Chapter 962.2: Beautiful Girl (8)

As the saying went, there was no smoke without fire, and flies did not gather around an uncracked egg.

If there really was nothing wrong with her, then where had all these rumors come from?

There had to be something wrong with her for such rumors to exist.

“After class, I’m asking the teacher to change my seat. I don’t want to be your deskmate.”

The girl’s name was Xu Zhi, an excellent student with good grades. Plain-looking, she had always been somewhat dissatisfied that Tang Guo was seated beside her. There was no other reason—Tang Guo was simply too beautiful. Sitting next to her only made Xu Zhi into a green leaf serving as a backdrop to someone else’s flower.

If Tang Guo’s grades had been poor, Xu Zhi could have accepted it, but unfortunately, Tang Guo was pretty and academically gifted, practically perfect in every way.

Now that rumors had spread that Tang Guo was being kept by someone, Xu Zhi believed them without question. She absolutely did not want such a deskmate. What if she got implicated?

She still wanted to get into university, find a boyfriend, and get married someday. If she stayed close to Tang Guo, others might start thinking there was something wrong with her too.

“I don’t want to sit with her either.”

“Me neither.”

“Who would want to sit with her? Who knows how many men she’s served already? Maybe she’s carrying some disease.”

Those words were vicious beyond measure.

Yet this was the world the original host had lived in. For an entire year, she had endured such contempt and disgust. Though it had never been as severe as today, taken together it was no different. Faced with those rumors, she had still been able to quietly focus on her studies. Her mental strength was already remarkable.

She had believed that she had done nothing wrong, that truth stood upright, and that rumors would die in the face of wisdom. As long as she ignored them, they would eventually disappear.

But she had forgotten that while there were many good people in the world, there were also plenty who harbored malice.

Tang Guo swept her gaze over those spreading rumors about her being kept. Almost all of them were girls.

Truthfully, the boys were much quieter. Seeing her isolated and helpless, none of them showed any obvious disgust. Some even tugged at the girls sitting beside them.

Tang Guo had once been their goddess. Though their goddess had fallen from her pedestal, she was still their former goddess, and aside from those rumors, they had never personally witnessed her being kept by anyone.

So they felt no hatred toward her.

But nearly all the girls in the class were convinced that Tang Guo was being kept and sleeping with old men.

“What are you looking at me for? If you hadn’t done those things yourself, would we be treating you like this? The whole school knows about our class now. They’re saying there’s a prostitute in our class. It’s completely humiliating!”

Tang Guo glanced at Xu Zhi. “Are you sure you’ve seen me being kept? Do you have photos? Any evidence? If you do, show it. If not, shut your mouth.”

“You—”

“Spreading rumors, slandering others, making false accusations, and launching personal attacks are all against the law. You’re all over sixteen and will soon be eighteen. If I hear another insulting or defamatory word from any of you, I’ll sue.”

“Y-You think I’m afraid of you?” Although she spoke bravely, Xu Zhi’s arrogance had noticeably weakened.

They were only students. Hearing that they could be sued, she was still frightened.

If she ended up in court, her reputation would be ruined overnight.

Xu Zhi sat back down. Though she still didn’t want to get close to Tang Guo, she no longer brought up changing seats after class. Throughout the lesson, she occasionally glared hatefully at Tang Guo, but whenever Tang Guo noticed, she hurriedly withdrew her gaze.