Chapter 136: How to Communicate

"Hi, Chen Xin, what are you doing here?" The voice from the side made Zhou Hao frown. He looked up and immediately noticed the stranger's unconventional, trendy attire and his handsome face.

"I'm meeting a friend. Why are you here? I thought you said you went out of town for photography?"

Chen Xin and You Le had exchanged contact information, and every few days, he would send her a message about photography. Once he realized Chen Xin wasn't going to agree to be his model, he stopped asking and started sharing his own plans and thoughts instead, much like a pen pal from the digital age. Of course, they weren't sending letters, but rather using text messages as their medium.

Chen Xin often thought that it was fortunate mobile phones weren't that smart yet; otherwise, this unreliable, trendy uncle of hers would surely be a full-blown internet addict.

You Le had recently taken on a job to shoot a series of portraits. He had originally planned to head out of town for inspiration, but family matters had delayed him, pushing his departure to next week. Today, he had arranged to meet an old classmate near the back gate of Jin University to discuss some business.

The moment he saw Chen Xin, the anger he had been feeling due to his sister and brother-in-law's drama suddenly dissipated. However, upon seeing Zhou Hao, an inexplicable sense of vigilance made him size the other man up carefully.

"I had some family business to attend to, so I'm leaving in a couple of days. Are you on a date?"

"What are you talking about?" Chen Xin said, feeling a bit shy. "He's a friend. He's back in his hometown on vacation and happened to be visiting his younger brother today, so we decided to meet up and chat."

Zhou Hao felt a flicker of joy when he heard the word "date," even though he hadn't made his feelings clear to Chen Xin. But when she immediately denied it, his heart felt hollow and sour.

Nearby, the two younger boys whispered to each other. "My brother is clearly into her, right? Look at that dejected expression. How could he possibly win a girl's heart like that?"

"Thin-skinned, but black-hearted," the cold-faced boy remarked. He had no interest in his cousin's romantic troubles; he would rather spend his time eating chicken wings.

"No, think about it. If our big cousin starts dating, the family will focus all their attention on him and stop hovering over us every day, right? So, if we want to live more freely, setting our cousin up is our top priority."

The cold-faced boy didn't commit. After finishing his chicken wings, he wiped his fingers and gave a cold, dismissive grunt.

"Give me some advice, at least," the lively boy urged, poking his brother's arm. "With our cousin’s stiff, serious personality, he’s like a piece of wood compared to that other guy. No girl would like someone so boring."

After watching for a while and concluding that his cousin’s romantic prospects were bleak, the lively boy almost felt like stepping in to help him flirt.

In truth, You Le didn't have any romantic intentions toward Chen Xin. He simply felt she was a kindred spirit and subconsciously viewed her as a long-time close friend. When he saw a "big bad wolf" lurking around, he felt compelled to step up and put the guy to the test.

Chen Xin had no idea what You Le was thinking. She was happy to introduce the two, and when You Le suggested sitting with them until his friend arrived, she readily agreed.

Zhou Hao’s internal alarm bells rang, and he began to probe You Le for information. Chen Xin knew You Le as her uncle, but she knew no more about this "trendy" version of him than anyone else. As Zhou Hao fished for information, she watched You Le with great interest, though the two had very different motives for their curiosity.

Young as he was, You Le had spent years in the scene and possessed a sharpness that far exceeded the average person. As Zhou Hao tried to trap him, You Le spun tall tales and occasionally dug traps for Zhou Hao in return, turning the tables on him.

Chen Xin sat back like someone watching a duel between two tigers, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

Just as she was enjoying herself, her phone rang. It was Senior Sister Wei.

"Xiao Xin, where are you? Come and help, please! Qin Qing is losing it!" The background noise on the other end was chaotic, filled with screams and sobbing.

Chen Xin was startled. After clarifying the location, she stood up, ready to leave.

Zhou Hao and You Le had stopped talking when she answered the phone. Upon hearing what happened, they both asked if they could help.

"Brother, let's go in too. You're supposed to drive us back to the dorms anyway, so we might as well go with Sister Xin and see what's going on," the lively boy suggested, suddenly energized.

Zhou Hao nodded and stood up to follow Chen Xin, while You Le, bound by his previous appointment, had to stay behind.

The commotion was near the professor's office. A crowd had gathered, and people were pointing and whispering. The sound of crying and howling coming from inside made one’s skin crawl.

As soon as Chen Xin appeared, a classmate from the translation group grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

"Hurry, Xiao Xin, help us drag Qin Qing away!"

Chen Xin didn't think twice and followed them in, handing her backpack to Zhou Hao to hold.

"What happened? She was fine at noon, wasn't she?"

"I don't know! I came to drop off some documents and heard arguing inside; then everything just devolved into chaos."

Because of the incident, the students who had been studying in the reading room all ran over. It was thanks to their help that the situation didn't escalate further.

Inside, they saw Professor Jin standing by the window with a face as dark as a pot. Below the other window, Qin Qing was sitting on the floor in a disheveled state, sobbing, while Gou Xiangru held her hand tightly, not daring to let go for a second. By the sofa near the door, a middle-aged couple was arguing heatedly with the department head. Judging by their tone, they were the parents of the female teaching assistant.

"How could your school raise such students? One is a murderer, and this one is an accomplice!"

"If you don't discipline her, I will go to the newspapers and tell everyone about your school’s negligence!"

"Enough!" Professor Jin’s patience had reached its limit. "Are you trying to drive her to her death? Why are you in such a hurry to shift the focus and cover up the facts? Your daughter graduated from this school and studied here for six or seven years; I refuse to believe no one knew what kind of person she was. You say she wasn't seeing anyone? Fine, then I will ask every single person here to see if they all think the same thing!"

The teaching assistant’s mother choked on her words. A moment later, she burst into a deafening wail, crying that her daughter had a miserable life, having met such murderous teachers and leaders. The department head, now suffering from a headache due to her noise, sighed and urged Professor Jin to leave so he could handle the situation.

"Handle it? She’s insisting that my student is the problem. Anyone with a clear head can see she’s just a mad dog biting everyone in sight. How do you intend to handle this? By just rolling over and pinning the blame on my student? You better think carefully. If another life is lost, can you bear that responsibility?"

Stung by Professor Jin’s words, the department head’s expression darkened.