Kaiwei College.
At two o'clock this afternoon, the final speech PK competition for the school's most popular male and female students would be held.
Teacher Wang, who was in charge of this PK competition, had posted a notice on the school forum and bulletin board early in the morning:
Students who passed the preliminary round should report to the backstage of the school assembly hall at one o'clock this afternoon.
Lu Chenyu screenshotted the notice and sent it to Yu He, but received no reply.
Not only was there no reply today, but yesterday when he asked Yu He why she hadn't been to the laboratory, she also didn't reply.
He finally had a valid reason to call the academic ace. He opened his contact list and, for the first time, dialed the number saved as "Goddess."
"Hello, the number you have dialed has been switched off..."
Lu Chenyu: "..."
Could something have happened to the academic ace?
Lu Chenyu hurried to the office of the second-year teachers and found Teacher Zhang, the homeroom teacher of Class 21.
"Yu He messaged me the night before yesterday, saying she had something to attend to and asked for two days off," Teacher Zhang opened the message on her phone.
For the past week or so, Yu He had reported to class every day, then claimed to have something to attend to, and headed to the experimental building. Teacher Zhang had turned a blind eye.
However, she did not want Yu He to take leave for today's afternoon speech PK competition.
But after the leave request, Teacher Zhang had replied with several messages, to which Yu He hadn't responded at all. When she called, her phone was switched off.
"Teacher Zhang, Senior Lu, you can't reach Boss... Yu He either?" Chu Ying, who had come to hand in her Chinese homework, overheard their conversation.
She placed the pile of homework books in her arms on Teacher Zhang's desk. "I can't reach her either!"
She had initially thought that Boss found her too talkative and had ignored her messages directly.
"Could something have happened?" Teacher Zhang began to worry.
Chu Ying thought of something and shivered all over. "Could she have been kidnapped? Boss is so beautiful..."
Lu Chenyu: "..."
Lu Chenyu: "Teacher Zhang, contact her parents to inquire."
"Right, right, right," Teacher Zhang nodded.
While they were busy looking for Yu He, a gossip post titled #Yu He Skips Competition Suspected of Fleeing# appeared on the school forum. Within a morning, it had climbed to the top spot.
1L: Skipping the competition to flee? What kind of move is that?
2L: Wasn't she busy trying to hook up with Senior Lu a couple of days ago? Didn't succeed?
3L: Obviously not! Our Senior Lu isn't such a superficial person.
4L: Senior Lu is awesome.
...
88L: This is outrageous, fleeing the competition? Why did she canvass for votes then?
89L: Suddenly suspecting that those who canvassed for Yu He were doing it on purpose.
90L, Chu Ying: Who is spreading gossip, do you have proof? Delete it quickly! Yu He will definitely compete!
91L: The one upstairs is Yu He's sycophant, coming out to speak up for her every time something happens to her.
92L: Sycophant + subordinate, I really don't understand why the mayor's daughter is so subservient to a country bumpkin, what's the point?
93L, OP (Anonymous) replied to 90L: The source of the news is reliable, Yu He will not participate in the competition this afternoon.
...
At one o'clock in the afternoon, the students who had passed the preliminary round arrived punctually to report backstage at the assembly hall.
Lan Jiaojiao was the first to arrive. She stood at the sign-in desk, meticulously counting the people who signed in, and until the very end, Yu He was nowhere to be seen.
She couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment and mockery.
Disappointed that Yu He had indeed confirmed the gossip on the forum and taken leave to flee the competition!
She had canvassed for Yu He against her conscience, wasn't it just to see the country bumpkin make a fool of herself?
However, Yu He fleeing the competition also gave her an unexpected sense of satisfaction!
A country bumpkin is still a country bumpkin, unaccustomed to the world. Back in the mountains, there certainly weren't such large-scale competitions, so she must have been scared and hidden away!
"Are all the students here? Come over and draw lots to determine the order of appearance," Teacher Wang clapped his hands and gathered everyone.
"Teacher Wang, one person is still missing, Yu He hasn't arrived," said the student responsible for tallying the sign-in list.
"What's going on? Didn't I say to gather at one o'clock?" Teacher Wang glanced at his watch; it was already ten past one.
"Teacher Wang, let's wait a little longer. Yu He has been delayed by something and is on her way," said Lu Chenyu.
As he stepped forward, everyone looked at him with strange expressions. They hadn't expected Lu Chenyu to speak up for Yu He!
They had all seen the gossip on the forum. Wasn't it said that Yu He had failed to hook up with Lu Chenyu?
"Then let's wait another five minutes." The dean's son had spoken. Even though Teacher Wang was internally annoyed, he still had to save face.
"Chenyu, are you still in contact with Yu He?" Gu Ze walked up to Lu Chenyu and asked in a voice only they could hear.
"Mm," Lu Chenyu replied absently.
He glanced at his watch. In fact, he wasn't sure if Yu He would come...
Seeing how worried he was about Yu He, and completely ignoring his previous advice, Gu Ze felt a surge of anger.
"Chenyu, Yu He really isn't as good as you think she is..."
"Aze, let's break off our friendship!" Lu Chenyu interrupted him.
Gu Ze looked at Lu Chenyu in disbelief. "Chenyu, do you know what you're saying?"
"I said before, if you insult Yu He again, I'll break off our friendship," Lu Chenyu finished, then turned and walked to the other side, creating distance between them.
Gu Ze was caught off guard, as if struck by lightning, and froze in place!
Lu Chenyu was actually willing to break off their friendship for a country bumpkin he had known for less than three months!
They had known each other for six years, after all!
What was so good about that country bumpkin?!
She was just a gold-digger!
Just wait. It would be best if Yu He showed up, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to make Lu Chenyu see clearly her gold-digger nature! And prove that he was right!
He still wanted to win the title of school hunk and crush everyone, making Lu Chenyu regret breaking off their friendship with him!
"Teacher, I don't think we need to wait any longer. I saw on the forum that Yu He has taken leave and is forfeiting the competition," Lan Jiaojiao said immediately, raising her hand.
Upon hearing this, Pei Shiyi looked at Lan Jiaojiao with a strange expression.
Wasn't this white lotus flower desperately canvassing for Yu He earlier?
What was she playing at now?
"When did this happen?" Teacher Wang's face darkened.
If she was forfeiting, she should have said so earlier, and made everyone wait for her in vain.
"This morning, people on the forum were already discussing it," Lan Jiaojiao said with a tone of regret. "I thought Yu He had truly repented, but I didn't expect..."
"Some people look good on the outside but are wicked on the inside. Teacher, Senior Lu, let's not wait."
"Exactly. Let's just draw lots. If we each wait five minutes for her, that's twenty people, which is 100 minutes. We could finish the competition by then."
"Even if she comes, she'll be at the bottom. There's no need to waste 100 minutes for one person."
"It was her own fault for not being punctual."
Several students chimed in agreement.
Teacher Wang looked at his watch. Five minutes had just passed, and he decided not to wait any longer.
"Everyone come over and draw lots. The last number will be reserved for Yu He. If she makes it in time, she'll go on stage last. If not, she'll be considered to have forfeited," she said.
This was the most face she could give Lu Chenyu.