Lin Jianqing: ‘Why does this sound a bit off? Is he overthinking it, or…’
Lin Jianqing didn’t dare think any further and could only smile awkwardly.
He steeled himself and said, “It’s just a temporary project. I’m only going there to help out, so it’s not too tiring.”
“That’s good.” Guan Ju looked at him for a moment, then casually changed the subject. “By the way, how old is your sister now?”
Lin Jianqing froze. The question was too sudden; he didn’t react for a moment.
“My sister?”
“Mm.” Guan Ju lowered her head to rearrange the documents on the desk, as if just asking in passing. “I remember you mentioned before that she’s still in high school.”
“Right, high school.”
Lin Jianqing’s heart began to prickle with unease.
Why did Teacher Guan suddenly ask about his sister? Could there be some financial aid paperwork from the school?
No.
The financial aid paperwork had already been submitted.
“Does she look like you?” Guan Ju asked.
Lin Jianqing’s body stiffened, and a terrible thought suddenly rose in his heart.
This question was definitely not a casual one.
His mind instantly flashed to the big screen screenshot in the dorm group chat last night, and the photo that Shen Huaixue had somehow slipped into the same-city video.
‘Teacher Guan couldn’t have seen it too, right?’
‘No way???’
‘Teachers browse pretty passerby compilations too?’
‘Is that even reasonable?’
‘Actually, it’s not that unreasonable. Yesterday’s competition was pretty popular.’
‘But why did she have to see it?’
Lin Jianqing was already cursing Shen Huaixue in his heart.
‘Living Yama.’
‘She’s really put me on the fire this time.’
“She’s alright, I guess.” Lin Jianqing tried hard to seem less guilty. “Siblings tend to look a bit alike.”
Guan Ju nodded.
“I see.”
She paused, then said as if offhandedly, “Last night I came across a superpower competition video—well, a photo collection. There was a girl in it who looked a lot like you. I thought she was your sister.”
Lin Jianqing almost lost his composure.
‘Sure enough. She really did see it.’
He put on a look of puzzlement. “Superpower competition?”
Guan Ju looked at him.
Lin Jianqing kept playing dumb. “What video?”
“A same-city video.” Guan Ju took out her phone but didn’t open it right away, instead watching his expression. “The title was something like ‘pretty passerby compilation.'”
Lin Jianqing wished he could disappear on the spot. Pretty passerby compilation.
Those words coming from Guan Ju’s mouth were even scarier than hearing them from his roommates.
Because roommates would at most gossip.
Guan Ju was the counselor. The destructive power of those two words was on a completely different level.
Lin Jianqing could only keep playing dumb.
“Maybe it’s just someone who looks like me.”
“Mm, I also think it might just be someone who looks like you.” Guan Ju’s tone was gentle—so gentle that Lin Jianqing didn’t relax at all. She turned her phone screen to face him, pausing on that screenshot. “But it really does look like you. Take a look.”
Lin Jianqing looked down.
The photo was clearly right there.
Shen Huaixue was holding his arm. He was looking down, his ears visibly red.
Lin Jianqing’s expression nearly cracked, but he forced himself to hold it together.
He held it together with incredible effort.
“It’s… quite similar.”
As soon as he said it, he quickly added, “But it’s probably not my sister. She should’ve been at school yesterday.”
Hearing that, Guan Ju’s eyes flickered with a faint smile.
“I didn’t say it was definitely your sister.”
Lin Jianqing:
‘Damn it. I over-explained.’
‘Lin Jianqing, your mouth is really too clumsy!’
Lin Jianqing berated his brainless mouth inwardly, looking at Guan Ju with growing trepidation.
Guan Ju put her phone away, not pressing him any further. She only asked in a light tone, “So last night, you really just went to the company to work overtime?”
Lin Jianqing was silent for a second.
“Yes.”
Guan Ju looked at him, and Lin Jianqing looked at her.
The air was quiet for a few seconds. In the end, Guan Ju smiled and didn’t call him out.
“Alright, then I’ll take it that you went to the company for overtime.”
Lin Jianqing didn’t feel relieved at all when he heard that.
‘What does she mean, “take it”?’
‘That word is dangerous. And very bad.’
Guan Ju handed him the documents on the desk.
“Nothing else. I just noticed you haven’t been looking well, so I wanted to remind you not to overwork yourself. I know a bit about your family situation. If you have difficulties, you can talk to me. You don’t have to carry everything alone.”
Lin Jianqing took the documents, and his heart sank a little.
Guan Ju’s tone was so normal that his earlier panic seemed almost ridiculous.
But he still didn’t dare to relax.
“Thank you, Teacher.”
Guan Ju looked at him, then suddenly added, “But if there really is something you can’t talk about, you don’t have to rush to make up so many excuses. Lin Jianqing, you’re not very good at lying.”
Lin Jianqing:
He was sure now that Guan Ju had definitely noticed something.
At the very least, she could tell he was playing dumb.
When Lin Jianqing left the classroom holding the documents, he was more exhausted than before class.
He walked to the end of the hallway, took out his phone, and stared at Shen Huaixue’s chat window for several seconds.
In the end, he couldn’t hold back and sent a message.
‘My teacher saw that video too.’
A few seconds later, Shen Huaixue replied with a question mark.
‘?’
Lin Jianqing’s anger flared up the moment he saw that question mark.
‘Pretending.’
‘Still pretending.’
Lin Jianqing knew that the photo collection absolutely had something to do with Shen Huaixue.
‘Don’t pretend.’
Shen Huaixue paused for a few seconds before lazily replying.
‘What did she have to say about it?’
Lin Jianqing:
He stood in the hallway, nearly laughing in exasperation. This Shen Huaixue… Lin Jianqing truly felt that she would be the death of him.
‘No. She called me in for a talk. What do I do? You said your relationship with me wouldn’t affect my normal life.’ His fingers flew across the screen, as if venting all his emotions into the phone.
‘I haven’t affected your normal life either. That video wasn’t posted by me, and it wasn’t from my burner account. However…’
Shen Huaixue’s message stopped at the ellipsis.
‘What’s she playing at? Stop speaking in riddles.’
‘Do one thing for me, and I can help lower the heat on this matter. At least it’ll keep others from paying attention to anything about you.’
Seeing Shen Huaixue’s message, Lin Jianqing felt the veins on his forehead twist into a knot.
‘Do one thing for her… Lin Jianqing would have to be out of his mind.’
‘Relax, it’s nothing too outrageous. I want you to try on a few outfits and then take some photos. Also, don’t go to the company this afternoon. Come straight to my place. I already informed the company.’
At Shen Huaixue’s home, she was lying on the sofa in a leisurely manner, grinning foolishly at her chat with Lin Jianqing.
Beside her were pieces of clothing she had whimsically commissioned a while ago…
And… all sorts of strange things.
At the end of the day, Shen Huaixue could barely contain herself either. This time, she was even thinking it wouldn’t hurt to use a bit of her special ability on Lin Jianqing.