Qin Ruoyao couldn't accept the fact that Lin Li had used her, treating her as a pawn to deal with Lin Xuan.
Her dream of marrying into a wealthy family like the Lins had shattered.
Qin Ruoyao cried for days at home.
She didn't even dare to look at her phone.
Now, online, everyone was calling her a slut, a mistress, shameless, and they were even doxing her.
Her phone was constantly ringing and flooded with abusive messages, so she had stopped turning it on entirely.
She stayed hidden at home, too afraid to go outside.
She was terrified of being pointed at and gossiped about.
Qin Ruoyao couldn't understand how things had come to this. Just a short time ago, she was still the glamorous and adored campus belle of Shangqing University, receiving piles of love letters and gifts.
Everything had changed.
Qin Ruoyao sat on her bed, her arms wrapped around her legs, her face buried in her knees, sobbing uncontrollably.
Qin Ruoyao thought about Luo Yuan.
She called Luo Yuan, wanting to seek comfort from him, but he didn't answer her calls.
All her messages to him went unanswered, sinking into oblivion.
"Is Luo Yuan also ignoring me?"
A sudden wave of panic rose in Qin Ruoyao's heart. She had nothing left now, only Luo Yuan.
If even Luo Yuan ignored her, what would she do?
"YaoYao." Qin's Mother pushed the door open.
"Mom," Qin Ruoyao, aggrieved, hugged her mother’s waist, crying tearfully, "Why are they all treating me like this? I didn't know Lin Li already had a fiancée. I explained I'm not a mistress, but no one listens to me."
"Mom, it hurts so much. Everyone is insulting me."
Tears streamed down Qin Ruoyao’s face like a broken string of pearls.
Qin's Mother gently caressed Qin Ruoyao’s hair with a concerned expression.
She didn't know how to handle this situation either.
"YaoYao," Qin's Mother sighed, "You need to go to school."
Qin Ruoyao shook her head in tears, "Mom, I don’t want to go to school. They will all say I’m shameless. I don’t want to be scolded."
The thought of being looked at with disdain by her classmates made her feel like she was going crazy.
"YaoYao, your counselor just contacted me. If you don’t go to school tomorrow, they will process your withdrawal."
"Mom knows you don’t want to go, but Shangqing University has many affluent students. You need to stay there and catch the eye of a rich second generation, so you can live comfortably for the rest of your life."
"Oh, and Luo Yuan isn’t rich now, isn’t he? You can start with him, use him as a stepping stone to get with a real tycoon."
Qin's Mother stroked Qin Ruoyao’s hair thoughtfully and advised, "YaoYao, us ordinary folks, to get into the upper circle, we need to rely on men. Mom doesn’t want you to marry an ordinary person like me, living every day worrying about money."
Qin Ruoyao stopped crying.
Luo Yuan…
But lately, Luo Yuan had been cold and distant toward her, and in the past few days, he hadn’t even responded to her messages or picked up her calls. Would Luo Yuan really still be willing to be with her?
Qin Ruoyao told her mother about the recent happenings with Luo Yuan.
"Silly child," her mother said helplessly, "Luo Yuan is acting like this because you were with Lin Li. He loves you but can’t have you, that’s why he’s being cold."
"If you show him you want to be with him wholeheartedly, he’ll have no choice but to agree."
"Really?" Hope lit up in Qin Ruoyao’s eyes.
"Of course," her mother smiled faintly, "My daughter is so beautiful. Just show a bit of weakness, and he’ll come back to you."
"Listen to Mom’s advice and dress up beautifully and go to school tomorrow."
"Okay," Qin Ruoyao nodded, tears still glistening on her eyelashes.
The next day.
Qin Ruoyao put on a pink dress that reached just above her thighs, applied makeup, and wore stockings that made her legs look white and smooth.
She wore white sneakers on her feet.
She put on a mask, and a baseball cap, covering herself completely, and then left the house.
As the campus belle of Shangqing University, Qin Ruoyao had always been highly popular.
Even three days after the complete sex video exposing her affair as a mistress surfaced, it was still being hotly discussed.
"I never thought Qin Ruoyao would do such a thing. I thought she was so proud and aloof, yet she went to be a mistress."
"Qin Ruoyao is only with Lin Li because he’s rich. If Lin Li were poor, do you think Qin Ruoyao would even look at him?"
"She’s not a pure maiden anymore, just a vixen."
"I saw how wild Qin Ruoyao was in the video. She’s so exciting, I wonder if she’ll sleep with me for a few thousand bucks."
"Qin Ruoyao hasn’t come to school for so many days, she probably couldn’t face everyone, huh."
As Qin Ruoyao walked down the street, all the vile comments and insults drilled into her ears.
Even with her hands covering her ears, Qin Ruoyao could still hear plenty.
Her eyes were red as she quickened her pace, desperately trying to escape the unending stream of verbal abuse.
"This is suspicious."
In the distance, Wang Dahe scrutinized the sneaking around Qin Ruoyao.
"This woman definitely has issues."
Wang Dahe rubbed his chin with his right hand, muttering to himself.
"Wearing a mask and hat, acting like a thief, it seems like she doesn’t want to be recognized."
"The height, the figure, the outfit, it’s unmistakable. This has to be Qin Ruoyao."
On the day the video of Qin Ruoyao and Lin Li leaked, Wang Dahe was excited to share it with Lin Xuan.
But to his surprise, Lin Xuan told him that he and Luo Yuan had planned this whole thing.
Luo Yuan was in charge of getting close to Qin Ruoyao to obtain the video; Lin Xuan handled the exposure at Lin Li’s birthday party and online.
Wang Dahe felt upset that he wasn’t included in this big reveal. So, when he recognized Qin Ruoyao, his first thought was: isn’t Qin Ruoyao trying to hide her identity?
Then he’d expose her.
Thinking about this, Wang Dahe confidently approached Qin Ruoyao, putting a hand in his pocket.
"Hey, classmate." Wang Dahe blocked Qin Ruoyao’s path, "You're covering up so much, are you hiding something?"
Due to Lin Xuan’s excessive infatuation with Qin Ruoyao, Wang Dahe had always despised her.
Qin Ruoyao also disliked Wang Dahe.
"Move." Qin Ruoyao’s voice turned cold.
"Classmate, I’m part of the student council. Wearing a mask like this suggests you're hiding something. I need to check your identity, please take off the mask." Wang Dahe insisted.
"My face is breaking out, I don’t want to show it," Qin Ruoyao clutched her mask, her eyes evading Wang Dahe's gaze.
"Don’t worry, I’ll just take a quick look."
Without waiting for Qin Ruoyao’s consent, Wang Dahe made a swift snatch at her hat.
Qin Ruoyao froze for a moment, caught off guard, and while she was stunned, Wang Dahe quickly and skillfully tore off her mask.