Cheng Rushan took Jiang Lin to school, parking his Jeep under the administrative building and then walking with her to her classroom.

Along the way, they saw many big posters about “Z,” plastered on bulletin boards, trees, and even walls.

People were gathered around, pointing and discussing.

As they passed one of these posters, Cheng Rushan glanced at it and saw the words “The Battle of the Two School Beauties: Character Judged.” His brow furrowed slightly, but he didn’t react immediately.

Soon, several students from the architecture department rushed over, tearing down the poster and replacing it with a new one.

One of the male students shouted, “Some people are going too far. Do they think no one will protect us architecture students? Are they just going to bully us like this?”

“Yeah, stepping on us to climb up, and now slandering someone’s character. How shameless!”

“Yesterday afternoon, she almost pushed Jiang Lin down the stairs. Such malice, and she dares to talk about others!”

“What’s going on?” The students began asking questions.

When Cheng Rushan heard the part about almost pushing Jiang Lin down the stairs, his body tensed up.

He turned to look at Jiang Lin, his gaze full of concern.

Jiang Lin quickly reassured him, “Don’t worry. It was just a minor bump because I was in a hurry. The students are exaggerating a bit to take control of the situation. I’m really touched by how many people are standing up for me.”

Since Jiang Lin was okay with it, there was no need for him to be upset or react strongly.

Did she think she wouldn’t get angry or fight back?

A verbal spat?

Posters?

Did Jiang Lin not understand her relationship with the College of Arts?

Although Zeng Hongjie wasn’t around lately, her friends from the campus newspaper were still there.

They were all talented writers; would they really back down from writing articles?

She didn’t want Cheng Rushan to worry or get involved, because as a military officer, any involvement would be misinterpreted as using his power to bully others, potentially affecting his work.

Cheng Rushan looked at her and said, “Lin Lin, you know I’m not afraid of trouble.”

There was nothing he wouldn’t do, nothing he feared.

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “Of course I know. Alright, we’re here now. Go back to work.”

She looked around, seeing that everyone was distracted by the posters and not paying much attention to her.

She gently pulled Cheng Rushan’s hand, coaxing him to go back to work and not be angry.

Cheng Rushan lowered his eyes and looked at her, smiling as he opened his arms and hugged her tightly.

“I really…” He trailed off, unable to find a way to describe how he couldn’t bear to see her suffer even a little.

Jiang Lin told him to go back to work and waved goodbye as she watched him leave.

He was dressed in a military uniform, with a green wool coat over it.

His tall and upright figure was especially noticeable against the early spring’s sparse scenery.

Their classmates had long noticed them. Whenever the two appeared together, it felt like a sweet atmosphere surrounded them.

But no one would dare approach Captain Cheng when he was with his wife.

Everyone had known each other for a year, participated in many dances, and had seen Captain Cheng accompany his wife many times.

They had also experienced Captain Cheng’s strong presence and stern gaze.

If he was unhappy, he’d say nothing, just fix his deep, dark eyes on you, enough to make you nervous.

Everyone knew Cheng Rushan’s temper well by now and wouldn’t dare to disturb him.

As soon as he left, they rushed over to Jiang Lin. “Jiang Lin, this time the art class has gone too far. We need to fight back.”

Jiang Lin thanked them first. “Thank you for standing up for me.”

“This isn’t just about you; it’s about all of our honor. They disrespected someone we chose. How can we show our faces?”

The classmates, filled with righteous indignation, decided to stand up to Jiang Ling’s supporters.

Yesterday, Lu Hang had stormed into the art class, publicly humiliating their class beauty, Jiang Ling, and arrogantly threatened the whole class not to draw Jiang Lin and her friends.

He left with a swagger, and by the same day, the news had spread across all departments and classes of the provincial university.

Then, in the evening, after school, Jiang Ling brought a large poster to the architecture class and confronted Jiang Lin, pushing the school beauty incident to another climax.

Everyone thought she was either too angry or trying to play the victim by accusing Jiang Lin.

At lunchtime, several posters about “Z” appeared outside the cafeteria, accusing Jiang Lin of being a campus bully, narrow-minded, and mistreating junior students.

The posters attacked Jiang Lin’s behavior, claiming that as a senior and the “Campus Flower of Architecture,” she was domineering and lacked grace, bringing shame to the architecture department and unworthy of being the campus beauty.

People finally realized what was happening.

It seemed Jiang Lin wasn’t just playing the victim; she was deliberately starting a fight!

She had set up an ambush!

By stepping on Jiang Lin to advance her own position, Jiang Lin’s character was being dragged through the mud once again.

This could turn public opinion against Jiang Lin, making her seem like a bully who took advantage of her position.

After all, many people judge others based on hearsay.

Unfortunately for Jiang Lin, her strategy backfired.

Not only did Jiang Lin have admirers and supporters, but as the first generation of provincial university undergraduates after the restoration of college entrance exams, she was outstanding in both academics and appearance.

Her popularity at the university was very high.

Students felt that the attack on Jiang Lin was also an attack on them, so they decided to fight back.

People outside didn’t know how Jiang Lin became a joint campus beauty in such a short time, but they saw it as a beautiful story.

However, Jiang Lin’s classmates knew how this “beautiful story” came about, how they created and manipulated public opinion, and how they kept pushing the narrative.

The posters claimed that Jiang Lin was an outdated campus beauty, now unworthy of the title because she was pregnant, while the new campus beauty, Jiang Ling, was young and unmarried, which meant other men had more opportunities to pursue her.

Thus, it wasn’t difficult for Jiang Ling to gather a group of eager, young admirers in a short time.

Some contacted Jiang Ling’s female classmates to gather information, especially those who had long disliked her.

They spontaneously organized to post public accusations about Jiang Ling’s misdeeds in support of the architecture department’s beauty.

As a result, details about how Jiang Ling created the campus beauty narrative, how she smeared Jiang Lin, and how she manipulated public opinion were all exposed.

Posts about her maliciously pushing Jiang Lin, trying to blacken her reputation, and manipulating the posters were spread everywhere, and more and more people learned the truth.

Jiang Lin thought that this was enough—once people understood the truth, Jiang Ling wouldn’t be able to stir up more trouble.

Zeng Hongjie came back from outside. After hearing about the incident, she said to put everything else aside for now and attend the library meeting after school.

Attendees included: Jiang Lin, Zeng Hongjie, Su Xingyun, Sun Qinghui, Lu Hang, Guo Yanqiu, and seven or eight other people.

Previously, Jiang Xinglei and Jiang Min had also attended, but Jiang Lin felt the matter was resolved and told them not to come anymore as it was inconvenient.

Jiang Lin said, “The matter is resolved. This is the last meeting. From now on, everyone should focus on their studies.”

Su Xingyun objected, “No way. She can’t just stomp on us and walk away when it doesn’t work out for her. Things don’t work like that.”

Lu Hang added, “We should elect an official school beauty for the provincial university and kick her out. She has no personality or style, just copies others. She doesn’t deserve the title!”

Guo Yanqiu glared at him, “Don’t make things worse.”

Lu Hang got anxious, “How am I making things worse? This is the most effective way.”

Jiang Lin was puzzled, “You know idioms now?” His speaking level had improved today. Could it be because he and Dr. Guo were dating and their intelligence balanced out?

Lu Hang chuckled but didn’t tell them he got the idea from Brother Cheng. Brother Cheng said, “Whoever controls the propaganda wins. If you don’t have it, create it.”

With the provincial university newspaper in their hands, what couldn’t they do? Since they were using the school beauty title against them, they’d use the authoritative school newspaper to select titles like “Provincial University Beauty” and “Provincial University Influential Figures.”

The criteria wouldn’t just be based on looks but also on achievements, appearance, and abilities.

Without Jiang Ling’s name, it would drive her crazy.

How could she still fool people with the school beauty title?

Su Xingyun and Sun Qinghui applauded the idea. “Great idea. Zeng Hongjie, what do you think?”

Zeng Hongjie, a bit tired from rushing back by train, leaned against Jiang Lin and smiled, “It’s a great idea. While suppressing the enemy, we should also elevate ourselves. Achieve greater accomplishments and leave her far behind.”

Lu Hang slapped the table, “Exactly!”

Guo Yanqiu looked at him with a half-smile, feeling like this guy had suddenly gotten smarter, looking bright and shiny.

Although he still seemed a bit silly, the more she looked at him, the more adorable he seemed.

Zeng Hongjie was inspired by Lü Hang and quickly came up with several aspects: “The Campus Flower of Architecture from Provincial University, from the moment she went to the countryside, was always devoted to the members of her team, embodying the role of a dedicated proletarian labor model. She rooted herself in the vast rural land and made remarkable achievements. After five or six years of hard work, she led the entire team…”

Jiang Lin listened with a bead of sweat forming on her forehead. “Xiao Jie, stop! If you keep going, I’m going to break out in a cold sweat.”

It was just too embarrassing.

How could such grandiose terms be applied to someone as low-key as her?

Moreover, the so-called “labor model”!

The original person had avoided labor when they went to the countryside, and hadn’t worked for five or six years.

Zeng Hongjie interpreted it as the gap between ideals and reality, leading to pain, growth, and maturity, eventually transforming and finding a direction for development…

They listed not only her achievements in Shu Huai Village but also her contributions at Provincial University: organizing social events for students, providing spiritual nourishment, offering entertainment to balance their studies, participating in knowledge competitions, helping to develop new building materials and designs for teaching buildings, advising on family planning to protect mothers and babies, and preparing for the preservation of ancient architecture.

They listed all the things Jiang Lin had been involved in.

They even praised her family life, mentioning how she respected her in-laws, never had any arguments, was as close as a daughter, and raised her children well.

Her children were talented in writing from a young age, publishing children’s stories in newspapers and journals.

They also highlighted her contributions to Wen Sheng’s theater troupe, supporting and encouraging him in the arts…

Jiang Lin was stunned.

“Are you sure you’re talking about me? Do you really want to praise me like this?”

“You’re exaggerating too much. I’m not that great. If someone digs into this, I won’t be able to handle it.”