The Female Cannon Fodder With Boundless Merits
Chapter 365 - 369: After the Female Lead is Kidnapped (13)

Chapter 365: Chapter 369: After the Female Lead is Kidnapped (13)

Su Li swung around the internet and actually stumbled upon a few intriguing bits of gossip.

She had already been in Jing City for so many days, and Su Yuan had long since returned.

As more students trickled back to school, the joint forum of several universities was abuzz with scandalous tidbits about the Jing University’s campus beauty, Su Yuan.

Although Su Yuan was protected by the CEO of the Chong Family, there were equally many who envied her status.

Her secretive return had been carefully concealed by Chong Yongyi, but those who needed to know were well aware.

In high society, true secrets never remained hidden.

Besides, Chong Yongyi’s influence in the Chong Family was not absolute enough to cover everything up.

The person who leaked this major scoop was smart—they hired a highly skilled hacker to release the news, ensuring that even if Chong Yongyi later sought to track them, finding the true source of the post would be impossible.

In the past, posts about the Jing University campus beauty on the forum were mostly positive.

Rich, beautiful, academically excellent.

Just these three attributes made many people look up to her.

Yet, how did the campus beauty, once praised to the skies, suddenly turn into a toad in a mudhole over one summer vacation?

All the students who logged onto the campus forum were in an uproar.

Su Yuan was rather well-known among several high schools.

Only someone like Su Li, who had long floated between family and school without much attention to external information, could remain ignorant of her.

Otherwise, she would have recognized Su Yuan back in the village.

Such a shocking piece of news dumbfounded everyone.

Soon, a skyscraper of comments built up under the post.

"Is what’s written in the post true or false? Was the Jing University campus beauty really kidnapped into the mountains and violated? Is she now mentally unstable? Poster, do you realize you can be jailed for spreading rumors?"

"The poster is just jealous, envious, and resentful. Believing such brainless claims without any factual support—that’s what real idiots do!!!"

"I’m a student at Jing University, and it seems what the poster says is true; it has spread all over the campus network. Moreover, Su Xiaohua asked for a long leave from the school at the start of term, allegedly due to nervous breakdown. A classmate with family in an upscale private hospital sneaked out that she is no longer a virgin. Every person in their circle knows."

"The one above is right. My family is in business with the Chong Family, and from what I’ve heard, the CEO is nearly driven mad. His designated little darling ended up being plucked by a bunch of yokels."

....

After a quick skim, Su Li could see that someone was clearly manipulating the narrative.

Without intervention, this matter was bound to ferment into widespread internet knowledge in less than a day.

Following the small trail left behind, Su Li discovered that the instigator behind this cyberbullying was a male computer science student from her own school.

Logically, this student had nothing to do with Su Yuan, so why would he do such a thing.

----------------

Chong Mansion

Su Yuan, clutching her head, was squatting disheveled in a corner of the wall.

The room was a cluttered mess: a smashed computer and pieces of a phone were scattered across the carpet.

After receiving a phone call, Chong Yongyi, who had dropped an important case project to rush back, pushed open the door and entered a room shrouded in darkness.

He softly called out, "Little Yuan."

As expected, he received no response.

His heart was nearly breaking.

Until this very moment, he could only admit that he too was not an omnipotent god; many things were simply beyond his reach.

Watching his little girl sink into an abyss of pain, he too felt helpless; this sense of defeat was something that even losing his most important project couldn’t compare to.

The more it was so, the more he hated the one responsible for all this.

Chong Yongyi had inwardly cursed those loafers in the public relations and the technical departments hundreds of times over.

It was just a small forum post; how could it not be deleted, and why couldn’t the person behind it be found?

The way things were unfolding was what he least wanted to see.

Little Yuan had been in poor spirits lately and had just happened to see it.

Chong Yongyi, who had come from the Chong Mansion, never believed in coincidences.

He even entertained the conspiracy theory that Su Yuan’s abduction had been orchestrated, a calculated ploy to strike at him.

Chong Yongyi yanked open the curtains in the room, and the glaring sunlight immediately poured in, seemingly doing its utmost to dispel the gloom within.

Su Yuan, who had been motionless, suddenly sprang up like the back of her foot had been scalded by boiling water, frantically crying out, "Pull it down, pull it down..."

Chong Yongyi tightly grasped Su Yuan’s shoulders, "Look at me, Little Yuan."

"Don’t worry about what others say, you’ve always been the purest in my heart."

"Don’t be afraid, those who wag their tongues outside, I won’t let them off."

No matter how much Chong Yongyi didn’t want to let those people off.

But the principle of the law not punishing the masses has always held true, no matter the era.

Even national leaders couldn’t manage to make everyone’s statements uniform; even if Chong Yongyi possessed great energy, he could not stop the rumors that were passed from mouth to mouth.

Su Yuan used to stand too tall and was too proud.

Now that she had encountered hardship, many reveled in her misfortune.

Most of all among the many beautiful girls.

Usually, for a minor matter, they would show signs of rivalry, not to mention now when they had the chance to kick her when she was down.

As wild rumors about Su Yuan flew everywhere, Su Li was standing in a large classroom, stopping a silent young man.

As the bell signaled the end of class, Wen Zhu, with his head down and clutching a thick, original English book, followed the teacher out of the classroom.

Standing outside the classroom was a very pretty female classmate, the root cause of many male students’ diverted attention during class.

Ever since she appeared outside the classroom, the students inside had lost all interest in listening to the lesson.

They were all discussing for whom such a beautiful girl had come.

Maybe it was for the handsome guy in class one, or perhaps for the second-generation rich luxury car owner in class two.

But none of that mattered to him.

Wen Zhu silently absorbed all the knowledge taught by the teacher into his mind.

After class, as Wen Zhu passed by them, he couldn’t help but look up out of curiosity.

That one glance made his heart tremble.

Immediately, he lowered his head, hiding his thoughts.

But he was gripping the book so tightly that his whitened fingertips betrayed his restless state of mind.

Out of the blue, a pair of hands as white as jade appeared before his eyes.

"Wen Zhu, hello... may I have the chance to invite you for milk tea?"