Chapter 27: I Am a Fragile Internet Emperor

Yu Tongjie was a man who held himself to incredibly high standards; he was known as "Strict Brother."

The principle of being strict with oneself but lenient with others did not apply to him. He believed that if one was strict with oneself, one should also be strict with everyone else. To a man like him, everyone else was an idiot.

Regarding his promotion to the advanced class, he felt it was the result he deserved after a year of grueling hard work. In his eyes, Zhang Ningzhi was his kind of person.

Jiang Nian was not.

The myth of improving one’s score by one or two hundred points over a single summer break was an insult to those who studied diligently; it was no different than being slapped in the face with a slipper. Cheating—it was almost certainly cheating.

For the past two days, he had been actively answering questions in class, while Jiang Nian had not volunteered once. During breaks, he always saw Jiang Nian turning around, laughing and joking with the people in the back rows.

When the grand joint examination came in October, Jiang Nian would surely reveal his true colors.

Zhang Ningzhi, who had been promoted alongside him, seemed unable to see through all this. Seeing her looking absent-minded in class, he worried that if things continued this way, she would sooner or later be led astray by someone like Jiang Nian.

At 10:30 PM, at Nanjiang Bay.

Zhang Ningzhi stood on her balcony, letting the night breeze blow against her as she gazed at the county town’s nightscape, feeling deeply troubled.

Integrating into the new group was even harder than she had imagined. The girls in the class seemed to have already formed small cliques. Some had approached her, but only to the extent of exchanging a few polite words.

But what bothered her more was Jiang Nian.

That person had clearly spoken to her on the very morning they were promoted, but ever since new classmates arrived, he barely talked to her at all, even though she had dropped hints.

What a heartless man! A total waste of the tissues she’d shared!

She hadn't said a word to Jiang Nian yesterday, nor had she spoken to anyone else in the classroom.

*Sob, sob...*

She leaned against the railing of the small balcony attached to her room, agonizing over whether to take the initiative and add Jiang Nian on QQ. Would he dislike her? Had she done something wrong?

*Ding, ding, ding!*

The notification sound from her computer startled her, and she rushed back into the room.

Jiang Nian had finally remembered to add her! He had even openly taken out his phone in class to add a girl who was good at blowing bubblegum, but he hadn't added her. Even if that girl’s bubble was big and round, that was no excuse!

I was here first!

Hmph, she would leave him hanging for the night, pretending she had fallen asleep. She would accept his request tomorrow morning to let him feel what it was like to be ignored!

Forget it, she’d leave him hanging for ten minutes.

*Ding, ding.* As soon as her rounded hips settled onto the computer chair, she impatiently clicked on the contact list. It was... oh, classmate Yu Tongjie.

Zhang Ningzhi let go of the mouse and let out a very genuine sigh.

The verification message from the other party contained only a name, showing it was sent by a member of the class group. After a few minutes of silence, she sent a temporary message out of politeness. She wanted to see what he wanted; if it wasn't important, she wouldn't just go around adding people.

She liked posting status updates on her space, but she didn't want to constantly manage privacy groups. For instance, she didn't want people she wasn't close to seeing photos from her travels. Once rumors started flying, making friends would become even harder.

Lemon Branch: "(Smiling)"

On the other end, Yu Tongjie had just finished showering and received Zhang Ningzhi's reply. Seeing it was a temporary chat, he found it strange that she hadn't accepted his request, but he didn't think much of it. Once he explained himself, she would surely understand his good intentions.

In his view, he and Zhang Ningzhi were the same kind of people. First, they were both hard-working students who had earned their promotion. Second, they both came from relatively well-off families. Third, she was very beautiful—the kind of beauty that was enough to lead to social isolation.

Coincidentally, he had been isolated too.

Therefore, Yu Tongjie felt he and Zhang Ningzhi should have common ground. Jiang Nian would be demoted sooner or later, and the two of them should help each other adapt to the new collective.

"How is your relationship with Jiang Nian?" he asked.

On the other side, Zhang Ningzhi, who had already started to get up, reflexively sat back down at the mention of Jiang Nian’s name. What did he mean by that?

"It's alright, I guess."

She used the word "alright" to cover up her true feelings, adding a "I guess" as a buffer. Whether it was good or not, and how good it was, the interpretation was entirely up to her.

In the new class, the person she was most familiar with was Jiang Nian, who had spoken to her and helped move her desk on the first day.

Actually, she really wanted to ask, "Who are you?" The name Yu Tongjie sounded familiar, but she had been too nervous when they were introduced on the podium to remember who it belonged to.

Yu Tongjie: "I don't recommend you associate with him. I mean that sincerely."

Zhang Ningzhi stared at the new message, completely bewildered. Who was he to tell her who to associate with? Besides, Jiang Nian was the only one she knew in the new class.

If she didn't associate with him, was she supposed to associate with him instead?

"Why?"

"Because he cheated his way into this class. There’s no evidence yet, but based on the latest information I’ve received, it’s highly probable. There’s no need for you to associate with him."

"I’m just reminding you as a classmate. It’s not easy to be promoted from the parallel classes; we all put in tremendous effort, going through stacks of practice papers and staying up late to memorize lessons."

"So, I don't want to see your efforts go to waste. If you associate with someone like Jiang Nian who doesn't study, you’ll eventually be led astray and sent back to the parallel classes."

In front of the computer, Zhang Ningzhi froze as she stared at the long paragraph in the temporary chat window. For some reason, a surge of intense anger welled up inside her, and her hands began to tremble.

Jiang Nian didn't cheat! She was in the same exam room as him!

He prepared seriously for every exam and arrived at the hall early every time. There were no cheat sheets on his desk, and he acted with complete integrity during the tests without any suspicious movements.

How dare he! To wipe out all of someone’s hard work with a single sentence!

With trembling fingers, she typed a few words on her keyboard.

"Jiang Nian did not cheat!"

On the other end, Yu Tongjie frowned. Zhang Ningzhi was too naive. She had been easily deceived by Jiang Nian. Then again, if someone like that could cheat, there was nothing they wouldn't say.

"The fact is that at the end of last semester, he was still at the bottom of the parallel classes."

*Plop.* A tear fell onto the computer desk, and Zhang Ningzhi’s eyes turned red. She wanted to scold him back, but she didn't know how to lash out at people, so she closed the window instead.

She had been accused of cheating before and had spent a long time under that cloud of suspicion. She had lived through those dark days and knew how painful it was to be doubted.

She opened the class group and found Jiang Nian among the members. She clicked to add him, filled in "Zhang Ningzhi" as the verification message, and after a moment of thought, added the word "tissues."

*Ding-ding.* The request was accepted almost instantly.

[Jiang Yue Nian Nian Wang Xiang Si]: "Huh? You're staying up late too?"

Zhang Ningzhi wiped her tears and suddenly started to smile. She wanted to tell him what had just happened, but she didn't want him to think she was a gossip.

So she said, "(Embarrassed) Someone is bad-mouthing you."

Jiang Nian: "I am a fragile Internet Emperor. That someone wouldn't be you, would it?"

Zhang Ningzhi blushed. "Of course not."

"It's fine, even if it were you, it would be fine," Jiang Nian replied. "Those who point out the faults of the Emperor shall be punished by exile."

(Message retracted), "punished by execution."