Chapter 4: The old enemy has a hidden agenda

The first time Tong An’yu saw Lin Huaixu was a week after the freshman ball.

In a coffee shop near the south gate, they were having a group discussion when Lin Huaixu walked in with a girl.

He was wearing a white sweatshirt, blue jeans, and had a black bag slung over his left shoulder, heavy as if it contained a laptop.

After a month of staying indoors, he seemed to have gotten even paler.

Tong An’yu noticed a small mole on the ring finger of his left hand as he held his bag.

“Sit,” Lin Huaixu said, finding an empty spot and gesturing to the seat opposite with a lift of his chin.

“Okay,” the girl replied.

She had straight bangs and a ponytail, and was quietly dressed in a plain-colored long skirt.

The group discussion stopped, and several pairs of eyes turned towards Lin Huaixu, filled with the excitement of gossip.

“He has a girlfriend?” Sun Han nudged Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan sighed, “He got into a relationship in just a month.”

“Even though he’s reclusive, handsome guys really don’t have to worry about romance.”

Jiang Xiaoying said softly, “She’s quite gentle and ladylike.”

“So he likes this type.”

“No wonder those assertive junior girls from the School of Economics and Management couldn’t win him over.”

Tong An’yu said nothing, only stealing glances.

It was true that many couples came to the coffee shop to study.

“What do you want to drink? I’ll go order,” a draft blew in from the slightly ajar door, making the thin sweatshirt cling tightly to his back, outlining a mature and upright waist.

When he spoke, his bangs fell over his eyelids, giving him a strong boyish charm.

“A caramel latte is fine,” the girl said politely.

“Okay,” Lin Huaixu replied concisely, putting down his backpack and taking out his phone to go to the counter.

The girl rested her hands on her knees, her back straight as a ramrod, and curiously looked out the window at the campus.
She didn’t look like a student from this university.

It was crowded during the lunch break, and there was a long line to buy coffee.
The student part-timers were swamped, but the line remained long.

About five minutes later, the girl’s phone rang.

She glanced down at it and quickly covered her mouth as she answered.

“Hello, darling.”

“Mmm… I’m not near the school right now.”

“I can’t watch ‘Avengers 2’ with you at noon.”

Jiang Xiaoying: “Oh, so she’s not his girlfriend.”

Tong An’yu didn’t want to eavesdrop, but the coffee shop’s layout was a narrow strip, and the seats were very close together.
Even with the constant noise around, she could still hear clearly.

The girl paused and continued, “I found a Stanford student online.”

“He said he could help me revise my personal statement and resume, and he also has some knowledge of the professors in my major.”

“I’m meeting him today for interview training.”

Tong An’yu suddenly straightened her back, her pen falling onto the table with a clatter.

Stanford, revising personal statements, interview training?

Lin Huaixu?!

Jiang Xiaoying couldn’t help but stare, exchanging a look with Zhu Yan.

“…The full package costs five thousand yuan.”

“It doesn’t guarantee admission, that’s Stanford we’re talking about.”

“It’s too expensive to apply to graduate schools in the US.”

“This price is more than half cheaper than those big study abroad agencies, so I want to give it a try.”

The person on the other end chattered away.

“Who are you calling a scammer and a fool?”

“The personal statement tutors assigned by study abroad companies aren’t that great.”

“I need someone who knows this school, okay?” the girl’s voice suddenly rose, clearly she had been tormented by the study abroad application process for a long time.

“Yes, I’m not as rich as your family, I can’t afford to pay eight hundred thousand for a guaranteed admission from a big agency, are you satisfied now!”

But Lin Huaixu was a student at T University!

And he was only a freshman!

Tong An’yu turned to look at Lin Huaixu.

He was looking down at his phone, the sunlight tangled in the corner of his clothes.
Standing in the crowd, he still had a somewhat unique air about him.

“One caramel latte, one glass of water, no ice.”

His voice was lazy and pure, like a cool breeze stirring in the hot air.

But Tong An’yu was a little disappointed.
He was really good-looking, and he was really a liar.

This girl might have to use her meager savings, and it might even affect her crucial application.

As a junior, she knew very well that September and October were the first round of application periods for US schools.

The success rate of submitting applications at this time was higher than applying at the last minute in December.

How could he do this?

“Should we tell that girl?” Jiang Xiaoying looked at the girl with pity and turned to ask the most straightforward Sun Han.

Sun Han didn’t move, fiddling with her straw.

Jiang Xiaoying was good in every way, except that she usually had a lot of little schemes.

For example, she wouldn’t do something that would offend people herself, but would instead egg others on.

Jiang Xiaoying then looked at Zhu Yan.

Zhu Yan scratched her head in embarrassment.

“Xiao Yu, what do you think?” Jiang Xiaoying sighed.

“Five thousand yuan may not be much to you, but it’s the living expenses for many students for three months.”

“And you’re only sixteen, even if you step up, he probably won’t hold it against you.”

Seeing that Tong An’yu was about to get up, Sun Han promptly pulled her back, signaling her not to meddle.

But Tong An’yu still mustered up the courage to stand up, not because of what Jiang Xiaoying said, but because of this unfortunate girl.

She walked over and patted the girl’s shoulder.

“Excuse me.”

The girl had just been hung up on by her boyfriend and was still unsettled, looking over with some annoyance.

Tong An’yu was wearing a little bear T-shirt and had her hair in a bun.

She wasn’t very particular about her appearance, but her face had a round, childish innocence that was very endearing.

The girl thought she was a high school student from T University’s affiliated high school and tried to control her emotions, asking faintly, “What is it?”

“He’s from our school, a freshman in the physics department.”

“You might have the wrong person,” Tong An’yu said, her brows furrowed, her gaze filled with the pity one would have for the target of a senior healthcare product scam.

The girl’s face instantly turned pale.

She grabbed Tong An’yu and asked in disbelief, “You’re saying he’s a freshman in the physics department?”

She remembered asking for proof, but that person seemed very concerned about privacy and was unwilling to send a picture, saying that since they were both in the Hai District, they could verify in person.

The reason she came was because his English was very authentic, and he spoke very knowledgeably about Stanford.

But in the end, he was still a scammer.

Just then, Lin Huaixu returned, holding a caramel latte and a glass of complimentary water.

If Tong An’yu had been observant enough, she would have noticed that he was even reluctant to buy a thirty-five-yuan caramel latte for himself.

He walked through the narrow aisle, his gaze sweeping past the bowed head of Tong An’yu and landing on the girl.

“Caramel latte.”

He held it out, leaving a polite amount of space for the girl to grasp it.

The girl looked down at the latte with its milk foam, her chest heaving violently.
Then she snatched the coffee, raised her hand, and threw it at Lin Huaixu, screaming hysterically, “Liar! You’re not from Stanford at all!”

“Do you know I stood up my rich second-generation boyfriend for you!”

The entire coffee shop fell silent.
The girl grabbed her bag and stormed out in anger.

Tong An’yu was speechless.

‘Classmate, your boyfriend is also a prime target for senior healthcare product scams, okay?’

‘And eight hundred thousand for guaranteed admission…’

The coffee stained Lin Huaixu’s pure white sweatshirt, dripping down the hem onto the floor.

Amidst countless surprised and strange gazes, he looked like an embarrassing joke.

Lin Huaixu’s fingertips, clutching the glass of water, turned slightly white.

He glanced at his messy sweatshirt, then slowly raised his eyes, looking at Tong An’yu formally and coldly.

Tong An’yu wasn’t short, but she was still much shorter than Lin Huaixu.

She didn’t dare to meet his gaze and slowly backed away.

She hadn’t expected the girl to react so strongly.

She hadn’t wanted to embarrass him in public.

Lin Huaixu suddenly took two steps forward, closing the distance between them.

Tong An’yu thought he was going to hit her and cowardly shrank her neck, saying in a panic, “Hey…”

Lin Huaixu saw her reaction and couldn’t help but sneer.

Then he picked up his backpack and pulled out a file folder from inside.

Then, the file folder opened with a “click,” and he took out Stanford’s admission offer, the I-20 form, the F1 student visa in his passport, and a slightly worn student ID card.

It was clear that he had brought these original documents to prove his identity to the girl.

Tong An’yu was so close that she saw at a glance that the offer was issued three years ago, for the computer science major.

She stared blankly, her throat feeling like a rusted component: “Then…”

“Financial support was cut off,” Lin Huaixu replied coldly, then put all the materials away and left the coffee shop without looking back.

Tong An’yu was at a loss.

The sunlight illuminated his back; his spine was straight, like a sharp blade, cleaving through her narrow-mindedness and prejudice.

At that time, she still didn’t know that the words “financial support cut off” were closely related to her.

Fueled by an unknown impulse, she chased after Lin Huaixu.

Zhu Yan shouted from behind, “Xiao Yu!”

Sun Han glanced at Jiang Xiaoying but said nothing.

The glass door of the coffee shop slammed shut with a “clang.”

The hot sunlight poured down, quickly dispelling the air-conditioned coolness.

Lin Huaixu had long legs and a fast pace.
She chased him for a good hundred meters before catching up, then made a dash to get in front of him, her bun coming loose in the process.

“Junior, I’m… I’m… I’m sorry!” Tong An’yu bent over, panting.

Her family was very wealthy, but her upbringing was extremely strict.
She didn’t have any of those spoiled and willful bad tempers, nor did she need anyone to tolerate her mistakes.

The word “junior” made Lin Huaixu’s eyebrows twitch uncontrollably.

The coffee was no longer dripping from his clothes, but it had soaked his entire chest, and under the scorching sun, it gave off a bittersweet, sticky smell.

Passing students cast surprised glances at him.

He had once been put on the confession wall because of a photo, circulated throughout the school, and forced to become a sort of celebrity, which made him particularly eye-catching.

The sun was so bright that people could only squint.

Tong An’yu tried to observe the changes in his facial features, taking small steps back while probing, “Can I help you find that older sister?”

Lin Huaixu looked at her coldly.

Calling him “junior” and that girl “older sister,” she was quite sharp.

“Can you explain it to her?”

“Or I can introduce you to some senior students who are also preparing to study abroad?” Tong An’yu was eager to make amends.

Lin Huaixu scrutinized her.

She looked really young, like a high school student.

Forget it, let it be.

“Your clothes are dirty too, I’ll compensate you,” as she spoke, Tong An’yu took off her pale yellow sun-protective jacket and tried to cover Lin Huaixu with it.

Lin Huaixu brushed her hand away and said rudely, “Get out of the way.”

Tong An’yu asked tirelessly, “Do you agree to my proposal just now?”

“If you agree, can you tell me?”

“I can’t tell…”

Lin Huaixu had never met such a talkative person.

He simply ignored her and took another path.

Zhu Yan happened to catch up and grabbed Tong An’yu, saying anxiously, “Xiao Yu, are you okay?”

Sweat was trickling down Tong An’yu’s neck, her hair sticking to her skin in a messy, somewhat disheveled way.
She frowned and said, “Zhu Yan, I still can’t tell.”

Zhu Yan sighed and pinched her cheek, “Poor little puppy.”

Tong An’yu had a problem since she was a child.

She had an outstanding IQ, but she had some shortcomings in other aspects.
She couldn’t judge a person’s emotions based on their facial expressions; she needed direct verbal expression.

After a doctor’s examination, it was said that a certain nerve was congenitally problematic, commonly known as sensory dullness.

But since it was a matter of the brain, surgery for this required extreme caution.
It was not recommended for minors.
If she felt it affected her social interactions and interfered with her normal life after becoming an adult, surgery could be considered on a case-by-case basis.

She was lucky.

When she was young, she was carefully protected by her parents and brother.
When she went to university, she met enthusiastic roommates who helped her in every way, so she didn’t feel any different from others.

This was the first time she felt frustrated because she couldn’t perceive someone’s emotions.

She had thought this storm would end here, but she didn’t expect worse things to come.

Someone anonymously posted a photo of Lin Huaixu being splashed with coffee by a girl on the confession wall, saying that he boasted about being from Stanford, trying to steal a rich second-generation’s girlfriend, but was exposed and had coffee thrown on him.

Most of the comments in the comment section were shocked, believing that Lin Huaixu’s lofty persona had collapsed and that he was inherently greedy for vanity.

“Who is this? This is complete nonsense,” Sun Han complained.

Zhu Yan was also puzzled, “Why are the comments so harsh?”

“Are they all from our school?”

Jiang Xiaoying: “Sigh, if only we hadn’t meddled last time.”

She had completely forgotten that she was the one who instigated this matter.

Tong An’yu didn’t plan to complain in the dormitory.

She was more direct, calling the student union in the technology building directly.

After all, this matter started because of her, and she couldn’t just stand by and watch.

The confession wall was run by second-year students from the student union.

She planned to find the person in charge directly, get the whistleblower’s account, and have this malicious person clarify and apologize in person.

The people in the coffee shop had clearly seen the whole process.

But the student union didn’t buy it: “We are not allowed to provide the contributor’s account according to the regulations.”

Tong An’yu emphasized, “He’s spreading rumors.”

“How do we know if it’s true or not?”
“If it really has a big impact, why not call the police?”

“But this requires the victim to come forward, and Lin Huaixu doesn’t seem to have any reaction.”

Of course, Tong An’yu had no right to call the police on behalf of Lin Huaixu, and slander was generally a private prosecution case, which was not under the jurisdiction of the police at all.

“From the angle of the photo, I can pinpoint the whistleblower’s location.”

“As long as I get the coffee shop’s surveillance footage, I can still find him.”

The student union said calmly, “But if you want the surveillance footage, you still have to report to your advisor and class teacher first and get approval from the security department.”

“You also know that once it gets to the advisor, they will basically just try to smooth things over and won’t expose another student for everyone to criticize.”

“…”

Just as Tong An’yu was about to hang up in anger, the person from the student union suddenly cried out.

He found that he had been forcibly logged out of his account and his password had been changed.

Then, the confession wall deleted the whistleblower’s photo and instead uploaded a surveillance video.

It captured the moment when Lin Huaixu was showing Tong An’yu his credentials.
At the end of the video, the frame was continuously enlarged, freezing on the face of a person grinning from ear to ear.

Everyone else was blurred out, only that person was not.

That person was holding a phone, and based on the shooting angle, he could basically be identified as the whistleblower.

And the confession wall simply tagged that person’s student ID number and directly typed a line of words—

[Had fun taking pictures?]

The comments instantly exploded!

“So Lin Huaixu really went to Stanford?”

“Is that a student ID card in the video?”

“So he proved himself on the spot?”

“The whistleblower obviously took it out of context, that’s so dishonest.”

“Which department is this student ID from?”

“I’ll avoid them in the future.”

“Let’s not recruit this person during club recruitment.”

“As someone who was there, it seems like there was a conflict over the study abroad application, not about stealing someone’s girlfriend.”

“Is the person who posted the video from the student union?”

“This clarification was so timely, thumbs up.”
…

Tong An’yu held the phone with the busy tone, feeling the thrill of a roller coaster ride.

For such a reclusive and taciturn person, what tone would he use to say “Had fun taking pictures?”?

Looking at the whistleblower’s social death and then at her blurred-out face, Lin Huaixu seemed to have been very lenient with her.

To be able to hack into the system, retrieve the surveillance footage, and then crack the student union’s account password to post a clarification in such a short period of time…
Stanford’s computer science department, how could that be a boast?