Chapter 264 | Chapter 265 | Chapter 266
Chapter 264: A Good Mindset
Wei Xiao knew that Gu Qinghuan wouldn’t actually call the police; saying such things now was just her deliberate way of provoking him.
But to be honest, he actually preferred it this way.
Back when he had smashed Qin Yue’s head open and Gu Qinghuan arrived, he had been pinned down by Song Yi again. He had assumed Gu Qinghuan would mock him just like she did at the small plaza, but to his surprise, she completely ignored him and simply handled the situation with unhurried composure.
This kind of dismissal felt more humiliating to Wei Xiao than outright mockery, as if he were absolutely nothing in her eyes.
He was supposed to be the one chased after and fawned over, so why was he completely outmatched by Gu Qinghuan!
When Gu Qinghuan asked the surrounding students to witness, he unceremoniously fired back, “You were the one who started insulting people first! Everyone heard it!”
The students swept up in Wei Xiao’s glare felt quite speechless. One of them rolled his eyes and said, “We definitely heard Gu Qinghuan say ‘defeated stray,’ but didn’t you say something first?”
“Even though we didn’t hear it, knowing the personality of Class Three, they wouldn’t retaliate unless the other party picked a fight first.”
Another student added bluntly, “Besides, weren’t you the one who hit someone from Class Three first? Is there a problem with her targeting you?”
The other students nodded in rapid succession. Exactly, exactly. To say the entire school might be a bit of an exaggeration, but at the very least, the tenth grade all knew that Class Three was fiercely protective of their own.
Who wouldn’t want a capable class monitor who fiercely shielded her classmates?
Putting themselves in Qin Yue’s shoes, having their class monitor stick up for them out there and directly confront the instigator sounded incredibly satisfying.
Wei Xiao never anticipated that not a single person would speak up for him.
For a moment, he felt a mix of embarrassment and humiliated rage, ultimately storming back into the Class Two room in a huff.
Gu Qinghuan, still holding her water cup in one hand, could only offer a somewhat informal cupped-hand salute to the surrounding students, saying with a bright smile, “Thank you all for speaking up for justice!”
Being a crowd of young and hot-blooded teenagers, seeing Gu Qinghuan act this way made them feel as though they had performed a chivalrous deed, doing something genuinely good.
The two who had spoken up mimicked Gu Qinghuan’s gesture, cupping their hands back at her. “Don’t mention it, don’t mention it.”
The group went back to their own business with chuckles and chatter. Who cared if the cockroach was happy or not? They were certainly happy themselves.
When Gu Qinghuan returned to the classroom, several classmates sitting near the windows had already witnessed the entire spectacle and finished sharing the gossip.
“Your speed,” Jiang Chuchu said, thoroughly impressed. “You went and clashed head-on with the cockroach right after our discussion.”
Bao Qingsong was swiping on his phone without lifting his head, betting that a submission regarding this incident would land on the confession wall within five minutes.
Gu Qinghuan cupped her water and took a sip. “It wasn’t much of a clash. Besides, the fact that he still has the mind to bicker with me proves he’s truly not anxious about his own situation right now.”
“For him to have this kind of leisure when Wei Yan already knows he isn’t his biological son, it’s highly likely that he and Wei Yan have already agreed on what to do.”
She set her cup down and said solemnly, “Our third deduction is a safe bet.”
“Now it’s just a matter of when Wei Yan tracks down Lin Zhulu,” Jiang Chuchu massaged her temples. “This actually isn’t very difficult to uncover.”
“So let’s hurry up and prepare,” Gu Qinghuan sighed too.
In reality, it wasn’t that she couldn’t ask Xia He for a favor; one could even say that if Xia He took action, he could probably make Wei Yan beat a swift retreat permanently.
This feeling of having all obstacles thoroughly cleared felt great, but it offered absolutely no benefit to Lin Zhulu.
She wouldn’t know she had once been so close to danger, nor would she learn how to defend against or even conquer it.
Her destiny shouldn’t just be proof of someone else’s strength, or a decorative pearl set upon a crown.
She needed a sharp sword and a heavy shield, using her own calloused hands to place the crown upon her own head.
Compared to the heavy hearts of Gu Qinghuan and Jiang Chuchu, Lin Zhulu was much more relaxed.
She smiled at the two of them. “Honestly, even if they track me down, the cockroach won’t dare lay a hand on me anytime soon, right? After all, I’m in Class Three, and his popularity in our class is below zero.”
“Plunged straight into the eighteenth tier of hell kind of zero,” Yu Xin interjected.
Gu Qinghuan wanted to laugh. Lin Zhulu being able to maintain such a good mindset was a victorious omen in its own right!
Having returned home with her good mindset, Lin Zhulu earnestly gathered her mother, Lin Yueji, and her aunt, Lin Aiji.
The two women had initially been curious, wondering what Lin Zhulu was about to say with such gravity. By the time she finished, Lin Aiji’s lungs were about to burst with rage.
“What absolute trash!” Lin Aiji squeezed the hand gripper in her palm until it made sharp, cracking sounds. “Birth, birth, birth, for goodness’ sake, did his testicles grow inside his brain?!”
Lin Zhulu felt awkward; the phrasing sounded a bit crude.
Compared to Lin Aiji, Lin Yueji’s demeanor was far gentler, merely stating calmly, “To be honest, I don’t find it surprising. That man has always been like that.”
In the past, she couldn’t comprehend how Wei Yan could so self-righteously ask her to raise his illegitimate child.
Later she figured it out: don’t try to understand the words of a beast; she and he belonged to different species.
Lin Yueji looked at her daughter. “Zhulu, what are your thoughts?”
Lin Zhulu said earnestly, “My destiny should be decided by me alone. They can forget about manipulating my life.”
Lin Aiji tossed the hand gripper aside and leaped up from the sofa. “Well said! As expected of my daughter!”
Meeting Lin Yueji’s look of disdain, Lin Aiji said righteously, “What? Your daughter is my daughter too!”
“Whatever makes you happy.” Lin Yueji withdrew her gaze and looked back at Lin Zhulu. “Since you’ve made your decision, we, as your family, will naturally support you.”
“Your classmates are very brave and intelligent. While at school, seek everyone’s help. As for the Wei family’s end, your aunt and I will also figure something out.”
Lin Zhulu thought for a moment. “I’ll tell you whatever I do, and in turn, you must tell me whatever you do too.”
“Of course, intelligence has to circulate to have an effect.” Lin Aiji sat back down, completely revitalized. “Back then, our alliance as sisters could tear a massive chunk of flesh off Wei Yan. Now, we can grind his bones to powder!”
“What’s the plan?” Lin Zhulu was brimming with fighting spirit.
Lin Yueji pondered. “First, let’s cause some trouble for Wei Yan.”
In any case, if the Wei family truly harbored such a sickening scheme, then stalling for time and keeping him too busy to come looking for Lin Zhulu would always prove useful.
“I don’t believe Wei Yan’s hands are completely clean after running around abroad for all these years,” Lin Yueji said.
Given Wei Yan’s personality, his “principles” were remarkably flexible as long as it helped him achieve his goals.
Lin Aiji patted her chest. “No problem, leave that side to me.”
The Lin family had operated in this city for so many years, after all; they had their connections, and they would absolutely deploy them for Lin Zhulu’s sake.
“Oh right,” Lin Aiji recalled something and suggested to Lin Zhulu, “While it’s good that you girls want to start with Zhu Yuanyuan, once her sentencing comes down, you aren’t family members, so you won’t be able to visit her in prison.”
Lin Zhulu let out an “Ah.” She had assumed anyone could just apply for a prison visit.
“Therefore, I suggest,” Lin Aiji winked at her, “since the Wei family wants to use you, you girls should go ahead and use Wei Xiao too.”
“Let this son go and thoroughly trigger his mother.”
Chapter 265: Emphasis
Bao Qingsong: [Brilliant! Lin Zhulu, your Little Aunt’s move is absolutely brilliant!]
The moment Lin Zhulu finished sharing Lin Aiji’s suggestion in the class group chat, Bao Qingsong was the first to jump out and marvel at it.
Jiang Chuchu: [Indeed. Although this falls under a medium-tier strategy, it’s practically identical to the top-tier strategy we discussed.]
This was completely a plan to keep the members of the Wei family locked in internal warfare; Class Three would only need to act as spectators. Of course, a little guidance would be required at the very beginning.
Gu Qinghuan: [Are we going to trigger Wei Xiao?]
Yu Xin: [Your itching to stir up trouble has already traveled into my mind through the text…]
Xie Xiangxue: [After all, the class monitor just exchanged blows with Wei Xiao today and returned with a resounding victory.]
Qin Yue: [He really is so weak.]
Ji Tianxiao: [Though that may be true, he didn’t inherit a single ounce of his mother’s cunning.]
Fan Ziran: [Well, that’s a good thing for us!]
Yao Shali: [The question now is, how do we get Wei Xiao to trigger Zhu Yuanyuan?]
Gu Qinghuan: [Zhu Yuanyuan only cares about her own assets, right? Her divorce agreement with Wei Yan should be locked in by now?]
Lin Zhulu: [Mhm. According to the news my Little Aunt dug up, calculating by the dates, next Thursday is the day the divorce becomes official.]
Gu Qinghuan: [When will the sentencing come down?]
Bao Qingsong: [This Wednesday.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Then after Wednesday, Zhu Yuanyuan will be transferred to a proper prison. Processing the divorce paperwork from inside prison should be handled by a professional—like an attorney, right?]
Jiang Chuchu: [Are you trying to say we trigger Wei Xiao, and then Wei Xiao has the attorney relay the message?]
Gu Qinghuan: [Exactly. That’s currently the fastest way. While we could just trigger Wei Xiao next time and have him go visit her in prison, we wouldn’t be able to guarantee a specific timeframe.]
Xu Xinghe: [That sounds so difficult. Right now, we don’t even have a shadow of a plan on how to trigger Wei Xiao.]
Everyone began to fret as well.
Wei Xiao’s current situation wasn’t explicitly good, nor was it explicitly bad. Now that Wei Yan knew the truth, Wei Xiao had lost his value as an heir in his eyes, and his attitude was no longer attentive.
Wei Xiao himself was well aware of this, but by setting his sights on Lin Zhulu, he and his father had formed a temporary alliance. So while Wei Xiao might not be living as grandly as before, he was still supported by the Wei family and free from any worries about food or clothing.
He wasn’t grasping for much else either; given Wei Yan’s personality, if Wei Xiao dared to reach out greedily, Wei Yan wouldn’t hesitate to make him suffer a bit.
Yao Shali: [Given the cockroach’s personality, he definitely harbors a fair amount of hatred toward Zhu Yuanyuan.]
Yao Shali: [However, he probably doesn’t care about her end of things right now, since she’s heading to prison anyway.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Let me think… Let me think…]
Song Yi: [Sis, you can do it! My brain has already crashed!]
Yuan Wuwai: [How do you manage to say that with such shameless pride.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Going off what Shali said, while Wei Xiao hates her, the reason he isn’t bothering with Zhu Yuanyuan right now is because he’s living better than she is.]
Jiang Chuchu: [For a cockroach, that’s about the extent of his aspirations.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Then, looking at it the other way around: if Zhu Yuanyuan is living better than he is, he’ll definitely snap and go settle scores with her, won’t he?]
Lin Zhulu: [Huh? How does that work backwards? She’s going to prison!]
Bao Qingsong: [Wait, I get what the class monitor means! The focus isn’t how well Zhu Yuanyuan is living, but that Wei Xiao is living worse than her!]
Zhan Chuchen: [Put that way, I understand.]
Yu Xin: [The impact of that trigger might be massive, considering his current situation is quite precarious.]
Jiang Chuchu: [The reason it’s precarious is because he isn’t Wei Yan’s biological son, which he undoubtedly views as Zhu Yuanyuan’s fault.]
Xie Xiangxue: [How is he blaming his own mom? If it weren’t for Zhu Yuanyuan, how could he have ever enjoyed the Wei family’s wealth and prestige?]
Bao Qingsong: [He even used the Wei family’s influence to hurt so many young girls when he was a kid.]
Bao Qingsong: [Wait, I feel like this is a point we can use.]
Everyone’s trains of thought gradually broke wide open, and the group chat instantly bustled with activity.
Gu Qinghuan rubbed her head, tasking Qin Yue with recording everyone’s ideas. Combined with Yu Xin stating she would integrate a plan based on everyone’s suggestions, Gu Qinghuan could finally take a breather.
“Using one’s brain really is a painful ordeal.” Gu Qinghuan clutched her pillow and lay down on her bed, closing her eyes for a brief nap.
The system thoroughly admired her reverse-engineering mindset: “To be able to break out of conventional thinking, the host really is impressive.”
Gu Qinghuan said: “Actually, when it comes to Zhu Yuanyuan, I’m still quite frustrated. In my eyes, she really has lived far too comfortable a life.”
Perhaps before she targeted Wei Yan, Zhu Yuanyuan’s life had indeed been incredibly bitter, but she refused to sympathize with a criminal’s tragic past. Let alone the fact that with Zhu Yuanyuan’s intellect, she could have clearly relied on her own strength, yet chose to raise capital by becoming a human trafficker.
Zhu Yuanyuan had to pay the price for her actions, but the problem was that the few years she would serve in prison were far too trivial compared to the nearly two decades of luxury she had enjoyed in the Wei family. Worse yet, divorcing Wei Yan would still net her a sum of money…
“Oh right, the assets Zhu Yuanyuan obtains through the divorce settlement should be used for restitution, shouldn’t they? What was it called again—the disgorgement of illegal gains?” Gu Qinghuan asked.
The system replied: “After paying various fines and victim compensation, the assets Zhu Yuanyuan obtains through the divorce agreement will ultimately leave her with roughly two hundred thousand yuan.”
Gu Qinghuan: “The compensation Qin Yue received was also two hundred thousand… Huh, this number is significantly lower than I imagined.”
The system: “Wei Yan and Zhu Yuanyuan had signed a prenuptial property agreement, which was precisely the reason Wei Yan always believed Zhu Yuanyuan was within his total control.”
So that was it. Gu Qinghuan understood.
In Wei Yan’s view, since Zhu Yuanyuan had climbed her way up to him solely for wealth and signed a prenuptial agreement, she would naturally remain obedient to ensure she could continue enjoying that luxury for the rest of her life.
Gu Qinghuan: “As long as Wei Xiao remains in the Wei family, the value of the things he enjoys will far exceed two hundred thousand yuan. It’ll be very difficult to make him feel like Zhu Yuanyuan is living better than him.”
The system: “Yes, the assets Zhu Yuanyuan obtains through the divorce agreement truly only amount to that much.”
Just as Gu Qinghuan was about to let out a sigh, she suddenly realized something and snapped her eyes open, sitting up straight.
The system’s answers had always been crisp and direct; why did it explicitly emphasize the phrase “the assets Zhu Yuanyuan obtains through the divorce agreement“?
She narrowed her eyes: “System.”
The system: “I am here.”
Gu Qinghuan said, enunciating every single word: “Aside from the divorce agreement, how much wealth has Zhu Yuanyuan obtained through other methods?”
Within the system’s core, it practically cheered with joy. As expected of its host, she noticed!
However, when replying, the system’s tone remained as deadpan and mechanical as ever: “One million US dollars.”
Gu Qinghuan froze, followed by a sudden shriek in her mind: “That absolute villain, ahhh!”
She should have known! Given Zhu Yuanyuan’s personality, how could she not have a hidden contingency plan!
Since she had signed a prenuptial property agreement, then even if there were marital assets accumulated after the wedding, the portion she could legally claim before Wei Yan wouldn’t amount to much. Under those circumstances, how could she possibly have refrained from embezzling funds on the side!
Chapter 266: A Prairie Fire
Although she was aware of the fact that Zhu Yuanyuan had stashed away a huge sum of money, Gu Qinghuan realized with a pang of frustration that she couldn’t use it directly.
Even if she tried to frame it as her own deduction and begged Xia He to find the evidence, then figured out a way to leak it to Wei Xiao… it would be too slow. There were far too many uncontrollable variables in terms of timing.
Gu Qinghuan curled into a ball and rolled around on her bed, clutching her head. Such advantageous intel!
As long as Wei Xiao knew that Zhu Yuanyuan had tucked away a million US dollars, he would definitely go and provoke her. The problem was how to orchestrate this entire setup so that Wei Xiao found out within such a short window of time!
In her distraction, Gu Qinghuan bumped her head against the nightstand and ended up curled into a ball for real, this time clutching her head in genuine pain.
Once the pain finally began to subside, Gu Qinghuan picked up her phone, intending to figure out how to guide everyone through some roundabout method, only to find the chat content in the group unexpectedly exceeding her expectations.
Tao Shenxing: [I’ve been thinking, do we really have to be so honest about this?]
Jiang Chuchu: [Let’s hear it.]
Tao Shenxing: [Our goal is just to ignite the cockroach’s sense of resentment and his hatred for his mother. We don’t actually need to produce real evidence, do we?]
Shen Jianwei: [?]
Shen Jianwei: [You’re something else. You really love dancing on the edge of the gray area.]
Bao Qingsong: [Cough, well, as long as we don’t file a police report…]
Jiang Chuchu: [Your brains are seriously flexible.]
Fan Ziran: [The rules are rigid, but people can be flexible!]
Yu Xin: [If we follow this line of thought, we only need to provide some pseudo-evidence to make the cockroach suspect Zhu Yuanyuan; he’ll naturally start a fight with her.]
Xu Xinghe: [I vote in favor! All is fair in war!]
Bao Qingsong: [I vote in favor too. Following the rules is all well and good, but the Wei family has stopped acting like decent human beings, so why show him any courtesy?]
Qin Yue integrated everyone’s opinions. Almost everyone voted in favor, and the few who remained neutral only hoped to keep the scope controlled so they wouldn’t get dragged into any blowback.
The proposal was thus passed. Everyone offered a few suggestions, ultimately concluding that the most convincing bait for Wei Xiao would be the idea that Zhu Yuanyuan had hidden away a massive fortune.
After all, money was the kind of thing that could instantly change the quality of one’s life.
Yu Xin had just experienced the Yu family selling off Yu Yuan’s belongings, so the prices of those luxury items were fresh in her mind. Furthermore, the Wei family had previously hosted exhibitions featuring countless art pieces. If Zhu Yuanyuan had secretly swapped out a few, or sold off luxury items that weren’t used often, she could easily have hidden away a small fortune.
And so, building on the foundation of “Zhu Yuanyuan has privately hidden a massive fortune to live a life of leisure after prison,” the group began discussing how to get this fake news to Wei Xiao.
Gu Qinghuan stared blankly at the phone screen, then let out a long, heavy breath. She blocked her eyes with the back of her hand, but her lips curled into a smile.
Gu Qinghuan: [System, look. Even without me saying a word, everyone could come up with it on their own.]
Although one was a fact and the other was fake news, the fact that Class Three could pull this off on their own was nothing short of extraordinary. Everyone was becoming increasingly capable, influencing and fostering growth in one another. Without an external cheat like the system, people could still grow powerful.
System: [I agree with the host, though I believe that if not for the spark that is the host, the targets of Class Three’s mission would never have reached this point.]
Gu Qinghuan swung her fist toward the ceiling: [Well, obviously! I’ve been working really hard too!]
She was simply happy and deeply gratified that her strength could influence so many people. Even just reading the chat messages across a phone screen, she could intuitively realize the returns her efforts were bringing.
Perhaps it was the same for others: teachers saw the growth of their students through education; parents saw the growth of their children through companionship and upbringing…
Every profession, every person in society could rely on their own strength to make the world a better place. Any single individual could become the spark that starts a prairie fire.
Gu Qinghuan sat back up, invigorated, and sent a message: [You guys really know how to play.]
Jiang Chuchu: [What do you mean play? We’re very seriously researching how to manufacture insecticide.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Right, right, right. It feels like mashed potatoes mixed with boric acid.]
Lin Zhulu: [Cockroaches don’t deserve mashed potatoes!]
Gu Qinghuan: [So, we’re going with this plan?]
Bao Qingsong: [Not just that. Beyond using fake news to make Wei Xiao think Zhu Yuanyuan is living the good life, we’re also going to expose his true nature to make his own life even worse.]
Ji Tianxiao: [Public opinion is a sharp weapon, after all.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Are we going to talk about the bad things he did when he was a kid?]
Bao Qingsong: [Yes and no. I don’t want to implicate those victims, so I plan to fabricate some things appropriately.]
Shen Jianwei: [Fabricating…]
Song Yi: [Since the whole school knows he hit Qin Yue anyway, let’s just make his reputation even worse!]
Qin Yue: [Go for it! I’m not afraid of being famous!]
Jiang Chuchu: [How is being hit and ending up in the news considered being “famous”…]
Yao Shali: [Also, the news about Zhu Yuanyuan being a human trafficker is going to be spread privately as well.]
Bao Qingsong: [The court will issue a verdict anyway; it’ll be easy to find once it’s out.]
Ai Ning: [Exactly. We’re just accelerating the timeline of when it gets exposed.]
Who cared about Wei Xiao’s reputation? He was already malicious and completely devoid of conscience; there was no need to save face for him! And given Wei Xiao’s personality, if he knew everyone was pointing fingers at him because of Zhu Yuanyuan’s crimes, he would only harbor deeper resentment toward her, wouldn’t he?
The plan was set. Yu Xin would take charge of detailing the steps and delegating tasks, to be finalized by Wednesday at the latest.
The activity in the group chat slowly died down. Although the specific plan hadn’t been fully fleshed out yet, everyone could still handle some preparatory work on their own. Of course, there were also those who hadn’t finished their homework and were rushing to get it done.
Gu Qinghuan pondered for a moment before tapping open her chat with Xia He, briefly explaining Class Three’s plan.
Ten minutes later, Xia He replied: [Do you need me to forge some evidence to handle the investigations by Wei Xiao and Wei Yan?]
Gu Qinghuan gave him a mental thumbs-up. Speaking with Xia He was just so effortless!
In reality, Zhu Yuanyuan actually did have a large sum of money hidden away, and she was still counting on Xia He to truly dig it up. That would turn the fake play into reality; never mind Wei Yan, Wei Xiao would surely be driven to the brink of insanity.
Gu Qinghuan: [Yes. It doesn’t need to be incredibly authentic—it just needs to fool Wei Xiao next week so he successfully provokes Zhu Yuanyuan.]
Xia He: [Understood. I’ll send it to you once it’s ready.]
Gu Qinghuan contentedly tucked away her phone. Although several infuriating things had happened today, looking at the outcome, everything remained firmly under her control.
Tomorrow was Tuesday; Wei Xiao could have one last easy day. But once everyone took action on Wednesday, he was in for a miserable time.
As it turned out, reality was even worse for Wei Xiao.
On Tuesday morning, someone compiled every humiliating experience Wei Xiao had gone through since transferring schools and submitted it to the confession wall.
The marmots of Class Three looked at each other in bewilderment.
Who did this? It wasn’t one of our marmots, was it?
Looking at the submitter’s avatar, Bao Qingsong’s mouth twitched.
Yu Yuan, could you at least try using an anonymous side account?
However, as the righteous administrator, he naturally wouldn’t tell a soul!
