Chapter 26 Part 2

This wasn't the time for gossip. Wang Qi asked again, "Has the media called you?"

"They have." He didn't know where they got his number. Lin Qingye lit a cigarette. "I was woken up by them this morning. I just turned my phone off."

"If you don't come forward to explain, they'll keep bothering you. Have you thought about how to solve this?"

Lin Qingye flicked the ash off his cigarette. "It's a fact that I hit him."

As long as this point couldn't be overturned, no matter how he explained, it would be useless. Public opinion was a storm like that. Lin Qingye was in a vulnerable position now, and to turn things around, he had to produce evidence that was strong enough.

A flimsy "I did not collect protection money" would be useless and might even cause a backlash.

Wang Qi frowned. "Have you considered reaching a private settlement with Su Zheng? I did some research beforehand. He went to an ordinary third-tier university, and his family's financial situation is very average. He's graduating now, so he needs money for many things. Besides, for him to suddenly stand up now, since it's a false accusation, his goal wouldn't just be to vent his anger. The possibility of reaching a settlement is very high."

Lin Qingye sneered. "No settlement. He deserved that beating."

"..." Wang Qi's brows shot up. "Lin Qingye! Now is not the time for you to act on your own whims!"

"First, tell me, why did you hit him?" Wang Qi asked again, his tone softening. "Let me see if there are any other solutions."

He held the cigarette between his lips, silent for a long while.

Then he curled his lips into a roguish smile. "For a girl."

Xu Zhinan went to the hospital. Although she no longer felt unwell, her temperature was still slightly elevated, so she was put on an IV drip.

After her artwork's position on the tattoo voting webpage moved up, its exposure probably increased, and the subsequent rise in votes was still good.

Xu Zhinan only glanced at it briefly before exiting and clicking back on the news about Lin Qingye. The comments below had become even more vicious.

"Um—Xu Zhinan?" A voice sounded in front of her.

She looked up. Ji Yan was standing in front of her, holding a bag in her hand.

Xu Zhinan was a little stunned, not expecting her to take the initiative to greet her. She nodded slightly. "Yeah, what a coincidence. Do you need something from me?"

Ji Yan got straight to the point. "Have you seen the news about the captain?"

"I have."

Ji Yan glanced around, then sat down in the seat next to her. "Do you know the person in the video?"

Xu Zhinan paused for a moment, then said, "I do."

For some reason, a premonition she had never considered before suddenly rose in her heart. "Why do you ask?"

Ji Yan had never connected that Su Zheng with Xu Zhinan before.

That day, their group had been walking along just fine. Lin Qingye was on the far side, while the other three had their arms around each other's shoulders, chatting and joking around. Although Lin Qingye didn't join in their boring conversation much, the atmosphere was still very harmonious.

But when Su Zheng suddenly appeared from around the corner, the atmosphere took a sharp turn.

Lin Qingye took off his backpack and threw it to Shi Si, rolled up his school uniform sleeves, and without a word, walked straight toward Su Zheng.

The three of them didn't even have time to react.

To be honest, although Lin Qingye's personality couldn't be called good, he had never gotten into a fight so indiscriminately like that. Most of the time, his personality was indifferent. He was indifferent to everything, and you couldn't find anything he particularly cared about; he was casual to the extreme.

The scene happened too quickly for the three of them to stop it. They didn't even get a clear look at Su Zheng's face at the time and thought there must have been some old grudge, so they didn't dare to intervene rashly.

It wasn't until Su Zheng started coughing up blood under Lin Qingye's fists that they snapped out of it and pulled Lin Qingye back, afraid he might kill someone.

At the time, they had already made the few people around taking pictures and videos with their phones delete them, but a short video still got out in the end.

To this day, they still didn't know why Lin Qingye had been so angry and irrational that time.

But tonight, while watching Su Zheng's interview, Ji Yan caught the detail that he went to No. 1 Middle School, and she suddenly made the connection to Xu Zhinan, who was also from No. 1 Middle School.

Her intuition told her that perhaps this incident was also related to Xu Zhinan.

After all, things that were once unimaginable for Lin Qingye had been linked to Xu Zhinan time and time again.

Like the 'Ah Nan' he whispered in his sleep.

Like last night, when he asked them to help vote for Xu Zhinan, and even posted it on his Moments.

Lin Qingye had been good-looking since he was young. Countless girls at No. 7 Middle School liked him, and even more so in university, of all types. Yet, he only got involved with Xu Zhinan.

At first, she thought it was just acting on physical attraction, but now it seemed that might not be the case.

Ji Yan briefly told Xu Zhinan about what happened that evening.

"You think the reason Lin Qingye hit Su Zheng has something to do with me?" Xu Zhinan asked.

Having always heard her softly call him "Brother Qingye," hearing this stiff address using his full name now, Ji Yan felt a little like laughing.

"I'm just asking," Ji Yan said. "Did you know the captain before?"

"No."

Ji Yan was taken aback.

She added, "I only got to know him after starting university. But before that..."

Xu Zhinan frowned, finding it a bit hard to say. "That incident with Qin Tang, he might have seen me earlier, I'm not too sure."

"Do you think it's possible that Lin Qingye hit Su Zheng because of you?"

"Huh?"

Ji Yan felt that as someone who once had a bitter crush on Lin Qingye, her current role was rather ridiculous.

Fortunately, she had long since digested this crush. Apart from a little bit of heartache, she could also feel some of the fun of prying for gossip.

Ji Yan voiced her intuition: "He knew you before you knew him. Maybe he was interested in you for a long time, and then he saw that Su Zheng liked you, so he beat him up?"

After saying it, Ji Yan also felt it was strange, as if something didn't add up.

Xu Zhinan caught the flaw. "Qin Tang pursued me before too, and isn't Lin Qingye on good terms with him?"

"Those two, not that good, they just exchanged a few words in the past." Ji Yan shrugged. "Besides, with his personality, he's actually very awkward. I've known him for so long, and I can't seem to imagine him taking the initiative to tell someone he likes them."

"..."

Xu Zhinan didn't dare to think about this possibility and changed the subject. "Su Zheng and I are not what you think. He never liked me."

"Hmm?" Ji Yan raised her eyes. "So is your relationship good or bad?"

"Bad. I... hate him very much," Xu Zhinan said.

Ji Yan slapped the armrest. "Doesn't that fit even better! The captain might have been avenging you!"

"..."

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Lin Qingye is gradually being exposed