Chapter 011 – They Say You Like Jiang Junwen

This morning was a general education class, so Jiang Junwen was supposed to attend.

After Shen Qingli found a seat and sat down, she took out her phone and opened her chat with Pei Songjiang.

She wanted to apologize to him. Jiang Junwen had said some really awful things, and she wasn’t sure if Pei Songjiang was upset.

Pei Songjiang had done nothing wrong—he just helped her out on the bus, and then, by coincidence, got off at the same stop.

But then Jiang Junwen happened to see it and said a bunch of nonsense.

Shen Qingli frowned and thought angrily: Is Jiang Junwen sick or something?
Back in the previous life at this time, didn’t he have better things to do? Wasn’t he skipping class every day to be with Luo Shuyao?

He used to accompany Luo Shuyao to her classes all the time.
So much so that students from both schools joked that Jiang Junwen studied at Polytechnic University but got a degree from A University.

After hesitating for a long while—typing, deleting, then typing again—Shen Qingli ended up not sending a message to Pei Songjiang.

Because no matter how she phrased it, it didn’t feel appropriate.

Just as she was about to close the app, a message from Pei Songjiang popped up:

[What’s wrong?]

Shen Qingli: “…”

She suddenly realized—while she was typing, Pei Songjiang must have seen the “Typing…” indicator.

She had been at it for nearly ten minutes and didn’t send a single word.
That meant he might’ve seen the whole awkward pause.

Shen Qingli’s face turned red with embarrassment.

She quickly typed and sent:

[Senior, I’m really sorry about earlier. I hope you don’t take it to heart.]

Pei Songjiang replied:
[Didn’t I already say? It’s not your fault. You don’t need to apologize.]

Reading that line made Shen Qingli’s eyes sting slightly.

Compared to Jiang Junwen, Senior Pei’s personality was so kind and warm.

She didn’t know what else to say. After a moment of thought, she simply replied:

[Thank you, Senior.]

She had never been ashamed of her father.
Her father worked hard to support the family and her education—it wasn’t easy.

She was grateful to him, and she never thought being a driver was anything disgraceful.

But the way Jiang Junwen had spoken—especially in front of Pei Songjiang—left her uneasy.
What if Pei Songjiang misunderstood?

Would he think she was the type of girl who flirted with male classmates—first Jiang Junwen at the Jiang house, then Pei Songjiang at school?

The thought made Shen Qingli sigh.

At that moment, someone brushed past her desk and bumped it just hard enough to knock her pen to the floor.

She frowned and looked up—only to see Jiang Junwen, hands in pockets, walking coldly past her and heading to the last row.

Shen Qingli: “…”

She stared at his back for a moment, puzzled.
Jiang Junwen actually came to class today?

Didn’t he usually go hang around Luo Shuyao?

So when he said last night that he wasn’t going to skip class, he actually meant it?

Shen Qingli blinked in surprise, then quickly picked up her phone and snapped a photo of Jiang Junwen sitting down, sending it off to Mrs. Jiang.

He said she could take pictures—so she would.
Anything that saved her trouble was a win. After all, both mother and son were difficult to deal with.

Just as Jiang Junwen sat down, Yu Zhenghao whispered,
“Shen Qingli just took a photo of you.”

Jiang Junwen gave a cold snort, though his face wasn’t as dark as usual.
“I know. I’m not blind.”

Yu Zhenghao chuckled,
“Man, she must really like you. Ah Wen, be careful. Your mom already looks down on Luo Shuyao—what would she think of a driver’s daughter?”

Li Wenyao couldn’t help but speak up for Shen Qingli:
“Come on, what kind of society are we in now? So what if she’s a driver’s daughter? Ali is pretty, has good grades, and she’s obedient and polite. Maybe Aunt Jiang will like her.”

Yu Zhenghao clicked his tongue:
“No way. Aunt Jiang hates people with low backgrounds the most…”

He didn’t finish, but everyone knew what he was thinking.

Back when they were kids, Mr. Jiang had cheated—with an intern from their company.
That girl came from a poor rural family, with two younger brothers, and had made it to university with student loans.

She interned at Jiang Group and, instead of focusing on her work, seduced Mr. Jiang—and succeeded.
By the time Mrs. Jiang found out, the intern was already three months pregnant.

It caused a huge scandal and directly led to the breakdown of Jiang Junwen’s parents’ relationship.

They never divorced because both held company shares.
Staying married meant remaining the majority shareholders. If they divorced, the stocks and assets would have to be split.

Plus, Mrs. Jiang was unwilling to give up her position.

As long as she remained the legitimate wife, her son would be the only heir.
The entire Jiang family would belong to Jiang Junwen.

Mr. Jiang could fool around outside—but he was not allowed to have another child.

Hearing all this, Jiang Junwen’s expression turned grim.

He remembered that in the previous life, after Luo Shuyao disappeared without a word, he rebelled against his mother by pursuing Shen Qingli.

At the time, he thought it would just be a casual fling—maybe six months, a year tops.

But it ended up lasting five years.

His mother really did hate Shen Qingli.
Even her father got dragged into it—he was frequently scolded by Mrs. Jiang.

In order to control Shen Qingli, Mrs. Jiang forced Mr. Jiang and Shen Qingli’s stepmother to sign a contract: they weren’t allowed to resign voluntarily, or they’d have to pay a penalty.

Without Shen Qingli’s knowledge, her father signed the contract—willingly, just to protect his daughter.

…In short, in that past life, Jiang Junwen and Shen Qingli’s relationship really did make his mother furious.

She caused a lot of trouble back then.

And at the time, Jiang Junwen had only cared about Luo Shuyao—he’d never thought about Shen Qingli’s feelings.

Now that he looked back, even he had to admit:
his mother had gone too far.

…

Jiang Junwen frowned and said coldly,
“Enough. Stop talking. There’s no way I’d ever like a driver’s daughter.”

Li Wenyao gave him a complicated look, then silently shook his head.

—

Over the next two days, whenever Shen Qingli had class with Jiang Junwen, she would casually snap a photo.
If they had different classes, she skipped taking pictures.

But whenever their schedules lined up again, she’d grab a quick shot.

As a result, gossip about how “Shen Qingli liked Jiang Junwen” and was secretly taking pictures of him began spreading in the A University gossip group.

Even Qian Xiqiao, who had skipped early classes two days in a row, came to class early today just to wait for Shen Qingli.

Because of all the awkwardness, Shen Qingli had been taking taxis to school recently and hadn’t run into Pei Songjiang again.

While checking Jiang Junwen’s class schedule on her phone and planning where to “stake out” at noon for a photo, Qian Xiqiao suddenly grabbed her arm and dragged her to the back row of the classroom.

Shen Qingli looked at her in surprise:
“Xiqiao? Did the sun rise in the west today? You actually came to an early class?”

Qian Xiqiao: “…”

She opened the gossip group chat and scrolled through the latest posts, showing them to Shen Qingli.
She lowered her voice and said,
“They’re saying you like Jiang Junwen—and that you’re chasing him. Not only that, but that you’re following him around, taking pics during class, after class, even running across campus just to catch him in other classrooms?”

Shen Qingli: “…”

No wonder people had been giving her strange looks lately.

So this was why?!

It wasn’t even that dramatic!

At most, she snapped one picture in the morning and one in the afternoon.
And she hadn’t followed him intentionally—it was either during class or when he was playing basketball!

Clearly, someone was deliberately trying to smear her reputation.