Chapter 94: Setting a Trap
Gu Qinghuan sat at her desk, finishing her homework. She turned her scratch paper to a fresh, empty page, wrote down the four names that Yu Yuan had told her, and at the very top, she added the names Yan Zhengqing and Shen Mingzhe.
These four boys, egged on by Shen Mingzhe, had done something they thought was “just a joke.”
The person who had given them the confidence to do such a thing was Yan Zhengqing — or rather, the Yan family behind him.
Class Three’s direct retaliation target was these four boys. However, doing it openly would have a high chance of provoking Yan Zhengqing.
Gu Qinghuan tapped the paper with her pen. From her past encounters, Yan Zhengqing was arrogant, conceited, and very concerned about saving face.
He would most likely shield his little underlings and hangers-on — in fact, this was exactly how he, as class president, built loyalty.
It reminded Gu Qinghuan of how some entertainment companies cultivated die-hard fans:
“Sure, I might have done something wrong for the sake of my idol — even hurt others — but my idol forgave me, understood my intentions, and appreciated my dedication. How could I not continue liking such an idol?”
Yan Zhengqing’s way of doing things was even simpler and more crude. He didn’t have to worry about an “idol image.” With the Yan family backing him, there was always someone to clean up his messes.
If it were only about dealing with those four boys, Gu Qinghuan could easily think of three or four ways to strike back.
Because everyone has weaknesses — aim directly at them, keep them too busy putting out fires to think of anything else, and the problem is solved.
Such a method wouldn’t even require her to act directly — just a timely push at the right moment.
Still, Gu Qinghuan admitted this was indeed effective… but also extremely underhanded. Better not to use it unless absolutely necessary.
If possible, she wanted to teach Yan Zhengqing a lesson too, along with Shen Mingzhe, who had helped create this toxic atmosphere in Class Ten.
She was just wondering whether to ask Jiang Chuchu for some intel on Yan Zhengqing when a message popped up on her phone — from her homeroom teacher, Chen Zelin.
Chen Zelin: [Gu Qinghuan, about that banner yesterday… was it because you heard something?]
Gu Qinghuan raised her eyebrows and quickly replied with something that looked like she was trying to hide something: [Nope, we just wanted to make our homeroom teacher happy.]
The banner clearly said “To Our Teacher”, yet here she was claiming it was to make him, personally, happy.
And during the score announcement, the students had already seen how satisfied he was — so why would they need to “make him happy” again?
It must be because the students had learned something that would make him unhappy.
Chen Zelin’s feelings were suddenly a mix of complicated and gratified.
— And just like that, he had stepped right into Gu Qinghuan’s trap.
Of course, part of the reason was that Gu Qinghuan was a student, and he was a teacher — he never suspected she was saying this on purpose.
Even through text, Gu Qinghuan could feel Chen Zelin’s sincere tone: [You’re still students, you don’t need to worry about your teacher. If there’s a problem, I’ll handle it. You just focus on studying.]
Looks like the homeroom teacher knew about the gossip after all. Gu Qinghuan pondered: but… did he know that the one spreading rumors about him was Shen Mingzhe?
She probed: [So… you already know, Teacher?]
Right after sending that, she quickly followed up: [We just didn’t want to blow things up. It wouldn’t be good if it dragged other teachers into it.]
Chen Zelin was still thinking about how to respond to her first question, but when he read the second sentence, his eyes froze.
“Blow things up”?
“Drag other teachers into it”?
Wasn’t the rumor aimed at him? How would it implicate another teacher?
It felt like he had just been tricked into learning something huge from his class president!
His typing speed suddenly returned to his college gaming days — fingers flying over the screen: [How could a rumor about me be connected to another teacher?]
Gu Qinghuan sent him a “shocked” reaction sticker.
That little sticker actually helped calm Chen Zelin’s sudden urgency. He realized his tone had been too forceful toward her, so he took a few deep breaths to steady himself.
Gu Qinghuan: [Oops… I said too much…]
Gu Qinghuan: [How about this, Teacher — I’ll tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else.]
Although Chen Zelin was innocent in all this, since it involved him, he at least deserved to know the full picture.
Gu Qinghuan had already been considering the right timing to report this to him — might as well use this chance now.
She told him about the spray-painting incident on the blackboard, then added: [We’re already investigating exactly which student in Class 12 did it.]
Chen Zelin’s first instinct was to ask “Why do you think Class 12 did it?” — but he quickly realized Gu Qinghuan’s reasoning was likely simple:
She had heard the rumor, knew it was connected to Class 12, and so naturally assumed they were responsible.
Gossip about teachers could certainly spread among students, but the reverse was rarely true — unless someone snitched, teachers wouldn’t normally hear about students badmouthing them.
And Chen Zelin knew perfectly well this rumor was clearly started by a teacher.
Putting it together with what Gu Qinghuan said, the conclusion was obvious — Class Ten’s homeroom teacher, Shen Mingzhe, was the one who spread it.
Chen Zelin took a deep breath and typed seriously: [Thank you for doing so much. I’ll find a way to handle it.]
So… he didn’t want the students to get further involved?
Gu Qinghuan replied with a “cheering” sticker. After a while without a reply, she figured the conversation was over.
On her scratch paper, she added “Homeroom Teacher” to her list. As for Shen Mingzhe, the teacher would likely do something about him.
Over the next few days, as the “leak,” she could use the chance to chat with her homeroom teacher more and ask about his approach.
However, even if the teacher confronted Shen Mingzhe and asked him to better educate his students, she doubted Shen Mingzhe would apologize so easily. He might even go complain to Class Ten’s students.
If those boys heard about it, they’d just get angrier, thinking their last stunt was too tame — and that Class Three had resolved it too easily.
Next time, they might escalate.
Although that would be a chance to counterattack, the unpredictability and risk were too high — she’d have to discuss it with her classmates at length.
The most important thing was safety — she couldn’t risk anyone’s wellbeing just for the sake of “satisfying revenge.”
Gu Qinghuan rubbed her eyes. All this scheming was exhausting — clearly, “shaping destiny” was a task more suited for her.
Still… looking at it now, she really had just set a trap for her teacher, hadn’t she?
She felt a twinge of guilt, but quickly pushed it aside. I’ll apologize after this is over!
