Chapter Thirty: Which Bastard Is Slandering Me

Hearing those familiar prices suddenly spoken aloud, Yuan Ning's face twitched—just which bastard had leaked this? He always prided himself on leaving no loose ends; there should have been no mistakes. How had it become public knowledge?

“No, no, no, you should know—these days, the school’s inspections are strict. This is really, really hard to manage,” Yuan Ning protested as he saw the girl before him apparently intending to buy what she wanted with money.

As for money, Yuan Ning had made plenty in recent years; three or fifty thousand more meant nothing to him. Right now, he was seething with a fire he needed to vent—how could he let this chance go?

“Is that so? Well, never mind then.” Zhang Shuohan put on a look of disappointment and turned as if to leave, but Yuan Ning immediately got up and blocked the door.

“It’s not that it’s impossible, it’s just that the cost is...” Yuan Ning’s gaze swept greedily over Zhang Shuohan’s exquisite figure before he named an outrageous price. “One hundred thousand!”

“One hundred thousand?” Even Zhang Shuohan, who had expected something excessive, was stunned. Just how shameless did one have to be to ask for such a sum?

“But, if you can’t pay, there are other ways to make up for it,” Yuan Ning cut her off before she could reply, stepping forward with the intent to take advantage.

Forced back step by step, Zhang Shuohan soon found herself pressed against the wall, her bright eyes fixed tightly on the campus radio hanging there.

Just as Yuan Ning was about to lay hands on her, the broadcast suddenly came to life.

“Hello everyone, I am... I am an African, selling my sister’s—”

The unexpected voice startled Yuan Ning so much that his lust nearly evaporated. Wasn’t that his own voice?

He looked at the speaker broadcasting in the office—his own voice was coming from it. But how could this be?

“In this class, let me, let me tell you how to find a boyfriend... uh, I mean, how to study... how to make your child fall in love with learning in three days.”

What should have been a comical, nonsensical video only enraged Yuan Ning more with every word, as though he were being viciously humiliated. Now he understood why everyone had been giving him such strange looks these past days.

Who is trying to ruin me? Why is my own voice coming out of the campus broadcast, and with such crude language? Who exactly is out to get me?

Yuan Ning cast a deep look at Zhang Shuohan, who maintained the appearance of innocence, then turned and stormed out. If this continued, his reputation would be utterly destroyed.

Not long after Yuan Ning left, Zhang Junlin and his companions emerged from the other side, concern evident on their faces as they turned to Zhang Shuohan.

“Sis, was it really necessary to go that far? I was about to rush in and rescue you,” Zhang Junlin said. He had nearly charged in several times but managed to restrain himself.

“But we got the evidence safely, didn’t we?” Zhang Shuohan replied, pursing her lips in a smile. Whatever else happened, their goal had been achieved.

“Even with evidence, what good is it? Who would you give it to?” Zhang Junlin was skeptical that such a brief video could topple someone like Yuan Ning. If he were that easy to bring down, he wouldn’t have gotten this far.

“I have my ways.” Zhang Shuohan looked at her foolish brother with confidence. Clearly, the young still had much to learn.

Zhang Junlin could only sigh, worried that her boldness might backfire. “You’re sure this won’t get out of hand?”

“Don’t worry. Yuan Ning might suspect me, but right now he has no interest in crossing me. He’s surely too busy trying to salvage his reputation. If anyone’s in trouble, it’ll be that naïve little angel I set up as a scapegoat.”

“Hey, is it really okay to say that in front of your own fan?” Zhang Junlin glanced at his sister’s flawless profile, then remembered her words. He decided he’d better keep his distance from this scheming woman—otherwise he might fall into her trap without even realizing.

“Hmph, I did warn you. Besides, even if we hadn’t exposed this today, Yuan Ning would have found out sooner or later.”

“So you want them to thank you for ruining them?” Zhang Junlin muttered helplessly, resolving to keep his distance and, if possible, marry his sister off soon—better she trick someone else than him.

“Nosy!” A flush of red flashed across Zhang Shuohan’s cheeks. She glared at him fiercely and stormed out, slamming the door.

At the entrance to the broadcast station, Yuan Ning arrived to find the recording had already played more than once. Breathing heavily, he demanded in a cold voice, “What is going on here? Why was that sort of thing broadcast? If I don’t get an explanation today, you’re all getting disciplinary action!”

“Professor Yuan, we don’t know, either. The broadcast file was mysteriously swapped—it really wasn’t our fault.” The announcers themselves were baffled by his accusations.

“And none of you thought to just shut it off? Every one of you present gets a demerit!” Yuan Ning wanted nothing more than to slap them all. How could they not know what was appropriate to broadcast? They were clearly out to get him!

Faced with unjust punishment, several hot-tempered announcers wanted to argue, but before they could stand, their colleagues held them back. It was obvious the professor was furious—arguing now would be suicide. Besides, they had enjoyed listening and forgot to turn it off.

Yuan Ning swept his cold gaze over the resentful announcers and then ordered harshly, “And the video? You’ve all seen it more than once. Bring it up for me.”

A heavy silence fell. No one wanted to touch this mess.

“What? You had the guts to watch it, but not to show it?” Yuan Ning roared at the group.

“Fine, you want to see it,” one announcer, unable to swallow his anger, stood up despite objections, pulled out his phone, and played the video at full volume for all to hear.

“Hello everyone, I am... I am an African, selling my sister...
...
I swear on my life,
Let’s talk...
The road in books is found by searching, the sea of learning is sailed by the boat of base desires,
Base, base, base... the boat of base desires.”

Watching himself in the video, gesticulating wildly and spouting crude nonsense, Yuan Ning nearly coughed up blood. Remembering the strange looks from both students and teachers these past days, he wanted nothing more than to hunt down the creator and tear them to pieces.

If I ever find out who set me up, they're dead!

This is the third update. Also, thanks to readers Mo Xie and Gan Jiang for reminding me—I was unfamiliar with the lock and have corrected the error. It does not affect the reading experience.