Chapter 98: The Backup Plan
Since she had gotten the homeroom teacher’s approval, Gu Qinghuan found it much easier to explain things to her classmates.
The classmates, however, did not feel at ease after hearing the general plan.
Xu Xinghe rubbed his forehead. “I swear, I will never mess with our class president again.”
Zhan Xiaolan’s eyes, on the other hand, lit up. “I like this feeling—calmly controlling the entire situation, step by step gathering the pieces you need, it’s like…”
“Like the mastermind behind the scenes,” Bao Qingsong interjected.
He then received an eye-roll from Jiang Chuchu. “Qinghuan didn’t even do anything wrong—those guys brought it on themselves.”
Yu Xin also said, “This plan actually keeps giving them opportunities. If it really plays out to the end, it’s because they deserved it.”
Indeed, just as Yu Xin said, this plan was very passive.
If Shen Mingzhe hadn’t clashed with Chen Zelin, Chen Zelin wouldn’t have fought back; if Shen Mingzhe hadn’t stirred up Class 10’s students again, no one would have come to make trouble.
It looked like each move was deliberate, but in reality, every step was filled with tolerance and forgiveness.
Qin Yue thought for a while. “Even though the plan sounds simple, there’s actually quite a bit to do, right?”
They needed to confirm with Yu Yuan whether Shen Mingzhe had been complaining to classmates.
They also had to monitor those people’s movements, predict when and how they’d act, and prepare countermeasures in advance.
It was a bit troublesome, but surprisingly, Class 3 seemed to enjoy it.
The more troublesome something is, the more people it needs to participate—and this was way more exciting than an exam. Everyone wanted a piece of the action.
Jiang Chuchu took over drafting the detailed plan and assigning tasks. When Gu Qinghuan tried to protest, she pulled her aside and whispered a few words.
Jiang Chuchu raised her eyebrows. “You have a backup plan, right?”
Gu Qinghuan played dumb. “What?”
“That plan is way too kind. I think those idiots will definitely ignore your goodwill and walk right into the final trap—but you must have a backup plan. If this one fails, the backup comes into play,” Jiang Chuchu said.
Gu Qinghuan sighed. “Ah, so this is what it’s like to be an heiress. My scheming still isn’t deep enough.”
“It’s not about scheming,” Jiang Chuchu replied. “It’s just like my dad always told my brother and me—you can make mistakes yourself, but you can’t count on others not making mistakes. I just applied that mindset to your plan.”
Because the plan’s success depended entirely on whether those guys followed the intended script, Jiang Chuchu suspected Gu Qinghuan must have prepared something else.
In her view, Gu Qinghuan was always thorough—there was no way she’d gamble everything on a single possibility.
“So, go do your thing and leave this plan to me,” Jiang Chuchu lifted her chin. “And, well, let me get some practice too.”
If Jiang Youwei knew about this opportunity, he’d definitely encourage Jiang Chuchu to give it a try.
The reasoning was sound, the methods upright, and it was a perfect chance to practice her strategic skills.
Gu Qinghuan agreed without hesitation. “Alright, it’s yours. I’ll take care of other things.”
While the class group chat buzzed with activity, Gu Qinghuan opened another chat window: [Senior Bai?]
After all, she had clung to a strong backer—what a waste if she didn’t use him!
Bai Hanshan’s phone buzzed, and a notification popped up at the top of the screen.
The young woman playing games on his phone raised an eyebrow. “Xiao Han, who’s this ‘good kid who caused the bet to fail’?”
His older sister, Bai Qingyin, had come to the city for a magazine interview. The siblings hadn’t seen each other in a while, so Bai Hanshan had taken a day off to spend time with her.
Now that the interview was over, they were having dinner at a private kitchen restaurant. Even though it was a bit late, irregular meal times were nothing unusual for people in the entertainment industry.
Bai Qingyin was rushing to meet the deadline for her new album, and her manager had ruthlessly uninstalled all games from her phone to stop her from playing endlessly and delaying progress.
But—daily check-ins couldn’t be missed! Daily tasks couldn’t be left undone!
Since she didn’t trust anyone else to handle them, this “job” fell to Bai Hanshan.
He nearly had a headache when he saw how much storage her games took up—the largest one was over 20 GB. He’d even had to clean up half of WeChat.
Now, since the two of them were alone without the manager or assistant around, Bai Qingyin immediately grabbed his phone to play.
Sitting across from her while ordering dishes, Bai Hanshan looked up. “Gu Qinghuan messaged me?”
“Gu Qinghuan? ‘The flavor of the human world is Qinghuan’? Nice name,” Bai Qingyin said just as she finished a round, handing the phone back.
Bai Hanshan opened WeChat and replied: [What’s up?]
“By the way, why do you have her saved under that note?” Bai Qingyin asked curiously.
“She made me lose a bet with Xia He, so now I have to handle all the student council affairs for him. And since he’s disappeared, I have even more work to do.” Bai Hanshan’s tone was full of complaint.
“But she’s very capable, so—‘good kid,’” he added.
Bai Qingyin pouted. “You’re not much older than her yourself—what’s with the ‘kid’? But… if she could see through your bet with Xia He, that’s pretty impressive.”
The bet between Bai Hanshan and Xia He was whether anyone could see through Xia He’s “bullying lie.”
Some believed Bai Hanshan’s words and thought Xia He was just stirring trouble; others didn’t and went to Xia He to find out the truth.
Bai Hanshan thought that as long as someone could, by their own power, expose the fake scar stickers and realize it was a test, the bet would be over.
But when Gu Qinghuan found the real wound on Xia He’s arm, he realized that was what Xia He had been aiming for all along.
What he wanted was for someone to “see through”—to see through the lie of bullying to the truth of self-harm.
“Wait,” Bai Hanshan looked up. “From what you’re saying… you knew about Xia He’s self-harm?”
“Of course,” Bai Qingyin said casually. “Those scar stickers were made by a special effects makeup artist I’m close with.”
Bai Hanshan opened his mouth to ask why she didn’t tell him, but after a moment, decided there was nothing to say and shut it again.
Just then, Gu Qinghuan’s next message came in: [I have a few things to take care of. If Senior Bai can help, that’d be perfect.]
Bai Hanshan: [Let’s hear it.]
Gu Qinghuan: [I need to investigate the school’s surveillance footage, some student files, and also get the guest list for any recent major school events that invited outsiders…]
The more Bai Hanshan read, the more silent he became: [What are you planning?]
Gu Qinghuan: [I promise it won’t damage the school’s reputation or interests.]
Gu Qinghuan: [If the student council is willing to cooperate, that is.]
That “if” sounded full of threat.
Bai Hanshan: [What you’re asking for doesn’t sound like something that won’t hurt the school’s reputation or interests.]
Gu Qinghuan: [Oh, no, no—the damage will be to someone else’s reputation and interests.]
Bai Hanshan: [For example?]
Gu Qinghuan: [For example… if the Yan family’s company gets hit with an explosive scandal, Yan Zhengqing will be too busy being kept in line at school to bother causing trouble for our class!]
