There’re Always Paranoid Thoughts to Monopolize Me - Chapter 36.2

Gu Xinqing: “Although what he said was indeed very tempting – since you’re not considering it, let’s just pretend it never happened.”

“It’s not that I won’t consider it at all.”

“?”

Gu Xinqing, who had already started walking ahead, paused and turned back to look at Qin Ke, “What do you mean?”

“After all, this is a special period, and I’m very poor, you know.”

Qin Ke joked.

“Although it’s hard to make it in that circle, just doing some small cameos or supporting roles can still earn a considerable salary in a short time – so I’ll list this as one of my options to consider.”

Qin Ke said with a smile.

What she didn’t say was – with the foundation of having participated in many drama group cameos and cover model jobs at the arts high school in her previous life, she had originally considered this way of making a living.

It was only because she didn’t want any additional possibility of being noticed by that Huo family young master from the capital that she had never tried to contact this kind of work.

And now…

Qin Ke looked down at the business card in her hand again.

—

When there’s really no other choice, going back to the old trade seems more reliable.

Qin Ke thought, sighing lightly in her heart.

“It’s okay, Ke Ke, you’re so excellent, whatever you do will surely go smoothly, I have confidence in you!”

Gu Xinqing grabbed her, laughing loudly as she linked arms with Qin Ke and strode forward–

“Whatever you do, I support you!”

“Really?”

“Mm! Of course! I’m your good friend after all – your best friend!”

“If I had met you earlier… I probably would have been quite happy.”

“Huh? We’ve just started high school, Ke Ke. Be honest, what’s going on today? You’re talking like an old person – we’re still young!”

“…”

“Did I say something wrong?”

“No, you’re right.”

“?”

“We are young.”

Everything was at the most beautiful age.

There was still time for everything.

Even if she were to walk that path again, she knew that this time, everything would be different.

****

On Monday morning, Qin Ke exceptionally took the whole morning off.

She had found a student apartment near Qiande High School – it was specially provided for high school students who lived far from home, and even had a small cafeteria in the apartment complex.

Including utilities, it was good value for money, and most importantly, it was close to school.

Qin Ke had called a day in advance to confirm, and finally scheduled to visit the rooms and other facilities in the student apartment on Monday morning.

The homeroom teacher, Song Qisheng, was increasingly trusting of this outstanding student. After hearing Qin Ke’s explanation, he gave her the leave slip without hesitation.

After spending half the morning, Qin Ke finally settled the contract details. As soon as she walked out of the student apartment, she took out her phone, which she had set to silent mode, and glanced at it.

Qin Ke had originally just wanted to check the time, but when the screen lit up, displaying over a dozen missed calls in bright red, she froze on the spot.

The vast majority of them were from Gu Xinqing.

There was also one missed call from Huo Jun.

Besides the missed calls, Gu Xinqing had also sent a text message. Qin Ke clicked on it, and there was only a very hurried message –

[Ke Ke, don’t come to school today. I’ve asked for leave from the homeroom teacher for you. I’ll talk to you about the rest tonight]

She hadn’t even bothered to write the final punctuation mark.

Qin Ke frowned slightly, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the phone screen a couple of times.

…This meant that when Gu Xinqing sent this message, her mood must have been very urgent.

The message was sent around 9 AM.

Clearly, something had happened at school, and it was related to her.

Qin Ke looked up, stood there for a few seconds, then raised her hand to hail a passing taxi.

The car stopped, and the driver asked, “Where to, young lady?”

Qin Ke looked out of the car with a calm gaze.

“Qiande High School, thank you.”

No matter what had happened, the timid and soft-hearted self from her previous life had long since died.

She was a person who had died once.

So, except for repeating past mistakes, she wasn’t afraid of anything.

…….

The taxi drove Qin Ke all the way to the security staff room door.

After paying and getting out of the car, Qin Ke took her leave slip to the security room to cancel her leave. The security guard on duty glanced at her casually, then paused.

After a few seconds, the security guard’s expression became a bit peculiar.

“Are you Qin Ke from the elite class of first-year high school?”

“…?” Qin Ke looked at him in surprise, “I am, but how do you know?”

“Who in the school doesn’t know you now?” The security guard bent down and picked up a stack of paper-like posters from the corner of the desk. He hesitated, looking at Qin Ke, but finally placed the roll in front of her.

“You’re so young, how did you get caught up in something like this? — Take a look yourself, it’s best to call your parents to handle it.”

“…”

Qin Ke didn’t speak.

She reached out and took the rough-textured roll, spreading it out on the square wooden table in front of her.

At the top were large black letters cut out and pasted on, very eye-catching —

[Exposé: First-year female student behaving inappropriately, intimate relationship with male teacher in school!]

Qin Ke’s pupils contracted slightly.

Her gaze quickly scanned down — several photos were pasted on the paper.

They were clearly taken secretly and were very blurry.

The content of the photos was the scene of her and Huo Jingyan visiting the art exhibition at the art gallery last weekend.

There was no substantial content in the photos, only showing that the two were indeed together — and there were no photos of the part where Huo Jun and the young boy Song Yi joined later.

The intentions of the person who took these photos were clear and obvious — either to ruin her, or to ruin Huo Jingyan, or both.

The malice behind these photos made Qin Ke feel a chill down her spine even in this hot late summer noon.

She clenched her fists tightly.

“Did you offend someone at school?” the security guard asked helplessly, “It was posted up sometime early this morning — as soon as we were notified, we rushed to confiscate them — probably not many students actually saw it, but word has spread widely. People’s words are fearsome, so…”

He hesitated, then said directly. “I suggest you go home first.”

Qin Ke stood still, her body stiff for a few seconds, then suddenly relaxed.

After that moment, her expression could even be described as calm. Qin Ke raised her head and looked at the security guard —

“This is slander and rumor-mongering against me, and it directly infringes on my rights to reputation and image — so I think I should have the right to deal with them, right?”

The security guard was stunned for several seconds, clearly not expecting this girl to appear so calm.

He hesitated, then asked, “What do you want to do?”

Qin Ke coldly glanced at those photos.

“You’re right, people’s words are fearsome — rather than tearing up these photos that didn’t capture anything substantial, letting the vast majority of students who haven’t seen them make wild speculations and exaggerations — why not just make them public?”

The security guard was bewildered, “You want to—?”

Qin Ke nodded, “Please help me post them back up.” She paused, “Do you have paper and a pen here? I need to add a statement.”

Security guard: “?”

Qin Ke smiled faintly, her eyes cold.

“Some people’s true colors are ugly. Since they don’t want to keep them hidden, I’ll help tear them off — why not let the public judge Sima Zhao’s intentions?”

(TL: “the intentions of Sima Zhao” or “Sima Zhao’s heart.” This phrase is used to describe someone’s intentions that are so obvious that they cannot be concealed, akin to “it’s as plain as day.”)

The security guard pondered her words for a while, and finally couldn’t help but nod.

“I heard you’re the top student in the first year, and many teachers have praised you… Indeed, your reputation is well-deserved.”

“Thank you.”

Qin Ke’s eyes flashed, her smile turning gentle.

A few minutes later, after concisely writing a clarification and easily pointing out the malicious intent behind this, Qin Ke handed these slanderous photos and her clarification statement to the security guard.

The security guard, clearly admiring her, immediately took these materials to repost on the school’s bulletin board.

At this time, Qin Ke received a call from Gu Xinqing.

“You really came to school, Ke Ke?!” Gu Xinqing’s voice sounded hoarse with anxiety.

“Yes,” Qin Ke’s tone was calm, “At a time like this, not coming would be playing into certain people’s hands.”

“…That’s true. But this incident has escalated! Someone took pictures of those photos and posted them on the school’s forum. Because there’s really no substantial content, apart from a few jealous idiots making baseless accusations, most of the opinions on the forum are actually in your favor — and later, Huo Jun seems to have found the CCTV footage from the store you all went to together, and posted screenshots online — just half an hour ago, things had calmed down.”

“…”

Suddenly hearing that person’s name from Gu Xinqing, Qin Ke’s eyelid twitched.

…How could she have forgotten about this ticking bomb?

If there was someone who would react more terribly to this incident than her, it would definitely be Huo Jun.

And Huo Jun’s destructive power…

Qin Ke instantly felt a headache coming on.

She took a deep breath, then asked quickly, “Where is Huo Jun now?”

Gu Xinqing was silent for a few seconds.

“Xinqing, tell me.”

“Uh, Ke Ke, you’d better not come… I think Huo Jun has gone mad… You didn’t see his reaction when he rushed into our class earlier, I was nearly scared to death…”

“Xinqing!”

“…Alright, alright, he suddenly seemed to have decided it was Qin Yan who did it — he’s gone to confront Qin Yan now.”