Chapter 371 - 368: Rumor Controversy
Unsurprisingly, not long after Lin Yanwan posted her debut video on the platform, her class group chat exploded.
No one had expected such a powerhouse to be hiding in their class.
She was clearly an economics and management student, yet her musical skills were completely maxed out. Her voice acting, lyricism, composition, instrumental performance, and singing were all so professional that you couldn’t find a single flaw. Was there anything she couldn’t do?
On top of that, she was gorgeous. She could easily debut as a star, couldn’t she?
Immediately, many classmates started @ing Lin Yanwan in the group chat, but there was no way she was going to make an appearance at a time like this.
And so, the news quickly spread from the class group chat to the Tsinghua University forums, and then gradually through the chat groups of various onlookers, until it was all over the internet, reaching an unprecedented level of hype.
Gradually, more information about Lin Yanwan began to surface online.
Tsinghua University freshman, School of Economics and Management, Business Administration major, excellent grades in all subjects. She was also suspected of having a handsome boyfriend, as people often saw them on dates.
Someone noticed a ring on her left ring finger in the video, which seemed to indirectly confirm this claim.
Then, someone claiming to be Lin Yanwan’s high school classmate came forward with a scoop: she had attended Wan Er Middle School, where she was number one in her year in the liberal arts track. Back then, she had already started dating a boy named Jiang Xia, and rumor had it they both got into Tsinghua University.
And so, the tone of the online discussion about Lin Yanwan slowly shifted to a new question: Who is Jiang Xia?
Lin Yanwan’s outstanding performance in the video had already established her as the perfect goddess in the eyes of countless young men. Consequently, her boyfriend became the target of a widespread verbal assault.
The question on everyone’s mind was, why did such a perfect girl have to start dating so young?
What did that kid do to deserve such an amazing girlfriend?
Then, someone from the Tsinghua School of Fine Arts dropped another bombshell: Jiang Xia was in their department, and he skipped class all the time. Many professors couldn’t stand him. In short, he was a total loser.
Once this came out, the netizens were even more furious. They flooded the comment section of Lin Yanwan’s video, asking things like, "Why are you dating a loser?" "A boyfriend like that? If you’re not going to dump him, are you saving him for the New Year?" and "Wifey, you deserve better!"
Others spammed comments demanding that this Jiang Xia guy come out and face them. What kind of man hides behind a woman?
His photos also started appearing online, but none were head-on shots, so you couldn’t see his face clearly. They were taken by people sneakily photographing the beautiful Lin Yanwan, and he just happened to be in the frame.
「In the rented apartment.」
Seeing how public opinion online had shifted, Lin Yanwan was furious. ’Who do these people think they are, badmouthing my husband?’
"See? I told you there’d be trouble if I posted the video," she muttered.
"Isn’t this just how the internet works? Besides, it’s your fault for being so amazing," Jiang Xia chuckled. "You shine so brightly that it makes an unknown nobody like me seem unworthy of you."
"You’re the one who’s more amazing, okay?"
"But other people don’t know that."
Jiang Xia idly scrolled through the comments. He wasn’t particularly bothered by what people were saying. This kind of informational asymmetry easily leads people into echo chambers.
In other words, what successful person hasn’t been slandered online? If you got angry over every hater, you’d never get on with your life.
It was just that the supposed "insider" from the School of Fine Arts made him wonder if it was that douchebag Song Qingshu getting some petty revenge.
Ever since his advisor had revoked Song Qingshu’s position as class president, the guy had been constantly making passive-aggressive digs at him in the group chat. Jiang Xia didn’t often speak up in the chat, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t aware of it.
He refreshed the page again and suddenly saw a new pinned comment from the creator under Lin Yanwan’s video.
"Hey everyone, please don’t get swept up by the trolls. My boyfriend is wonderful in every way. He’s even more amazing than I am!"
Within a minute of Lin Yanwan’s response, over a hundred new comments appeared, but the netizens weren’t buying it.
"Really? Someone who skips class all the time can be called ’amazing’?"
"Is there even a guy our age who’s worthy of you? I don’t believe it!"
"Stop covering for him! For the sake of your own future, you should dump a guy like that sooner rather than later."
"Hiding behind his girlfriend and making her clarify things for him, not even daring to show his own face. Yeah, he’s real ’amazing.’"
"..."
Jiang Xia tilted his head to glance at his wife, who was fuming as her fingers flew across the keyboard with a furious CLATTER. He said with a sigh, "Babe, why are you getting into the trenches to fight with them?"
"I just can’t stand seeing people slander you," Lin Yanwan said, still typing furiously. "Are these people fucking idiots? They don’t even know what’s going on and they just start spouting nonsense!"
Jiang Xia couldn’t help but chuckle. He wasn’t even mad, but his wife couldn’t take it.
He gently squeezed her hand. "Just ignore them. Don’t forget, D Station is my company. If I didn’t want to see this, I could just have the tech department take it all down."
"That’s not right, either. I have to clear your name." ’If I had known it would turn out like this, I never would have posted the video,’ she thought.
"Forget it. There’s no point. The more you try to explain, the guiltier it looks. Unless you have concrete proof, no one will believe you. Or," Jiang Xia said with a smile, "are you planning on officially revealing your ’useless’ boyfriend to the world?"
Lin Yanwan pouted unhappily. "Then what are you going to do? Just stand by and watch them slander you?"
"No rush. Let the bullets fly a little longer."
Jiang Xia smiled faintly. D Station’s traffic was at an all-time high. If he could properly leverage this wave of hate directed at him, it could attract even more users.
A truly strong person dares to face vicious rumors and ridicule head-on.
He walked over to his wife and placed a hand on her round, firm backside.
"Babe, it’s getting late. Shouldn’t we be heading to bed?"
"You’re actually in the mood to sleep right now?"
"What else is there to do? Come on, their words don’t affect me in the slightest. Don’t we have class tomorrow? If we don’t sleep now, we’ll never get up on time."
Jiang Xia’s hand began to wander. He could already imagine the scene at school tomorrow when he went to class with her. ’We’ll probably be surrounded by a huge crowd, won’t we?’
Lin Yanwan panted softly, her face flushing red.
She shut down the computer, wrapped her arms around Jiang Xia’s neck, and let him carry her to the bed.
Jiang Xia began leaving a trail of love bites on her skin. As he slowly pulled off her pajama pants, he discovered that she was wearing sexy black stockings underneath!
"This..." Jiang Xia’s breath hitched. He stared, his eyes practically glued to her alluring calves.
"Wh-when did you change into these?"
"When I showered and got dressed, of course."
A hint of coyness flashed in the depths of Lin Yanwan’s eyes.
"Didn’t you whisper to me this afternoon that you wanted to see me wear these?"
...
(To all my dear readers, have a happy summer vacation!)