Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 526: Is She Easy to Manipulate?

Wang Meng knew of Zheng Yanyan's existence, but she had no idea that the girl sitting right in front of her was the very same person.In fact, when they first entered the hot pot restaurant, they had discussed why Zhou Yuwen would be out eating hot pot late at night with three beautiful young women.

Wang Meng had nosily asked, "Are you guys like us, coming out to celebrate after the evening gala just ended?"

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen smiled and replied, "Something like that. Among them, one is the Student Union president of our university, another is the head of the Arts Department, and this one is the vice minister."

Wang Meng immediately apologized upon hearing this, saying she had failed to recognize such important figures.

"As expected of Zhou Yuwen! So many leaders skipped celebrating with their fellow students just to accompany you alone," Wang Meng teased.

Shen Yu could not help but chuckle. "You should say that we are the lucky ones to be able to eat with her," she corrected.

Shen Yu had always enjoyed networking upward, and the group sitting before her were all top students from Jinling University. Among them was even a vice president of the Jinling University Student Union.

Naturally, this vice president did not know Shen Yu, but Shen Yu certainly knew who they were.

She thought to herself that tagging along with Zhou Yuwen tonight was not in vain, as she had managed to meet quite a few excellent individuals.

Shen Yu took the initiative to strike up a conversation with the Student Union members, discussing what kind of support their university had provided for the gala. The others were more than happy to answer her questions.

Perhaps they were doing it out of respect for Zhou Yuwen, or perhaps they were simply naturally good at socializing.

After all, as a nationally renowned university, the caliber of its students was undeniably high. At the very least, their conversation appeared wholesome on the surface. They did not overtly bootlick Zhou Yuwen; rather, they engaged in a healthy, balanced exchange.

This was exactly the kind of chatting atmosphere Shen Yu pursued. Of course, Zhou Yuwen and his companions could barely get a word in edgewise.

As a young man who had brought his girlfriend out, Zhou Yuwen displayed excellent manners. He proactively picked up the bowl and chopsticks next to Li Shiqi and began rinsing them with hot water.

Flattered and slightly overwhelmed, Li Shiqi quickly whispered that she could do it herself.

However, Zhou Yuwen casually dismissed her concern, indicating it was no trouble at all.

He did not just rinse Li Shiqi's tableware; he conveniently cleaned Zheng Yanyan's and Lu Lin's as well. Because there were so many people at the table, his actions did not attract much attention.

Wang Meng noticed, but since she first saw Zhou Yuwen washing Li Shiqi's tableware, she became even more convinced that the two were dating.

She even flashed Li Shiqi a secretive smile.

This left Li Shiqi completely unsure of how to react.

The university life at Jinling University was somewhat different from what Shen Yu and her peers experienced. In Shen Yu's Student Union, activities were mostly organized by the students themselves, with the college providing only minimal assistance.

On the other hand, the Student Union at Jinling University generally followed the direction set by the college. The college would even bring in television crews to film their events. Furthermore, their other activities were far more prestigious and upscale than those at an ordinary school.

Shen Yu then brought up the topic of funding. Since most of the funding for ordinary schools came from the students organizing it themselves, they had to rely on sponsorships from surrounding vendors. Shen Yu asked if they had any good methods for raising funds.

Upon hearing this question, the Jinling University students could not help but exchange amused glances and smile.

They explained that they had alumni—senior male and female students who had successfully started their own businesses—who regularly sponsored them with a sum of money. In addition, the college also allocated a specific budget for them.

Well then. Shen Yu felt that bringing up these issues with them was completely bringing disgrace upon herself. She had originally intended to network upward, but now she felt like an absolute clown.

She would have been better off acting like Zheng Yanyan and the others, keeping her head down and happily stuffing her face with meat.

Zhou Yuwen was equally uninterested in such topics. He simply ate his food and occasionally joked around with Zheng Yanyan and Lu Lin.

He also made sure to show an appropriate amount of care toward Li Shiqi.

It really made it seem as though Li Shiqi was actually his girlfriend.

The others took all of this in, feeling a pang of envy in their hearts.

They had originally thought that the rumors of Zhou Yuwen and Li Shiqi dating were just baseless nonsense.

But seeing them now, it genuinely felt like the truth.

Later, when Li Shiqi and Wang Meng went to the restroom, Wang Meng looked rather smug and said, "Li Shiqi, what's wrong with you? You aren't taking the initiative with your boyfriend at all. Didn't you see those female classmates sitting next to him?"

"Every single one of them was glaring like a tiger watching its prey."

"If you don't start being a bit more proactive, your boyfriend is going to get snatched away by someone else," Wang Meng warned cryptically.

Hearing this, Li Shiqi felt quite helpless. She asked Wang Meng, "Do you know who that girl you asked to move over earlier is?"

"Who is she?" Wang Meng had an impression of Zheng Yanyan. She noted that the girl was quite beautiful.

"But it was so weird. While we were eating, she kept staring at me."

Li Shiqi sighed even heavier at those words. She said, "Her name is Zheng Yanyan. She is Zhou Yuwen's ex-girlfriend."

"Ah!?" Wang Meng jumped in fright, blinking her large eyes in astonishment. "Are you serious? You must be joking, right? It's the middle of the night, and Zhou Yuwen brought his ex-girlfriend out for dinner?"

"Not just an ex-girlfriend," Li Shiqi muttered softly.

Wang Meng was filled with righteous indignation. She declared that even if it was Zhou Yuwen, he could not behave like this. What did he take her for?

"No way, I'm going to go have a word with him and clear this up!"

Saying this, Wang Meng angrily marched toward the door to confront Zhou Yuwen, only to be grabbed and stopped by Li Shiqi. "Don't."

"Shiqi, you don't need to make excuses for him in this kind of situation. What was all that about a gathering with the Student Union? No matter what kind of gathering it is, a single guy wouldn't come out with several girls alone. I thought it looked strange back then! Don't worry, with me here, I absolutely won't let you be taken advantage of!"

Wang Meng acted aggressively, carrying great momentum.

Seeing Wang Meng's fierce attitude, Li Shiqi naturally did not dare to delay any further and simply blurted out, "I'm actually not Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend."

"?"

That single sentence stopped Wang Meng right in her tracks. At this moment, she was genuinely confused. Everything had seemed fine; how could she suddenly not be his girlfriend?

'Are you kidding me?'

'Weren't things perfectly fine out there just a moment ago?'

'Didn't Zhou Yuwen even rinse your tableware and cook tripe for you?'

'You two looked like childhood sweethearts back then. How can you not be together now?'

Li Shiqi certainly did not want to admit this, but things had already reached this point. If she did not reveal the truth, who knew what crazy things Wang Meng would say once they stepped outside.

Fortunately, Wang Meng was Li Shiqi's roommate; even if she knew the truth, she would keep it a secret for her.

Li Shiqi already felt that continuing this lie was inappropriate. If Wang Meng kept running her mouth without restraint as before, Li Shiqi figured she would suffer a permanent social death.

It was better to just clear the air.

Earlier, she had merely spoken without thinking and said the wrong thing. For Zhou Yuwen not to hold it against her and save her from embarrassment meant he had already done everything humanly possible.

"So, Mengmeng, I'm begging you, please do not go out there and talk nonsense again."

Li Shiqi pleaded earnestly, tightly gripping Wang Meng's hands.

She added, "Besides, she might not just be his ex-girlfriend. Who knows, they might have reconciled a long time ago. So they are already giving me a lot of face! Mengmeng!"

Wang Meng's brain spun for a long time, but she still could not wrap her head around it. "No, I don't really understand. If you're not Zhou Yuwen's girlfriend, then what are you?"

Wang Meng blinked in confusion.

Knowing what Wang Meng was implying, Li Shiqi opened her mouth and confessed, "I do like Zhou Yuwen."

This was no secret, nor was there any need to hide it. Across the entire University Town, who knew how many people liked Zhou Yuwen? But Li Shiqi felt that her affection for him was different from the rest.

How should she put it? She did not even know when exactly she had fallen for him. Back in high school, he hadn't seemed any different from anyone else.

In her memories, the Zhou Yuwen of the past spent his classes either lounging around, sleeping, or secretly playing on his phone. Sometimes, he would even sneak out after evening self-study ended.

Li Shiqi used to be the class monitor, and occasionally she had to supervise the class during evening self-study. Every time she saw Zhou Yuwen slip out, she would think to herself, 'I should avoid any interactions with problem students like him in the future. What kind of future could such students possibly have?'

Li Shiqi had always firmly believed in her own path. She felt that once she left that small town, everything would be different.

But after running into Zhou Yuwen again at university, she discovered that he was completely different from before.

Zhou Yuwen had reappeared before her like a mass of dark fog, concealing countless secrets within, drawing people to unconsciously draw closer.

During her freshman year, Li Shiqi felt she had gotten very close. Yet, as she continued walking, she suddenly realized that this fog was actually very far away from her.

So, she walked a great distance, and finally, she was on the verge of touching the fog once more.

Unfortunately, she discovered yet again that Zhou Yuwen was still so distant.

It seemed as though she would never be able to truly reach him.

And yet, he was always right there by her side.

Li Shiqi admitted that she did not know when she had fallen for him, but he was undeniably a very formidable person.

Every time she was near him, she could learn so many different things.

Therefore, all she wanted now was to simply stay by his side.

She believed that Zhou Yuwen would teach her a great deal.

"The reason I pretended to be his girlfriend earlier was mainly because I didn't want that woman disturbing his rest," she explained.

"It's really not as complicated as you guys think."

"Mengmeng, are you willing to keep this secret for me?" After saying all this, Li Shiqi looked at Wang Meng.

Wang Meng listened, feeling somewhat lost in the clouds, but she stated that she understood what Li Shiqi meant.

"Because that is exactly what it feels like to like someone."

"I feel like Zhou Yuwen likes you too," Wang Meng said to Li Shiqi encouragingly.

Naturally, Li Shiqi was unwilling to believe it. She smiled and retorted, "Are you just trying to make fun of me?"

But Wang Meng shook her head, insisting that she was not.

"If Zhou Yuwen didn't like you, there's no way he would have played along with you so well just now."

"If you ask me, you might as well take this opportunity to make what started as a pretense turn serious!" Wang Meng encouraged.

Li Shiqi shook her head, stating that Zhou Yuwen had already given her enough face, and she could not be so shameless.

"Besides..."

Li Shiqi thought of Zheng Yanyan from earlier. She naturally did not know that Zhou Yuwen's relationships between men and women were so chaotic. She simply felt that the connection between Zhou Yuwen and Zheng Yanyan was like a lotus root snapped but fibers still connected, and that they might have even rekindled their old romance.

Thinking of this, Li Shiqi felt a bit sad, but she was truly helpless.

This young girl always kept far too many secrets in her heart.

Wang Meng had wanted to say something more, but Li Shiqi, hearing a noise, quickly shushed her.

Sure enough, a moment later, Zheng Yanyan and Lu Lin strolled leisurely into the restroom. The two seemingly hadn't heard the conversation just now.

Zheng Yanyan and Wang Meng made eye contact.

Her gaze toward Wang Meng was still somewhat unfriendly.

Meanwhile, Wang Meng, having learned the whole truth, felt a bit embarrassed.

So she grabbed Li Shiqi's arm, and the two of them hastily slipped away.

Once they had left, Zheng Yanyan began washing her hands and complained, "So annoying. If someone hadn't walked in just now, I could have listened a bit longer."

"Wasn't hearing all that enough?"

Lu Lin found her remark amusing.

Zheng Yanyan lacked that level of meticulousness, but Lu Lin had kept a careful mind earlier. Before Zheng Yanyan entered the restroom, Lu Lin had pulled her back.

Zheng Yanyan had wanted to speak, but Lu Lin silenced her with a shushing gesture.

Lu Lin had signaled for her to listen closely.

And so, the two of them overheard the entire conversation inside the restroom.

After listening to it all, Zheng Yanyan's evaluation of Li Shiqi was that she hadn't expected the girl to be so sensible.

"Linlin, did you hear that? She even thanked me earlier. She thinks Zhou Yuwen and I are still a couple. Hehehe," Zheng Yanyan giggled.

Lu Lin nodded and said, "Mhm, yeah."

"So you've decided to let her off the hook?" Lu Lin asked.

Zheng Yanyan thought about it for a moment and replied, "Forget it. It's not like she really has any connections with Zhou Yuwen anyway."

"Besides, I already found that Jiang Xinyi an eyesore. Since this girl helped me retort against Jiang Xinyi, she can be considered half a friend. I won't hold it against her for now."

After washing and drying her hands, Zheng Yanyan offered another evaluation, saying she felt this girl had a much better personality than Shen Yu.

Zheng Yanyan had always intended to pull Shen Yu in to act as her own dowry lass, especially after learning that Minmin had moved into Tao Tian and Qu Jing's home.

Seeing Qu Jing openly making Minmin do chores over there had provoked her.

Zheng Yanyan figured that they essentially had three people on their side, while she only had two. She definitely needed to bring another person in.

Originally, she had wanted to recruit Shen Yu.

But from the looks of it, Shen Yu had no intention of becoming one of Zhou Yuwen's women.

Furthermore, Zheng Yanyan felt that Shen Yu's performance at the dining table just now was a bit too low-class.

"What's so great about Jinling University? Didn't you hear her? Shen Yu's tone even changed just now," Zheng Yanyan said disdainfully.

Lu Lin replied, "I didn't notice."

"Regardless, I just think it was a simple meal, and Zhou Yuwen was the one paying for it. Yet she barely spoke to him and instead chatted enthusiastically with those students from Jinling University. No matter how much she chats with them, it's not like she can get into Jinling University," Zheng Yanyan stated.

Lu Lin simply repeated her stance, "I wouldn't know about that."

Zheng Yanyan suggested, "How about we help out this Li Shiqi? I feel like her personality is quite easy to manipulate. Grooming her into our little sister wouldn't be a bad idea."

Lu Lin responded, "Is she easy to manipulate? I really couldn't tell."