Chapter 30: Campus Mary Sue 28

With the elders of the Li family stepping forward, the engagement between Le Yixian and An Xiansi was easily dissolved.

Within days, prominent families across Huaguo learned of the annulment between the An and Li families. Speculation abounded as to what had caused the two clans to break off the engagement.

When word spread that the young master and miss of each family had fallen for someone else, everyone was stunned.

Le Yixian attended classes as usual, but many classmates now looked at her with a hint of pity.

The students of Alston School were unanimously convinced that An Xiansi had fallen for one of the school’s outstanding male students, meaning Le Yixian’s former fiancé was, in their eyes, attracted to men.

“I saw it with my own eyes—Young Master Xiansi cornered that top student and kissed him in a secluded spot on campus.”

“I saw them too, holding hands in the cafeteria. I thought it was odd at the time.”

“No way! During the last school festival, I saw Miss Muxue shopping with a first-year junior. She even won him a rainbow caterpillar plush just like hers!”

“Yeah, right, keep making things up.”

“Exactly. How could Muxue possibly fall for a human being?”

“No, really—they kissed, and Muxue initiated it.”

“Yang Lechang, stop joking around. If you’re going to make up stories, at least make them believable like ours.”

“He’s probably just trying to get Muxue’s attention by saying these things.”

“Oh, come on, we’re not in elementary school—if you like her, just tell her directly.”

“By the way, does this mean Muxue is single now? No more engagement?”

“…”

“I’m going to confess to her!”

“Wait for me!”

“Honestly, you’re the ones making stuff up. I’m just stating facts,” Yang Lechang fumed, watching his classmates run off. “Ye Muxue already has a boyfriend.”

He was telling the truth and had no interest in being friends with people who refused to see reality.

As he watched their retreating backs and chose to walk the other way, his confidence lasted less than half a minute before regret set in.

As a top-tier school, Alston was renowned not only for its excellent faculty and state-of-the-art facilities but also for its remarkable campus architecture, with buildings designed by leading architects. The European-inspired style meant Roman columns adorned the campus, tall enough to easily hide a person behind them.

Yang Lechang came upon the very subject of their recent conversation—she was bracing herself against a column, gazing down at a boy trapped between her and the pillar, his face flushed red.

Yang Lechang froze.

Was dissolving the engagement just an excuse to flaunt their relationship so brazenly? Did they really have to show off their affection in such an open, public way?

As if sensing his presence, the girl with the vibrant, rainbow-hued hair turned her head, the corners of her lips curving with a faint smile.

The boy in front of her seemed to notice Yang Lechang as well and muttered something—Yang Lechang made out the word “someone”—while struggling a bit.

She didn’t force him, simply let go.

A sense of foreboding welled in Yang Lechang’s chest as the girl turned her full attention to him.

“You’re Yang Lechang, aren’t you?” she asked, flipping her dazzling hair with a raised eyebrow.

Yang Lechang stared, then quickly realized that the spot where he’d been chatting with his classmates was just around the corner from here—everything they’d said had no doubt been overheard.

“You’re the one who runs the stall with the caterpillar plushies?” Le Yixian recalled a snippet of their earlier conversation.

He nodded nervously, swallowing hard—the girl before him was not only beautiful but exuded a powerful aura. As a student on the lower rungs of the Alston hierarchy, he couldn’t help feeling intimidated by someone at the very top.

“So, you saw me on a date with my junior?” Le Yixian asked.

Yang Lechang was at a loss for words.

“And you saw us kissing in the auditorium?”

He shook his head vigorously, protesting, “No, I didn’t see anything! Muxue, you see, I’m extremely nearsighted—eight hundred degrees! Without my glasses, I can’t see a thing. I must have mistaken you for someone else during the festival.”

With that, he whipped off his glasses.

Instantly, a calming blur enveloped his world. The blessed comfort of seeing nothing.

“Relax,” Le Yixian tried not to laugh at his reaction, “It’s good if you saw. Didn’t you say your family runs a publishing house? Do you have a way to let the whole school know I’m dating my junior?”

“Well… actually, I do. I run the school newspaper,” Yang Lechang replied uncertainly, peering at her vague outline.

“Perfect. Let’s do that,” Le Yixian agreed readily after a moment’s thought.

Yang Lechang, glasses off and lost in a blur: “Huh?”

—

The next day, the latest campus gossip surfaced.

The Alston School Daily published a full-page headline scoop. The entire page was dominated by a single photograph: a corner of the Alston campus, with a rainbow-haired girl stealing the spotlight, most of her face visible.

She braced one hand against the wall, the other lifting the chin of a boy a head shorter than her, kissing him. From every angle, it was clear who was taking the lead.

The dazzling hair and that unmistakable profile—when students opened the latest issue of the Alston Daily, silence swept the halls.

The blazing headline screamed: SHOCKING!! The Campus Goddess Has a Boyfriend!!!!

The subheading read: A Student Accidentally Witnesses the Goddess in a Heated Kiss with an Unknown Boy in a Secluded Corner!!!

The body: WHO has captured the goddess’s heart? Our reporter investigates!!!

After reading the entire page, the students seethed with indignation.

Who started this ridiculous rumor?

How could their goddess possibly be dating?

No—even if she were, how could it be with someone so short?

Who would believe this nonsense?

If you want to make up rumors, at least make them convincing. Like the tragic love-hate saga between Young Master Xiansi and that bookish top student.

Infuriated, the students tore up their newspapers and stormed off to file complaints with the school.

Within days, the head of the school newspaper was summoned for a meeting with the principal.

The principal pointed out, inside and out, that while students enjoyed reading gossip, what they wanted was credible gossip. Just look at what you published a few days ago—what do you call that?

Li Muxue, fall for a boy shorter than herself? Impossible.

The newspaper’s editor remained silent, looking at the principal with the weary gaze of one sober soul among the drunken masses: What do you all know? This is the real truth!