novelraw Chapter 240: "What Happened to Her Family?
Chapter 240: "What Happened to Her Family?
Over the next few months, Xi Zirong made no further attempts to speak with her alone. Just as he had promised, he stopped pestering her and kept his distance from Xu Su.
Zhou Mochen was well aware of everything that went on at school. Seeing that Xu Su and Xi Zirong had no contact, his tense and guarded heart gradually began to relax.
As a result, Zhou Mochen’s mood stabilized with each passing day, and he no longer had the random fits he’d had at the beginning.
Many times, as Xu Su looked at the man beside her, whose eyes were filled with adoration and who indulged her every whim, she would often find her mind wandering...
’It was as if that paranoid, gloomy Zhou Mochen had been nothing more than a dream...’
In the blink of an eye, it was late December, and the semester was quickly coming to a close.
As City No.1 High School was a municipal key school, it went without saying how much the administration and teachers valued academic performance. The students were all buried in their studies, and very few remembered the incident on the sports field from months ago.
As for Zhou Mochen coming to pick up Xu Su from school?
That was novel for a day or two, but after a while, the students had grown used to it.
This was especially true for the senior honors class. With graduation drawing ever closer, students and teachers alike were singularly focused on preparing for the next year’s college entrance exam. Xu Su had long since noticed that her classmates were paying less and less attention to her.
Although she had grown somewhat accustomed to the subtle glances, she was naturally more relaxed not being the center of her classmates’ gossip.
On a weekend night, Xu Su finally leveled her *Immortal Continent* account to the Foundation Establishment Stage, becoming a Sword Cultivator who could use Sword Flight.
Seeing his only disciple finally have a breakthrough, Nanyang was in high spirits. He generously gifted her a set of High-level Immortal Robes. He was the only person, aside from Xu Su herself, who cared about her realm.
After all, for a top player at the Divinity Transformation Stage, having a direct disciple who was just a little newbie in the Qi Refinement Realm was frankly a bit embarrassing. So, whenever Xu Su logged on, even if he was busy, he would arrange in advance for his other high-level friends from the Qingxuan Sect to give her a few pointers and take his little disciple to grind mobs and level up.
In the words of her master, Master Nanyang, if not for her limited online time each week, she would have reached the Golden Core realm long ago.
Although the Foundation Establishment Realm was just an upgrade from "total newbie" to "regular newbie," it didn’t diminish Xu Su’s satisfaction in the slightest. After changing into the High-level Immortal Robe gifted by Master Nanyang, she took in the snow-white gauze, the cinched waist, and the wide sleeves that gave her a wispy, ethereal aura, and thoroughly enjoyed the thrill of flying.
The artists for *Immortal Continent* rendered every frame with stunning realism, and the expert players in the elite chat group were all warm and friendly. Xu Su was getting more and more hooked on the game.
Her good mood, which had lasted all night, vanished the moment she got to school. When she nodded a greeting to a familiar female classmate, the girl recoiled as if she were a venomous snake.
Xu Su frowned. She had no idea what was going on this time, but her mind flashed back to a few months ago...
After the wedding fiasco in Kang County, every single person who had offended Xu Su met with terrible misfortune. Kang County wasn’t a large place; a stroll through the streets and you were bound to run into a few acquaintances. As a result, the story became common knowledge throughout the small county.
No one believed it was a coincidence.
As a result, rumors in Kang County about the identity and background of Shen Chen—the man who had beaten people up at the wedding and driven an expensive sports car—grew increasingly fantastical. Most of the students from Kang County who attended City No.1 High School had been warned by their parents not to provoke Xu Su at school.
The story spread throughout the school, and for a long time, students from her own class and others alike treated Xu Su with trepidation.
At the time, Huang Feng and Qian Jia had curiously pestered Xu Su for a while, asking if Shen Chen was the one who had taught those insolent thugs at the wedding a lesson.
When Xu Su tacitly confirmed it, their expressions grew incredibly complicated. They couldn’t fathom how their best friend, whom they saw every day, knew someone with such an extraordinary background...
They had, at least, witnessed the whole story of how she’d met Zhou Mochen. But where on earth had Shen Chen popped up from?
They were curious about Shen Chen’s identity and origins, and also about whether Xu Su’s current boyfriend, Zhou Mochen, knew he existed.
When Xu Su told them that Shen Chen and Zhou Mochen were like brothers who had known each other since childhood, their expressions grew even more complicated.
They had seen with their own eyes how anxious Shen Chen had been when Xu Su got hurt.
They weren’t children anymore. They suddenly realized what kind of legendary femme fatale their best friend was...
Xu Su had earnestly explained to them that Shen Chen was a notorious playboy and would never fall for someone like her.
In truth, however, even she wasn’t so sure anymore...
’But that was months ago,’ she thought. ’The whole affair had long since died down... So why was it flaring up again?’
Pulling her scarf tighter, Xu Su walked quickly into the classroom. The room, which had been buzzing with chatter, fell silent in an instant.
Xu Su pressed her lips together. Without breaking stride, she went to her seat, sat down, and took off her gloves, ready to review her notes. Qian Jia handed a mug to her. "I got you some hot water."
"Aw, Jiajia, you’re the best." Xu Su accepted it with a smile. She hated the cold, and once the weather turned chilly, her mug could never be empty of hot water.
Qian Jia leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, "Did you hear? Something happened to Gu Yunjia’s family. I was just saying how she’s been like a different person lately—she’s not chasing after God Xi anymore, and she’s stopped caring about how she looks. Turns out there was a huge crisis at home. She kept it such a secret. If her cousin in the freshman year hadn’t said something, who would have ever guessed?"
Aside from the flag-raising ceremony on Mondays, City No.1 High School didn’t require students to wear their uniforms every day.
Adolescence is an age of vanity, and few girls don’t want to look their best. Gu Yunjia’s family seemed to be quite well-off; her daily outfits were always stylish and pretty, and she would occasionally even come to school wearing light makeup.
Combined with her own naturally good looks, she stood out as a bright, eye-catching figure in the sea of plainly dressed students.
This distinctive glamour led many to secretly label her as "gaudy and flirtatious."
Qian Jia’s words gave Xu Su pause.
She put down the mug she had been about to open and asked quietly, "What happened to her family?"
At the same time, she began to understand why her classmates were once again avoiding her like the plague.
’They think that because Gu Yunjia offended me, she’s now facing retaliation?’
Qian Jia was about to speak when the class bell rang and the classroom fell silent. She quickly stopped herself. "Come with us to the cafeteria later, we’ll tell you then."
Xu Su nodded. "Okay."
For the past few months, Xu Su had been eating breakfast at home. While everyone else was in the cafeteria, she would usually be at her desk in the classroom, scrolling through her group chats on her phone.
She got through the morning study session feeling distracted. The moment the bell rang, Qian Jia pulled her to her feet. "Come on!"
The two of them had just stepped out of the classroom when they met Huang Feng in the hallway. Seeing that Xu Su was coming with them to breakfast, she smiled and linked arms with her, and the three of them headed toward the cafeteria.
It had been a long time since she’d had breakfast in the cafeteria, and Xu Su found herself missing the school’s egg pancakes. She bought a cup of hot soy milk to eat with one.
After taking a sip of soy milk to warm her stomach, Xu Su was the first to break the silence. "So what happened with Gu Yunjia’s family? I noticed her seat was empty. She didn’t come to school today."