Boom!

The gossip radar of the girls exploded!

Their eyes sparkled with pink hearts:

“This must be An Qing, right? The drawing is so good.”

“Ew~~~~ What’s going on here? Could it be…”

“The drawing is amazing, every detail is perfect, just like An Qing! This… is this a model painting? Hehe, when did you guys draw this?”

“Senior and Chu Anqing are… ? Eeeek~~~~”

…

These girls stared back and forth between the flustered Lin Xian and the shy Chu Anqing, their eyes full of mischievous smiles.

Lin Xian’s head was about to explode.

How was he supposed to explain this?

He clearly drew CC, but Chu Anqing and CC looked exactly alike!

Besides, CC wasn’t from this era. Even if he told the truth, no one would believe him…

To be honest, he wasn't afraid of being misunderstood. He had already graduated from this school anyway, and all kinds of gossip wouldn't reach him.

But Chu Anqing was only a freshman, and already a popular princess on campus… If she got caught up in bad rumors, how would her classmates view her in the future?

Lin Xian had gone through four years of university, and he knew the importance of reputation to a girl in school. Even if it was just rumors, even if it was unfounded… words could turn into sharp thorns, hurting innocent girls.

Lin Xian took a deep breath.

This matter started because of him, so he had to take responsibility:

“Listen to me, this is me—”

“Aiya, I begged Senior Lin Xian to draw this for me. I didn’t expect you all to see it, how embarrassing.”

Chu Anqing smiled generously, taking the painting from the girl's hand:

“I didn't expect it to be finished so quickly, I thought it would take a few days.”

???

The surrounding girls stared at Chu Anqing, wide-eyed.

What was going on?

“It was at the MX Company’s celebration banquet a few nights ago.”

Chu Anqing held the folded painting in her hand, looking at the surrounding students:

“My dad took me with him. I like to join in the fun, and Mr. Zhao of MX Company was very kind to my dad, so he let me join in the fun and participate in their lucky draw, just for good luck.”

“And I won this~ Hehe, the prize written on the slip of paper was for Lin Xian to draw a portrait for the winner.”

“Although this prize was a bit of a gag, Senior Lin Xian immediately agreed, saying he would draw a sketch for me… I thought I would have to wait a long time, but I didn’t expect it to be finished so quickly.”

Chu Anqing waved the folded painting, her eyebrows slightly raised, her face radiant with smiles:

“Then Senior Lin Xian, I’ll take this painting! Thank you, Senior!”

“Yeah.”

Lin Xian nodded:

“You’re welcome.”

This little girl… was really too clever!

Whether her IQ was high or not was another matter, her EQ was off the charts!

Clearly, she was saying these words to get him out of trouble.

That day at the celebration banquet, it was true that she participated, and it was also true that she participated in the annual meeting’s lucky draw. But in reality, the prize she won was an extra-large Rhine cat doll, which Zhao Yingjun had someone deliver to Chu Shanhe's car at the time.

He didn’t expect her to mix the true and false facts together… creating an impeccable, perfect lie.

He thought these daughters of wealthy families were all naive and sweet, but he didn’t expect Chu Anqing to be so witty and resourceful, truly a princess who knew how to save the day.

“Oh~ I see.”

Hearing this, the surrounding girls immediately understood.

Everyone knew that Chu Anqing was Chu Shanhe’s precious daughter, the little princess of Donghai, whom her father took with him wherever he went, so it wasn’t strange for her to go to MX Company’s celebration banquet.

There were many gag-type prizes in the annual meeting’s lucky draw, so this wasn’t a strange thing either.

The girls didn’t think too much about it.

After all, Lin Xian and Chu Anqing were two completely unrelated types of people. If it weren’t for that celebration banquet and today’s lecture, the two of them might never have crossed paths in their lives.

Moreover, with Chu Shanhe, the daughter-doting father, guarding her…

Even if you gave the guys ten thousand guts, no one would dare to pursue Chu Anqing unless they had a death wish.

Thinking of this, the girls gave up and started scanning Lin Xian’s WeChat.

“Um, there’s a van outside.”

Lin Xian pointed to the van parked next to the business car outside the teaching building:

“Inside are the latest batch of Rhine cat dolls produced by our company. Some of them are new models. You can go get them if you want. They’re free.”

!

Hearing that there were free Rhine cat dolls to get, and they were new models, the girls swarmed over.

Soon…

In the huge lecture hall, only Lin Xian and Chu Anqing remained.

“I’m sorry, Senior Lin Xian.”

Chu Anqing smiled apologetically:

“I said that kind of lie without your permission… I hope it won’t bring you any negative impact.”

“Why would it? On the contrary, I should thank you for helping me out of this.” Lin Xian felt very relaxed:

“Actually, this painting…”

“Hehe, you don’t need to explain, Senior. I didn’t misunderstand anything.”

Chu Anqing’s eyes curved into two crescent moons:

“I know, this definitely isn’t a drawing of me. Don’t worry, I’m not that narcissistic.”

Lin Xian was a little surprised. Was this girl so understanding and considerate?

Chu Anqing opened the painting again:

“Although it does look a lot like me, I believe that you definitely didn’t draw me.”

“After all… we only met for the first time a few days ago, how could you possibly draw me? So you really don’t need to explain anything. You must have drawn someone else, right?”

She closed the painting, blinked her eyes, and looked at Lin Xian:

“Did you draw a former female classmate? Or… was it just a random drawing?”

Lin Xian scratched his head:

“It’s a former classmate of mine.”

Lin Xian casually told a lie.

It was better to lie when he needed to, so that both of them wouldn’t be embarrassed. Perhaps Chu Anqing was deliberately giving him a way out, so she said this:

“Actually, this painting was already finished before I met you that day. I’ve been drawing it for several days.”

“I don’t know why, but I suddenly remembered her, so I just drew it. I also didn’t expect you to look so much alike… I was also very surprised.”

“Oh~~ I see.”

Chu Anqing nodded as if she had suddenly understood:

“No wonder when I entered the venue at your company’s celebration banquet that day, the way you looked at me was a little strange… I didn’t think too much about it at the time, but now I see, hehe… you were thinking of that high school classmate!”

Lin Xian smiled and nodded along.

There was no other way. Once a lie was told, countless other lies had to be told to cover it up.

“In that case, I’ll give this painting back to you, Senior Lin Xian.”

Chu Anqing handed back the folded painting, smiling at Lin Xian:

“Presumably… this girl must be a very important, unforgettable person to you…”

“You must keep this painting safe.”