The Master’s Mask Unveiled Again
Chapter 976 - 975: Acquaintances Meeting, Particularly Jealous

Chapter 976: Chapter 975: Acquaintances Meeting, Particularly Jealous

Lu Mian herself didn’t remember, but she could never forget.

After all, this was their good classmate from the physics training camp!

Because she and the other girls broke into Lu Mian’s room, they were expelled by Lu Mian’s investor boyfriend.

She couldn’t let go of the miserable outcome she and over a dozen girls faced at the time. Originally, they were all top students from across the country, and after the training camp, they could have had bright futures, maybe even gotten recommendation spots for admission.

But because of Lu Mian’s actions, the futures of over a dozen people, herself included, were disrupted.

Her outcome was considered relatively fortunate—since she was a native of Jinjing, where the college entrance exam scores required were lower. Though she didn’t get a recommendation, she still managed to get into Qing University as she’d hoped.

As for the other girls, she had no idea what happened to them.

Qiao Yaning bit her lower lip, full of grievances she had nowhere to vent. Seeing that Lu Mian still didn’t seem to remember, she gritted her teeth and gave a reminder: "Physics training camp!"

"Ah... it’s you." Lu Mian finally remembered.

At the time, her mind wasn’t on the training, nor did she want to make friends with those students, so naturally, she didn’t remember someone like Qiao Yaning.

The most vivid memory she had from that time was this girl suspecting her of stealing a set of makeup products that had gone missing. All the girls in the training camp, including one teacher, broke into her room while she wasn’t around and even voted to open one of her packages.

The result was quite dramatic—it turned out a girl from a poor family had stolen them.

Back then, Director Qi expelled some of the students who couldn’t distinguish right from wrong and had infringed on others’ privacy from the training camp.

Qiao Yaning...

She mulled over the name for a moment, wondering if the other girl was related to the music festival’s chief planner, Qiao Yaqian...

"Yes, it’s me! You’ve lived carefreely, but have you never thought about those girls who lost their futures because of you when you go to sleep at night? Don’t you feel guilty?"

"..." Lu Mian didn’t feel guilty, nor was there any possibility of her feeling so.

She hadn’t stripped them of their competition qualifications—already an act of mercy on her part.

Compared to Qiao Yaning’s emotional fluctuations, Lu Mian appeared cold and composed. She let out a faint sneer and didn’t respond further to the matter.

"You!"

Qiao Yaning stomped her foot in frustration and turned back to her desk in a huff.

Yes! She admitted the stolen makeup incident had nothing to do with Lu Mian, and they had wrongfully accused her. They shouldn’t have forced their way into her room or opened her package.

And truthfully, Lu Mian was indeed outstanding. She excelled in physics, was a philanthropist, and had donated so much to Guangming School.

She was just... just upset that so many innocent people had suffered, their futures ruined!

If it was simply a misunderstanding, couldn’t it have been resolved by clearing things up? She had apologized right after, hadn’t she? Did Lu Mian really need to be so unforgiving and relentless?

When roommates meet for the first time, the atmosphere should be harmonious and friendly. Neither Wang Shiwei nor Shu Shu had expected their dorm to end up like this.

Shu Shu’s big eyes wandered between Lu Mian and Qiao Yaning, her soft voice gently coaxing them.

"Mianmian, Ningning, don’t get mad, okay? If there’s a misunderstanding, let’s all sit down and talk it out!"

Wang Shiwei nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, yeah! Ningning, don’t stay so angry. Look, Mianmian even brought us some snacks!"

Saying that, she grabbed another piece of snack and popped it into her mouth.

There was no way Qiao Yaning would eat anything brought by Lu Mian. Not wanting to embarrass herself further, and still holding a bit of a grudge, she stubbornly refused.

"You guys enjoy them, I’m fine."

Ultimately, her rationality won out over her emotions, and she chose not to cause another scene.

In truth, when she calmed down, she understood that they had been in the wrong back then.

She just couldn’t comprehend why, when Lu Mian hadn’t suffered any concrete harm or losses—and they had even helped spread her reputation as a philanthropist—Lu Mian was still so angry?

Why did it have to come at the cost of over a dozen girls’ futures to settle things?

In reality, Lu Mian hadn’t cared about the incident at all and wasn’t angry. She was simply coolly tidying up her desk.

Inside her suitcase was a big pack of wet wipes prepared by Director Qi. She methodically wiped down the desk and bookshelf.

Wang Shiwei assumed she was quietly fuming and immediately ran over to whisper in her ear, "Mianmian, don’t stoop to the level of petty people. Don’t be mad, okay? Don’t worry, I’ll be on your side!"

Lu Mian didn’t quite understand what she meant. She didn’t need anyone’s support nor the strength of a small clique to deal with anyone.

She lifted her gaze and calmly glanced at Wang Shiwei. "Thanks, I’m not angry."

"..." So aloof!

Not getting the response she’d expected, Wang Shiwei pouted awkwardly and gave up trying to mediate for now.

In the four-person dorm room, the atmosphere was so cold it didn’t even need air conditioning. No one spoke; each silently occupied themselves with their own tasks.

Every now and then, laughter echoed from the neighboring rooms, forming a stark contrast to the chilling silence in theirs.

Wang Shiwei created a private group chat, adding only herself, Shu Shu, and Qiao Yaning.

Wang Shiwei tagged Qiao Yaning: [Ningning, don’t be mad anymore! I think she’s someone with a powerful background—be careful she doesn’t come after you!]

Shu Shu quickly responded: [I don’t think Lu Mian is that type of person. Ningning, is there some misunderstanding between you two?]

[No misunderstanding, the fault is mine.] Qiao Yaning explained with a single sentence.

Shu Shu comforted her thoughtfully: [Ningning, we’re all classmates and roommates. Find a chance to talk things out. I feel like Lu Mian just doesn’t express herself well; she’s actually a nice person.]

Wang Shiwei sent a shivering emoji: [Really? I only think she’s so aloof and unapproachable. Every time I talk to her, I smile politely, but how does she respond? I don’t think this is Ningning’s fault.]

Shu Shu glanced at the group chat, then up at Wang Shiwei.

This person... seemed a little two-faced...

In the dorm room, three out of the four were engrossed in their phones. Even with their devices on vibrate or silent mode, Lu Mian could deduce their actions from their behavior.

A faint smile tugged at her lips, utterly indifferent.

She lay on her bed, pulled out a map of the Chixia Sect, and began studying it meticulously.

The next day, all the freshmen gathered on the field punctually.

At the time, the new Applied Physics students clustered together, chatting and laughing over something. At a glance, most of them were boys, and the subject of their discussion was naturally the few girls in their class.

"I heard the campus darling is in our class. Is it true?"

"This rumor is legit! I heard it from the upperclassmen—it’s real."

"789 points, huh? Even if I repeated the exams for ten years, I couldn’t score that."

Among this group of academic elites, these words were enough to show how admired and anticipated this campus darling was.

"Our Physics Department already has so few girls. I wonder if any are good-looking... Even just admiring them would be satisfying."

"What more do you want?! Having girls at all is already fortunate! Don’t you know Qing University has a notoriously skewed male-to-female ratio? Look at the Elite Class—my gosh! Including the upperclassmen, you can’t even find three girls!"

"But I heard the top-ranked student in their class is a really pretty girl..."