Why so serious

Li Hao scoffed disdainfully, "If it weren’t for the screenshots posted on the campus forum, I wouldn’t have believed a girl could play thirty-eight guys like fools."

"Those screenshots were all pixelated. Even if you have a grudge against Shen Mengjie, you can’t just make up the number thirty-eight out of thin air, can you?"

"Me, making it up? The pixelation was for clueless people like you." At this point, Li Hao turned his gaze back to Long Aotian.

Perhaps Long Aotian’s earlier actions had made Li Hao reconsider—maybe he wasn’t as worthless as he’d assumed.

So he warned, "I’d advise you to stay far away from someone like her. Thirty-eight isn’t her limit. Give her a little more time, and it won’t just be thirty-eight—fifty-eight, sixty-eight, even a hundred and eight. You can’t win against a woman like that..."

For some reason, hearing Li Hao talk about her like this to Long Aotian made Shen Mengjie immediately want to argue back.

But before she could speak, Long Aotian stopped her.

Watching Li Hao walk away, Shen Mengjie asked resentfully, "What do we do? He clearly doesn’t want to help us."

"It’s fine." Long Aotian lowered his voice slightly. "I think I might have a lead."

Hearing this, Shen Mengjie froze for a second, then nearly jumped with excitement—only to be smacked on the head by Long Aotian before she could even react.

"What was that for?"

Rubbing her head, Shen Mengjie pouted and muttered under her breath, "Why so serious?"

Long Aotian ignored her, shifting his attention to Han Xiaojing and the other two. "Let’s head back first."

Huang Fei stepped closer. "Aotian, if he won’t help, I’ll just pay someone else. I refuse to believe those tech experts would turn down good money."

Long Aotian patted Huang Fei’s shoulder. "Let’s go back first."

Though reluctant, Huang Fei nodded after meeting Long Aotian’s gaze. He trusted his friend—just as they all trusted each other.

Shen Mengjie glared at Long Aotian’s retreating figure, clenching her fists and swinging them angrily in the air.

It was as if, if she could actually beat him, she wouldn’t hesitate to rush over and punch him twice.

But in reality? She couldn’t. Even if she mustered the courage, she’d probably be the one getting punched instead.

Back in the dorm, Huang Fei couldn’t hold back any longer. "Aotian, why’d you make us come back?"

Long Aotian motioned for them to sit.

Then he said, "Do you remember what Li Hao said earlier?"

The three exchanged glances, confused.

"What’s your point, Aotian? If you’ve figured something out, just tell us straight."

"Yeah, if you want us to brawl, we’re all in. But making us think? That’s just cruel."

Huang Fei stayed silent. He didn’t get it either, but he knew Long Aotian wouldn’t bring it up without an explanation.

Long Aotian didn’t drag it out. "Li Hao said Shen Mengjie played thirty-eight guys online. You remember that, right?"

They nodded.

"Then did you catch the key part of that sentence?"

A lightbulb went off.

"Thirty-eight guys!" they said in unison.

"Meaning the screenshots in that post were compiled from thirty-eight different people. The pixelation hid the details, so none of us—not even Shen Mengjie—could recognize them..."

"I think I get it now," Huang Fei said slowly. "The campus forum post?"

"Exactly." Long Aotian nodded. "Exposing chat logs from thirty-eight people doesn’t match the post’s claim that she’s 'a fox seducing other girls’ boyfriends...'"

"It’s more like someone deliberately trying to ruin Shen Mengjie’s reputation."

"Think about it—who could’ve gotten their hands on chat logs from thirty-eight different guys in Shen Mengjie’s phone and compiled them so precisely?"

The three stared at each other, realization dawning.

After a long pause, Xu Shuai hesitantly raised his hand. "I can guarantee it wasn’t my Lijuan."

He said this because, aside from Shen Mengjie herself, Wang Lijuan was the most outgoing in their dorm.

Han Xiaojing and Zhang Mengmeng?

One was quiet and easygoing, avoiding drama.

The other was so shy she’d blush just talking to a guy.

"Or maybe there’s another possibility," Li Longlong suggested. "What if someone pursued Shen Mengjie, and she agreed to go out with him?"

"But she was just playing around, while the guy took it seriously."

"Then he saw her having lunch with him at noon but going to karaoke with another guy in the afternoon. Feeling betrayed, he decided to retaliate?"

"I considered that too," Long Aotian said. "But it doesn’t add up."

He held up a finger. "Shen Mengjie isn’t stupid—otherwise, she wouldn’t have managed thirty-eight 'fish' at once. Gathering intel from all thirty-eight would’ve been a massive task."

"Some might be from our department, others from different ones. Tracking them down isn’t easy, let alone convincing them to hand over their chats."

"We’ve got a perfect example right here."

All three turned to Huang Fei.

Li Longlong finally understood. "So if someone had gone around asking, they’d have definitely approached Huang Fei. But no one did."

Huang Fei slumped into his chair. "Meaning someone’s deliberately trying to destroy Shen Mengjie—and that person must be in her dorm."

"Only a roommate would have access to her phone and be able to collect screenshots from all thirty-eight guys, including me..."

"You figured this out, but you couldn’t just tell Shen Mengjie directly. That’s why you called us back, right?"

Long Aotian took a deep breath. "I think you should be the one to tell her. If she doesn’t believe it, teach her to do this..."