Chapter 39

Returning to campus after working for several years always evokes a sense of nostalgia and reflection.

Liu Xuhui took the invitation to the anniversary celebration very seriously, insisting on personally handling the transportation. Early Saturday morning, he drove Lin Shu, his daughter, and others to the campus of Rong University.

Surprisingly, he also brought along Bai Fan, who was completely different from the resistant and negative child Lin Shu had seen before. Although still the same child, Bai Fan’s demeanor had completely transformed; he was now bright and full of energy. When he saw Lin Shu and the others, he shyly greeted them using sign language.

Liu Xuhui smiled and explained, “Bai Fan just started learning sign language from my daughter recently, so he’s still a bit unfamiliar.”

The two children, being of similar ages, communicated pleasantly through gestures even though they couldn’t speak.

As a guest speaker for the anniversary celebration, Liu Xuhui only had time for a brief tour of the campus before he had to take his daughter to rehearsal. Wang Tie Niu, though not a graduate of Rong University, had a cousin working there as a counselor who was on duty, so he cheerfully bought some fruit to cheer her up.

On the other hand, Xu Shijia, despite being a graduate of the law school at Rong University, seemed uninterested in reconnecting with old classmates. He simply trailed leisurely behind Lin Shu, strolling around the campus and occasionally introducing the history of various buildings in Rong University according to Lin Shu’s gaze.

Rong University was founded during the Republic of China era, and many of its buildings date back to that time, giving it a unique historical atmosphere. The architecture retains its original charm, and the campus combines a sense of classical history with tall, spacious, and modern teaching buildings. The most beautiful spot was the ancient and tranquil Sycamore Avenue, which was now lush with greenery, forming a dappled tree-lined path.

This was a stunning campus, rich in cultural heritage, and it had once been Lin Shu’s dream school. In high school, she had even posted her longing for this university on their high school’s well-known confession wall, which was filled with youthful, ambiguous sentiments.

To that end, Lin Shu had worked hard; her estimated score for the college entrance examination was well above the admission line for Rong University’s law school, but…

Lin Shu glanced at Xu Shijia beside her and sincerely said, “I really envy you for being able to attend Rong University’s law school and spend your college years in such a beautiful campus.”

Xu Shijia shot Lin Shu a glance and replied indifferently, “So why didn’t you come?”

Lin Shu was taken aback.

Why did that sound like an accusation?

However, she quickly realized it was probably just her misunderstanding.

“Oh, I just thought your grades looked pretty good. If I could get into Rong University’s law school, then with your scores, you’d definitely be admitted.” Xu Shijia quickly added, his tone becoming somewhat unnatural for some reason. “So why didn’t you come?”

Lin Shu chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Because I didn’t have the money.”

Now it was Xu Shijia’s turn to be stunned: “But the school has always offered scholarships and student loans; it shouldn’t have been impossible for you to afford it.”

Lin Shu took a deep breath: “I know, but at that time, my grandmother was ill and needed medical expenses, and Lishi University happened to contact me just then. They offered me a one-time bonus if I applied there, and they would waive my tuition. I needed that money.”

So even though her scores met the admission criteria for Rong University’s law school, Lin Shu ultimately chose Lishi University’s law school, which ranked lower but offered a one-time bonus.

Lin Shu held no grievances against Lishi University; in fact, she felt grateful. If it hadn’t been for Lishi University wanting to boost its law school’s ranking by attracting better students that year, she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to receive that money.

“Did your grandmother recover from her illness at that time?”

“She did.” Lin Shu nodded, feeling a bit melancholic as she recalled the past. “But unfortunately, she passed away two years later.”

“But because of that money, my grandmother stayed with me for two more years, and I am very grateful for that. I just regret that she couldn’t wait until I earned money from my job, nor did she get to enjoy any good days.”

As Lin Shu spoke, she couldn’t help but recall the scene of her grandmother passing away from a serious illness during her sophomore year. It was the darkest summer of her life and the only time she had approached her father, trying to ask for living expenses.

The money she had earned from part-time jobs had already been exhausted in arranging her grandmother’s funeral, leaving her no choice but to humble herself and seek financial help from her father during Lin Shiyao’s birthday party, hoping to get some emergency living expenses.

Of course, this turned out to be a wrong decision; not only did she fail to secure any money, but she also suffered humiliation at the hands of Lin Shiyao, which led to the biggest mistake of her life after drinking too much.

In short, it was a past that was hard to look back on.

Fortunately, it was all in the past now.

Lin Shu forced herself to stop thinking about it. This memory was something she had consciously avoided, to the point where she almost deceived herself into believing that nothing had ever happened.

She looked at Xu Shijia and asked, “Aren’t you going to find your classmates to catch up? Reunions after graduation are rare; what if your class has an event? You don’t need to miss it just to accompany me. I can walk around by myself.”

“Oh, they didn’t come.”

This was a major anniversary celebration at Rong University.

Lin Shu was a bit puzzled: “None of them came?”

“Mm.” Xu Shijia replied indifferently, “So I have no one to talk to. I’ll just do my duty as a host and introduce you to our Rong University campus since you almost became my fellow alumnus.”

Just as Xu Shijia finished speaking, a cheerful male voice came from behind.

“Xu Shijia!”

The speaker was a tall man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, exuding an air of elitism. He walked up to Xu Shijia with a smile and playfully patted him on the shoulder: “Didn’t you say you weren’t coming to the anniversary celebration? What’s this? Suddenly found time to come?”

Jin Yi clearly knew Xu Shijia well and had a complaint about Xu Shijia’s absence from the law school group chat. “What’s going on with you? The law school group announced that everyone should try to come to this anniversary celebration. Except for Lin Yin, who is in confinement after giving birth, everyone else came. They’re all taking photos by the obelisk statue at the law school entrance. Why aren’t you there?”

Wasn’t there someone from the class attending? How could he say that no one came?

Perhaps Lin Shu’s questioning gaze was too intense, so Xu Shijia cleared his throat and calmly replied, “I’m not in the law school group chat, so I didn’t know you all were coming. I thought no one was here.”

“You’re not in?” Jin Yi sounded skeptical. “There are 102 people in our class, and the group chat had 102 members, so it should be complete.”

He pulled out his phone and was momentarily stunned: “Why is there only 101 now?”

Xu Shijia remained calm and said, “You’re mistaken; it’s always been 101 because I’m not in it.”

Jin Yi wanted to ask more, but then he noticed Lin Shu behind Xu Shijia. He stared at Lin Shu’s face for a moment, then smiled meaningfully: “You two came together? Who is she?”

Since Lin Shu was also a graduate of Rong University’s law school, she figured he might be working in the same field. Eager to network, she smiled and was about to introduce herself when Xu Shijia stepped in first.

He glanced at Lin Shu, then turned to Jin Yi and succinctly stated, “Lin Shu.”

He didn’t even mention their relationship apart from her name.

Jin Yi’s gaze shifted back and forth between Xu Shijia and Lin Shu. He didn’t inquire about their relationship but instead smiled warmly: “Hello, hello! I’m not only Xu Shijia’s classmate from university, but also his high school classmate. We both graduated from Rong City No. 3 High School.”

Rong City No. 3 High School?

Lin Shu was somewhat surprised; she widened her eyes and looked at Xu Shijia: “Xu Shijia, how come I’ve never heard you mention this? I also graduated from Rong City No. 3 High School.”

She was actually an alumnus of the same school as Xu Shijia!

If she had known they had that connection earlier, she could have played up her connections as a former “workplace seductress” and leveraged her alumni status to get closer to Xu Shijia, making it easier to get favors from him.

What a shame!

But it wasn’t too late to find out now!

However, Xu Shijia seemed unfazed by the revelation that they were high school alumni; he appeared remarkably composed, while Jin Yi was the one who seemed surprised.

“You graduated from our school too? Then you should know Xu Shijia is from Rong City No. 3 High School. His confession wall incident in senior year made him quite famous.”

The confession wall incident in senior year?

The confession wall at Rong City No. 3 High School was indeed a well-known feature of the school. Originally established as a community website for lost and found items, study material sharing, information dissemination, and second-hand trading, it eventually developed the “confession wall” function. Many students anonymously submitted posts to confess to their crushes or share secret affections, leading to numerous couples forming over the years, capturing many of their youthful romantic feelings.

Xu Shijia was a well-known figure on the campus confession wall?

Lin Shu had no recollection of this at all.

To be honest, Lin Shu had no impression of the name Xu Shijia, so she never imagined he was a fellow alumnus from high school.

Perhaps her confusion was too obvious, as Jin Yi paused for a moment before realizing, “Oh, Xu Shijia didn’t go by that name in high school; he was called Wang Yanzhi. Does that ring a bell?”

“His post on the confession wall was the only one submitted under his real name. When it was published, the whole school practically exploded.”

Jin Yi clearly enjoyed recounting Xu Shijia’s past, laughing with a touch of schadenfreude: “His dad had a fortune teller say he needed to change his name. He refused at first, thinking ‘Xu Shijia’ sounded too feminine. But after he became famous from the confession wall incident, he probably felt embarrassed. Coincidentally, that incident happened during the summer after graduating from senior year, and he agreed to change his name, transforming himself as he entered university. Hahaha!”

The more Jin Yi laughed, the more uncomfortable Xu Shijia’s expression became. He looked as if he wanted to drag Jin Yi into a nearby alley and silence him. If Lin Shu hadn’t been there, he probably would have acted by now.

Hearing his voice, Lin Shu gritted her teeth and said, “Jin Yi, why are you so talkative? What’s there to discuss?”

Wang Yanzhi…

Lin Shu searched her memory.

It was a familiar name.

In a flash, Lin Shu finally realized where this familiarity came from.

She indeed had a high school alumnus named Wang Yanzhi, but he was two years her junior.

Lin Shu only began to improve her financial situation in her senior year when she received her internship salary, which allowed her to afford LASIK surgery. Before that, she had worn heavy glasses because she couldn’t afford to get an accurate prescription from a proper optical store. In fact, the pair of glasses she wore had long since become unsuitable for her vision.

Even though her glasses were already quite blurry, Lin Shu tried to extend their lifespan and prevent further wear and tear. Aside from attending classes, she almost never wore them, which meant she hardly saw anyone on campus clearly except for her classmates.

She really couldn’t remember what this junior named Wang Yanzhi looked like…

All she remembered was that he was tall and had long legs, with a prominent build, but he walked lazily and seemed indifferent to everything, as if he had no interest in the world around him. His demeanor suggested a certain world-weariness, and it seemed his family was quite wealthy. She had heard he was always chauffeured in luxury cars, even having bodyguards and medical teams accompanying him. She also vaguely recalled that he was quite handsome since she had witnessed several girls pass him love letters…

Lin Shu didn’t remember his face, but she finally recalled his voice—mocking, lazy, and self-satisfied.

“Are you done? Is this a personal attack against me?”

“You’ve caught me being late twenty-six times this month. Are you trying to get my attention this way?”

“If you make me sick, do you know my family has a whole team of lawyers who can make your life difficult?”

“You get paid a dollar for every late mark you give me, right? I’ll give you a thousand, and you can pretend you didn’t see me being late.”

…

At that time, it seemed Wang Yanzhi had some slight damage to his vocal cords due to surgery, which made his voice hoarse. But now, as she recalled it, if you removed the hoarseness, his tone indeed matched Xu Shijia’s current lazy, drawn-out way of speaking…

In that moment, her memories finally aligned with reality.

Lin Shu stared in shock at Xu Shijia’s profile.

Could it be that this Wang Yanzhi…

Her heart raced.

Although she couldn’t clearly see what his face looked like, and no one had brought him up in ages, there was one thing Lin Shu remembered very clearly: she absolutely hated this junior named Wang Yanzhi back in high school.

Because Lin Shu was academically excellent but came from a difficult family background, the school had allowed her to take on the part-time role of a discipline committee member, helping to record students who were late. She would catch whoever was late, one after another.

Sometimes she would let deserving students go, but Wang Yanzhi was someone she never went easy on.

Because Lin Shu genuinely despised him.

She hated his arrogance for being from a wealthy family while being dismissive of everything, hated his laziness despite having so many resources, and hated how he seemed entitled to the world while thinking the universe owed him something.

Lin Shu was too poor; she had to work extremely hard to get by without feeling completely overwhelmed.

This junior named Wang Yanzhi had everything, yet he not only took it for granted but also seemed to think that everything had a price tag, casually contrasting Lin Shu’s struggles.

Her life was too difficult, and she needed a target for the repressed emotions she couldn’t vent.

Wang Yanzhi showed up.

The moment he looked down from his high position and offered to pay her off to overlook his tardiness, Lin Shu decided to hate him.

In her senior year, Lin Shu was already in her third year, while Wang Yanzhi was in his first year. Although they only spent one year together at school, Lin Shu never let Wang Yanzhi off the hook even once. Her inner dislike made her pay extra attention to him, and by the end, it became somewhat of an obsession…

In addition to catching Wang Yanzhi being late, Lin Shu would also inform the medical staff and bodyguards his family hired about his whereabouts.

It was clear that Wang Yanzhi’s family was very worried about him wandering around and seemed to have scheduled check-ups and treatments for him. For that reason, Wang Yanzhi had to return home immediately after class.

Wang Yanzhi naturally racked his brains to find ways to slip away from his entourage, but unfortunately for him, Lin Shu would always tip them off. Watching him being caught and taken home by the medical staff and bodyguards was one of the most delightful moments of Lin Shu’s senior year.

On several occasions, afraid he would escape, Lin Shu even personally caught him and handed him over to his bodyguards before they arrived.

While Lin Shu felt great satisfaction, Wang Yanzhi certainly did not. He had an entire year in his first year without living a good life because of her.

Walking around campus, even with her severe nearsightedness, Lin Shu often sensed a strong gaze filled with resentment. Without a doubt, it was from Wang Yanzhi.

If Wang Yanzhi was Xu Shijia…

Then this high school connection was honestly better left unacknowledged…

But soon, Lin Shu regained her composure.

It couldn’t be.

Even though she had skipped two grades, Xu Shijia was still five years older than her. So even if Lin Shu had advanced to her senior year early, Xu Shijia would have been in his junior year at that time. This meant that when Lin Shu entered Rong City No. 3 High School as a freshman, Xu Shijia had just graduated and entered university. They had perfectly missed each other and could not have been in the same school at the same time.

“Wang” was a common surname, so the chances of sharing a name were high. It was very likely that Lin Shu had a junior named Wang Yanzhi and also an older student named Wang Yanzhi—who was currently standing in front of her, Xu Shijia.

She must be thinking of a different Wang Yanzhi.

With that thought, Lin Shu quickly calmed down, and her gaze toward Xu Shijia steadied.

What were the odds?

Because Xu Shijia changed his name and didn’t carry his father’s surname Wang, it had caused Lin Shu to mistake him for someone else. She had already tripped over the name Wang Yanzhi once; how could she be unfortunate enough to stumble over it a second time?

Lin Shu didn’t believe in this kind of superstition.

Just as she let out a sigh of relief, she heard Jin Yi, looking at Xu Shijia’s face, say enviously, “Xu Shijia, you’re clearly five years older than me. How can you take care of yourself so well? You look even younger than I do.”

Lin Shu: “…”

No way?!

Lin Shu almost blurted out, “Aren’t you in the same year?”

Jin Yi looked helpless: “Do you really think there’s no age difference between us?”

“Xu Shijia had a serious illness before, his health was always poor, so he took five years off to recover. He almost didn’t make it; the surgery had side effects, and he was still in recovery. His dad consulted a fortune-teller, who suggested changing his name, but this guy only changed it after graduating from high school.” Jin Yi said, a bit sourly, “I used to scoff at the idea that changing a name could change one’s fate, but now I see it might actually work. This guy is in such good shape now, strong as an ox, with well-defined muscles. Even us classmates who are five years younger feel ashamed.”

Although Lin Shu is five years older, having taken five years off for health reasons, if she hadn’t skipped grades, she would have been in the same year as him. But since she skipped two grades, she is technically two grades above Xu Shijia…

So…

That annoying junior, Wang Yanzhi, who is always targeted by her, really is the Xu Shijia standing in front of her now.

This is too bizarre!

Lin Shu began to realize that some things really require belief in the supernatural; some names just don’t get along, leading to bad luck the first time, and then again the second time.

However…

Lin Shu secretly observed Xu Shijia’s expression. He probably didn’t remember her at all. It’s said that people of high status forget things easily. Xu Shijia was pursued by so many girls back in school, and she was just one senior who made things difficult for him for one year; he must have forgotten all about it by now.

Moreover, Lin Shu had her vision corrected in her senior year and no longer squinted at people; she had also tossed aside her thick, beer-bottle-bottom glasses. Since becoming financially independent, she no longer wore those worn-out, shabby old clothes. She had transformed her entire image, and with a name as common as hers, Xu Shijia probably wouldn’t remember her.

Xu Shijia’s reaction quickly proved Lin Shu’s deduction.

He seemed completely uninterested in asking which year Lin Shu was from and had no interest in knowing that she was his high school alumni. He not only avoided looking at her but also turned his eyes fiercely toward Jin Yi, as if he wanted to silence him with a glare.

Clearly, his focus was not on Lin Shu, but rather on the confession wall incident. Xu Shijia was on high alert about this matter, tense like a porcupine, as if he would rather perish with Jin Yi than let him say anything.

Xu Shijia was obviously trying to keep Lin Shu from knowing about this incident.

However, this only made Lin Shu more curious.

So, what exactly did he do?

Unfortunately, Lin Shu wouldn’t get a chance to find out because Xu Shijia, after squirming uncomfortably, finally decided to take action. He wore a stern expression, and Lin Shu didn’t even have time to hand her business card to Jin Yi before Xu Shijia interrupted the progress of their conversation.

“I rarely see an old classmate; I want to catch up, so I won’t be accompanying you for now.”

With that, he forcefully dragged Jin Yi away.

—

Xu Shijia definitely had something to hide.

This was almost Jin Yi’s first reaction after being pulled away.

Having known Xu Shijia for so many years, he had never seen him so flustered.

As soon as Xu Shijia was away from Lin Shu, he no longer concealed his emotions; his face was pale, glaring at Jin Yi.

But Jin Yi was not afraid at all; he raised an eyebrow at Xu Shijia: “What’s wrong? Did you finally get over that failed first love and start moving on? Are you that afraid I’ll dig up your electronic background?”

Honestly, Jin Yi was puzzled: “When the confession wall incident made such a stir, our batch and even six or seven batches after that, Wang Yanzhi became a household name. She looks younger than us, but if she was from our high school, how could she not know you used to call Wang Yanzhi by name?”

“Is she really ten batches younger than us?”

Jin Yi glanced back toward Lin Shu but felt she didn’t look that young. He was somewhat confused, but Lin Shu’s beauty was indeed stunning. As he thought about how he was still single, he couldn’t help but feel both envious and jealous, turning back to Xu Shijia and teasingly asking, “Your taste is good. Which junior is she? I feel like I’ve heard her name somewhere before.”

Xu Shijia’s expression remained sour, and he answered begrudgingly: “Not a junior.”

“Huh?”

“She’s a senior.”

Jin Yi was taken aback: “Her? Older than me? Our senior? No way! She looks like she can’t be older than me…”

Xu Shijia looked at Jin Yi expressionlessly: “She’s the same age as you, five years younger than me, but she skipped two grades, so she’s two grades above us.”

Jin Yi finally dawned on him: “You’re sneaky, going for a senior. No wonder she knows nothing about your confession wall fiasco! By the time your incident made headlines, she had already graduated!”

But soon, Jin Yi felt something was off: “Even if she is two grades above us and doesn’t know about your confession wall incident, it doesn’t mean she wouldn’t recognize you, right? When I mentioned Rong City No. 3 High School, she suddenly realized you were an alumnus. Even if you changed your name, your face hasn’t changed. Honestly, anyone who sees your face wouldn’t forget it easily.”

For someone to see you once and forget you is certainly not a good thing, and Xu Shijia’s expression was not pleasant. But when he glanced at Lin Shu not far away, his voice didn’t carry much anger, as if he had become numb—

“She had severe myopia back then and couldn’t see people clearly.”

What a coincidence?

Jin Yi had just watched a drama about a woman disguising herself and committing fraud, so he felt a bit cautious: “Xu Shijia, you need to be careful. Is it possible that this woman has fabricated her background? What if she isn’t really our high school graduate? Did she just package herself as an alum to get close to you, aiming to scam your money or even marry into your family?”

Jin Yi lowered his voice and asked, “Does she know about your family background?”

Although Xu Shijia led a refined life, he had always been low-key about key issues. In high school, he was forced by his parents to have a medical team and bodyguards because of his poor health. Even so, he had never mentioned to Jin Yi that his father was Wang Yannian of Xinhe Group. Jin Yi had always thought that Xu Shijia just came from a wealthy family until years later, when he unexpectedly ran into him and Wang Yizhou of Xinhe together, and he learned about Xu Shijia’s true identity.

Xinhe Group was in a whole different league of wealth compared to ordinary rich families.

In contrast to Jin Yi’s caution, Xu Shijia seemed completely unconcerned, responding indifferently, “She knows.”

“She knows you’re the youngest son of Wang Yannian from Xinhe Group?” Jin Yi couldn’t help but be shocked. “Then it’s over. She must be trying to get you to introduce her to your whole family!”

Was Xu Shijia not worried that this relationship wasn’t pure?

“What does she want my introduction for?” Xu Shijia said, his tone complex. “She already knows my dad and my brother.”

Jin Yi was taken aback. Had things escalated to the point of meeting the parents?

Given Wang Yannian and Wang Yizhou’s reputation for their decisive methods, they must have investigated her thoroughly. It seemed that Lin Shu’s identity was definitely not questionable.

Jin Yi became curious, “What do your dad and brother think of her?”

Xu Shijia snorted coldly, “They couldn’t praise her enough.”

Normally, having the approval of family for a girl you like is something to be happy about, especially for someone from a family like Xu Shijia’s, where gaining approval isn’t easy. But Xu Shijia’s tone… sounded strange.

Could it be that Lin Shu was a matchmaker picked by Xu Shijia’s family? So the family was satisfied, but Xu Shijia had some complaints?

But it didn’t seem like that…

Jin Yi, being the closest friend Xu Shijia had in high school, had a bit of understanding about him.

He had once witnessed and participated in Xu Shijia’s painful first love incident and had felt quite sympathetic towards him at the time.

After that significant setback, Xu Shijia had been down for a while before locking his heart away for many years.

Initially, Jin Yi thought Xu Shijia would be stuck mourning his past failed first love forever, but now it seemed otherwise.

“I just realized you pretended not to know about our class activities and quickly left the group. You really have your ways, just so you could claim you had no classmates to gather with, making it reasonable to accompany that Lin Shu instead? You really go all out with the act, Xu Shijia!”

Xu Shijia’s attitude toward Lin Shu was obviously off.

Lin Shu hadn’t noticed, but having known Xu Shijia for so many years, and being a man himself, Jin Yi couldn’t fail to see the meaning behind Xu Shijia’s obscure gaze.

Yet, it felt a bit delicate; aside from liking her, there seemed to be some resentment.

Like a love-hate relationship.

Most people would happily share their new romantic interests with friends, but Xu Shijia’s attitude was very strange. He seemed unwilling to bring up Lin Shu, even not wanting Jin Yi to get close to her, yet he was particularly concerned, to the point of not letting Jin Yi mention any stories from high school.

Regardless, Jin Yi felt a bit relieved that he had quickly caught on and stopped the topic.

After all, Xu Shijia’s past was something that would bother any girl.

Who would want their current boyfriend to have a difficult time getting over a failed first love?!

Now that some time had passed, Xu Shijia had finally moved on, but when Jin Yi thought back on it, he still wanted to laugh: “Who knows what was going on with you back then? During the summer before we graduated from senior year, one night you suddenly called me, drunk, and said you were no longer a virgin.”

Mentioning the past seemed to make Xu Shijia’s face hard to maintain: “That’s all old news; let’s not talk about it.”

“No, no, no! That was such a shock for me! Even though you were a late bloomer graduating from senior year, we were still in the same year. I hadn’t even held a girl’s hand, and you’re telling me you’re not a virgin anymore!” Jin Yi exclaimed, feeling emotional, “At first, I thought you were trying to show off, but then…”

Xu Shijia looked like he was about to crack under the pressure. He finally couldn’t hold back and reached out to cover Jin Yi’s mouth: “Stop talking.”

The more he did that, the more Jin Yi wanted to continue: “And then you suddenly told me with a melancholic tone that you were slept with, and the girl ran away after, leaving you with nothing but a bunch of change totaling one hundred and nineteen yuan and eighty cents.”

The story was so bizarre that Jin Yi still remembered the exact amount: “One hundred and nineteen yuan and eighty cents—that was the price of your first night, Xu Shijia.”

Recalling that scene still made Jin Yi laugh: “You said, of all things, why did you have to go drinking? You’re so sensitive to alcohol, and when you drink, you completely lose control. You could complain to me on the phone, and I’m the type who keeps secrets and wouldn’t blab; at most, I’d just laugh at you alone. But why did you go and post on the campus confession wall that day after getting drunk?”

The confession wall at Rong City No. 3 High School required that only currently enrolled students or alumni could post. Although one could choose to be anonymous while posting, Xu Shijia, unfortunately, lost his reason after drinking too much and posted a bunch of disorganized thoughts without choosing anonymity.

“With your face, you were already something of a celebrity. So many girls liked you. But you went and posted under your real name that you’re no longer a virgin and were scammed out of your first night. Do you know how shocking that was? All the girls in school went wild! And then you went on to say that the girl who took your first night was your first love, someone you secretly liked for years, and you thought it was your lucky chance, but it turned out like this… Your tone was so bitter, filled with complaints…”

Xu Shijia pressed his lips tightly, clearly not wanting to speak.

“Let’s just pretend these things never happened,” Xu Shijia said, his expression somewhat pained, but still managing to maintain a facade of calm, “Don’t bring it up with anyone else.”

“Of course, I just want to say, thankfully, even though you got drunk and lost control, at least you didn’t expose the girl’s name on the confession wall. You only vaguely mentioned her name to me on the phone, but at that time, I was so focused on envying you for losing your virginity that I clearly heard the name but can’t recall it now. I think it was a two-syllable name… what was it again…”

Xu Shijia maintained a serious expression and asked, “Has that post on the confession wall been cleared up?”

“It’s all cleaned up. I had my senior hide it for you. The original version of our website was developed by him, and he has all the backups of the data,” Jin Yi replied.

Hearing this, Xu Shijia finally relaxed a bit. He recalled, “My brother also contacted that senior later and had him sign a confidentiality agreement, stating that the backup couldn’t be leaked.”

Unfortunately, Jin Yi still didn’t quite understand. “But what’s the use of clearing it up? Your brother really spent too much money. The people who needed to see it all saw it at the time. This kind of thing is too shocking; it spreads like wildfire. Even several generations later, if anyone mentions your previous name, they’ll remember the joke about you—losing your virginity to a heartless girl named Wang Yan.”

Xu Shijia: “……”

Jin Yi patted his chest and said, “But don’t worry; you’re moving on now. I’ll keep this secret well. You can lie and say you’re still a virgin.”

Xu Shijia was very speechless. “Is there any meaning in that? Or do you think being a virgin at this age is something to be proud of?”

“Of course it’s meaningful,” Jin Yi said with a mischievous grin. “You have to understand that what happened back then was so sensational. It’s quite rare that we can still find alumni who are completely unaware of it; you need to protect that well.”

Since the confession wall incident was mentioned, Xu Shijia’s expression had been quite grim. He furrowed his brows slightly and pressed his lips together. “She’s not the relationship you think she is. She’s not my girlfriend.”

“Then who is she? She doesn’t look like she graduated from Rong University. Why did you come to the school anniversary with her? Besides, your dad and brother have both met her and praised her. What’s her identity and background?”

Xu Shijia looked at Jin Yi expressionlessly. “You’re asking too many questions. Knowing too much won’t do you any good.”

Jin Yi was naturally curious, but he had a feeling that he was right; Xu Shijia would do everything possible to keep Lin Shu from knowing about this matter, as it concerned his pride.

In fact, there were hardly any events in Xu Shijia’s life that made him regret or feel embarrassed.

The confession wall incident was the biggest Waterloo of his life.

When it happened, Xu Shijia never imagined the news would spread so widely. He woke up with a hangover the next day, only to find discussions already heating up on forums and posts speculating about who the “heartless girl” was.

That was the first time Xu Shijia reluctantly went home to ask his brother Wang Yizhou for help. He couldn’t bear to bring such a humiliating matter to their father. Fortunately, Wang Yizhou had already taken over the family business. Seeing Xu Shijia’s pale and distressed face, Wang Yizhou, holding back his laughter, didn’t ask any questions but lent Xu Shijia the Xinhe lawyer team. They used complaints and legal letters to gradually clear discussions and traces of the incident from the internet.

It was also then that Xu Shijia put away his disdain and finally agreed to his father’s request for him to change his name, transforming from Wang Yanzhi to Xu Shijia.

After all, if he didn’t change his name and continued living like that, he might as well change planets.