Chapter 11: Low Sense of Presence
The onlooking students around them were also amused by Gu Qinghuan, their laughter making this so-called “Brother Yan” look even uglier, “You—”
“Hold it, hold it,” Gu Qinghuan raised a hand in a “pause” gesture. “Let me ask something first. You, uh… Brother Yan, what’s your name?”
There was another wave of stifled laughter from the crowd.
Earlier, when his lackeys had called him “Brother Yan,” no one thought much of it. But now, with Gu Qinghuan saying it so hesitantly—like she found the very words embarrassing—everyone else started to feel second-hand awkwardness.
“I—” Brother Yan had just opened his mouth when Gu Qinghuan suddenly exclaimed, “Wait a minute!”
Brother Yan’s breath caught in his chest; he almost choked.
Gu Qinghuan turned to Xie Xiangxue. “Do you know his name?”
Xie Xiangxue shook her head so fast it was like a rattle-drum. “How would I know his name?”
Gu Qinghuan swung her head back again. Speaking to Xie Xiangxue, but looking right at Brother Yan, she said, “No way—you mean you don’t even know the name of the person you’re supposedly trying to ‘deliberately get close to’?”
“She’s lying!” Brother Yan snapped, flustered. “She knows damn well! I’m Yan Zhengqing!”
“…Who?” Gu Qinghuan looked genuinely confused—because she really didn’t know.
Yan Zhengqing’s face turned a shade of eggplant purple.
“Stop pretending you don’t know,” Jiang Chuchu finally pushed through the crowd, “You don’t even know me, let alone him.”
At the sight of Jiang Chuchu, Yan Zhengqing’s expression shifted. “Jiang Chuchu!”
Jiang Chuchu planted herself in front of Gu Qinghuan and Xie Xiangxue, not giving him a single glance, and poked Gu on the forehead. “Stay away from this guy, got it? You can’t afford to get involved with him.”
“Oh.” Gu Qinghuan nodded once—then turned to Xie and, with mock sternness, repeated, “Stay away from him! You can’t afford it!”
Some of the onlookers were already laughing so hard they were wheezing.
Yan Zhengqing ground his teeth. “Jiang Chuchu, don’t think you can go against me just because your family’s here!”
“So you’re not using your family’s influence to bully people?” Gu Qinghuan poked her head out from behind Jiang Chuchu.
Yan Zhengqing was at a loss for words.
Jiang Chuchu crossed her arms and sneered. “Yeah, I’m using my family’s name—so what? At least I’m not like you, causing trouble for the Yan family every day. It’s only the second day of school and you’re already having paranoid delusions? Who tries to ‘get close’ to someone by pissing them off?”
“There are!” Gu Qinghuan popped her head out again. “In idol dramas, it’s always like this! On her first day at work, the heroine accidentally spills coffee on the CEO, and he finds her clumsy and adorable, and then—”
Jiang Chuchu clamped a hand over Gu’s mouth. “Who in their right mind would apply brain-dead idol drama plots to real life? Is he brain-dead?”
Gu Qinghuan couldn’t speak, but her eyes clearly signaled—Yup, that guy right there.
Yan Zhengqing’s face darkened like a thundercloud. He spun around and strode off, his two lackeys calling “Brother Yan!” as they hurried after him.
The crowd dispersed, and the plaza returned to its lively bustle.
Jiang Chuchu released her grip. “Next time, don’t just charge in without thinking. Do you even know who that was?”
“I really don’t,” Gu Qinghuan said. “And even if I did, I still would’ve.”
In that kind of situation, she couldn’t just leave Xie Xiangxue alone—at the very least, she had to let her know she wasn’t alone.
Only now did Xie Xiangxue relax fully, and her tears began to fall. Wiping her eyes, she choked out, “Thank you… thank you both…”
Gu Qinghuan pulled a napkin from her pocket, tore one off for her, and then asked Jiang, “Is this Yan Zhengqing guy powerful?”
“Not really.” Jiang shrugged. “His family’s in the entertainment business—these past few years they’ve been churning out idol stars, monetizing traffic, making decent money, but they’ve got no real foundation.”
Then she snorted. “Judging by the way he acts, the Yan family will be ruined in his hands sooner or later.”
Gu Qinghuan half-understood, half-didn’t. Jiang, seeing her blank look, poked her forehead again. “You’d better hope he doesn’t take notice of you. He can’t touch me, but it’d be easy for him to mess with you.”
That made Xie Xiangxue uneasy too. She looked at Gu apologetically. “Sorry, this is all my fault.”
“Don’t worry about me. He might just as well come after you,” Gu Qinghuan patted her arm. “Besides, this isn’t your fault—you’re the victim, why blame yourself?”
“But if I hadn’t spilled on him—” Xie Xiangxue started.
Gu Qinghuan shook her head decisively. “With his self-absorbed personality, even if you hadn’t spilled on him, just looking at him too long would make him think you had ulterior motives.”
“Focus more on finding faults in others, not in yourself,” Gu Qinghuan said with mock-sage seriousness. “You’ll realize the world’s full of lunatics.”
Xie Xiangxue laughed, her mood lighter, and nodded hard. “Mm! I won’t give that jerk another thought!”
Watching Xie head off toward the club she wanted to join, Gu finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Still, you’d better be careful the next few days,” Jiang Chuchu murmured.
“You too,” Gu Qinghuan replied.
Jiang gave a little laugh. “What can he do to me?”
“It’s not what he can do to you—that’s the biggest danger,” Gu Qinghuan said seriously.
Jiang Chuchu blinked.
“I actually think he might be more interested in going after you than me or Xie,” Gu Qinghuan continued. “Guys like him, who lose in status to someone and then get publicly embarrassed by them—they’ll want to get their pride back from you.”
“But if he can’t do it outright, he’ll just hate you more. He’ll watch for your mistakes, for any slip-up, so he can bite when the chance comes,” she said solemnly.
“…All this over a little argument?” Jiang sounded doubtful.
Gu Qinghuan didn’t answer—she just looked at her quietly.
Rubbing her temples, Jiang Chuchu finally muttered, “I’ll talk to my brother about it when I get home.”
A bit of a pity she wasn’t going to her parents, but a brother was still family, and hopefully more level-headed.
Gu Qinghuan thought about it, then used the excuse of checking out clubs to split off from Jiang.
When she reached a quieter spot, she finally calmed her mind enough to speak to the system: [System, do you have any defense functions?]
[Why would you assume I have that?] the system countered.
…Okay, so apparently not.
Gu Qinghuan was disappointed, but still argued, [If something happens to me, the mission won’t be completed, right?]
The system was silent for a while, then said, [If you’re worried about Yan Zhengqing retaliating for what just happened, you can relax. When you and your classmates are involved in something together, the consequences will basically only affect your classmates.]
[Huh?] Gu Qinghuan was baffled.
The system patiently explained, [For example, this time—if Yan Zhengqing decides to retaliate, it’ll be against Xie Xiangxue and Jiang Chuchu, not you.]
[Why?] Gu Qinghuan asked.
[Because right now, your sense of presence is very thin,] the system said.
Ah but Qin Yue and Song Yi are there. Usually boys help girls in the class