation, she shook her head and said to her, "Liang Zhiyao, you shouldn't have asked Jiayue to borrow so much money just because she's so generous to us. Her wealth wasn't just something that came out of nowhere." She was so angry that she almost laughed out loud, "Speak clearly, when did I ever ask you for money?" But Lin Jiayue "generously" waved her hand, looking as if she didn't want to argue with her, "Forget it. We have classes later, let's go." There are always some people in this world who find it difficult to cope with sudden malice—they often come up with a hundred sharp sentences, a thousand...
In the afternoon, Liang Zhiyao was greeted by all kinds of gazes the moment he stepped into the classroom.
Due to the limited influence of Chinese social media, her American classmates knew nothing about this matter. However, the Computer Science Department has a relatively large proportion of Chinese students. The moment she walked into the classroom, about 20 Chinese faces looked at her in unison, and then quickly turned their eyes away as if nothing had happened.
They were originally chatting in low voices, and although they were not necessarily discussing the rumor that was spreading like a virus, they all tacitly stopped their original topic and fell into a subtle silence when they saw her walk into the classroom.
Normally, she and Ye Xin would go out together, but during their professional classes, they would sit together with a few other study partners. But now, they were deliberately avoiding her gaze and didn't leave a seat for her as usual.
The feeling of being on edge made it impossible for her to concentrate in class, and she was always immersed in the fear of being shrouded in malice.
She sent WeChat messages to Han Xingzhou and Lin Jiayue at noon, but received no response from them. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts and left late that she was almost late. She could only stop the two people in the corridor as soon as class was over.
"What's up?"
They were with a few close friends, and when they saw her suddenly approaching, their expressions were somewhat indescribable.
"I have something to talk to you two about." She said to them word by word.
Han Xingzhou's reaction was within her expectations. He refused bluntly, "Sorry, we have classes later."
What surprised her was that Lin Jiayue seemed to be possessed by a drama spirit and suddenly showed an embarrassed expression.
"Aria, it's not that I don't want to help you. Twenty thousand dollars is too much. I'm just a student supported by my parents, and I can't afford that much." She paused, hesitant to speak, "Besides, you really shouldn't be doing something like online gambling."
She was stunned.
What kind of script is this?
Lin Jiayue's best friend stood beside her. As if she knew the "previous story" in advance, she shook her head and said to her, "Liang Zhiyao, you shouldn't ask Jiayue to borrow so much money just because she is generous to us. Her wealth is not something that comes from the wind."
She was so angry that she almost laughed: "Speak clearly, when did I ask you to borrow money?"
But Lin Jiayue waved her hand magnanimously, as if she didn't want to argue with her: "Forget it, we have classes later, let's go."
There are always some people in this world who find it difficult to cope with sudden malice. Afterward, they can often come up with a hundred sharp sentences and a thousand clever ways to knock out the enemy. However, when faced with this unexpected malice in the first place, their intelligence suddenly drops and they are unable to react at all. They can only toss and turn late at night, then say bitterly in their hearts: "This is how I should have refuted it back then!"
Unfortunately, Liang Zhiyao is such a person.
She stood in the corridor blankly, realizing that not only had she failed to figure out the whole thing, but she had been tricked again.
On the way to class, she had imagined the roles of these two people in this matter. Now it seemed that they were probably birds of a feather. She didn't think that Han Xingzhou, who was hiding in the background and watching coldly, was much better than Lin Jiayue. She just couldn't understand why she had provoked such a fierce revenge from them when she hadn't even had a formal relationship with this person and had no previous conflicts with him.
The malice comes so fiercely, but the source cannot be found.
"You can't figure out why?"
A female voice suddenly rang out from behind her. She turned around and found that Lin Jiayue had returned—this time alone.
"I guess you've guessed it," she said calmly, "I did send that submission."
At this moment, Liang Zhiyao's confusion even exceeded his anger. He frowned and asked her, "Why? We don't seem to have any deep hatred."
"I just hate being 'not as good as others,'" she chuckled. "Han Xingzhou, that idiot, insisted on making it public when he was pursuing you. As a result, after we started dating, people often said that he was with me because he couldn't get you. It's so unlucky."
"...Just because of this?" She was stunned.
In her opinion, such emotions can be digested in an hour. After all, love is one's own business, and one knows the ups and downs of love. Why should one be bothered by other people's casual comments or even spread rumors about innocent people?
"That's it," Lin Jiayue nodded as a matter of course, "Now that you know what you want to know, don't bother us anymore. Be careful not to make things worse." After saying that, he left without looking back.
Therefore, if she was given up by Han Xingzhou because of her bad behavior, Lin Jiayue would naturally not be a backup or a compromise.
If this is the reason why the rumor started, it is so absurd that it is almost ridiculous.
Most people have harbored malice towards others out of jealousy, but a gentleman judges actions, not intentions. As long as no one is actually harmed in the end, there is nothing wrong with it.
However, some people seem to have long been accustomed to the world revolving around themselves. Not only do they easily transform their malice into direct evil deeds, but they also kill people and destroy their hearts, making the other party understand completely that they can destroy something that another person cherishes just because of a small unpleasant thing.
There are no cool plots in the real world. Faced with overwhelming rumors, there is no reversal that slaps you in the face or a golden finger that can easily debunk the rumors. There is only the comfort of friends, the rumor-busting debunking that makes no splash, and Ah Q-style brainwashing - as long as you don't care about the rumors, the slander of others is meaningless.
"I'm still pissed," Ye Xin said, almost fainting after hearing this. "Can we also submit a submission online? Or find your classmates one by one and tell them exactly what's going on."
Liang Zhiyao remained silent for a long moment before shaking his head. "You might think I'm cowardly for doing nothing, but I'm really tired of living right now. When I think about having to do so many embarrassing things just to change the minds of those who don't trust me, and who might not even care about this matter, I feel... I just can't convince myself."
This idea is true, but it is more of an excuse for cowardice - I didn't know before that when people become the target of online violence, they are unable to think rationally. If they lack energy, they just want to hide away from those terrible misunderstandings and insults, and deceive themselves into thinking they don't exist.
Every counterattack that seems powerful in imagination but turns out to be dull in reality is like rubbing salt into the wound. It’s really tiring.
Ye Xin didn't refute her, but just sighed and hugged her in his arms.
Liang Zhiyao thought he'd become stronger after these months of hard work, but he found it was far from enough. The anxiety of survival pressures had brought a sense of helplessness, not knowing if the problem could be solved, rather than the current dejection, a mixture of fear and grievance.
She was preoccupied with completing her teaching assistant duties in the teaching system, but didn't touch a single word on her own homework. Whenever she thought of those malicious comments, she couldn't calm down and couldn't do anything. Ye Xin asked her considerately, "Do you want to go to that bar for drinks again? I'll treat you."
This time she shook her head and refused: "Forget it, I'll go to the apartment gym to run later."
She needed this simple and direct way to vent her negative emotions and create a tiny bit of positive feedback. The chaos brought on by alcohol, while effective temporarily, would later make it easier to fall into self-loathing.
The gym wasn't crowded. After warming up, Liang Zhiyao increased the incline and speed to the maximum she could tolerate, running until she was exhausted. The last time she ran like this was a few months ago, when she first learned of a family tragedy. At that time, she was surrounded by anxiety, confusion, and pain. Only when she was exhausted could she sleep well.
After running for nearly an hour, she paused to drink water when she saw Tan Xu behind her in the gym mirror. He was wearing a towel and sportswear, and his exposed limbs had clear muscle lines.
"I was just wondering if you've been running for too long." He walked over to the treadmill next to her and turned it on to a brisk walk. "Your heart rate is still so high. It's a bit scary."
The screen showed her heart rate slowly dropping from over 160.
"...Maybe," she answered absentmindedly, "When did you get here?"
"It's been almost an hour. You said you weren't going to the library today, so I came here to lift weights. I was planning to say hello during a break, but who would have thought you wouldn't stop at all." He smiled helplessly. "Are you in a bad mood because of that submission?"
She was a little surprised: "You saw it too?"
He quickly gave a wry smile and said, "I thought the spread would be limited, but within a day, even people in your business school knew about it."
"Actually, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing," Tan Xu said. "I read the submission, and it was quite exaggerated to attract attention."
"Then why isn't it a bad thing?" she wondered.
"Here's what I think," he said, slowing down his treadmill from a brisk walk to a leisurely stroll. "The previous oral version of the rumor was short on details and crude, making it easy to believe. But this submission is so exaggerated that it's a bit too much."
"Take, for example, 'often showing off your wealth on WeChat Moments,'" Tan Xu said. "Have you ever shown off your wealth on WeChat Moments?"
“…That’s not the case.”
"And that 'average-achieving idiot,'" he continued, "if I remember correctly, weren't you on the Dean's List in the past two years? It's even posted on the school's official website."
"...Yes." She didn't know why Tan Xu knew the list of winners of their college, but she immediately understood what he meant. "I think I understand a little bit."
"Although we don't know who this rumormonger is, he tried to spread so much mud that he ended up making things worse. People who are familiar with you might doubt the authenticity of the entire submission because these details don't match," he said. "So, isn't this a good thing?"
She was convinced and couldn't help laughing: "This is the first time I've discovered...you are quite good at comforting people."
"While I love hearing what you said, comfort alone may not be enough," he said. "If you're not willing to let the rumormongers succeed and plan to do something like you did to Jeffrey, then why not tell me the whole story? We can work together to figure out how to resolve this."
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